#some random guy following us after the security guard walked back into the store

[daiseukiis]

if i wasn't with my coworker istg that dumb bitch would've gotten kidnapped

[thran-duils]

Doll Me Up (P.9)

Title: Doll Me Up (Part Nine) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark Mob!Tony Stark. On good days, you and Tony were a power couple. You, a perfect trophy wife with your hands in local charities to promote a wholesome image. Tony, business man but sullied with organized crime. He indulged in his illegal gambling, extortion, and political corruption. And he indulged in his escort business. Hell, that is where he had found you. You were a brat, and he loved a challenge. Words: 2,991 Warnings: Unhealthy relationships, smut, daddy kink, dom/sub, manipulation, death, violence, possessive behavior, drug use

Author’s Note: I apologize if the tags haven’t been working. I was using the new beta editor but I’ve switched back to traditional! BTW, I think I am coming up to the close on the fic soon! Just a head’s up.

Part Eight || Part Ten || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost

~A month ago…

You heard someone walk into the living room and you peeked out from your cocoon of blankets you had set up for yourself, curled up on the couch, watching tv. Happy cocked an eyebrow seeing you, his eyes running over the seltzer water and all the blankets.

“Are you okay?” he questioned.

“I don’t feel great,” you said, taking another sip of your water. You wished Tony was home, but he had gone on a business trip. Happy had stayed behind to keep an eye on you. Tony trusted him more than any of his other men to make sure you were kept safe in his absence.

“Do you need to go to the doctor?” Happy asked concerned.

You shrugged, “I’m just nauseous. I don’t think it’s anything serious. I might have eaten something bad.”

Happy did not look convinced. “Tell me if it gets worse. And I’ll get you an appointment.”

Nodding, you picked your water back up and took another drink, hoping the carbonation would help settle your stomach. You did not even bother to tell Tony later around dinner time when he called to check in, brushing it off.

It subsided later in the day and you thought you were in the clear until the next morning – very early, 4:00am – it hit again. Groaning, you could not ignore the swirling and you got out of bed, rubbing at your eyes.

FRIDAY set on the baseboard lights as you walked downstairs to guide your way.

You opened the bag of bread and took a slice out, stuffing it into your mouth as you closed the bag back up. Taking a large bite, you chewed slowly. Maybe you were having acid reflux and the bread would help soak it up.

You meandered, swallowing the first bite, as you approached the door to the patio. You laid your hand on it and it unlocked for you. Stepping outside, you inhaled the fresh air deeply. That made you feel slightly better.

<><><>

In Berlin, Tony’s watch beeped. He looked away from the table where he was having a late lunch with a fellow boss and their crew that was helping him secure capital in the city. FRIDAY was alerting him that Y/N had activated the system to go outside. His face screwed up in confusion, calculating quickly what time it was back home in Malibu. It would be a little after 4:25am.

“Excuse me, would you?” Tony asked and the other boss nodded, taking a drink of their beer. Tony slipped his tablet out of his bag as he left the table.

Walking away from the table, he moved towards the balcony overlooking the city. Holding the tablet up, he accessed the cameras at home, pulling up the outside cameras since she had left to the patio. He was on edge, wondering what the hell she was doing outside so early.

She was just sitting in one of the chairs, eating a piece of bread, which only served to confuse him more. But at least she was there; she had not run off.

He watched her for a few moments before movement by the door caught his eye and he saw Happy step outside.

“Good man,” Tony said under his breath, knowing FRIDAY would have alerted Happy too in the guest room he was in per Tony’s programming. He would have been severely disappointed if Happy had not come outside to check on her.

The two of them were speaking and Tony did not miss the concerned look on Happy’s face.

Suddenly, Y/N jerked forward, vomiting all over the cement, barely missing Happy’s slippers much to Tony’s shock. Was she hung over? That would explain the bread.

Happy came closer and his hand came to her back, steadying her as she leaned over the side of the chair. He was speaking quickly to her and she shook her head, and he shook his right back at her. Tony watched Happy settle her back and hold up a hand to her, before he went back towards the door, leaving her out there.

When he came back out, he had some napkins and some water. She shook her head at the water and he forced it towards her.

“Looks like someone had a little too much fun last night,” Tony said to himself before closing the camera. He had no further reason to be concerned about it; it looked like Happy had it perfectly under control.

Which is why when he had just got sat back down at the table, his cell phone started to ring. The other boss laughed at his expense, making a comment about him being a busy man. Tony apologized and checked his watch, seeing it was Happy. He excused himself again quickly and got up.

“What?” Tony asked. “I just got sat down at the table.”

“I’m gonna make an appointment for Y/N. Where do you want her to go?” Happy cut in immediately.

“What? What for?”

“She doesn’t feel good.”

“Yeah, I saw. Got a good view of that vomit. How much did she have to drink last night?”

“Nothing. She didn’t drink anything,” Happy told him, surprising Tony. “She didn’t feel well yesterday either and I told her to tell me if it got worse. Did she tell you when she spoke to you on the phone last night?”

“No. What do you mean she’s not feeling well?”

“Nausea she said. Maybe she has a stomach bug, I don’t know. But food poisoning doesn’t generally last two days.”

Tony rubbed his forehead and sighed. “Um, just take her to my guy. She’s on my insurance plan. She’s been to him before.”

“Not the ER?”

“You think it’s an ER type of situation?”

“I’m not sure. I mean, throwing up usually isn’t an ER thing but I don’t know.”

“Did she throw up yesterday?”

“No, not that I know of.”

“No other symptoms?”

“No.”

“Hmm,” Tony said to himself more than anything. He pondered on it and tapped the railing as he weighed the options. Something came to him then and he straightened up. A smirk tugged at the corner of his mouth as he thought more about it.

“Boss?”

Shaking his head, Tony cleared his throat, “You know, no. On second thought, no. No doctor or ER.”

“Wait, what?”

“I’m heading back tonight. You know, if she starts showing other symptoms, take her to the doctor. My guy. But I think she’ll be fine.”

Happy said slowly, “Um, alright…”

“Morning sickness, Hap. Not to get too excited about it yet but… fits the bill.”

“Oh,” Happy said and Tony could hear the realization peaking in his voice. “Right.”

“So, just keep an eye on her. I’ll be on the plane soon and then I’ll just stop on the way home at the pharmacy. Get a test,” Tony said, feeling lighter about the situation. “Order her some 7-Up or something, soups. Just keep her comfortable for me, yeah?”

“You got it,” Happy confirmed.

<><><>

“We have lunch plans, but Tony is taking forever,” you told Steve as the two of you boarded the elevator to go down further into the building.

Anticipation was nipping at your heels; you had not explored this part of the building yet. Steve had come to speak to Tony but when he was told by Angelica that Tony was busy, he was quick to brush off needing to see him. He just needed to go downstairs to pick something up. You had practically thrown down the magazine you were pretending to read, asking if you could come with. He had been polite and courteous, telling you he would love the company. Angelica looked like she wanted to say something, but you purposely ignored her, walking by and following Steve.

“Oh? Where are you going for lunch?” Steve asked interested.

“This place Pepper suggested. Mario’s. Up in the Bronx.”

“Never been.”

“I trust her opinion. She seems to know what she’s talking about.”

“That she does,” Steve smiled back.

“What are you doing here though?” you inquired, switching gears.

“I need another set of batteries for one of my weapons.”

“You couldn’t go to the store?” you asked confused.

Steve chuckled, throwing you an amused look. “No, they’re special batteries.”

“Oh…”

Steve immediately noticed your embarrassment and he quickly said, “Not like you would know that. That’s something I would think too. But the batteries are special. What you said was logical.”

Logical. Not an adjective you heard attributed to you often. Maybe never.

The elevator door opened, and you hesitated seeing the men standing guard outside it but Steve strode out, unperturbed by them. You followed him, catching up to his long strides.

“Why did you want to come down here though besides Tony taking too long?” Steve asked, eyeing you curiously as the pair of you walked.

“One, I was bored as you can imagine, waiting for him to finish whatever he was doing. And two, Tony didn’t let me see anything except his office or the boardroom since I’ve been here. Said it wasn’t important for me to see it. But I want to.”

“Hmm,” Steve said shooting you a look. “You think you should be down here then?”

“I don’t see why not. I can keep secrets well enough if that’s what everyone is worried about.”

Steve’s lips curled into a soft smile at that, his eyes running over you.

You were taking in all the people working, the technology they were using. It was like the garage back home where Tony worked but far, far more busy. It was a little overwhelming.

Steve was nodding at random people who greeted him in awe. He came to a stop in front of someone though standing behind a desk.

She looked up and smiled, recognizing him on sight. “That was quick, Cap.” He eyes turned to you and she faltered, “And…”

“Y/N. Tony’s wife,” Steve introduced you.

“Oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t recognize you,” she apologized immediately. You took note that her bade said her name was Eva.

“How could you have? I’ve never been down here before,” you said, giving her a small reassuring smile.

She relaxed at your calm demeanor and turned to grab something off the desk behind her. Handing it to Steve, she told him, “So, there’s backups in there too so you don’t need to make another trip so soon.”

“Nice, that’s thoughtful. Thank you,” Steve commented.

“You’re going to want to update your system though. I’ll send you a link to do so on the secure network,” Eva went on explaining.

“Alright, I’ll figure it out.” Steve looked at you and said sheepishly, “Tech isn’t my strong point. I have gotten better though, so there’s hope.”

“I can’t keep up with Tony sometimes and I’ve been around technology my whole life. I mean, my whole house is a giant computer essentially,” you responded. “Could not even begin to explain to you how it works.”

“It’s complicated but it’s helpful right?” Eva asked lightheartedly. You nodded and she said, “I’ll be the first to admit I wouldn’t be able to keep up with how Mr. Stark talks about tech either. Could not even begin to fathom how his brain works. I swear he’s not speaking English sometimes when he’s giving presentations.”

You snorted, as did Steve. “I can attest to that,” Steve agreed. “I just let him lead when it comes to this type of stuff.”

You could relate to that. You let Tony lead in pretty much every facet.

“Same. It’s just easier to stand behind him,” you said. Steve’s brow creased at your comment and you suddenly felt uncomfortable. Trying to draw attention away from it, you gestured at the box. “May I?”

“Oh, yeah,” Steve said, handing it over to you.

You opened the box and touched the odd shaped metal. “Definitely doesn’t look like normal batteries.”

“Nope,” Eva agreed.

Steve was looking at you with purpose when you handed the box back to him. His gaze slid to Eva and he asked, “Do you have some time?”

“For what, Mr. Rogers?”

“A small tour. Mrs. Stark hasn’t been able to see around the building because Tony has been busy, and a little explanation of some things down here might scratch her itch?” Steve looked at you for approval. “I mean, if you want that, of course.”

Excitement flared up and you nodded, “Yeah. I probably have time. Especially if there’s things to look at that won’t put me in a ‘we can show you but then we will have to kill you’ type of spot.”

Eva laughed at that. “There’s some of that available, yes.” She gestured past the desk behind her. “Shall we?”

Steve held out his arm to you and you took it appreciatively.

Eva started at a microchip, explaining it had the startings of being able to upload a personality to a robot to mimic a sentient being.

“So, like Vision?” you asked.

“Yes. Like Vision. But definitely nowhere near as advanced or powerful as he is. This is… it would be like a bodyguard for example?”

“A nanny for the baby when you need a break?” Steve joked quietly into your ear. You looked at him perplexed at the admission he knew and his smile fell. “Sorry, I didn’t mean—Tony told the team. I’m sorry if it was still supposed to be a secret?”

You waved it off quickly. “It’s fine. It’s you guys he told. You’re not nobodies.”

Though you did dislike that Tony was being so free with the information. You were only about two months along. He was getting too excited about it too soon whereas you were worried, your pessimism getting the better of you.

“And I’m sure I’ll need a break,” you joked back to Steve and he relaxed as the two of you followed Eva, her pointing things out that she could share.

You were so engrossed in what she was saying you only saw Tony’s reflection in the glass wall behind her at the last second.

You turned your head quickly and said innocently, “You’re done upstairs, then?”

“Rogers,” Tony said tightly, his eyes shooting to your arms intertwined before snapping back to Steve’s face. He looked very suspicious; you knew that look. Jealousy.

“Tony,” Steve returned, and he gracefully let your arm fall. He held up the box, “Thanks for the battery replacement. And the reminder to come grab it. I definitely would have forgotten without it.”

Tony by stepped his last comments. “Can I speak to you for a moment?”

“Sure,” Steve said, tossing Eva a look. He held up the box to her now and said, “Thanks for being so prompt with this. It was helpful. And thanks for the walk.”

