#so of course Jason got support and love and everything he needed to feel secure and safe | Explore Tumblr Posts and Blogs

writingtoforgetreality · 3 years

Text

I Remember (Malcolm Bright x Reader)

Request: uM hi saw ur request post while i was scrolling through malcolm bright x reader tag lol so may i request an x reader w malcolm where reader's gil's niece or smth so she and mal know each other before he joined the team- and one day where mal was being a dumbass and reader was told to drive mal home and when she was securing his restraints he jokingly asked her to sing to him aNd she did sing and fell asleep on the bed by opposite mal aND he got a good amount of sleep like no night terrors and next day he accidentally slipped that reader ''slept'' w him and gils just like excuse me wtf?? Djkdkdlsjsjs idk i got this idea when i was staring at the ceiling at 4 am instead of doing my essays that were due in the morningxD sorry its p long. Thanks and have a good day/night (by @iwillboilyourteeth), [Prodigal Son-Masterlist]

Summary: Malcolm got hurt again. What a surprise. And, as always, you were right there to take care of him. Tonight, though, things took a turn. For the better or for the worse? Only the future would tell.

Words: 2,142

Warnings: language, love me some sarcasm, fluff, so much fluff, I love writing for Prodigal Son (keep the requests coming)

Song used: “I Remember” by Jason Manns

If you like my work & wanna support me: a coffee would be highly appreciated ❤

You were sitting in your apartment when your phone started ringing loudly, interrupting your movie marathon. Sighing exaggeratedly, you checked who decided to annoy you at this time. It was not too late but you liked your alone time a lot. Gil. Oh no. That could never be good.

“Uncle Gil. I hope whatever you’re about to tell me is more important than Harry Potter.” pausing the movie you were currently watching, you did not even give him enough time to greet you. A loud sigh could be heard over the phone. One, that made you laugh.

“(Y/N).” his voice was stern & you knew better than to mess with him. Yet, you could not help yourself.

“Yeah, that’s me. You called me, after all.” joking to ease the tension, your giggling was cut short by his next words.

“Malcolm is a dumbass.”

“What a revelation.”

“He’s hurt.” Gil stated. Throwing your head back in frustration, you knew he only called you if he knew it was not too bad. But bad enough to need your help. “I need you to come get him.” it was not even a question, more like an order. Immediately, you grabbed the stuff you needed & headed out of your apartment towards your car.

“Can I yell at him for being reckless?” opening the door, you got inside but before you started the engine, you waited for the call to end. Could not risk getting youself hurt. Malcolm was the stupid one, not you.

“I already did that but I’m sure he’ll appreciate to hear it again.”

“Good.”

“Drive safe.” Gil noted.

“See you in ten.” & with that you drove to the precinct where he would most likely wait for you.

Growing up, you spent a lot of time at Gil’s. Malcolm was there almost always, so you got to meet each other pretty early on. Deep down, you cared for him. More than you should care for a friend. And because of him being a profiler, you were sure he picked up on that as well. Malcolm was just nice enough to not comment on it. Besides, he would tell you that he was too broken anyway. The thing was that it never scared you away. It did the exact opposite, actually. It only made you want him more.

Did you ignore almost every speed limit? Possibly. Your knuckles were white because you had gripped the steering wheel so tightly. One of these days, you would kill Malcolm. He kept getting himself hurt & you were tired of being the one to drive him home afterwards. Of course, you knew Gil only called you because Malcolm trusted you enough but that did not change the fact that you were exhausted.

“What happened?” approaching Gil, your eyes looked around for a sign of Malcolm. “And where the hell is he?”

“Bathroom.” his finger pointed over. “He didn’t call backup & thought dealing with it alone would turn out fine.” Gil was, you could tell, almost as tired as you. Not only of Malcolm acting recklessly but also because of a long day at work.

“What a surprise.” your sarcasm got the best of you. But it helped you coping with your feelings sometimes. “Uncle Gil?” his head snapped up when you said his name.

“Yes?”

“Go home & get some sleep. I got it from here, promise.” your sweet smile was convincing enough & with a nod, he turned around & walked away.

“(Y/N)?” Malcolm noticed you when he walked out of the bathroom. His face was covered in bruised & by the way he was limping, you were sure that his entire body had to be sore. “Where’s Gil?”

“I sent him home.” shrugging as if it were nothing, you gave Malcolm a look. He knew what it meant but apparently, he wanted to play dumb.

“What?” his head tilted slightly & if it were not for his damn puppy eyes & for the fact that he was hurt, you would be the cause of his bruises. Not quite literally but still. Rolling your eyes at him, you crossed your arms over your chest.

“You’re stupid, I hope you know that.”

“I do, but we caught the killer, so it was worth it.” he casually stated.

“Is it really worth risking your life, Mal?” shaking your head shortly, you were not in the mood to discuss this any further. A simple gesture of your hand was enough to show him that you wanted to get going. “Come on, I’m gonna bring you home.”

“You’re mad.” Malcolm noted when the both of you walked outside back to your car. Sighing loudly, you stopped for a brief moment.

“Yes. I’m mad because I can’t even count how many times we’ve been in this exact situation anymore. And it sucks. Because every single time Gil calls me, I think he’ll tell me that you didn’t make it out like you always do.” Malcolm’s eyes widened when you explained how you were feeling. Your body brushing past his made him turn around & follow you without another word. It was silent between you two until you arrived inside Malcolm’s apartment.

“I’m sorry, (Y/N).” he spoke up, his voice much softer now. When you saw him struggling to pull off his coat, you walked over to him to help him out.

“You don’t owe me an apology, Mal.” your back faced him when you went to put his jacket away.

“I do. You always take care of me when shit like that happens. And I wanted you to know that I don’t take that for granted. If I were you, I would’ve stopped caring a long time ago.”

“You know as much as I do that this won’t ever happen.” & it was true. Malcolm could mess up over & over again. Could get himself hurt & all that. But you would always be here to catch him, no matter what.

“I don’t deserve you.” his eyes bore into yours & by the look he gave you, you knew he was not talking about you taking care of him when he was hurt. He was referring to you as a person. Basically, he wanted to make you understand that he was not worthy of your love. Which was bullshit to you.

“You deserve so much & it hurts that you don’t see it.” the conversation dropped for the time being. Navigating your way through his apartment, you looked for something he could wear to bed. Soon enough, you found something suitable & when you walked back into the room ,you found Malcolm already sitting on his bed, head hanging low. He stopped you when he noticed your hands grabbing the shirt he was wearing. Sending him a confused look, your eyebrows raised in question.

“I think I can handle it from here on.” taking the clothes from you, he went to strip himself out of his workwear. Surprisingly, he could not move his body enough to achieve anything.

“Yeah, I can see that. Come on, don’t act like that, Malcolm.” it was not the first time you had helped him undressing. As mentioned earlier, the two of you had been in this situation too many times to count.

It did not take long & he was wearing comfortable clothes. After asking if he needed anything else, you went straight to his restraints & helped strapping him in. It amazed Malcolm how you were not weirded out by the fact that he had to be held down in order to have at least a few hours of sleep.

“(Y/N)?” his voice was barely above a whisper but your humming let him know that you heard him. “Can you sing something for me?” it was meant to be a joke, he simply wanted to ease the tension between you guys. Thinking about it for a second, you came to the conclusion that it would not hurt to do that. Maybe it would help him fall asleep? Malcolm eyes widened when you actually started singing quietly. It was soothing & he closed his eyes to focus solely on your voice.

Hey you, when I saw you walk in there

And I couldn’t help but stare

At the way you move your hands

‘Cause it’s the little things you do that drive me crazy

And now, let’s forget about the crowd

And just concentrate on us

So that you can know what I want you to know

I remember how it started

You had everything I wanted

I was helpless to resist

But I didn’t want to

Only if you would hold me tight

As we talked all through the night

About those things you won’t tell no one else

I know that we’ve got long ways to go

But I want you to know

That I’ll be there till the end, so don’t you worry

I remember how it started

You had everything I wanted

I was helpless to resist

But I didn’t want to

‘Cause I fell in love with you-ou-ou

After you finished, Malcolm still had his eyes closed, he just laid there for a while, recalling the words of the song. He knew what you were trying to tell him but if he had to be honest, he was scared. If the two of you were to try something, he thought you would leave him the moment you realized his demons were too much for someone to handle. Malcolm did not hear you leave his apartment, neither did he feel a movement. Opening his eyes slowly, he found you sound asleep right next to him. Your peaceful form made him smile brightly. Contemplating if he should wake you up, he decided against it in the end. Deep down, he knew you would not judge him he if he had a night terror next to you. And if he were honest, having you with him made him incredibly calm. That night, he fell asleep almost immediately, without any nightmares invading his dreams. The reason for it was you. Only you.

Malcolm woke up early the next morning. Work called. Okay, maybe Gild had told him to take a few days off but everyone who knew Malcolm, knew that he did not listen to such orders. Or any orders, in general. You were still asleep when he loosened his restraints. He left you a note behind before leaving his apartment for work.

“Didn’t I tell you to stay at home?” Gil questioned the second Malcolm entered the office where the rest of the team was already up & working.

“You did but I’m fine.” Gil rolled his eyes at his words. Usually, whenever Malcolm insisted on being fine, he was everything but. Examining his face closer, Gil was shocked to see him so…well rested?

“Wait. How much did you sleep last night? You look unusually awake.”

“Oh, yeah. That’s because I slept with (Y/N) last night.” Malcolm spoke casually & went to examine the pictures that were displayed on the table in the middle of the room. Gil’s eyebrows raised at that. Dani only sent him a weird look & JT almost choked on his coffee at Malcolm’s confession. There were some things he did not want to know & his love life was one of it.

“Excuse me, what now?” Gil was the first one to press the topic further. Everyone knew how protective he could get when it came to you, his niece. When Malcolm turned around, he found three pairs of eyes looking sternly at him. Wait, what did he say? Realization washed over his face & he only now noticed how wrong his words sounded without any given context.

“No, wait…That came out wrong.” closing his eyes briefly, he prepared an explanation for his confused co-workers. “(Y/N) drove me home yesterday & she helped me with my restraints & all. She fell asleep & I didn’t wanna wake her up.” Malcolm’s hands gestured wildly, not wanting to give them the wrong impression of last night’s events. JT pretended to understand what he explained even though he had no idea & frankly, he did not care too much. Malcolm had lost Dani’s interest a while ago, she continued working on the next case. Only Gil was left. He gave Malcolm a knowing look, went over to him & patted him on the shoulder.

“You better take care of her, Bright. Or you have to deal with me.” his threatening smile creeped Malcolm out but he knew Gil was only trying to keep you safe. Maybe you were the right one for him. Last night was proof enough. It was scary to take that next step but on the other hand, he wanted to take that risk. He wanted to give it a try. For the both of you.

Published (04/20/2021) by Cathy

Tags: @octopus5555 (thanks for your support <3)

172 notes · View notes

goldandbluesmiles · 3 years

Text

In Shades

Summary: Damian paints his family.

Ao3:

Part of batfam flufftober2020

Damian had an art assignment. Paint a portrait of one person in your life and use only one colour and explain why you chose that one colour.

It was an interesting assignment and Damian could not choose just one person to paint. So, he painted everyone in his immediate family. He figured he could hand in the best one.

He asked Alfred to sit down first.

For Alfred, he chose the colour grey. Dull and able to blend in, a symbol of dignity and sophistication as much as it was a symbol of loss.

Alfred had taken care of them through their losses and their fears, through their triumphs and their victories. He had stood by them as they had fought each other and had stood by them as they had held each other. Always there always reliable.

Yes, grey it was for Alfred.

"I am honoured, Master Damian," said Alfred once he showed it to him. It was the only thing he said but it still made Damian feel warm.

The second person he sat down with was his father.

For his father, he chose the colour black. It seemed a bit cliche but it fit the man. Black stood for strength and mystery, for formality and elegance, but at the same time stood for aggression and authority, for death and darkness.

This one might not end up with the rest of his assignment for it would be hard to explain to a civilian how all these characteristics could fit the airhead billionaire Brucie Wayne. But Damian could not bring himself to draw his father in false colours. He would just have to hide this one away.

Once he was done with the portrait, he looked at the harsh lines and smiled. Yes, black definitely worked.

His father must have agreed with his observations because one look at the piece and he had laughed.

"Well, you certainly got me, Kiddo. But maybe not take this to school. Though, I would like to hang it in my study instead. Would that be alright with you?"

"Yes, Father," Damian had agreed.

Father had them given him a long and tight hug, softly whispering how proud he was.

It almost made Damian cry. Almost.

Dick sat down for next, a wide smile on his face.

Damian chose to paint his brother in bright greens. Green was the colour of growth, harmony and renewal. His brother had moved non from tragedy after tragedy and always found a way to make his world right again, not only for himself but for others too. The freshness of the colour captured the man's smile in full and made him seem wiser than his years, which in Damian's opinion was exactly what his brother was.

Damian knew this one would be his favourite.

When he showed Dick, he was gushed at his talent but had been confused about the colour choice. Unlike most of their other family, Dick had never had an interest in the visual arts, opting to express himself physically as Cassandra did.

Once he explained, Dick had gotten tears in his eyes. Damian had almost become alarmed but his brother had swooped him up in a hug and held him close, much as his father had.

"Thank you, Damian,"

"You're welcome, Richard," said Damian, though he did not know what the thank you was for.

Cassandra did not sit but chose to stand instead. Damian was quite alright with that.

He painted his sister in shades of purple. Purple was the colour of royals, elegance of a certain kind, and ambition. Violet was the colour of magic and dreams.

Cassandra smiled all the way through painting, holding her pose together. This painting took the longest as Damian knew that it would e important to paint her whole body instead of just painting her face.

Once he was done, Cassandra hugged him before she even saw the painting and then hugged him again after she was it.

"Good," she whispered, "You got me,"

"I'm glad you think so," he whispered back

After Cassandra came Jason. And the only reason he had agreed was that he was stuck on bed rest.

Damian drew him in shades of red, head bent over a book. Red was the colour of anger, danger and sacrifice. It was also the colour of love and passion, the colour of a fire that burned bright and a heart that beat for others. Jason was all that and more. He rose from the ashes like a phoenix and had devoted his life to his family and city. Sacrifice after sacrifice, all in the name of love for people he thought didn't even love him. He was wrong about that of course.

"The angry brother in red, huh?" said Jason once he saw it, voice showing just a fraction of the bitterness he was feeling.

Damina instantly refuted, "No, the passionate brother, and the loving one,"

Jason looked at him in surprise.

Damian continued, "You are too sacrificing for your own good, you are passionate about what you do and you love so much that overflows out in bursts,"

For a few moments, Jason watched him with his mouth open, and then ever so slowly, a smile spread across his face.

"You know," he murmured, "I think red could be your colour too,"

"Really?"

"Really,"

Tim was surprised at being asked, and really that made Damian feel just a little guilty. He was almost an adult now and quite ashamed about how he had acted all those years ago.

For Timothy, Damian chose blues. Blue represented the open sky and ocean, depth and stability. It stood for loyalty, faith, truth and confidence.

Over the years, Damian had watched his brother grow into his abilities and become sure of himself. He was a leader, a detective and a man loyal to his cause and family. Damian was proud to have him in his life, to call him family. Even if he never admitted it out loud.

He explained the meaning of the picture in a few words, the whole interaction being awkward in a nice way, both of them feeling a bit shy about it.

"Thanks, Dames," said Tim

Damian just shrugged in response.

It was enough.

Duke was the last sibling he asked to sit down.

He chose to present Duke in pink. Pink was intuitive, pink was tender, pink was kind. It was a positive colour that inspired warmth and appreciation. All of the things he felt for the second oldest in the family. Duke had a soft way about him that drew people out of their shell. He was a leader but not an authoritative one like Father or even Timothy. Instead, his leadership consisted of inspiring and lifting others.

"Pink? Isn't that a girl's colour,"

"While you are right that pink represents feminity in today's society, it is a more recent development, I chose to focus on other meanings of the colour,"

"Yeah? And those are?" Duke asked disbelievingly, but not unkindly

Once Damian was done explaining, Duke grinned and held out a fist for him to bump. Damian complied.

"Thanks, man," said Duke, bounding out of the room as if someone had filled him with unlimited energy.

Damian watched him go with a shake of his head.

Damian contemplated whether or not he should do anyone else, and in the end, asked Stephanie to sit for him too.

He painted Stephanie orange. The colour represented friendliness and enthusiasm, competitiveness and risk. It stood for raw instinct and free spirit, lead to the person feeling warm and at home. The colour of the autumn.

Stephanie was a friendly spirit and was somehow always present. She pushed forward when knocked down and fought to make her home. Her success came from her enthusiasm and competitiveness and her willingness to risk it all.

Stephanie gave him a grin and a big kiss on the cheek when he explained the colour.

"Ew, Brown! Stop!"

"Uhuh," she cried, "Yuu love meee! Now I knooow!"

"Oh god, you are such a child,"

The last person that sat for him was Barbara Gordon.

Damian chose to paint her in browns. Brown was the colour of reliability and support, of protection and security. It stood for everything genuine, honest and sincere. It was what came to mind when he thought of Barbara. The way she was always there, a voice in everyone's ear. The way she always spoke the truth, light and clear. She was a friend, she was dependable, someone that could be trusted and relied on unconditionally.

Oddly enough, like Alfred and Father, Barbara did not need an explanation for the colour. She merely smiled and nodded.

"You have a great eye," she told him, "I really love this. Thank you, Damian,"

"No, thank you, Barbara,"

xxx

After a long night of patrol, Damian was ready to fall into bed. However, before he could do that, he realized there was an envelope sitting on his pillow. He took it out and smiled.

There was a picture of him petting his animals, most likely taken by Timothy, and it was tinted yellow. Beneath it, were words written out in yellow glitter pen.

Sunshine. Happiness. Fun. Hope. Mind. Perception. Optimism. Creativity. Freshness. positivity.

Underneath was a paragraph written in his father's neat cursive writing, though he could tell the input had probably come from a few different sources.

'Yellow represents the heat of the sun and the loveliness of a smile, it evoked hope for the future and is linked with the optimistic. Yellow showed creativity, freshness and positivity. Damian, you are almost an adult now and have grown into someone who had learned to channel your creative side, look towards the future and smile, even if it is internally. You have a beautiful mind and your artistic perception of the world takes our breath away. Always stay you, Damian,. You are bright and wonderful,'

Wiping the happy tears that were making their way down his cheeks, Damian quickly took out his phone. He pulled up the group chat and wrote a short message, knowing it would get the sentiment across.

'Thank you. I will do my best,'

#flufftober2020 #fluff #batfamily #BatFam #batman #robin #batman fic #bruce wayne #Damian Wayne #dick grayson #Jason Todd #Tim Drake #cassandra cain #cass wayne #duke thomas

268 notes · View notes

pjo-whore · 3 years

Text

Percy In Tartarus

Chapter 1: The Fall, And Gone

ao3 link. if anyone wants to be tagged for future updates please comment!

Annabeth had seen some strange things before, having been privy to the mythological world since she was only seven years old.

Several things she could name off the top of her head was her first time at Camp Half-Blood when she witnessed her best friend die in cold blood, then proceed to be turned into a pine tree; witnessing the Stoll brothers pull of pranks that increasingly defied the laws of physics; and when she had even seen her boyfriend turned into a guinea pig by a vengeful sorceress.

And that wasn’t even half of the craziest stuff she had to deal with on the daily.

But if there was one thing she had never witnessed before, it was cars raining from the sky. If she was being honest, it wasn’t as cool as it sounded.

Like, three out of ten.

Would not recommend.

As the roof of the cavern collapsed, beams of sunlight came through from above, blinding Annabeth. Briefly, she caught a glimpse of the Argo II.

It had used its ballistae to blast a hole straight through the ground.

Giants chunks of asphalt tumbled down, along with six or seven Italian cars. One would have crushed the Athena Parthenos, but luckily the statue’s glowing aura acted as a force field, and the car bounced off.

Unfortunately, that car fell toward Annabeth.

Annabeth launched herself to the side to avoid it and accidentally rolled her bad ankle. Pain washed through her, making her lightheaded. She was only just able to flip onto her back in time to see a bright red Fiat 500 slam straight into Arachne’s silk trap, punching through the cavern floor and disappearing with the Chinese spider-cuffs.

As Arachne fell, she screamed like a freight train on collision course.

More chunks of debris slammed through the floor, riddling it with holes.

The Athena Parthenos remained undamaged, thankfully, but the marble under its pedestal was a starburst of fractures.

When everything settled and debris stopped falling, Annabeth was finally able to calm down and take stock. She was covered with cobwebs. She trailed the strands of leftover spider silk from her arms and legs like the strings of a marionette, but somehow none of the debris had hit her.

Annabeth wanted to believe that it had been the statue of her mother that had protected her, but bitterly, she suspected it may have been nothing but luck.

Around her, the army of spiders had disappeared.

Either they had fled back into the shadows, or they had fallen into the chasm along with Arachne, and there was no lost love from Annabeth for either option.

As natural light flooded the cavern, Arachne’s silk tapestries along the wall crumbled to dust. Annabeth could hardly bear to watch it, especially when the tapestry depicting Percy and her kissing underwater turned to nothing.

But none of it mattered the moment Annabeth heard her boyfriend calling from above.

“Annabeth!”

“Here!” She sobbed. It hurt to yell. “Over here!”

Her terror left her in one massive wave of relief. As the Argo II descended, she could see Percy leaning over the railing, waving to her. Black hair whipping in the wind, smile crooked, he appeared like a god sent from Elysium. His smile was better than any tapestry Annabeth had ever seen.

The room kept shaking, and with no lack of difficulty, Annabeth pulled herself to her feet. Her backpack was missing, along with Daedalus’ laptop.

Her celestial bronze knife, which she’d had since she was seven, was also gone.

Annabeth wanted to cry. It felt like she had lost a part of herself.

Above her, the Argo II came to a stop about forty feet from the floor. A rope ladder was lowered, but Annabeth ignored it as she stood in a daze, head still heavy.

Percy appeared at her side, lacing his fingers with hers.

He gently turned Annabeth away from the pit and wrapped his arms around her in a tight embrace. Annabeth buried her face in his chest and finally broke down in tears.

“It’s okay,” he said. “We’re together.”

Percy didn’t say “you’re okay” or “we’re alive.” After all the two had been through, he knew the most important thing was that they were together. Annabeth felt fit to bursting for the love she held for him, and she hugged him tighter.

Around them their friends gathered. Nico was there, but Annabeth’s head felt so fuzzy that it didn’t even surprise her. It only seemed right for him to be there.

“Your leg!” Piper exclaimed. She kneeled next to Annabeth and examined the Bubble Wrap cast, fretting over her friend’s injury. “Oh, Annabeth, what happened?”

Annabeth wanted to explain, but when she opened her mouth to speak, nothing came out. She felt so light-headed, and her tongue felt swollen. Her throat was parched. Percy seemed to know what she needed and called for a water bottle, which Leo grabbed from his utility bet and quickly handed over to her.

As she started, it became easier.

Percy didn’t let go of her hand either, which helped to motivate her.

When she finished, everyone was staring at her in disbelief.

“Gods of Olympus,” Jason said. “You did all that alone – and with a broken ankle!”

“Well, some of it with a broken ankle,” Annabeth said weakly.

Percy broke out in a grin. “But you made Arachne weave her own trap? I knew you were good, but by the gods – generations of Athena kids tried and failed, but you did it! You found the Athena Parthenos!”

Attention switched to the statue.

“So … what do we do with her?” Frank asked. “She’s huge.”

“We have to take her with us to Greece,” Annabeth said. “She’s powerful. Something about her will help us stop the giants’ rise.”

“The giants’ bane stands gold and pale, won with pain from a woven jail,” Hazel said, quoting the prophecy. Her expression gained a hint of admiration. “It was Arachne’s jail. You tricked her into weaving it.”

With a lot of pain, Annabeth thought humorlessly.

Leo raised his hands in a mock framing, trying to measure the Athena Parthenos. “Well, it might take some rearranging, but I think we can fit her through the bay doors in the stables. If she sticks out at the end, I might have to wrap a flag around her feet … or something.”

Annabeth shuddered at the image. She imagined the Athena Parthenos jutting out from the trireme with a sign across its pedestal that read “WIDE LOAD.”

