#some of these files I haven't opened in a few months so it was nice to reacquaint myself with them

[slipper007]

Okay well. Now you gotta tell me about the WIPs sitting like boulders in the dust? :-D

Oh gosh buckle in. *blows digital dust off a digital filing cabinet* Everything is canon universe, nothing is finished, 80% of the titles are placeholders

Alone Among The Wreck (post canon, SMTS 2): horrible unwieldy behemoth of a sequel to my fix it fic. 30ish k and not anywhere near done. Cas lost his grace in coming back from the empty and he's not coping well. Lots of questions and concepts about guilt, loss, when and what to grieve for, personhood, at what point a body becomes yours, isolation, opening up to others, etc etc etc. Dean is also having a hard time, but mostly because Cas is shutting him out and he feels useless

“Are you going to come back to our room any time soon?”

Castiel wanted to. He wanted so badly to say yes, but he knew deep down that it was only a matter of time before it fell apart again. The fear he’d felt only a few minutes ago was evidence enough of that.

“Can you, just for tonight?”

“Dean, what’s happened?”

Dean looked away, perhaps to the lamp or the angel blade sitting under it.

“It’s quiet down there.”

“It’s always quiet here.” Castiel looked at him, trying to parse out what was wrong.

“Quieter without you.”

Dean stood in the doorway still, with a defeated hunch. Castiel stood from his bed and walked over, placing a hand along Dean’s jaw and gently guiding him to meet his gaze.

“You’re not the only one who has nightmares about the Empty.”

A Little Something About Cas (canon compliant, s13): a short piece I started in response to a tumblr post about Dean telling Jack about Cas during the widower arc

He wanted to hate Jack. He wished he could. Maybe if he did, the kid would stay away and he wouldn’t have to see Cas’ face staring back at him. Maybe, if he hated Jack, he would stop hating himself.

Untitled (post canon, SMTS 3): a sequel to Alone Among The Wreck that has Cas back in heaven as Jack has made it, grappling with how the heaven he knew is a home he can never go back to, and also some angst because yeah no Jack's a kid and shouldn't be acting in a god role and Cas couldn't save him from that

Castiel lingered, eyes on the beauty of Jack’s wings. They were a little too big for him, but Castiel was sure he would continue to grow into them, just as he was starting to grow into this power. His wings were broad and unmaimed, glittering gold and warm and radiant like his eyes. Castiel would sacrifice everything to make sure they stayed that way, that they never had to look like his. He never wanted Jack to feel the pain he had, to lose flight and a part of himself with it.

Untitled (End!verse): kinda a sequel to my other end!verse fic but not really? More like this is a few months later but otherwise not really related. no idea where this is going to go but it's the end of the world and Cas wants to donate blood to some poor soul who stumbled into camp. Dean doesn't understand why it matters so much to him. Cas might also be immune to the croatoan virus because he was an angel but don't worry about that

“You know, just because you can’t heal him with your powers doesn’t mean you have to give him your blood, right?” Castiel rolled his eyes in a smooth, easy motion.

“And just because you feel responsible for my fall doesn’t mean you have to keep trying to protect me.”

Dean side eyed him. Cas raised his eyebrows in mock innocence before looking up to the ceiling.

“I’m doing this whether you want me to or not.”

Belonging Pt 2 (s12-13): companion to a fic I wrote about Cas' state of mind before being possessed by Lucifer, the gradual breakdown of the self. This is set immediately after Lucifer is expelled in 11x23, continues to 13x06 Tombstone, and is mostly folks noticing how absolutely lost Cas was, followed by slowly finding some happiness again

Only a few weeks later, a small package was shoved into his hand. Dean said something hurriedly, almost nervously, about improving his taste in music.

He knew what Dean meant by it. How could he not? Dean had spoken a few late nights about how his parents had fallen in love, how John had known the words to every Zepplin song, and despite the complicated relationship Dean had with both of his parents, he still held the concept in high regard. Sometimes, it seemed like he wished he could have something like that.

Castiel never reminded him that his parents had been forced together by angelic intervention, or how incredibly imperfect the union always was. Dean knew that already, better than anyone. The Zepplin tape wasn’t an attempt to mimic his parents’ doomed relationship, but perhaps to reclaim it.

Castiel knew the meaning of the tape from the title alone, and he listened to it anyway. In spite of himself, he listened to the whole tape, and then he listened again. Song after song, he understood what Dean was trying to tell him, and he wept to know.

Everything should have been perfect.

Untitled: little bit of body horror and definitely a wing fic. Basic concept is what if a spell went wrong and Cas was rendered effectively human but kept his wings and possibly other physical manifestations of angelhood. The amount of math I did for this fic, calculating wingspan by height vs by weight, necessary extra muscle mass and blood to actually use the wings, etc..... It was fun to write but I definitely hit a point where it was getting a little too dark for my tastes so back to the drawing board

this is 12k of embarrassment that i am not sharing today lol

Bleeding Out: uhhhhh human cas, heavy angst, hunt gone wrong. There may or may not be a deathbed love confession followed by not dying, as well as some hospital room bickering about how someone couldn't just ~avoid the knife~

“You weren’t there. When he got stabbed.”

Sam raised an eyebrow and waited for Dean to continue.

"I was busy. Had a demon in front of me, another behind. Cas saw him. Stopped him from killing me by getting himself skewered. He took that knife in my place. I killed the one demon, got the second as he yanked the blade out of…out of Cas…” Dean breathed out sharply. “Cas just kept telling me it was okay. Kept trying to say his goodbyes.”

“He saved your life.”

“Yeah, and now he might lose his.”

Fallen: more human Cas, heavy angst, slight body horror, heavy depression. There's not too much else to say, lol

this is another one of those fics im not sharing until i revise so much. i was like 15 when i wrote most of it and it shows lol, but i like the concept and the scenes, just needs to be better constructed

The Horror Fic (post canon): Dean and Cas find a nice little place to settle down and Cas keeps getting the sense that something is wrong but Dean's not seeing any of it and is starting to think that Cas just has cold feet. A little bit of it is kinda back rooms-y, and a lot of it is very "this could be super freaky but also an old house/nature is just kinda like that". Mostly just a page of vibes and ideas tbh but I'm fond of it

A well. That must be where he was. He looked up at the blue sky taunting him before looking again at the cool brick, how it circled around. Or rather, how it should have. While Castiel admitted he wasn’t particularly well aquatinted with wells, he was fairly sure they only really went down. What then was the small hallway that stretched out into the dark?

Nightmare: human Cas, accidental self injury, very very short with no plot to speak of. This is one of those 1500 word scenes that comes to you in the middle of the night that's kinda useless on its own but would be great chopped up and inserted into something else

A bright light was above him. That was the first thing Castiel noticed. Cas looked down and there was his human, unconscious and securely held. One of Cas' arms was under his while the angel's right hand firmly gripped the man's left shoulder. In Castiel's left hand was a bloodied angel blade. Demons were crowded about, their hideous faces angrily snarling at him and trying to take back their victim.

Cas recognized the scene. He was raising Dean from Perdition. But something was different. Wrong.

Just as he realized that, the tips of his wings started to burn, the feeling quickly spreading to engulf the feathered appendages.

Untitled: sick fic and (at points) a comedy! The long and short of it is Cas gets the most average cold/flu-like illness known to man for the first time in his billion years of life. So he's miserable and has just been completely taken out. Dean takes pity on him and makes him soup

Cas was as crabby in the morning as he was the night before, something that even coffee and a kiss to the top of his bed head couldn’t fix. As he did a final check of the room while Castiel stood irritated in the doorway, Dean caught himself thinking, “Well, this’ll be a fun drive.”

Sleeping: newly human Cas coping with change (there is a pattern here). Another fic I'll almost definitely chop and splice because it just isn't working on its own

Hours later, he woke up, weary and sore, in a room in the Bunker. It felt like there was a hole in his chest, like something was missing from the core of his being. And something was.

He dared not reach out to his brothers and sisters for they’d lost faith in him long before. They would not help him.

Instead, voice rough and shaken, he called out for a Winchester.

Domestic (post canon): they have a house!!!! They paint the kitchen red, buy a table for Cas to do puzzles on, know each other's takeout order at the Mongolian place down the road, and everything is perfect. Their lives have slowed down, Cas might need glasses, Dean is finding things to tinker with, all is well.

“Kitchen looks good,” he said. “You were definitely got right up against those edges.”

"Mmm,” Cas hummed, letting himself lean back against Dean. “You’re just saying that because you don’t want to dry the dishes.”

“Oh yeah? What makes you think that?”

"Because I know you, Dean.”

“Doesn’t mean you know what I’m gonna say or do before I do it.”

Castiel threw a glance over his shoulder, one that Dean met with a kiss, like he always did. Castiel smiled smugly before turning back and finishing the dishes.

“Shut up.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Castiel replied, but Dean could still feel that pleased little smile in his words.

With a huff, he let go of Cas, picked up a towel.

House Hunters (post canon): Dean and Cas are going to find their forever home. The only thing I have written is the very beginning and the very end but they're going to find a real estate agent who looks suspiciously like one of them (think like how Cas and Mick are same character different font), and have debates about what they want vs how much fraud they can reasonably get away with to buy a place. Not related to Domestic, just in the same vein

No snippet, apologies

Widower 2.0 (s15): This was also inspired by a tumblr post. Cas was killed in hell in 15x03 by belphagor, Dean struggles to handle it because of his role in sending Cas down there in the first place.

Castiel was lying in one of Hell’s halls, wings burnt, body broken, blade bent and bloodied. He wouldn’t have gone down without a fight, but he had been alone. He’d died alone, no one but Belphagor to cry out to, to beg for help, to say goodbye to.

He had died looking at his son being worn by a monster.

The thought made Dean nauseous.

And this is just what I have in my OneDrive WIP folder as individual files 🥲 I have another document in my notes app that's just a list of ideas I've done absolutely nothing with yet, as well as a few drafts here on tumblr

[tranquil-ivy]

I’m finally home after lectures and can write oh em gee…</3

Leon and his wife definitely met through Claire or Rebecca. I don’t wanna go too into depth because the note I typed out was way too long to submit and I didn’t wanna make people mad with scrolling. </3

You had been working at Terrasave for a couple months now, you were running tests on a sample that was deemed to have a new strain of the T-virus. The door to the lab suddenly opened, and there you saw him.

The man of your dreams. You swore your entire world stopped spinning as soon as he stepped into the room, hell, there were probably little hearts in your eyes. He came over and greeted both Claire and Rebecca, offering you a small wave and smile, which made you feel all queasy and sick.

The butterflies in your tummy were going wild, having to excuse yourself to do something entirely different o distract your mind. After about an hour or so, Claire finally finds you sitting at your desk, sorting through a couples files and so. She inquires as to why you bailed on them like that in a teasing manner, you just brushed it off and said you needed to turn in something before a deadline. (Completely lying.)

Claire already knew what the hell was going on, she decided to tease you by asking if it was because Leon was handsome, which you immediately shut down, becoming all red and shy almost immediately.

From then on—everytime Leon came to the lab, both Claire and Rebecca would purposefully leave and make excuses so the two of you could be alone. Safe to say, it worked. 🥹

- Anon! 🎀

(I'll say they probably met after Infinite Darkness So like 2007?)

Claire would be coming in strong every time he showed up. Immediately starts introducing you the second time he comes around, starts talking you up.

"Y'know Leon, she has a PhD in Molecular Biology."

"And a bachelor's in Neuroscience!" Rebecca adds, leaning over the lab table. You look up from your microscope glancing between the two women, smelling their bullshit from a mile away. You know exactly what they're doing.

"That's impressive, you must have been in school for a while to do that." You shrug, trying to downplay your accomplishments.

"8 years..." You meekly answer, trying to go back to your work as Rebecca taps the table, clearing her throat.

Her and Claire make up some kind of half assed excuse about needed to check up on further test results in another room and leave.

The silence in the room is deafening. You could hear a pin drop as your stomach was in massive knots. Until Leon's stomach growls, making you sit up straight and give him side eye.

"Are you hungry, or starving?" You smirk watching him side step around the lab table and grab Rebecca's stool. Sitting on the hard metal stool next to you.

"Ah, starving. Haven't eaten since breakfast. Probably should get myself dinner." You nod, looking back into the sample you're studying and take notes.

"Probably... grab something from that new Korean restaurant down town." You glance up from your work seeing the sheepish smile he's giving.

"I... Heard it was pretty good?" You add, staring with an unsure smile. His stomach growls again making your eyebrows raise in surprise.

"You should probably go get food before you start feeling nauseous." That was already happening with you. God forbid it be the both of you.

Leon nods, looking a little disappointed as he stands from the stool, putting it back in front of Rebecca's spot.

"Yeah, tell them I said I'll see them around. And you too." You nod, looking back to your work again before turning back to Leon as he opens the door.

"Leon." He freezes, head swiveling back with a half smile. "It was nice getting to talk to you this time. Be safe out there."

"Thanks Doc, you too." You roll your eyes as he steps out into the hall. Yelling to him as the door closes slowly.

"Don't make a habit out of the nickname!"

"We'll see!"

The next few times he comes around the same routine happens, Claire and Rebecca talk you up, leave, you two talk little by little and eventually he leaves for dinner. The same exact conversation every time...

After a few months of this Leon comes in again, you're alone for once and Leon wasn't scheduled for anything according to your paperwork.

"Hey, what're you doing here?"

"Just in the area." He leans against the lab table on his elbows, not scared to get close to you now. Your hips are nearly touching by how you're seated.

"So you came to see me." You scoff, looking at him with a tilt of the head. "Or are you looking for one of the others."

"No, just you. It's nice with just the two of us." Your heart nearly stales in your chest.

"Really?" Your eyes light up looking up at him. He chuckles with a nod. You go back to your work as he watches silently.

His smile never falling until he speaks up after a short while.

"So..." You look at him as he looks like he's pondering something. He looks oddly nervous for Leon of all people. "That Korean place is running a special this weekend..."

"Oh? Was it good the last time you went?" His face falls, shaking his head.

"I didn't end up going." You stare for a moment, confused.

"Why not?"

"Kinda weird going out to eat by myself to a nice restaurant."

"But you... You said you were gonna eat there?"

"With you. If you came."

"When did you ask me to come?!" Now it's Leon's turn to look confused, standing up straight, his mouth opens for a second to stutter.

"I-I told you I wanted to get dinner..."

"But when did you say 'Hey, you wanna go to dinner with me?'"

"It was implied... Usually when I ask straight forward I get shot down immediately."

Who the hell would shoot this man down? Was your first question.

"You... You wanted me to go to dinner with you, all this time? Oh my God we're both stupid." Your head sinks into your hands as her leans forward, looking you in the eyes.

"Sweetheart, you have a PhD. You're the farthest thing from stupid. I could have just asked normally." You rub your face with your hands, looking back at him.

"You wanna take me to dinner?"

"Yes... Very badly. Because I think you're pretty and smart. I'd be dumb to not at least try." You chuckle at his compliments as you nod, finally agreeing to go to dinner with him.

An from that day forward you two were each other's.

[angelisgonnastartchangingurls]

richard, on a monday

richard was becoming annie's favorite patient. he didn't like that word though. "client," he said. "i consider this an investment, you know? it's all part of the mindset."

richard was wealthy, a self-made businessman, CEO of a decent-sized local software firm. annie had heard of him before because he was often popping up in mental health circles -- he was a strong advocate for it. annie had read a few of his linkedin posts before he'd sought her out.

richard's backstory was that his wife had died of breast cancer pretty young, and he'd gone to therapy and became a convert. the dead wife stuff was long past him now, but he made a point to continue his therapy, and, he told annie, keep it visible on his calendar, visible to all employees, to encourage them to seek therapy as well.

when he'd come to her, annie had briefly assumed richard just saw lots of younger female therapists, but in fact, his longtime therapist, a man, had retired. annie couldn't find any red flags.

and she really loved talking to him. he was a good talker, very self-analytical and sometimes even too self-critical. but also funny, and observant, and curious. she learned a lot from his observations. it made sense to annie that he was successful in business. after their first session, he'd added her on linkedin, which annie was charmed by. she looked at some recent photos he'd posted from paris with a beautiful woman about her age, maybe a little younger, who seemed to be his daughter.

she learned in his second session that it was in fact his daughter, who was an artist and who lived in paris in a flat he paid for.

"that must be amazing for her," she said.

"and me," he said. "it's a wonderful thing to be able to do that for your daughter."

"what is her medium?"

"mostly photography," he said. "i'll bring you in some of her work."

he did just that next week, bringing in a folder of black and white film photographs in a file folder. annie looked them over. they seemed nice to her eyes -- maybe a little basic. landscapes, architecture, portraits. there was one she liked best -- a nude self portrait. she was quite pleased that richard would have such a thing, that his daughter would show it to him, and that he'd choose to show it to her. in the photo, she's holding the camera at stomach level, photographing herself in a dusty, full-length mirror in what looks like an old-school dressing room. she has a cigarette in one hand, her hair is messy, and she has a nice, thick, dark bush.

"your daughter looks very authentically french," annie observed.

"it's true," richard said. "she speaks french more than english, it's even drifting into her speech in english when she calls me. it's the place for her."

"she's very beautiful," annie said. "i mean, the work is beautiful too, but she's stunning."

"you remind me a bit of her, honestly." richard said. annie hadn't clocked much of a resemblance, really. they were both slim, tall, dark-haired women, but very different faces. "in personality, I mean," he said. "warm but professional -- clearly experts in your field. you have a more academic way of talking, of course."

"i do?" annie said, surprised.

" yes," he said. "well-read, erudite. i promise i haven't been analyzing you, it's just something i notice."

"you can analyze me," annie said, just a little flirty.

the picture of his daughter naked was on top of the folder on the table between them.

"it speaks well of you that she'd show you a photo like this," annie said.

"well, she's very french in that she's very open about her body," he said. "that's kind of new, just the last year and a half or so. i remember going over there to see her like three months in and you know, she was making dinner for us in vintage silk panties and a sweater, and just being sort of overwhelmed, you know, my daughter is now an adult, and also she suddenly reminds me of her mother."

"her body reminds you of her?"

"well, yeah," he said. he gestured at the photo. "i mean, same breasts. same hips."

"how did that make you feel, seeing it?"

"well, i guess it was kind of beautiful, you know, her mother's legacy."

"did you tell your daughter that?"

"yes."

"what was her reaction?"

he laughed. "she took her clothes off."

"really?" annie said. "like right then and there?"

"she was only in the lace panties and the sweater, and they were both thin enough that -- i mean, i could see the bush already, you know? but she took them off."

"what were her intentions there?"

"i'm not sure exactly," he said. "i think it was sort of... i think she was really grateful for the life i had given her, and sad that her mother was gone, and sort of wildly embracing stepping into that role."

"what did she do exactly to step into that role?" annie said.

he laughed. "nothing happened," he said. "but she climbed into my lap and straddled me and hugged me.

"that's sweet," annie said. "and a little fraught."

"absolutely," he said. "it was definitely vaguely sexual."

"daughters who have fathers they admire..." annie mused. "yeah i mean, there's no escaping it. it can be sexual."

"do you admire your father?"

"very much so," annie said. and then laughed.

"so you speak from experience?"

"experience of those feelings? absolutely."

"not the experience of getting naked for your father."

"well, my father sees me naked," annie said. she could feel her skin heating up from talking about her own naked body in front of richard. "but if he told me I reminded him of my mom I think maybe I'd be a little offended."

"you don't have a great relationship with her."

"not at all," she said.

"why do you think that is?"

"honestly? when i developed and became a woman, she kind of froze me out. i'm very open and communicative with my father and brother and almost never speak to my mom."

"that's too bad," he said. "for her, i mean. it's on her to make that effort."

"you and your daughter talk often?"

"we email on the days we can't facetime."

"dads love facetime," annie said.

"we like seeing your faces," he said.

for some reason, annie told him the story about her dad and the ipad. they were over their time for the day but she liked talking to him.

"that's cute," he said. "honestly my daughter has answered my calls naked more times than i can count."

"i like that," annie said. "i like that trust and honesty. even if for her there's a slight freudian slant."

he chuckled. "yeah, i like it too."

"has she ever seen you?" annie asked.

"you know, when in france," he said. "she has a pretty open flat, the shower is not in the bathroom, there's really not much of an enclosure for it, just glass."

"VERY european," annie said. she told him the story about alice and her father on the nude beach -- not referring to alice as a patient, just a friend. she embraced this minor ethical lapse as central to her style.

"funny, you know, i was just wondering like, am i the only dad in the world with pictures of his adult daughter naked on his phone?"

annie laughed. "you're not! and do you mean her photography or other stuff?"

"she also sends me selfies," he said. "you know just casual photos of herself around the flat. she's often not wearing much, or just nothing."

"that's unusual," annie said. "but not bad, i don't think. kind of nice. very intimate."

"i like the intimacy of it, too," he said. "and you're like that with your father?"

"totally," annie said. "i feel very safe and open with him, i tell him absolutely everything."

"i feel like my daughter is pretty honest. i think she tells me everything."

"does she tell you about doing drugs?"

"yes."

"and about people she's sleeping with? i don't necessarily mean sexual details but is she not obfuscating the fact that she's fucking them?"

he laughed. "yeah, she tells me."

"then she's telling you everything."

"that's nice to know. it's kind of like having a little spy camera inside my daughter's brain, talking to a woman like you."

"if my dad wanted a camera in my brain i wouldn't object to it," she said.

annie thought about that when she got home, lightly reconsidering. she was very horny and very stoned and was rather enjoying the way robbie's eyes followed her as she walked around the apartment in nothing but a thin pair of white panties. at one point, she followed him into the bathroom and playfully held his cock again while he pissed.

"you're very frisky tonight," he observed.

"i had a good session with Mr. CEO today," annie said. "i have a big crush on him."

"you want to go jerk off about it?" robbie asked. "i could cum."

they went to the bedroom, and annie put porn on the TV. she slipped off her panties and hopped onto the bed and watched robbie pull off his jeans. his cock popped out, already hard. he laid down and started stroking himself, looking over at annie, rubbing her clit. neither one of them was looking at the TV. "you're so hard," annie cooed at one point. he just chuckled and kept stroking. with her free hand, annie toyed with her right nipple. she gathered spit from her mouth and rubbed it across her nipple. "you have such great fucking tits," robbie said.

"you wanna cum on them?" annie invited.

"seriously?" he said.

"i'm so horny don't make me ask for things twice," annie said.

robbie moved to his knees, his cock inches from annie's face.

"god it's so big," annie said. he shot his cum on her. she felt it hit with a warm splatter and immediately started to cum. "oh my GOD" she said. he unloaded several ropes. when he was done, annie looked at the drop of cum still at the tip of his cock, sat up, and sucked once at the head of his cock, feeling the cum on her tongue. robbie laughed. "wow," he said.

"i told you i get even hornier when i cum," annie said.

"you came too?"