<><><>

When they were out of earshot, Tony told him firmly in hushed tones, “I’m not sure why you thought it was appropriate but don’t bring Y/N down here in the future.”

“Sorry, I didn’t know she wasn’t allowed until we were already down here,” Steve said and he saw Tony frown deeply. “She did say you didn’t wanna show her around the building after we came down here and I did ask if she thought she should be down here at all. Figured to just keep her close until we went back upstairs.”

“No, she shouldn’t be down here. I don’t want her knowing anything. Puts her at risk, knowledge. Kidnappings and whatnot.”

“I think being married to you, Tony, is what puts her at risk for that.”

Tony’s closed lipped smile did not reach his eyes; he was not amused with Steve’s quip.

“Regardless, for the future, don’t let the curiosity kill the cat. She’s better off naïve about it. Even if she’s learning on the arm of America’s golden boy.”

Silence ate away at the two of them for a few moments before Steve shrugged, relenting. He said stoically, “Understood.”

“Good,” Tony clipped. “Now if you’ll excuse me, my wife and I have lunch plans and I fear I’ve kept her waiting for far too long.”

Steve shook his head as soon as Tony brushed past him, leaving him by the elevator.

<><><>

You had thanked Eva before telling her she should probably go back to work now that the boss was in the room. She picked up on your joke but did it all the same. You paced slowly, watching carefully as Tony spoke with Steve. They were both tense and you sighed, knowing he was likely cursing Steve for assisting you down here. He really did not want you to know anything about most of his work whether it be here or out on the streets or in the political arena.

He came back to you and you gave him a smile, that he did not return.

“What were you doing down here?” he asked tightly, his hand coming to the small of your back and directing you back towards the elevator where he had left Steve who had already gone back up.

“Looking around,” you told him. “I was bored.”

“Do you not remember me telling you to not go poking around?”

“Yes, but I was curious.”

“It would make me happy if you would listen to me,” Tony said, nodding at one of his workers as he passed. “Don’t you wanna make me happy, kitten?”

“85 percent of the time,” you quipped, trying to get him to smile. But he still did not and your own slowly melted away as he responded.

“I think that sounds about right.”