Then she remembered the other lines the prophecy: “the twins snuff out the angel’s breath, who holds the key to endless death.”

“What … what about you guys?” Annabeth said. “What happened with the giants?”

Percy told her about rescuing Nico and the surprise appearance of Bacchus, along with the fight with the twin giants in the Colosseum.

Nico didn’t say much. He didn’t say anything at all. The poor guy looked like he had been wandering through a frozen wasteland for a week. Percy shared what Nico had learned about the Doors of Death, and that to properly close them, they had to be shut on both sides.

Overworld and Underworld.

Even with the sunlight from above, Percy’s news made the cavern seem dark again.

“So, the mortal side is in Epirus.” The gears in Annabeth’s head begun to turn. “I mean … at least that’s somewhere we can reach.”

Nico grimaced. “But it’s the other side that’s the problem – Tartarus.”

The word seemed to echo eerily through the chamber.

The pit behind the group of demigods exhaled a cold blast of air, causing Annabeth to shiver. The shadows got darker, the pit echoed, and an icy feeling crept up Annabeth’s spine. Annabeth knew with certainty that the chasm went straight to the Underworld.

Percy must have felt it too because he guided Annabeth away from the edge.

Slowly and carefully, the group migrated back to the Argo II.

Annabeth’s arms and legs trailed spider silk like a bridal train, and she wished that she had something to cut the silk off. She almost asked Percy to do the honours, but he leaned in and began talking. He frowned. “You know, Bacchus mentioned something about my voyage being harder than I expected. Not sure why he –”

Suddenly, the chamber groaned, making the Athena Parthenos tilt violently to the side. Its head caught on one of Arachne’s support cables, but the marble foundation beneath the pedestal was crumbling quickly.

For a horrible moment, Annabeth thought the statue was going to fall.

Her stomach dropped.

“Secure it!” She cried out.

Thankfully, her friends understood what she meant almost immediately.

“Zhang!” Leo called, already running. “Get me to the helm, quick! The coach is up there alone!”

Frank shifted into a giant eagle, pausing only for a moment to allow Leo to jump onto his back, and the two of them soared toward the Argo II.

“Don’t worry about running, I’ll be back for you guys in just a second. Just don’t reinjure Annabeth’s ankle,” Jason said to Percy and Annabeth. Then he turned and wrapped his arms around Piper, and he summoned the winds and shot into the air.

“There’s no time, this floor won’t last!” Hazel warned, but Jason didn’t hear her. She turned to the others. “The rest of us need to get to the ladder as quick as possible!”

The group started making their way to the Argo II less carefully, speed the only thing on their minds.

Plumes of dust and cobwebs blasted from the holes in the floor, causing the demigods to inhale the dust and choke. The spider’s silk support cables trembled like massive guitar strings and began to snap. The floor lurched and crumbled.

When they reached the ship, Annabeth watched anxiously as Hazel lunged for the bottom of the rope ladder, which was swaying wildly with the shaking of the cavern. Hazel gestured for her brother to follow. Nico was in no condition to pull himself up, still sickly pale and thin and limping. Hazel had to grab him from beneath the armpits to hoist him up.

Percy held onto Annabeth tighter, shifting on his feet worriedly.

“It’ll be fine,” he muttered. “It has to be fine – we’re so close.”

Annabeth wasn’t sure who he was trying to convince.

Above, grappling lines shot from the Argo II and wrapped around the Athena Parthenos. One lassoed Athena’s neck like a noose. Leo was shouting orders from the helm as Jason and Frank flew frantically from line to line, trying to secure them.

Nico had managed to climb a quarter the way up when a sudden sharp pain shot up Annabeth’s bad leg, causing her to cry out and stumble.

“What is it?” Percy asked.

Annabeth didn’t have an answer.

Everything was in a haze and her head felt heavy. Confused, she staggered toward the ladder again, only to find that she could not. Instead, she was moving backward. And then her legs were swept out from beneath her in one pull, and she fell on her hands and knees. There was a hollow sound as her head bounced off the ground, and Annabeth saw stars.

“Her ankle!” Hazel screamed from the ladder. “Guys, quickly! Cut it! Cut it!”

Annabeth didn’t understand. Cut her ankle?

Apparently, Percy didn’t understand what Hazel meant, either. He grabbed Annabeth’s hands and tried to pull her back to her feet, but it caused more pain and he stopped when Annabeth began to cry. Then, suddenly, an invisible force yanked Annabeth backward and dragged her toward the pit with the force of Heracles.

Percy yelled out in fear. He lunged for Annabeth, grabbing her arms, digging his heels into the ground. Unfortunately, the momentum still carried him along with her.

“Help them!” Hazel yelled.

Nico jumped down from the ladder, headless of his injured state, and began hobbling in the direction of the pit as Hazel tried to disentangle her cavalry sword from the rope. The others were still focused on the Athena Parthenos and Hazel’s cry was lost in the general chaos.

Annabeth’s stomach dropped when she was yanked back another few feet.

She was terrified.

Now that Annabeth realized what was happening, it was too late. She was tangled in Arachne’s spider silk. She had assumed it was all loose lines, but with the entire floor covered in cobwebs, she hadn’t noticed that one of the strands was wrapped around her foot – and the other end went straight into the pit. It was attached to something heavy down in the darkness. Something was pulling her in.

Percy continued to pull uselessly on her, until something popped in her right shoulder, making her scream in pain. Startled, Percy slipped and fell past Annabeth. A large chunk of marble was upended behind them, granting them momentary pause from falling.

Percy finally seemed to get his wits about him and pulled out Riptide.

Annabeth couldn’t see it from where she was scrabbling for purchase against the marble floor, but she heard the blade hiss as it cut through the air.

With a snap, a wave of relief crashed through Annabeth once the pressure was released on her ankle. She tried pulling herself up, but the ground trembled as the marble cracked further, and the chunk behind them dropped into the looming chasm. Percy, who was behind her, tumbled down the sudden incline and, in a panic, reached out for something to grab – which happened to be Annabeth’s good ankle.

Together, they slipped further from the pull of Percy’s weight.

Terrified, Annabeth screamed and kicked him away. “Let go of me!”

“Fuck!”

Percy disappeared over the edge.

She scrambled backward as Nico hobbled past her and leaned over the edge, eyes wet.

“Annabeth help!” Percy cried. Annabeth crawled back in fear as the floor cracked further. Nico either didn’t notice or didn’t care.

Percy was partway into the pit and dangling over the void. He had managed to catch a ledge almost fifteen feet below, but that wasn’t going to help him. He was holding on with one hand, struggling to get a drip with his other, which was bleeding profusely from a large gash across his palm. Several feet away from the hole sat Riptide, blood staining its blade.

No escape.

Annabeth jerked back.

She could have sworn a voice echoed from the pit, mocking her. Bile rose in her throat.

I go to Tartarus, and your loved one will come, too.

The pit shook violently, as if it were eagerly anticipating its next meal – its next victim.

Nico leaned over the edge of the chasm, hopelessly thrusting out his hand to help. But he was too far away. Nico knew it, Annabeth knew it – and Percy knew it, too.

“Percy,” Nico said, “grab my hand!”

Percy’s face was almost white with effort.

Hazel was still yelling for help from the others.

Even if they did hear her over the chaos, they would never make it in time.

Annabeth felt like her whole world was crashing down around her. She couldn’t comprehend that Percy was going to die. Even from a few feet away, she could feel the pull of the pit. She could see the darkness slowly rising, trying to claim Percy.

Percy gasped when the ledge shuddered and shifted. He looked up at Nico fifteen feet above, hand still extended. Percy’s face twisted as something final crossed his expression.

“The other side, Nico.”

Annabeth didn’t understand right away, but Nico did. He shook his head violently. “No, Percy –”

“The other side! I’ll see you there. Understand?”

Nico’s expression turned pained. “But –”

“Lead them there!” Percy said. “Promise me! Please!”

It suddenly struck Annabeth that Percy couldn’t see her. He had his eyes locked on Nico. Beside her, Nico looked lost. He stuttered. “I – I will.”

Below Percy, somewhere from the endless void, a voice laughed in the darkness.

Ice crawled up Annabeth’s spine.

A sacrifice. Such a beautiful sacrifice to wake the goddess.

It finally clicked in Annabeth’s mind.

A one-way trip.

A very hard fall.

And Percy looked scared.

Annabeth couldn’t bring herself to watch anymore.

She looked away, and Percy was gone.

#pjo #percy jackson #annabeth chase #nico di angelo #house of hades #tartarus #percy in tartarus #percy alone in tartarus #house of hades rewrite #most of this was lifted from the og book #angst #heroes of olympus

10 notes · View notes

fuckingdeadbutroyal · 4 years

Text

Jasonette July- Soulmate AU- Part 2

Part 1 - Part 2 - Part 3 - Part 4 - Part 5 - Part 6 -

“How long has this been going on?”, Damians voice was flat. An outsider would maybe even perceive it as bored, but his brothers heard him. Damian Wayne was horrified. “Five and a half days now, to be precise. We have heard of the earthquake but we didn’t know about the metas. That’s why we’re here, save the citizens and catch the-” “How did we not know of any metas in Paris? Why are we only coming to help them now? Look at this place!”, Nightwing interrupted his father, in Jasons opinion rightfully so. Paris was not what he remembered from the posters and booklets he had seen. The city could have lost WW2 and even then it would probably look better than it currently did. “That’s international matters, we’re not even meant to be here but it got out of control so I asked Red Robin to investigate. Now stop complaining and start working.”, Bruce scolded his adoptives and, leaving no room for further interruption, began giving out orders. Dick, Jason, Stephanie and Damian were on citizen-saving duty, while Tim stayed at the manor and guided them per earpiece. Bruce, Cass, Duke and Barbara were on metawatch™, meant to collect more information on the cause of destruction, aswell as the heroes Tim had mentioned in his report. One final tech-check later the formerly crowded rooftop was deserted and Paris had a new crew of support in form of bat-themed vigilantes.

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

Jason felt...sad. Deeply, desperatly heartbroken. He remembers feeling that way when he first discovered his fathers lack of avenging the death of his second son. But now? Of course, the sight he was currently enduring was horrific. He was sorry it had to come to this, frustrated his hands just weren’t enough to help every Parisian in pain. But that desperation? His inhumane tiredness? The way his whole body just felt numb, as if he were in so much pain his senses just wouldn’t- no couldn’t keep up? He knew it was out of place, his brothers were okay after all. Even Dick, the most emotional one out of his siblings, was much more focused than Jason. He knew it had to do with his soulmate, at least he guessed as much. The thought of them being somewhere in this city, hiding in one of those hyper-secure shelters he had seen while rummaging through the collapsed buildings and pulling out everyone he could find...it was unnerving. Though somehow he knew that that wasn’t the case.

Upon first taking in the sight of Paris’ ruins Red Hood just knew where he was and what streets he was aiming for. He knew where the shelters were, could guide the civilians towards them and even recognized some of the buidings, even though there was nothing left but dust and dirt. Jason had a gut feeling telling him that all those things weren’t actually his knowledge. It had to be his soulmates. They knew everything he needed to know about the city, they recognized it from above. But one piece of information, which now that Timmy has properly updated them about Paris’ situation should have been absolutely unavoidable, was missing. What do those shelters look like from the inside?

Why doesn’t his soulmate know?

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

Marinette was on autopilot. It has been four days since her parents death. She hasn’t slept, hasn’t eaten and hasn’t stopped moving. Chat has already collapsed twice, which ended up with her carrying him to one of their recharging-shelters in the water and spending ungodly amounts of time trying to find food and water for him aswell as holding him in place while he slept, hoping to avoid his otherwise certain death by drowning. “What a sad end it would be”, the girl thought to herself, “all that effort, all that pain, and we could just loose it all to a petty accident. Not that there is much left to save...”

She wasn’t going to admit it out loud, but Ladybug, the hero and saviour of Paris, did no longer care about winning. She didn’t think of saving those people who were praying in her name, praying to her. She didn’t believe in god and oh Kwami did she not believe in herself. What she did believe in, though, was revenge. She wanted to kill that dusty bitch, even if it was the last thing she would do. Ladybug didn’t care about the victim. She knew for herself that if she were the one who did this to her beloved City of Love, she could no longer live with herself. She wanted to kill the akuma and even though a voice deep inside her was telling her otherwise, trying to stop her and arguing that this was not what her parents would have wanted, Marinette did not care. She was going to free the petite akuma and then tear it apart with her very own teeth. And guess who’s next? “That’s right, I’m coming for your ass, Shitmoth.”

Her voice woke the boy next to her. She hasn’t even realised how her train of thought has surfaced into the real world until Plagg, who was sleeping on the blondes stomach, started grumbling in despleasure about how his pillow shouldn’t be moving. Adrien sat up, not meeting Ladybugs eyes as he took the cheese she was handing him and giving it to the suddenly awake and alert Kwami who, as always, swallowed it whole. It was kind of nice, reassuring, watching him do something Adrien has formerly perceived as highly annoying. Back then, before “The End of the World”, as he now called it, has fallen from the sky. Or rather dug it’s way out from six feet under, since the main cause of destruction were the earthquakes. Destruction. Thinking of it made Adriens gag-reflexes act up. He hated this akuma. Not only for the obvious reasons. No, Adrien hated how useless he himself felt because of it. Why should he cataclysm something while he’s trying to stop Dirtface from doing so? It was highly contraproductive and Chat could not stand it. It was like watching the person you hate most, fan-girl about something you love. Kind of ruins the experience. Adrien didn’t know if he could use his power the way he did before, ever again. The only upside to it was, that he didn’t have to recharge as often and was therefore capable of protecting his partner whenever she had to hide.

As long as he didn’t fucking collapse from exhaustion, of course.

“I fainted again, didn’t I?”, he asked, shame crawling into his every pore. He was hoping to avoid that. The first time already came at the price of his identity, though luckily Ladybug has been quick enough to hide him before anyone else could catch a glimpse. Adrien wasn’t aware of it, but once Mari managed to securely position him on one of the upside-down-boats benches, she fell into a hysterical fit of laughter. She cried, she felt as if she were about to choke, as if she were about to finally explode into all those shattered pieces her heart now consisted of. Her laughter, though, showed none of these emotions. An outsider would be afraid to come near her, her parents would not be able to recognize her, she herself would have been disturbed by that sight. If the Joker were there to see it, he would have had to give his crown to her, for her laugh was scarier than any Jokers could ever be.

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

Marinette just nodded and waited for Chat to suit back up. She didn’t think of his collapses as embarassing. Instead, Ladybug was highly impressed by his skill and endurance. She knew he didn’t have the luxury of someone taking the hit for her, sleeping and eating instead of her. For so long Mari has been trying to convice herself that she realy was, just like Adrien, just like Chat, alone. She wanted to believe that her soulmate was dead, wanted to live and not give a damn about that extra source of pain, which is the only thing she has ever thought of, when it came to feeling any kind of relationship towards her bonded. How could she love what brings her torture? How could she want to love the pain? Now though, with death being all around her, no-one she could turn to and time playing against her...Marinette was relying on them. She would not be able to surive this without her soulmate sleeping instead of her, would have probably fallen to the hands of malnutrition, if it weren’t for them feeding her through that inexplicable bond between their souls.

Adrien did not have that. He was born without a soulmate, which wasn’t anything unusual. After all, more than half of the worlds population were either born without a soulmate or simply existed during a different century than their significant others.

Just like Nino, just like Chloe, just like Nathaniel, Kagami and Luka: Adrien isn’t going to stay by Ladybugs side forever. She knew that now. That was okay, though. Because now she was certain of one thing. Her soulmate was alive and, according to her intensifying tiredness as well as that energizing tingling keeping her body up and working, they were on their way to save her.

That carries a tiny problem though.

She had to avoid getting help. She wouldn’t let it happen again.

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

HI! First of: Thank you so much for the amazing feedback, I am so fucking grateful you have no idea (or you do? idk. THANK YOU ILY)

This story has gotten much longer than I had planned but tbh I love it. There’s a part 3 and probably a part 4 coming, Though I’ll post it tomorrow ‘cause I gotta write it and like, live life a bit.

Critique and any kind of feedback is very welcome!

I will most probably continue Jasonette July, this is so much more fun than I expected. So see you tomorrow \o/

Thanks for reading^^

P.S.: There's finally some proper Jasonette on the horizon☄

#jasonette #jasonette july #jasonette soulmate au #soulmate au #batfam #maribat #maribat fanfic #jason todd #jason todd x marinette dupain-cheng #marinette dupain-cheng #soulmate bruises au #ladynoir #red hood #ladybug #ml ladybug #angst

145 notes · View notes

pawprintsmoon · 3 years

Text

You and me, Part III

https://archiveofourown.org/works/30337365/chapters/74893146#workskin

The proposal

After a shower and clean pajamas, Alex finished packing his suitcase, tucking the ring safely inside. The next morning, he was so focused on not losing it again that he ended up misplacing his coffee filled travel mug. He had put it down for one second, and suddenly it was nowhere to be seen. Henry found it in minutes and they left for the airport. Distracted beyond reason, Alex had to hop out of the car to race back inside to grab his wallet. Then he had to hop out of the car again to run inside and get his phone.

After speeding to the JFK airport, they crossed the Atlantic and spent one night in Kensington recovering from jet lag. They spent their first full day at a trans* equity conference. The English press greeted their visiting prince with union jacks and rainbows. Naturally, they responded with charming comments and smiling photos. Alex took the opportunity to livestream a message to his followers: ‘of course transgender high schoolers should be allowed on the sports team that aligns with their gender, and here’s why…’

Privately, in the car back to the palace, Henry expressed the opinion that public schools ought to have polo teams, because it’s a coed sport and ideal for nonbinary teens who don’t like to rock the boat. Alex responded with similar sentiments about quidditch. The rest of the drive they shared a familiar rant about how Harry Potter belongs to the fans (including the trans* fans) and not only to JKR.

That night, just past 2am, Alex turned over in bed to ask, “You awake?”

“Always.”

“Good. We’re going on a fieldtrip. Come on.” Alex pulled them both out of bed, and they got dressed, Alex swinging on his Gucci jacket. He would have worn a hoodie, the incognito uniform of the internationally recognizable, but tonight he didn’t want to hide himself. It was worth the risk. Besides, they didn’t really need to sneak around anymore, did they? Old habits.

He led them out of the palace, down Prince Consort Road. He stopped for a selfie with the sign, because he really had wanted to last time. A second selfie included them both, looking goofy and not caring. When they reached the back entrance of the Victoria and Albert Museum, they kissed lazily against the wall. Once Henry’s lips melted Alex’s nerves, he drew back to take the next step.

“Thing about dating the prince,” he said, holding up keys, “is that you can borrow pretty much anything he owns. And he can get the keys to anywhere if he asks nicely.”

“You’re a thief,” snarked Henry, walking through the door that Alex held open for him. “And a knave, and a scoundrel.”

“Yeah, yeah.” Alex gave the security guard a wad of cash. “Thanks, Gavin. It’ll be Renaissance City.”

They walked past sculptures, artifacts, and paintings, surrounded by the history that they were a part of. They got to the piazza, Henry’s sacred place. Just like last time, the first statue, Samson Slaying a Philistine took away what little breath Alex had, and he had to lean on Henry for support. Like windswept magnets, their lips met, for no reason at all.

Most of the time, Alex had a strong sense of Henry and himself being part of the current moment of history, changing the world in the here and now. But right then, time seemed to melt, and they were surrounded by historical sculptures telling timeless stories. Zephyr the Greek god of the west wind, Proserpina in the underworld, and Jason and his golden fleece. Archetypical and expansive.

And then there was Henry: the national gay landmark, prince charming, an obtuse fucking asshole. Hopefully his future husband. Sticking with his plan, he pulled away from Henry and got out his phone to open Spotify. Taking a deep breath, he pressed play. “Your Song” came from the tinny speakers.

“It’s a little bit funny, these feelings inside. I’m not one of those who can easily hide.”

“Why am I getting deja vu?” Henry asked, as Alex wrapped his arms around Henry’s waist.

“No clue.”

They began to sway, slow and intimate, cheek to cheek. He recognized the swelling in his chest as the same ache he’d felt when Henry first played this song for him years ago in the music parlor. Back then, he’d been trying so hard to repress his love for Henry, gripping the settee and wondering how long they would fly across the world to touch each other without talking about it. Now they let love dance around them, unbridled and openly declared in front of the world.

Other memories stirred up unbidden. Henry ghosting him after their first kiss, leaving him out in the snow and questioning everything. And then again when Alex hinted at love, leaving him in the lake with his heart carved out. Twice is not a pattern though, is it. Ever since the last time they were in this museum together, Henry had given his entire self to Alex. He had decided to be with Alex for real that night. That had been when they decided to love each other on purpose.

“I hope you don’t mind that I put down in words. How wonderful life is, now you’re in the world.”

For several beats of silence, he just looked at Henry. And Henry looked at him, and the museum disappeared. The whole world faded away except Henry and himself. It was now. He knelt down to one knee slowly, never losing eye contact. Henry’s loving smile showed no surprise as Alex spoke.

“Henry George Edward James Fox-Mounchristen-Windsor,” he said, making Henry roll his eyes. “I have a question to ask you. You see, my mom asked me, back in our early days, if I felt forever about you. I knew it then, and I know it now. I want to spend my life with you. So... ”

He paused, reached into his jacket, and pulled out the bedazzled box, rhinestones spelling out ‘love.’ Henry had probably guessed that it was never intended for June’s earrings, because he laughed like the box was an inside joke. Despite knowing what was coming, he inhaled audibly when Alex opened the box to reveal a simple silver ring.

“Will you marry me?”

Henry laughed again, a laugh like the birds of sunrise. “Yes, Alex. I will marry you.”

The prince reached into his pocket and pulled out a small leather box, the same size as the one Alex held. Then, he knelt down on one knee as well, mirroring his fiancé. He opened it to reveal a thick antique gold ring inlaid with a gem that Alex couldn’t identify. Beautiful. “Alex Claremont-Diaz, will you spend forever with me as your partner, confidant, and best friend?”

“I,” Alex choked, “yeah, fuck, of course-”

Henry cut him off with a swift and passionate kiss, both of them on their knees, fumbling the engagement rings onto their fingers. Alex felt like the deceased king that had probably worn his engagement ring. They kissed until their knees grew sore, and they collapsed on the tile.

“How did you think to bring a ring and everything?”

“Believe it or not, I somehow predicted that you might do this,” Henry teased.

Their buzzing bodies urged them to get back to the palace, to Henry’s room, to the bed. So they pulled each other to their feet, both dizzy and desperate. Before leaving the piazza they held each other for just a little longer.

“I love you,” whispered Henry.

“Fuck, I know you do.” It’s an amazing thing, to know completely and utterly that somebody loves you. “I love you too.”

“I know.” Henry held him around the waist and their foreheads pressed together. “Hey, so, I know we’re going to have to have a big, gay, traditional, royal wedding and all that -”

“Which we’ll make fun!” Alex said, with the positivity of a camp counselor. The world could really benefit from a big, gay, royal wedding. “There will be so many rainbows, even only if the crowd brings them.”

“And we’ll definitely have an adequate number of champagne fountains.” Henry winked at him. “But you interrupted-”

“Sorry!”

“-me. I was saying that I know we’re doing the public wedding for the audience, and the press, but...” Suddenly Henry looked nervous. “Well, would you maybe want to…”

“Spit it out babe,” Alex kissed Henry lightly on the lips before pulling back to show that Henry had his entire attention. “I’m listening, for real.”

“Would you, would you maybe want to elope first?”

“I… um. Would we, you know, still do the royal wedding afterwards?” Alex asked. “Keep it a secret?”

“Well, yes.” The words tumbled out. “But it would be a secret that we’re keeping for ourselves. We wouldn’t be keeping a secret for an election, or family expectations, or our god damned publicists. It would be ours, and we would keep it because we want to.

“Because I want to keep you to myself, just a little bit.” Henry shrugged, sheepish. “You give so much of yourself to your country, to the world, and I love that about you, but I want this to be just us. I’d be open to inviting Bea, Pez, June, and Nora, and our parents too, if you want.”