"the second your cum hit my skin," she said. "i would literally do anything you asked me right now."

he laughed. "good," he said. he got up and left her on the bed. "you look good like that," he said. he got his phone from his pants and took a picture of annie on her bed with his cum all over her breasts. she smiled for him.

[maxismp1]

Captain Price x fem! reader

The reader is preferred as a callsign Blitz. No names besides that are used!

English ain't ma first language ✨

Idk if i should do part 2, comment If yuh

Rain poured down onto the mudy shooting range. No dust flying around, only the scent of rain filled nostrils of who ever decedided to go out. Or maybe a soldier who was punished, who knows. (I do)

Mostly everyone's stayed inside the base, alongside the comanding officers. Even the famouse groups of the base, the TF141 wasn't on any missions. Whitch was suprisng for them, everyone needs a rest eventually.

Voices and sounds of boots clicking on the floors rafieted off of the walls, filing in as white notice for people. No conflict and no fighting. No one was under stress.. Expect the officer who were preparing for the upcoming missions of there squads, plattons. No diferent to that was Blitz. The colonel of the base, one that junior officers often come to ask for advice.

Blitz was a woman of few words, yet somhow even in a sentance that grasps 5 words, it helps them. Yet, people referred to her as scary, her image was used by lieutenants to scare new recruits, even in a joking manner.

Who wouldn't take a double look when passing by her. Woman that reached the height of 6'2 feet tall (shush.). Uniform always neatly put on, never a fold or a smudge udge on it. Scars cover most of her body, after 27 years of service it was expected. Her tired face graced a faint smile she offered soldiers that saluted her or asked for advice. Even after reaching the age of 45 years old, she refused to retire. Passion for work always payed off.

This particular day, she was signing some documents, reading true the never ending files. Silent music played from the small speaker some lieutenant got her for her birthday. (not Ghost, ik you alrady thought of him). Only thing that broke her out of her own small world was the knock on her door. Without looking up she simply yelled "Name and business? "

few silent seconds past and then a man replyed "is captain Price ma'am, i need to ask few questions". He was a man who visited dosnt visit her often.

"come in" and so he dose. The door swiftly opens and closes behind him "what can I help you with?" her eyes dont avert from the paper she was reading. Simply waiting for him to ask the question he came in here for.

"i have few questions about the next.. Operation" the British accent was something way to familiar to her by now. Every 3rd soldier or recruit was a British person.

"ask" the paper was signed an placed down, her gaze now on him

"the general has informed me that someone will be joing us, someone I personaly haven't met, and Laswell has no information about this" Blue eyes stared at her face as a light frown apeard on her face. Scared hands began listing true certain papers that had the symbol of his Task force on them. After few minuts she found the paper

".. Well this ain't right" she scooted her chair back and stood up "ill be right back, stay here"

So he did. Around 10 minuts past when she came back. "I confirmed with Shephard. I'll be joining the OP you will be performing in Croatia next month" Blitz walks back to her deal and sits into her chair. The paper now has a signature writen with red ink on it, it was nicely set down onto a separated file group.

"so you will be attending the breefing?" he asked while looking at her "I supose so" she replied while looking up at him from her sitting position "it's a OP as any other. Your team will find out the details in the breefing, I'll tell you now. Some people formed a gang, something with drug traficing, aperently it got out of control and the military was involved, so you.. We are sent to fix it. Get the boss and make him confess, eliminate him. "

"alright then ma'am" "I'll see you tomorow, captain"

salutes were exchanged and he left the room, closing the door behind himself.

If I should continue this please write down bellow <3

[perpetualproductions]

Never Be The Same- Chapter 3:

All My Heroes

- Victoria Neuman gives Marie a ride home, taking the time to catch up. Marie finds herself in the middle of an accident once again.

(Title song: All My Heroes by Bleachers)

CW: Blood, semi-graphic injuries.

2k words

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“Neuman…”

Marie stood shocked as Victoria fucking Neuman stared at her, sitting in the backseat of this black SUV currently parked outside of a mid-city diner, and tries to process the fact that this isn't some weird dream of hers. Marie had gotten so used to the new normal that she had built with Jordan and Emma, that she hadn't really thought of the time when she had her conversation with Neuman. But how could she forget the time she had finally met someone who was just like her? Same powers, same tragic past, same orphanage. Victoria- or Nadia, she remembers, is the only one who can truly understand her. Marie slowly re-enters reality, focusing on the blue pantsuit wearing congresswoman in front of her.

“Oh my god, what- what are you doing here? Why-” Marie sputters out, but Neuman cuts her off before she can continue.

“Thought you could use a ride home, and maybe we can catch up on the way. What do you say, kid?”

Marie hesitates a bit and she isn't so sure why. Neuman was one of the good ones, right? She can trust her… right? Marie has learned that her instincts are usually correct, but in this instance, she really wants to see how this plays out. She nods and goes to open the car door, cautiously climbing into the backseat next to Neuman. The moment the door closes, they drive off.

“So, how was work?” Neuman attempts, but Marie prefers to get to the point of this sudden ambush.

“Why are you here? I mean, why now? It's been months since everything happened and you just fucking disappeared.”

“I'm a busy woman, Marie. The fall of Godolkin was a big deal and my team and I had to decide how to address it. Also, I was dealing with your whole virus debacle, which is now taken care of so there's no need to worry about that.” Neuman said matter-of-factly.

“Really? What did you do with it?” Marie asked.

“Like I said, I took care of it. No need to worry. Now, how about we talk about you? How've you been holding up?” Neuman said with seemingly genuine interest.

“Um… alright I guess. Nothing you need to worry about, really.” Marie spoke, cautiously.

Neuman sighs, “I do care, Marie. Like I said, I've been looking out for you ever since I've read your file from Red River. I've never met someone like me before, someone who can understand what it's like to have this ability. Us bloodbenders need to stick together.”

Marie stares at Neuman, looking for any signs of dishonesty or ill intent, but she doesn't find any. Her heartbeat was steady, but she could control that. “So you've been watching me over the last few months?”

“Keeping tabs on you, yes. Watching you, no. You deserve some privacy after everything you've been through. You seem good, living with your friends and all that.”

Marie can't fight the soft smile that comes to her face at the mention of her friends. It has been nice, the little life they've built for themselves. Though that could all change when their college plans come to fruition. “Yeah, it's been good. Better since we haven't had to worry about Vought constantly watching over us.”

“Oh, I'm sure they have some ideas of where you are. They like keeping tabs on their supes. But you haven't made any noise so far, so I'm sure they'll leave you be for now. And I'll obviously do my best to keep you off their radar, but I can only do so much.” Neuman says as if it's not a big deal, which Marie would disagree with, personally.

“So they know where we live?!” Marie says, a bit alarmed.

Neuman gives a look to Marie. “Come on. You didn't really think you could hide from Vought in some apartment in Brooklyn. Which belongs to one of their beloved creations, might I add. But like I said, just stay in their good graces for now and once you're in The Seven you can make some real change.”

Marie double takes at the end of that sentence. “Umm…” Marie chuckles nervously, fidgeting with her fingers as she tries to find the right words. “I don't really plan on getting into The Seven anymore. I don't think I can spend all those years working right under Vought. Or be a part of a team that's led by someone like fucking Homelander. After everything that happened at Godolkin, I kinda wanna stay far away from that shit.”

Neuman lets out a dry laugh, turning face Marie more. Her previous friendly demeanor turns more serious as she clears her throat. “Okay. I'm sorry to break it to you kid, but you can't play house forever. Especially with powers like yours, the likelihood of Vought taking their eyes off you is fucking slim. Vought will always be in control of supes like you and your friends so long as people like Homelander are in power.” Neuman takes a breath in an attempt to recompose herself. She leans in a bit closer to Marie, maintaining direct eye contact. “Which is why it is important that someone like you gets into that position of power and changes the system from within. No more big brother Vought taking young supes and experimenting on them or locking them up the moment they turn 18, because they are “too dangerous to society”. Sometimes, you just have to deal with shit you don't want to do to be a real hero. Isn't that what you want to be? A real hero? A hero that your little sister can be proud of?”

Marie stares back at Neuman, processing all the words coming out of her mouth, the mention of her sister taking her down a specific trail of thoughts. She takes a deep breath and steadies herself before she responds. “Look. After everything that happened at God U, I learned at least one thing. That sometimes being a real hero, means looking like the villain. Vought looks like a bunch of heroes, but that's just to cover up all the fucked up shit underneath. It's all about image. Looking and acting like something you're not. But I don't care about how I look to everyone, and what that makes them think of me, any more. I just want to do the right thing. I want to actually help people, however I can. Be a real hero. One that Annabeth can actually be proud of. Not some lie that I can feed to her for my own sake. So, I'm sorry, but I'm gonna get my power, my way. The right way.”

It's at that moment Marie realizes they've stopped moving. Looking out the window she sees they're parked about a block away from her apartment building.

Neuman shakes her head disappointingly. “You're being naive Marie. You might not see it now, but soon enough you'll realize that there isn't always a “right way”. Sometimes there's just a slightly less shittier way.”

Marie, not keen on continuing this conversation, takes the opportunity to get out of the car. Neuman continues to talk as she makes her way out. “Think of Annabeth, Marie. How are you gonna find her on your own? I have resources, but I can't help you if you walk away from this.”

Marie stops for a second, turning around to face Neuman before she leaves. “I am thinking about Annabeth. Always. I will find her, with or without your help. Now please leave me the fuck alone.” She shuts the car door and walks off before Neuman can say anything else.

—

Marie is about half way from her apartment as she trudged down the sidewalk, the conversation from just moments ago leaving her exhausted and a little heated. A million thoughts run through her head as she goes to turn the corner, but is immediately yanked back to the present when she sees a car chaotically swerving down the street. She watched as the gray SUV collided with a black sedan that was crossing the intersection. It all happened so quickly, as Marie suddenly found herself running to the scene. She could sense from there the amount of blood that was leaking from open wounds. Traffic had stopped around the crash scene fairly quickly, and luckily no more cars were added to the collision. Marie pushed through the crowd of people that were congregating around the scene. She made her way over to the black sedan where she saw a middle aged man with black, peppered hair, exit the vehicle, stumbling a bit as he tried to regain balance. “Hey, are you okay?” Marie said, panicked as she held her hands out to steady him.

The man looked at her a bit confused. “Not sure. I feel alright but I'm sure that's just the adrenaline pumping through my veins right now” they said almost humorously. Marie notices the huge gash on his forehead and immediately goes to stop the bleeding, doing her best to heal the wound. “Hey, what are you do-”

“I'm healing you. I think you should sit down.” Marie suggests sternly.

“Look, I'm a doctor, okay? I appreciate the healing but I need to make sure the people in the other car are okay.” He tries to go and move over to the other car but Marie stops him.

“Listen, that's great that you're a doctor and all, but I don't think you can help anyone in your condition-” She pauses as she looks him over with her powers. “Holy shit. Okay, you need to sit down like, right now. I think your leg is broken.” She doesn't wait for him to respond as she pulls him down to the ground and rolls up his left pant leg and she nearly gags at the sight. His lower leg is indeed broken, bone exposed as blood slowly flows out. Not much she can do about the bone, but she tries her best to stop or at least slow the bleeding.

The doctor looks up at her in awe. “Wow. Okay, thank you, but I really think you should check on the other car. I'll be fine till the paramedics get here.”

Marie nods, trusting the doctor on his self diagnosis as she rushes over to the gray SUV. In the front seat she sees a man, somewhere in his 40s or 50s, completely passed out behind the wheel. She uses her supe strength to pull the jammed door open and starts examining the man. She immediately realizes that his heart is not beating. He had a heart attack. That's why he was swerving like crazy. Marie takes a breath and focuses on his bloodstream. Slowly but surely she works her way around, eventually finding the obstruction that's restricting the blood flow. She concentrates as she breaks it down and gets the blood moving again. She opens her eyes and sighs in relief when his heart starts beating again.

The sound of sirens catch her attention as a couple of ambulances pull up and paramedics make their way onto the scene. She immediately steps back, not wanting to get in the way. She goes to leave but stops walking when she hears someone calling after her. She turns and sees the doctor who is currently being pulled on to a gurney, waving her over. She debates just walking away but decides to quickly walk over to see what he wanted to say.

“Hey, that was some real good work there.” He says with a smile on his face, which seems out of place with the broken leg and all that.

“Thanks. I was just walking by and realized that I could probably help.” She said a bit uncertain.

“Well, you helped out a lot. Your powers seem really useful for that. Helping people, I mean.” The Doctor's voice is filled with genuine interest and praise.

Marie looks down and nervously runs her fingers along the jagged scars that run across her palms. “Yeah… I'm not so sure about that.”

“Well, If I had those powers I bet I'd be able to help out a lot more people than I already do. That guy in the other car had a heart attack, Right?”

“Yeah, he did. How did you know?” Marie looked at him with surprise and slight curiosity.

“Well, for starters, I could see he wasn't breathing from where I was. I also saw you close your eyes and hover your hand over his heart. So, the best guess was probably a heart attack.” He said, shrugging his shoulders.

The paramedic spoke up before Marie could respond. “Sorry to interrupt but we gotta get you in this ambulance and to the hospital as soon as possible.”

“Right. Sorry.” Marie said, stepping back.

“Thanks for healing me, kid!” The doctor yelled before the ambulance doors closed.

With that, Marie made her way with a smile on her face. It felt good helping people with her powers. She actually saved someone's life today. She couldn't wait to tell Jordan about this.

--

This one's pretty short. Most of these beginning chapters are just setting things up, so bare with me here, lol. Hope you're enjoying it so far, there is a lot more to come. Next chapter drops next Saturday! Hope y'all have a great day! (Obligatory thank you to Venus [@paperdoll201] again, for helping me out with this fic 💜)

Much love, 😎👍❤️

-PB

[dreamersinthedaylightinspo]

THE DREAMERS IN THE DAYLIGHT: HOPE

Scene: After Feyre's testimony concludes, Tamlin experiences some emotions - both familiar and unfamiliar.

WARNING: This fic is highly Feysand-critical, and contains OCs who do not have their backstories explicitly described in the below scene.

Taglist: @kitkat-writes-stuff

I'm thrilled you all liked the original snippet! TBH I haven't updated my fic in months but I promise I'm still working (hence the snippets) so I'll be glad to share them here while I hammer out the kinks for the next chapters.

It was like he was emerging from the mists. Out of the dark and into the sun.

            He had not felt this much present in his own, male body for years.

            His heart was pounding wildly with an emotion he barely recognized, because the last time he’d felt it, it had blown up spectacularly in his face.

            Hope.  

            There were a lot of things he’d done wrong, and those he would accept, and he’d take the hatred, because he’d never given a single solitary shit what most of these vain lords and preening courtiers thought of him anyway – but this. The villages. All of those children.

            Feyre had done that to him. Feyre.

            She had lied through her teeth. Lied with smiles and sweetness.

            Like Rhys.

            Like her.

            And when he had run ragged, from village to village, half the time on his own, shielding those faeries with his own monstrous body –

            Eunomia of the Day Court was his savior, and Tamlin seriously considered marching himself down onto the floor of this tribunal and kissing her directly on the mouth, and damn how it would look to anyone else if he did.

            For a few minutes after the trial, he didn’t move. Many people, he considered, underestimated his intelligence because he’d openly admitted that he couldn’t manage the flowery pretensions of court etiquette and that he had no patience for diplomacy. But he was observant.

            He saw Feyre rise shakily from the bench, even though she tried valiantly to hide it. She was always good like that – she made reckless decisions like it was her job, and then when she faced consequences, covered it up with a cold bravado. But Eunomia’s questioning had unnerved her. She’d gotten under Feyre’s skin. He felt a vicious gladness so profound that it was almost shocking. Now you understand, he thought. Do you finally understand?

            He used to love that girl.

            Used to.

            He cast his gaze once again to the doors, where one of the guards had poked her head in to chat. Helion had assigned at least one guard to Eunomia, since Tamlin’s own meeting with her. Probably, this was on the off chance that Rhys was in the mood to make trouble, or rather, that it was a day ending in ‘y.’ But clearly, Eunomia didn’t mind; she even smiled faintly at the guard, and accepted a friendly slap on the back as they filed out together. Feyre’s eyes were wide and icy – frozen pools. That was what he’d thought when he’d first looked into her eyes, in the cramped little hovel they'd called a house.

            She had been so small and so brave back then.

            Who was this person that was clinging to Rhys’s arm, curling into his side as if she needed protection, as if she needed comfort?

            Perhaps Feyre really had died Under the Mountain.

            Rhys, of course, was looking as he always did, flanked by his loyal Illyrian brothers, who uniformly despised Tamlin, and the creature Rhys had insanely decided to release from the Prison. He decided to ignore them.

            He also saw Feyre’s sister – the nice one, the one whose name he always forgot. When he placed the glamour over the Archeron family, her mind had been as open as a new bud, and he’d almost felt sorry to have to intrude. She was also looking at Eunomia’s retreating back. But her eyes were noticeably less hostile. She looked curious, almost.

            Her eyes drifted upwards towards where he sat.

            Tamlin slid his eyes away, and pretended that he was not watching. He regarded Helion, who was chatting with Thesan still. It was a neutral conversation. One could even say it was boring, as far as conversations with Helion Spell-cleaver could be called boring.  

            Three of us, he thought dully. Three stupid, arrogant Lords in a room.

            A miracle, really, that they were all still alive.

            Nothing else of interest was happening, as the Courts filed out. After all, Keeper Eunomia had left the room.

            But Tamlin thought he could catch her quickly enough. He breathed deep, and closed his eyes, picking out the different scents of the room – until he found the only one that was fresh and unfamiliar to him.

            Like citrus.

            Tamlin rose from his seat.

            Fiacha jumped up at once. “High Lord!”

            A grimace – he’d forgotten about this stupid child. “You’re dismissed for the day,” he said, waving his hand. “I have some matters to finish on my own.”

            “Do you require me to accompany you?”

            “No.”

            Fiacha was disappointed, but Tamlin couldn’t bring himself to feel entirely bad about it. So far, the child had proved himself moderately useful, but the fact that he stuck to Tamlin’s side like a burr was so deeply, completely annoying that he could’ve wrung out the boy’s neck for the trouble.

            As the thought crossed his mind, so did an image of Lucien’s disappointed face.

            Make an effort, Tam.

            “Oh, fuck it,” he muttered.

            “Sir?” said Fiacha.

            “Nothing,” Tamlin replied. “I’ll meet you back at the embassy.”

            And he went after Eunomia.

            The halls cleared quickly after trial, which he liked, because it made his current work easier. Her scent was not strong, because she had no magic other than the authority of the tribunal, but it was distinctive enough that he had no trouble following it. And he moved quickly – hunting – until at last he came upon a small side room that was stacked with massive pots of sweet coffee and mint tea, little jars of honey and sugar. There were small plates of fruits and even little cakes and flaky pastry, with long cushioned benches for lounging. Despite his focus, he experienced a faint vision of his father, cursing: Lush Day Court bastards.

            Eunomia and her guard were in there, and Tamlin was focused on tracking them that he didn’t hear their conversation entirely, but he did hear how it stopped when he approached, and when he opened the door.

            Too late, it occurred to him that he hadn’t knocked.

            The guard had removed her helmet, revealing bobbed red hair – a more shocking and fiery shade than Lucien’s warm auburn. At once, she stepped ahead of Eunomia – who was seated on one of the benches, with a little round pastry dusted with pistachio in one hand, and a cup of coffee in the other – and made to guard her.

            You are a beast.

            Tamlin knew that the guard was merely doing her duty. Of course, she would make to defend her charge against the High Lord who had quite literally chased them out of the courtroom and barged in on their private breakroom without so much as a warning. He looked at Eunomia, who merely stared back. Her eyes were a cloudy gray. A part of him could not help but compare her to Feyre, all angles and sharpness. Eunomia’s face was round, her hair a nest of dark curls that made her appear, slightly, to have a lion’s mane.

            While he stared at her, she merely stared back without saying anything.

            It was difficult to tell what she was thinking, even now.

            “State your business, my lord.”

            The guard’s prompting jolted him suddenly back to the ground. He had to think of something to say, and quickly.

            “The records you showed,” he said.

            His voice was rough. Nomi’s eyes widened slightly.

            “Yes,” she told him. “They’re accurate. I verified each one with the assistance of my peers. I apologize, my lord, if I overstepped. I sent a formal request and someone got back to me. I should not have assumed –”

            Why in the world was she always apologizing to him? He had already told her once that he would support her with his full strength. Did she not believe him? Was she frightened of him?

            “Who?” he asked.

            “Hart is the name that I was given. He did not say his family name, but Hart was the source.”

            Hart. They used to get drunk and he would sing while Tamlin played, always a song about an adventure. He’d thought that Hart had gone back to his father’s estates, or worse, to the Summer Court, in rebellion after what had happened.

            But Hart had given Eunomia the records. And Bronn was testifying on his behalf. Reluctantly, but still.

            “I see,” he said. He fixed his eyes somewhere near his shoes, so that she wouldn’t see that was becoming emotional. I am still High Lord. “Thank you for telling me. And thank you,” he added, “for your work today.”

            “Please, don’t thank me, my lord. I should be the one thanking you. If it were not for your generous support, then this trial would not be possible.”

            She gave all the niceties that she was expected to, and minded her rank – as expected of one of Helion’s scholars – but there was no fear or resentment in her deference at all. Rather, she was completely earnest in her dedication to service. It was – well, it was sweet. At least, her deference to him as a High Lord didn’t make him chafe.

            “I’m hardly generous. I think I stood up just to be petty.”

            Both her and the guardswoman wore matched, muted expressions of surprise. Tamlin realized that he had smiled on accident.

            “Forgive me, my lord,” Nomi replied, with a slight frown. “I do not think that is true. Even though I struggle to understand your – personal connection –” That was a very, very polite way of putting it, Tamlin thought, “– with the High Lady of Night, and your personal feelings towards that matter, I have no doubt in my mind that her actions against you constituted a crime. And I believe, firmly, with all my heart, that the children of the Spring Court deserve to see justice done. Both the living and the dead.”

            They’d run from him in some of the villages, because he had arrived as a beast, choosing to forgo winnowing in favor of power and speed, in case he ran across any threats. Some of those burned towns had been places where he'd had friends, lovers. The Hybernian units had burned out sections of his forests, and snared the faeries who fled from that fire, and threw their bodies into pits dug into the earth, like they were merely the carcasses of animals. He wasn’t even planning to go to that ridiculous war council in Dawn, because he had no Court to bring with him, and because he had spent the last three days beforehand digging graves with his own two hands.

            Even now, the ghost of that particular anger stirred a fire in his chest.

            He trusted her. He was going to marry her.

            But she had come back wrong. She had gone into the dark, and she was never coming out of it.

            And he should have known that. It was the whole reason he’d tried to send her away in the first place. Because once that darkness got into your head, it wasn’t coming out. There was nothing he could have done to prevent it, even if he’d wanted to.