There was something off about him, but you could not figure out what. You elected to stay quiet the rest of the stride to the elevator. He pressed the button to the elevator to come back down, his fingers on his other hand drawing lazy circles on the small of your back. Every so often though, his fingers dug in slightly and you did your best to not flinch away.

~~~

Forever tags: @coconutqueen21, @undecidedsworld

Fic tags: @kvzctam @farihafangirls, @teenageregression @mrsnegan25 @lilacs-lavender @agustdowney @kind-of-crazy-butthatsokay @emmariexx

[youarejesting]

Washout.8

Banners: @purpleskies1999 Pairings: Dolphintrainer!Taehyung x SharkDiver!Jin,  Mer!Jimin x Reader, Scientist!Namjoon x MerKing!Jungkook, Mer!Yoongi x Mer!Hoseok. Rating: 16+ Genre: Mystery, Romance, Comedy, Drama, Fantasy, little bit of Action, Slice of life, Enemies2Lovers, Friends2lovers, Social media au, Fake Texts, Fake Subs.

Summary: Taehyung and his best friend Y/N are Dolphin trainers at Wash Out; Marine Wildlife and Theme Park. When the nerdy marine biologist and resident veterinarian Doctor Kim Namjoon goes missing; the two friends form a ragtag team with Taehyung’s rival Seokjin and a…. Fish?

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Taehyung finished up his work and headed to the shark tanks to speak with Seokjin. What he didn’t expect was him to step out of the locker room, his dry clothes sticking to his body and hair still dripping like he hadn’t tried to dry himself at all.

Taehyung went to wave weakly and was barged by a damp shoulder. The loss of Namjoon was truly taking a toll on Seokjin and the poor guy needed a break from work to actually grieve for his friend. He was bottling everything up and it wasn’t healthy.

Pushing on Taehyung thought perhaps it would be a good idea to check up on you and the fish-man. He wanted to make sure you were okay and not doing anything that could get you killed.

Taehyung arrived and waved at you and you waved back, he noticed the young merman look at his hand and shake it to himself. Taehyung waved to him with a soft smile and watched his hand lower to a fist and he swam away.

“Are you making fun of my new friend?” You square your shoulders, even though you weren’t as tall as Taehyung you were ready to fight to protect this new friendship. He found it admirable, you had always been like this. Any creatures who couldn’t speak for themselves always had you protecting them.

“How are things going with ol’ fish tail?” Taehyung laughed as he got closer leaning over you and watching the merman circle the tank craning his neck to keep you in his sights. He seemed to be monitoring the interactions between the two of you.

“Don’t call him that, it’s not his name!” You scolded, slapping his arm and the two of you were jokingly slapping each other and the merman swam closer looking down imposingly at Taehyung. 

“He likes you, all the animals do, what is your secret?” Taehyung accused, poking you once more and sitting on your desk swinging his legs. “Has he tried anything?”

“Taehyung, get out and go home.” You pushed him off the table and he stumbled aside. “Oh but if you can swing by my house and grab me some clothes and things that would be lovely. I will give you my key and send you a list via text.”

“Get to bed early, don't let that fish keep you awake, with that six pack of his.” Taehyung wiggled his eyebrows at his suggestive comment and you frowned.

“I am more worried about Dolly going into labour at any minute and having to figure everything out by myself. I tried reading over Namjoon’s work, with him not here…” Your voice trailed off.

After consoling you and assuring you were the best choice after Namjoon and that he checked his watch. “I have to hurry if I am taking the bus.”

The bus arrived at your house after twenty minutes. Taehyung had been to your apartment multiple times. So it wasn’t a shock to him that you had almost no furniture. You were a minimalist. Preferring clean and clutter free. You had appliances sure, but no sofa, only bean bags, a small table with only two chairs. To any newcomers it looked almost like the place had been robbed or was frequented by squatters.

He packed a bunch of your swimsuits, giggling when he grabbed the more alluring styles. You would definitely win the fish over in these. He made sure to conveniently forget shirts and pack only the shortest of shorts. He wanted you to have more confidence in your body.

Packing your bag with a few random items, your favourite sketchbook, pencils and snacks, Taehyung headed back to the amusement park. He walked past the security guard smiling and commenting about the long evening ahead.

He weaved past park cleaners and more security on patrol and arrived at the old marine clinic warehouse and saw you dancing to some music while making some ramen. He placed the bag down and smiled, waving at the merman, placing the keys down on the desk silently before sneaking up on you. 

It seemed like the fish didn’t like this. He was banging his fists on the glass which didn’t get your attention. Taehyung was able to poke your sides with a loud ‘Boo!’. You shrieked eyes filled with fear searching the surroundings for any sign of a threat. Until they landed on Taehyung where they narrowed and a pair of chopsticks collided and bounced off his head.

“What the hell do you think you are doing?” you shouted clutching your heart, Taehyung thought it was funny watching you jump.

“Go shower while your water boils, I know how to cook Ramen.” He gestured to the bag on the table and watched you rush off. Over your shoulder he saw Jimin glaring directly at him but softening his expression when you gave him a hand sign of five fingers. He gave back a thumbs up awkwardly watching you until your figure was no longer in sight.

Taehyung spoke to you through the shower roof vent, “This fish really likes you, you should try getting in the tank again. He hasn’t stopped glaring at me since you left.”

“He isn’t glaring he just has a strong gaze” You defended, “I heard Seokjin called the office and asked for some time off, you should go check on him, he seems to be bottling up his emotions over the loss of Namjoon.”

“Yeah he doesn’t look like he is doing well.” Taehyung breathed, nodding, “I will give him the Taehyung break up special.”

“Yeah but he doesn’t like chocolate but he loves chocolate flavoured things or and he loves strawberries but doesn’t like strawberry flavoured things.” You shouted making Taehyung halt in his steps, your house keys jingling in his hand. “What he told us at the company dinner,”

Taehyung looked thoughtful for a moment and nodded, rushing off to catch the last bus. It took longer to cross the town but soon enough he had arrived at the door of Seokjin’s home. Hands full of bags, snacks and a soft plushy. The only one left in the convenience store was a Alpaca wearing a red bandana around its neck.

He took a deep breath and raised his fist to knock.

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[avengerscompound]

Until the End of the World - 9

Until the End of the World: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  1795

Rating:  E

Warnings: pregnancy, Anxiety

Synopsis: Four years after Steve and Bucky got to the bottom of the HYDRA conspiracy that had led to you and your son being hunted for the first three years of his life, you, Bucky, and Steve have carved out a nice life together.  Things are calm and you feel like a family unit.  When Geo starts calling Bucky and Steve ‘dad’, a decision is made to try and add to your family.

Things aren’t as calm as they seem.  When your pregnancy hits the papers, HYDRA rears its head once again, and Steve and Bucky need to track you down to protect the family they had created.

Chapter 9

There was something very comforting about how quickly things just fell back into a routine.  Yes, there was still a great deal of excitement about the baby.  Yes, there was morning sickness and check-ups to deal with.  Yes, you were under pressure to finish your thesis before things got so chaotic that you wouldn’t be able to.  Yes, you were doing all this while living in one of the guest apartments while most of your stuff was under plastic sheeting.

Even with all that, things felt calm and normal.  You had work and classes.  Geo had school and soccer and music lessons.  There were kids’ birthday parties and dinners with the Avengers as a group and just one or two at a time.  You had trips to the grocery store and the farmers’ markets, and meals to prepare.  You were living your very own version of a normal life - and as strange as it was, it did feel normal.  You were a family expecting a baby just like millions and millions of other people in the world right now.

That was why it caught you off guard when you realized you were being followed.  You were in your sixteenth week of pregnancy and clearly showing.  Your baby bump wasn’t enormous - you could move around freely and had quite a bit of energy, but it was definitely a pregnant belly.  Random old ladies would want to touch it and Bucky and Steve had taken to caressing it absentmindedly in bed or pressing their hands on it while you sat together in the hopes they might feel the baby kick even though it was still far too soon for that.

You were walking Geo to school when you became aware that something wasn’t quite right and your first instinct was to run.  You didn’t think you were ever going to get over that severe flight response you’d picked up when you were being hunted.  It was like your trauma had engrained it into your very DNA and whenever something felt off you would prick up like a rabbit checking for a predator, ready to flee at the smallest perceived threat.

You tried not to worry Geo as you drew him a little closer to you and you glanced around.  Almost immediately you relaxed again.  A man was taking your photo from the end of the street.  He was carrying a messenger bag and had a large, high power camera.  The fact he was only barely concealing his existence meant it was paparazzi.

You wouldn’t exactly say you were used to the paps.  They did bother you in groups from time to time.  Particularly if you went out with Steve or both Steve and Bucky.  They would gather around outside the Avengers tower entrance anytime something big happened hoping to get a photo of an Avenger and maybe a word for them to sell along with their photos.  There had been a few times when they’d gathered outside a restaurant you were eating at with Steve.   And on a couple of occasions, they had stalked you and Bucky at the farmers’ markets.  Generally, they were oddly not great at recognizing either Bucky or Steve when they weren’t in uniform.  It was like the stars and stripes distracted everyone’s attention from the face or something.  They also never bothered you when you were by yourself.  It was news you were dating Steve Rogers.  It was big news that you might potentially be dating both Steve Rogers and James Barnes.  You were used to getting little google pings where gossip columnists would speculate about who you were and what your relationship was to Bucky and Steve.

By yourself, there was no news to sell.  By yourself, you were just some nobody with their kid going about their boring everyday life.  The news crews and paparazzi that flocked around the doors of the tower would let you pass unharassed.  So seeing one following you from the tower when it was just you and Geo was a bit of a shock.

Still, they were not a threat to your physical safety.  Just your privacy.  You figured that this one had noticed the baby bump and wanted to get some clear photos of it so they could sell it and someone like Perez Hilton or J. Jonah Jameson could speculate about whose baby it was and rant about the way of the world that ‘The’ Captain America might possibly knock up some woman out of wedlock.

You got Geo to the gates of his school and went in and signed him in electronically.  The school he attended was selected because of their security.  No child went home with anyone that had not been verified as a designated pick-up.  Geo also quite liked the security system and liked to talk to it, so that was an added bonus.

The paparazzi followed you closer on your way home and called out to you asking about the baby.  You did your best to ignore them though you couldn’t pretend it didn’t make you feel uneasy.  Part of it was just that having been on the run from some secret organization that wanted to experiment on you and your son had made you value privacy about all others.  Anyone putting your picture out into the world was enough reason to run.  Adding a complete stranger following you to that, your stress levels were through the roof, and by the time you got back to the tower, your heart was hammering thanks to the adrenaline surging through you.

You got into the elevator and sunk back against the wall.  “FRIDAY, can you take me to Steve?  Make sure you warn him that I’m coming.”

“Of course, miss,” she replied.  “He’s currently talking to Mister Wilson, but I’ll make sure he knows you are agitated.”

The elevator stopped at the office level and you went straight to Steve’s office.  It had big tinted glass walls so you could see him talking to Sam even before you got there.  When you knocked on the door they both looked at you with concern.

“I’ll leave you to it,” Sam said.  “And I’ll send you that intel.”

“Thanks, Sam,” Steve said, walking the other man out.  Steve must have been able to see how stressed you were because he pulled you into his arms as soon as he reached you, and just held you close as Sam left.  “What is it, sweetheart?  Did something happen?  I thought you were going into college today.”

“I was,” you said, melting into him and letting him support your weight.  “There was a guy following me…”

Steve held you out at arm’s length and looked you over.  “What?”  He asked.  “Did you get a good look at them?  Is Geo okay?  Where is he?”

“It’s okay,” you assured him, rubbing his arms.  “It was just a pap.  But they don’t normally follow me when I’m on my own, and it didn’t feel good.  Too many bad memories of my past.”

Steve relaxed and hugged you again in soothing circles.  “Because you’re pregnant?”

“I think so,” you said with a nod.  “I guess we’ll find out soon enough.”  You shook your head a little.  “I know that this is just one of those things I have to deal with because I am with you - and I don’t blame you for it.  It’s not like you signed up for the army to invite the vultures in to pick apart your life.  You just want to make the world safer.  And for me specifically, you have done so much to ensure that.  But I didn’t like how it made me feel.”

Steve nodded.  “I am sorry, sweetheart.”

You nosed at his neck.  “There’s nothing to be sorry for.  I just… Is there anything we can do to minimize it?  Make it unlikely it will happen again?  Or at least make it so I’m not alone when it does.  I don’t like the idea of going back to a full security detail, but…”

Steve shook his head and pulled away from you.  “No, I totally understand,” he said going over to his computer.  “I’ll get you a driver.  They can take you to and from Geo’s school and college.  That way you’re going out through the garage and the cars have tinted windows so they won’t see who you are.  It should be a safer way to go shopping too.  They don’t tend to follow the cars.  The payoff is too erratic because half the time it’s just our agents or they end up going somewhere with parking and losing sight of them.  If you do want to take a walk you can always just take me or Bucky.  And if that doesn’t work we’ll amp up security again.

You moved over to him as he tapped away on the computer and sat down in his lap.  He looked up at you and smiled.  “Thank you for this,” you said.  “I know I’m being stupid.”

“No, you aren’t,” Steve assured you.  “Even if it was just a case of something harmless triggering your past, that’s not being stupid.  I hate when cameras have their flash on.  It gives me flashbacks to the war every time, and it’s one of the only times I feel truly vulnerable because the dissonance between that immediate danger that I feel and the safety of where I am -” he shook his head “- I want to fight and know there’s nothing to fight.  But those people who do that job, they aren’t harmless.  They predate on people.  They have caused the death of people.  Tony’s house ended up blown up because they stalked him while someone was sending him threats.  What they do is not okay, and you not wanting to be alone around them is normal.”

You sighed and kissed him gently.  “I love you so much, you know that?”

He smiled up at you.  “I love you too, sweetheart.”  He rubbed your hip as he looked up into your eyes.  “I had better go back to work.  Did you want to go to school?  I can get someone to drive you in.”

You shook your head.  “No.  I think I’ll just work from home.�� Can you have someone ready to do Geo’s pick up with me though?”

“Of course,” he said.  “I might even come down with you, just to make sure the plan works.”

You smiled and pecked his lips, before standing up.  “Thank you, honey.”

“No need to thank me,” he said.  “Keeping you and Geo safe is my top priority.”