“And honestly, I don’t really want there to be a minister or priest… maybe Pez could do it?” Henry continued. “It doesn’t even have to be legal, so people don’t find out. I don’t know, I just thought, it could be just us, making a promise. Not with the crown, not with the church, not with all your adoring fans. Just the people that really matter.”

“I…” A grin spread slowly across Alex’s face. “I love it. Yes. Hell yes. Where? Not Vegas. Paris?”

“Paris.” Relief sweetened Henry’s smile. “And I could play my vows for you on the piano, if you’d like.”

“Yes I’d like! We could do it on a sailboat with a captain! Can you bring a piano on a sailboat?” Henry shook his head and kissed Alex’s grin, nuzzling their noses together. Alex whispered, “Okay, I’ll slow down and we can figure it out together. You and me.”

“You and me.” They fell into each other, a blissful act of entropy, all lips and hands.

“Besides,” Alex said as they stopped to catch their breath. “Secrets can be kind of hot if I remember correctly.”

AN: So, I thought I'd end with the proposal, but I feel like there's maybe more here? Like, this scene was kinda building up to some 'just got engaged' smut, or it could go on to show their elopement. I'm feeling a tinsy bit uninspired for their vows though, so if any of y'all feel like writing those, I could insert to the rest of the marriage scene that could be fun. If anyone feels like doing the post-proposal smut (or the wedding night smut lol) lemme know! Otherwise, thank you for reading! Check out my other rwrb fics, if you feel like it :)

#you and me #part 3 #first prince #rwrb #proposal story #henry fox mountchristen windsor #alex claremont diaz #red white and royal blue

12 notes · View notes

neriad13 · 3 years

Text

Favorite Media of 2020!

There was a large swathe of this year during which I was unable to concentrate on reading (as there probably was for a lot of other typically-frequent readers), so, as a result, I ended up listening to way more podcasts and watching way more TV shows. Not a bad thing, but boy did I read way less books than usual.

However, for the first time in a while, the amount of fiction I read was about equal with the amount of nonfiction I read. Last year’s reading resolution was to read more fiction, so...success??

I did read a lot of phenomenal fiction when I had the energy to do so this year.

Books - Fiction

The Martian - Andy Weir

This book is the hardest of the hard sci fi I think I’ve ever read. Every single aspect of it is minutely researched and calculated. The author literally wrote equations to write this book. The science is insanely impressive and yet...it never loses its sense of humor or humanity in the mix. In fact, they’re the thing that drives the entire story.

Warlock Holmes - G. S. Denning

Way early in the year I was strolling down the fantasy aisle at the library, when this cover caught my eye. I took one look at it, went “oh, this looks silly” and...proceeded to devour the entire series in a matter of weeks.

It is very silly. Especially when it’s pointing out something that was silly in the original. There’s something so satisfying about Watson immediately answering Holmes with the correct number of steps in their flat when he’s trying to make his point about how most people don’t pay attention to things like that.

World War Z - Max Brooks

Every single scenario in here could easily support an entire book. A park ranger whose job it is to contain the yearly zombie spring thaw? HECK YES. I’d read tens of thousands of words about that. A Chinese admiral who defaults, steals the government’s premier submarine, loads it up with the families of his underlings and takes to the sea for years to live in the maritime economy that has sprung up in a world where everyone is trying to escape the shore? That could be an entire movie on its own.

Every chapter was more creative than the last and as a huge worldbuilding fan, this book was so, so fun.

An Unkindness of Ghosts - Rivers Solomon

In which a queer, neurodivergent protagonist solves a mystery on a spaceship which is a microcosm of antebellum era politics! This had a beautiful, mysterious, wonder-inducing writing style and it was a joy to peer into the wildly differing minds of every single character.

Books - Nonfiction

Underland - Robert MacFarlane

In every chapter, the author visits a different hole. Basically.

It’s an exploration of caves, catacombs, mines, nuclear waste facilities and the hidden underbelly of every forest. It was fascinating. And fundamentally changed how I look at time.

Rejected Princesses - Jason Porath

After years of having enjoyed the web entries, I finally got my hands on the first book and was not disappointed.

There are the more entertaining entries, of course and the art is as charming as always, but what struck me the most were the more difficult stories. The deeper you go into this book, the more horrific it gets. The author does not hold back on the indignities suffered by the historical figures he writes about. It’s terrible...but also very, very illuminating.

The Gift of Fear - Gavin De Becker

This book - while maintaining all the essential information in it - could be pared down to one sentence in a sea of blank pages and that sentence would be: trust your instincts. End of story.

But in a world where instincts are either customarily suppressed or going haywire, it’s not quite that easy, which is why I’m glad there is more to the book.

I picked it up thinking “ha ha, betcha can’t help a person with anxiety who fears all the time already” and...what it actually ended up doing was giving me the tools to differentiate between real fear and unfounded fear. And did help with the anxiety quite a bit.

Fanfiction

Watch Over Me - cakeisatruth

A Bioshock fic from the point of view of a little sister who is learning how to trust and be an ordinary child again. Dark and sweet. An excellent combo.

All That is Visible - Ultima_Thule

An exploration of a minor character in a well researched historical context? That’s my jam! How did they know?? A Tron fic about what it’s like to be a female programmer in the 70s.

Graphic Novels

The Adventure Zone - McElroys + Carey Pietsch

Yesssssssss! It was a running-to-the-library type event whenever my library got a new volume in. The jokes are so good, the art is so lively and the ways in which they added the details that the podcast couldn’t necessarily get across is *mwah*

Trail of Blood - Shuuzou Oshimi

Hoooooooly shit, the art style of this one!! It’s beautifully detailed and expressive, sure, but the real draw for me was how it changes with the emotional state of the main character. There’s this sequence in which he’s consumed with anxiety at school and all of his classmates become blurry and unfocused, until they can’t be recognized as humans at all, that particularly sticks with me.

It’s a horror story about a kid who witnesses his loving mother push his cousin off a cliff for seemingly no reason and is then obligated by her to keep the secret, which is eating him from the inside out. It’s so good, guys, please read it.

Level Up - Gene Lien Yang/Thien Pham

A story about a kid who is haunted by his late father’s desire for him to become a gastroenterologist. It’s funny and touching and the ending gave me what I can only describe as a feeling of exhilaration. Y’know that feeling when something unexpected but not out of left field, perfectly in tune with the narrative arc and gut bustingly funny happens, all in the same panel? That one.

Film

Searching

This is a fairly standard thriller about a dad trying to find out what happened to his missing daughter. It’s also found footage...but not in the usual way, which was what made it so compelling to me. It’s told through the dad’s phone calls, google searches, social media interactions, news footage, security cameras and webcams. It was such a cool way to tell a story.

Train to Busan

There’s a lot that’s already been said about this movie and I don’t think there’s much more I can meaningfully add to that. Suffice to say that ya gotta take care of each other if you’re going to survive a zombie apocalypse!!

TV Series

My Brother’s Husband

As close to a perfect adaptation as a person can get (barring the entire conversation in English which was...oof). I was so happy when they took it a step further and showed Kana and Yaichi actually getting to meet Mike’s family.

Zumbo’s Just Desserts

I watched a lot of baking shows this year. Like...a lot. They were my much-needed comfort viewing for the year and this one was my favorite, even over The Great British Baking Show (which I LOVE). Why? Because the pastry chef for whom it’s named makes such bizarre and wonderful desserts and fosters an environment in which the competitors do the same. I’ve never seen anything like a lot of the desserts that make an appearance on this show. Every single episode was an awesome surprise and so help me, this show had better get a third season.

She-ra and the Princesses of Power

There’s also a lot that’s been said about this one, so I won’t say much more. Suffice to say: DAMN. That’s how you do an 80s toy tie-in cartoon remake.

Infinity Train

This show’s premise is probably the most unique I’ve seen in recent years. Its balance of comedy, horror and existential dread is also *mwah* I also love how much it trusts the viewer to figure things out on their own.

Primal

A late entry sliding in before the year ends! I finally got to watch the second half of the first season last weekend and it was EXCELLENT. The pacing, the brutal fight scenes, the adorable dinosaur antics, the animation, the quiet moments - *mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah-mwah*

The most emotional moment for me was the part in which the protagonists watch, with sorrow, as the rabid dinosaur who’s been trying to kill them all night dies an excruciating death.

Also it sets up a fascinating new plotline right before ending in a cliffhanger!! Another one for the ‘had better get a next season’ list.

Games

Night in the Woods

This is one that’s been on my to play list for a few years and I was so glad I finally got my hands on it. It’s like...The Millennial Experience (TM), the game. I felt so seen, playing it. The character writing was fantastic.

Prey

I don’t know why I put off finishing this for so long. I guess I wasn’t in the right alien killing headspace for a while?? Anyway, the setting is gorgeous, the alien biology is weird and cool, the ethics are delightfully murky and the interconnectedness of the station was really cool, especially in the OH SHIT moments at the end.

Podcasts

The Adventure Zone

I tried to narrow this down to one favorite arc, but found that I couldn’t do it. I love Balance for its comedy and creative energy. I love Amnesty for its drama and acting. I am loving Graduation for the depth of its world and the way in which the real story behind everything that’s happened is slowly unfurling. It’s a good podcast all around.

The Magnus Archives

Who obsessively listened to every single season while playing Minecraft in about a month? Surely not me, nooooo. Of course not.

There’s also been a lot said on this one, so I’ll keep it brief. I’ve seen things in here that I haven’t really seen elsewhere in horror. My particular favorites were the creepy psychiatric hospital in which the horror comes not from the patients, but from the denial of the doctor to believe them about their mental illnesses and every single thing related to the Anthropocene. The one with the Amazonian village made out of trash - CHILLS.

#tma #taz #prey 2017 #night in the woods #infinity train #warlock holmes #she-ra #zumbo's just desserts #a thought

10 notes · View notes

lizartgurl · 3 years

Text

"The Little Atlantean" (Kaldur x OC)

(part one) (part two) (part three) (part four) (part five) (part six) (part seven) (part eight) (part nine) PART TEN

Tula was glad that Princess Emma appreciated the water. That gave her and La'gaan a chance to catch up with Garth and play matchmaker for Kaldur.

Emma rowed the boat out to the middle of the hidden lagoon, separated from the beach by the hills that were so tall they were almost mountains. The moon shone on the still waters, disturbed only by their little boat. "My parents used to take me and Richard out here when we were little. It's private and quiet. No one else has ever found it."

Kaldur dipped his hand in the water. It was cool and soothing. He made the sign to Emma again.

"Yes," she said, her eyes not leaving him, "Yes it is."

"Why haven't they kissed yet?" La'gaan whined. "Kaldur's only got one more sunset!"

"She doesn't even know his name," Tula sighed.

"And how is she supposed to? He sold his voice for a pair of dunt legs!" That was still a sore spot for Garth. Of course he would be more upset over Kaldur losing his voice than he was the possibility of Kaldur losing his soul. Tula loved her cousin dearly, he was her closest friend. She wouldn't be able to bear it if she lost him to the Ocean Master.

If it came down to that, Tula would be willing to trade her life for his.

Garth's constant complaining gave Vulko an idea. "That's it! What they need's a serenade! A little romantic music!"

"I appreciate the sentiment, Vulko, but I am completely without my orchestra at the moment." Garth huffed.

Vulko had no intention of using Garth's traditional orchestra. He flew over to a branch sticking out over the lagoon and began to sing. Loudly, and very, very poorly.

Tula and La'gaan dove under the water, but that only amplified the noise.

Garth had enough of everyone else botching things up more than they already were. Vulko's attempts to help made poor Kaldur cringe, and Emma was ready to turn around and go home. Back to her legion of nosy, noisy siblings, and back to that chef that was fully intent on chopping him up and serving him to the royal family. He'd much prefer to stay away from the palace as long as possible.

A sudden breeze picked up, humming through the reeds at the lagoon's edge, and several of the lagoon natives- some turtles and ducks- peered out to see what was causing the ruckus this late.

Garth got an idea.

Thinking quickly, he scurried up the tree and clamped his claw over Vulko's beak.

"Please. We've got to create the right mood." He snapped off a nearby twig and tapped it on the branch to make sure it was sturdy enough.

Kaldur and Emma had both relaxed now that the screeching had been silenced, but they were still far from any romantic mood.

Garth hopped down to a log and waved the ducks and turtles forward. "Percussion?" He whispered.

The turtles had been watching the strange sea creatures since they arrived, and were eager to help. They offered their shells to the ducks, who began to create a smooth beat.

"Strings!" Garth invited the crickets to join. As they began humming along, Garth snapped off the tops of some of the reds, whistling in the wind. Now this was something he could help with.

Emma rested her oars as the sounds of night began to replace the cacophony. "You know," she twisted the fabric of her skirt in her hands, "I feel really bad that I don't know your name," she chuckled lamely.

"Thank you," Tula whispered, surfacing behind some lilypads as Garth continued to lead his makeshift orchestra.

"Let me try and see if I can guess it," She leaned back on her bench, tapping her cheek. "Is it Malcolm?"

He involuntarily made a face, and Emma had to laugh.

"Okay not that, not that," she held up her hands in surrender, "What about Bartholomew?"

He shook his head.

"Garfield?" Kaldur thought she was purposely guessing terrible names just for his reactions.

"Kaldur, his name is Kaldur!" Tula's tail splashed loudly.

Emma looked around, searching for what had made the sound, but Tula had dived again. "Kaldur?" She asked.

Surprised, he nodded, leaning forward.

"Kaldur," Emma repeated, "That's a beautiful name."

Kaldur smiled. He had been named after his father.

"Okay," Emma took his hand, leaning forward to meet him, "Kaldur."

Garth held his breath. The music of nature began to swell from his excited motions. Kaldur and Princess Emma were moving closer together. Their eyes met, and their lips were nearly touching. Vulko opened his mouth to sing again, but Garth clamped it shut.

And then the boat tipped over.

Emma and Kaldur splashed into the water. Kaldur wanted desperately to cry out her name, would he be able to pull Emma back to the surface again if they started to drown?

"Kaldur!" Emma grabbed him by the shoulder. He looked up. She was standing on the water.

"Don't worry, it's shallow here," Kaldur latched onto her arm and let her pull him to his feet.

"Are you okay?" Emma asked. "I have no idea how it happened, but it was probably my fault. Now where are those oars?" Emma splashed about, searching for the oars around the overturned boat. Garth's little orchestra had scattered. The moment was over. Soaking wet, the two rowed back to shore.

Stephanie burst into laughter as they entered the ballroom, dripping muddy lagoon water on the otherwise pristinely clean marble floor. The blue banners were strung through the room, and the lily vases stood on either side of the columns. It looked perfect.

"I thought I told you to stay safe?" Duke teased.

"We did! We just decided to go for a swim instead." Emma jutted out her chin.

Talia sighed and took two of the leftover banners, wrapping one around each of them in an attempt to dry them off somewhat.

"Alfred is still watching the twins. Richard? Would you and Jason be so kind as to help our friend back to his rooms?"

"It's Kaldur," Emma said as Talia spun her towards the ballroom doors.

"How'd you find out his name?" Mara asked.

Emma shrugged, "I guessed."

Kaldur nodded.

"Very well then. Boys, take- Kaldur, was it?- To his rooms please." Talia hurried Emma out of the Ballroom, whispering to her urgently.

"We fell out of the rowboat and into the lagoon," Emma said, "Nothing scandalous, I promise."

"Good." Talia said.

"I mean, even if there was, with the way you've been throwing us at each other I would have thought you wouldn't mind-"

"Emma!" Talia scolded, "Tomorrow you will be queen. I have encouraged your friendship with Kaldur because I thought it would make you happy and cement your claim as Queen, not break it to pieces!"

"If you doubt me that much, why not let Bella be queen? Or wait for Damian to be old enough? That's obviously what your father would prefer."

Talia's lips thinned. "My father is not the king of Gotham, Emma. And I hope that he never will be. The last thing I want to do is give him that opportunity. I will not let Damian and Athanasia be manipulated the way I was."

"But it's okay for me, because I'm not your blood daughter, right?"

"Emma," Talia shut the door to Emma's suite and gripped her shoulder, "You could tell right away what Ra's was up to. You had Bruce to teach you and to look up to. Damian and Athanasia will have none of that."

Talia had Emma sit on the bed with her. "Bruce adopted you, rather than simply take you on as a ward, because he knew you could be a great queen. He wanted you to be Queen of Gotham after him. You are stubborn, you are passionate, and you are kind. You won't let yourself be told what to do or how to do it by anyone, even Bruce or myself."

Emma's throat was tight as Talia spoke of Bruce. As she thought of everything he had taught her, from self-defense to courtly politics.

"I miss him." She finally whispered.

Talia hugged her, wet dress and all. "I do as well, my dear.

"He wanted nothing but the best for you. We both do."

Emma's voice caught in her throat as she thought back over her day. "Talia?"

"Hmm?" Talia sat back, brushing Emma's hair back behind her ear.

Emma took a deep breath. "I think I am in love with Kaldur."

Cassandra sat on the bed in front of Kaldur, holding up her fist.

"That's an 'A'." Mara said. She and Kaldur copied the symbols that Cass made with her hands, slowly leading Kaldur through the signs to spell out his name. Cass nodded with a small smile as he succeeded.

Tim sat on the chair, still reading his book. Though the boys had been the ones asked to help Kaldur to his room, with nothing else to do, the girls soon followed. Usually they would all help each other prepare for bed, but since Talia and Emma were having a lengthy mother-daughter heart-to-heart, they settled for the next most exciting thing. Duke and Richard helped Kaldur place all the trinkets they had purchased from the market around the room, whether hanging the suncatcher in the window or folding the scarf in the drawer.

"It's a lot of fun having you here, Kal. Can I call you Kal?" Stephanie asked, stretching across Cass's lap like a cat. She didn't look for an answer.

The door swung open, and Talia swept into the room like a hurricane.

"Bedtime, my dears. I need to speak with Kaldur. Alone."

Though reluctant, the children left one by one. Kaldur stood, and bowed to greet the Queen Mother.

"How was your day, Kaldur? I trust you enjoyed your time with Emma?"

Kaldur nodded, unable to conceal his smile. Talia smiled in return.

"I am certain you know that Emma will be crowned Queen tomorrow, and with that comes certain...responsibilities."

Kaldur's legs felt like jelly. He didn't like where this was going.

Talia stopped at the window, and looked down into the gardens. She gave a soft chuckle, and then noticed the suncatcher.

"My husband gave me one of these when we began courting," she said softly, losing her train of thought.

She saw Kaldur watching her intently, and cleared her throat.

"Emma will be queen. Her father and I made sure of that. The only thing we cannot ensure is that her claim to the throne will stay secure, or that she will have the support that she needs when we are no longer here to help her."

She looked at Kaldur with a sadness he did not understand.

"I have to know, if I allow you to court Emma, that you will be prepared for the pressures of ruling the Kingdom of Gotham. That you will commit to stay by her side for better or worse."

Kaldur's heart began to beat so fast that he lost track of the individual beats. He tried to take deep breaths and clear his mind. Cassandra and Mara had begun to teach him signs, but nothing that would clearly communicate "I am a prince of Atlantis. I have been training for this since birth. And I will go to the ends of the seven seas to make sure that Queen Emma has the support that she needs."

He gestured to the window, pointing out at the water.

"The sea?" Talia asked, not quite understanding.

Kaldur shook his head, and pointed again.

"Across the sea?" Talia had helped raise eleven children. She could be patient with Kaldur for ten minutes.

Kaldur looked around the room for anything else he could use to explain himself. He pointed to the crown carved in the back of the chair Tim had coveted, and to his own head.

Talia's eyes went wide. "You are a Prince?" She gasped. Her eyes darted back out the window, "your kingdom must be across the sea."

Not quite what he was going for, but he'd take it. At last he saw what Talia had been watching outside. Emma was in the garden below, wrapped in a cloak, pacing back and forth.

Talia placed a hand on his shoulder, "She will be fine, she is simply nervous for tomorrow. But it will bring her great joy to know that you would like to court her."

Kaldur's heart soared. He still had one more sunset.

He would be able to stay human forever.

#lizart writes #tlm au #kaldur'ahm #aqualad #kaldur x oc #aqualad x oc #my ocs #nightingale

1 note · View note

psychovigilantewrites · 4 years

Text

Chapter 12- The Dark King

Word Count: 10, 700

Ao3

TW: Mentions of rape, abuse, violence

A/N: Thank you guys for your kind comments and support so far! I really love the enthusiasm and your responses!

I also wanted to share these amazing fanart!!

by @nessieusagi

by @milas-imaginarium

I think they’re so lovely and it makes me so happy seeing all of this!

Masterlist

Ko-Fi

The first thing you felt when you woke up the next morning was the burning soreness between your thighs.

You winced when you reached down to touch your tender folds. Your labia minora was slightly swollen, and you felt something sticky. You withdrew your hand to see dark red oxidized blood.

You got up from bed, flinching as you walked to your bathroom to wash up. After a quick shower, you head out but paused when you caught your own reflection in the mirror. There were bruises on your waist and your hips, a double crescent shaped marking around your left nipple- you hadn’t even realise he bit you there in the heat. Your eyes then darted towards your neck, taking in the dark spots that had formed on the surface of your skin.

“Fucking hell,” you muttered.

You were a fucking mess. Anyone who saw you would immediately know what you were up to the night before. Even washed and clean, you could make out your slightly swollen lips.

You reached for your makeup bag and started covering up the visible remains of the assault you welcomed- before pausing in realisation.

Mother was quiet. She hadn’t made a single comment about how dirty you were.

And you didn’t feel dirty either.

You saw your own lips quirk up in a smirk as you craned your head to expose your neck even more to dab on concealer. You had just finished getting dressed when you heard a knock on your door.

“ Hey, you up?” you heard Dick’s muffled voice from outside.

You didn’t bother to reply, but went to open the door for him.

You stared at him, as he stared at you.

“You look like shit,” you snickered, then stepped aside to allow him inside.

His eyes were red and puffy, with dark circles underneath them. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days and the fact that his complexion was gray and pale added on to the “looks like death” look.

“I feel like shit,” he groaned. You sat on the chair near your desk as he helped himself to your bed.

“Are you okay?” he frowned in concern.

“I’m fine. Why?”

“You’re walking funny,” he narrowed his eyes at you.

Shit.

You had tried to walk as normally as you could, but you were naive to think that you could have fooled Dick.

“Oh!” you feigned realisation, “My foot hurts a bit. I think I twisted it yesterday when I ran up the stairs.”

Fuck.

Another blunder.

It wasn’t a half truth, it was a straight up lie, and you knew how good Dick was at detecting lies. Judging from the tightening of his lips and the scrutinizing pause, he saw straight through you. You remained silent for a few moments. Then-

“So, Bruce told you, right?” Dick changed the subject, “How did you take it?”

You relaxed.

“I didn’t know him,” you reminded, “So it was more like a surprise to me, you know? I didn’t think it was possible. Then everything just made sense. Like, mind blowingly. The shit he said to me, the familiarity with the gadgets and my uniform, the kidnapping.”

“It killed him, you know?” Dick brought up, “Bruce, I mean. When he saw those bruises Red Hood- no, Jason- left on you. He probably didn’t show much, but Alfred called and told me how badly he took it.”

Suddenly, you were hyper aware of the hickies you currently had hidden on your neck, as if they were burning into your skin.

“Well, that was Todd’s plan, I suppose,” you shrugged. It still felt weird to talk about him in the context of the present.

“It worked,” Dick nodded, “Bruce was messed up. You’re his daughter after all.”

You didn’t know how to respond to his sad smile, so you changed the subject.

“So did you yell at him?” you smirked, “For keeping it a secret for so long?”

“Yell at him? I punched him,” he revealed.

“In the face?” you gasped.

“Wouldn’t be the first time,” he muttered, looking away.

“How long will you be staying?” you asked.

“I’m taking a week off work. If nothing by then, I’ll go back, but will continue to drop by as much as I can.”

“Anything last night?” you questioned.

“No,” he sighed, “We tried to look for people to interrogate, but it wasn’t our luck. We’ll try again. We’ve been checking out Bruce’s safehouses as well since he never removed Jason’s security clearance so he could be using one of them. So far nothing, though.”

You felt like a dark mass inside of you was eating you up, drowning you in guilt and shame.

While they were out desperately looking for Jason the night before, you knew exactly where he was and who he was doing.