            He had buried his people, and with them, all his hopes.

            “Justice,” he muttered. “When it was my fault anyhow.”

            “As I said, I do not believe that is the case, my lord. I intend to prove it.”

            She was so confident that he almost believed her. In a way, she really was like her brother. She did look remarkably similar to him as well, but there were slight differences in the set of their jaws. And of course, Thales’s eyes had been his most distinctive feature. That beautiful blue did not exist anywhere in Eunomia’s eyes.

            Tamlin, whose brothers had merely seen him as an obstacle or a rival on the best of days, finally understood. This was what it meant to actually have a sibling. Eunomia was the sort of person who could make you feel more at ease with the day-to-day minutia of a chaotic world - a rock, which Thales had clung to with all his might.

            “May I ask you a personal question?”

            “That strongly depends on the nature of the question, my lord.”

            She did not seem like she was joking, which was fine, because he wasn’t either.

            “Would it be alright if I visited your brother’s grave?”

            The guardswoman made an audible sound of surprise – not anger.

            Tamlin explained, “I didn’t know him very well, so I would understand if you refuse. But I think he deserves some credit for today, especially. When we spoke for the last time, before we really understood what we were about to do, I –”

            He happened to look up, and see the expression on Eunomia’s face.

            Of course, he should have known.

            “I apologize, Keeper Eunomia,” he started to say.

            “Did he say anything before?”

            Her voice came out strained, as if she were physically holding it back somehow.

            Tamlin closed his eyes. Amarantha had suddenly had him moved to a small, stale room, and for a few minutes, he wondered if he was being imprisoned as a precaution, because if Feyre won her final trial, they would be freed, and his powers would return in full, and he had spent fifty years imagining how he would kill Amarantha for poisoning this world, for treating them like toys, for hurting Lucien, and now for hurting Feyre.

            That, or Feyre would be killed, and they would be doomed.

            But then the other two were brought in. The woman was called Sacha, and she was of Dawn. Tamlin learned that Sacha was training to be a priestess before she had been imprisoned. In retrospect, she had more awareness of what was about to happen than either of her companions. She had a distant look in her eyes, and kept thumbing a ring against her finger, which may have been a token from someone she once cared about.

            Thales, even then, was talking as if this was just a temporary thing.

            “You seem confident,” Sacha had said, softly. “You really think we’ll be freed?”

            “Of course, we will!” And he’d actually patted Tamlin heartily on the shoulder as he said this. “I’ve got it all the things I want to do planned out – the only trouble is putting them in order. Obviously, the first thing to do is to introduce Nomi and Daphne.”

            Tamlin said, “You think that will go well?”

            “Oh, absolutely,” he replied, with supreme confidence. “I mean, they’ll be nervous around each other, and it’ll be awkward at first – Nomi doesn’t always like meeting new people but she’ll love Daphne once she gets to know her. And after that...”

            He’d had so many dreams. That was how he’d survived Under the Mountain for so many decades. Tamlin listened to him beg for mercy, and known that he would get none from Feyre. She had murdered Andras with hate in her heart, and she would kill Thales out of love for Tamlin.

            Ruthless. That was her nature. As cold and bitter as an empty night sky.

            And that was the worst of it all.

            To Eunomia, he said, “He never lost hope. He was sure that the curse would be broken and we’d all be freed. And he also… He said that the first thing he’d do when he returned to Rhodes was to tell you he was sorry for keeping you up all night with that horn before your aptitude test, and for the time he switched out your lotion for itching cream, and that he’d tell you that he was proud of you.”

            It felt ridiculous repeating those things, told to him in confidence by Thales, who had befriended him without reasoning that Tamlin was going to be the cause of his death. Eunomia was far cleverer than any of them, so she probably understood that fact already. The curse, and the war that followed, was his fault, after all. Because he had run out his time. He had not been strong enough.

            He straightened his back, and lifted his chin. Get on with it, then.

            At least, if she cut him down with a curse or even if she got right up and slapped him, he would deserve the blow. He would take it.

            A faint sniff broke his train of thought – and Tamlin noticed for the first time that the guardswoman’s eyes were full of tears.

            Eunomia, too, was looking emotional. Her gaze seemed far away, and her smile faint. But there was a light in her expression now that hadn’t been there before. She seemed almost lost in a memory – a happy memory, though. Some pain had gone from her when he spoke.

            “That is the exact kind of stupid thing he’d say,” said Eunomia. “Thank you for telling me that, my lord. Of course, you can visit his grave anytime. I don’t think anyone would question it, but if anyone does, just tell the undertakers that I gave permission.”

            Somehow, he had made her happy.

            Words failed him. He felt suddenly exhausted, and just left without saying anything else. He didn’t know if he could bear looking in her eyes anymore.

            When he returned to the main foyer, Fiacha was there, looking like an absolute nervous wreck as he paced back and forth between the pillars, weaving a strange circular pattern with his steps.

            “My lord!” he gasped out, straightening at attention only when Tamlin deliberately approached him and stepped into his path. “You went off so suddenly – I waited!”

            For a few surprisingly pleasant minutes, Tamlin had forgotten all about him. But he couldn’t really muster up any harsher emotions than the vague annoyance of an older male naturally felt towards a persistent, upbeat younger one.

            “I know. We’re finished. Let’s go.”

            “Yes, sir! Right away, sir!”

            But he did feel better, he realized, stepping out of the hall and into the still burning afternoon sun. He blinked a few times to have his eyes adjust. The light had always invigorated him, but the Day Court’s fierce summers were known to cause veritable heatstroke, and honestly, it was all a bit overwhelming. The myriad of scents – perfumes and spices and cooked food and so many individual bodies all moving around, and stray cats, and gardens, and fountains, and traders on horseback, and fruit trees etc., etc., etc. – tended to give him a migraine if he focused on it.

            Today, there was none of that. His heart beat calmly. There were a few hours of light left in their day, yet, and he felt no need to hole himself up in his room.

            “Fiacha.”

            The boy straightened. “Yes, lord?”

            “Is there something you want to eat?”

            “Me?” came the baffled, almost-whispered, and entirely pedestrian shock. “Really?”

            Tamlin rolled his eyes. “That’s why I asked.”

            “I…”

            For a minute or two, Tamlin thought he wasn’t even going to answer and started to lose patience.

            “There was a place that we passed on our way here this morning,” said Fiacha timidly, “that had a smell coming from the kitchen. I don’t know exactly what it was but I remember the spot.”

            Seemed that the Mother had at last seen fit to bless Her child with a lick of sense.

            Tamlin said, “Great. We’ll eat there. Lead the way.”

            The boy paused for a minute, staring at him in utter confusion – before an enormous smile spread across his face.

            “Of course, my lord! Follow me!”

[bastionmc]

Bastion Devblog November 2023

This is the montly Bastion Devblog for November 2023. Today I'll be talking about information related to MCWebGUI, MCPyGUI, Bookshelf, and other stuff.

⏰ MCWebGUI Completion Time

MCWebGUI is what we'll use to make most of our applications, like Netherrack, Nylium, the Bastion Launcher, the Quartz Server Dashboard, etc., so it is probably important to get most of our applications done.

It has been in development for a few months now, and after a complete rewrite that is in the works right now, I, the only developer actively working on this, can somewhat confidently say that it looks like it'll be completed in 8-10 months. I know it sounds disappointing, but you're probably missing the absolute scale of it. More on MCWebGUI is coming next month, so look out for new posts that month.

Now moving on to...

🐍 MCPyGUI

As of writing this, MCPyGUI hasn't even started being written on yet. But I haven't explained what it is anywhere publicly yet so I thought it might be nice to know.

MCPyGUI will basically be for small applications with the MCWebGUI style, such as an installer or a simple tool. It will be a wrapper for tkinter, and hopefully be available for Windows and Linux.

The development of MCPyGUI will start once MCWebGUI is completed and development of Netherrack has begun. Like all of our other projects, it's going to be open source so you can use it too!

Unlike MCWebGUI, MCPyGUI applications cannot load anything, at any size, at any time, because the file size would explode if it used MCWebGUI's assets, and it would also be way too laggy to load in like 3 seconds. So it needs to be build in a specific way, with BastionCMD. More will be released about this info soon, so again, keep your eyeholes peeled for new posts about it!

📚 Our Content System, Bookshelf!

Bookshelf also hasn't started development yet, since it will run on MCWebGUI.

It will be a completely modular documentation system, but will also be able to be used for other things. In short, it's an easy-to-use documentation system with the MCWebGUI look, so we can keep our documentation consistent with our applications. (This will also mean we'll be documenting MCWebGUI, in something that's created with MCWebGUI!)

It's pretty simple, more info to be released soon...

🧹 Clearing up some things about Quartz

There was some confusion about what Quartz is, so this section of this month's devblog entirely focuses on what Quartz is.

Quartz Server is a Minecraft Server, coded in C#, with content added through Lua. We are aware that this makes using Java plugins not possible, but through our Lua API it won't be hard to recreate the plugins, now that it is no longer Java.

Quartz Client is a Minecraft Client, that is coded from scratch. It is not using any Java code. It won't use a Java Server. It relies on the Quartz Server. We will include a Mod-loader, that allows people to add their own Lua code, simply by putting their mod file in a folder, simelar to Java modding.

If you feel the need to make Quartz run on a Java server, then we won't stop you, but we'll also not support versions of Quartz that rely on a Java server, so maintanence & support is up to you.

We are aware that Quartz is a huge task, please do not mention this in our Discord server.

[squiggledrop]

Trust - Spencer Reid x Reader

Masterlist

Summary: Spencer and Reader have been dating for two months, and haven't done anything more than kiss. But, when Reader has to go undercover in a revealing outfit, Spencer finds Reader hard to resist.

Word Count: 5.2k

Pairings: Spencer Reid x Reader

Category: Smut, Angst, Fluff (NSFW, 18+)

Warnings: Swearing, Sex (oral and penetration), Mentions of Sexual Assault, Crying, Guns, Shooting

You and Spencer had been dating for two months. It had been the most amazing two months of your life, but also the most sexually frustrating. Your nights consisted of heated make-out sessions followed by lots and lots of cuddling. Spencer was the first guy you dated that didn’t try and get in your pants on the first date, which was something you admired about him. However, his gentle and caring demeanor, one of that many reasons you fell in love with him, was starting to become the bane of your existence. Whenever you tried to have him move his hands away from their respectful, stationary position on your fully clothed waist, he would tense up. This broke your heart because the last thing you wanted to do was make your amazing, but insecurity-ridden, boyfriend uncomfortable.

You knew it wasn’t due to him not finding you appealing in that way because multiple times when he hadn’t heard you come home, you could hear him moaning your name through the sounds of water falling on his bare chest in the shower. One time you got up the courage to creak the door open and ask him if he wanted you to join him, but you were quickly met with him coughing, trying to cover up his previous activities, and saying that he was just washing off the last of the soap. He never mentioned what happened, and you respected his wishes of not questioning him about it any further. 

You wanted to feel his touch all over your body and for him to completely devour you, but you loved this man so much, that you would be willing to wait as long as he needed. The two of you had decided to take things slow when you first started dating, you just didn’t realize slow for Spencer Reid would be this agonizingly slow. 

That is why, when, for the first time since you had started dating, you had friction on your crotch that wasn’t just your own hand, and both your phones rang, you actually wanted to scream. That night, you and Spencer were having one of your usual kissing sessions in bed- which you wouldn’t trade for the world- when he pulled you onto his lap, therefore causing him to move his hands off your waist and grab your thighs, the tops of his fingers grazing your butt cheeks. Your heart raced at the feeling, causing you to moan even more into the kiss. Spencer smirked at the reaction he elicited from you and gripped your hips with even more fervor. Not wanting to overwhelm him, you began to gently rock your hips against him. You could feel the already formed bulge in his pants begin to grow, which you took as a sign to move with more purpose. The pleasure you felt was immeasurable, and you thought you might cry at how good the man you loved with your whole heart was making you feel. Just as Spencer let out the moans he had been holding back, your heart sank. He quickly jumped out from under you, and you could see the realization of what just happened wash over his face as he answered his phone. You sighed and reached for your own, dreading the sound of Hotch’s voice saying you were needed.

The two of you got ready in silence, not sure what to say about what had just happened. Spencer’s silence worried you, but when he grabbed your hand and kissed your head as you finished locking the front door, you knew everything would be okay because you had your goofy, loving Spencer by your side.

Garcia delivered the case, relaying that the unsub was killing prostitutes in Las Vegas. When the team arrived, you and Spencer were sent to set up at the local police precinct to get started on the geographical profile. After two days and two more bodies, the team had figured out who the unsub was and where he would be striking that night. 

“Alright, to catch him, we will need to go undercover so he’ll bring himself to us. (Y/l/n), you match his type and will be our best shot, are you okay doing this?”, Hotch said. Spencer looked up, a mixture of anger and terror violently swirling in his eyes.

“Of course”, you replied, gaining an even more intense look from Spencer.

“JJ and I will help you get ready”, Emily said.

“Alright, let’s get to work”, Hotch said. As everyone got up, you began to walk towards JJ and Emily when you felt a tug on your wrist. You turned around in confusion, only to be met by the piercingly concerned eyes of your boyfriend.

“Can we talk?” Spencer whispered in a gentle tone that juxtaposed his facial expression.

“Yeah, sure”, you replied and gave Emily and JJ a glance before Spencer took me into the empty file room next door.

“Is everything o-”

“Please don’t do this”, he interrupted with pleading eyes.

“Spencer, its just work. It’s no different than any other time we have to go undercover”, you reassured him. His eyes traced your body before he met your gaze and bit his lip.

“I just- This guy is dangerous (y/n). I don’t want you to get hurt.” Knowing this wasn’t the full story, you raised your eyebrows and gave a knowing look. When he still wouldn’t confess to what this really was about you sighed before continuing.

“Spence, we deal with guys like this all the time, I can handle myself and you and the rest of the team will be right there, and if that’s all, I really have to go get ready”, you said, glancing up at the clock above the door. Just as you were about to leave, you heard indistinguishable mumbles coming out of Spencer’s mouth. “Huh?”, you questioned.

“I...I don’t want you out there for any guy, especially this guy, just-just as something they feel they have the right to touch”, your eyes softened as you gave him a small smile and grabbed his hand with both of yours. You opened your mouth, but before you could say anything to relieve his anxieties, he said, “I just don’t want to see you get hurt again”. At this, you knew he was no longer talking about the case, and everything began to make sense. 

---

Before you and Spencer were dating, you had gone on a date with a guy you met at a coffee shop. You had said hello to each other a few mornings in a row, and on the fourth day he asked you out. At first, you were reluctant because you had a massive crush on Spencer, but you decided you couldn’t just pine for him forever, so you agreed. That night, Spencer had received a call from you in tears, causing his heart to clench at the thought of you so upset. He came and picked you up on some random street corner and you got in, flashing him a small tear-stained smile as thanks for getting you. When you finally got back to your apartment, he parked the car and broke the silence.

“(Y/n), you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to, and I don’t want to pry into your personal life”, at this you took in a sharp breath, trying hold back your tears, “but, I really need to know what happened so I can help you, okay?” He had looked up at you and went to place his hand on your thigh to reassure you that you were safe with him, but at his touch, you tensed and your eyes grew wide with terror and he quickly flinched back, as if you had electrocuted him.

“I-I’m sorry, I’m so sorry. I didn’t mean to hurt you”, he said with guilt. The sadness on his face made you cry even more.

“I...I went out with this guy tonight”, you started, as Spencer’s face fell at thought of you with someone that wasn’t him, “He seemed nice and I was having fun. We-”, you chocked out another sob, “We went back to his place because the movie theater we were going to go to was closed, so we were just going to watch one there.” You stopped for a moment to try and catch your breath. You could feel Spencer’s eyes on you, but you couldn’t bring yourself to meet his gaze because you felt like such an idiot. You had poor judgment and went out with a jerk and had to call the guy you had the biggest crush on to come get you because you were a mess. “A couple minutes into the movie he kissed me, and it was nice so I kissed him back, but-but then he-he”, you closed your eyes, the painful image in your head causing you to break down again, “he started to touch me and I pushed him off because I wasn’t comfortable, but he just kept going… I didn’t know what to do and-Ugh! I can still feel his hands on me.” You finally looked up at Spencer who’s eyes were burning with anger.

“(Y/n)”, his voice was so soft, in direct contrast to his eyes, “I am so sorry that happened. You are such an amazing person, and you deserve someone who treats you as such.” You smiled at this and thanked him.

“Um, you don’t have to, but, could you stay with me tonight? I really don’t feel like being alone…”, you asked.

“Yeah!-uh-uh, yeah, yes of course”, he stammered, trying to conceal his excitement at getting to spend time with you because of the terrible circumstances that brought you to call him tonight. That night you asked him if he could stay in your bed with you, to which he happily obliged. In your sleep, you both had drifted towards each other. You woke up in each other’s arms with a grin plastered on your faces. From that night on it had become your routine to sleep while holding each other, and on the third night, you hesitantly placed a kiss on Spencer’s cheek, causing him to blush and place one on your cheek in return. The next morning you had woken up before him, so you let yourself admire the dark curls that brushed against his forehead and his cute nose with little crinkles from him scrunching it so much. When you moved your way to his beautiful plump, pink lips, you couldn’t help place a chaste kiss to his lips, causing his big hazel eyes to shoot open. After realizing what was happening, he smiled and melted into your kiss.

---

Unknown to you until now, Spencer made himself a promise that night you called him full of tears: He would never do anything to cause you to hurt like that again. It all made sense. He never wanted anyone to touch you like that guy did, including himself, for fear he would make you uncomfortable or do something you didn’t want. 

“Spence…That guy didn’t take no for an answer. But, I know you-”

“Yeah well neither does this unsub!”, he shouted, cutting you off. It pained you to see how much this hurt him, but you really had to go do your job if you wanted to stop him from killing again tonight. Before giving Spencer a kiss on the cheek, you made a mental note to show him all the things he could do to you without hurting you when this was all over. Well, maybe him hurting you a little bit wouldn’t be such a bad thing with what you had planned.

“Look, I have to go. I love you”, you said, placing a kiss on his cheek.

“I love you”, he sighed in defeat, with a grin on the half of his face that you placed your lips on.

When Emily and JJ were done getting you ready, you looked in the mirror in amazement. You were never super confident in showing off your body, but this outfit left very little to the imagination. You couldn’t help but smirk at the thought of Spencer’s face when he would see you in this.

You stepped out of the bathroom, everyone’s eyes falling on you. You shrugged and walked towards Spencer so he could put your mic on you. As you walked towards him his eyes were glued to you. For someone who you were dating and had spent the past 63 nights in the same bed as you, even he hadn’t seen this much of you. You were wearing a skin-tight black dress, that with one wrong move would expose the black lace panties you had on, which also didn’t cover very much. The dress was very low cut, leaving your breasts out on display as they bounced as you walked in your heels. You had never seen Spencer’s eyes this wide and you swore you could see a bit of drool as his mouth was left open in shock.

“Alright, wire me up doc”, you teased as you approached him with a smirk.

“Um, yeah, right”, he said as he broke out of his trace, and the two of you went back into the file room. Spencer’s hands hovered over your body as he hesitated to put the wire down your back. He took in a breath and fed it down the back of your dress. “Is this okay…”, he questioned, whispering in your ear. His breath on your neck made you shudder. You nodded in response and he stopped again for a moment before bringing the wire towards your right breast. “Uh, here, I’ll let you do this part…”, he sheepishly looked away.

“Could you do it, please? You have steadier hands than me and the last thing we need is him seeing the wire”. Spencer looked in your eyes before nodding and grabbing the wire. His hands brushed against your breast, causing your breath to hitch at the sensation. He quickly dropped the wire and looked at you with scared, apologetic eyes.

“I’m so sorry-” he started, but you grabbed his hand and cut him off. “Spencer”, you smiled at him, bringing his hand back to where it was, “it’s okay. You didn’t do anything wrong. That felt nice, I just, I’ve never felt you do it before. It was just new okay, but... good, really good”, your angelic laugh released the tension in his face and he bit his bottom lip, holding back a smile. He finished attaching the wire, his movements causing you to shift from how turned on you were. He looked up at you, and you brought him in for a kiss. His hands gently laid on your waist and your hands ran through his hair. When you broke apart, breathless, you gave him another quick kiss. “Alright, let’s go catch this guy”, you winked at him, causing him to smile and shake his head at how you could be making jokes right before meeting a serial killer face to face.

“We’ll be right there the whole time, and I promise we won’t let anything happen to you”, he said sincerely.

“I know you will”, you smiled. He interlocked your hands as you left the file room. As you headed for the door to head to the black SUVs, you could hear Derek behind you saying “My man” at the sight of Spencer’s disheveled, more than normal, hair. You gave Spencer’s hand a quick squeeze as you both laughed and shook your heads at Derek’s comment. Spencer held your hand for dear life and didn’t let go the entire ride there, and when he finally had to let go, he brought your hand up to his mouth and placed a kiss on your knuckles. He wished you luck as you walked into the brisk night air.

You saw the unsub’s car approach you, and your heart rate sped up, but you took a breath and calmed down. You turned your head and gave him a lustful smile and you leaned on the open passenger window.

“How much?” he asked, getting out of his car. Shit, you thought, the team never planned on him getting out and forcefully taking the girls, you always thought they got in willingly and then he took control over them. Your heart rate sped back up again. “I said, how much?”, he growled while grabbing your arm. You tried to pull away, but his grip was too strong. But, before you could even let out a scream, you heard the voice of the man you loved with all your heart.

“FBI! Let her go! You are under arrest for the murder of five women”, Spencer shouted at the unsub. The unsub tightened his grip on your arm, causing you to wince. He reached for his gun in his pocket, but before he could, Morgan shot him in the arm, causing him to drop the gun. As he stumbled backward, you freed your arm and ran to Spencer, who enveloped you in a hug. You closed your eyes and put your cheek to his neck as his arms warmed your cold, and still very exposed, body. Feeling you shaking under him, he handed you his FBI jacket, which you gladly took as he draped it over your shoulders before bringing you in for another hug. He put one hand in your hair and whispered in your ear, “I’m so sorry (y/n), I promised nothing would happen. I’m so sorry he hurt you”, he said, pulling away slightly to examine your bruising arm from where the unsub grabbed you. 

“Hey… Spence…”, you said wiping a tear off his cheek, “none of this is your fault, we didn’t know he would get out of the car. I’m totally fine, and you saved me okay? I’m fine and I’m safe because you were there okay?”, he nodded as you wiped another one of tears away before he brought you to his chest again. “Come on, let’s go home,” you said as you brought him in for a quick kiss. However, much to your surprise, as you started to pull away, he cupped your cheeks and brought you into a deep kiss, you reciprocated, causing him to smile. “Hey um, maybe we can go back to the hotel so you can help me take my wire off”, you said in between kisses, pushing up against him even more. He smiled and let out a breathy laugh.