You headed out, much more relaxed than when you arrived, and once again filled with a mixture of love and gratitude for the men who you had accepted in your life.

// NEXT

[huearmy]

Life is Beautiful - I

Summary: You are a glass half full person, your life motto is "Life is too short to... Insert something and anything here". During your whole life you wanted something more, and even not knowing what it is, you put yourself to find out and get it, experiencing everything  brilliant that the world offers - within the measure of what is safe, of course. The curious thing is that your way of living ended up rousing  the interest of two vampires. One who sees beauty in everything and  loves to exist, currently working with suicide prevention; and another one who no longer sees grace in things, in that boring immortality that never ends, and only complains about the Netflix catalog all the time.

Pairing: Jimin x reader / Taehyung x reader.

Genre: fluff, angst, future smut (very soft, ok?)...

Words:  7509.

Rating: +18

Warnings: As much as my writing is soft and light, and as these are not the main topic of the story, treated in a non-descriptive way, there are sensitive themes from the beginning of the first chapter to the end of the fic that can trigger sensitive people, like depression, suicide, addictions in general - Jimin literally works at a suicide prevention center here. SO PLEASE! Read responsibly, my intention when dealing with topics like this is always 1) dealing with them in myself, as a way of putting out part of my own healing process 2) generating identification in other people, so they can go through the difficult time a little less alone. THIS IS A STORY THAT SEES THE WORLD WITH POSITIVITY.

Chapter II Chapter III .

After some centuries of not living, all vampires go through a kind of midlife crisis in which everything loses its grace and eternity becomes endless boredom. Nothing new happens, humans are born, sometimes they are relevant to world history, they become vampire food or they die dull. Vampires do not need to sleep or use the bathroom, nor to feed more than once a month, so the days are long, and often lonely, which leads many of them to stand still without moving, looking at nothing until their thirst quits, forcing them to go after a pulsating neck. Many go through this phase as serial killers, with killing as their only source of pleasure, others prefer to hibernate in some dark place or tomb, because false death is more interesting than false life. Some never get past the phase.

Jimin is not like that. With almost a thousand years of existence he is totally in love with life. Every day when the sun rises and the sunlight forces him to stay indoors so as not to burst into flames, he spends his hours with a smile on his face, engaging in small banal hobbies, such as gardening or online courses at distance - after almost a decade of doing this, Jimin already has fifty-two certificates in different areas, and he is pretty pride of it. When night comes and he can go out and see the world it’s even more interesting, because humans ’nightlife isn’t as hectic as daytime, so those who live in those dark hours are different. There are those who do wrong things and commit crimes, those who have double lives or who keep secrets, there are people working to protect and save, like doctors and police, there are night guards and twenty-four hours convenience store attendants, groups of friends who spend the night partying until dawn, and those who feel lonely in their empty apartments unable to sleep... And this is the part that he likes the most: people.

He likes to meet random people in the empty metro, buy a drink for a girl who doesn't take her eyes off him and then dance with her, strike up a conversation with a homeless man under a marquee because he knows the guy must be lonely. Watching and learning about other lives keeps him alive, more than the blood he needs to drink.

He likes to get temporary jobs to have some human experience. He has worked in pizzerias, both in the kitchen - he was not very good, so he was put in the dishwasher - both in deliveries, and at a gas station, as a hotel receptionist... But now it looks like he found a job he wants to stay in, so much that it has been a year and he has not yet resigned. Perhaps Jimin has found his calling.

"It's okay... You are not alone, I'm here and I'll stay until you feel good again." He said with his sweet, angelical voice. "Can you get away from the sharp objects? Please?"

The voice on the other end of the line sounded like just a choked whisper, before the answer came, fast, heavy breathing filled the air.

"No... I can't..." The female sobbed.

"Can you tell me why?" Jimin's voice was calm. "I... my legs are numb... I can't... stand up." Her breathing was erratic and desperate.

"Are you hurt? Do you need an ambulance to be sent to you?" He used his most reassuring voice possible.

"No!" She started to cry even harder. "I don't want no one... to see me... like this." Jimin bite the inside of his cheek, thinking, maybe she just wasn't able to get up  because of the anxiety attack, but she also didn't say she wasn't hurt.

Regardless of the case, he needed to make the girl trust him in order to help her.

"What is your name?" He smiled, hopping she would listen to it in his voice. "... Ana" She whispered. "Nice to meet you, Ana. Do you remember my name? I told you at the beginning of the call."

One moment of silence.

"Jimin." She said with little certainty.

"Exactly, good job. Hi, Ana." "Hi, Jimin." Despite the crying voice, she was no longer sobbing.

"Ana, can you recall the last thing you did that made you feel safe? Secure?" A sigh reached Jimin's ears. As he waited for an answer his hands moved over a sheet of paper, he was drawing a beautiful face of a girl with crayons, without paying much attention, but getting a beautiful result.

"No." She said at last.

"I know you can, Ana. No need to rush. Breath." She thought some more, taking a deep breath and letting it out slowly. Almost a full minute passed, the two of them silent on the call. Jimin did not press for an answer.

"I was watching Friends... with my cat." "Your cat?" Jimin smiled more spontaneously now, noticing in her voice an oscillation of affection when saying the word cat. "Talk more about your cat."

"His name is Sushi, he's fat, full of himself, and loving. He likes children, food and sleeping. I recently bought him a cute collar, it looks like a pink bow tie." She almost laughed.

"Wow...He is a lucky cat." Suddenly she started to cry again, sobbing so hard that Jimin hardly understood what she was saying.

"He ran away and hasn't come back yet... He's never been away from home  so long... He's all I have, there's no one else... I don't want to live... alone." "Is it just you and Sushi?" Jimin spoke more forcefully for her to hear over the sobs.

"Yes." She choked. "I can't get up... It hurts so much. I'm so-sorry..."

"Ana, do you need an ambulance to be sent to you?" He tried again. Silence.

"Yes." "So I will stay with you until they come to help you. You are not alone."

Jimin was a vampire in love with live, eager to live each day as if it were the most precious gift, so working in the Center of Valuing Life and Preventing Suicide was perfect. He considers himself an expert in convincing anyone that life is beautiful when he has the opportunity to say everything he thinks about. And not letting people feel alone is one of his favorite hobbies.

After all, eternity can be quite lonely, he knows how it is.

________________________________________________________________

That call is over. Jimin was searching for missing cat posts on social media. In the silent office room it was just him and three other people working, each at their separated personal table. Perhaps due to the nature of the work, or due to the late hours of the night, nobody spoke loudly or made a lot of noise when doing things, even when talking to each other, everything is always very restrained, calm.

Jimin's eyes followed the clock hands on the wall above the door. It was almost one in the morning, actually, to be exact, twelve minutes to go, so in two minutes, you would punctually enter that door with your heavy backpack full of books, of someone who just left college on the other side of the city, and after stopping at a twenty-four hours fast food to get a well-deserved burger spent an hour on a subway trip. He could already hear your footsteps down the hall, the characteristic sound of the rubber on the soles of your boots and your bunch of keys stuck in the handle of your backpack tinkling. He heard you putting your stuff in your closet and hanging your coat on the rack in the next room, and a smile formed on Jimin's face. When the hand on the clock struck ten to one and you opened the door trying not to make any noise so as not to disturb anyone's call, Jimin pretended not to notice you entering, not taking his eyes off the computer screen full of images of cute cats. You straightened up and held firmly the pair of coffee cups in your hands till the knots turned white, looking straight at him - in fact, from the moment you walked through the door you were already expecting to see Jimin sitting at his table, as always, and since then you haven't looked away. Walking in light steps - that he could hear by the way - to him who had his back to you, you tried to control the butterflies in your stomach, happy he wasn't in a call right now.

"Jimin?" You called softly, close to his ear, but not that close. Yet. Jimin contained a smile and turned around as if you had taken him by surprise. "Hey, Y/N, didn't see you there". As usual, his direct look made your heart race and you gave a nervous laugh before getting along with his flirty tone. "I bought you coffee." You handed him one of the cups. "To take the night shift a little better."

"Thanks, sweetheart."

You are the other reason Jimin didn't quit this job yet. A few weeks ago, when he was working long enough to decide to leave and go for the next adventure, you started working at the night shift, and right away you caught Jimin's attention, even though at first you didn't talk with him that much - in fact you only talked to the women on the team, and avoided the men. More than once he found himself paying attention to your emergency calls, how you talk, being positive without being suffocating for those in pain ... how you love life. After a while you started doing the same thing, a little less easily, since you don't have a vampire audition, but it was enough for you to acquire a platonic crush on Jimin, which resulted in you opening up, and you two start talking here and there. Now almost whenever you have time or money left over - college life is poor life - you bring him coffee. Jimin doesn't actually drink coffee at all, and he doesn't feel sleepy either, but he thinks it's cute that you worry for him. You see each other three to four times a week, depending on the schedule of work, and he is always eager to see you. Flirting is exciting, and he hasn't done that in a while... Like two centuries, and how it was done back there was quite different. Other times indeed.

"Did you lose your cat?" You asked, confused.

"Oh, no, I didn't." He closed the page with the photo of a white and gray cat wearing a pink bow tie.. "One friend of mine lost her cat, Sushi." "Poor thing. I hope she finds Sushi soon..." You slightly pouted.

"Me too. I'll help her." Jimin said, and the butterflies in your stomach thought it was beautiful.

Something on his desk caught your attention, a colorful draw of said cat made with crayon. Before Jimin could stop you - he was distracted by hearing your heart beat faster because of him - you picked up the stack of papers to get a closer look.

"And you drew him! How beautiful... I didn't know you were so talented." "Thank you. My friend who taught me, he is much better than me..." Jimin simply answered.

You moved on to the next sheet, where another sketch of the cat in different colors made your eyes shine. "So he must be awesome. Look at this!" Jimin was happy to be praised by you, the pink of your cheeks when speaking was a beautiful sign for him, but then he remembered what was the next drawing in your hands, and before you could see it, he cleared his throat and took them back, keeping them in the drawer. It was a drawing of a girl's pretty face. Your face. "They are not quite ready yet..." He pretended modesty.

"Oh, sorry. If you need help, just tell me. I can hang up posters or something. About finding the lost cat, I mean." You volunteered, and then looked around. "I better get to work before someone scolds me."

You went to your desk, across his, and your eyes met a few more times before as you sat down and turned on your computer. Jimin's phone rang and he forced himself to look away from your face, someone else needed him now. "Good night, my name is Jimin and you called the Life Valuation Center. Can I help?" He spoke, his voice welcome and full of affection. ________________________________________________________________

Jimin's shift ends before yours, just before three in the morning he puts things away and leaves the table ready for the person who will use the next shift, but he won't leave, even if everyone thinks so. Instead he goes to the roof to look at the stars and wait for you to leave - not that you know he is waiting for you. He was listening to a random playlist on spotify, stretching his body to the beat just because it feels good, thinking about nothing specific, just existing and feeling good about it.

The night breeze brought his scent to him, looking down from the parapet, he could see you leaving the building, with your scarf well wrapped around your neck, covering half of your face to protect you from the cold air. He doesn't understand you... It's beautiful that you want to help people who are going through a difficult time, and you've commented before that the night shift matches your other schedules, and that you like to stay up at night. However, he thinks you should consider it's not worth it. It's so late and empty when you go home, it's dangerous for a human woman, and as much as he knows that you have a pocketknife in your pocket, Jimin thinks it's silly of you. Usually he wouldn't think much about it, but it's you, and he is fond of you, he can't just do nothing about it. So even if you don't know it, he accompanies you home every night to make sure you are safe. He is only satisfied and goes home when he hears you enter your room. Sometimes he stays a little longer, sitting on the emergency stairs outside your building, listening to you walking up and down in your room, doing whatever, instead of going to sleep soon.

That's kind of creepy. He knows. But he is a vampire, he is already creepy in essence. But of course he would never watch you sleep, for exemple, this is a stalker limit that he does not intend to cross.

"Okay." He sighed as he heard you getting into bed. "I have one hour and a half before the sun rises... Let's find that cat." __________________________________________

You were awake for a couple of hours already, currently packing your books at the end of a lecture, really needing sugar to feel prepared before the last class of the day, and excited that instead of going to the study group you are a part of, you will take an experimental dance class and it's your day off, which means that instead of staying up until dawn working, you can stay up until dawn studying, and maybe sleep a little earlier. Life is too short to not take all the free trial classes available just because your schedule is already full and totally demanding. Anyways you are dead tired, wishing your body doesn't need to sleep... Since you started to work on the Life Valuation Center all your sleeping schedule went down the drain. At first your plan was to work the night shift only at the beginning, and then change your hours, but for some reason you always liked to stay up all night, also the movement of calls in this period is bigger and more specific, which helps in your internship report, and of course, in the day shift there is no Jimin... You've settled in, and now after months of this crazy, fickle routine, your body is feeling the side effects.

"Three of this rainbow donuts please." You asked at the college cafe. One because you want, two because one is not enough, three because you are greedy. Life is too short not to overeat your current favorite sugar source. You sigh to yourself, taking a seat along your friends. Your mantra for life is life is too short to...insert anything here, experimenting and doing things that you never imagined before and that your mother probably wouldn't approve a hundred percent is what moves you. Basically nothing scares you, since childhood you were courageous and fearless. You subject yourself to almost anything, within the measures of what is safe, to have good stories to tell. The world is too big to be content with just having good grades to graduate and have a good job. What you want is much more... so much more that you don't even know what... But it’s not just because you don’t know yet that you’ll stand still without going after it to find out.