“You’ll find him eventually,” you offered, “And when this stupid suspension is over, I’ll be there to help as well.”

“Yeah,” he hummed, “Jason… I want to help him. Save him. He’s angry, and you know what? I get it. I get why he’s pissed.”

So Dick got it?

He got that it was your fucking fault? That you were Jason’s replacement?

He got why Jason fucking hated you?

Dick must have noticed the change in your expression, because he quickly added, “I meant Bruce. How Bruce let Joker go.”

“Yeah, I got that,” you recovered, “It’s fine.”

“Sure, Bruce beat Joker up and all that, but I felt that Jason was always the type to think that the ends justify the means. He valued the intentions more than the action itself-”

“I said it’s fine, Dick,” you cut him off.

“And of course it does not in any way justify what he did to you-”

“Dick,” you grit, “It’s fine.”

He looked at you warily.

Or was it pity?

You didn’t need or want his fucking pity.

“Anyway,” he got up, “Breakfast?”

“Sure,” you followed suit, willing yourself to not grimace at the shooting pain between your thighs that you had forgotten about.

The two of you made your way downstairs to have breakfast in the dining room, table already set by Alfred.

“Bruce?” you asked Dick, wondering where your father was.

“He’s been in the cave the whole night,” Dick frowned as he took a seat across from you, “Hadn’t slept a wink.”

“I see,” you acknowledged, while you piled your plate with bacon and eggs.

“So,” Dick started with his mouth full, “Where did you go last night?”

“Did Alfred tell you I went out?” you narrowed your eyes.

“Mhmm.”

You immediately started to get more cautious.

“I went to see someone,” you casually told him, trying your best to lower your heartbeat.

“Oh, was it that guy you were seeing?”

“Yup.”

“You never told me his name.”

You swallowed.

“Carter.”

“Carter?” he snickered.

“What’s wrong with Carter?” you feigned a defensive stance.

“Nothing wrong,” he tried to stifle his laughter, “So is Carter the reason why you’re walking funny?”

You did not expect that.

You were going to gasp in shock, but you had food in your mouth, so you ended up choking on it and going into a coughing fit.

“Dick!” you hacked violently, eyes streaming with tears.

“What?” he guffawed, “Oh, God. Are you okay?”

“Why would you say that?” you reached for the glass of juice.

“I need to know whether I gotta have a stern talking with some guy,” he laughed, “It was an honest question! Come on, I’m your brother.”

“Even more reason not to discuss these things!” you grimaced.

“Hey, if you’re old enough to do it, you’re old enough to talk about it,” he said smugly.

“It’s none of your business,” you protested, blushing furiously.

But the universe was a bitch.

Against all your luck, your phone that you had set on the table dinged.

You looked at Dick, and he looked at you, mischief glinting in his eyes.

You had been Robin for a long time, and while your reflexes were good, it still wasn’t as good as Dick’s.

Before you could reach for your phone, Dick had lunged for it, snatching it away mere moments before you could react.

“Dick, give it back!” you panicked, jumping across the table to catch swipe it back, causing a commotion.

He stood up tall, keeping the phone out of your reach.

“Oooh, Sexy Hunk From Library, huh?” he read out the notification on your lock screen. You put in a mental reminder to change your settings later.

“Thought of my proposal?” he read out loud, skipping away from you.

Fuck.

If Jason sent anything else, he’d expose himself.

“Proposal?” Dick continued, “What proposal? Did he ask you to marry him?”

You could tackle him. You couldn’t beat Dick but you could perhaps make him drop your phone.

“Or,” he gasped, “Is he into BDSM? Fifty Shades of Grey stuff? He’s getting you to sign a contract, isn’t-”

“How about instead of distracting yourself and using humor as a coping mechanism for your obvious grief and anger, you come to the terms and accept the fact that it was your fucking little brother who kidnapped and sexually assaulted me?” you spat with venom.

You saw the moment Dick registered your words, the way his smile fell, his teasing eyes darkened, his jaw clench and his back stiffened.

Dick had never looked at you the way he did then, and suddenly you felt small in his presence, the way Batman had always made you shrink away from his excessive aura of authority that he projected while he scrutinized you.

You felt like a dark veil covered the sun, and wanted the ground to open up and swallow you whole as he looked at you with dark eyes.

“Dick-”

“You’re right,” he grit, “Thanks for the slap in the face.”

“I’m sorry-” you tried.

“Clean up the mess you made,” he cut you off before leaving you alone with spilled juice and bacon bits on the floor.

You were never the clingy type.

You never really missed anyone because you never had anyone to miss. The maids and nannies in your childhood home rotated frequently so that you couldn’t get attached to them. Looking back, you were sure your parents did it on purpose.

It was only when you started giving full trust to your new family that you knew how it felt to miss someone.

And it had always been Dick, since you had gotten close to him and he wasn’t around much. You always had a good relationship with him, and he never once got angry at you or looked at you the way he did.

And now, it was Dick you had hurt.

But frankly, you didn’t care.

Because he deserved it.

***

It wasn’t like Jason was hoping for you to agree, but it was part of his plan so he couldn’t help but hope.

At least, that’s what he was telling himself.

He was sitting at his dining table- the fact that he owned a dining table sort of made him pleased with himself- cleaning his guns.

It took you almost an hour before you finally replied his text.

When Jason heard the ding, he looked to his screen to read the notification.

I’m still thinking.

He frowned, then put his gun down. He wiped his hand stained with grease and gunpowder residue on his bare chest, leaving a trail of gray on the surface of his skin before picking up his phone to reply.

Think faster. he simply sent.

He saw that you immediately started typing back.

These things take planning, Jason. I need to make sure no one can identify me if I were to go out with you. It’s not the matter of whether or not I can decide, it’s the matter of whether or not I’m capable of eluding Batman once he sees a surveillance footage of me with you.

Jason smirked. Evidently, you were agitated.

He liked that.

He liked agitating you.

You’re a smart girl. You can figure it out. he replied and went back to cleaning his weapons when you didn’t text him back.

Two hours later, his phone dinged again.

Fine. Where do we meet?

Jason smiled widely at his success.

Meet me at 7th Dillon Avenue, Coventry. I’ll be in the alley between the old tailor shop and a thrift store. 11pm sharp.

Noted.

Oh, and babygirl? he sent again.

What?

Put on that lip gloss you always wear. he replied with a kissing emoji he knew would get under your skin.

***

I don’t exist for him.

I don’t care what he thinks.

I don’t want to please him.

You repeated to yourself again and again as you stared at your reflection in the mirror, the tube of clear lipgloss you always wore held tight in your shaking fist.

After knowing he wanted you to wear it, you were suddenly torn between putting it on or not. You didn’t think something as stupid and simple as that could drive you up the wall.

You were frowning at yourself, at how idiotic you were being.

You were already ready, wearing a tight black suit made from Kevlar thread underneath black armor, your hair out of your face, and steel toed combat boots on complete with black leather gloves you usually wore during winter. The only weapons you were bringing were a pair of escrima sticks strapped to your back, your grappling gun strapped to your upper thigh, and a small knife strapped below it. Your belt only had smoke bombs. You were ready to leave, except for the lipgloss.

You groaned, and smacked it on anyway, hating yourself silently for listening to him.

You left your phone in your room, because you knew that Bruce could track your movements with it and deactivating your GPS and whatever bug he used would be more suspicious.

You managed to sneak past Alfred and head to the garage, thankful that both Bruce and Dick were already out, and chose the most normal looking motorcycle available and slapping black duct tape on the number plate to cover it up.

You thought about how your core would just sting while riding a motorcycle. The pain between your legs had lessened, but it was still sore enough to make your movements odd and stiff.

You left the manor with your heart beat racing, thinking of how you were betraying the man who took you in and loved you.

The man whom you called your father.

The streets in Coventry were dark and empty at that time. The only shops that were open were a couple of empty dodgy bars and convenience stores. You and Batman sometimes would patrol the area because it was such a perfect place for crime to happen. For some reason, it was so empty that even criminals hardly ever targeted anyone in the area save a few residents.

You hurriedly zoomed into the alley that Jason had told you. Both the tailor shop and thrift store were closed. You immediately saw him leaning against a black, sleek classic car, helmet resting on the hood. It was your first time seeing him as Red Hood after discovering his identity.

And the image ignited a fire in your belly.

You parked next to him and switched your engine off, taking off your own black motorcycle helmet.

You walked towards him and stopped a few feet away, arms crossed.

He looked at you, up and down. Then-

“Very homemade. I like it. Black suits you better,” he drawled. “You’re packing light tonight.”

“I had to be careful,” you reminded him, “I couldn’t take much weapons. He would have noticed.”

“I didn’t know you used those,” he nodded at the escrima sticks on your back.

“Dick taught me how to use them,” you explained, “My fighting style is too rigid- Bruce would recognize it if he saw me fight next to you. I’m not as familiar with the escrima sticks, so I haven’t developed a style yet. It could throw him off- hopefully.”

“Hmm,” he hummed, and started walking towards you. You refused to budge. He came close to you and grabbed you by the hips, pulling you close against his chest.

Your breath hitched, but you willed yourself to not show any sort of reaction.

“And this?” he breathed, hands snaking up your waist, rubbing the material up and down, “Kevlar armor?”

“Zylon,” you mumbled, ignoring the growing heat between your legs, “It’s six times stronger than Kevlar.”

“And he wouldn’t notice this go missing?”

“It’s stored away,” you huffed, “It’s more like a bulletproof vest rather than a suit. He wouldn’t miss it. Not the way he would miss the tech he used on the Robin suit.”

“Impressive,” he whispered, his warm breath fanning your face. He started caressing your cheek gently. It could have been a romantic gesture, but for some reason you thought that it was more threatening. “You’re even wearing contacts to change the color of your eyes. See? I knew you were smart”

“That’s a given,” you scoffed, looking sideways. Anywhere to avoid his eyes, though he was wearing a red domino mask with white lens. “Why do you even wear a mask if you already have a helmet?”

“Why did you wear your lipgloss when you had no obligation to listen to me?” he smirked, his thumb pressed on your shiny lips.

You slapped his hand away and looked at him in defiance as you put on a black bandana over your nose and mouth, tying it behind your head to give you a sense of protected identity.

He chuckled, and let you go.

“This is our rendezvous point. If anything happens, we meet back here. Now hop in,” he walked towards his car.

“Why can’t I take my own vehicle?” you demanded.

“Because I want you next to me,” he grinned, and put on his helmet. The minute it rested on his head, you saw it activate, the white glowing eyes switched on and you heard the very soft sound of his electronic breaths.

You frowned.

It was state of the art tech. You knew it must have had additional features like night vision and zoom lenses, not unlike the one you owned. You wondered where or how he had procured it.

“If that’s your only reason, then I’m taking my bike,” you defied.

He was already going to enter the driver’s seat when he stopped midway. He turned to look at you, and for some reason, it made you shudder.

In a flash, he was already behind you, taking your arms to incapacitate you and slammed your front onto the hood of his car.

He was unbelievably fast- you couldn’t believe that they were human reflexes. It must have been a result of the Lazarus Pit that Bruce briefed you on.

He bent over you, a hand in your hair forcing your head down against the warm car.

“Don’t get too cocky, baby girl,” he cautioned, “I still don’t trust you enough.”

You had to admit that the vulnerable position you were in sort of made your pussy clench.

“Fine,” you conceded, “I’ll go with you.”

You felt the pressure disappear and heard the car door slam. You grumbled and rubbed your cheek, before following suit.

Just because you knew it was Jason, you had let your guard down. You forgot how unstable he actually was. You made a mental reminder to be more cautious of his mood bursts.

You slammed the door shut. The interior of the car looked just as sleek as the exterior, with black leather seats- the passenger and driver’s seat were joined together- and an old school cassette player with nothing playing. The car was spacious and looked like a collector’s car. Again, you were left to wonder where he got it.

“Where are we going?” you asked, looking out the window, trying to avoid how sexy his arms looked when he gripped the steering wheel.

How could arms even be sexy?

“We’re heading to iClub,” he stated.

“On Verne Avenue? The one owned by the Ibenescus’?” you frowned, “They still a problem for you?”

“Big operation. Proud family,” he huffed, “International business. Yes, they’re a problem. They’ve been trying to hide it from me, but my men say they’re still active.”

“So what are you going to do about it?”

You felt uneasy.

“Just have a little talk with Victor,” he shrugged, “He’s in charge of the operations now after the Patru Fatri, and the cousins. He’s more distant from the main family, but an Ibenescu nonetheless.”

“Well, I hope the club doesn’t check IDs,” you mumbled jokingly to yourself.

To your surprise, you heard Jason bark out a loud laugh. It was an odd sound coming from the voice scrambler inside his helmet.

“Don’t worry, sweetheart,” he rested a hand on your lap, which you felt almost burn, “You look way over 21.”

*** What Gotham lacked in security, it made up with entertainment.

Theatrics.

Its affinity for producing and attracting bizarre individuals always made for good dinner discussion. You just never thought you would be on the side of the crazies.

Jason had parked a couple of blocks away from the club. You recognized the area, as it was just a lane away from The Black Bass Bar, where Jason had decapitated the cousins and put their heads on spikes.

The two of you walked towards the club.

“Listen here,” he started, “This isn’t your area of expertise. You do exactly what I tell you to do. You don’t open your mouth unless I say so. I’ve worked hard to earn fear from these people and I’m not going to let you fuck that up for me. Understood?”

“Whatever,” you huffed.

You noticed how the bouncers started getting nervous when they saw the two of you approaching. They had started to sweat and fidget, trying excessively hard to focus on filtering the going ins and outs of guests.

“Red Hood, sir,” one of them nodded and let the two of you inside. The moment you stepped in, you felt like you were immediately deafened by the loud techno music that was playing, and blinded by the flashing bright lights.

You noticed how many of the customers recognized Red Hood, and flinched away from him, avoiding eye contact. Their gaze would linger longer on you, curiosity in their eyes.

The both of you squeezed past the sweaty dancers on the floor, and towards the VIP area on the other side of the club.

Seated on the long suede purple sofas were three men, each with at least two women on their arms. The moment they saw you approaching, they immediately went rigid.

Red Hood simply strutted to the area and you followed behind him.

“Ah, Red Hood,” the man with straw hair that was slicked back and navy blue shirt that he had left unbuttoned, revealing his hairy chest, greeted. “Take a seat, take a seat! I see you have a guest with you, as well.”

“Victor,” Red Hood nodded, sitting on the chair. He crossed his legs and spread his arms across the back of the sofa, lounging comfortably. He looked over to you and nodded to his side, silently telling you to sit.

You obeyed, though less relaxed than Red Hood. It was slightly quieter at the VIP lounge, but you still had to strain your ears to hear them speak.

“Can I get you a drink, my friend?” Victor offered, “Maybe something for the lady?”

“You want anything, princess?” Red Hood turned to you.

“No, thank you,” you grit.

You hated that he was calling you pet names while in the presence of a crime lord. It was humiliating, and made you feel like you were just an accessory to him, not unlike those hardly dressed girls that were on Victor’s side.

You noticed one of them.

He had his arm wrapped around her waist, but she looked extremely uncomfortable. She was blonde, wearing a black dress with a plunging neckline, and didn’t look that much older than you. Even with the layers of badly applied makeup, you could tell she had eyebags and dark circles, perhaps maybe even bruises on her face.

“Angelica,” Victor called a girl from the other end of the sofa, “Come here give my friend some company.”

The girl called Angelica had tanned skin and exotic features, and was a brunette with curls that hung to her hips and was wearing a body hugging deep purple glittery tube dress. She came to sit on Red Hood’s other side, snuggling up close to him and started rubbing her hand on his thigh, and whispered something that you couldn’t hear.

And he just let her.

You clenched your jaw.

No, you couldn’t be jealous. It didn’t make sense for you to be. Yet, the sudden tightness of your chest said otherwise.

You saw Red Hood angled his face slightly towards you, probably to see your reaction.

You couldn’t see it, but you somehow knew he was smirking.

“So what brings you here?” Victor asked, trying to hide his nervousness.

It was the first time you met with an Ibenescu face to face. You thought that they would have a thick accent, but Victor sounded just as American as you and Red Hood.

“I was just wondering how things were going on your end,” Red Hood shrugged.

“Things are going excellent,” he replied, “As you can see, the club is doing great. People are enjoying themselves.”

“And the drugs?” Red Hood brought up.

“Ah, straight to business, like always,” Victor chuckled, “We’ve sold almost all our stock this month. You can come by and get your share of profits any time.”

“Who are your clients?”

“Local distributors, as well as some international ones,” he explained, “With explicit instruction to avoid dealing with the underaged, of course.”

“And how can you be so sure they’re listening?” Red Hood demanded.

“You know us, Red Hood,” he boasted, “The Ibenescu Family is one of the most powerful families in Gotham. Our name is very well known in the underground. We have people everywhere. Our operations span from the Americas, to Europe, to South East Asia.”

“And which operation did you come from, sweetheart?” he addressed the girl next to him.

She looked at him with shock, gaping like a fish out of water.

“Angelica here is from the Philippines,” Victor answered for her, his voice grittier than normal, “She migrated to find work. I provided for her. Isn’t that right, Angel?”

“Y-yes, sir,” she stuttered, “Mister Victor has been very good to me. He gave me a job when others wouldn’t. I am forever grateful for him.”

You frowned at the way she recited those words, almost like she memorized it from a playcard.

“The American dream, as the say,” Victor continued, “My family are very familiar with it. We are immigrants that came a long time ago, and America provided for us. I wanted to do the same for others.”

“Did you now?” Red Hood hummed.

“Of course,” he nodded aggressively, “But enough about me. Who is this ravishing lady you have here? I have not seen you before, my dear.”

You looked at Red Hood, who nodded subtly once.

“I’m V,” you made up on the spot.

“V?” Victor repeated.

“For Vendetta,” you finished.

You heard Red Hood chuckle next to you.

Victor raised an eyebrow, “Well, my dear, you must be special to my good friend Red Hood, here. I didn’t think he was capable of laughter. Where did he hide you all this while?”

“Ah, you see, Victor,” Red Hood cut in, “I did not hide her, because she isn’t mine to hide. V here is her own person, who happened to become partners with me for tonight. People only hide property, and women aren’t property, am I right?”

There was an unmistakable threat in his voice.

“Of course not,” Victor agreed, “I respect women.”

Suddenly, there was a tension in the air as the two men looked at each other.

Then, Victor started laughing.

“You’re too tense, Red Hood,” he boomed, “And you should trust your associates more. Especially the ones who sacrificed their entire industry for you.”

“Sacrifice, huh?” he said softly. Then, Red Hood turned his body towards you, scooting closer to your side. He let his hand rest on your thigh.

“You got my back, baby girl?” he whispered into your ear.

“Yes, but I’m not killing anyone,” you whispered back, “And you shouldn’t either.”

He ignored you and went back to Victor.

“Victor,” Red Hood said, “I’m feeling a little… Restless tonight. I want one of your girls.”

You clenched your jaw.

“Oh?” Victor widen his eyes, “Finally taking up my offer! Of course, of course! Pick anyone of my lovely ladies.”

“I want that one,” Red Hood pointed to the blonde Victor was obviously possessive over.

“Elena?” Victor started laughing awkwardly, “I’m afraid she’s not available, Red Hood. But you’re welcome to choose anyone else. Angel here is very popular.”

“No,” Red Hood insisted, “I want your Elena.”

“That’s not possible,” Victor denied, annoyance on his face, “Elena is only for me.”

“Well, since you respect women so much, let’s hear it from her, huh?” Red Hood teased, “Elena, sweetheart, would you keep me company tonight?”

Elena’s eyes were wide and terrified. She looked like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. You felt bad for her and wondered why Red Hood was putting her in such a difficult situation.

“I-I-I’m v-very sorry,” she squeaked. You could hear her thick Romanian accent. “I o-only serve Mister Ibenescu.”

“What, this clown?” Red Hood scoffed, earning a glare from Victor, “Unlike him, I’m sure I can give you a pretty good time.”

“S-sorry,” she stuttered, “T-that is not possible.”

Red Hood kept silent.

“There you go, the woman herself said it,” Victor commented, “And you’d want to respect a woman’s wishes right, Red Hood?”

“How old are you?” Red Hood asked softly, ignoring Victor.

“T-twenty-four,” she replied.

“You don’t look twenty-four,” he hummed, “How long have you been working with Victor?”

“Two years,” she automatically responded.

“I see,” he nodded.

You could tell she was lying, about both her age and how long she worked. And you knew Jason caught on as well.

Jason leaned back, taking out his gun from his thigh holster and casually dumped it on the low rise table, clinking against the glass bottles and shot glasses.

Ibenescu tensed up, and then there were about fifteen men who pointed their guns at the two you. You were about halfway standing up, reaching for your escrima sticks when Red Hood caught you by the shoulder to stop you.

You frowned at him, then sat back down.

You noticed that the music had suddenly stopped, and everyone in the club was silently looking, worry in their eyes and preparation to take off if anything were to get out of hand. You guessed that these sort of things happened frequently, and the club probably had a system for when it did.

“Relax, will you?” he growled at everyone, “Was just getting a little uncomfortable there, Jesus Christ.”

Victor nodded at his men, and they set their guns down. The music continued to play and the customers continued to dance as if nothing had happened.

You now knew what he was doing.

From the very beginning, he already planned out what he was going to say and what he was going to do in order to prepare for an inevitable fight. Based on observation, he knew that Elena was Victor’s favourite and that he would not let anyone touch her, so he provoked him by asking for her.

Asking Elena her age and how long she worked was also a calculated and pivotal move. Since both you and Red Hood could tell when someone was lying, the fact that she was indeed hiding what seemed to be minor information told volumes that she wasn’t supposed to be by Victor’s side, meaning that she wasn’t there by choice, and you could assume that she was trafficked.

From there, he confirmed his sources that Victor had not ended his human and sex trafficking trade, and had reasonable reason to attack.

And by putting the gun on the table, however he relaxed he seemed, was a massive power move. He showed that he wasn’t afraid of being unarmed- though, you knew he was probably packing more than one gun. Tactical wise, when Ibenescu’s men showed themselves, they also showed their numbers to you. You now knew where they were, what weapons they used, and how many of them you needed to take down.

You smirked to yourself underneath your improvised mask. You knew already how smart and strategic he was based on how he conquered the underground in only just a few months, but seeing him act in the flesh, you truly appreciated his brain.

“It almost seems like you’re scared of me, Victor,” he drawled, “Are you?”

“You did kill members of my family,” he mumbled.

“It was their fault now, wasn’t it?” Red Hood shrugged, “I told them to stop. They wouldn’t. Now, if you’re not as stupid as they were, Vic, you wouldn’t have to be scared, am I right?”

Red Hood leaned forward towards Victor, resting his elbows on his knees and tilting his head sideways.

“With all due respect, Red Hood, they were not stupid,” Victor argued, “They were simply protecting the pride of our name.”

“And how about you? You’re not protecting your family’s pride?”

“I prioritize my life over pride,” Ibenescu admitted, “And I respect you as Gotham’s Dark King.”

Dark King? What the fuck?

“Dark King,” Red Hood repeated, laughing lightly, “Got a nice ring to it, don’t you think, princess?”

He elbowed your side playfully.

“A bit cheesy for my taste,” you grit.

“Aw, the missus doesn’t like it. To be fair, I think it’s cheesy too,” he stated, “But you know what I don’t like even more, Victor?”

Victor frowned at him in question.

“I said,” Red Hood snarled, “You know what I don’t like even more, Victor?”

“W-what, Red Hood?” Victor sputtered.

“People who lie to me,” he growled.

In a blink of an eye, with the speed you had witnessed earlier and many times before, he had managed to stand up, reach for the gun on the table, jumped across and stepped on Victor’s chest who was leaning in panic against the sofa, and cocked the gun towards his head.

All before you could even register his initial movement.

The fifteen men aimed their semi-automatics at Red Hood, prepared to gun him down.

The music had stopped, and from your peripheral vision, you saw the crowd were ushered to the exit in chaos.

“If your men don’t put down their weapons, I’ll shoot,” Red Hood looked down at Victor.

“What is the point, Red Hood?” Victor defied, “You would kill me anyways. I might as well try to take you down with me.”