“Yeah, I’d like that”. You walked back to the black SUV, Spencer stopping you and putting his arm out protectively as Morgan took the bandaged and handcuffed unsub to the back of the police car. You looked up at Spencer with pure love because you trusted him and knew he would never hurt you.

When you made it back to the hotel room, you closed the door and took Spencer by the hand, setting him down at the edge of the bed. You stood in between his legs so that he was face to face with your chest. You brought his hands up to your chest and he took the wire out. You turned around but grabbed his hand before he fed it out of the back of your dress, causing Spencer to tense with fear that he did something wrong, a face you had seen far too many times.

“It might be easier if you unzip me and then take the wire out”, you suggested coyly.

“Oh um, are you sure?”, he asked, hesitant to touch you again. You looked down at him and could see the bulge that had formed in his pants.

“Yes, there is nothing I am more sure of”, you said while rubbing your thumb over his cheek. You turned back around and sat in his lap. His hands hovered over your zipper and then he began to slowly unzip it. You could feel the bulge growing in his pants with each inch of your back that became more exposed. As you felt his hands trace down your back, you became more and more turned on and you could feel your black panties getting wetter by the second. Desperate for some relief, you shifted your hips, causing Spencer to let out a quiet moan and his bulge to grow even bigger. When he finally got the wire out, you stood back up and turned around so he was once again staring at your breasts. Because your dress was unzipped, the shoulders of the dress began to fall, exposing even more of your chest. You smirked at seeing Spencer stare at your breasts, unable to peel his eyes away.

“You can touch me”, his eyes grew wide, realizing what he had been staring at and he looked up into your eyes, making sure not to break contact.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to stare”, he said sheepishly.

“Spencer”, you let out a soft chuckle, “You are my boyfriend, it’s okay, I want you to stare. I’d be a bit concerned if you didn’t like what you saw… You do right? You do like what you see?”, you said with a smaller waver to your voice.

“Of course I do! I-I, (y/n) I think you are the most beautiful person in the world. I would stare at you all day if I could, I mean, I kinda do.”

“Then touch me”, you almost whined, desperate for some friction to your crotch.

“I… I just don’t want to hurt you...” “You won’t.”

“But what if I do. I couldn’t live with myself if I knew I ever hurt you or made you uncomfortable”, he said staring at the floor. You brought his chin up to meet your gaze.

“Spencer, I want you to touch me, okay? I want this. And I trust you. I know that if for some reason I ask you to stop, you will. I don’t want to make you uncomfortable either, so if you don’t want this that is also totally okay, and we can just kiss and cuddle like normal okay? I love doing that too.” Spencer looked at you with such love your heart fluttered.

“I really want this, but only if you do too”, he said grabbing your hands and running his thumbs over your knuckles.

“I really do”, you said as you leaned in to kiss him. When your lips met he stood up and spun you so that the backs of your knees were against the bed. He ran his hands up and down your back, hinting at what he wanted to do.

“Is this okay?”, he asked. You nodded. He began to pull your dress down as he left sloppy kisses down your neck. Your exposed skin was on fire and everywhere he touched sent shocks of pleasure through your body. He pushed you onto the bed and got on top of you. His kisses got lower as he began to kiss the outline of your very much see-through lace bra. You were squirming beneath him as he sucked on the soft skin of your breasts, surely leaving marks to be admired for days to come. Your hands laced through his hair and your hips jolted up towards him in hopes of any form of release. He smiled into your skin and moved his hands down to the hem of your dress. He played with it before taking his mouth off of your breast and he looked you in the eyes.

“Is this okay?”, he asked.

“Yes, please Spencer, yes please.” With that he pulled your dress off your body, leaving you writhing beneath him in your soaked lace panties and bra. You lifted your arms up to start unbuttoning his shirt. You pushed it off his shoulders and ran your arms down in lean arms and then up to his subtly toned chest. “Please, Spence, I need you…” Hearing you beg for him made his heart do somersaults. He brushed his hands over your hips and slowly pulled down your panties, exposing you to him. He looked at you with desire.

“Is this okay?”, he asked, motioning towards your dripping entrance.

“Yes, please”, and that was all he needed before smiling up at you and connecting his mouth to your slit. He ran his tongue up and down you, eliciting loud moans from your mouth. He sucked on your clit and then ran his tongue in circles. You had been imagining this for months, and now that it was finally happening, it didn’t take long for you to come, your whole body shaking, your thighs tightening around his head, and his ears filling with you moaning his name. When you finally came down, you looked up at Spencer who stared back, matching your lustful gaze.

“You are so beautiful”, he said, running his fingers along every curve of your body. You looked down to see he was about to burst out of his pants. “Was that okay?”, he asked. 

“That, Dr. Reid, was more than okay, that was perfect.” He chuckled at you calling him doctor and placed a kiss to your forehead. He didn’t know it was possible to love someone this much. He thought his heart might burst. “I want you”, you said longingly.

“You have me”, Spencer replied with a confused smile, not quite understanding what you were saying.

“No, I want you, in me, please. I need you so bad”, Spencer’s eyes shot wide open.

“Are you sure?”, he said, running his hand over your cheek.

“I have never been more sure.” His smile grew to match yours and his mouth was back on yours, kissing you like he had been lost in the desert and you were the oasis he finally found. 

You reached down to his waist, “Is this okay?”, you asked. He nodded and hummed into your mouth. You unbuckled his belt and threw it to the side. You then undid his pants and ran your hands over his bare hips and up to his back, lightly scratching your nails into his skin, he moaned in response, jolting his hips towards you. He broke apart from the kiss to remove his pants and boxers to reveal his very hard length. You stared in amazement. Sure, you had felt your fair share of Spencer’s erections through his pants while kissing and cuddling, but this was even better than you imagined.

“Are you sure you want this?”, he asked as he positioned himself above you, his member ghosting over your entrance.

“Yes.” That was all it took and he slowly started to insert himself into you. You sucked in a sharp breath from feeling him inside you. The stretch hurt a bit, but it felt so good. Spencer noticed the discomfort you felt and immediately stopped. You looked up at him, wondering why he stopped when he felt so good.

“Are you okay? Did I hurt you?”, he asked, searching your face for an answer.

“No, I’m great. Please don’t stop. You feel so good”, you whimpered, caressing his cheek. He nodded sheepishly, trying to hold back a smirk, and continued. When he bottom out you both let out a moan, and he stayed there for a moment to let you adjust. 

“Okay, I’m good”, you smiled at him, “please move”, you begged as your hips thrust upward. He started kissing you again as he began to move at a slow pace, as not to hurt you. You moaned into his kiss and whispered into his mouth, “Faster, please. Ruin me.” Spencer, completely enchanted by you, hanging onto every sound that came out of your mouth, happily obliged and began to thrust harder and faster. “Mmmuhhh Spence… Fuck… MMM Spence!”, you moaned. He was so high off of you he began to zone out in how good you felt.

“You feel so good (y/n), you feel so good around me”, he panted between kisses. You could tell that you were so close, but there was something you wanted to do first.

“Spence, wait…”, you said, putting your hand on his chest. He froze. Horrified he hurt you. You took his chin in your hand and met his gaze, “Can I ride you?”, you asked softly.

“Yea-Yeah, yes, yes please”, he said relieved. He turned both of you so that you were on top. You hovered on his tip, tracing circles at your entrance. You slowly lowered yourself as he moaned your name until he was fully inside you. He stared at you and reached for the clasps of the bra you still had on. “Is this okay?” You smiled and nodded as he unhooked your bra, releasing your breasts. He ran his hands over them, causing you to tip your head back in pleasure. You tightened around him, causing him to thrust into you at the sensation. You took that as your cue to start. You began rocking your hips, grinding on him as he grabbed your hips and dug his fingers into your sides. You began to bounce up and down on him, picking up your pace as you moaned even louder. Spencer was in pure bliss, looking at you ride him, moaning his name, as your breasts bounced in sync with your hips. He ran his hands over your ass and gave a tight squeeze, causing you to squeal. 

“Spence”, you warned, “I’m close.”

“Me too”, he moaned. As you came down, he thrust up into you hard, causing both of you to reach your climax together. You both sat there for a moment, just enjoying the feeling of one another. Spencer sat up, still inside of you, and you leaned into his chest as he wrapped his arms around you. “I need to clean you up”, he whispered as he pressed a kiss to your forehead.

“In a minute…”, you said, “You feel so good”, not wanted to lose the full feeling you had with him inside you. So that’s exactly what you did. You stayed, sat on Spencer’s lap, him still inside you, holding each other in your arms as you laid your head on his shoulder. He was so warm, and you loved the feeling of your bare chests together. After a few minutes of holding each other, he finally got you to get up so he could take care of you. He got a wet wash towel with warm water and came back to clean you off before doing the same to himself. He crawled under the covers with you and pulled you into his chest, his arms enveloping you in his warmth. He placed a kiss to the top of your head as you put your head in the crook of his neck.

“(Y/n)?”, you hummed in response, your eyes still closed, “I love you so much. Thank you for trusting me and letting me be with you”. You opened your eyes and looked up at him.

“Thank you for loving me and for always respecting me. I love you, more than you will ever know”, you said before placing a kiss to his cheek. He smiled in response and pulled you closer, never wanting to let go.

[amaya-chwan]

Takeaways from Therapy Game Restart 14 + Illustration Book Release Date

Hello again everyone! ❤️💛💜

It's finally here... chapter 14! In all its glory! 😍🥰✨

Before we get to our takeaways, just some news I missed in the last post!

🎉 SENSEI'S ILLUSTRATION BOOK WILL BE RELEASED AROUND THURSDAY, 23RD SEPTEMBER! 🎉

Image taken from this Twitter post from Dear+!

It is titled "日ノ原巡イラスト集　DARLING" and boasts a collection of illustrations from Sensei's works so far: Secret XXX, Therapy Game, and Kamisama no Uroko.

The current price is ¥2970 with tax (¥2700 without tax). If you'd like to preorder it on your proxy shopping service, I've found it on the Comi Comi Studios website here! The bonus for purchasing it on this website is a B5 clear file~ I haven't seen it on Animate just yet, so fingers crossed it'll appear on their website soon with another (different) bonus! ❤️💛

Alright, with this amazing news done, let's move onto our takeaways, the long awaited takeaways! Thank you for being so patient with me! 💜

My short life update: currently in week 8 of lockdown and I haven't left my house in a long time other than for exercise or groceries. But I do have my vaccination appointment booked so YAY! 🎉

Here are our takeaways for this chapter:

Oh man, we pick right up from the last page of chapter 13. MINATO, BB, YOU LOOK SO PAINED! 😭

Sensei is the BIGGEST tease... that's all we got of that Minato and Shizuma scene...👀😭

The female staff at the veterinary hospital have really mellowed out! They're not bad, after all. ☺️

Oh dear, Nakajou-sensei, please get better ASAP!

Whoa... did Onodera just...?? I'm starting to think back to that Onodera discussion we had a couple of months ago... 🤔

Poor Shizuma, always roped into Onodera's workplace stuff! IT'S BECAUSE YOU HAVE GREAT PEOPLE SKILLS, SHIZUMA! PROUD OF YOU! 😍🙌

Man, Onodera has a really... blunt way of saying things to her human clients. Wow, brave. 😲

But I will say, Onodera really is good with animals. 🙌

Yet again, I think about that Onodera discussion we had... 🤔🤔

And that’s it for this chapter’s takeaways! For a more detailed breakdown/summary of this chapter, please continue after the cut! There may or may not be a surprise scene (or two) there. Please keep reading if you want to see~  😉✨

Our chapter begins where we left off in chapter 13--Minato pinning Shizuma down on the bed. Shizuma looks up at Minato and reflects on his actions that caused the pained look he is seeing.

Image taken from this Dear+ Twitter post!

On the next page (title page), the dialogue reads: Shizuma wants to understand what it is about his director (Onodera) that is making Minato uneasy. // However, that beautiful liar hides it well...

(I believe we are taken back to the morning before Shizuma and Minato meet up for their date.)

The title page features Onodera walking back to the clinic, bread in hand, with a cat cozying up on her leg. We are then brought to the clinic's lunchroom, with the female staff and Shizuma on break. The roster in the room shows that Onodera is extremely busy, Nakajou-sensei has afternoon house call appointments, Tatsumi is Nakajou-sensei's support for these appointments, and Shizuma has a half day and finishes in the afternoon in lieu of working on his scheduled day off.

Shizuma asks his coworkers what presents they like from their partners and takes note of their answers. One of the female nurses asks if it's Minato's birthday. Shizuma confesses that their relationship has been affected by the various things happening lately, so he wants to get Minato a gift before seeing him later that day.

The nurses quickly pick up that the gift is a "tribute" of sorts as this line of work means a lot of missed appointments and dates, and Shizuma confirms their suspicions. While the nurses realise male-male relationships and male-female relationships aren't that different in this aspect, everyone in the lunchroom is alerted to someone shouting Nakajou-sensei's name.

Shizuma and a nurse see Tatsumi with Nakajou-sensei, who has collapsed on the floor. While the staff are concerned about Nakajou's well-being, she brushes it off as a dizzy spell. Before they can help her up, Onodera sweeps her off her feet and carries Nakajou to her (Onodera's) office. While Nakajou asks Onodera to put her down out of sheer embarrassment, Shizuma and Tatsumi are in shock, with Tatsumi commenting on Onodera's manliness in that moment. One of the other nurses gently smacks Shizuma's shoulder and tells the two to grab a blanket and a drink for Nakajou.

In her office, Onodera asks Nakajou why she's been overworking herself to the point of collapsing. The nurse (who gave the gentle smack) very obviously hints to Onodera that it is her fault. As Nakajou calms the nurse by saying that's just how the director is, Tatsumi asks Nakajou about their afternoon appointments. She says she'll be fine to go after a little rest, but the nurse says she mustn't overexert herself.

After a few back and forths about who should go and the clients' needs/personality (picky about the vet, had a pet that doesn't like men, etc), Onodera says she will go. The nurses are shocked and reminisce about all the issues they've had when Onodera interacts with the owners. Tatsumi and Shizuma stand there, and can very clearly imagine those situations happening.

While Onodera rearranges and informs the nurses of the shift changes to accommodate Nakajou-sensei, Shizuma has a terrible premonition that unfortunately comes true: he is appointed as Onodera's support for the afternoon house calls.

Wearing a sulky expression, Shizuma packs the necessary equipment in Onodera's car and reminds her that he has a very important engagement that night that he cannot miss, and as such will leave immediately after the house call appointments are done. Onodera bursts his bubble, and tells him to give up on those plans while he can since this is the line of work he's chosen.

As Shizuma reads the client files, he questions Onodera on why he is her support when he's never attended to these clients before. While Onodera tells him that good coordination is important with a physician's support and that he's the only one she can rely on to give her an honest opinion and calm the clients, Shizuma realises that he's basically the mediator between her and the owners. She confirms that this is his strong point, has great expectations for him, and proceeds to drive. Shizuma then reads the patient files at lightning speed, realising there's a threatening 'something' that Minato has sensed, but that's just how the director is. He then vows to make it to their meeting tonight, no matter what.

The first three house calls, as expected, involve Onodera insulting and angering the owners--Onodera tells the first client that his insistence on seeing Nakajou rather than a 'young' director is having a negative effect on his pet who needs immediate medical care; Onodera offends the second client, inferring from their conversation that her pet's appearance is more important than the need to shave their fur and get an ultrasound done; Onodera accuses the third client of being irresponsible in caring for his exotic animals and asks for more effort on his part. In all three scenarios, Shizuma awkwardly smiles while trying to ease the tension.

The scene skips to Onodera and Shizuma arriving at their fourth and final house call for the day. Just as Onodera explains to Shizuma that she must check a whole host of things at house calls (and indirectly be too blunt about it with the owners), Shizuma asks her to consider the owner's feelings and change when and how she says things. She glares ahead in silence, and Shizuma is just glad that she is now aware of it. He again reminds her to talk with the owner nicely and gently as he probably won't be able to help with the next client as their pet dislikes men. Onodera tells him to just sit in the corner and witness the client become furious while he doesn't help, making him feel slightly guilty for saying that. He is now adament on not helping her.

They reach the owner's home and we meet an elderly woman named Shiratori and her 9-year-old male cat, Tono. Shiratori apologises to Shizuma as her cat doesn't like men. Tono hisses at them as Onodera opens his cage, but is then coaxed into submission by Onodera who covers his vision with a towel and takes him into her lap to calm down. Shiratori and Shizuma are surprised at his sudden docile nature, with Shizuma witnessing how well she deals with animals.

As Shizuma looks on at Onodera while she completes a check on Tono, he sees she is crumbling at the friendliness and talkative nature of Shiratori, who sings nothing but praise for Onodera and how her family must be proud to have such an amazing daughter. Aiming to ease her troubles and remembering the earlier guilt-trip she gave him, he redirects Shiratori's attention to her broken fly screen and offers to fix that plus everything else that needs repair in her home.

Onodera watches as the two leave the room for a bit before apologising to Tono for ignoring him. Tono looks on at Onodera happily while she asks him how he can live with such a lively human and to tell her his secret to this. She brings him into her arms once more to check his limbs, and as Tono looks up smiling at Onodera, Onodera sees her reflection in Tono's eyes, and both seem to realise something.

BG Text: Stare...

Suddenly, Shizuma and Shiratori, who are busy fixing the window, hear a loud crash and rush into the room to find Tono atop the cabinet and Onodera on the floor, with her hair in disarray. In the next panel, Tono is shown to be hiding in the bookshelf, looking on irritatingly at the humans. Shiratori apologises to Onodera, who shakes it off and says it's nothing to worry about and no harm's been done.

Shiratori asks if Onodera will fix/tie her hair up again, but when Onodera says her hair tie was broken when Tono used her as a launchpad to get on the cabinet, Shiratori runs to get her a new one. As Shiratori gushes over the 3 piece dopey looking character hair tie set she received as a present from her grandchild (and lets Onodera pick one), a greatly displeased look is plastered on Onodera's face. Shizuma, in shock, notices her displeasure and hopes she just thanks Shiratori for it. And Onodera does, bringing a great big smile to Shiratori's face.

As Onodera and Shizuma leave, Shiratori says she's glad to have talked with Onodera and invites her to come over again. As she says this, we see Onodera looking back with a blank look in her eyes.

And that’s it for this chapter! THANK YOU FOR READING THIS FAR! 💜 While I was surprised at the lack of Minato in this chapter (Sensei legit is such a tease, LOL 🤣), I'm happy we can learn more about Onodera. Ngl, I'm starting to really question if Onodera is male or female now, given what transpired in this chapter. I guess we shall see in the next one!

I also changed the formatting a bit and removed the bullet points. Please let me know which format is better/easier to read! Ahah!

EDIT: Spelling and grammar checks are done! Didn't change a lot, but hope it reads better! 💜

📢 As always, please support Hinohara-sensei by purchasing her books and CDs! 📢

And please also refrain from resharing these translations and images outside of this post! Thank you for understanding! ❤️💛

There won't be a chapter in next month's (September release) Dear+, so I shall see you in two months for the next chapter (Dear+ November Issue, to be released in October).

As always, stay safe during these turbulent times and look out for each other and for your loved ones! 💜❤️💛

[we-dragons]

I'm from a different dimension actually Chapter 8 Damian x reader

The school is shut down for a week ironically because of an attack by The Joker and Two-Face, that Robin and his team took down. The teachers sent out a notice with homework attached and told us to stay inside. Nightmare came back somewhere in the morning I couldn't tell the time because I apparently fell asleep along with Boy Wonder before the end of season 1 of The Highlander. I gently placed him down on the couch, gotten dressed, and made some breakfast, I only had eggs so I made some scrambled and put them on a plate for him and me. Nightmare got the last of the bacon. I put a plate over Robins while I ate mine sitting at the small table in the kitchen going over my homework. Sadly I finished my homework before my eggs and they have gone cold. I silently morn my eggs eating the cold carcass. "You stare any harder at that screen and you might break it." I jump, my head shoots upwards and I sigh, but then my eyes drop on my cat. My jaw drops the furball is purring in the arms of a masked stranger who is petting his head. Robin was petting my cat holding him like a baby and the demon is purring. Robin still had his eyes, and limbs not even a bite mark was seen on his skin.

"You traitor, you barely know him." I playful scold the feline, he meows nuzzling his face in Robin's chest.

"Your monster seems friendly."

"Nightmare looks like he's been introduced to catnip."

"Just a few scratches here and there." He smirks taking a seat next to me."Thank you for breakfast."

"Mhm." I turn back to the screen, "Will you be going back today Robin?"

"I might."

"Hmm." I finish the last problem for today closing the device, "Well I have to go to work, your welcome to stay if you want." I smooth out my clothes tossing one last look at the melting ball of fur. I quirk an eyebrow but move out to the door. I stop Halfway through the doorway and look back putting on my meanest face. "If you break a single window in my home I will find where ever you are and break you. Bye Nightmare, love you, I'll be back in a few hours."

_____________________________________________________________

"Nightmare! I'm back!" my keys skitter across the floor but no black fur is seen. He's still in the arms of Robin though it's not Robin, Green eyes. My stomach sinks and my mouth goes dry. "Damian?" His is just as much shock as me, he puts down Nightmare and rushes to me the door slams behind me. And I'm being dragged then forced to sit, his hands grip my shoulders. "Your early, why did you arrive early, you not supposed to be back for another half hour." I hardly heard him, I scold myself now realizing the obvious. Why else would Nightmare feel comfortable around him he had been here before multiple times noticed how I treated Damian and that's why he was a purring mess in his arms. I said be nice to him when he was over not Robin, but of course, they smell the same Nightmare associated with both people. I should have spotted it sooner, the voice, the height, the tone of his speech. Dear God, I can mom telling how oblivious, like she did when she won Clue. It was right there, he asked the right question and baited me for answers. I don't know why this is a shock to me. Now that I think of it I have to stop myself from laughing

"What the hell," my voice quivers. "Damian, Damian Wayne. You help Gotham." I start snickering, pulling my hand over my face. I throw my head back laughing then fall over to the side. "Nightmare you knew didn't you! Haha, that's why you were you were melting like butter."

"Your laughing!"

"Did you assume I wouldn't!" I wheeze, my breath nearly coming out to form words. "I can imagine you fighting, but saving people that's something else entirely."

"Do you think so little of me?" He sounds disappointed.

"I don't mean it to offend you but what else can I say. I didn't expect this." I sit up, clearing my throat and looking him dead in the eye. "Can I just call you Damian now, or do I still have to you different names."

"Why aren't you more surprised?"I Smile sadly.

"I thought you would have read up on me, do you know who killed my parents that day at home." He stiffens, he opens his mouth but continues. "My Father's sister, my aunt, killed them both during dinner. All because my mother wouldn't let her see those journals you asked about. After that it many people took off their masks."

"That's all it took?"