"Hey, Y/N, what are you gonna do on the weekend?" Your friend, Becca, asked comfortably within her girlfriend's embrace. As usual, whenever you see the two of them together being all lovey dovey, you feel a twinge of pride in your heart, because you were responsible for them to start dating in the first place. Although your romantic life is not very interesting, without serious or successful relationships, you are a great cupid.

"For the very first time in months... I don't know. I didn't plan anything, maybe something will show up, if not I'm just going to sleep. Why?" You smiled your happy smile of eating what you like.

"Pool party. You need to get a tan, you look like a vampire with that pale, tired face of yours."

You laughed because it's true, since you started changing the day for the night, your skin has acquired a not healthy tone that you are not used to. You've been missing the sun a little.

"First of all, I'm too cute to be a vampire. Second, yeah I'll think about it, I have a new bikini I haven't worn yet that makes my breasts look stunning." One of your friends that was sitting by your side put his arm over your shoulder. "I changed my mind, I'm going to this party." He loudly said. The girls in the group didn't laugh at all. "Shut up, Mike." You playfully pushed him. ________________________________________________________________

This was the second night that Jimin was looking for the cat, Sushi. It was not difficult to find out the address of it’s owner, since he had to activate an ambulance for her, and with that he started looking for the animal in her neighborhood. Passing through the empty streets at night after his work shift, he could see the girl's tracks leaving "missing" posters with a picture of a kitten wearing a pink bow tie, on lampposts and bus stops. At first Jimin thought it was going to be easy, with his keen vampire senses, but all he found were stray cats that weren't Sushi. The second night of searching was already ending, the sun was rising, threatening to make him explode into ashes if he didn't come home soon, and no clue as to where to look the next night he had.

Before getting into the car and driving home, Jimin took one last look at the slightly open curtains in the girl's room, Ana, just to make sure she was okay. She had been discharged from the hospital that afternoon and was now sleeping on the couch, probably medicated. Jimin didn't want to leave her alone, but he couldn't just walk into her apartment and offer help, for now all he could do was find a way to find the cat. ________________________________________________________________ Jimin lives in an old pretty house in the wealthiest part of the city, it isn't a mansion, but it is big and expensive enough to impress anyone who sees it, privileges of centuries of saved money. It's a cliché, but vampires dress in designer clothes, ride luxury cars and live in expensive mansions, houses, apartments, and Jimin is no exception.

From one of the main rooms, behind a heavy curtain, hidden in the gloom, was another vampire, watching the street with intent, expressionless eyes. When Jimin's car turned the corner and up the wide street lined with huge trees, the vampire got uneasy, his beautiful restless hands worrying the hem of his sleeves. He was anxious and angry, if his heart was still beating it would be racing. The garage door opened and the car entered, disappearing from view, in the next second the vampire was no longer in the room but in front of the door leading to the garage, waiting in the empty, dark hall. The knob turned the door slightly opened, Jimin with his head down did not seem to notice the presence of the other before being attacked.

"AH!" Jimin screamed as long arms embraced his neck. If it wasn't for the wall behind him he would have fallen, yet he had no escape, with a body much larger than his overpowering him. "Taehyungie!"

"You are late! Is the second day in a row you get home after sunrise! Are you trying to die?" Taehyung said, and didn't let Jimin go just yet. "It's okay. I was careful, I just had to do a few things before I came home. Look, there's not even smoke coming out of me." Jimin ran his hands over Tae's back, making him relax. The other stepped back a little, taking his face in his big hands.

"You could have sent a message. I asked you to let me know if you were going to be late again, Jiminie..." Tae pouted, still distressed. "And why do your clothes smell like garbage? Take it off."

Even feeling deprived of affection, Taehyung walked away looking disgusted, covering his nose with two fingers. Jimin obeyed, taking off his sneakers, jacket and jeans, following Taehyung through the corridor to the laundry room, where he put everything in a basket to wash later, and also exchanged the shirt for a clean one too. "I went into some alleys today, looking for a cat. That's why." Jimin explained, feeling much more comfortable in not smelling bad.

"And where's it? I don't think Tannie will like to share the house with a cat..." "Where is what?" Jimin was confused. Tae crossed his arms.

"The cat?"

"Oh no!" Jimin laughed, reaching for Tae to take him by the shoulders. "I wasn't looking for a cat to bring home, as much as I would love one as a pet... It's the cat of a girl I met, and is very sad to have lost it..."

"I got it..." Taehyung mumbled.

Jimin was just helping someone. Again. And Taehyung couldn't say exactly why it bothers him so much every time, but it does, he feels distressed, almost as if the world around him collapsed, and it makes him think he's being overdramatic. Live an eternity when you can't even put your feelings out in moments of frustration. Damn, it is conflicting... If vampires could cry, he would. But never that he would let Jimin discover that he feels that way.

It was Jimin's turn to take Tae's face in his little hands.

"You are so skinny. When was the last time you fed?" Taehyung didn't answer.

"You don't even remember, right?" Jimin's eyes went worried. "Did you see that I brought some O- packs for you? I left it in the fridge."

"No, I didn't." A shy smile spread across Tae's face. O- is his favorite blood type, but because it is a not so common type, and humans need transplantation, it's not always that Jimin brings it to him, usually opting for his second favorite flavor or other one available.

Jimin has been trying to cheer his friend up with little treats. It has been a difficult phase, in which he thinks Tae is going through the vampiric midlife crisis. He hasn't been out of the house for almost two decades and does nothing without a little external motivation, even the simplest things like eating. So Jimin tries to bring the best blood types to fill the fridge, signed all available streaming platforms, updates Taehyung's video game consoles as soon as a new model comes out, tries to get him interested in new hobbies - which never works but he doesn't give up - and he even adopted a puppy so that Tae would never be alone.

"Come." Jimin pulled him by the hand to their modern practically untouched kitchen, opened the fridge and picked two packs of blood, the dark liquid shining at the cold light. “In my room or yours?"

"Yours."

The two of them got to Jimin's room, followed by the sound of four paws scraping the polished wooden floor, Yeontan chasing them closely. Jimin pulled the covers off the clean bed, on which he rarely lies down, so they could get more comfortable. Tae laid on his back, against the pile of smooth pillows, carefully opening a packet of blood to not spill a single drop, and put a stainless steel straw in the opening. Jimin turned on the TV, put the dog in the bed, and cuddled Tae's side, with his head on his chest.

"What show have you been watching?" Jimin asked.

"None. I've been looking for something interesting in this shit for days and I can't find anything." Tae took a sip of his blood with a pout.

Jimin chuckled. "I'm choosing then."

A moment of silence followed, in which the only sound was of Tae drinking the rest of his first pack, and then opening another one.

"I think I need to shower..." Jimin commented.

Taehyung's arm that was around Jimin tightened. "Not now. Later." Jimin laughed, thinking it was cute. An idea crossed his mind, another small treat.

"Do you want to bath with me instead?" He looked up to Tae.

Tae hold tightened even more.

"Not now. Later. Now we cuddle."

As if agreeing, Yeontan climbed over the two vampires, finding a comfortable place to lie down and join the cuddle pile.

"Ok."

________________________________________________________________

Tonight you didn't have time to talk to Jimin when you arrived at work, he was on a call, and it seemed really serious. You didn't have the money to buy extra coffee even for yourself, so you hadn't an excuse to pass quietly by his desk to leave a post-it written "Hi :)". In those circumstances, you went straight to your desk to work, to do your best to be a good listener.

To your surprise, making your heart melt and your breath hold at the bottom of the throat, you saw at the top of your computer screen a post-it with a "Hi, sweetheart." written on it, and another one with a "Look in the fridge.". After working with him for that time, regularly doing some paperwork like filling out documentation and such things, you could say for sure that this was Jimin's handwriting, besides, only he calls you sweetheart.

You checked the clock on the wall with an eager look and a silly smile. As you always arrive ten minutes early, there was time to go to the break room quickly, and look inside the fridge before starting to work. And so you did. The break room was nothing more than a small table with a few chairs, a small couch, a sink, an old coffee machine, a microwave and the refrigerator, all in a tight space lit by white lights that leave the place a little impersonal. None of your co-workers were there, as usual. You crossed the small room to the fridge and opened it trying not to make a noise, more out of habit than necessity.

The interior was very empty, with some forgotten lunchboxes, but that didn't interest you. Your goal was right in the middle. A big cup of iced coffee, from a franchise that you don't usually buy from because you find it a little too expensive for your student budget, with your name written on a post-it on top of it.

"Y/N, I wanted to be me treating you today. Hope you like it."

That coffee was as cold as Jimin's fingertips when touching yours, but it warmed your heart. Sometimes you question yourself if it's healthy how head over heels you are for this guy, for so little.

Back at your desk, now with your iced coffee, you wrote a post-it and pasted it on the back of your computer screen, where Jimin could see it. "Thanks :)" Then you started to work. Other people needed you now. ________________________________________________________________ On your fifteen minutes break time, you were leaving the restroom, passing a moisturizing hand cream - because you swear that the soap in this place dries out your skin, and god forbid you from harsh hands -, the sound of the break room's door opening made you lift your eyes from the floor. It was Jimin. He don't take breaks, it's not like he needs it, he doesn't get tired, but he didn't get the chance to talk to you today yet, so as soon he saw you stretching in your chair, indicating that you would soon get up to go to the bathroom - yes, he learned your routine and mannerisms - he discreetly left the room to meet you by coincidence in the hall afterwards.

"Hi, Y/N. Did you like the coffee?" He charmly smiled at you, he was eager to ask it to you, to find out if he made the right choice of flavor, or if he made a bad mistake and you hated it - he couldn't help thinking about that possibility. Anyway, he was looking forward to your approval.

The truth is that you were so stunned by his caring that it didn't matter what the flavor was.

"Actually, yes. I love vanilla flavored things. It's basic but it makes me happy." You fixed your hair, pulling it behind your ears. Jimin could tell by your smile and your heated face that you aren't lying.

"Nice. I wanted to make you happy." He approached you, more than is suitable for the work environment, and it made you nervous, and of course he noticed. But it was okay, if someone came close he would hear and walk away before they could see you, too bad he couldn't tell you that.

"Mission completed successfully." You said, without looking away from his eyes - no matter how much part of you shouted at you to do it, your heart felt like it was going to explode. Well, your heart has a limit, so you changed the subject. "Did your friend find her cat?" Sadness took over Jimin's eyes.

"Unfortunately not. I've been looking for him for two days and nothing, I swear I think I've looked in every street, alley and trash can. I don't want to think like that, but I think Sushi is no longer with us." He sighed, clearly frustrated. You had the impulse to rub his forearms to comfort him, it was the very first time you really touched him. "If he is a cat that wasn't accustomed to getting out, and didn't know how to walk on the street, it is possible that something bad happened... But! He's a cat, if he used to go out often, he might have some other house, other owners, and that's why he hasn't come back yet." You optimistically said.

A smile spread in Jimin's face.

"That makes sense! She told me something like 'He's never been away from home for so long', there's hope then. And you also gave me an idea. Thank you, Y/N." He pulled you into a hug, and you thought you could die.

"You welcome." You said against his chest, deciding not to waste the opportunity to return the hug. ________________________________________________________________ The day was perfect for a vampire walk in the daytime. Cloudy and rainy. No deadly sunbeams and an excuse to use an umbrella without calling attention to it. After the tip you gave, Jimin looked in the right place after accompanying you home that night, and in less than an hour he was outside the window of two children's rooms, in a ground floor apartment, looking inside, and sleeping between the feet of one of the children was the cat, he wasn't with his bow tie but there was no mistake, Jimin was sure. Even without being able to enter - vampiric rules, you only can get in somebody's house if invited, or else you explode as if you were under sunlight - Jimin could smell cat all over the house, and the windows all had anti-escape screens, which indicated that it was a family of cat people.

Jimin would need to come back to pick the cat during the day, knock on the front door and politely ask. That's why heavy weather is perfect. With a dark couture coat, covering all from his neck to the back of his hands, to his knees, a design hat and sunglasses, and last but nos least, a big umbrella, he approached the lower middle class apartment complex. Without hesitation he raised his hand and knocked. Some seconds passed by, sound of kids running inside and a voice of a famale scolding them muffled by the closed door, and then a little girl, maybe six-year-old, appeared in Jimin's field of vision, her eyes sparkling as she looked at him. He was the most beautiful thing she had ever seen after all.

"Hello." Jimin smiled. "Are your parents home?"

She smiled at him, but shook her head negatively.

"Jo, who is it?" An older girl opened the door wider and faced Jimin with a frown that fell apart when she saw his smile. Great, a teenager, he thought. "What do you want?"

"Sorry to bother, I really wanted to talk to an adult, but..." Jimin lifted his phone, the screen showing Sushi's missed post. "I saw my friend's cat on your window."

The older girl narrowed her eyes as she looked at the photo, but before she could answer, the little girl she called Jo before ran away.

"No!" She screamed, disappearing inside the apartment, and then slamming a door somewhere.

"Sorry for that, please wait a minute." The teenager closed the door on his face, and he could hear her shouting and scolding the girl little inside. He was starting to lose his patience. Jimin doesn't like to be ignored at all. Should he knock again and use his mind control powers to get the cat? He was pondering the idea when the door opened again, the two girls were still loudly arguing inside, and this time it was a small boy who must be the middle sibling in front of him.

"Hi, grandma said to tell you to come in." He mumbled.

"So you are letting me get in your house?" Jimin asked with a satisfied grin.

"Yeah... follow me." The boy was avoiding eye contact, being shy. Jimin thought he was adorable.

Jimin followed the boy to a tiny living room, where an old woman was sitting in front of the TV. The girls were now silent, but clearly wanting to argue some more, and the small one was with Sushi in her arms. Jimin sighed, he likes children, a lot, even though he doesn't live with many, but he likes them even more when they're not having a tantrum.

"Hello. Please, take a seat." The old lady pointed to the old couch. The vampire obliged, and almost immediately a fat orange cat jumped into his lap. In this small room alone he could see three more of them. "So, why do you want to steal one of my babies?" Steal? Jimin was slightly offended, he already explained himself, but the chaotic situation created a misunderstanding. "I'm not here to steal nothing, ma'am." He showed his cellphone again. "One of your cats is Sushi, my friend's cat."