Red Hood paused for a moment. Then-

“Baby girl?”

You nodded. “Got it.”

The first person you attacked was the one pointing his gun to your back.

The sticks felt unfamiliar, yet refreshing.

You managed to knock him out before he could shoot at you, but by that time others were already pulling their triggers. You locked your next target.

You ran at him and slid on the floor, taking his knees out and simultaneously pushing him into the next person whom you used your stick to hit directly at the centre of his head.

But you could sense a gun being aimed at you, and you dived behind the sofa to use as a shield. You heard glass shattering around you, and on the floor you found someone’s dropped mobile phone. You reached for it, and with aggressive force, sent it spinning through the air and hit the culprit in the eye, blinding him.

You came out of hiding and lunged your sticks at his throat.

You spun around to grab the neck of a semi-automatic and directed it upwards, causing bullets to spray across the club.

Your ears heard nothing but ringing for the next minute.

You pounded onto the guard’s chest using your sticks, and ended the attack with a blow to his temples.

You had counted five, so you reacted quickly to lock on your next target, but when you came out of your adrenaline induced tunnel vision, you noticed everyone else were already lying on the floor.

During the time you knocked out five men, Red Hood had already killed ten.

And now, he was left with a sobbing, begging Victor Ibenescu who was on his knees on the glass covered floor.

“What should I do with you, Vic?” Red Hood drawled, “I’ve already gutted your cousins, put some of them on display. And it was a pretty display, wasn’t it?”

You approached them.

Out of the corner of your eye, you noticed a whimpering Elena who was in a fetal position against a toppled over sofa, terror in her eyes.

“P-please,” Victor stuttered, “I promise I’ll shut down the operation, for real this time!”

“I don’t give second chances, Vic,” he told him, “Now I’m just thinking about whether I have the time to skin you alive before the cops show up.”

“Red Hood,” you called out, “You don’t need to. The cops are already on the way- hell, Batman is probably a couple of minutes out. We should leave.”

“And leave him here unpunished?” he jabbed the gun into Vic’s head, causing him to recoil from the heat of the muzzle. “I don’t think so.”

“Red-”

“Elena!” Red Hood barked, “Come here. Now.”

You saw Elena struggle to get onto her feet and limped her way to you.

“What do you think, sweetheart?” Red Hood asked, “Should we leave him for the cops to find and deal with, or…”

He looked over to her and gently took her hand, handing her his own gun.

“Do you want to kill him?”

You gaped at Red Hood, just how Elena was.

“M-m-me?” she managed.

“Yes, you,” he confirmed.

“You can’t possibly make her-” you started.

“Don’t you think she’s the one who should decide what happens to him?” he cut you off.

Elena still looked shocked, and held the gun as if it was going to hurt her.

“Hey,” you approached her slowly, “You don’t have to. Once the police come, they’ll take him away and put him behind bars for the rest of his life. You don’t have to be scared anymore. They’ll help protect you.”

The poor girl was shaking so bad, you were worried she might set off the gun accidentally.

“No,” she whispered.

“Elena-” you tried.

“No!” she shrieked at you, causing you to stumble slightly back in surprise, “You- you don’t know. He do things to me! Again and again! He took me. I thirteen! Now I eighteen! No!”

You were utterly speechless. How could you reply to that?

She held the gun properly now, with two hands.

“He made me kill baby. Two times!” she sobbed.

Your heart broke.

She shuffled closer to him.

“Elena, my dear,” Victor started frantically begging, “You’ve always been my favourite. I’ve always treated you well, haven’t I?”

“No!”

BANG!

You heard Victor let out an inhuman screech.

Elena had shot him between the legs. Next to you, you heard Red Hood chuckle.

She pulled the trigger one last time, and crumpled onto the floor at the same time Victor did.

You wanted to approach her, comfort her, anything.

But Red Hood beat you to it.

“Listen to me,” he growled to get her attention since she was sobbing hysterically, “Are you listening?!”

She nodded.

“When the police come, you tell them that I made you shoot, alright? You tell them that I said I would rape you then gut you alive if you didn’t shoot him. You understand me?” he shook her.

“Y-yes,” she hiccuped.

“Repeat it. Tell me what you are going to tell them.”

“R-red Hood say he rape me and kill me if I no shoot,” she bawled.

“Good,” he nodded, “You did good, Elena.”

He then turned to you. “Let’s go.”

The two of you quickly rushed to the exit. You were just about to leave the club when-

“W-wait!” Elena called out, “Red Hood!”

He looked at her.

“T-thank you.”

He left without saying a word.

***

You were being really quiet in the car.

Jason thought that you were still shaken over what had happened.

Sure, maybe you saved people from being mugged or raped, and perhaps even some trafficked girls in the past.

But he was sure that those girls didn’t have the option Jason graciously gave Elena.

Jason thought that you were probably thinking about what those girls you saved in the past would have done if they were granted the same choice.

He sped up, hands gripped tight around the steering wheel. His body was still buzzing from leftover adrenaline, and he was itching for something.

An illegal car race. A good old fashioned hand-to-hand combat with somebody who could keep up with him. Hell, even a nice and long jerk off session.

He was bothered by the silence, despite being alone the whole time before this.

He put in a cassette and AC/DC started blasting through the speakers. He saw you jump at the sudden noise.

Somehow the ride back to the rendezvous point seemed longer than expected.

“Why do you still have a cassette player, and cassettes?” you spoke for the first time since the club.

“I’m old school that way,” he jested.

You ignored him and continued looking out the window.

That annoyed him.

Fuck, why was he so fidgety? Why did he want your fucking attention so much?

He felt like that kid in kindergarten who pulled on the pigtails of the girl he liked.

Finally, the both of you were back in the alleyway.

He turned off both the music and the engine, and took off his helmet. He combed through his hair with his hands and tossed the helmet in the backseat. He saw that you had taken your mask off as well, but hadn’t made a move to leave.

So he just sat there with you in silence, unsure of what to do or say- like a fucking idiot.

Fuck.

You were driving him crazy.

Thankfully, you broke the silence.

“What did your sources say about the Ibenescus’ still trafficking girls?” you wondered.

“There was a recent shipment of girls from Philippines, Thailand, Russia, and India,” he explained, “Only the Ibenescus’ would still have the guts to carry out the operation. Like Victor- may he rest in peace- had said, the Ibenescus’ are powerful. They have an international business they just can’t afford to sacrifice.”

“But since Victor is dead, someone else would just take his place,” you frowned in the dark, your outline illuminated only by the single dim street light from outside.

“And I’ll keep on killing every single one of them,” he grit.

“But like you said, it’s an international operation,” you argued, “Even if it was just the States, you can’t possibly stop every single operation under the Ibenescus out there.”

“Just like however much you and Batman patrol at night, you can’t stop every single crime, right?” he sneered.

You remained silent.

“It’s the same fucking thing,” Jason insisted, “Except that Elena got her justice. True and proper justice. Or are you telling me she made the wrong call? That she shouldn’t have shot his balls off and killed him after he raped her for years and made her abort her baby twice?”

“There must be some other way,” you muttered.

Jason was annoyed at how stubborn you were, but frankly he understood.

Because that’s what Batman did. He brainwashes you into thinking that his way was the only way.

“What if I told you that one fifth of the trafficked girls were aged below twelve?” he said softly, “What if I told you that the Ibenescus’ have been providing the elite pedophile rings with children? Would you want there to be some other way?”

You looked at him, shocked.

“Elite pedophile ring?” you gaped.

“Batman didn’t tell me either when I was Robin,” he grumbled, “It’s either he didn’t know about it, or he kept it a secret from us. And knowing him, I doubt it’s the former. Weren’t there days where he insisted on being alone?”

You frowned, taking in everything Jason had said. He was proud of himself. Just after a few hours with him, he could already see your resolve faltering.

“As long as I can clear Gotham of sex trafficking, as long as there are less girls like Elena here, and as long as there are no more children involved, I’m satisfied,” he continued, “That’s what I do. I give out justice and fix things. I know most victims like her don’t get the opportunity to get closure the way she did, so I’ll be the one to make that decision and carry it out for them.”

“Oh, so you’re supposedly Gotham’s savior, then? A fucking Angel of Death or something?” you answered sarcastically.

“Didn’t you hear Vic?” he chuckled, “I’m the fucking Dark King.”

You scoffed, and crossed your arms, still looking outside.

“You were pretty good with the sticks,” Jason commented, changing the subject. “Though definitely not as good as Dick.”

Fuck, why was he still talking to you?

“I don’t usually use them,” you shot him a glare that Jason thought was more cute than threatening, “I usually use Krav Maga.”

“Yes, I’m familiar with your subpar fighting skills,” he smirked.

“That’s not fair,” you huffed, “The Pit gave you peak human abilities. You can’t compare yourself to me.”

Of course Bruce knew it was the Pit that revived Jason.

“Baby girl, I was much better than you when I was Robin,” he poked.

Why was he teasing you like this? Flirting with you like he was normal?

Joking with you as if he wasn’t planning to hurt you?

“I doubt it,” you pouted.

Even in the dim light, Jason could still make out the shiny traces of lipgloss that were still left on your lips.

Before he could stop himself, he reached out a hand to your chin, and pressed his thumb against your lips, sticky from the lipgloss.

He saw the way your breath hitched in surprise, the way your eyes darted from his eyes to his lips, the way you gulped.

“Why do you like my lipgloss so much?” you spoke, lips brushing against his thumb.

Fuck.

“Because, baby girl,” he drawled and scooted closer to you, “Ever since day one, I kept on imagining your shiny, wet lips around my cock.”

A small gasp escaped your mouth.

Which made his cock start to fill up.

“Want to make my fantasies a reality, princess?” he smirked.

“Why would I?” you whispered, “I don’t owe you anything.”

“It’s not about owing me,” he came closer, now rubbing his thumb all over your lips, smudging your lipgloss, and picking up some of your spit. “It’s about helping each other out.”

He gripped your waist with his other hand, rubbing up and down through your armor.

“Didn’t you like last night?” he purred, gripping your thigh. He noticed how you easily spread them wider apart.

“Didn’t you come all over my cock?” he forced his thumb inside your mouth, hooking it at your lower teeth and forced your face closer to his.

“Didn’t you wear your lipgloss anyway just to get my attention?” he smirked.

He had expected you to pull away, or even bite his fucking finger, but to his surprise, your lips closed in on his thumb.

And you started sucking.

All while looking up at him with your innocent, puppy dog eyes.

And for some reason, even though it was just his one fucking thumb, he felt like he was being consumed by the warmth and the wetness and the fucking softness of your mouth.

Jason was in trouble now.

Because you had started swirling your tongue around his finger as you sucked.

Jason couldn’t hold back his groan.

And from the delight he saw you in your eyes, he already knew what type you were.

You were the type to get turned on by his pleasure, his approval, his praises.

Typical Robin complex.

“Baby girl,” he breathed, “I’m not going to come unless you do the exact same thing but with my cock instead.”

He smirked when you gave him an irritated look, but then-

“Ow! Fuck!” he snatched his hand away.

You fucking bit his finger.

Again.

And this time you were looking at him with complete smugness.

“Oh, you’re in trouble now, princess,” he growled. Then, he grabbed a fistful of your hair and tugged you to him roughly, forcing his tongue in your mouth as he kissed you violently and grabbed your tits which were still covered by all your-

“Fuck, why do you wear so much fucking armor,” he gasped.

“Because I’d like to actually live in case I get shot,” you shot back at him.

Jason glared at you. He usually loved your attitude, but somehow he felt really irritated by you that night. You weren’t as snarky and confident the night before. Obviously you were less nervous, and less afraid of him.

He needed to change that.

In a flash, he pushed you hard against the locked door of his car, earning a shocked gasp from you. He crawled over to you , engulfing your body with his own.

It was hard to move in the car, but the compact setting made Jason feel like he was trapping you in a cage.

He put his hand around your neck and squeezed lightly while he attacked your mouth with his own again. This time, his kisses were less pretty.

He bit and nipped at your lips, your tongue, forcing both of your teeth to click together.

He could hear you panting hard, and moaning into his mouth, sometimes letting out soft whimpers.

“You trying to sass me, baby?” he breathed over your face, lips brushing against yours. He increased the force of his throttle.

“You forget who’s in charge here?” he whispered, appreciating the way your mouth just fucking fell open.

“Who’s in charge, princess?” he growled.

He saw your eyes roll upwards, your lids fluttering close, and felt your thighs squeeze together.

Fuck.

Were you getting fucking turned on by his choking?

“Y-you,” you said in stuttered breaths.

“That’s right, baby,” he let go of your neck, causing you to gasp for air.

Then, Jason leaned back against the door on his side, and parted his legs.

He was glad the Impala’s seats were joined, without any annoying bumps that parted the passenger and driver’s seat. It allowed more room to move around.

Once he saw you catch your breath, he patted to the spot between his legs.

“My cock ain’t gonna suck itself,” he smirked.

He could see the fire in your eyes as you came over to him, bent on all fours. You laid on the seat on your belly, your mouth close to his cock that was borderline becoming extremely painful.

He had to wear protective cups while he worked, which meant that getting an erection was excruciating.

He tilted his head in curiosity when he saw you stare at his thigh holsters, biting your lower lip.

“You see something you like?” he teased.

Your gaze snapped back at him, a blush creeping onto your cheeks. You ignored his question and started working on his belt buckle.

Once they were off, you impatiently pulled his pants down, but was puzzled when you saw his jockstraps.

He almost laughed when he saw the confusion etched on your features.

“They’re just like normal briefs, baby, but with extra protection,” he winked, cupped his junk, and gave it a little shake to make a point.

“I- I knew that,” you fumbled, and went to hook your fingers in the elastic waistband. You brought them down with some difficulty, as they were tight.

But Jason enjoyed seeing you struggle, so he let you figure it out.

And boy, the look on your face when you finally took his cock out.

He hissed at the relief when his cock slapped back onto his lower abdomen when it was free, but your expression made him chuckle.

“Did- did I really have that inside me last night?” your voice went up an octave.

“Inside you, and outside, and inside, and outside,” he gave you a shit eating grin.

“Very funny,” you glared, but gulped again at the sight of his erection, “Jeez. No wonder I couldn’t walk properly all day.”

“And I assure you, every single time I fuck you, you wouldn’t be able to- ah, fuck!” he got cut off by the pleasure that suddenly shot up his spine when you gripped his shaft hard.

He looked at you and saw you gave the same cheeky grin back.

Fucking hell.

You bent down, and gave a small experimental lick at the tip of his cock. He could see the way your eyebrows knitted together, how your eyes were so full of fucking contemplation. Like you were thinking of a strategy to make him come undone.

You started lapping your tongue a few more times over the head of his penis before taking the tip into your mouth and started sucking softly.

Jason groaned, and then reached his hand to tangle into your hair. Not to control your movements, not to show you how it’s done, but just because he needed to grip something.

From the tip, he saw you let your saliva drool down his shaft, making it glisten. Then, you sunk down and took more of him in. You got too ambitious, because you went down too fast and then he felt you gag around his dick.

“Fuck,” he grunted as he felt your fucking throat try to push him out, “Take it slow, baby. We have all night.”

You released him from your mouth and gasped for air, a string of saliva connecting his tip to your mouth, tears streaming down your face, eyes and nose red.

Shit.

It was a fucking sight, alright.

“I-I’m sorry,” you sputtered, “I wasn’t sure- I don’t- it’s my first time.”

And holy hell, did Jason’s heart flutter at your innocent apology.

“It’s okay,” he wiped the tears from your cheeks like he was your lover, like he fucking cared. “It feels great when you gag on my cock, but you don’t have to take it all in at once. Here.”

He pushed your head back down to take him in rough, but not too rough.

Jason needed to be a little forceful, a little violent with you. He needed to hide the fact that you sucking on his cock for the first time didn’t flick a switch of emotion within him.

“You take in as much as you can,” he panted, “And your hand can do the rest.”

He wrapped your hand around the base of his shaft.

“So when you go up,” he pulled your hair to guide you up his length, slick with your spit and his precum.

“Your hand follows your mouth,” he gripped your hand and moved it upwards as well, following the motion. “And don’t forget to suck.”

He saw that you got the hang of it pretty fast, and soon, Jason was groaning and moaning, and tugging at your hair.

He fought hard to not cant his hips upwards and start fucking your mouth. He fought hard to be considerate, to not hurt you, to not give you too much of what you could handle.

He didn’t want a repeat of the night before.

Yet, the fire in his belly and the dark voices inside his head told him to grip your head with both his hands and fucking use your mouth like a toy.

But, no. Jason was in control. And he didn’t want that. Not tonight.

He saw that you were watching him as you bobbed your head in motion, and he knew you were enjoying the sight of him. He felt vulnerable to you, open and exposed.

He hated that feeling. The shame of being laid out like that when someone was watching him-it made him feel small and guilty.

But the shame and humiliation and guilt was what made the whole thing more enjoyable.

Soon enough, he felt the familiar feeling of his gut tightening, his toes curling in his steel boots.

“Stop,” he rasped, pulling you away.

You looked at him with worry in your eyes that made Jason almost come anyway.

“I- I was close,” he explained.

“Isn’t that the point?” you smirked.

“Wanna fuck you first,” he murmured.

Then, you started blushing.

“Uhm, it still hurts a lot from yesterday,” you answered sheepishly, biting your lip awkwardly.

It reminded Jason of how you were with him the first time he met you at the library, how you were shy and a blushing mess, when you didn’t know his identity. It seemed so long ago, and for the first time, he wished things could go back to being that way.

“Fine,” he gruffed, “Come back down here, then.”

When you started sucking on him again, he added, “Didn’t know you were so weak. Thought you’d be used to getting thrown around by now.”

It really wasn’t fair for him to say that, and he knew it was hurtful.

But he wasn’t the good guy in this story.

You shot him a glare, and then popped his dick out.

“Jason, my mouth was around your cock when you said that, and if I were to accidentally bite you, well,” you retorted.

“You wouldn’t do that, baby,” he chuckled.

“Why wouldn’t I?”

“Because, princess,” he drawled, and forced you to continue sucking, “My cock- ungh- is your favourite part of me, isn’t it?”

And as if you conceded, admitting he was right, you started to suddenly increase the pace. Filthy wet sounds filled the car as Jason heard the sound of rain in the background, and noticed that the inside of his windows had started to fog up.

Your warm, wet mouth consumed him whole, and he felt his balls tighten and tighten.

“Baby,” he gasped, “I’m gonna- I’m gonna-”

Despite his warnings, you still went on, as if you were determined to finish your job.

He groaned loud and long as he spilled his cum inside your mouth.

He felt you fucking drink it up.

Fuck.

When he was done blowing his load, you were giving him soft, gentle licks on his now sensitive cock.

And you then you sat up and smiled proudly.

“You waiting for me to give you a candy, or some shit?” he snickered, “Or a gold star?”

“Maybe you should,” you huffed and crossed your arms, sitting back properly in the passenger seat.

Jason put his pants back on, and sat up as well.

But then he noticed you squirming slightly, your respiratory rate fast, small pants escaping you. You were clenching your thighs together.

He smirked.

He reached out and caressed your cheek with one finger.

“Want me to help you out?” he offered.

“I’m fine,” you said, “I’ll deal with it later. I should go back soon. What time is it?”

“Almost two,” he glanced at the dashboard clock.

“Batman and Nightwing are probably just leaving the club by now,” you said out loud, “I’m sure they’ll keep on patrolling, though. Unless they got a clue.”

“Clue?”

“Yeah,” you hummed absentmindedly, looking outside at the rain.

You remained silent for a while.

Jason hated the silence.

Then-

“It’s your face, by the way,” you started.

“What?”

“Your face. My favourite part of you,” you avoided Jason’s eyes.

Jason was taken aback at your confession.

Why would his face be your favourite part? He had scars all over, eyebags and bloodshot eyes, and he was pretty sure his nose was more crooked than average.

“You’re good looking,” you said as if you were mad.

“Well, you’re not too bad yourself,” Jason blurted before he could stop himself.

You blinked at him in surprise.

Fuck.

He fucked up.

He wanted to punch himself.

What were the two of you doing? It wasn’t like it was a fucking date. It wasn’t like he cared about you that way. It wasn’t like he wanted you all to himself, and never let go.

Fuck.

He was done being the charming, kind, gentleman Jason Haywood.

So why was he still acting like he was?

***

“Where were you?” Dick demanded when you opened the door.

He was still in his Nightwing uniform, sans the mask.

“What?”

“Alfred said you weren’t around, and you left your phone at home,” he persisted, “Where did you go?”

“I got some junk,” you pointed to the big bag of junk food on your bed.

“Alfred said he noticed you weren’t around at midnight, and you only just got back an hour ago. It took you almost three hours just to get junk?” he narrowed his eyes at you.

“Fine,” you conceded, “I went to see Carter.”

“Why did you leave your phone?”

“I forgot, okay?” you exasperatedly flailed your hands. “I’m grounded from patrol, not from going out. What’s the big deal?”

Dick frowned at you.

Your heart was beating so hard you were afraid he could hear it.

“Where did you meet him?” he continued to interrogate.

There were no more room for half truths.

“Robinson Park,” you answered, “We spent some time in his car. Lost track of time. And- you know what? I don’t even need to tell you all of this! It’s none of your business, Dick.”

“There was someone new with Jason tonight,” he stated.

Fuck.

“Someone new?” you repeated, tilting your head in feigned curiosity.

“A girl,” he continued, “She’s skilled.”

You frowned. “Who is she?”

“Eye witness said she calls herself V,” he told you, “She uses escrima sticks and a form of arnis and silat hybrid.”

“Hmm,” you pondered, “And? Is she someone you and Jason knew?”

“We’ve been wondering about that,” he muttered.

Your eyes widen.

“You think that was me?!” you shrieked.

“You tell me!” Dick retorted.

“Why, Dick?” you shouted, “Why?”

“You were out for god knows how long and suddenly Jason has a girl with your knowledge of martial arts at his side?” he snarled, “What else am I supposed to think?”

“One, fucking anyone could learn martials arts!” you argued, “Two, I was out with Carter yesterday as well! There wasn’t anyone with Red Hood yesterday!”

“Red Hood wasn’t seen yesterday,” he debated, “And you haven’t even shown me a picture of this Carter you’re seeing. What’s his last name? Where is he from? You need to tell me. You need to tell me the truth.”

“I am,” you grit, “You need to figure out your bullshit, Dick!”

“What?”

“I get it, okay,” you sighed, and sat down on your bed, “Jason, your brother, he betrayed your trust. He’s angry at Bruce, but why didn’t he come to you?”

Dick simply looked at you.

“You trusted Jason when he was Robin, as family,” you explained, “The way you trusted me. And now that trust is destroyed, you’re questioning me as well.”

You looked at him with a sad smile.

“I’m not like Jason, Dick,” you tried to convince him, “I’m me. I’m your sister. I have no reason to hurt you or Bruce. I love you both. Okay?”

Dick stared at you, and you saw tears pooling his eyes.

That made your heart sink to your stomach.

“I’m sorry,” he blinked away the tears, “You’re right. I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay,” you got up and hugged him. He hugged you back tightly, pressing his cheek into the top of your head, “I love you, Dick. I’ll help you guys out with this, okay? I mean, I know I’m not as good as either of you, but I’ll try.”

“Yeah,” he sniffled, “Thank you. Can’t wait for you to get back in uniform.”

“Me too,” you replied, holding back your own tears while you thought about how fucked you were.

#jason todd x reader #jason todd reader #jason todd #batman #red hood #dick grayson #nightwing #dc comics #dceu #dc universe #under the red hood

383 notes · View notes

bebepac · 4 years

Text

Falling Apart

This is chapter 5 of The Life of Riley. If you need to catch up , please click

HERE

All characters in this chapter are my own characters.

I also used @god-save-the-keen prompt list: Joey Tribbiani # 50 “I am pretty wisdomous” will appear in bold

Word count: 1793

Summary: Jason and Ren find out heart wrenching news that they have lost their son in utero.

Warnings: Miscarriage, pregnancy loss due to fall sadness , depression, angst, light profanity.

Always forgive any typos.