"What should it take, she killed her own brother because she didn't get confidential knowledge. To be honest, I don't really care anymore."

"You need professional help." I shrug.

"Probably, but getting sessions is expensive and I don't enjoy answering "and how are you feeling?" questions. I had enough of that already from everyone else."

"Where's your brother, Emil?" I feel myself frown.

"He's with someone I trust, I can't tell you who, sorry."

"The file says you died, you also made a miraculous recovery, recovery from what?"

"I prefer not to answer that question, It's rather personal." I don't want to explain that either, I know the doctor was shocked to see me come back. They had to call the professor to have him take me and my brother. After that this entire fiasco.

"You know I'll find out either way."

"Listen, I don't know how I made it, I was tortured by my she who will not be named and left for dead. I prayed for anyone and everyone who would hear me, someone did, the police found me and I was rushed to the hospital. I decided to take a nap, and I woke up to the sound of Emil crying. He cried, even more, when I woke up, screaming even, the good doctor nearly fainted. I was plugged into wires of all sorts, and my uncle was holding a plug, I assume he pulled, tackled me. My body lit up in pain and felt like I was run over, the next I am separated from my family and rushed into a place where they check on me every three months. At least I got to choose the place, they pay for the school, and I cover everything else." I give in, it feels nice to tell someone, something even if it's not the whole truth. But it seems to shut him up. "Please don't go looking for Emil, they haven't caught my aunt yet. I don't know if she's looking for them next, I would prefer not to stand over another grave knowing she got them too." I stare at him gauging his reaction, his face is still stone, unmoving in the uncomfortable silence. I pick up Nightmare, who has been rubbing against my leg for a bit, and scratch his head as he wants.

"Fine, I won't push further but I have terms."

"Really?" What would he need terms for?

"1, you don't reveal my identity to anyone. 2, you will not acknowledge that you know my family’s identities. 3, I come whenever I like as Robin or as Damian. 4, I add terms whenever I please."

"Why would I agree to any of that? I'm the one who has your identity." He smiles.

"Because I will tell Batman this information, and he doesn't talk as kindly to people hiding something. You obviously still are, but for now, I'll let it slide I'm sure by now you've decided to watch the news, so you know what he does." I gulp, I did see his more recent victim and he looked traumatized.

"Alright fine, but I binge so if you fall asleep tough luck, I'm not going back."

"Fine," he reaches back and pulls out his mask which he puts back on, walking out to the kitchen. "I back in a bit, pull out your couch bed while I'm gone. I will be staying here a while." I get up after him.

"Hey, that offer is for when I thought you were some homeless bums who fights crime, gets money from villain's wallets. You have a perfectly good bed at home!" He turns back one foot on the railing and a grappling hook in hand. "Term 6, I will stay as long as I like." he jumps off like before, not giving me a chance to speak.

"Bastard! I need my alone time!" He's gone I don't even know if he heard me. I grumble pulling out the spare sheets and blankets to set up the bed. "He better be paying rent, smug rich kid."

"Meow." Nightmare looks over at the window Robin left of.

"Yes, he's coming back."

"Meow"

"No, I'm not going tell him, not until I have to."

"Merrow"

"Shut up." I kick the side of the couch holding the two large cushions that lay on it, the bed springs out and makes a satisfying thud on the floor. "Go and see if the data has finished downloading, then put it back in the box I'll make you something in a how you feel about tuna our downstairs grandparents gave me a can."

_____________________________________________________________

The sheets are made, the cat is fed and now I am going over how I was going to cover for another person. How much would he eat, can he survive on pastries, ramen, and eggs. How long was he staying, would his family come asking about him seeing as he was here before. At both times, when he broke my window, and when they came for coffee.

"Hey, open the door." The voice is cold but still recognizable. I get up slowly taking my time getting there along with opening the door. He hurries in, dressed in some normal-ish clothes that still look expensive, but he still dressed like he came out of a photo shoot. He not only has a suitcase but some grocery bags, I frown at those. He seems to notice because he forgets his suitcase and charges into the kitchen. "Hey!"

"Y/N I am not eating ramen and eggs for god knows how long. I will cook a decent meal and you will have something healthy."

"How did you know I only had eggs and ramen?"

"I went through your fridge," He places a bag of tomatoes in the bottom drawer where I see green onions and various other veggies.

"I make stir-fry once a month, you have bought enough greens and reds to make that for two weeks. I don't even have rice."

"You don't like it when people spend money on you, do you?"

"I don't need other people's money," He opens his mouth, but I stop him raising a finger cutting him off. "And before you mention Molly, she remains the exception. Not that me telling her not to stops her."

"And why is that." He stops putting the food in the fridge.

"Because I've been friends with her longer," I look back at his bags and frown. "How long do you plan on staying again."

"For as long as I please."

"Won't they come looking for you? Your family I mean, the Detective stops by almost every day."

"Grayson won't be a problem, I left them a trail that leads to several other places." He stuffs the last of the food in the fridge, getting up and looking out the balcony window. "Should take a long while." I can hear the smugness in his voice.

"Your happy you tricked your brothers aren't you." He turns around forcing himself to frown but the corners of his lips twitch.

"Ho, you're a bastard Wayne."

"You're really gonna curse me?"

"You didn't tell me I couldn't Damian." I grab my computer and open Hulu putting on Star Trek; Next-generation where I left off. "Hope you enjoy space adventure, because I'm not starting this over its seven seasons and 4 movies. I'm halfway through season 3, if you want context just ask." I glance up signaling that I am waiting for a response, he leans on the wall in front of my kitchen. I can't read his face, but his face of neutral displeasure wasn't much better. "So, your done feeling good about yourself, or is there something else you need."

"It's been something I've been wondering for a while now, those iridescent pieces you fed me."

"Part of my mother's work." Not a complete lie,

"Was that what those missing journals about?"

"No." More of a lie but not wrong. He groans anyway, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Man, you really like to cut in deep and waste time. Just come here and watch some Star Trek with me I need someone else to groan in pain about Counselor Troy's and Will Riker's on and off slow burn romance." Begrudgingly he walks over plopping down next to me.

"Your tastes in tv are odd."

"You have no idea, my tastes in something go everywhere, after this and Highlander I have several old cartoons next. First, I might have to gather what you know about the Quack pack, Goof troop, Ducktales, and all that pizazz. Though I have a feeling that you would like Darkwing Duck more, or it could possibly be too relatable." He gives me a look.

"How could I relate to a duck?"

"We are a long way from that now, at the moment we must bear witness to Captain Picard and his adventures commanding the USS Enterprise."

"Has anyone told you how unbelievably weird you are?"

"Sir, you have entered my life for what looks to be the long run. You will experience the kind of weirdness only Molly has ever seen. But now that you are basically my roommate you might see more." I pat his shoulder. "So, buckle up, because this is now you've got a seat on this roller-coaster, and you can't get off till the car reaches a complete stop. Now can we please get back to the show I want to see some cosmic action?"

_____________________________________________________________

"Was that a statement or a question?"

"He can achieve the perception of feeling with a chip that goes into his hyper-advanced brain, lets his brother take it but can't make his own."

"I lent you my computer to catch up to where I left off for one night and that's what you're hung upon."

"Yes," his eyes look serious while he shoves some oatmeal in his mouth. "You are the one who can't stand the slow burn."

"Touche."

Before we got to the last season, Damian had asked he could see the rest of the show before the finally. I didn't expect that he would binge because it was a weekend, he even made extensive notes on character weakness. He still went out on patrol every night but came back with no one tailing him. That's what he says at least. He looks tired, with bags under his eyes and just lacking energy altogether.

"While I'm at work please go to sleep, you look like you fought an energy vampire and lost."

"I wouldn’t have lost to a vampire, they’re not that hard to kill.”

“But they drink blood they need to get close; energy vampires are more psychic they don’t even have to be a real monster.” He stops eating/

“How so?”

“They could be emotionally, physically, and mentally draining people. You know like Deity Skimmer, the girl in our science class. You can’t kill the energy-sucking vibes she gives off, can you.” He snorts behind his hand.” I mean it, even creatures of the night need sleep.” I drop my dishes off in the sink. I walk off to the door putting on my boots, I hear the chair slide and I feel his judging eyes digging holes in the back of my skull.

“Once again your conditions said nothing about teasing you, suck it up.” He scoffs. “I’ll be back around 5, don’t break any more windows while I’m gone.” I close the door before I hear any remarks once more about the incident. Though I laugh to myself, I straighten out my outfit and head down to the wonderful smells of the coffee shop. I walk slowly down the stairs looking out to the crowd that had been seated in the lounge. My managers were out by the couches talking to one of the regulars. Pull me behind the counter and relieve my coworker Meg, she looks exhausted and excuses herself. She takes what I assume is her coffee and puts away her apron and rushes out the door. I finish out what she didn’t clean and wait for anyone to come up to the counter. *Ring* though it is loud I hear the bell for the door ring.

“I’ll be with you in just a moment, I need to clean the nozzle here.”

“That’s fine, I can wait.” I flinch but catch myself, so it looks like I flicked something. I turn around with the best smile I can pull off. The sleep-deprived brother of Damian, peers at me from under his hair a frown tugging on his face.

“Oh hey! You came here with detective Grayson last time. Is there anything you would like?”

“Coffee.”

“Any particular kind?”

“Anything that will keep me from sleeping on this counter.” He knocks on the surface twice.

“I Can recommend our D&D potion bottle, it’s a personal favorite of the owners.”

“Why not, how much?” He fumbles around for his pockets, I stop him.

“How about, I make get it for you, and then you pay.” He brings his hands back on the counter and nods.

“I will only be a few minutes, please make yourself comfortable.” I pull out the ingredients for our powerful concoction, the pho fried ice cream, a large potion bottle with a straw, and 20-sided dice. I place the potion bottle in front of him and the ice cream but hand him the dice. He stares at the shiny plastic unmoving.

“I would roll that.” He does what I say and lands on a nine. “Well, sir after this one you can either have another potion or chose two desserts of any kind from our display or menu.” He takes a sip from the straw rather slow; his eyes perk up a bit.

“How Much did you say this was?”

“Oh! That will be $9.23?” He pulls out the exact amount, and I put it away in the register, placing it in the compartment marked D&D.

“And I would like another one of these to go.”

“Sure, would you like it now or before you go?”

“Well now should be nice, I’m leaving in just a bit.” I pull out a cup that is relatively the same size as the potion bottle. I go to give him his cup and notice that he finished the bottle and ice cream. Confusion hits me, but I don’t stare too long to turn to clean the mess. “Have you seen Damian at all?” And there it was.

“No, not since the Gala? Did something happen?”

“There was a…disagreement so he ran out, but if you see him,” He handed me a piece of paper with a string of numbers and an email. “Tell me. That is my number and email.” He does not say anymore and walks out the door, the bell signaling his departure.

_____________________________________________________________

When I got back, I told Damian what happened, he isn’t pleased and is currently pacing the floor.

“My guess is that he knows.” I sigh over my tea and stare sadly at the replaced window.

“No doubt.”

“You know I was rather hoping not to be having another visit from the Batman. What will happen when they find out that I know about the caped crusader thing.”

“He’ll either force into secrecy, turn you into a child crusader, or confine you to the manor.”

“So in other words no privacy.”

“None.”

“As lovely as that would be you told me this was temporary, so why can’t you go back?”

“At the Gala I was supposed to keep you entertained at the table so that we could trap you into to talking about those journals.” I knew it.

“So, you lied to me.” I look at him, faking shock and betrayal.

“It was for the sake of the investigation; I didn’t think that I would end up-.” He examines my expression and face palms. “What’s wrong with you.”

“I like to call it “I laugh in the face of danger” Syndrome, in a moment of despair I crave comedy.”

“You're worse than Grayson.”

“I like him, so I’ll let this one slide.” I sip the warm liquid feeling soothed at the pumpkin spice. “What are you going to do now?” Nightmare jumps on the table noticing my concern and waiting for his answer from me. He walks to the corner where he put his bag then went to the closet pulling out my suitcase. He then grabs his outfit Robin outfit from the coat rack and his other materials. “Get packed, we’re leaving. I’ll grab Nightmare’s things gab whatever you need. And I mean need, don’t pick it up unless it’s necessary.”

“What? I can’t just leave, what about my job? School?!” He Pulls out my backpack and puts some food in it. “Damian!”

“Just trust me, I’ll take care of it! I don’t want you tangled up in my family’s nonsense.” He looks at me something odd swirling in his eyes. “Please.”

“Fine,” I grab my suitcase and pack my box and my compiece which hasn’t gotten back to me on its progress. I throw a few sets of clothes. I open the box to make sure the journals, the scales, and everything else, then I hide it under the clothing and my laptop in the front pocket. I thank myself for making sure to get a suitcase that has a double use as a backpack. In the living room, Damian is all packed the bag is strapped across his chest and he’s holding Nightmare.

“Let’s go.” He hands me Nightmare and pulls me to the balcony. He pulls out and belts with a ring pultruded out on one side swiftly put it around me connecting the loop to his belt. “Hold on tight, and don’t let go till I tell you.” I Sling an arm around him and grip on to Nightmare, he doesn’t hesitate and shoots across the balcony with his grappling gun. I screw my eyes shut. And wait to stop, my heart beats wildly in my chest Nightmare begins purring maybe in hopes to soothe me. I feel something wrong, but it would mean I was away from the Crows. I’m running again, even if it’s not me who chose this it still feels wrong. Because in the direction he’s going it seems that we were leaving Gotham. And for some reason, I feel like it would be a while before I returned.

[lov3nerdstuff]

Hey Kay, missing you! Missing your updates in my inbox which were always making me happy and giddy to open and read! And miss Severus and Robin sooooo much!!! I have such a warm spot in my heart for them, and have been thinking about them for quite some time now. Hope they will show up again anytime soon and say hello! :)))

Much love and success in all your endeavors Haya 🖤🖤🖤

Hey there 💚💚💚

(Again, I apologise for being perhaps the slowest person ever to answer my asks... I'm not doing it on purpose, I promise. I'm just completely caught off guard by the workload currently dumped on me, and grad school is definitely kicking my butt more than expected.)

I honestly miss you too! I keep seeing your drawings and textsposts popping up on my dash whenever I have a free minute, and that always makes my day 😊💕 And truth be told I miss Robin and Sev dearly as well. I've reread pretty much the entirety of VNA at this point, and I'm pretty confident in what I have planned for the resolution of the Morgan issue and the end of Robin's seventh year 😁 so that's nice at least! Now I just need someone to give me some time to FINALLY write again... I haven't opened my writing files in months, and it makes me so sad. Especially because I know I'm letting people down by not posting new stories or updates on old ones. I have so many ideas in my head... But no time to write currently, not even at mediocre quality. I can only hope that the next few weeks or months will be easier on me and allow me to do some writing again! Just know, in all honesty and by my honour as a writer and nerd, that I haven't forgotten VNA nor any other work of mine and that I'll be writing again as soon as I can 💚💚💚💚💚

Hugs and all the love,

Kay

[yourmidnightlover]

ssa hotchner: chapter 1 - the blazer

TW: harrassment, talk about a case

WC : 5,920 

series masterlist

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"aaron! hey," you answered the phone after hitting enter on the final file you had to upload to the computer.

"y/n! how are you?" your brother questioned kindly.

"um, i've been better," you started, trying to figure out how to tell him the bad news.

"what happened?" aaron asked as he finished filling out the final file he had before noon. "is it about that promotion?" he rolled his eyes, recalling the events of last time you were up for a promotion.

"yea... it is," you sorrowfully revealed. "i uh... i didn't get it. again," you sighed out as you closed your laptop and put it in your bag. "can you... what are you doing for lunch?"

"well the team and i were gonna go out to a local thai place right around the corner from the bau, you could join if you'd like," he replied, wanting to be there for his sister any chance he could. "you know how much they love you."

"i just don't really think my mood is relative to that of a person who's going out with a crowd of people, y'know?" you placed the device in your bag and closed it, pulling it over your shoulder after grabbing your keys from the bag. "besides, i haven't met all of your team yet. dr. reid wasn't there the last time i saw you at my birthday because he was visiting his mother, remember?" you brought up, hoping he wouldn't feel too bad for you.

"y/n, just come to lunch with us. the last case went well, and everyone's pretty excited about that. maybe that'll help put you in a better mood?" aaron suggested as he gathered his things to go out for lunch. "and reid will actually be there this time so you'll be able to meet him," arron smiled at the thought of you meeting the young genius.

"are you sure? i really don't want to impose on your post-case celebrations, aaron," you rebutted as you walked out of the doors of the office you've been working at for nearly 8 years.

"i'm positive. everyone would love to see you again," emily walked into the office, noticing the smile he was wearing that he only has when he's talking to you.

"is that y/n?" emily questioned with a bright smile as hotch nodded. "tell her i said hi! and that i really miss her! oh wait are you talking her into coming to lunch with us?" her eyes widened at the possibility of seeing you again.

"yea, i'm trying to get her to realize that she won't be imposing on us if she comes," the dark haired man sighed.

"here, give me the phone. you know she can't resist my charm," emily teased, you laughed from hearing the remark over the phone as hotch handed it to her. "y/n hotchner. you are going to go to lunch with us whether you like it or not," emily demanded with a smirk.

"oh, yes. there's that charm i know and love, em," you giggled as you put your keys in the ignition, realization setting in that you should probably just go to lunch with them since you have no other plans and are already in your car. "fine. i'll go. should i meet you there or at the office?"

"just meet us there. we're like five minutes away and with morgan's driving it'll be cut in half," emily scolded.

"okay. i'm on my way now. should be maybe 10 minutes," you announced. "i'll see you guys there," you said before hanging up the phone and beginning to drive.

you had been working at a law firm near the bau for nearly 8 years. in fact, next week would make it officially 8 years. the office was run by a few men, under the US district attorney, who you've come to find out are misogynistic pricks who don't like putting women in positions of authority.

you got hired on about 5 months out of law school, columbia law school to be exact. you have an associates in business and a masters criminology, law, psychology. your original dream was to work at the bau with your big brother, clearly, but those dreams changed since you graduated from columbia.

you pulled into the parking lot of 'thailand eatery,' a bau team favorite, and noticed aaron's car parked in the far corner. you smiled to yourself as you found a spot beside him and got out to make your way inside.

"hi, i'm here with aaron hotchner for lunch," you sweetly announced to the hostess before she nodded.

"right this way, ma'am," you followed her to the table full of fbi agents, noticing their laughter that erupted for some unknown reason.

one seat was open next to aaron and emily. you placed your blazer on your seat and a hand on both of their shoulders to announce your arrival. they looked at you in surprise before realizing who you were, big smiles crossing their faces.

"y/n!" arron excitedly announced before standing to give you a nice bear hug. "it's so good to see you," he whispered in your ear kindly.

"i know. it's been a while since we've been able to do this," you grinned widely as you wrapped your arms around his torso.

"okay, okay..." emily interrupted. "this is sweet and all, but i haven't been able to see you since your birthday last year," she announced before you traded your brother's arms for hers.

"it's good to see you, em" you laughed as she squeezed you tightly.

"where the hell have you been! i've missed you," she pouted as you both unwrapped your arms from each other.

"y'know, working for the usual pricks i do... and that's pretty much it," you shrugged as you made your way around the table to hug penelope.

"what have they been doing to you this time, my little sugar plum?" penelope asked sweetly as you gave her another hug.

"the usual, pen. just the usual," you sighed into her ear as you began to hug derek. "but let's not get into that know, yea? i heard you guys had a successful case the other day! that's exciting!" you announced as derek wrapped his arms around you, picking you up and swinging you around a bit.

if you're honest, derek is like a second big brother to you. he was there for you when your brother got stabbed in his own home and was in a coma. he comforted you in your home when you were sobbing on the floor because it wasn't safe for you to visit your own flesh and blood.

"hell yea it was," derek smiled into your ear before placing you down and giving you a chaste peck on the cheek. "but if i need to kick some ass at that work place of yours i won't even hesitate," he whispered into your ear as he rose from your cheek.

"now, now, derek," you tapped his chest playfully. "i don't need you kicking my bosses down like you would a door, as exhilarating as that sounds," you chuckled aimlessly.

"bella, care to indulge me in what they're doing at that office of yours?" rossi said as you made your way to hug him.

"it's not that big of a deal, dave. i'm sure i'm just overreacting again," you sighed as you released him from his hug.

"not a big deal?" aaron butted in. "y/n, you deserved that promotion and they looked you over, yet again," he sassed. "i don't think that's overreacting," he rolled his eyes.

"i know i deserved it, but..." you sighed, weighing all the possibilities. "actually there's no buts. i've worked there for 8 years and have gotten two promotions. i guess i'm just really disappointed," you reasoned, trying not to start crying from the anger bubbling up inside of you.

"two promotions in eight years?" rossi questioned, noticing the annoyed look on your face at the thought. "do those assclowns not realize what an amazing worker you are?" david asked in disbelief.

"i don't know... i guess?" you questioned. "i just don't want to think about that right now," you said as you hugged jj in return.

"are you kidding? we've been to a few of your cases," the blond added. "you're amazing, y/n." jj complimented. "rossi's right. they must be absolutely blind if they don't see what a great worker you are."

"thank you, jayge," you smiled at her before realizing there was one more person at the table.

you'd seen him in pictures, and had heard enough about him to remember a few key points. he's a genius with three phd's, three ba's, he has a thing with germs, he's a bit awkward, and absolutely handsome. the pictures you've seen didn't do him justice.

"i'm assuming you're the famous dr. spencer reid?" you asked, not bothering to reach for a hug or handshake.

"i uhm, yes i am. dr. sp-spencer reid. or you can call me spen-spencer," he cleared his throught. "or reid, or basically whatever you'd uh- whatever you'd prefer," he stuttered out, sitting awkwardly in his chair and barely maintaining eye contact.

"how about we just go with spencer?" you asked as you made your way to your seat beside your brother. "my name's-"

"y/n hotchner, yes," he smiled at you as your brother pushed your chair in for you, you muttering a small 'thank you' in return. "i've uhm... i've heard a lot about you," he stammered.

"oh dear, let me go ahead and apologize in that case," you joked, eliciting laughter from your friends at the table.

"actually, there's uhm - there's no need to apologize. everything i heard was," he sniffled, "really good. it was all good," his lips formed into a line as he nodded at his own words.

"well then i guess i have to mention how great everyone's made you out to be. i mean, a three phds and three ba's at only, what? 34? that's beyond incredible, spencer," you complimented the gorgeous man sitting beside your brother.

"oh uhm, th-thank you, y/n," he blushed. cute.

"it's no problem at all. i mean it's not everyday that you meet a genius that's as young and handsome as you are," you laughed, taking a sip of the water that your brother had ordered for you before you arrived, not even realizing the compliment you had payed to his looks. shit. now you realized. you cleared your thought before acting like you didn't even say anything.