"That's not his name!" The little girl shouted tapping a foot on the floor in anger. Jimin just raised his eyebrows at her, making her swallow hard. But he is in control of the situation, so Jimin smiled to remain pleasant.

"Of course it is. Just watch, little one." He reached out to call the cat. "Come here, Sushi." Even though the cat didn't know Jimin to trust him - and these people don't need to know that - cats are creatures of the night, strongly attached to magic and protection in the dark hours, and in the hierarchy of the night they obeyed vampires. The only things that cats respect more than vampires are witches and their own owners whom they protect. As Jimin expected, Sushi jumped off the girl's tight hold and went over to him.

"Good boy. Ana is missing you like hell." Jimin scratched behind his ears. Before someone else could say anything, he proceeded. "When he got lost he was using a pink bow tie." The old lady was still with Jimin cellphone in her hand, and he could see she was convinced he know the cat, but wasn't intending on letting him leave with him yet.

"I'm seeing it in the post, but there was no tie when we got him." She replied. "You just didn't see it, ma'am." Jimin was tired of this conversation, it was being a lot less nice than he imagined on his way there. When he looked to the little girl to talk to her, his eyes were intense and powerful, and his voice was full of authority. "Go get the tie where you hid it, little one."

Mesmerized by Jimin's power, the girl didn't even blink or say anything as she obeyed, turned around and ran to one of the rooms. Jimin doesn't use hypnosis very often but he has fun every time. She got back with it and handed it to him.

"Thanks." He removed the effect and the little girl blinked a few times before understanding what happened.

The old lady was clearly angry with the girl, but it wasn't Jimin's business. "Well I think that's all. We are going now." Jimin got up from the couch.

"Wait!" The teenager snapped. "Jo lied about the bow to keep the cat, and that's bad, but she already loves him! You can't just take him away!"

Jimin was almost on the door.

"Of course I can. Besides, it's not because what she did is bad, young lady. It's because my friend loves him, actually this cat is Ana's family. No one should live alone, right?"

"Right!" The old lady got up too. "I'll get you to the door, tell our friend we are sorry."

"I will. Thank you." ________________________________________________________________

"You found the cat!" Tae sniffed the back of Jimin's neck. "Where is it?"

Jimin was putting the clothes he was using to wash, to remove the smell of cat and the places he passed by. And to get comfortable, as is his habit when he gets home, he just stayed in his underwear and t-shirt.

"I already gave him back to his owner." In the next second Jimin was dropping himself on the leather couch.

"And how was it? Did she thank you with tears in her eyes?" Tae leaned over the back of the sofa with his chin in his hands.

Jimin chuckled, Taehyung's thirst for drama is funny, and he's always been like that. And at least that doesn't seem to have changed...

"Well... She cried a lot when she found him in the window. She looked really happy!" Jimin sang. He was really happy too. He helped someone to find their smile again, even if it is a little bit, it made him really proud of himself, a warm feeling in his chest telling him it was the right thing to do, and that he should do it again if he gets the opportunity. Taehyung's expression changed, suddenly he was disinterested.

"You didn't even talk to her? Just left the cat there for her to find?"

"Well, yeah." Jimin threw his hair back. "I couldn't risk she recognizing my voice and thinking I was stalking her. Scaring her was not the goal, Tae, quite the contrary..."

Taehyung stared at him in silence for what felt a whole minute - maybe it really was, vampires perceive time differently. "You are not a secret superhero, Jimin. You are a vampire." Said that he got back to his room.

Jimin doesn't understand. These outbursts and mood swings leave him confused. And it's not like he hasn't already tried to talk. This... This he doesn't recognize in Taehyung. It hurt his feelings and at same time he feels it is partially his faut. "I can be both if I want to!" He exclaimed.

No answer. To find somebody who would be happy for him and understand the euphoria he felt for saving a little bit that girl he went through his contact list. A lot of vampire names - a lot is maybe an exaggeration, since he doesn't have many friends at all - who wouldn't be rude, but wouldn't understand, and also some former human colleagues from past jobs with whom he hasn't spoken in a long time and maybe should erase the number... And you. Of course you are the obvious choice. You had sympathy for the case from the beginning, even offered to help. And if it weren't for you he wouldn't have succeeded...

Jimin: hey sweetheart Jimin: I found sushi! Jimin: thanks to you btw He sent the messages, hoping it wouldn't be strange. It wasn't the first time you two texted before, but it was just an exchange of memes and silly flirt... without compromise talk. And what he wanted this time was different. You took too long to answer, and he wondered if you were in class and if he was bothering you. He wanted everything but to mess it up with you right now. Maybe he should've checked your class schedule for the week to make sure he texted you when he was sure you were free. But he was so eager to talk to someone... with you. He gave up waiting and went after doing something productive. Crochet dolls. He was doing a mini Taehyung, with red eyes and little cute fangs - an apology for later, neither of them like fighting with each other, even if you can't call that earlier thing a fight- when his cell phone started to crazily vibrate and beep.

You: OMG! You: thts amazing! You: sorry i didn't aswr before You: I was taking a nap hehe You: anyways You: i'm so happy u found him You: [image.jpg] You: ur friend must be even happier :) You: what do u mean thanx to me? You: sorry i spammed u :( Jimin can't handle you. You are too cute. You literally sent him a photo of you with an enormous smile, cheering, to show him your reaction. And you were with your hair all messed and the puffy face of someone who just woke up. Precious. Jimin: no problem, sweetheart Jimin: you said to look in other owners' houses. basically. I found him with a old cat lady with three grandchildren   Jimin: you are looking cute btw You: OwO You: i'm looking like shit Jimin You: BUT thats awesome You: if it was me id be crying til my eyes fall You weren't even there with him, in person, and you were putting a smile on his face. How dare you say you look like shit when you have those perfect cute cheeks? So alive...

Jimin: EXACTLY. that's why I wanted to find him so much. Jimin: and because you helped me, I want to reward you Jimin: i know you don't work today. me neither. do you want to go out for coffee in a nice place? You took too long to answer again, and that's because your heart is exploding and knees trembling while you stare at your cell phone screen, standing midway in your kitchen. You: u dont need to. i did nothing. This time Jimin took too long to answer. He was making a decision. To be more straightforward. More honest. Until now he was dictating a slow pace for your flirting, because for him romance is like that. But what if he tries to speed things up a bit? Or if he lets you command? How would things be?

Jimin: Y/N, respect my excuse to ask you out.

He knew what your answer would be. Even so, he felt anxious, hearing a non-existent heartbeat in his ear, while the three dots indicated that you were typing.

You: ok. what time do you come to pick me?

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[gothamsforgottenchildren]

The Forgotten Children Chapter 3

Zack

“Okay I get why you need to be here, but why did I have to come tonight?” Leigh Ann asks. She is tugging at the collar of her turtleneck like it is too tight or is uncomfortable. It’s a dark red sleeveless, turtleneck top, with built-in armor and has gold accents. It’s paired with a gladiator skirt, boots, and forearm guards. It’s a good thing we don’t have to worry about her getting cold.

I roll my eyes at the radiant girl. She’s been messing with her outfit since she put it on. That’s what she gets for wearing her new suit for the first time in the field.

“You’re here as backup so no one tries anything. Also, stop messing with that, you’re gonna stretch it out,” I say.

She groans, throwing her arm dramatically on the ground, “Do you honestly think anyone will show?”

I shrug, “It’s Gotham.”

She snorts, but nods. This causes her long brown hair to fall into her face. To anyone else, it would cause her features to be lost in a shadow, but for me, I can easily see the grin on her lips, and the fire in her dark brown eyes. Leigh Ann has always been easy to read if you can see her eyes. The light within them is currently dancing like flames in a bonfire, playful.

“Whatcha lookin at?” she asks me, pulling her hair up into a slick high ponytail.

“Just you,” I say. I know she won’t take it the wrong way. We’ve known each other too long for that to happen.

She shakes her head at me, “I love you but you’re a psychoanalyzing dork.”

She isn’t wrong, so I can’t really say anything. We sit in silence for a while, I’m just enjoying the warmth of her company. When I hear something from in the distance. It was footsteps, lots of them. “We’ve got company,” I warn her, standing up and moving into position.

I watch as she climbs off the roof of one of our warehouses by the sea pier in the Amusement Mile. She may not be as fluid as Kat, but she knows what she’s doing. By the time Penguin’s thugs show up, she’s waiting for them and I’m hidden in the shadows.

The Penguin not long ago was injured badly by the Red Hood, and ever since then, his gang has been wreaking havoc on everyone. They have no boss giving them orders, so they’ve turned into essentially a gang of anarchists. The main problem with that is they seem to think that we’re low enough on the totem pole to be a victim of their riots.

When they see Leigh Ann or as they know her, The Devil’s Flame, I see mixed reactions throughout the group. Some of them are scared, some notice that she’s by herself and gets excited, and some are angry. Ignatius Ogilvy steps to the front, he’s Penguin’s right hand within the gang.

He’s a white man with blonde hair. He’s dressed well for a guy who’s supposedly going to get his hands dirty. Honestly, I believe that he’s the boss who sits there and does nothing while his underlings do all the work. It’s going to get him killed one of these days.

I cock my head to focus my hearing on his heartbeat. It’s elevated. I can smell the fear rolling off of him. He’s nervous around Leigh Ann. Good, he should be.

She stands her ground. Her body is open and in a relaxed stance, but one she could quickly fight in. To be fair though, she doesn’t really have to move much to hurt people.

“This warehouse is under the protection of the Second Borns, you need to leave,” Leigh Ann says. She is looking Ignatius dead in the eye, waiting for his move.

I hear his heart rate spike as he debates what he is going to do. He lifts both hands in the air in the classic “I surrender” pose, but then he tilts his head, dropping his hands and shrugs. “It’s dangerous for a beautiful lady like yourself to be all alone in Gotham at night,” he says.

“I can handle myself just fine,” she says.

“We’ll see about that,” he says, before pointing a finger at her, yelling, “Get her!” Then I watch as all of his men storm at Leigh Ann or should I call her the Devil’s Flame because that’s who she truly is in moments like this. She is no longer the girl I know with kind eyes that have a dancing flame, she is now a roaring forest fire that only wants to burn everything in its path. Her entire body becomes alight. Her onyx-colored eyes are engulfed in flames along with the rest of her body. She is the human embodiment of destruction and she does it all with a smile on her face. I have to look away because looking at her is like staring at the sun, which is too much for my sensitive eyes. I hear the screams though. I’m sent here to protect her, as backup, but I’m rarely needed.

I make myself busy by watching the skyline. The entire area around me is illuminated by her power. It makes it harder for me to hide, but it also makes it harder for others. I notice movement in a window a ways away from us, in a building that should be abandoned. There’s a sniper in that room taking aim at Leigh Ann. Or at least trying to. It’s hard to aim at something so bright, I bet they didn’t think it was going to be here in charge of watching the docs. It’s normally just me. We’re currently trying to claim them for ourselves.

I take off anyway though. With one leap from the ground, I unfurl my wings, pushing them down to gain height from the ground. Now even though I am flying I still try to stick to the shadows the best I can. If they try to shoot at Leigh Ann, they will most likely miss or the bullet will melt because of the heat. If they shoot at me, I can be shot out of the air, which sucks.

Flying is one of my favorite things, even if I don’t like how sore it leaves me after. I love the feeling of the wind flowing through my hair. I purposefully keep my brown hair longer than I should because it makes the sensation so much better.

I get to the spot where I can quickly fly across and take the person out. I fly across to the window, left to where they are. I move so quietly that they don’t notice me. I open the window and slip in. The room is empty and dark. I can see a door on the right wall, joining the two rooms. Once I finish picking the lock, I open the door to see an older man’s back facing me. He is a white man in his late forties. He isn’t anyone important, no one I need to think twice about before crossing, or killing. I walk across the room, silent. When I finally get to the other side, where I stand right behind him. I clear my throat. I wish I can see his face, but his back is to me. Before he can even turn around, I’m grabbing his head in my hands and snapping his neck.

I let his body drop to the ground, grabbing his gun and unloading it. Then I step over his body and climb out the window he had shot out of.

I take off again, this time flying towards Leigh Ann. I can tell that she’s finished most of them off, or at least scared them off. Leigh Ann typically tries to maim instead of kill. I swoop down to one of the men trying to escape, grab his head, and twist it while flying up. Once I’m twenty feet in the air I drop his body on a woman trying to run away as well. I look up in Leigh Ann’s direction, her bright flames are starting to dim, as she’s powering down.

I land next to her, just as the last few disappear into the shadows that are Gotham City. She is grinning when she turns to me. She’s upset about something though, judging by the dampened light in her eyes. It looks like a fire out in the rain; fighting to stay alight against the force of the cold attacking it.

“What’s wrong?” I ask her. It isn’t right for someone as radiant as her to be so dim.

Her grin slips for a second, “It’s nothing important, I’ll talk to you about it when we’re somewhere secure. We need to leave because this fire show is likely to attract unwanted attention,” she whispers. She knows I can always hear her.

With that, we start our walk home. I feel the ache in my shoulders and back start. I should take a long hot bath when I get home. I must be walking weirdly because Leigh Ann wraps her arm under the coat concealing my wings, applying warm heat, soothing my sore muscles. I wrap my arm over her shoulder, and she leans her head against my side as we walk.

“Does that help at all?” she asks.

“Yes,” I say, trying not to shudder. Apparently, I don’t succeed, because she chuckles when I do. “We need to stop and let you change though, or at least throw on a coat. You’re too noticeable in that outfit,” I tell her.

“Okay Dad,” she says, pulling apart from me, and reaching into the garbage bin where we stored her clothes earlier and sliding on a pair of black pants, a red turtleneck, and a dark brown mini trench-coat.

We walk along in silence for a while, just trying to blend in. We have to make sure no one is following us back to our home. I decide that it was safe to start the descent home, when I hear a sound, my knees buckle and I fall, clutching my head. I vaguely catch Leigh Ann’s scared expression out of the corner of my eye before I blackout.

I wake up to warm hands and silence. I’m now in an alley with sound-canceling headphones on. My head is laying in Leigh Ann’s lap, her hands combing through my hair. I reach up towards the dial that controls how soundproof the headphones are, and turn them down slightly. I can still hear the noise, but it’s manageable now.