If you enjoy my storytelling please feel free to like and reblog :) and if you would like to be on or off my tag list holla :)

@dcbbw @janezillow @kacie-0156 @queenjilian @kingliam2019 @glaimtruelovealways @annekebbphotography @lodberg @kimmiedoo5 @hopefulmoonobject @queencordonia @bbrandy2002 @texaskitten30 @kaitycole @custaroonie @camersworld @my0123456789universe @the-soot-sprite

Jason’s boss drove him to Ren’s hospital as fast as he could with the weather.

“Rain is just melted snow and people are losing their minds, Lawson, I mean what the hell!!!”

“You said it brother.”

Please let them be okay Jason thought in his head the whole way over to the hospital.

He walked into the room finding Ren sitting there in the bed in tears.

“Ren what happened?”

“I got nauseated and dizzy and fell down the stairs. I should have just waited for the elevator, and I didn’t.”

Jason pulled Ren to him hugging her. “And i haven’t felt the baby kick since I fell, and i’m so scared.”

“Hey we’re fighters so is our baby. We’re gonna all be just fine,” he said confidently. He prayed for his sake he was right.

“Dr. Abernathy is on her way right now, I’m her tech Julie. She wanted to see if I could get some images of the baby in the meantime. Does that sound ok?”

Lauren and Jason nodded. Ren lifted her scrub top to reveal her stomach.

“Those weren’t the ones you left the house in.”

“Ugh don’t even ask. A kid puked on me, I almost puked on the kid, it was an ordeal.”

The tech turned on the machine, she looked at the monitor. They all did with bated breath.

“Is he ok?” Jason asked.

She moved the wand around.

“There he is!” the tech said proudly. Typing a few things on the screen. But what happened next wasn’t what they expected.

They expected the whooshing sound of the baby’s heartbeat that always filled the room. There was nothing but silence.

“Is it on?” Jason was starting to get worried. He looked at Ren. Her eyes were tightly clenched shut.

The tech turned off the monitor, “Maybe it’s best we just wait for Dr. Abernathy to get here.”

She touched Ren’s hand, “She’ll be here shortly.”

When she closed the door behind her, Ren finally let out the sob she was holding in.

“Hey, hey, hey, it’s going to be ok. She was just a tech. She had no clue what she was doing. Dr. Abernathy will be here soon, and everything will be ok.”

She never wished so hard that she could believe something Jason said as much as she could at this moment. But the truth was… it wasn’t ok.

Dr. Abernathy came in a few minutes later with Ren’s chart and a somber look on her face.

“Ren?”

She opened her eyes to look at Dr. Abernathy.

You understand what’s going on?”

Tears welled in her eyes as she nodded. “Yes I understand.”

“I need to check you to confirm.”

“What’s happening?” Jason whispered. Deep down he knew, but he didn’t want to admit. Admitting his worst fear in this situation would be making it real.

Dr. Abernathy turned on the ultrasound machine. She grabbed Jason’s hand.

She gently placed the wand on her stomach and began to move it around. Immediately she had an image of the baby.

Jason gave her hand a soft squeeze back in reassurance. There’s our baby boy. Jason thought. It still wasn’t right. The look that passed between Dr. Abernathy and Ren.

She turned off the ultrasound machine. Ren’s grip on Jason’s hand turned painfully tight.

“Jason, Ren, my tech was able to get an image of the baby, as have I, but i’m sorry to tell you this, neither of us can detect a fetal heartbeat. The baby did not survive the fall. I’m so sorry.”

Lauren let out a wailing scream, that the only thing Jason knew to do was to hold Lauren while she sobbed hysterically in his arms. Tears pooled in his eyes. He had to be the strong one for her, though he felt like his heart had been broken in two. He flinched every time Lauren screamed. He closed his eyes, and kept whispering to her. “I’m here. We’ll be ok Lauren, I promise. We’ll get through this.”

A nurse came in with a syringe. Lauren saw her coming and knew sweet relief was coming from this nightmare for a few hours. It was almost immediately after the injection Lauren fell into a calming sleep. Her facial expressions that had been so tense the past few hours had finally relaxed.

Jason exhaled a shaky breath.

“Is there anything you need?” Dr. Abernathy asked him.

“I need…….. I need a minute to process what just happened…. How long will she sleep?”

“A few hours.”

He walked down the hallways feeling numb. One minute they were celebrating, the next minute they had lost their son. They were just too happy. For people like Jason and Ren, being too happy in life always seemed like it invited disaster.

As he walked by the waiting room he noticed officers from his precinct. He wondered what had happened. Lawson, who had driven him to the hospital so many hours earlier, stood up.

“Seeing Jason’s confusion, he said, “We’re here for you brother.”

The others stood as well.

“How’s Ren?”

“She’s sedated.”

“How’s your son……?”

“He didn’t…….he…. He…. “ Jason finally began to cry. Lawson hugged him.

“I’m so very sorry.”

Looking around the room at all the officers that had come and gathered in solidarity for the two of them was the most somber, yet supportive thing Jason had experienced in his life.

“Thank you for supporting us. I know Ren would appreciate it.”

Jason was at Ren’s side when she finally woke up.

His eyes were red, and slowly she remembered the events of the past few hours. Lauren’s eyes teared up again. “I’m right here," Jason’s voice was strong and secure, soothing Ren.

“I want to name him,” she whispered. “ I want to name him so he knows, he had a family here who loved him even though………. he never got the chance to meet us.”

Over the next few minutes they decided on the name Jaiden Anthony Brooks.

Dr. Abernathy came back into the room a little bit later and explained the next procedure that would take place, to end the pregnancy.

“Is there anything else you need before we discharge you for the night?”

“Can we get a last picture of him…. Of Jaiden before tomorrow’s procedure, before he’s truly gone?”

“Of course,” Dr. Abernathy obliged turning on the ultrasound machine again. Finally Jason broke down in front of Ren. She had never heard him cry before.

“Why did this have to happen to us, Dr. Abernathy? We’re good people. We work hard. We wanted this, we wanted Jaiden so much. We tried two years for him. Just to lose him. It’s not fair. And the people who are terrible parents keep having truckloads of kids, and the people who would do right by their child… “

Ren hugged her husband as they cried for the loss of their son together.

“Sometimes, some things are not for us on this side to understand,” Dr. Abernathy said softly.

“I’ll go get your car. Do you remember where you parked?”

“The staff parking lot Jason.” Lauren snapped at him.

“I’ll find it.”

“I’ll show you where the staff parking lot is,” and besides I'll show you the shortcut, that only staff members can use.”

“Thanks Dr. Abernathy.”

“Don’t take her snapping at you to heart. She doesn’t mean it.”

“I know.”

“Well the good news is we’re here… I just don’t know what level she parked on.”

“No it’s good, I see her. This one’s her’s, she’s just gonna lose her shit, that i have to adjust everything to drive it, which is why we don’t drive each other’s cars.”

“You sound exactly like my husband. he knows.” Dr. Abernathy chuckled.

“Thank you for being there for us today.”

“You’re very welcome, and I’m so sorry this time didn’t work out for you two. Don’t give up okay? You two would make very loving parents someday.”

“Thank you.”

He pulled out front waiting for Lauren.

“Are you hungry? I could stop for takeout. It’s too late to try to get dinner started.”

Silence from Ren.

“Maybe Chinese? You think from the place you like?”

Ren still said nothing. Staring blankly ahead at the road.

“Ren did you hear me?”

“I heard you. Whatever. Get it, don’t get it I don’t care.” She snapped at him.

“You need to eat Ren. You have to be hungry by now.”

“Why does it matter so much? It’s only me now.”

“Because you matter to me. I love and care about you, and because I can’t lose you too Ren.”

She whispered something.. That he couldn’t hear.

“What?”

“You blame me.”

“WHAT?!?!?!? REN?!!?!?! GOD!!! NOOOO!!!!” Jason jerked the wheel slamming on the breaks pulling Ren’s small SUV over in the highway median.

“This was an accident Ren. A horrible terrible accident that I don't blame you for.”

“You have to blame me.”

“Why are you so sure of this?”

“I BLAME ME!!! THIS IS ALL MY FAULT!!! I KILLED OUR BABY. I SHOULD HAVE JUST WAITED FOR THE ELEVATOR.”

He wasn’t getting through to her, at all. If he said what he was thinking, it could blow up in his face, but he was out of options. So he decided to do it.

“You know what, you’re right Ren.”

“What?” he could hear the confusion in her voice.

“Yeah, you go up and down stairs at our house every day, multiple times of the day, and i let you think that was okay. I should have been carrying you up and down those stairs every time, to protect our baby.”

“But how would you know, something like that would happen?”

BINGO…

“That’s right Ren, how would you know something like that would happen?”

Ren was stunned into silence.

“I don’t want to hear you ever say that again Lauren, I mean it. Any of that. This was not your fault. It was a horrible horrible accident Okay?”

Ren nodded. “Decent use of reverse psychology by the way.”

Jason looked at her smiling, and she knew right in that second why she had fallen in love with him. He was trying so hard to hold up a brave front for her, even though she could still see the sadness in his eyes too.

" I am pretty wisdomous.”

A small smile emerged on Ren’s lips. Albeit small, but visible. Jason saw it as a tiny victory considering the day from hell they had. And tomorrow would be just as bad he was sure.

“Can we go get food now?

If he wanted food that’s what she was going to do. He always fought for her, ever since the moment they met.

“Yes let’s grab some Chinese on the way home.”

#trr #trr fanfic #trr fandom #trr riley #trr mc #riley parents #before trr #cordonia #new york #riley b #play choices #the royal romance

53 notes · View notes

twinklecheeks · 5 years

Text

Friends With Benefits (Jeff Wittek Imagine) Part 2

Summary: Jeff and Y/N have been hooking up for a while. The whole vlog squad assumes they’re dating and Y/N does too but Jeff doesn’t like labels. He eventually starts to express interest in Natalie.

Note: Planning on making this a multiple part series, depending on how good it does. You’re 21 & Latina in this (maybe) series. Also, I’d like to apologize for the typos, if there is any. I’m just illiterate lmao.

Warnings! pregnancy, abortion? mentions of sex.

Part 1

Word Count: 2.4k

Y/n doesn’t know what to do. A million scenarios were going on in your head. “What if I tell him and he doesn’t want it? What if I never tell him and I get an abortion? I mean my body, my choice, right? What if I leave youtube, pull off a Kylie Jenner and reveal it to the world when it’s born? What if I put it up for adoption? Would I choose a closed adoption or an open adoption?” As all these scenarios are running through your head, the doctor asks if you want pictures. “Ummm yeah sure.” This just feels like a nightmare to y/n. The doctor is ready to discharge you and you take an uber home. You feel a buzz in your pocket and it was a text from David. “Hey you should come over and film tonight. We’re messing around with helium and stuff that messes with your voice.” You were about to say yes until you remembered that you were with child. Helium is probably not the best for pregnancy…. “Sorry I can’t come today. Not feeling too well.” “Damn maybe tomorrow. I pulled a prank of Jason’s new tesla and I need some reactions.” “Sure, I’ll be there.” You finally arrive home and you just feel super overwhelmed. Your anxiety already fucks with you at random times and now add the pregnancy hormones, that just sounds like a recipe for disaster. You decide to text Carly and Erin in y’alls gc. They have basically been you best friends since you’ve been a part of the vlog squad but you don’t know if they’ll be pissed once you reveal your secret relationship w/ Jeff. “Heyy, can you guys come over rn? I have to tell you guys a secret and you’re the only people I can trust at the moment.” Erin: “Sure. Well be there in like an hour or so. Carly and I are filming a bit with David. Probably won’t take long.” “Okay great. See you later.” Carly reads the messages from her phone and whispers “sounds serious, what do you think she’s gonna tell us?” “I don’t know. Just hope she isn’t dying or something.”

You say to yourself, “Since Carly and Erin are gonna be here in an hour, I should get pregnancy tests from the store. Just hope no fans recognize me.” You try to dress incognito and you remembered you had some expensive ass wigs in you closet (you’re a boujee ass college student lol) Once you glue the wig on, you get in your tesla (like the tesla Carly has) and you head to target. You have your hood up and sunglasses on like you’re some sort of fbi agent or something. You head to the aisle the pregnancy tests are in and see the condoms right by there and you mumble to yourself “if you woulda just taken the time to come to target and buy those, you wouldn’t be in this mess you dumb bitch.” You grab a couple of the electronic pregnancy tests cause like my bio says “i radiate dumb bitch energy.” You get home, take off the wig and read the text that says they’re 5 minutes away.

*Carly and Erin pov*

“How much you wanna bet that she has a thing for someone in the squad.” “CARLY.”

*Y/n pov*

You hear a knock at the door “heyyy” you say in an awkward tone. Erin sees the hospital bracelets on your wrist. “Oh god you are dying” Y/n: “ERIN WHAT THE- NO ARE YOU CRAZY” All of you head to the couch and you have a hard time telling them so you say it really fast “SooooIjustfoundouti’mpregantandyou’regonnabeauntsmaybe.” Carly didn’t catch any of that but all Erin heard were the two big words. Both of them start screaming out stuff like “YOU’RE PREGNANT” “WHAT” “WHO’S IS IT.” Y/n: “Okay okay okay. I’m gonna tell you guys everything.” So you ended up telling them the saga of you and Jeff’s relationship. Carly: “ITS. JEFF’S.” Y/n:“That’s all you have to say?” Erin: “You have to take another test. This can’t be right.” You go to the bathroom and 5 minutes later, the test says ‘pregnant.’ Erin: “ummm how about you go to a doctor so they can run some tests.” Y/n:“I already got a blood test done in the ER. Nothing is more accurate than a blood test.” Carly: “when are you due.” Y/n:“Early April I think.” Erin:“So you’re not gonna make it to my wedding?” Y/n:“Oh shit you get married in April. Dammit.” Carly: “So what are you gonna do?” Y/n:“I honestly have no idea. I just feel like he’s gonna deny everything and say its not his. He’s the only guy I’ve been sleeping w/ since New Years.” Erin: “well, whatever you decide, we’ll support you. Hopefully I’ll have a newborn baby to be my ring bearer or flower girl.” You smiled just thinking about that. Before you knew it, It started to get dark and both of them left. You didn’t want to be alone tonight, so you decided to facetime one of your other best friends. Y/n:“Hey Stass. You wanna have a girl’s night? Stassie: Sorry, I’m already having a girl’s night at Kylie’s house. You hear Kylie yell in the background “YOU CAN COME TO MY HOUSE.” Y/n: “Thanks, I’ll be there in a bit.” Two years ago, you would’ve never thought that you’d be friends with Kylie Jenner. You two hit it off when she invited the vlog squad to a roller rink to celebrate her becoming a billionaire.

You arrived at her mansion, finding both of them upstairs sitting on the floor in the nursery, playing with Stormi. You’re thinking about telling Kylie and ask her for advice. She’d completely understand; she had a baby at 20 and the whole world had eyes on her not knowing whether she was or wasn’t pregnant. You don’t mind if Stass knows because she helped keep Kylie’s pregnancy a secret, so you know she won’t tell anyone. Y/n:“I have to talk to you guys about something.” Kylie: “Sure. About what?” Y/n:“I’m pregnant.” Kylie and Stass: “YOU’RE WHAT.” Y/n:“Why is it so surprising that I’m pregnant.” Kylie: “who’s is it.” Stass: “it’s probably Jeff’s.” Your eyes go wide as she said that, Stass: “and just by the look on your face, you just confirmed it.” Kylie: “is Jeff the fit one with the New York accent?” “Yeah.” Kylie: “Ooooo he’s hot. So what about pregnancy did you wanna talk about?” Before you ask about pregnancy, you had to tell the whole saga for the second time today. Y/n:“I just don’t know what I should do. How did you feel when you found out?” Kylie: “well, I was shocked at first but then I got excited. Did I plan on getting pregnant so young? No. But I know I’ve always wanted to be a mom. Yeah, motherhood came earlier than expected but I honestly can’t imagine my life without Stormi. Hiding it from the public wasn’t easy but I’m lucky that I had people I could trust to hide my secret. And if Jeff doesn’t accept the baby as his, then screw him. He’ll look like the asshole for leaving. So what do you want to do?” Y/n:“I think I want to keep it a secret but that gonna be really hard because 1. I’m a youtuber and people are gonna see me gain weight, 2. I’m a college student and I have to go on campus for classes. Stass: “Can you look and see if they’re offering online courses for the classes you need to take?” Y/n:“Probably but I don’t want to die of boredom and stay in my house all the time.” Kylie: “I didn’t stay in my house all the time. I just had a lot of security around me 24/7. I bought more cars and switched between them all the time so the paparazzi would be confused. I made sure to wear baggy clothes all the time. I really didn’t start to show that much until I was almost 5 months pregnant.” Y/n:“I’d be 5 months by the time the semester ends for winter break. Should I risk it? Kylie: “I don’t know. Every body is different.” Y/n:“Thanks for the advice Ky.” Kylie: “No problem. You can always come to me for baby advice. I can help you prep. Stormi might not be right baby to start off practicing with but you’re lucky Kim just had a baby in May.” Y/n:“Are you sure she’d be okay with you borrowing Psalm to teach me how to be a mom?” Kylie: “Are you kidding. She’d love it. She has 4 kids under 6 years old. She needs a break. Oh and when it’s time to find out the gender, you HAVE to let me plan the gender reveal and baby shower.” Y/n:“haha okay.” Kylie then takes a vid of y’all playing with Stormi and posts it on her insta story captioning it ‘girls night❤️’

You wake up the next morning not feeling great at all. Kylie: “Drink ginger ale or really bitter lemonade. It helped me with my morning sickness.” Y/n:“Thanks. I should get going. I have to get to class in a couple of hours. I’ll text you later.” Kylie & Stass: “call us as soon as you figure out what you’re gonna do” Y/n:“k, bye”

Y/n talking to herself while driving home:

It probably wasn’t the best decision telling 4 people that I’m pregnant cause I’m not past the 1st trimester yet but I just couldn’t keep it in. I had to vent to someone! I’m scared of telling Jeff but I’m 1000x times more scared of telling my parents. When should I tell them? I mean, I’m flying to Seattle next month for a couple days for my moms birthday…. is that a bad time to tell them both?? I mean, my mom has been begging for grandchildren for the past couple of years. There was one time in high school where I was typing an essay in my room and my mom randomly comes in and says “mija, cuando tu tienes un hijo, nombrarlo después de mí” like who tf says that to a 17 year old? What was I gonna do today? I have class later but- Oh shit. I said I was going to David’s today to film a prank reaction. I hope I don’t have to be in the same clip as Jeff. Luckily your class is only an hour long and so you got home, quickly showered and went to class.

As you got out of class, you hear a ding from your phone. David: “Are you on you way?” Y/n:“Yeah I’m like 30 minutes away.” As you’re driving down David’s street, you see 4 people. David, Jason’s mom, Erin and?.... Of course it would be Jeff. You get out of your tesla and David is getting the camera ready. He opens the gate and you see Jason dressed as Carmelita, showing his genitals all over the car. Everybody is screaming. “NOOOOO OH MY GOD” Jeff: “HOW CAN YOU SHOW THAT TO HIS MOTHER?” Jason’s mom is laughing hysterically. After a couple of minutes, he stopped recording and invited us all in. You haven’t been to David’s house since the incident with Jeff but you were acting as if nothing happened. You were just acting really quiet around Jeff because you’re literally pregnant with his child and have no idea how to tell him. Jeff: “Hey y/n haven’t seen you around lately” all you said was ‘hey” while looking at your phone. Jeff: “What you’re not even gonna look at me? You think cause you’re hanging out with Kylie Jenner, you’re too good for us?” Y/n: “Us? You’re literally making no fucking sense rn, I’ve talked and hung out with everyone except you. Plus why would you care? You kicked me to the curb like I was a piece of trash. Not sorry that I wanna be treated right.” Jeff pulls you to the backyard. Y/n:“Get the fuck off me” Jeff: “why the fuck are you acting like this?” Y/n:“like what? A person who’s finally standing up for herself? I don’t need you and why would you care what i’m doing? Last thing I remember is that you’re with Natalie. I hope you treating her like an actual person, unlike how you treated me. Playing around and fucking me like I was you’re toy.” Jeff: “You consented.” Y/n:“Yeah but now I realize I was dumb as fuck saying yes so many times.” At this moment, you were contemplating whether you should just tell him. You were about to tell him until the last sentence he said left you livid. Jeff: “You said yes cause you were desperate sweetheart. You fucked like a whore. I probably wasn’t the only one you were sleeping with.” At this point, you just wanted to run him over with a car. You didn’t want to be the stereotypical raging Latina so all you said as you were walking away was “Goodbye Jeff.” You didn’t even turn around. Everybody in the house from David, Jason’s mom and Erin heard every single word. On the drive home you made your decision. You’re not telling Jeff it’s his and you’re raising this baby alone. Since you’re still in the first trimester, you’ll keep it to yourself just a little bit longer before you tell the rest of the vlog squad.

*One Month later*

Y/n is officially past the 1st trimester. I’m now 13 weeks. You look in the mirror and see a tiny little bump forming. You telling your parents last week wasn’t the best… Your mom was excited but disappointed; your dad couldn’t even look at you. Your older siblings stuck by you. But now that you have the biggest obstacle out of the way, you have to tell the vlog squad... I wonder how this will go...

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

I’m surprised at how many people liked chapter 1! It was confusing for me switching back from saying you & y/n but I think I did better in this part. Oh and I’m not sure if I’ll be writing as much as I am in the future. I think the minimum will be 1k words but I’ll probably write more than that.

Oh and just a heads up, I’m starting school at the end of the month! I’ll try to release as many chapters as I can write in the next 3 weeks.

Taglist: @elvlogsquad @siemprestan @zavidzobrik @irisindigonightmare

329 notes · View notes

fluffy-marshmallow-heart · 4 years

Text

20 Seconds of Courage -Part 21

The Elementalists au

Beckett x Oriana

words: 1768

Warnings: NSFW

Series Master List

Complete Master List

This is the final chapter of this series! Thank you so incredibly much if you've read this far! All your support means the world to me. <3

“Wake up beautiful.” Beckett whispered in Oriana’s ear, kissing behind it lightly. We have plans, remember?”

Oriana stirred. “Change of plans. We’re staying in bed all day.”

Beckett laughed lightly. “You’re the one who wanted to go scuba diving, not me. I’m only doing it for you. You’ve been hyping me up about it for months, so we’re going.”

“But it’s so early.” Oriana complained.

“It’s 9am. That’s not early by anyone’s standards, except maybe a teenager. Come on, we’re going. I’m dying to see you in all that gear.”

Oriana whacked him with a pillow. “Fine, fine, I’m getting up.”

Beckett grinned as Oriana slowly made her way out of the fluffy bed, her eyes immediately landing on their large ocean view window. “I’m never going to get tired of this place, Beck. I don’t know how you’re going to get me to leave in a few days.”

He shrugged nonchalantly, not saying a word. They were in a large villa on the Hawaii Big Island. They debated on which island to visit, and eventually settled on this one as it was the most diverse with twelve different climates. It’s a big island, so there was always something to see. They could go to a city, or into a jungle, even see an active volcano still spilling lava into the ocean. It was the most beautiful and serene place Beckett had ever visited, and here he was with the woman of his dreams. “Maybe we don’t have to leave. It’s not like we have anywhere else to be.”

It had been a crazy eight months for them. Both Michael and Jason were dead, and all of their schemes came out while the police sorted through their lives. There were other victims discovered, and cold cases closed. Beckett’s parents had reached out to him, but he only spoke to them briefly.

“They shut me out when I needed them, and I’ve accepted that. Katrina’s murder was solved. My ties with them are gone now.” He’d told Oriana. “I haven’t thought of them as my family in years.”

Oriana tried to reason with him, but he stood firm on the subject. Her adoptive parents were in shock over everything she’d been through, but they adored Beckett and that was enough for him.

As she stretched, she could feel Beckett’s eyes raking over her naked form. She smirked. “Don’t get any ideas, mister, we’re going scuba diving.”

“Maybe we have a few minutes to spare.” He murmured, quickly moving towards her and embracing her from behind. He already had his bathing suit on, but she was completely bare still. He kissed her shoulder, along her neck, and nibbled on her ear, cupping a breast with one hand while his other slid down her stomach, finding her sweet spot.

“Ohhhh.” She bucked into his touch, instantly becoming soaked. “Damn it, Beckett.”