"oh! uhm, th-thank you, again. you're uhm - you're very - you too. not that you're handsome, but that you're very..." he trailed off, biting his lower lip to refrain from humiliating himself even more.

"well then, pretty boy, you sure do have a way with words," morgan teased, eliciting a jab in the stomach from penelope.

"derek morgan, if you do not shut up," penelope scowled.

meanwhile, you turned your head to notice your brother staring oddly at 'pretty boy' who was looking sheepishly at you. you nudged your brother's arm playfully, capturing his attention.

"stare any harder at him and he might explode, aaron," you whispered in his ear, being sure not to look at spencer.

"maybe that needs to happen with the way he's looking at you, y/n," he rebutted.

it's true. if anyone else had been looking at you that way, arron probably would've mentioned that he's in the fbi and that he has more than two guns to scare them away. since it was spencer, everything was different.

"shush, it's just a little crush. what's the worst that could happen?" you rolled your eyes at his protectiveness. "he'll be over it by the end of lunch," you announced, not noticing the way aaron rolled his eyes at your assumption.

aaron had seen spencer around girls enough to know that when he got flustered around them it usually meant something more than just a little crush in spencer's mind. that also means that arron knows that spencer would never try to do anything with you because you're his sister.

"fine," he relished, not wanting to bother with the genius's sure infatuation with you when this is the first time he's gotten to see his own sister in a while. "so you wanted to talk to me about something?" he changed the subject.

"right," you twiddled with your thumbs and looked down into your lap. "ikindaputinmytwoweeksnoticeatthefirmoceifoundoutaboutthepromotion," you rambled out, casually taking a sip of your drink as if you didn't just say you quit your job of 8 years.

"you did what?" he asked in confusion, not understanding what you said.

"i put in my two weeks notice once i found out about the promotion," you slowed down so he could understand, his eyes going wide upon the understanding.

"that's... what you wanted to do, right?" he questioned, not wanting to give you the wrong reaction.

"yea, i think so," you started. "i was just so tired of getting looked over just because of my gender, y'know? i've had to prove myself in everything i've ever done. i think i've more than proved myself at the firm," you announced, still trying to find your own confidence.

:you have, y/n. you've more than proved yourself to be an amazing lawyer," he agreed. "sometimes i'm convinced you might work harder than we do," he scoffed.

"there's no way, a," you laughed at the ridiculous statement. "i've just put my all into the firm. all my time, attention, and hard work has gone into that place. the reason that place is where it is right now is because of me," you pouted.

"i remember. i brought the whole team to the case that put the firm on the map. even reid was there," he stated.

"spencer was at that case?" you asked, not remembering him saying hi afterwords.

"yea, he was. he just got pulled away because of troubles with his mom," you 'ohh'ed at the revelation. "but that case was the hardest one i've ever seen a lawyer handle, y/n."

"thank you," you smiled at the compliment.

"no, i mean it," he relished. "i don't even think i would've won that case. that's what brought everyone to the firm. it was a high profile case, one that the bau was on. of course there was going to be a big turnout. you handled the press, and the pressure amazingly."

it was a case the bau had worked on for nearly a week and a half, and they needed you to further convince the jury that who they caught was the right unsub because of the amount of circumstantial evidence. you were able to get the unsub flustered, and admit to his own crime on the stand with the press in the room.

it was possibly the best case you'd ever gotten because the amount of publicity you'd gotten. but with publicity there came quite a few complications that you hadn't told anyone about.

"that's just the big brother in you talking," you giggled, trying to brush the compliment off naturally.

"whatever you say, y/n. whatever you say," he brought his drink up to his mouth to take a sip.

"so, how was the last case you were on?" you asked, quite intrigued by all the cases he would tell you when he had the chance.

"well, how about we start from the beginning since you like hearing about them so much?" he asked with a grin, you nodded eagerly.

"so it started with the unsub taking abducting his victims..."

throughout the case, you found yourself starting to profiling the suspects yourself, something your brother noticed too. i mean, how could you not do that? you had a degree in psychology and criminology so it made since that profiling them would be natural for you.

everyone at the table interrupted at their parts in the story. when david and jj went to the m.e., when aaron, emily, and derek went to the crime scene, spencer and the geo profile. you were fascinated by their work and everything they were able to do.

when you were younger and your brother had first started at the bau, he really enjoyed calling you to tell you about them. he loved your reactions and how enthusiastic you would become when he was talking. that's really when you first started dreaming about being in the bau, with aaron.

"ugh, y'know i used to dream of going on cases with you guys," you admitted after they finished wrapping up the case in words, taking a sip of your drink to wash your food down.

"really?" spencer asked, not stammering while talking to you for the first time all afternoon.

"yea. aaron would always tell me about the cases when you got back, and i could practically just imagine myself working them with him and you guys," you relished, a smile on your face as you recalled the memories of your younger self.

"i think you'd do excellent on the team," spencer suggested. "it's clear that you already work well with everyone, plus you're more than qualified to work with us, other than the fact that you'd need to go through the fbi training."

"actually i've already been through it," you nonchalantly admitted with a shrug.

"you have?" he questioned as his eyebrows raised in shock. "why haven't you decided to work at the fbi then?" you shrugged at his question.

"i guess i just thought i wouldn't fit in enough?" you said, clearly realizing the contradiction to your earlier statement about imagining yourself on the team. "besides, i got a job at the firm as soon as i got out of the academy, so it all worked out fine."

"actually, reid, that's a good idea," aaron said as he turned his attention to you. "would you be interested in working at the bau with us?" he asked with a small grin, the thought of working with his sister already bringing a smile to his face.

"wh-don't-wouldn't you have to ask your boss about that? that's a big change, adding a new member to a team. you guys already work so well together..." you trailed off, trying to come up with an excuse.

"strauss?" derek asked in feigned disbelief. "she loves you, kid. which is kind of odd since it seems as though she doesn't like hotch as much," derek chuckled.

"oh my god! imagine it, y/n!" penny yelled in excitement. "you could see us everyday, and you wouldn't have to deal with those buttmunches you work for!" she announced.

"used to work for, two weeks from now," you laughed. "and it sounds amazing, but aaron already works there. i'm sure that's enough hotchner's for you guys," you shrugged with a smile.

"that's nonsense!" emily disagreed. "two of my favorite people working with me?! an absolute dream, i tell you," she grinned.

"i guess if you talk to erin about it and she's alright with it..." you trailed off with a huff. "how could i say no?" you smiled.

"oh my gosh this is so exciting!" penny announced, jumping up and rushing arounf the table to hug you. "i'm so ready to work with you!"

"let's not get too beyond ourselves, pen," you giggled. "she hasn't approved my addition yet."

"come on, she's gonna approve it, y/n," dave commented.

"whatever you guys say," you laughed.

you all finished eating, and received the check for lunch of which david insisted on paying. you went up to him afterwards and insisted on paying your part of the bill, but he said it was 'his treat for this wondrous occasion.'

you reluctantly made your way back to your office, the lingering stares from your bosses not going unnoticed. you couldn't wait for those two weeks to be over and for you to be able to leave that hell hole behind, whether you got the job at the bau or not.

you sat down in your chair and reached for your blazer only to realize you must've left it back at the restaurant. great. there goes that 50 bucks.

"hey, sweetcheeks," ron, one of your bosses, commented upon his entrance to your office.

"how many times do i have to tell you not to call me that?" you rolled your eyes, finishing up on the transcript you would need for the case you had tomorrow.

"oh, come on. you know you love it," he said, walking further into your office and sitting on the corner of your desk, ignoring the two chairs that remained across from you. you closed your computer and looked into his eyes, shooting daggers at him with your own.

"what do you want?" you spat at him, wanting to get him out of your hair as soon as possible.

"well, you won't be an employee in two weeks," he announced as if you hadn't already known.

"i'm well aware," you sassed back, trying not to slap him across the face at the fact that he was no longer looking at your eyes, rather further south from them. you snapped your fingers to bring his attention back to your face. "what. do. you. want?"

"well, honey pie, i was just wanting to take you out. y'know, after you're done here," he bit his lip, trying to be seductive but massively failing.

the terrible thing about this fool is, he doesn't know what the word 'no' means. he's always made passes at you, and commented on your appearance. it, of course, made you uncomfortable, but you couldn't really do anything about it. the hopes of getting a promotion was greater than your uncomfortability.

"i've seen the way you look at me, it's no secret," he said, getting off your desk and walking closer to you.

"you mean it's no secret that i find you absolutely repulsive?" you snapped. "shocker," you widened your eyes to feign surprise with your remark.

"are you serious?" he said, his 'seductive' smile now turning into a frown.

"are you serious?" you asked in disgust.

you placed your laptop in your bag, taking your keys out of the bag in the process and beginning to walk out of your office to avoid the man standing there. he grabbed your arm, forcing you to face him.

"don't walk away from me," he gritted, his face red with anger. his grip on your arm tightened, surely leaving a bruise in its wake.

"then don't fucking touch me," you said, attempting to yank your arm away from him, only failing to do so. "let go," you demanded.

"sorry, sweetcheeks, i didn't get that," he smirked. that fucker smirked at your struggle.

knock. knock. knock.

you turned to see whoever was at your door. it was none other than dr. spencer reid. holding your blazer in his hand. you furrowed your brows in confusion before ron decided to drop your arm.

"what the hell is going on?" spencer asked, his eyes not leaving ron's defensive stature as he placed the jacket on one of the chairs by your desk.

"nothing, right doll?" ron looked at you, a disgusting grin on his face.

"yea, right," you rolled your eyes.

spencer's eyes trailed back to you and your arm ron was once holding, right where the red mark is. you swore that if looks could kill, ron would've died the second spencer knocked on your door.

"then what's that on her arm?" he questioned, moving closer to you and pushing you behind him defensively. "you hurt her," he accused. you stepped to his side, noting the way he tried to take charge for you.

"spencer," you placed a hand on his arm, forgetting his thing about germs for a second in attempt to calm him down. "i can handle this," he turned to face you. "i've dealt with this asshole for nearly 8 years, isn't that right, ron?" you questioned with a sneaky grin.

"who the hell is this guy, sweetcheeks?" he questioned as if you had an obligation to tell him who he was.

"you don't get to know that. and you don't get to call me that, either," you reminded him, having to bite your lip to try not to explode on the guy.

"are you fucking this guy?" he accused you. you pushed spencer out of the way, and squinted your eyes at him in disbelief.

"you're seriously asking me that?" you asked. "if i was, it's still none of your fucking business, asshole!" you said getting closer to his face in order to make a point.

slap!

the asshole slapped you.

spencer quickly grabbed you and moved you out of the way before pushing the guy into the wall, knocking your fake plant over as well as a few books on the shelf on the wall. ron's face was smashed into the wall, one of his arms twisted behind his back as both were in spencer's grasp.

"don't you dare touch her. ever again," he demanded, twisting his arm even further, ron squirming to get out of his grip. "did you hear me?"

your hand cupped the side of your face, the sting from ron's wedding band hurting more than you would've thought.

"ahh! yes! yes, i heard you!" he squealed.  

"good. now you can apologize to her like a gentleman," he ordered, pushing his arm further up into his back to elicit another groan from the man, you had a hard time keeping a straight face from the scene in front of you.

"shit! ouch! okay! i'm sorry! i'm sorry!" he apologized in a high pitched tone, still trying to get out of spencer's grasp.

"good job," he released him from his grip, a sigh coming from ron at the freedom his arm received. "now go before i change my mind and cuff you right here," he ordered.

"cuff me?" he asked in disbelief. spencer pulled his fbi badge out, flashing it in ron's face, noticing the way his eyebrows shot up. "oh shit."

you moved your hand away from your face, looking at your hand and noticing the patch of blood that remained there. you wiped your cheek, trying to stop the blood flow.

"what did i just say?" spencer asked. "leave. now."

"right," ron said, walking back over towards the door, whispering to you on the way out. "don't bother coming to work tomorrow. or ever again."

"oh that'll be no problem, boss," you scoffed as he made his way out of the door, leaving you and spencer alone in your office.

"i'm uh, sorry about your plant," he pointed at the fake succulent that lay on the floor.

"it was fake anyway," you shrugged as you kneeled down to pick it up as spencer began picking the books up. "thank you, by the way," you smiled at the man.

"it's nothing, really," it was his turn to shrug. "hotch wouldn't have let me on the next case if i didn't intervene in whatever was going on."

oh. so that's why he helped you. of course it was. you were his superior's little sister, nothing else.

"so, what brings you here?" you asked as he offered you his hand to help you stand up, you gladly took it and rose to your feet. "oh sorry, you have a germ... my bad" you grimaced at the thought of making him uncomfortable.

"oh, don't worry about it. and i was actually here to bring you your blazer," he said, retrieving the jacket from the chair and giving it back to you. "i uhm, you forgot it at the restaurant."

"right, i noticed that once i got here. thank you," you thanked him, placing the jacket over your arm and picking up your bag. "you've already saved me twice today and we've only just met," you laughed.

"it seems that way," he smiled, walking with you out of the office. he gently grabbed your shoulder and turned you to face him once you were outside. "your face is bleeding, y/n."

"oh," you reached your hand up to notice the way the blood was still lightly flowing. "oops," you laughed.

"you should clean it up, you don't need to get that infected," he suggested, his hand tracing the outskirts of ron's handprint on your face.

"thanks for the recommendation, doc," you laughed. "i think i have some stuff back at my place that i could use."

"i'm so sorry that happened," he frowned slightly, his hand dropping to his side.

"ehh," you shrugged. "i'm sure you've seen worse. besides, i can handle myself," you said as he began walking with you in the direction of your car.

"let me see your arm?" he asked softly.

you brought it up closer to his eyesight. he gently grasped your arm, nothing like the way he had done to ron earlier in your office. his touch left goosebumps on your skin, the soft way his fingers traced your arm.

"it's already bruising, so i think it's only a subcutaneous bruise, luckily," he diagnosed.

"i'll bet you could pass as a medical doctor if you tried," you noted, nudging his arm gently with yours.

"many people make that mistake already! it's a frequent misconception by a lot of people i meet," he smiled.

"if i hadn't already known what kind of doctor you were, i'm sure i might've fallen into that misconception," you added with a grin as you approached your car. "so, this is me," you smiled and nodded at the tall man.

"oh! right! uhm..." he trailed off. "it was nice to meet you, y/n," he smiled kindly.

his smile's nice. warm. very home-like.

"it was nice to meet you too," you smiled. "thank you, again. for saving me back there."

"of course. anytime. i'm just glad i got there before anything got too bad..." he furrowed his brows at the not so distant memory.

"yea, you and me both, handsome," you joked, noticing the way his cheeks blushed at the compliment. "so where are you parked? the least i could do is give you a ride to your car," you suggested.

"oh, i was actually on my way to the metro. driving isn't really my thing..." he grimaced.

"then how about i drive you home?" you asked, wanting to figure out how to thank the perfect man that stood before you.

"i-i don't want you to be going out of your way..." he shook his head.

"look, spencer, i won't force you to do anything, but i want to do this," you placed a hand on his forearm. "at least as a thank you."

"um..." he looked at his watch, noticing the time. "okay, i guess that'd be nice. besides, i've missed the last ride to where i need to go," he shrugged with a small grin.

"great! just tell me where to, doc," you said as you both got into your car.

"capital plaza apartments," he announced with a grin.

"sounds great," you said as you turned the key in the ignition, backing out of your parking spot and starting the way towards his apartment. "so, you've worked at the bau for 12 years? right?"

"yea. i started when i was 22," he announced.

"right, i remember aaron telling me how you were the youngest member of the team when you got there," you encouraged him to continue.

"right again. they actually had to make an exception to let me into the field," he laughed softly. "they had to waiver basically every physical exam on account of my mental capabilities."

"i mean, whatever works. it's so intriguing that at such a young age you know so much, and your knowledge is only expanding," you shook your head in disbelief.

"well you've accomplished quite a lot and you're only 30. working at a firm for 8 years and being as successful as you are is remarkable," he remarked.

"thank you, spencer," you looked over at the man and smiled before stopping at the red light.

"do you have any tissues?" he asked, you furrowed your brows in question. "your cheek is still bleeding," he informed you.

"oh! there right there in the glovebox," you pointed across his lap as he grabbed the tissue from the compartment and reached across the console himself.

you leaned in across the console yourself, trying to make it easier for him to wipe it off. he cautiously used it to dab the little blood remaining on your cheek off, his hand lingering for a while.

you looked up to meet his eyes, the red from the stoplight illuminating his facial structure in a way that was otherworldly. you were entranced by each others' gaze, not even noticing the light turned green until the car behind you honked their horn, alerting you to step on the gas.

"oh! sorry," you apologized, biting the inside of your lip as you continued to drive him back to his apartment.

"don't be," he swallowed the lump in his throat.

sooner than later, you pulled into his apartment complex to drop him off.

"thank you so much, again, spencer," you placed a hand on his upper arm to emphasize your thanks.

"you don't need to thank me, y/n. i was happy to help," he placed one of his much larger hands on top of yours, squeezing it gently before he made his way out of your car. "goodbye."

"goodbye, spencer," you returned as you watched him walk up to his apartment building, practically gawking at the man that saved you.

you drove back to your house quickly, entering the code for the gate. you noticed yet another piece of paper taped to the front of the gate. you ripped it off the metal, and placed it inside your bag.

upon entering you placed your bag on the hook that remained on your wall after retrieving the sheet of paper from it. you kicked your shoes off beside the door neatly, walking into your kitchen to pour yourself a small glass of wine before tending to your wound.

you walked into your bathroom and gazed at the handprint on your face, noticing the small gash that remained on your cheekbone. after washing your face, you used an antibiotic on the cut, placing a small bandage overtop.

walking into your bedroom, you admired the view from the large window as you changed into your pajamas. you were too tired to eat anything, but you knew you needed to get something into your system.

you walked back into your kitchen and found a granola bar you could eat quickly. you grabbed the sheet of paper and walked back into your living room as you continued to eat.

underneath your sofas, there are storage bins that you keep extra things inside. what also happens to be inside of that bin is a small, old shoebox. inside of that shoebox you placed the note, along with all the others you've received, not bothering to read it this time.

you made your way back into the bathroom, brushed your teeth, and returned to your bedroom.

it was a long day, very eventful. you could only hope the letters would stop if you got the job at the bau. but for now... sleep.

[adragonhoardingstories]

Of Blood and Bonds - Chapter 1

@mystery-5-5

@abrx2002 @clumsy-owl-4178 @daminett4life @zalladane

@heaven428 @unmaskedagain

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I hope I got everyone in the tag! I know I said this was gonna be fluff but it's also going to be angst. Sorry not sorry.

On that note, this book will contain swearing, mentions of rape and torture. I will try not be explicit but that's really relative. Read at your own risk. There will be warning before if I make a explicit scene so that you can skip it.

Anyways, I hope you enjoy and don't hunt me down for this.

___________________________________

Marinette had punched Bruce Wayne. 

Marinette had punched Bruce Wayne, Prince of Gotham, in Wayne Enterprises Tower in Gotham City and she was probably going to get kicked out because of this but it was so worth it. 

"Marinette honey," He said cautiously, "I'm sure I deserve it but why?"

She clenched her jaw and took a few deep breaths as she opened and closed her fists. She was trying really hard not to punch him again. 

You won't be able to get a second shot in without the boys intervening. She told herself, eying the way the boys - her brothers, she reminded herself stood, ready to pounce on her at any instant.

She had no doubt that the only reason she wasn't being restrained yet was because they were too shocked to react. 

"I don't think I asked for much Dad." She practically snarled the words out. "I just asked for a few phone calls and yet-" Her voice was shaking. "Yet, I haven't heard from you in over three years."

"Mari I can expl-"

"No, no, you don't fucking have that right to anymore. I did not come to Gotham to ask an explanation or beg for your attention. This was an unfortunate coincidence. I would have been perfectly happy to never see or hear from you again."

She turned to leave but Bruce grabbed her shoulder. She froze. This was Bruce Wayne, She had to remind herself, This was her father. He would not harm her. 

"I needed you Bruce. I needed you and you were not there." She shrugged off his hand from her shoulder and left in the direction of her class. 

Dick wordlessly moved out of her way and she tried not to think about the fact that she may have lost her chance to have a relationship with her siblings. 

~

Dick didn't know the whole story. Hell, before today Dick hadn't known that he had another sibling. He hadn't known that Bruce had another biological child. 

At least, he guessed that she was his biological child but he couldn't be sure because, once again, Bruce hadn't told them.

He watched the man. As always, he had an incredible poker face but he knew him better, he knew him enough to see the emotions waring among themselves behind his eyes. 

"You messed up big time B." He said quietly. "You know that, don't you?"

His father said nothing, instead he pushed past him and Damian to go after Marinette. He and his little brother had only to share a look before they took off after him, if only to stop him from doing something rash that he would regret and and that would probably damage their chance to know their sister better. 

Damian, Tim, Jason and he himself already had had the chance to talk to her. They could all collectively agree that they already loved her, even Damian, and they had no doubt the others would too.

Dick saw Marinette head towards the washroom. It was clear that she needed a moment alone, just like it was clear that that Bruce intended to wait for her to come out to be able to talk to her again. 

He disagreed. 

"B-"

"I need to talk to her."

"I know." He soothed despite wanting nothing more than to yell at the man. Sometimes, Bruce understood less than Damian. "But she won't like it and you've already pissed her off enough. Why don't we go to the cafeteria? The rest of her class is there. We can wait for her there, once she had some time to calm down."

Dick could see that he was about to protest. "Damian will wait for her and accompany her back." He said, sparing a glance at the youngest who gave him a nod back in return. "She'll be fine. Come on." 

He tugged Bruce along with him and the fact that he didn't argue and let himself be pulled along was a testament to how much he was upset by this whole thing. 

Dick was angry, he wanted nothing more than to scream at Bruce because didn't he know better than to keep secrets like this from them at this point?

~

Bruce knew he was a coward and definitely not the father one would wish for, but if Marinette really had given up on him, she wouldn't have been so angry. 

There was something he was missing.

"-your stupidity aside, she was found bound and gagged with clear signs of having been assaulted. She was tested positive for rape for God's sake. What more do you need to leave her alone?" 

There seemed to be an argument going on in the cafeteria. While that was alarming enough, the blond girl's words gave him a very bad feeling. 

"Oh, please." A sausage-haired girl rolled her eyes. "She was probably there willingly. No one would get through such  traumatic event and be back to normal so soon after. Not even her parents believed her. "

"Normal? Are you serious right now? I was there when they found her. I was there when she screamed at the sight of anyone with blonde hair or green eyes. And you've all seen how after that, she hates being touched."

"She's just over-reacti-" Sausage-hair stopped in the middle of her sentence, staring at something in his direction. 

"Oh no, please do continue to speak so openly about the worst month of my life." He couldn't help the flinch when he heard his daughter's voice as she walked past him... because that meant that Marinette, sweet precious Marinette - his sunshine had been kidnapped and assaulted for a month and if the other girl was to be believed neither Tom or Sabine believed in her. 