I look around, taking in my surroundings. There are brick walls on either side of me, Gotham’s starless night sky is overhead. It’s as dull and lifeless as always. There is too much pollution in Gotham to see stars. The weirdest part is the fire escapes. They are the kind installed in residential areas.

“In an alley. We’re just a couple blocks over from where we were,” Leigh Ann said.

I look at her in a panic. Why would she bring us to a random ally in Gotham if one of us is down?

“Don’t give me that look, we’re totally safe,” Leigh Ann said, rolling her eyes at my paranoia, “This area of Gotham is relatively safe. Plus, you’re super heavy.”

I pull myself out of her lap and lean against the brick wall, shuddering from the sudden lack of warmth. I lean my head back, looking up, trying to piece together what happened. I remember the sound. Knowing that the headphones are probably blocking out the noise, I turn the dial down. Then I hear it. It is a high-pitch ringing. It’s super familiar.

My eyes widen, “We have to go! The sound it’s someone’s emergency beacon.”

I watch Leigh Ann’s head whip towards me, causing her ponytail to hit her in the face. She ignores it. She whips her phone out of her pocket. I watch as she presses the first number on her emergency contact list. Riddle.

I know because my phone’s set up the same way. All our phones are programmed to have him listed as our first contact on our emergency contact list.

“Riddle? We have a problem,” Leigh Ann says into the phone, getting up to pace the ally.

I can’t hear his side of the conversation because of my headphones. I’d be willing to bet his response was a shortcut, “What?”.

“Someone’s emergency beacon has been activated,” says Leigh Ann. She stops pacing, tilting her head to the side, and furrowing her eyebrows in the way she does when she’s really trying to pay attention to what someone is saying. This is until her eyes widen, the flames in them sparking for a second. She pulls the phone from her face saying, “Of course you knew this already.” She then turns to me looking exasperated. “Who told you?” she asks, before exclaiming, “Robert!”

I roll my eyes at her. It’s not a hard puzzle to figure out. Robert very rarely leaves the house, and when he does, Riddle’s normally with him.

“Ask Riddle what he wants us to do,” I tell her.

I watch as she asks Riddle my question. She makes that face again, before pulling her phone away and quickly shoving it in her coat pocket. “He wants you to find whoever's triggered the alarm. Once you do make sure it’s safe to enter before you engage. He explicitly told me to tell you not to throw yourself in danger if it can be avoided.”

I stand up, nodding, “Am I taking you with me, or leaving you behind?”

“Behind for now. Once you get intel on the situation, your orders are to engage only if necessary and then call in using our phones to get more orders,” she says quickly. She is clearly upset but trying to stay focused. Unfortunately, I don’t have time to stop and console her, but I know that I don’t. I have to go.

Leigh Ann is caught up in her thoughts. She’s looking towards the mouth of the ally. I take off my jacket, wad it up, and chuck it at her. I listen to her shriek in surprise, before jumping up to take off into the air.

Before I even got to the building I could smell the blood. I know it’s Kat’s. His blood smells different than everyone else's because of his mutation.

“Shit Kat,” I whisper when I land on the neighboring building, “What did you do?”

[stefciastark]

Disneyland ~ Webpril Day 13

A/N: Tony has a surprise for Peter before he starts his first semester at MIT. It's not the Disneyland anyone expected, but it's the Disneyland Peter wanted all along. I was going to go very literal Disneyland with this one, but I took it into a bit of a different direction. Just some Irondad fluff :) Hope you enjoy!

~Read it on AO3

~Read it on FFN

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Mr Stark, it’s like Disneyland in here!”

The whirring sounds of machines and gadgets filled the room, the walls tinted various shades of blue and green from holographic displays. One corner of the room was filled with what looked like a cryogenic freezing pod, but as Tony explained, it was a printer for Peter’s suits. A printer.

“You like it? I didn’t want to go too over the top...” Tony trailed off, watching as Peter explored the room like a kid in a candy store. Peter was now standing over the large square table in the centre of the room that currently housed thousands of files on new Spiderman web upgrades, blueprints for new suits, and some source files for Karen’s AI programming.

“No, no, this is amazing. This...this is all mine?” Peter was struggling to find more words, and instead tears of joy pricked at his eyes. His excitement only grew as he opened some of the files at random, seeing plans for fireproof webs, what looked like a smaller Spiderman version of the Hulkbuster, and because Peter had been begging Tony for it forever: customisable LED lights for the suit. Not particularly high-tech, and definitely a bit ostentatious and ‘tacky’ - as Tony put it - but Peter had finally gotten Tony’s blessing.

“All yours, kid.”

Tony’s eyes continued to follow Peter’s excited movements around the new workshop. He’d decided to set up his large penthouse apartment (he couldn’t remember the last time he’d stayed in it) in Massachusetts for Peter as ‘congratulations’ for getting into MIT, and he was positive the kid - no, young man now - would be at the top of his class. Well, especially with a room full of Stark technology.

“I uh, can you teach me how to use some of this stuff? Like,” Peter wandered over to a large metal tray that had no buttons and looked like a plain sheet of aluminium, “what is this?” Peter tried to lift it, prying it up off of the countertop with the tips of his fingers. It took him off guard how light it was. In combination with his enhanced strength, it felt like lifting air.

“That,” Tony answered, walking over to join Peter beside the item in question, “is a sheet of vibranium.”

Peter’s eyes widened in response, suddenly looking over the metal sheet with reverence. He set it down carefully, instantly paranoid about breaking it even though he knew there was no way he could even put a scratch in it.

“You should probably put that in your safe,” the older man made his way towards the left hand side of the room and double-tapped the wall, a sliding panel revealing a number pad and a fingerprint scanner. “I just left it out for effect.”

Peter already knew that it would be years before he used the metal. To him, it was the equivalent of getting a tattoo. To use it was something permanent and irreversible. It would mean creating an icon like Captain America’s shield, Bucky’s new arm, or T’Challa’s claws. A million and one ideas raced through his mind like a steam engine locomotive speeding downhill without any brakes, excitement and fear pulsing through his veins with all the possibilities.

Tony was starting to get worried about Peter. With each new discovery, Tony didn’t think his jaw could drop any lower, or that his eyes could get any wider, yet they did until a point where the kid might suffer cardiac arrest out of elation.

“You’re uncharacteristically quiet. What’s on your mind?” Tony probed. Since the vibranium, Peter had gone completely silent, and it was starting to become unnerving.

Peter broke the silence. “It’s just...it’s a lot.” His voice was thick with emotion, a mixture of happiness and awe. But Peter couldn’t quite help but feel a strange kind of sadness that he didn’t quite understand. There was something about it all, and he wasn’t sure if his Spidey Sense was feeding him that information or if it was just his intuition.

Tony shot Peter a sympathetic smile. Coming from a small apartment in Queens and having lived a modest life with his aunt for so long, it would be all kinds of overwhelming to be bombarded with an opulent penthouse filled with the Stark technology only multi-millionaires could dream of.

Tony double-tapped the wall once more, the safe and accompanying security measures disappearing from sight. “I didn’t know what to get you, and another suit seemed kind of redundant when you can make your own now. I’m not gonna be here forever, so may as well give you something that’ll keep you going after I’m gone.”

And there it was. Peter’s answer to that odd sense of grief presented to him on a silver platter of vibranium and technological luxury.

“What are you talking about?” Peter’s brow was furrowed, and like the flick of a switch he felt the symptoms of panic begin to set in. Elevating heart rate. Check. Suddenly feeling like he couldn’t breathe and that his skin simultaneously felt hot and cold. Check. “Are you going somewhere? Oh my god are you dying? Please tell me you’re not dying, I don’t know what I’d do, Mr Stark, I don’t kno-”

Peter was abruptly cut off by Tony’s arms wrapping around him in a warm embrace. It took him back to when he was fifteen again, trying so hard to impress Tony all the while trying to discover who he was and who he wanted to be. How lucky was he that the man he had looked up to for so long had become his adoptive father of sorts. The feeling of bittersweet nostalgia overwhelmed him.

“Hey, I’m not going anywhere. Who said anything about dying?” Tony felt Peter nod against his chest, faint tremors shaking his frame as he attempted to bring his sudden onslaught of emotions under control. Pushing Peter away so he could look into his eyes, Tony continued, smiling wryly. “Iron Man’s gotta retire sometime, right?”

A shaky exhale. “Yeah.”

“I’m getting a bit old for the hero gig but hey, I can always be your guy in the chair.” Tony walked over to the printing pod, slapping his hand on the top of the rounded cover. “C’mere, I’ll show you how to use this thing.” He prepared the machine by pressing a few buttons, ignoring the heaviness in his heart. Peter had grown so fast from that awkward teenager from Queens, and soon...soon Peter wouldn’t need Tony to guide him anymore. He tried not to think too much about that.

Wiping the last stray tear from his eyes, Peter smiled and went to join Tony.

[blu-joons]

Exposure. Jeon Jungkook

Part Two

OVERVIEW: Being the little secret of a member of the world’s biggest boy band was never going to be easy. WIth all the hiding around and tiptoeing, it only seemed to be a matter of time until you got caught out, but when you are, how will that affect your relationship with the man who had given you it all?

PART: i ii

PAIRING: Jungkook x Reader

WORD COUNT: 2.4k words

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“The boys really are so excited to see you, they’ve been pestering me to bring you to the studio since we got back,” the blue-eyed blue told you as he drove down the road. The small crack in the window blew his fringe back in the breeze bringing a smile to your face, the roads were quite, allowing your ears to be filled the mellow tunes of one of his new playlists he’d created whilst he’d been on tour. “They don’t know you’re coming, so hopefully it will be a nice surprise for them.”

“I’d be a bit disappointed if they weren’t happy to see me,” you chuckled, pointing out to the road, turning his eyes away from yours, earning a cheeky giggle from him.

The studio wasn’t too far away, conversation was minimal, instead the two of you chose to enjoy the sounds of the music and tune in to the outside world through the gaps in the windows. He parked in his usual spot, looking around at all the cars that were outside. “Looks like we’re just waiting on Jimin.”

“There’s a surprise,” you chimed, stepping out of the car, grabbing your handbag from the backseat.

“I’m sure Namjoon will give him a talking to,” he informed you, slipping his hand into yours as you walked into the building. The three security guards who stood at the foot of the building offered you both a warming smile as you walked across, his hand moved to the small of your back guiding you into the building, following closely behind you, shutting the entrance door.

The noise of all the boys quickly hit you, it was as if they hadn’t spent the past few months on tour, everything you knew fell back into palace. Takeaway boxes could be found trailed along the corridor, jumpers and hoodies had been discarded wherever they pleased, not to mention the several mugs of coffee that had been forgotten about during different moments.

“It’s a good job no one important is coming to visit,” you teased, pointing out all the bits of rubbish your eyes instantly fell on. He sighed, shrugging innocently to it all, if you knew he was responsible for most of it, you’d never let him live it down.

“I think the boys would argue you that you are very important, as would I,” he responded, kissing the side of your face.

Your eyes rolled at his cheeky grin, brushing your hand along the side of his face, before pulling him down so he was level with you. “I know you’re responsible for this,” you assured him, shaking your head at him.

He pouted down at you, leading you down the corridor across to the rehearsal room where the five boys, who’d managed to arrive on time were sat. Each of them was on the floor, everyone had a coffee in front of them, except for Taehyung who wisely decided just to drink from his water bottle. You pushed the door open, watching as they all looked around, smiling wide when they saw the two of you walk in together.

“Y/N!”

You thought Jungkook was exaggerating when he told you the boys would be excited to see you, but when arms quickly flew around your frame pulling you into a tight hug, you knew how serious he truly was. “Guys, I need to breathe, please.”

Jungkook’s hand came across, grabbing their shoulders, one by one pulling them away from you, smirking as you adjusted your outfit and hair from the mess they’d caused. All of them possessed sheepish grins when you turned to face them.

“It’s so nice to see you, we all missed you whilst we were on tour,” Hobi was the first to speak, clapping his hands together in excitement, skipping around you.

Namjoon chuckled, covering his mouth with his hand, “what he means to say is that we missed having you look after us, you’re the rightful mother of BTS after all.

“I’m sure you all managed just fine without me,” you smiled, giggling when they all shook their heads. Despite being in a relationship with their maknae, you were just like a mum to the rest of them. You cooked them meals, kept the place tidy, hence the state it was in without you around, and made sure they were well looked after. “Except, who do I need to have a word with about the current mess in that hallway?”

Fingers were pointed everywhere along with shrieks of protests claiming innocence towards you, no one wanted to admit the fault and face your wrath of fury. You smirked at them all, they all argued you had Jungkook whipped, but you definitely had all of them wrapped around your finger most days.

You sat down with them all, being passed a water bottle from Jungkook off the side, “we’ve got loads of things to show you from our travels, if you’re interested?”

You nodded, opting to sit yourself in between his legs, resting back against his hard chest, “we can’t do anything yet, Jimin isn’t here,” you reminded them, hearing them all sigh.

“I doubt he’ll be here for some time, since tour, he’s been late every day,” Namjoon told you, grabbing a couple of boxes from one of the cupboards on the left wall of the studio.

Each of them began to take out items that were important to them, Namjoon had bought small ornaments from every place they visited to place on his shelf, Hobi had several garments from markets and stores they’d visited on their days off, whilst Taehyung had lots of hats, flipping between several of them to show you precisely how they looked. Whilst Taehyung gave you a catwalk, Jin was happy to show you all the games he’d found from different places that he was excited to try, followed by Yoongi who had exhausted most shops for equipment to place in his studio, as he argued, small gifts were just meaningless in years to come.

Finally, you looked to Jungkook who pulled out a box filled with lots of random pieces, he had a flag from America, a snow globe from France, a magnet from Australia, as well as several statues and glass ornaments that he’d found along the way.

“Everywhere we went, I picked up something that reminded me of you,” he told you, passing you a glass angel ornament he’d purchased on the New Zealand leg of the tour.

“This is beautiful Kook; what do you think you’ll do with it?”

He took it from you with a shaking hand, wrapping it back up, placing it in the box. Your eyes furrowed in confusion, watching him do the same with everything that he’d bought. “I’m going to wrap them back up and keep them safe, just like how I’ll always keep you safe,” he smiled, leaning across to press a kiss to your cheek, “they’re far too important to risk breaking them, I want to keep them perfect.”

Around the room humorous gags came from the rest of the boys at Jungkook’s sweet comments. He looked around, but you pulled him back so that he was looking at you, “they’re just jealous.”

The box was repacked and placed safely away by Yoongi, just as the door opened, and an exhausted Jimin came flying through the door. His cheeks made it seem like he’d ran a marathon, his hair was a mess, but his smile still remained, just like it always did, widening only when he saw you sat with Jungkook’s arms firmly around you.