“What” He whispered hoarsely. “It is wrong that I want to touch you? How can I resist your perfect body?”

She moaned, turning her head and capturing his lips in a searing kiss as he moved his fingers faster. “I don’t want you to resist.” She leaned her head back and rested it on his shoulder as he tweaked her nipple into a taught bud and sank two fingers inside of her tight hole, thrusting them in and out. Her breathing became more ragged and within minutes she was crying out as she came, not leaving his arms as she came down from her high. Beckett lightly slapped her ass.

“Now we’re really going to be late.”

“Your fault.” She mumbled as she finally tore herself away from him to use the bathroom and change into her swimsuit.

“Can’t help it!” He called after her with a smirk.

Soon enough they arrived at the beach where they took an hour-long fast course in scuba diving protocol and safety before being fitted with their oxygen tanks and masks. They both became certified before their trip, and Oriana was buzzing in excitement while Beckett looked out across the water nervously. Oriana slipped her hand into his and gave it a squeeze.

“Beck, you don’t have to do this if you don’t want to. Really, it’s okay.”

“Ori, I said I’m never leaving you again, and that definitely includes times you decide to go scuba diving in a huge ocean where you could easily disappear. If you think I’m letting you do this alone, you’re crazy.”

“Oh really.” She laughed. “Well then. Our instructor is heading out, we should follow.”

Together they waded out into the crystal blue waters, along with two other couples and their guide. Sinking beneath the surface, Beckett had expected to feel overwhelmed and possibly a bit frightened, since the lake they became certified in was nothing compared to this, but instead he felt…free. Watching Oriana swim around admiring the colorful fish, he actually felt pretty great. The swimsuit he had on was designed specifically for him, with a secure pocket, which he patted about the millionth time.

Looking at another school of brightly colored fish, Oriana glanced over at Beckett, blushing that he was watching her. She loved him watching her. He’s been her rock, and she’s been his throughout their whole ordeal, and through each other they are healing. She still woke with nightmares often while they were home, and was seeing a psychologist for the PTSD she’s been experiencing since the day she was slipped a date rape drug. She also saw too many things the night she was kidnapped, and it affected her more than she’d anticipated. But Beckett supported her; made sure she was comfortable, and never pressed her to talk about it. For months he would ask her every day if she wanted to talk about it. Some days she would. Other days she wouldn’t, and he wouldn’t ask again until the following day. For awhile she thought it extremely annoying. In retrospect, it melted her that he cared so much. He had suffered so much loss himself, and she would do anything to make sure he never loses her.

She reaches out her hand and he swims over to join her. Even through his mask, she could feel the heat of his gaze. They never lose sight of their guide and the other couples while underwater. They could all venture on their own, and they did to an extent. Beckett led her a short distance to a pod of dolphins, feeling elated at the happiness written all over her. There were so many things hidden beneath the surface, just like him, just like her. She briefly let go of his hand to get a better look, and when she turned back he was holding something tightly between his fingers. She blinked. Surely that can’t be what it looks like. Remembering her training, she kept her breathing even, despite her heartrate exploding. She swam so she was directly in front of him, staring down at the large diamond ring he was holding before looking into his eyes and seeing the vulnerable question he was asking without using words. That might even be the reason she loves him most. He communicates so many different ways, through his actions, his gestures, his eyes, and his words. And she can decipher every single one.

A little shaky, she nodded and held out her left hand, letting him slip the ring on her finger, being extremely careful not to drop it. He already had it insured, just in case. For the briefest of moments, they both removed their mouth regulators and pressed their lips together in a kiss, before returning their regulators and breathing again. It was absolutely perfect.

Later that night, they were lying on a blanket on a sandy beach, gazing up at the stars above them. They’d celebrated their engagement all day long, but there was something else he wanted to ask her. He turned his head to look at her.

“Oriana?”

She turned to meet his eyes. “Yes?”

Beckett propped himself up on one arm. “I was thinking…you like it here, right?”

Oriana chuckled. “Tell me that’s a joke. I don’t like it, Beck, I freaking adore it. I’m surprised you haven’t noticed by the constant smile on my face.”

“Would you want to live here? Permanently?” He blurted out.

Her eyes widened and she sat up quickly. “What?”

“Look around, Ori. It’s paradise. The weather is perfect, and there’s so much to do. Everything is more laid back here. It’s sunny all the time in this area. But if you want snow, we can go to that too. If you want rain, there’s plenty there too. There’s active volcanos, there’s hiking trails, there’s scuba diving, snorkeling, sailing, surfing…we can do it all.”

Oriana had no idea what to say. “Well…”

“And it’s not like either one of us is working right now.”

“But I don’t think there’s going to be a lot of architectural jobs around here, Beck. What would we do?”

“Besides make love all day?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes. Besides making love all day.”

He smiled softly, tucking a strand of hair behind her ear. “Anything we want.” He murmured, leaning in and kissing her softly. “I know this has just been a vacation, Oriana, and people are usually happy while on vacation, but…you’ve brightened so much while we’ve been here. You haven’t had any nightmares in weeks. I love seeing you happy and smiling every day and not constantly looking over your shoulder. Just think about it. That’s all I ask.”

Her eyebrows furrowed. “You’re serious about this.”

“I am.”

Oriana swallowed hard, thinking back on their time together before speaking again. “Remember when we first met? And you tried to get me to stay overnight but I didn’t?”

“Of course.”

She nodded. “You said to me, ‘Twenty seconds got you here. I bet twenty seconds can get you to stay.’”

“But you didn’t…”

“I’ll stay.” She cut him off, not letting him finish his sentence. “Let’s do it. People dream of having this life. So let’s live it.”

He gasped quietly. He was not expecting her to remember all that. “Are you sure?”

“Oh don’t tell me you’re changing your mind already.” She groaned.

He wrapped his arms around her and pulled her into his lap. “Definitely not.”

Their lips met in a passionate and fiery kiss, a silent promise being made between them. This was their new home. This was their new life, and they’re going to live it the way they want to. They both deserve happiness, and together, happiness is what they’ll have.

@annekebbphotography @gardeningourmet @eileendannie @alesana45 @drakewalkerfantasy @friedherringclodthing @mfackenthal @coffeebeandragon @jlpplays1 @desiree-0816 @lapisreviewsstuff @cora-nova @thequeenofcronuts @drakewalker04

@walkerismychoice @confessionsofabrokegirl @lilyofchoices @darley1101 @perriewinklenerdie @justendlesssummerfeels @feartheendlesssummer @the-soot-sprite @brightpinkpeppercorn @paisleylovergirl @emichelle @symonde @kendrasgue @pbmychoices @divergentofhogwarts @cordoniasmost @emceesynonymroll @raffsbaby @elainew13 @dottie-minerva-mikas @sonsie0613

61 notes · View notes

nicostolemybones · 5 years

Text

Kissing You Feels Like Home

When Will had finally gotten a boyfriend, he was mildly amused to figure out that having a boyfriend was synonymous with having a cat. They barge into your office without permission, leave hair all over your favourite hoodies, sleep all day, cause havoc at night, eat all your food, cuddle you when you’re busy, knock stuff off the table, and try to bite if you touch them when they aren’t feeling cuddly. Will was attempting to decipher his messy doctor’s scrawl on a patient’s notes when a loud clatter drew his attention away. He turned around to find Nico di Angelo had pushed his desk tidy and all his pens off the table, and was slowly pushing Will’s notebooks towards the edge. Will sighed in defeat, picking up all of his pens and replacing them on the desk. Nico seemed rather smug, grinning when Will stepped closer, resting his hands either side of the desk where Nico was sitting. “You’re like a cat, di Angelo,” Will stated, to which Nico shrugged and leaned forwards, capturing Will’s lips in a slow and intoxicating kiss. Will groaned softly, resting his forehead against Nico’s. “You’re gonna be the death of me, Death Boy.”

“Then stop working and kiss me before you die, then,” Nico replied, pulling Will closer by his collar. Will figured he’d have to be completely riddled with brain parasites to refuse- kissing Nico was his favourite thing to do. Will tangled a hand in Nico’s hair, twirling the soft curls at the nape of his neck around his fingers, glad to be rewarded with an involuntary shiver from his cat-like boyfriend, and leaned in to capture Nico’s bottom lip between his own. Will was a gentle kisser, but Nico always kissed like he had everything to lose, hard and desperate and full of emotion. Will liked to let Nico take the lead when kissing, because every kiss felt like the world was on fire and Will was all that mattered. It felt like Nico was pouring every unspoken ‘I love you’ into the way he kissed, like he was letting Will know that he felt so strongly for him that he didn’t know how to put it in words, and Will knew that he was Nico’s freedom, his greatest act of rebellion and bravery, the one person Nico could not stand to lose, the one person Nico felt comfortable enough with to allow himself to indulge in his own desires and needs. Will could always feel the fear in Nico’s kisses from the slight trembling that overwhelmed the first few kisses, the fear of judgment, of murder, of pink triangles, and Will could always feel the defiance take over, he could always feel Nico relax and melt into the kisses, rebelling against every last word he’d ever heard to put him down, to shame him into the closet, rebelling against the values he was raised with and choosing Will to be the person to share his pride with.

So Will always kissed Nico tenderly, responding to Nico’s rough kisses with pliant and soft reciprocation, trying to convey that he would always keep Nico safe, that he wasn’t going anywhere, that he loved this boy with every last fibre of his being, that Nico was his safe space and he’d be Nico’s, that he’d stand proudly by him through all the hatred in the world, that he’d fight by his side and he’d love him with all of his soul. He kissed him tenderly because Nico deserved the most reverend care, the gentlest of touches and the kindest of gestures, because Nico was the very air Will breathed, because Nico didn’t remember how it felt to be treated with gentle care and affection, and Will needed him to know that he deserved love, comfort, care, passion, love. He needed Nico to know that Will would be there for him if he broke, that he could let his guard down and Will would treat him gently. Will’s kisses promised Nico that he would care for him for as long as they were together, that although he couldn’t fix Nico or make the pain go away, he’d be right by his side to support him through the darkness, to make him smile when times were bleak.

Breaking apart from a kiss was always something out of necessity for oxygen, dizzy and giddy with affection and passion. Nico’s face was flushed puce, his pupils wide, big black windows into his soul, his glass brown irises like marital bands, flecks of gold and amber and khaki and red and sand catching the light and hypnotising Will. Nico’s lips were swollen and plump, pink tinged with red, perfectly wet and pouty, and Will couldn’t resist kissing the boy again, cupping his cheek in his hand and licking at the seam of Nico’s mouth, taking his bottom lip gently between his bottom teeth and tugging gently as Nico’s lips parted. Will pushed against Nico’s tongue with his own, whining pathetically when Nico sucked gently on his tongue, pulling him deeper into the kiss with his own. The kiss made Will forget whatever he’d been working on, what time it was, what day it was, because gods, the kiss consumed all of his senses, sending warm tingles like pins and needles through Will’s body, his pulse pounding like a drum beat, blood rushing through his ears and blood pulsing through his lips, where Will could feel his pulse synchronise with Nico’s, clouding his mind, lost in all things Nico.

Above all else, Will loved the inherent innocence of every kiss, because every kiss was an act of love, of care. Every kiss was affection, pure comfort. Every kiss was their way of saying that they felt so strongly for the other that they couldn’t quantify it in words, it was their way of showing that the other was their everything, their world. Will knew that Nico thought he’d be going back to Tartarus for loving Will, but how could such a tender, gentle act be a sin? There was no greater innocence, no greater act of love, no greater act of rebellion against hatred, than the tender or passionate kisses they shared. And more than that, Nico was willing to risk Tartarus for one more kiss with Will every time, Nico would kiss Will like he’d never see him again every time because Nico was used to losing everything, and Nico believed he was hellbound, but he could never bring himself to believe that Will could ever go to Tartarus, because Will was his Elysium, his lover in sunlight.

Will kissed Nico carefully, gently, lovingly, hoping that Nico would one day break free from the indoctrination and conditioning he’d grown up with, that one day he wouldn’t be ashamed of himself, that one day he’d realise that to Will, he was an angel, a gift from the gods. Nico was his gift, presenting himself for Will to unwrap and use, trusting Will with his heart, trusting Will to never abuse that trust. Kissing Will was Nico trusting Will despite all the times he’d been let down or abandoned. It was Nico allowing himself to be vulnerable, and Will treated Nico like he was rarer than any treasure, because he was. Will worshipped the very ground Nico walked on, the very air that he breathed. Nico was more sacred to him than any god could ever hope to be, Nico was his greatest innocence, his greatest treasure, his greatest love. Nico was the only thing Will would die for happily. Will would give the world to spend just one more second with Nico, again and again, he’d happily give up all of his friends, his commodities, his home, his shelter. But Nico never asked him to, and never would. Will would give up the world, his family, his life, all in Nico’s name. But Nico would never ask him to give up anything that made him happy. Nico encouraged Will to make plans with his friends, trusted him completely.

Of course, there had been the time Nico had caught Will staring at Paolo, but it wasn’t Nico’s jealousy that drove him to point it out, because Nico knew that Will wasn’t staring at Paolo because he liked him, but because Will’s greatest insecurity was his healing. Will really was just assessing how well Paolo’s arms were functioning. Will was fifteen, and single handedly performing complex surgeries that took sixteen professionals hours to complete, with no qualifications and without the proper equipment. It has been a misunderstanding, a miscommunication in a relatively new and immature relationship- it happens, and besides, a little jealousy is normal, healthy. No relationship was perfect, so they talked, and they worked through the difficulties at every step, corrected and never repeated their mistakes. They had a healthy relationship, because it was built on communication and trust. They could go for hours or days just enjoying each other’s company, no kisses, sometimes no talking, just doing their own thing. They trusted each other, encouraged each other to spend time with their friends- there were no obsessive texts, only the occasional worried text if plans went over time. Whilst Will would always be jealous of Percy, he trusted Nico completely. He knew that Nico would never cheat, and Nico knew Will would never cheat- they had a secure and stable relationship. Will smiled when he saw Nico talking comfortably with Percy, on days where Nico was more affectionate with Jason than with Will, because they had trust. Will was not competing with Nico’s friends. Nico was not competing with Will’s friends. Relationships did not require you to sacrifice and compromise on your happiness. Yes, a relationship was hard work, but a healthy relationship is happy no matter what bumps in the road you encounter. And they made each other happy.

Nico finally pulled away from the kiss, somewhat reluctant, and gently kissed the tip of Will’s nose, sliding off his desk. “I have to teach a sword fighting class with Percy,” he said, tangling his fingers with Will’s and bringing his knuckles up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss there.

“Have fun,” Will replied sincerely, “I’ve got to get back to work, see you at lunch?”

“My father wishes to see me later, I won’t be back until tomorrow morning,” Nico replied quietly, “and then I’m spending time with my friends. But I’ll see you at the campfire tomorrow, then we can spend more time together the next day, okay?”

“Of course,” Will said with a soft smile, “just pop into the infirmary to check in and let me know you’re okay until then?”

“I’ll try,” Nico replied, and Will gave him one last tender kiss.

“I love you, Neeks,” Will said softly.

“Te amo, tesoro,” Nico replied, leaning in for just one more kiss. Will’s eyelids fluttered closed at the gentle pressure, which faded slowly. When Will opened his eyes, he was stood alone. He couldn’t help the grin that found its way onto his face. He figured he’d just have to marry that boy one day.

@solangeloweek Day 1 of Will Solace Birthday Week: romantic relationship

117 notes · View notes

rael-rider · 4 years

Text

Ewing GotG Interview: Thoughts about what he said in regards to Star-Lord

I originally wanted to write all of my thoughts on everything that Ewing said on his SYFYWire GotG Interview but it got too long and I realized I mostly just wanted to talk about Peter and Rich since he provided more new info about them than anyone else. But here’s what caught my eye. Going to make this a post only for Peter (and Rich’s will come out later) or else it’s going to get long (with bolding done by me for emphasis):

A lot of what I do involves going right back to the first appearance of a character — not because I think that's the best they've ever been and deviating from it is blasphemy, but because I think there's usually a nugget of primal mojo that you can find there while the idea's fresh and not fully coalesced.....Star-Lord's first appearance is weird as all get-out, set in some alternate future and 100 percent not in continuity, so you'd have thought that technique wouldn't work this time — but when I looked back at it, it did have one of those little globules of primal magic in it that I'm going to be making a lot of use of over the first year.

Oh, Peter's a total mess. All the old guilt is back. Old false memories, strange dreams where he's asked if he feels the purpose of his life is wrong. He's got his support system, his found family is around him, but as we'll see, he's still got that deep-down need to atone for the past. Put simply -- he can't sleep at night. We've got a journey for Pete to make over the course of this book -- it's a journey that's been waiting patiently for him for a very long time, and it's a journey he might to have to make alone.

This is really interesting to me considering the talk of false memories and weird dreams and Peter‘s first appearance being in a then alternate future (it was the 70′s when his comic came out and his story took place in the 90′s IIRC) and I want to see how Ewing will incorporate all of that to the character for his GotG run.

Now Star-Lord’s 616 introduction happened in a Thanos mini (now collected as Thanos: Samaritan) by Keith Giffen and we didn’t get much about his backstory other than he was in the Kyln for something horrible that he did (which I’ll get into later). Annihilation Conquest expanded a bit on his backstory but it was still pretty vague as to what stuff from the original comics was still canon or not. We knew Peter still had his old Star-Lord outfit at some point and had a sentient ship that he called “Ship” but that’s pretty much about it what was said in the comics.

The Nova corps files companion comic for Annihilation describe his backstory as being pretty similar to his original one except it took place in the 616 universe but still how much of what he did in his original comic was canon other than the origin itself (Meredith gets killed by aliens, Peter goes to space when he’s older seeking revenge and he becomes Star-Lord) was still up in the air. Around the time Thanos Imperative came out a companion book that had character bios (supposedly written by Rich himself) called The Thanos Sourcebook also came out and it added something interesting to Peter��s backstory. The Thanos Sourcebook entry for Star-Lord mentions that Peter’s father was a “time traveling space man”. It’s an odd little thing that really doesn’t get addressed anywhere else but could have been a nod to Star-Lord’s original story taking place in the future or an explanation as to why young Jason of Spartax was in an Inhuman story when Medusa and Blackbolt were young too. However in Dan Abnett’s Guardians 3000 we meet the Star-Lord from the year 3000 who is related to present time Peter but there’s something odd about him. He wears an outfit similar to the one Peter used to wear, he has the space ship Peter used to have, and he's even named Peter Jason Quill just like him. It’s assumed he’s our Peter Quill’s descendant but there’s a twist in their relationship. I made a post which goes into more detail about it but basically future Peter Quill from the 30th century is present Peter Quill’s Great-Great Grandfather.

The reason I bring this up is because Ewing is a writer who really does his research when it comes to the characters he’s writing and said research usually inspires new ideas and dictates were he’s taking his characters and informs him of who they had met or not and what relationships they already formed (his tumblr is full of posts of comics he’s reading that tie into his Hulk run and you can really see what’s inspiring him and what he’s looking at when he makes a story) . Like with Rocket he mentioned the way he changed as a character from who he was to who he is right now reminded him of Noir characters so he’s writing Rocket as a noir character. As weird as that may seem for someone like Rocket it’s something new for that character and it’s not retreating to the same stuff. With Rocket most of his stories post-Bendis have been that he’s angry and he’s a thief who loves to steal and he's violent but in Ewing’s Rocket mini he takes those elements and tells a noir heist space story and he gives us a look into Rocket’s past and tells us why Rocket went from a sort of space sheriff into someone who steals (and it’s a story that really makes you sympatize with him). Old stories and concept are used by Ewing to build up new ideas and stories from existing ones.

Going back to Peter, Ewing mentions that he’s going to have elements from his original comic in his GotG run and that there’s some sort of journey “that's been waiting patiently for him for a very long time ” and I can’t help but think about what Steve Englehart once said about his unrealized Star-Lord story before Claremont took over the book:

Englehart said he’d planned for Quill to evolve, to become an “enlightened being”.

“I envisioned it as a 12-part series, moving Quill from asshole to Star-Lord,” Englehart explained. “Horoscopes have twelve houses, and it would have been a twelve-part series. But the real distinguishing feature between chapters would have been Quill moving outward through the solar system, having an episode on each planet in turn. Each episode would be keyed to the astrological meaning of the planet, so that on Mercury he would have a fast-action story involving twins, on Venus he would have a love story, on Mars a war story, etc.,” Englehart said.

“As he passed through these different realities, he would discover his humanity, so that when he passed by Pluto he would have experienced all facets of life and be ready to take his place among the stars.” [x]

Could this be what Ewing was referring to as the journey that’s been patiently waiting for Peter for a very long time? Will Ewing have Peter go on a similar journey to the one that Englehart had planned? Is Peter going to reach some sort of enlightenment/revelation from it? Will Star-Lord have a new meaning for him? How will Peter Quill’s character grow from this?

Also the whole “old false memories” and dreams Peter has been having were he’s asked if he feels his life purpose is wrong, could that be Ewing just retconning everything from the Bendis and Humphries run? Will we see Peter’s true origin and the real Jason of Spartax who might possibly be a time traveler? (and is the J’Son that we know a fake?) I don’t think Ewing is much about retconning as he is about connecting and making sense of things but I wouldn’t be opposed to him doing away with everything Bendis and Humphries did when it comes to Peter Quill because it was awful.

The one last thing I will talk about is the mention of Peter “old guilt” and need for atonement. It’s an aspect of the character that’s been a thing since Giffen’s Thanos Samaritan all the way through Thanos Imperative. It wasn’t something that was present in Bendis’ run and we know from Nicole Perlman that the Creative Comittee (which Bendis was in) wasn’t that interested in a Peter Quill who was seeking redemption and found that idea “a bit boring”. Ewing seems to want to touch it, and the one big source of Peter’s guilt and need for atonement has always been his fight against the Fallen One and the 350,000 people in a Mining Colony that he sacrificed to defeat him. It’s such a big source of guilt for Peter that he stopped being Star-Lord over it, turned himself to the Nova corps, and he even tried to lose his humanity because of it. He also refused to talk about it (even Rich didn’t know for a long time but Peter eventually told him because he wrote about it in his files in the Thanos Sourcebook). So I’m thinking that someone that had a loved one in that mining colony or escape its destruction is seeking revenge on Peter and it’s part of what sets him into his journey. Because all this time and I really can’t believe anyone hasn’t tried going after him for 350,000 people that died.

Also seeing how Peter was in charge of Hala’s security in Annihilation Conquest and he was the one that let the Phalanx infected Space Knights into Hala and that caused more deaths and seeing how Ewing’s has plans to involve the Kree in his GotG stories... Peter’s guilt over what happened in that event will definitely come into play. It’s also those events and the Kree still having faith in his Star-Lord persona that makes him go back to being Star-Lord (and they also pushed him into it) and it’s also what makes him form the new Guardians of the Galaxy.

I’m very much looking forward to what Ewing will do with Peter.

#star lord #peter quill #al ewing #guardians of the galaxy #ewing guardians #my two cents #boy this is long

17 notes · View notes

tyrian-tattler · 5 years

Photo

The Tyrian Tattler - 66 Scion - 10 Copper

Plain text below the cut.

Here’s the Tea

Just Passing By?

A good source tells us that recently spotted crashing a lake-side party of Salma College students, was none other than the Minister of Beetletun himself. Allegedly out for a stroll, the Minister is quoted to have been 'just checking it out' for some reason.

A Stinging Rejection?

Witnesses in the Maiden's Whisper watched as the poor secretary of Salma made an attempt to ask out a gentleman whilst having a glass of wine and being famously rejected. The poor girl left in tears!

Up in Flames?

At the very same party reported having been crashed by Minister Volkov, things got a little wild and one student was spotted running, screaming into the lake whilst on fire. Sounds like a security issue, if you ask me.

Looking for Love?

The Lady Vice Legate has retired. Why you ask? Love. In a stunning open session this week, the young Minister declared in a show boaty fashion that she was leaving her station to pursue the new goal of becoming a wife. Yawn!

Hot for Teacher?

Two unnamed individuals, one suspected to be a teacher at Queen Salma College were spotted canoodling in a broom closet by another student. Wonder who it might be.

Dear Tattler...