The sausage girl scoffed but backed down. Her reaction meant that she was at least a little guilty. He filed that information for later. She muttered a 'Whatever.' and walked away. 

"Marin-" the blonde haired girl who was defending his daughter spoke up but Marinette cut her off. 

"I do appreciate you trying to defend me Chloe but I'd appreciate it better if you didn't speak of it at all."

The girl - Chloe, gave a nod in acceptance. "Go on ahead," Marinette said, from beside him. "I'll catch up." 

The blonde eyed them for a moment before she walked away. 

Bruce looked down to his daughter who was still staring ahead.

He had so much to ask her, like What the hell happened? But she beat him to it, unclenching her fist. 

"I'm sorry for punching you, but I was. Angry." She was gritting her teeth. "But I did meant it, you don't need to bother trying to contact me or anything. I'm perfectly happy without you." 

She started walking away.

"Marinette-" he called out and she stopped. It reminded him of earlier and he had a sinking feeling that her words would be as heartbreaking as the first time. 

She shook her head. "Like I said B, I needed you." For the first time, since she arrived in the cafeteria, she turned to look at him and gave him a small sad smile that broke his heart all over again. "It would have been nice to know that at least one of my parents supported me."

He didn't say anything. What could he say to make this better? 

She walked away, and this time, he didn't stop her. 

~

Jason was a little more than pissed. 

His day had started out nicely enough, made better when he saw a tiny girl taking out two men probably twice her size. 

He was going to help her but she had already taken care of them. 

She still thanked him for trying to come to her aid and when he offered to walk her to wherever she was going, the girl took a few moments to assess him - to him it felt like she was looking through his soul.

There was something about her that screamed to him not to underestimate her.  She knew what she was doing, that much was clear and when she offered him a sunny smile and told him that she was heading to Wayne Enterprises, he felt something loosen inside of him. 

It was bizarre to say the least but he felt at peace near her. Safe. 

Later on, he would realise that the haze of the Lazarus pit that he had struggled with everyday since his ressurection had retreated when he was near her. 

Jason's mood started to worsen when he found out that she had been left alone by her class. Something like an ugly acidic green snake coiled up inside of him wanting to protect her and extract revenge. 

Jason's mood improved again as throughout the day she saw the girl interact with his brothers, clearly winning over them as well. 

Though, he was rarely - to the point of never seen at WE usually, he decided to make an exception that day and hang out with the tour group Tim was supposed to be leading. 

Damian had also supposedly been bored and had decided to crash the party and Dick wasn't too far behind their youngest to keep him out of trouble. 

Everything was going smoothly and honestly, it was after a long time that they found someone the others didn't have a problem with. 

Then he had noticed Bruce, and not even a few seconds after, he noticed the bluenette slipping out after him.

Dick and Damian - who had been shadowing her all day, slipped away after her and he was stuck behind babysitting with his replacement.

That class had nothing of worth except Marinette. There was actually even a fool that was stupid enough to claim that she knew the Waynes in front of them, while not knowing that they were the Waynes and instead treating them like mere employees. 

He would enjoy putting her in her place. 

But before he could, his day started taking a turn for the worst, impossible to brighten again.

The girl, he didn't care enough to know her name, out of the blue stated that Marinette probably just slipped away again to draw attention to her. That escalated in a very…informative battle of words that made him want to take a plane to Paris and drench it's streets in blood.

As if that wasn't enough, he saw Bruce again, now looking like someone slapped him in the face with a fish...

On closer look, he could see that someone had actually punched him. He was so going to hack the Tower's camera. 

And then Marinette spoke up and...what? 

He was completely lost.

Did she say one of my parents? He hoped for Bruce sake that he misheard because otherwise that meant that this father figure fucked up again...which wasn't that suprising really.

So really, Jason was a little more than pissed and he felt like his choice of words was appropriate. 

"What the actual fuck Bruce?"

~

Tim was tired. 

His day had set out to be a tiring one, irrespective of the fact that he had stayed up all night to work on a case. 

He had to lead a tour group. 

Wayne Enterprises had a habit of keeping an eye on promising students for schools that they funded. For some reason, Bruce had started funding a College François Dupont in Paris. Why? He didn't know but knowing the man, he probably had some ulterior motive. 

That had intrigued him and he had taken a look at the students in their last year. There was indeed some very promising young talents - who by the looks of it, already knew which career they wanted to do and were clearly working toward them. Many of them had already been on T.V shows, had their names in newspapers or did small gigs and commissions. It was rather impressive. 

There was this one class however which at the beginning was one who seemed to have a lot of potential but he saw in their files that over the years their...efforts dropped collectively around the same time. It was extremely bizarre. 

One particular student in that class drew his attention though. It was one Miss Marinette Dupain-Cheng. Her academic records were stellar - always had been and while her grades had dropped a but at one point, she got them back up within the year which was more than impressive since she had skipped two years. She also seemed really talented, had won several awards and supposedly had a website for commissions - her file seemed...rushed and considerably lacking in details compared to her classmates even though Tim felt like she did way more than them. 

Call it his detective instincts but he knew that there was something going on in that class, his doubts were further re-inforced when he saw a report about Marinette, it was once again quite vague but what little was in it still chilled him to the core.

But...still...there was something else about her. Something striked him as soon as he saw her picture - she seemed really really familiar but he couldn't put his finger on where exactly had he seen her before. 

Well, as CEO he was supposed to be leading the tour groups anyways, so hopefully he'd get to find out then. 

The tour group consisted of all the senior class of the college and he prayed against all hope that it wasn't to be a disaster. 

Flashforward to the big day...it wasn't actually so bad. His brothers had crashed the party...which was unexpected but they weren't causing any trouble which was for more than he could usually hope for and while some students were absolutely aboherent ((mostly from that one class that had caught his attention)) the rest were genuinely nice. He had managed to talk to a few of them and was pleasantly surprised at their intellect. 

The most interesting student there though was, as he had predicted, Mlle. Dupain-Cheng, she was able to keep up with him throughout all of his explanations, whatever department may it have been in even though it was clearly stated in her file that she wanted a career in fashion. But well, he knew better than most that appearances could be receiving. Simply put, she was a genius. 

She reminded him of Elle from Legally Blonde for some reason. 

There was however also one student who had certainly not impressed him, thoroughly disgusted him actually - Lila Rossi. 

See the thing was that no one knew that he was actually the CEO. That had been done intentionally. The aim of the tour after all was for him to be able to see if there was any potential employees for Wayne Enterprises among them. 

And boy, was he going to blacklist her. 

The girl was a lying machine and the lies weren't even good. She name-dropped at every other sentence and even did the mistake of lying about him and his brothers in a place where any employee who knew them personally could call her out on her bullshit. It was such an amateur mistake. 

His opinion of her only soured when she insulted Marinette, he had taken her a liking to her, however brief their conversation had been and even if he hadn't - the fact that Lila bought up her kidnapping and downplayed it would be more than enough. 

Thankfully not everyone from that College was total numbskulls. A few people immediately jumped to the defense of the absent girl. 

He cataloged them mentally - The Braindead, The Neutrals and The Defenders, while also taking notes of what they were saying. 

What he heard out was even more horrifying that what he had read. 

That it! He was going to be looking into this girl's case personally.

As of all of this wasn't bad enough, Bruce just had to make everything worse. 

Because he could finally out the pieces together and understand why Marinette looked so familiar. 

Marinette was his sister. 

Marinette was Bruce's daughter and he was going to have to answer to Tim - and but the looks of it, his brother too - about what had happened to their newfound sister. 

~

Damian…

Damian didn't know what to think. 

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Eighty-One

Words: 3.6K

Warning(s): Explicit language, drug abuse

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"Babe?" I call as I come in from the hottub, wrapped in a towel, holding my bottle of Pepsi. 

Duff's sitting on the couch when I come in, reaching his hand out to grab mine. 

"We're celebrating tonight," Duffs tells me, grinning around his cigarette, and I raise my brows. 

"For what?" I question him curiously. 

"It's been two months since we started dating." He replies. 

"And that's worth celebrating?" It comes out before I can stop myself and his smile slowly falters. 

"I think so, but if you don't want to—"

"—I didn't mean for it to come out like that, Duff." I tell him. 

"No, Viv, it's fine." He assures me. 

"I meant, we aren't really a couple, so—" I stop myself once more realizing the grave I'm digging myself as he looks at me with a slightly raised brow, blowing smoke from his nose. "—I'm gonna shut up. What time are we going out?" 

"Just whenever." He mumbles and I frown a little. 

"Duff, I didn't mean it like that, either, alright? I didn't think you actually considered us a 'couple' since I'm still technically married and you're like a mistress or something." I run a hand through my hair. 

"Well, we're having sex, we go out together, we have conversations about our future together, neither of us are seeing other people or have an interest in seeing other people—I assume—so, either we're dating or wasting each other's time." 

"Okay, we're dating." I say. 

"Are you sure?"

"Duff, seriously?" I question. 

"I'm dropping it." He ignores me, reaching for his cigarettes on the coffee table. "I gotta go grab a couple things from my apartment and I'll be back later."

"Alright." I reply, taking in a deep breath before mentioning, "hey if you get back and I'm not here it's because I'm gonna try to find Izzy a little later because we need to talk about something."  

"Alright, I love you." He kisses my hair quickly and grabs his keys. 

"I love you too." I tell him and he shuts the door. 

As soon as he's gone I'm rushing to the guest bathroom and opening the cabinet under the sink, grabbing the grocery bag of pregnancy tests that have yet to be taken. 

"God, if you love me…" I say, finishing the prayer in my mind.

Children are and always have been a blessing in my eyes, but that didn't mean I wanted a child then.

"Well, I'll be damned." Izzy mumbles, eyes squinting slightly, holding the test I plopped onto the bar in front of him as he peers into the little window of plastic, seeing another, "|" as opposed to the recent "||" we had seen on my first test. 

This is negative test number five of five taken over the course of three days…

"I'm not pregnant." I repeat to him, taking this last test as the set in stone reality. 

"Congrats, your gig isn't quite up, yet." He says, grinning crookedly and I roll my eyes as he throws back another shot before saying, "So, here ya go," he digs in his pocket and puts two condoms packets on the bar in front of me, making me shove at his arm, "you obviously don't have any." He states.

"I do, I just don't like using them." I reply, glancing around, seeing the coast is clear of anyone I know in the crowded room.

"You like living on the edge or something?" He questions, aggravating me. 

"I like..." I hesitate instead of brazenly saying what I want to. "...you know…" 

He furrows his brows and looks at me for a moment. 

"...You like what?" He asks me, genuinely not understanding and I sigh. 

"I like…that." I widen my eyes slightly for "that," hoping he catches on. 

Nothing. 

"I don't understand half of what you say so—"

"—I like cum." I rip the bandaid off and he spits his drink out, squeezing his eyes closed to brace the burn of whiskey through his nostrils as well. "And ya know what? It loses its appeal when it's gummed up at the bottom of latex." I add, just to gross him out more.

"Viv, I didn't need to know that!" He scolds me, groaning, rubbing his face. 

"Understand me now?" I sarcastically demand. 

"Ughh," he wrinkles his nose. 

"I like to feel i—"

"Shut up!" He covers his ears and I laugh. "Damn it, Vivian, go back to damn near leaving the room anytime someone mentioned sex." He complains. 

"I don't feel weird about talking to you about it because you're like a girl friend." I shrug and he glares at me. 

"I'm what?" 

"Like a girl friend." I restate and he raises his brows. 

"A girl friend?" 

"Yeah." I nod. 

"You really know how to break a man's balls without even thinking fucking twice about it." He gripes. 

"I didn't mean anything bad by that." I say, genuinely. 

"You don't tell a guy he's like a girl friend." He argues.

"Well, you are." 

"Are what?" Axl's voice is over the crowd and me and Izzy both snatch at the test before he grabs it and hides it in his jacket pocket. 

"Wondering what's going on with you and Tansy?" I change the subject quickly when he gets to us and he tries to hide his smile. 

"Don't worry about it." He states. 

Axl and Tansy, in a new-found relationship, were in a whirlwind of puppy love. So much so that not even a week later, Axl would propose and she would inevitably say, "yes."

"Where's Duff and the guys?" I ask Axl as he grabs a drink and sits beside Izzy and I, lighting a cigarette. 

"Steven's with some Cheryl chick, Slash is next door at the strip bar, and Duff…" he trails off, furrowing his brows, "...I don't know where Duff is." 

"Oh, well, we were supposed to go out tonight to celebrate our two month." I explain. 

"Well, I haven't seen him." Axl shrugs. 

"He said he was going to his apartment." I add. 

"Haven't seen him." He replies again and I sigh. 

"Okay, then, I'm probably gonna head home and just wait there for him." 

"He's staying with you?" Axl asks and I nod. 

"Yeah?" 

"In Nikki's house?" Izzy adds. 

"...Yes?" 

They look at each other and then look at me. 

"What?"

"Whore around much?" Axl comments, about to throw back his shot but I knock the glass from his hand and tiredly glare at him. 

"A lot, actually." I reply. "Screw you." 

I turn to go. 

"Viv, c'mon," Izzy sighs as Axl storms off. 

"No, I have some more whoring to go do while my husband's off." I tell him. 

"He's an asshole, Vivian, you know that." He says in reference to Axl but I just keep walking. 

When I get on the street, I head next door to see if he's by any chance with Slash.

Before I can head that way, I'm halting at the sound of a sharp whistle followed by, "God damn!" 

Getting ready to get arrested, again, I turn and my hostility melts away. 

Robbin's grinning at me.

"Where the hell have you been?!" I ask him as he walks to me. 

"I was gonna ask you the same thing." He states, hugging me. "I've seen all the shit in the press and figured you'd gone to Japan with Nikki to work things out or whatever." He adds. 

"There is no 'working things out,' Robbin." I reply and he furrows his brows. 

"What?" 

"I'm filing for a divorce when he gets back." I explain. 

"What? No, Viv, you can't do that, you guys are Nikki and Viv." He tells me. 

"No, we're Nikki and Heroin and Mistress and Viv." I smartly shoot back. 

"I hate that you guys gotta go through this." He admits. 

"Well, we got married knowing it might not work out." I shrug. 

"Yeah, but seeing you two being married and making it work got me to realize it's something I want, too, you know? I just didn't think it'd be like this. You two used to be obsessed with each other." He rubs the back of his neck, frowning a little. 

"Well, it is what it is, Robbin." I say.

"It's bullshit is what it is."

"Talk to him about it." I scoff. 

"Rob, c'mon!" A couple friends he's with call down the street and we both look in their direction. 

"Well, it was nice seeing you, we need to see each other more often, you know." I smile softly at him and he nods. 

"I hope things work out, Viv. I really do." He reassures me and I nod. 

"Thanks." 

"See ya later." He grins, patting my cheek before going to his buddies. 

"Later." I mumble as he goes.

I breathe out and head into the strip joint, not finding Slash or Duff or anyone I knew. 

I eventually give up and just go home because I need to finish decorating for Christmas, anyway. 

Hoping to find Duff at home, I instead come in to an empty house and a sleepy Whisky. 

"Hey, boy." I step to him and reach down, petting him, feeling a small ache in my heart realizing how much he's grown since Nikki first got him a few months ago. 

We were happy when he first got him. 

Now look at us. 

I force it out of mind and decide to get distracted with Christmas. 

I should've got a shower and gone to bed because I ended up getting thrown into a pit of heartbreak all over again whilst trying to find our star for the Christmas tree that I swore I had put in a closet at some point last year to move it out of the way…

"C'mon, you've got it be here somewhere." I mumble, digging around on the top shelf, my hand feeling something familiar. 

I furrow my brows and lift the random junk to see the Bible Nikki had gotten me for valentines day this year that had "gotten lost." 

The star is a distant memory as I grab the Bible and step off the step-stool I was using and innocently open it where the ribbon is tucked by the back cover.

I see a scribbling of Nikki's handwriting. 

Vivian, 

I don't know if it's offensive to write in one of these, but my place in hell is already solidified so I might as well piss God off some more. Sorry, I know you don't like when I say I'm going to hell even though we both know it's true. The one problem I have with where I'm fated to spend eternity, is that I know you won't be there. I realized this exactly one year ago. I came pretty close to being over with and I would be burning currently (or just laying in the fucking ground, or flying around as a reincarnated bird, whatever the hell happens to us when we go) had I not made it through. I know I'm scaring you with how much I do, Viv. I hear you talking to God about it when you pray. You're afraid I'm not going to wake up one day. I'm afraid, too. I know, right, Nikki Sixx is scared of something, who would've thought? I'm afraid I'm going to take my last breath without telling you how much I love you. I knew I loved you that night you snuck me into your window and asked me to help you bullshit that damn thesis paper for your final. That was six years ago, almost, and I wish I would have been telling you that I love you all along, maybe it would have changed the path of certain things that have happened. I'm sorry for what I've done, what I'm doing, and what I will do. It's my cross to carry. It's not your fault, it never has been, it never will be. I hope you can forgive me if I'm not here this time next year...if I don't get any better, I'll be in a coffin before our tour ends. Jeez, this sounds like a suicide note. I promise that's not why I'm writing this. I hope I'm around as long as you are. I hope we're together in the next life, whether it's as two birds that mate for life, pecking at each other's eyes, or our spirits just find one another. If God is real, all I'll need is for him to let me know you've made it up there and that you'll be okay, and I'll go to Hell and take the brimstone and fire for all the damage I've done. Just don't forget me, whatever happens. I won't ever forget you. I love you, Vivian. I won't ever forget you. I love you.

—Nikki

My body locks up, my joints tensing, my nose burning as tears come to my eyes...I start shaking, an uncomfortable lump clogging my throat...fury encapsulates me. 

I'm throwing the Bible at the wall, pulling at my hair, screaming and yelling incomprehensibly before finally choking out, "why didn't you tell me this?!" I bark at Nikki who's across the country and can't hear me. 

But I'm saying it loud enough that he probably could if he really tried. 

I guess a part of me might've considered staying with him had he expressed his feelings to me earlier on in our relationship. It's nice to hear, "I love you," even if someone doesn't mean it. 

I felt robbed. I felt I deserved for Nikki to tell me that before I found out about Vanity...before he started choosing drugs over me...before I started sleeping with someone else…

I lay down and just stare at the mirror ceiling looking back at me, an ugly crack causing my reflection to scatter in multiples. 

Nikki must've broken it at some point before leaving. 

I don't know what the point of getting a mirrored ceiling was...perversion or whatever, I suppose. But the money and time spent repairing the damn thing over the years…

I glance at Whisky, curled up on Nikki's side of the bed, talking in his sleep while his back legs twitch a little. 

Maybe he's actually reliving a good memory of Nikki. 

All I can think of is, 

"I got on it to help with my shoulder and finish my parts of the album so it would be ready in time." He tells me honestly.

"And your shoulder's healed now, Nikki. So why are you still bothering with it?" I ask, looking at him. 

"It's not like I'm injecting the shit, Vivian." He argues, getting defensive. "Go read your Bible or pray or something...anything."***

And,

I throw the syringe at him, screaming out, "when did you start doing this?!" as tears reappear in my eyes. 

I expect him to come fight me, he instead ignores my outburst and leans down to grab the box of needles.

I get up and follow after him, my hands shoving at his back, nearly causing him to trip over himself. 

"Answer my fucking question!" I demand him, my voice shaking. I get the reaction I want, the plastic of syringes and metal of needles colliding loudly with the wall when he throws the box of them angrily and spins around.

"Vivian, it's just recreational. It's not serious. I got it under control." He tries to defend himself and I close my eyes, realizing I'll never win.

Then, 

"Andy." I cry out, keeping my hands on Nikki's chest, but the Finnish rockstar keeps yelling back and forth with the dealer. "Andy." I repeat, louder, but he still doesn't hear me. "Andy!" I'm pleading in a holler, catching his attention. "I-I can't do this, I'm sick, just call an ambulance!" I beg and Andy heads to the phone hanging on the wall.

And,

"Vince, I'm scared." I say in a whisper.

"Viv, you guys are gonna be okay. I'm sure you'll find a way take fix things just to spite people saying you two won't last." He assures me, his hand rubbing comfortingly up and down my back. "Look at me." He says and I do, and he wipes at my tears. "It'll be fine, alright?" I nod. "Okay?"

"Okay." I reply, sniffling again.

Also,

I'm hitting the floor as fast as I can, screaming as my ears ache from the noise as he just starts shooting repeatedly, and the house shakes, my only chance of protection is getting under the bed and I rush to get there, covering my ears as my spine paralyzes with fear and more shots fire out. I hear things in our house breaking and shattering from  buckshot that flies through the open doorway as Nikki is shouting "GET THE FUCK OUT OF MY HOUSE!" with raw tears in his voice.

Then, 

"I'm getting married, look." Vanity states, taking her left hand out of Arsenio's hold and flashes a shining ring on her ring finger and my ears perk up, apparently Tansy's pulled from her drugged stupor, because her heavy eye lids pop open and her face pales when I look at her as I hear Arsenio comment, "okay, um, here's something for Jett magazine," going with the sudden turn of events presented by the starlet.

"Did you know she was engaged?" I ask Tansy and she's at a loss of words. "I didn't even know she was dating anybody." 

"Vivian." Tansy's tone is dreadful and I wait for her to tell me about it, Arsenio cracking jokes in the background, causing Vanity's enthusiastic laughter to infiltrate the room.

"This is a beautiful ring." He states, grabbing my attention once more. 

"Isn't it pretty?" Vanity agrees as he examines the rock on her finger. 

"You, didn't you--"

"--Nikki Sixx." She interrupts him, and my brows furrow even more, confusion taking over me.***

And,

"How could you do this to me?!" I cry out as he starts trying to walk to me, trying to keep his anger low, but I get away from him, throwing a hotel lamp at him, only for it to shatter on the wall behind him. "What did I do to make you hate me so fucking much, Nikki?! To make you pursue another girl--one of my friends--so fucking hard that you propose to her?! Am I just that fucking forgettable?!" I'm throwing dirty dishes Tommy's used tonight, all of them breaking when they miss Nikki by merely centimeters, hitting the wall. 

"Vivian, fuck it off!" He barks and I grab Tommy's switchblade off the nightstand, throwing it next, and it barely misses Nikki's face. 

"I hate you!" I say back. "I fucking hate you!"

Finally,

“What's new…" He says with a small smirk, thinking about something before the corners of his mouth fall slowly. "...I've done a lot of shit." He starts and I look at him. "Shit I'm not proud of. I don't fucking know when to just do something a little bit. I can't have a bump, I've gotta go through an eight ball as fast as possible. I can't have a drink, I gotta drink the place dry. I can't have a serious girlfriend, I've gotta marry her." He says, and I glance at him and he shakes his head. "I can't just have a one-night stand, I gotta have a fucking affair." He finishes and I lick my lips, keeping my tears back. "This might be fucked up, but I've realized I don't feel like I shouldn't have had anything with her." He says in reference to Vanity and I furrow my brows. "I just feel like we shouldn't have gotten married to begin with."