Dear Tattler,

My husband lost his job. He had worked there since we were married five years ago. I gave up my own career to raise our family and now I am frustrated and hurt, as his own actions caused his dismissal. How do I show him support when I'm so frustrated?

Signed,

Stay At Home Mom

Dear Mom,

Honestly, first things first, get a good divorce lawyer and leave his butt behind. Then, go get yourself a make over, a boob job and use the alimony to buy yourself a nice place. You don't need to put up with his crap anymore than you already have. He sounds like a real loser and you, girl, are a goddess who should be pampered.

XOXO,

The Tattler

Dear Tattler,

I'm moving to a brand new place. Everything’s new. Not just the location but the people, the types of people, how they talk, how they interact, what they do for fun. They’re a different breed of animal, seems like.

How do I fit in and make friends?

Signed,

Dear K,

They say imitation is the best form of flattery. Or something. Treat it like an experiment, buy the clothes, talk the talk, act like you belong and darling, you will. If there's one thing about people I know, is that they're dumb and they want to be fooled. Give them what they want. Invent a new you.

XOXO,

The Tattler

Dear Tattler,

How can someone become as renowned as these people you write about? I’d like to make my entrance into the upper echelon of society’s most talked about.

Signed,

Wallflower

Dear Wallflower,

If you're not already rich and famous, the best way I know of to join the ranks of the Krytan elite, is to marry in. Find yourself a nice old bachelor and don't forget to put out.

XOXO,

The Tattler

How Far is Too Far?

Mesmer Magic has always been a hot topic of conversation for the sceptical minds of Divinity's Reach to debate. From the newest debutantes, all the way up to the Queen, herself, Mesmers certainly keep things interesting. But, how far is too far?

Sources nearest to us at the Tattler betray that he hottest new trend in Mesmer magic this season has been to illusion one's body to look better. Nothing new, one might argue but, we disagree! In recent most years, the young debutantes of Divinity's reach have become mothers and with it the plague of muffin top has settled upon the beautiful elite.

Recently released from an unfair imprisonment due to a completely misguided and false stalking charge, the Tattler's esteemed photographer has taken to the streets again to expose he would-be illusionistas.

Desperate to keep their so-thought girlish figures, Divinity's Reach socialites; among them are Luxelen Larkspur of the Ruirkton Roses and the former Vice Legate, Stella Aguillard as well as many many more, reported to be the worst offenders of illusioning their muffin tops.

No shame in getting old, but there is shame in lying to the people. This publication suggests bringing a mirror wherever you go, or risk being duped!

Fauste Watch 1332

The continuous twists and turns, unfolding drama concerning the life of Doctor Cesare Fauste has sold more magazines in this season than most, so to celebrate that fact we have pinned the doctor down (not literally, don't be weird) and scored an exclusive interivew, in his own words about who he is as a man and a lover.

Recent sightings of himself with anyone other than Cosette Hale are few and far between.

However! This rag has begun to wonder if Cosette Hale is playing the Ascalonian silver fox after she was spotted recently sharing a bottle of wine with Jason Balmonte. Scandalous!

Name: Doctor Cesare Fauste

Nickname: Fauste

If I weren’t a doctor, I’d be: I suppose I would still be a soldier, likely one who has ascended rather well in rank. However, one never knows. I may have broken my leg doing something foolish.

If I could trade lives with another person, it would be: There is no other person I'd prefer to be. I've never had a life cross mine such I envied, save for a house cat.

My worst habit is: My obsession with precision and my view of perfection. I do not rest until I am certain that something is unable to improve more than it already has.

I’m most insecure about my: Ancestry. Those before me have humbled my course due to their frivolity.

I feel sexiest in: Naked, I suppose. Usually the reason for being naked is the cause.

I get secretly annoyed when: Someone tries to show me they are more alpha than I.

The weirdest rumor I’ve heard about myself is: Literally any rumor.

The best gift I’ve ever been given: My children, without a doubt.

I know a woman is perfect for me when: I do not believe someone is perfect for me. I do not want someone to cater their traits to me.

I think it’s sexy when a woman: Is patient and kind with more than just myself. Earnestness is my greatest weakness.

I wish I was more: Open towards those who wish for my vulnerability.

#The Tyrian Tattler #IC Gossip #66 Scion

12 notes · View notes

kimmie113080 · 4 years

Text

Refusing to Yield Chapter 25

This is based on real life. Just names have been changed to protect the person identity. There is mention of all types abuse. If trig, please don’t read it. Reader get into a relationship with Kim Seokjin and Min Yoongi but all BTS is in this series. There are other people mentioned in this series.

California was our last tour stop. We had 5 tour stops there. One is San Diego, Los Angeles, San Jose, San Francisco and Sacramento. We landed in San Diego head of airport security was waiting for us at our gate. Uncle Carl met Chris asking where is Ann going to be putting on the suit at? Chris says we have a lounge across from the gate Ann can put the suit on. No one has been in there since an hour ago. Mr. Ayers is waiting for your call Carl to make sure everything went right here. He has been having me call him when we arrive and depart from the airport. We all have been upset and on high alert since the Mr. Jones did that to Ann.

Jin and Yoongi I need to go to the bathroom before I get the suit on? Excuse me Chris is there a bathroom Ann can use before she puts the suit on. Of course, follow me. Jason, Fred, Big W, little w, Tom and Uncle Bill bathroom run. I get done using the bathroom and head back to the lounge where I am put the suit on. Chris being with us radio for the air marshals and more security. What is wrong Chris you are asking for air marshals and more security. Ann, I don’t want to scare you but David, Frank, Steve and your Uncle Jim just arrived. They probably think our flight doesn’t arrived for another 30 minutes. Mike is everyone in the lounge?

Yes, Fred we are all in the lounge why. Stay in the lounge do not let anyone out of there. Fred what is going on. Chris just spotted David, Frank, Steve and Jim. We are going to head back to the bathroom, so they do not see any of us. Okay Fred sounds like a plan to me. Chris we are going to head back to the bathroom with Ann. This way none of them spot her. Okay sounds like a good plan. Bill, I know you probably want to go after Frank right now, but you need to stay with us.

We all are going into the bathroom. Chris can you call one of the air marshals let them know where we are at. When the threat is gone, they can call you? Yes, I call John let him know. John it is Chris? Yes, Chris what can do for you. I am with the box in the back. Okay I just going to call you to see where the box was. Some are with the box and the some are not. Okay stay with the box.

I will call when the owner of the box is here to pick it up? Okay John thank you. Why you we are using box instead of package. Ann your uncle Jim knows that code word for you. I forgot to tell we changed it. Okay that makes sense to change the code word for me. Fred is there a reason why you didn’t what to go after my brother? Yes, the last time we had to separate Ann’s went to a different reality. Where no one wanted to be around Ann. I am just trying to keep my sister calm and safe.

I can understand your reason because that is all I want for my niece too. Fred can lay me on the floor right now. Ann is your back and legs starting to hurt? Yes, my back and legs are bothering me. Princess do you want me lay against the wall and you lay against me? Yes, please Yoongi. Chris when John calls you to let us know the threat is gone can you have him get me pudding or yogurt? Yes, I can ask him to do that for you. Jason call Bryan and tell pudding or yogurt will be getting to him and have Ann’s treat ready for her. Bryan yes, Jason we just had to take Ann out of the wheelchair.

Yoongi is lay against the wall supporting Ann. When the air marshal John call us saying the threat is gone. We are asking him to get Ann either pudding or yogurt. Okay when he gets here. I will make Ann’s treat and have it ready for her. Do we the nerve treat also or just pain treat? Ann do you need the nerve treat also or just pain treat? Just the pain treats for now. Bryan just the pain treats for now. Okay just let me know when you get back here if it changes and we nerve pain treat too.

Okay Bryan will keep you updated on what treats Ann needs. Ann just let me know if that changes, so Bryan can have all the treats you need ready for you. Okay Jason I can do that for you. Chris the owner of the box is here. Okay John can you get either pudding or yogurt and bring it me? Can not you get yourself? It is for the box? Okay I will get pudding for you and meet you at the pickup point. Thank you, John for doing that for me. Ann let’s get you back in the chair.

Sounds like a plan to me. Ann still only need pain treats. Yes, Jason still just pain treats. Bryan we are on the way back now still just need pain treats. Okay thank you, Jason for keeping me updated. Mike, I need to give Ann her pain medicine before we can leave to go to the hotel? We have pudding coming to us so I can get it ready for Ann. Just pain or nerve also? Just pain from what Jason told me. Ann must tell them what she needs?

I am glad Ann didn’t go into different reality being separate from everyone. I will ask the certain question when they get back here Mike? Thank you, Bryan for everything you are doing for Ann. I am grateful for everyone doing what they are doing for my daughter. Mike, we all want the best for Ann. There were to many times where we couldn’t help Ann, or we were able to. Is Chris here yet? No, I will wait for him. He asked me to get the box pudding. John, I see you just got here yes?

Here is the pudding for Ann? I will take that. Chris, I thought you said it was for Ann. It is for Ann. Bryan who just took the pudding is Ann’s nurse. Ann needs it to take her pain treats. I will explain to John why I need the pudding. I don’t like taking pills, so they need to hide it in pudding, and someone needs to help me take it. I will not take it on my own and applesauce I can see the pills. I thought that it was use for.

My little sister is the same way. Ann can I ask why you’re in the wheelchair. At my L4-L5 disc is bulging and herniated all at the same time. It is putting pressure on my nerves which is affecting my legs. I lost use of them about 2 half months ago. You are not letting it stop from doing things? There are somethings I can’t do on my own, but I am not letting it stop me from trying to have a life. John there is a reason why you are asking me this stuff isn’t there? Yes, Ann there is a reason why I am asking you all these questions. I guess it has to do with your little sister.

Yes, Ann how did you know. You are being a little cautious with your questions. It tells me you are used to someone getting upset being asked what is wrong with them. You are right Ann. I don’t know how many fights that I got into for someone making fun of my sister. Everyone I have a question for all of you. Ann go head and ask it. First, I want Chris, John and John’s little sister at the concert tomorrow night? Okay Ann we can do that, but I also want to go on stage with John’s sister tomorrow night? Ann can you explain why tomorrow night you want to go on stage.

There are a couple of reason why I want to go out on stage tomorrow night. The first reason is I have been letting everyone who hurt me win by stopping what I love doing by going on stage with you guys. The second reason I want to show John’s little sister that no matter what is going on there will be kind people in the world to help her. Ann, you want to show her the Army love like you have. Yes, that is correct. How can I show someone not to let anything stop them from doing things? If I am doing it to myself. Ann it is your choice to go on stage with us tomorrow night none of us will stop you. John do you think your sister will be okay going out on the stage tomorrow night with me. Ann are you to trying to say.

John, I did this when I rescued a little boy from drowning and help reunite him with his parents when he was kidnapped at the same time. I was still able to use on my legs at the time. We gave family free tickets to a fan fair. I just want them to know no matter what life throws at them don’t give up on life. You talk about what your little sister is going through reminded me to live life by that motto again. Ann she should be okay with going on stage with you tomorrow night. You are amazing person Ann. I should say you all are amazing people willing to show someone you don’t even know what it feels like to have people care about your wellbeing. Jin is talking now we might have lost our way has a group for a while but when Ann came into our life’s. She reminded us that even if people are different, they deserve to know that there are kind people in this world.

John and Chris, I have been through hell and back. There were a couple times I thought of giving up but at that point the right people came into my life showing me kindest and loving me when I didn’t even know how to love myself. If people who don’t know me but show me kindest then why should I denied other people to know the same kindest. Ann thank you for being willing to show my sister that kindest. John your welcome but you showed the same kindest to me today. Ann how did I show you that kindest? Even through it is your job to protect people. You do not know why I have a stay away order against those four, but you still made sure I was protected. Then when Chris asked you to get the pudding for me you did it. I have run into people not wanting to do their job by protecting me.

Chris knows about the Dallas head of security trying to help those four. Wait Ann are you talking about Mr. Jones from Dallas airport? Yes, John I am talking about him. Ann I was there the day that happen. I was the one running towards you to help. I have been on every flight with you since Philadelphia. If they were arrested in Dallas how did, they get out already? John that is one thing we all are trying to figure out. David has been breaking the stay away order since he got it. Frank and Steve have been doing the same thing.

My uncle Jim also doing the same thing. I need to call Mr. Ayers to let him know you are stay Ann. John how do you know Mr. Ayers? He personally asked me to be the air marshal on all your flight from Philadelphia until you get home. Can you put your phone on speaker for me John please? Yes, Ann I can do that? Uncle Mark it is John. John is everything okay with the box. Yes, Uncle Mark I am with Ann right now you’re on speaker. Ann how are you doing? Good and John is your nephew?

Yes, he is my nephew and yes, I did ask him personally to be the air marshal on all you flight until you come home. Thank you, so much Mr. Ayers. Ann is judge Carl with you. You mean Uncle Carl yes; he is right here. You get to call him Uncle Carl now? Yes, I do get to call him Uncle Carl now. Carl has my nephew been nice to Ann. Yes, he has been great with Ann. Ann just invited Chris, John and John’s little sister to the concert tomorrow night here. John you are going to take Lisa to the concert tomorrow night.

Yes, Uncle Mark, I am going to take Lisa. Ann is also going to take Lisa out on stage with her. Ann wants Lisa to know that there are kind and caring people in this world no matter what you are going through. John yes, Uncle Mark do what to know why I asked you personally to be the air marshal for Ann? Yes, I would like to know why not of all the air marshal you chose me. Judge Carl told me a lot of stuff Ann has been through or is going through. Ann still cares about everyone’s wellbeing. Ann does not guard her heart nor like people who have never been hurt by someone who is supposed care for you growing up. Lisa and you are kind of in the same boat has Ann, but someone was able get both of you out. Every time someone tried to get Ann out growing up, they were met with roadblocks. Ann was able to get out once on her own, but stuff happened where they were able to get Ann back.

She was able to make out again. This time you are helping to make sure they don’t get their hands-on Ann again. Uncle Mark, I understand what you are saying and again thank you for everything you have done for us. John all thanks I need from you is let Ann show Lisa what it feels like to have more than three people care about your wellbeing and protect Ann? I promise you Uncle Mark, I will do both. Good Ann, I hope you understood what I was talking about? Mr. Ayers, I totally understand what you were saying, and do you want me to bring them back to you. Ann if they want to come back please do but I think they like it out there. I might be able to change at least one of them. I know for fact if I get one of them other will follow too.

Ann know this you have another Uncle willing to protect you right. Yes, Uncle Mark, I know that. I glad you know that. John, yes Uncle Mark get Ann to the hotel because I can hear it in her voice she is hurting. Will do Uncle Mark talk to you later bye. John Uncle Mark was able to get both of you out? Yes, Ann and I owe him everything for it. Then think about coming home with us because your sister will have a bigger support group back home. Ann if I do that who will be around to help my sister when I am working? Who helps Lisa now while you are working?

Chris, Lisa and I all live together here. Chris do you want to stay here or go somewhere Lisa would have a bigger support system. John, I kind of agree with Ann one this one. You know I would do anything to make sure Lisa felt more loved. Do you really think staying here is right for Lisa? Yes, Chris, I know you would do anything to make Lisa happy again. Chris what time do you get done today. I only came in because of you guys. Okay Uncle Carl yes, Ann give Chris the hotel address here, so he can go get Lisa. I want all three of you over the hotel to talk for a little while.

Ann, yes, they can say at the hotel with us. If you want them to. I would like that a lot. Chris after we leave here go home get a bag ready for all of us and by Lisa to the hotel. I think Lisa being around Ann would be good for her. Not a problem John. Ann thank you so much for being kind to someone you haven’t met yet. John there are 6 guys who took me in on a cold night not really knowing anything about me. They just know I need help. 7 guys wanted me to move in with them because I was living in a homeless shelter.

The 7 guys got their wish when I had to be rushed to the hospital because of my back. When I and Jin learned about the L4-L5 bulging on my nerves. I must warn all of you Lisa has flash backs, so please let me know if that will be a problem. John, I am Ann’s real dad we all know how to get someone out of flash backs, panic attacks and collapse, so there is no need to worry about Lisa. Okay I guess Ann has all that to? That is correct and Ann will only come out of them if it is someone she trusts. Lisa is the same way and zoned out of reality with someone she doesn’t trust. Well Ann and your sister are two peas together because Ann does the same thing. Bryan is that normal for some people to do that? Yes, it is normal for some people to do that specially the severity of why they have flash backs.

Okay let’s get Ann to the hotel before her legs lock up on her. We get the suit on me and got our luggage and made it to the hotel with no more problems. John, Mike, Uncle Bill wait down in the lobby for Chris and Lisa to show up. Within 20 minutes of be at the hotel. Chris and Lisa show up and being brought up to the middle suite. They all come in see all of us relaxing around the room. Lisa looks a little nerve to me, so I ask Fred to put me in my chair. Lisa remember when Uncle Mark asked me to be air marshal for BTS manager Ann? Yes, John, I do remember well. Lisa this Ann and Ann this is my sister Lisa.

Lisa nice to meet you. Your brother told me a little about you and I wanted to meet you. I asked for you to come stay the night with all of us and for you, John and Chris to the concert tomorrow night as my personal guest. Thank you so much Ann because I wanted to go to their concert, but I really can’t go by myself. John and Chris didn’t know if they were going to have work, so we didn’t get tickets. Lisa you are fan of the group? Yes and no. I am more a fan of you. You’re a fan of me? Yes, I am.

Can I ask why you’re a fan of me. I have always liked their music but when I found out their manager had physical problems. I started thinking if you do stuff with your problems maybe I could to. Does that make sense to you? Yes, Lisa it makes total sense to me. I kind of gave you hope. I have a motto I haven’t been living by but talking to John about you at the airport reminded me about it. Ann what is the motto you live by? No matter what life throws at you don’t give up on life. I have been hiding behind the scene since Philadelphia because of people who have hurt me in the past but talking to John reminded me that I am letting them win by stopping what I love doing.

I want you to come out on stage with the group and me. I want to show you there are kind and caring people in this world. I know you might be scared to do it, but I will be right by side you. Ann, I will go out on the stage with you tomorrow night. I am glad you want to go out tomorrow night. Lisa can I ask how you got in the chair, but you do not need to tell me if will upset you. My spinal cord has been torn apart from many beating I got has a little girl. Lisa just relax okay you are around people who will not hurt you. Guys do your trick that works for me please see if it helps Lisa. Okay Ann we will try for you.

Sing Make it right.”( You were the only one who understood me and all that I was going through yeah I just gotta tell you oh baby I can make it better I could hold you tighter cause you were the reason that I survived oh I can make it right all right all right oh I can make it right”). Do you feel better Lisa? Yes, I do feel better. Lisa, I guess the tricks works for you also. What trick is that Ann? I noticed you were about to collapse like I do. I collapse when I talk about abuse that happen to me. When my friend little w and our other 5 friends came to help me out. He noticed I was getting ready to collapse and asked them to sing my favorite song to bring me out of it.

I wanted to try the trick that works for me on you to see if it would help you and it did. Thank you, Ann, for your quick thinking with my sister. John, I guess Uncle Mark was right that we could help each other out. John why did Ann just say Uncle Mark was right? Ann has the same kind of past we do but when Ann was growing no one was able to get Ann way from them. Ann escape once on her own but some how they got her back. Ann was able to make other escape, but they keep trying to get Ann back. Plus, he wants Ann to start calling him Uncle Mark instead of Mr. Ayers. He is willing to protect Ann like he did with us. Ann can we stay in contact after you leave the area because it would be nice to have another female who understand me.

Well I was thinking you should finish the tour with us and come back home. Ann, John and Chris work out here but it would be nice to have more of a support system then just Chris and my brother. I think Uncle Mark can make a pull getting Chris a job at the airport home, and for John is air marshal. I think my Uncle Bill, or my Uncle Carl can get John transfer back home. I am sorry that I have introduce everyone to you guys. Lisa, John and Chris this Jin, Yoongi, Namjoon, Hobi, Jimin, Tae, Kookie, Mike, Fred, little w, Big R, Big J, Big K, little s, little b, Tim, Big B, little r, little k, little f, Big S, little j, Big A, little c, Big C, Bryan, Greg, Jason, Tom, Uncle Carl and Uncle Bill. It is nice to meet all of you. Nice to meet you also Lisa. We normally a camp in because it makes Ann feel safe with everyone who cares around her. You can stay in here with us or in one of the other suites.

If you all decided to stay in one of the other suites that will be okay with us. Lisa what do you want to do because the decision is up to you? Can we join in the camp in? Yes, Lisa that is okay with us. Mike we will get our own food. Okay but we usually eat has a big family. I think Ann might want to include you guys into our family. Yes, I do but I just didn’t know how to bring it up. Papa m is talking Ann has a little problem talking about her feeling or what is bothering her. She has been getting better with it, but there are still times it is hard for Ann.

Chris and I both know what that is like don’t we? Yes, we do. Ann and Lisa, are you to okay? Crap Fred carefully get Ann out of the chair and lay her on the floor. John do you know what is going on with your sister. No, I don’t. Has any of her meds changed lately? Yes, the doctor put her on a new nerve med. Okay it might be the same one Ann is on. Fred do the same thing with Lisa that you did with Ann.

Okay Bryan will do. Guys go get pillows to around both. Lisa and I both come around at the same time. Guys why are both of us on the floor with pillows around us? Ann, Lisa and you both started shaking uncontrollable at the same time. Bryan is talking still. I had put both of you on the floor and told everyone to put pillows around you guys. Bryan yes, Lisa thank you, but this is not the start time I have shaken uncontrollable. Lisa what do you mean this is not the first time? Didn’t the nurse who takes care of me when both of you are at work?

No, she did not tell us anything. I have been doing this since the new nerve cocktail was order for me. Lisa yes, Bryan how many are you supposed to take? 2 four times a day. Lisa did the nurse call your doctor about this. I do not know Bryan. Okay Lisa but with your permission I would like to call your doctor about this. Yes, Bryan you can call the doctor for me. Hello, can I speak to a Doctor Werner about one of her patients? Her patient is right beside me. I am Bryan Parker nurse to the manager Ann Brown who managers the group BTS.

This is Doctor Werner. Lisa Smith is the patient I am next too. Can you put Lisa on before I take to you? Of course, I can put her on the phone. Lisa the doctor would like to talk you before she talks to me. Dr. Werner my date of birth is 11/10/1993 okay. Lisa do I have your permission to talk to Bryan? Yes, Dr. Werner you have my permission to talk to Bryan Parker. Okay put Bryan back on the phone, so I can talk to him. Bryan can I do for you. You put Lisa on a new nerve cocktail yes, I have why? I guess her nurse never called you about it. No, she has not why? Lisa just shook for 5 minutes uncontrollable.

Believe yes is on the same nerve treat has Ann. Ann shakes uncontrollable for 5 minutes also. Ann started doing that right after she started it. I talked to Ann’s doctor about lowered it to one has need. He lowered it to one treat instead of two. Bryan that does sound like a good idea. Give Lisa 1 nerve cocktail 4 times a day to see if it helps with uncontrollable shaking. If it does not help with it call me again to talk about may Lisa taking 3 times a day instead of four times a day. I will do that Dr. Werner. Thank you calling me about this. Your welcome, Dr. Werner.

Lisa the doctor just lowered from taking 2 four times a day down to taking one four times a day. Thank you, Bryan, for helping my sister out. John it is not problem. We should probably order room service, so both Ann and Lisa can rest. Thank you, all of you again for being nice to my sister. John there is no need to thank us because you have been helping to protect Ann. We order room service. Talked more while we waited for our room service. Once it came, we ate and talked more until it was time to go to sleep. We all woke up around 9 am.

We order room service. After it came, we ate and got ready to ahead to the arena for the concert tonight. Lisa, John and Chris are in the dressing room with Papa m, Uncle Carl, Bryan, Fred, little w and Big W. We waited for the knock on the door to go to the backstage. Jin and Yoongi are talking to the fans. Lisa and I start getting nerves back going out on stage. Kookie come to push me out and Tae pushed Lisa out on the stage.

#bts #bts series #bts fanfic #bts army #kim seokjin #min yoongi #kim namjoon #j-hope #park jimin #kim taehyung #jungkook

3 notes · View notes