I decide to have mercy on myself, refusing to relive anymore of our memories--good or bad--because they don't matter anymore and I don't even give myself time to think about how he finally decided to tell me he loved me after six years of jumping through hoops trying to earn it from him. 

Careful not to wake the dog, I get out of bed, hearing Duff's car pull into the driveway, and glance at the clock. 

How is it already 4:00a.m.?

I can't help but feel butterflies in my stomach, excited to see him because I've missed him.

When he gets in, he braces himself against the doorway of the foyer, cursing under his breath when his feet dare to slip from underneath him. 

"Did you have fun?" I ask him softly, smiling at him and he slowly lifts his head to look at me. 

"Y-You're still up?" He asks me, rubbing his face and I chuckle, taking a step to him. 

"Yeah?" I reply, wrapping my arms around his waist…

...Noticing he's keeping his hand on his eyes as if he's rubbing them, and his lids are squeezed together. 

"Are you okay?" I ask next, reaching up to pull his hand away from his eyes but he stops me. 

"Yeah, baby, I'm fine, just go to bed and I'll be there in a second." He tells me calmly, slurring a little. 

"Duff, what's wrong?" I don't listen, not buying it for a second. 

"Viv…" he sounds disappointed. "Izzy'll be in here in a second." 

"Just look at me," I giggle and move his hand again and he hesitates for a second, before sighing, looking me in the eyes. 

I can't speak as pin-pointed pupils look down at me, the sudden smell of smack fumes on his clothes invades me, faint but still there.

I go to open my mouth to speak but I can't…

He's floating on heroin and my hopes of normality are drowned.

[wayward-mikaelson]

I sat in the kitchen and stared at the food that Sam made for me. Pancakes. Again. It's been three days since we got back to the bunker and four days since Cas showed up out of nowhere and did some angel thing on Dean. I remember after that bright light, I pulled myself from Sam and heard Dean gasp for breath but didn't wake up. Cas had been sitting on the ground next to the impala and told us that Dean should be okay now, that the worst should be gone.

Sam walked back into the kitchen with his laptop. Must be googling some way to get his brother out of angel induced coma I guess. "So, get this," he started to say.

"No," I got up and walked away from him. "I don't want to hear anything that has something to do with getting Dean out of whatever he's in. Not yet at least." I walked out of the kitchen and into the main hallway. I made my way to Deans room.

Once I got there, I just looked at Dean through the doorway. He looked so peaceful as if he was sleeping. But Dean never sleeps on his back though. I walked in an looked at him closer. His face looked like it has never seen the horrors of this world. No vampires. No Djinns. No Werewolves. Nothing. I smiled a little. Everything was going to be alright.

"Hey," Sam's voice comes from the doorway, "I'm going to go out and get some food and drinks. Do you need anything?" I looked at him and could tell that he was hurting too. His brother was in some sort of coma and he couldn't do anything about it. I've been harsh to him the last few days and I couldn't tell him why.

"Yeah, let me make you a small list of what we need," I made my way to the kitchen. I grabbed some paper and a pen and start to make him a list of things. "Look, Sam," I looked at him and saw him staring at me. "I'm sorry. These last few days have been hard on us and we've been taking it out on each other or Cas or whatever." One of the reasons why Cas hadn't bee around lately. Either Sam or I would take out our frustration on him. He didn't deserve it.

Sam walked around the counter and right next to me. "It's okay, I've been trying to distract myself so I don't have to think to much about Dean just laying there helpless."

I laughed a little. A real laugh. "Dean's not really helpless if you think about it."

"Yeah," Sam forced a laugh then he turned to face me. He placed a hand on my cheek.

My heart literally skipped a beat. "Sam," I said.

Before I could say anything else, Sam leaned in and pressed his lips to mine. They we soft but eager and rough. To my surprise, I kissed him back. Sam used his free hand to pick me up and place me on the counter. Sam's hands slowly trailed down my chest and he began to unbutton my shirt. My heart began to race and I knew I had to stop the kiss. I couldn't. My body was craving the attention and need. I haven't had this in so long. I let my hands be the guide. I found myself also un-doing Sam's shirt as well. Then Sam's phone rang, pulling me back to reality.

"Um," I said. I slowly slid off the counter and started to do up my shirt. "I should go and check in on Dean." I turned away to leave but Sam ignored his phone.

"YN," He said. I turned around and he looked different. Pleased? A bit happier? He was shirtless after all. "Um, the list." He picked up the paper and pen but I knew better.

"I'll text it to you," I quickly turned and made my way back to Dean's room. I knew that if I were to walk in his direction and right back to him, more clothes would come off. I didn't want to do that to Sam. No when I didn't feel the same way. How do you tell someone that you're in love with their brother after you full out made out with them?

I couldn't stop thinking about that kiss. There was a lot of passion behind it. I guess I always knew that Sam had something for me and I thought I did too. Back when I first saw him. Sam was always easy to talk to. But the one thing that always got in the way was Lucas. Sam reminded me so much of Lucas that it was like loosing him all over again. I didn't want to be reminded of him all the time. I guess that is why I can't feel the same way that he feels about me. Also, I'm in love with Dean.

I looked into Deans doorway and watched his breathing. What if I loose this man too? He doesn't even know how I feel about him. Not yet anyway. I walked into this room and sat on the foot of his bed.

My life turned around when I was kidnapped by that vampire. The same vampire that killed Lucas and wanted to turn me. Dean and Sam saved me of course and brought me home. It took a month until I found my fathers locked chest of files and cases he worked before he suddenly died.

Dean groaned a bit and I felt him move a little. I turned around and he was still sleeping. But this was a sign. This was good. "Dean," I got up and went to the head of the bed. "Dean, can you hear me?" Dean groaned again and this time he raised his hand and rubbed his eyes. "Dean!"

"Dude," he groaned. His eyes opened and there were those green eyes I loved so much. "How long was I out?" He looked at me and I smiled.

"About a week," I told him and helped him up into a sitting position. "If it weren't for Cas, you would be dead dead. How's your side?"

Dean looks down and un buttons his shirt, I look down at his healing would. It looked ninety time better than when i saw it a week ago. The wound that was once an open gash bleeding everywhere was now a nice little pink line. "How does it feel?" I asked him. I was afraid to touch it.

"Well," Dean went and touched it and i saw the wince in his face. "I'm not dead. That's the good part." Dean smiled. "So I was really out for a week? Must have been that bad."

"You have no idea," I said sitting on the edge of his bed. "After you guys left Cas and I behind, we sat for a bit until Cas got a feeling that something was wrong. Then all of sudden he vanished and the next second, Sam was dragging you. Almost lifeless. I sat in the back seat with you trying to stop the bleeding. Then Cas came back and fixed you up." I stopped because I didn't want to tell Dean that I begged for him to stay because I loved him.

"Where's Cas right now?" Dean asked.

I laughed a little bit. "Well this past week was hell for me and Sam," I started to say.

"Oh please tell me you didn't sleep with him!" Dean looked repulsed at the thought.

"Are you kidding me?!" I asked him. "What makes you think that I slept with your brother?! We fought and yelled a lot, sometimes we took it out on Cas. Cas left and only checks in once a day to see how you're doing." I got up and looked. "Want me to make you something to eat?"

"Dude," He looked at me with a smile on his face and in his eyes. "Hook me up!"

I walk back to the kitchen and look for something other than a sandwich to make. Sam and I ate the last of the bacon and pancakes this morning. I ate the last microwave meal a few hours ago. We are horrible at keeping a stocked kitchen when Dean is in a coma. Not that he is always in a coma. I pull stuff out for Dean favorite sandwich and began to make it. I barely got mayonnaise on the bread when I heard the bunker door open. Sam was back.

Sam entered the kitchen with a few bags on his arms. "Did it all in one trip," he smiled at me. He noticed the sandwich I was making. "Dean woke up?" I nodded as I put the finishing touches on the sandwich. Sam set the bags down and slowly walked around the counter.

I felt Sam's hands on my waist and I instantly pulled away from him. "I'm sorry Sam," I say walking away from him. "I can't do this."

"Why not?" he asked. I could see the love and hunger in his eyes. Part of me needed that but not with Sam.

"Because I don't feel that way about you," I blurted out. "It was just a kiss. It didn't mean anything. In fact, I'm in love with your brother." I began to walk out of the kitchen when Sam sighed.

"How can you love him when you were trying to rip my clothes off?" He asked after me. But I ignored him because I, too, was wondering the same thing. 

[high-functioning-lokipath]

Chapter 3 - First Come First Serve - Words: 2,788

"Here's her profile, Greg," Sergeant Donovon said, dropping a folder on her boss's desk.

"Clarissa Hughes, aged 32, brown and blue, 5' 5", No. 1 District, been on the force since '10, promoted to Sergeant in '17. Unmarried, unattached, no children, father deceased, mother living in Manchester, one sister in America." Greg sighed after reading the file. He leaned back in his chair and rubbed his forehead. He never liked cases involving one of his own. They always gave him a migraine.

The scene yesterday was impressive even for someone like him who'd been in New Scotland Yard for over 30 years. The young woman had been found in her apartment, laying face down on the floor. A small bullet hole in the window revealed a sniper had been perched on the roof of a nearby building. While there were entry and exit wounds, they had not yet found the bullet to give to ballistics.

"There's not much to go on. It could have been random. Maybe she had one bad date with someone who was a bit off their rocker and-"

"Inspector," Anderson interrupted.

"Yes?" Greg replied, migraine now doubling.

"They found this at the scene." Anderson held out a Ziploc with a ruby red, silk handkerchief. It had no markings on it, not even a snag, save for the small, gold R embroidered on the corner.

"Where did they find it?"

"It was special delivered today with no return address or other markings."

"Now why would a woman, whose name does not start with R, order a monogrammed handkerchief."

"Bored!"

*bang*

"BORED!"

*bang bang bang*

"Sherlock! I swear you had better stop that or I will call Lestrade this time and tell him it was you who put the hallucinogen in Anderson's tea!"

"Fine!"

"Good!”

*thwap thud thwap thud thwap thud*

"Sherlock?"

"I'm being quiet!"

"What are you doing?"

"A bow and arrow are much more satisfying!"

"Oh -!"

"Torry! Guess what!" Erin called out to her roommate from the living room of their shared apartment.

"You're moving out?" She called back, teasing as usual.

"Haha, very funny," Erin deadpanned. "Really though, this is awesome."

"Did we get a case?"

"Better!"

"Two cases?"

"Torry!"

"Ok! What?"

"In exactly 1 month you and I will be in London, England speaking at the International Inspectors Convention."

"Wow! That's fantastic! I wonder if-" Torry paused. "Nevermind."

"Don't worry, Torry, I already checked," Erin winked. "He's scheduled to speak the day after us."

"Inspector, there's been another murder," Donovan announced, walking up to Lestrade in the break room.

"Ok," he replied. "Is it my division?"

"Yes, this time it was Amelia Walker. She was an Inspector in No. 3 District." Greg slammed his mug down on the counter.

"Walker and Hughes were two of our best inspectors! Have you found any connection yet?" The two grabbed their jackets and headed downstairs.

"Nothing yet. The landlady just reported her body. Anderson's there now with his team."

"Ok then, let's go." The two got in the car and headed off. When they arrived, Anderson rushed up holding a small envelope.

"Another one just arrived," He said. Lestrade grabbed the envelope and looked inside. Sure enough, another ruby red handkerchief with an embroidered R on the corner. "I asked the delivery boy where he got it from but he said he didn't know. It was a different boy this time too."

"Where is she?" Lestrade asked. They followed Anderson over to the body. "Cause of death?"

"Another sniper." Anderson showed them the bullet hole in a nearby window. Lestrade shook his head.

"Did ballistics ever get a lead on the gun?"

"Nothing," Donovan replied. "It's a standard sniper rifle but there are literally hundreds of those to try and track down."

"There must be something we're missing," Lestrade groaned.

"Ah! London! Doesn't it smell great!" Erin exclaimed, taking a deep breath as they stepped off the plane.

"It smells like airplane fuel. Let's wait till we actually leave the airport," Torry replied.

"Ok, grumpy. Geez, remind me never to take you on a flight again." Torry growled in reply but Erin just chuckled. "Let's go get our bags and head to the hotel."

"And go straight to bed. I'm dead."

The next day, the inspectors convention started. There were hundreds of private investigators, police inspectors, and a few other kinds of detectives. Torry kept her eye out for one specific "Consulting Detective" but there was no sign of him on the first day. They did however meet their hotel room neighbor, Frances Grant. She had been an inspector at NYS in London until she moved to Manchester about a year ago.

"Nice gal," Erin commented, walking out of their bathroom that night.

"Yeah. I wonder what that case she mentioned was," Torry replied from her bed, already laying down.

"I don't know. She said she was going to help her old academy friend investigate while she was here, right?"

"Mm," Torry agreed. "Must be pretty serious," She said sleepily.

"Are you really already going to sleep?"

"And why shouldn't I?"

"Seriously? We're in a hotel, got to bed early, have the opportunity to actually watch BBC from London and you want to sleep."

"Yes. You watch TV and tell me all about it when I wake up. I won't be able to stay awake to give BBC my full attention when I'm this tired."

"Party pooper," Erin teased as she plugged in her earbuds. Torry grunted in reply and went to sleep. 2 hours later, Erin was nearly asleep still watching late night mystery shows on BBC.

*CRASH*

"What the-" Erin startled awake. Looking at the TV she saw the detective on the show had just been shot. "Oh, should probably turn that off and go to sleep," She whispered to herself. After turning off the TV and unplugging her earbuds, Erin rolled over and tried to go to sleep.

"Wake up sleepyhead!" Torry yelled the next morning.

"Ok, ok, I'm up," Erin groaned. The girls got ready for the day, Torry dressing up extra fancy since a certain someone was on the program. They headed down for breakfast, where Frances said she'd meet up with them. She didn't show up though and the girls headed back to their room.

"I wonder why Frances didn't come down for breakfast," Torry mused, walking out of the elevator on their floor. Erin shrugged and was about to say something when there was a yell from down the hallway.

"Help! Help! Police! Someone!" A housekeeper cried out.

"What's wrong, miss?" Erin asked, rushing up to her in front of one of the rooms

"Sh-sh-she's dead!" The woman exclaimed. Torry squeezed past her, not noticing which room it was, and looked inside.

"It's Frances!" Torry called out to Erin.

"Oh no!" Erin replied. "I'll be right there!" Erin turned to the housekeeper and handed her a tissue from a box on the cleaning cart. "Why don't you wait in our room? I'll call the police and then they can take a statement from you once they get here." The lady nodded and Erin took her to their room to sit down. From there she called the police.

Meanwhile, Torry began investigating the scene of the crime. "Hm, sniper," Torry mumbled to herself, noticing the window. She walked around the body, examining it and taking mental notes. Suddenly there was a knock on the room door.

"Police!" Torry opened the door at once. "Inspector Lestrade," The man introduced himself. "Are you the one that called?"

"No, that would be my friend, Erin. She's in our room next door with the housekeeper who found the body."

"Are you here for the convention?" Lestrade asked. 'Last thing I need is some amateur messing things up,' He thought to himself.

"Yes."

'Dang it!' He mentally shouted. "Alright, have you moved or touched anything since you entered the room?"

"Really, Inspector, I wouldn't dare! This is a crime scene after all!"

"Ok, just checking," He defended.

"36, married, no children, lives in Manchester, originally from London. That much she told us last night. We had dinner together. She must have died sometime in the middle of the night. I'd say around 2am. Based off the stage of rigor mortis." Lestrade stared at her, surprised. He'd only ever seen one other person rattle off so many facts so quickly. "She was killed by a sniper through the window. I also noticed that-"

"Wait, sniper?"

"Yes. I believe I just said that."

"What's her name?"

"Frances Grant, she's an-"

"Inspector," Lestrade said sadly. "I went to the Academy with her." He shook his head. "Anderson, get me those two other files. Let's see if this one has a connection."

"I'm sure it does, Graham. You probably just haven't looked well enough," Sherlock drawled from the doorway.

"Did I invite you here, Sherlock?" Lestrade yelled.

"Not specifically," He replied coolly, waltzing into the room. "But I heard there was a murder," He said, eyes lighting up. "And I simply had to come!" He grinned.

"Sherlock!" A shorter man yelled from the hallway. "Where did you get off to?"

"In here John!" Torry was just about to say something, finally past the initial surprise that her favorite Detective was standing in front of her, when Erin yelled from the next room.

"Torry! Get over here!" She yelled. Torry, John, and Greg rushed over. "She's gone into shock, can you help me get her on the bed instead of this chair?"

"I can help you, miss. I'm a Doctor," John said.

"Please do, Dr. Watson," She replied. Turning to the others, she asked: "Are you with the Yard?" Lestrade nodded. "She was the one who discovered her body. You'll want a statement later, obviously."

"Ah yes, thank you, Miss-"

"Erin Blair. And that's Torry Star. We're America's only consulting detectives," Erin said with a wink. John's eyebrows shot up immediately. "Yes, Doctor," She continued. "I've read your blog."

"Speaking of Sherlock," Lestrade spoke up. "I had better get back and make sure he hasn't started world war 3 with Anderson."

"If you don't mind, I'd like to come back with you. There was something I noticed," Torry said. Lestrade nodded and the two of them went to the other room. Torry walks in first and, while Sherlock and Anderson are bickering, paces the room. 'Now, I need to check what's shining behind that chair,' She thought. Attempting to go to the corner to check, Torry finds Sherlock is blocking her path. "If you're not going to help investigate the murder, then get out of my way so I can." Torry states. She then pushes past him to examine what she finds to be a bullet casing. Greg had to bite back a laugh at Sherlock's face.

'I've never seen the man look so offended!' Greg thought. 'This will be interesting.' Just then, the hotel phone rang. "Hello, Inspector Lestrade," He said, picking up the phone.

"Inspector, we just had a package dropped off for Miss Grant's room. The boy asked it be delivered right away to Sergeant Donovan."

"Alright, bring it up." Once the package was brought up, Anderson and Donovan opened it carefully while Sherlock and Torry argued over what type of sniper's rifle shoots those bullets.

"It's another handkerchief!" Anderson exclaimed.

"Another?" Torry and Sherlock asked in surprise. Greg explained to them what had happened with the last two murders.

"There's a note with this one," Donovan said shakily. "Congratulations. You're next."

"Let me see that," Torry said, grabbing the handkerchief. "The sniper is a woman. Military or police training with that level of skill. I'd say about 37 with that handwriting. First name is Ruby. This handkerchief is Ruby red and has her monogram."

"Ruby Jones!" Greg exclaimed. "She went to the Academy with me. She failed though. She didn't like working with others. She was too competitive, always trying to prove herself. She had a high level shooting badge and I think she trained on that rifle you mentioned before. I guess she was taking her revenge."

"I'll put out a warrant," Anderson said.

"Thanks," Donovan said to Torry. "I don't know what to say."

"Really?" Sherlock scoffed. "You're thanking her! She did the same thing I do! Well, not as perfectly but still!"

"She's different, Holmes," Donovan spat. "You wouldn't understand, freak."

"And with that I wish we had solved the case a little later," Torry mumbled. Donovan didn't hear her, but Sherlock did. Though he couldn't hold back a slight smile at that, he still felt a bit put off at Torry stealing his spotlight.

Meanwhile, once the others left the room, John looked at Erin with a smirk. "What?" She chuckled.

"America's only consulting detectives?" He teased.

"I couldn't help it," She replied. "We are fairly well known back in the colonies," She said with a posh British accent, making John smile. "We got invited to speak at the convention yesterday."

"Oh! Of course! You were the guest speakers! I actually wanted to come and see you but Sherlock got stuck on a case. It was really only a 3 but I couldn't get away."

"Ah," Erin sounded in agreement. "Yeah, that's happened to us too. Torry and I work together on every case. If one's there, so is the other."

"So which of you is Sherlock then?" John teased. "If I may do a little deduction of my own, you said you read the blog, you're obviously both fans, so it would only make sense that you've tried to compare yourselves."

"Well done, my dear Watson," Erin grinned. "Yes, we've done that. But we don't line up with either of you exactly. I guess it depends on the case. Some Torry picks up on right away, some I pick up on, and some we figure out together 50/50. And we've had some pretty crazy cases too! Nothing as interesting as yours I suppose though."

"Sounds like you make a good team. I, erm, wouldn't mind discussing some of those interesting cases with you," He said casually. "Perhaps the four of us could go out to dinner this evening?"

"That would be lovely!" Erin said. Just as she finished speaking, they heard yelling from Sherlock and Torry in the next room. They rush over to see what the commotion was. Sherlock and Torry were standing toe to toe right next to the body. Lestrade, Anderson and Donovan were just watching in surprise.

"What makes you think you can just waltz in here and take over my crime scene?" Torry yelled, cheeks bright red.

"Yours?" Sherlock scoffed. "London is mine! You're just some American knock off!"

"Knock off! Well then tell me, why didn't you notice the bullet casing? Hm?"

"I hadn't looked there yet! I was just about to!"

"Week excuse from a man who notices everything!" Torry smirked. "Tell me, what's your excuse now?"

"Excuse for what?" He hissed.

"Dilated pupils, elevated heart rate, rapid breathing, shall I list more?"

"I could ask the same for you," He replied. Torry blushed even brighter but maintained eye contact. Suddenly, after a moment of quiet, Sherlock leaned forward and kissed her quickly. "I like you," He whispered. "Dinner tonight?"

"Ok," Torry squeaked, abit dazed. Sherlock spun around, coat swishing behind him.

"John, let's go, we have to get ready," Sherlock stated. John shook his head and Erin chuckled.

"I guess they're just more blunt than we are," Erin joked.

"It would seem so," John replied, blushing slightly himself. "See you tonight then. We'll pick you up here."

"Ok, John," Erin said. "Well, well, well," She then said, turning to Torry. "Solve the case yet?"

"And that's how Torry and I met," Sherlock stated. He smiled at his fiance who was sitting next to him.

"You forgot to mention how nervous you were that night getting ready," John adds, laughing. Erin and Torry chuckled lightly but Sherlock's ears tinted red. The older couple sitting across them by the fireplace smiled. Sherlock had brought John, Torry and Erin to his parents house to introduce the girls and make the big announcement.

"Well, we couldn't be happier for our son," Mummy said. "Or for you John. You're family too you know," She winked.

"So when's the happy day?" Sherlock's Dad asked. Torry and Erin were just about to reply but they were interrupted.

"Oh please!" Mycroft groaned. "Weddings are simply atrocious emotional events that I have no use for." Sherlock's face fell slightly.

"So I suppose our asking you to officiate would be out of the question?" Sherlock asked

"On the other hand," Mycroft said suddenly, a smile hinting at the corners of his mouth. "Perhaps I can make an exception just this once."

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