“What time do you call this? I’ve been sat around here for hours waiting for you to arrive,” you teased, standing up so that you could greet him with a proper hug.

He squeezed you tightly, apologising for the state he was in, glancing into the mirror of the studio, adjusting the blonde strands of hair so that they suited his face perfectly. He dropped his bag, absentmindedly listening to the scolding from Namjoon that Jungkook had so wisely predicted when the two of you were still in the car park.

With all the boys at last in the studio, they could begin to start their rehearsals. It quickly surprised you how after the conclusion of one tour their minds were so focussed on what was to come next. You sat down on one of the chairs that was around the circumference of the room whilst Hobi led them all in a warmup.

“Y/N, do you reckon you could be in charge of music?” He asked, looking back at you in the reflection of the mirror. You perked up, looking across at him, nodding your head. “If you’ve got your phone with you, anything will do.”

You reached into the back pocket of your jeans, pulling out your phone, opening up your music app. “I’ve got the perfect song for you all.”

They stood in anticipation and waited, only their excitement turned to dismay when they recognised the opening melody of Euphoria playing into the room.

Jungkook quickly ran over, pressing a long kiss to the top of your head, “you’re so good at this,” he smiled proudly, poking his tongue out at all the boys.

Yoongi ran over, snatching your phone to press the pause button on the track, much to the relief of all the other members. “We expected better than that from you, I can’t believe you’d make us listen to that rubbish.”

“I might be a little bias, but he is my boyfriend.”

None of them seemed to care as they abruptly stripped you of your audio duties, passing the baton onto Namjoon. You pouted as Jungkook walked away, shaking his head shamefully at them all for being so cruel to you.

“You’re supposed to all be happy to see you may I remind you,” you shouted out, folding your arms across your chest. It mattered to none of them as Namjoon played a new song, one that everyone liked, well, except for you of course.

Their rehearsal went by reasonably fast; they were still very much in the early stages of it all, squabbling about what moves to place when in their routines, and which song they would consider singing at which point of the show. Whilst they argued amongst themselves, you sat back with a wide smile on your face, it was these small interactions that you missed the most when they were all on tour. Neither of them had any idea they were doing it, but perhaps that was what made them so cohesive and popular to so many people.

In the middle of their routine, the door opened once more, all of them paid no attention, except for you, smiling weakly when Bang PD walked in, huffing when he saw you sat on the chair, scrolling through your phone.

He walked in the opposite direction to where you sat, leaning on the back of the wall until the boys finished the song, breaking off for a drink.

“We weren’t expecting to see you today,” Jin spoke when he realised who else was stood in the door. In his hand he had a few pieces of paper, gripping onto them tightly until his fingers were white.

In your gut you could feel something wasn’t right, he’d never been completely immersed in your relationship like everyone else had been, but that never stopped him at least greeting you whenever you were around. Jungkook walked over to you, resting a hand on your shoulder as the boys all sat around you, drinking heavily from their water bottles.

Your eyes stared up at Jungkook who looked across at you with a weak smile brushing his hands through your hair, “why are you looking so nervous?”

“I don’t know, something just doesn’t feel great about all of this, I- “

You were interrupted by Bang PD clearing his throat, making everyone look across at him, his eyes were firmly exchanging stares at both you and Jungkook. All of the boys could tell straight away too that something was going on to do with the two of you, only no one had a clue what it all was about.

“Tell me Jungkook, when you came home from tour, where did you go?” He asked firmly.

Jungkook looked down at you, pointing towards you, “I went to see Y/N, like I always do when we come home from somewhere. Don’t worry, I was really careful and aware of my surroundings, I’ve become quite the master of sneaking around Y/N’s estate.”

A sinister chuckle escaped from his manager, leaving the two of you puzzled. He knew exactly how to get to your home, he’d always park as close as he could, wear dark clothes so that he didn’t stand out as much, and keep a hat on his head, and sunglasses on the bridge of his nose until their was a roof over his head.

He walked over to the two of you, handing you the paper he’d been holding, “if the two of you are so confident of being able to make all of this work, then how about you talk me through this.”

You turned over the printout that he gave you, studying it closely, to begin with you recognised his car, and then a few features of your street, and then focussed on the two people in the photo. One you were able to work out was you, leaving the other figure to be Jungkook by process of elimination.

Then your eyes fell on what was happening between you both, you remembered the evening clear as day, Jungkook told you to come down and say goodbye to him at the car, pressing a kiss to your lips as he did so.

“I-I don’t understand, we were careful,” he stuttered, looking across at everyone.

The disappointed look on everyone’s face was heart-breaking, all of them had been so trusting of the two of you to make things work, you had done for such a long time, but one lapse of judgement had ruined it all.

“I’ve now got several media outlets demanding to know what’s going on, they want to know why the nation’s sweetheart has been photographed kissing a random girl in the middle of a street.”

“I can fix this, I promise,” he tried to assure everyone, but they all quickly looked away.

“The two of you need to fix this now, you’ve been exposed, so tell me, how do you plan on fixing this?”

---

Masterlist

[allweneedissix]

A Target Run: Six the Musical Fanfiction

The queens needed to go to Target. Usually, just two or three of them would go, but it was a lazy Saturday afternoon, and everyone seemed like they needed an outing. At least, that’s what Catherine said.

“Yes! I want Starbucks!” Kat was almost singing.

So Catherine got her list from the kitchen and they all piled into their SUV. As Anna drove, Catherine went over some of the things that they needed to buy.

“And lastly, granola for the yogurt. Does anyone have any particular requests?” 

Anne raised her hand.

“No, Anne, we are not buying any more Five Hour Energy drinks. Last time was a disaster.”

Anne put her hand down, and Anna patted her leg consolingly.

After they got into the building, Catherine immediately got out the list and headed for the grocery section. Kat goes for the Starbucks line and grabbed Cathy’s hand.

“C’mon, Cathy! You look like you need a boost, and I know you haven’t had Starbucks before. You’ll love this coffee!” Kat was insistent.

Cathy shrugged. She didn’t have anything in particular to shop for anyway.

Anne looked at Anna. “Wanna have some fun?”

“Absolutely.” 

They walked off at a pace that made Jane very suspicious. She decided to go after them, but as she turned the corner to follow them, she found that they had disappeared. Well, she had to run into them eventually! She picks a random direction, unintentionally going the direct opposite way from the other girls.

==

“Ok, so the frappuccino is kinda like coffee, but a lot sweeter, and iced and blended. It’s honestly more like ice cream.” Kat giggled. “And we already went over what the refreshers are, even though they aren’t technically coffee. Any questions so far?”

Cathy shook her head. “Really, Kat. Black coffee is fine. Any coffee fine.”  

“But Cathy! Starbucks is too special to just have black coffee. Here, let me tell you what a mocha is, you might like it!”

==

Catherine stood silently, looking at the granola. Should she get the smaller kind? The one with chunks of nuts? No, Kat is allergic to nuts. The one with dried berries? Maybe, but would that work with the yogurt that she was going to buy? What about the nutrition factors!?

“Anne! We need to go try out the switch in the video game department!”

“Yes! I bet you three oatmeal creme pies that I can beat you at super smash bros.”

Anna almost looked offended, but she shook Anne’s hand nevertheless. Behind them, Jane wandered in between the aisle Anne and Anna were in without noticing them.

“Hey Anna, was that Jane?”

“I don’t think so. She usually sticks with Cathy or Kat.”

==

Cathy was getting exasperated. “Kat! For the last time, I appreciate your commentary, and I’m sure whatever a macchiato is, it’s delicious, but can I just get a coffee?”

“Cathy a macchiato is a coffee! Now should I get two or three shots in my iced caramel latte?”

“No-”

==

Jane passed the exercise equipment for the third time. Was this area familiar? She wasn’t sure, but she could have sworn that she just heard Anna. Oh, well. She was sure that those two were up to something, but she’d just have to keep looking.

“Ok, just because you beat me at Smash this one time doesn’t mean-”

“You’re just bitter, Anne. But I will give you a chance to redeem yourself in with a bomb shopping cart ride.”

“You’re on. Hey,” Anne looked around. “Did you just see Jane?”

“Was she with anyone else?”

“No” 

“Then it probably wasn’t her.” 

Anne shrugged. “Ok.”

==

Kat ordered first, then Cathy. Kat went over to the other end of the counter to wait for her drink. 

“Cathy, what did you end up ordering?” Kat said excitedly.

“A black coffee.” 

“That’s boring!”

“I thought you’d say that. That’s why I got it with cream AND sugar.” 

Kat shook her head. “Whatever floats your boat, I guess.” She grabbed her grande iced caramel latte with two shots and an extra pump of caramel. “I think I’m going to go look for Catherine to help her with the groceries. Do you want to stay here?”

Cathy looked toward the seat by the window and thought of the new book in her purse. “Yeah, if you’re sure that you’ll be alright by yourself.”

“I will!” Kat walked purposefully towards the grocery section.

==

Catherine had narrowed it down to three bags of granola. They were all nutritious and had equal promises of deliciousness, but now it came down to value. She pulled out her pocket calculator.

==

Jane had given up on finding Anne and Anna. They can’t get into that much trouble, can they? She was currently searching for Catherine, or Kat, or anyone, really. But she wasn’t actually nervous, which was surprising, but she would still rather be with someone. Behind her, a cart races by with Anna in the cart, and Anne pushing at top speed. 

“Hey, was that Jane?”

“Nah.”

==

Kat went toward the health section alone (she figured that’s where Catherine would be), having left Cathy at Starbucks seating area with her book. She had assured, Cathy that she’d be fine, but in reality was more than a little anxious, and maybe that double shot in her coffee hadn’t been a great idea after all. She was almost to the cereal section when she thought she saw Jane out of the corner of her eye. She whipped around, knowing how Jane tended to wander. She went down the aisle that she thought Jane had gone down, and barely saw her blonde hair disappear around the corner. “Jane?”

==

“Anne! Slow down!”

“Slowing down is for the weak! I want a rematch at Smash Bros!”

“FINE! Just slow down, because if we crash, I’m the one who will go flying!”

“Well you know what they say, right?” Anne said slyly. 

Anna had a bad feeling about this. “What?”

Anne sped up. “It do be like that sometimes.”

==

Catherine thought she saw a cart speeding by out of the corner of her eye. She shook her head. What idiots would be dumb enough to race around in a cart when there was a large display of tomato soup right down the next aisle? Anyhow, it didn’t matter, because she had finally decided on a bag of granola. She went to set it down it the cart when she saw it: what could very well possibly be a better deal!

==

Cathy actually couldn’t be more content. She had a hot coffee, a good book, some solitude, and a seat by the window. And it had started to rain! Perfect. She sighed and took a sip of her coffee. Her phone dinged, and she saw that it was the group Snapchat that Kat had made them last month. It was a video from Anna. She opened it to see the front of a cart going faster than a cart was ever made to go (was she in the cart?!). The camera flipped around to show that Anna was indeed in the basket of the cart holding up a peace sign and grinning, with Anne, beads of sweat running down her face, sprinting and pushing the cart. And was that Jane in the background?  

“Oh no.” 

She got up, and started listening for the sounds of absolute chaos.

==

Kat was really starting to get nervous. She kept just losing Jane, and she still hadn’t run into any of the other queens. She gave up on finding Jane by herself and went to look for Catherine to help her. She really didn’t like being by herself.

Catherine dropped the granola into the cart. Confident with her decision, and satisfied her ability to find the best deal. Only twenty-two more items to go! She starts to turn the corner and nearly runs into Kat. The youngest queen looks extremely relieved to see her, and Kat runs over and gives her a tight hug. 

“Kat! Are you alright? What’s wrong? Where’s Cathy and Jane?”

==

Jane was in paradise! Who knew that there was a sewing and craft section in Target? Certainly not her, but she was quickly making up for lost time. Christmas was right around the corner, and Kat had just shown her how to use YouTube for quilting tutorials!

==

The crash that the shopping cart made when it hit the display of soup can was very satisfying. At least it would have been if Anna weren’t also crashing into the display. Fortunately, the rest of the queens (besides Anne) weren’t close enough to hear the crash. Unfortunately, the security guard was.

==

Cathy was lost. Which was actually fairly on-brand for her, not that she would ever admit that to the other queens. She thought she could just walk to the back of the store, put an end to Anne and Anna’s shenanigans, and walk out. Apparently, this was not the case. But it wasn’t like she got lost every time! This was a Super Target, for goodness sakes! She passes a stack of books, and one catches her eye, Birds: Are They Real? Surely she could spare a few minutes.

==

“It’s ok, Kat. Just breathe.” Catherine spoke as soothingly as she could. Kat seemed like she was on the verge of an anxiety attack, and Catherine was really starting to worry. After a few minutes, Kat’s breathing evened out she was able to tell Catherine her predicament. Even though Catherine thought she still looked a little shaky, Kat insisted that she was ready to keep going. 

“So can we please go find Jane?” Kat stands up from where she and Catherine had sat down. “I don’t want her to freak out if she’s lost and I wanted her to try my latte. She’ll probably hate it though.” She gave a small smile. 

Catherine chuckled. “Of course.”

When Kat and Catherine do find Jane (It probably would have gone faster if Kat’s phone wasn’t dead, and if Catherine hadn’t left hers at home) they were pleasantly surprised. Apparently lost didn’t mean helpless, because Jane had not only filled a cart with quilting supplies and patterns, but she had filled another cart full of groceries! 

“Jane!” 

Jane smiled.“Kat, Catherine? I was looking for you guys!” She had barely finished when Kat slammed into her for a hug. 

“I’m so glad we found you! Here, try a sip of my latte.” 

She took a sip. “Thank you! I don’t like it.” 

“I knew you wouldn’t.” Kat grinned. “Now let’s check out and find our other half.”

Catherine, Kat, and Jane didn’t have to look far before found Cathy. They had unintentionally gotten in line behind her, and didn’t notice until she turned around, looking…gleeful?

“Guys, you’ll never guess what I learned!” 

“What?” Jane wasn’t sure she wanted to know. She could have sworn Cathy’s already large grin got even bigger 

“Birds aren’t real!”

==

Anne and Anna had been sitting outside of Target for a good half an hour (thank goodness it had stopped raining) before the rest of the queens came out. 

“Why are you two outside?” Catherine didn’t like the sheepish looks that spread over their faces. 

“Yeah,” Anne started, “We got kicked out.” 

“What-” 

“But it was for a good cause!” Anna finished. 

Kat whispered something into Jane’s ear. “Kat’s right. Catherine, dear, do we really want to know?”  

“Nope!” They answered in unison. 

“Come on everyone, let’s go home.” Kat said. The others muttered their agreement. 

“Besides,” Cathy said eagerly, “When we get in the car, I have the best news to tell you all about birds!”

[havenesa-sera-fina]

Hidden Marks [5: Drunk Confession]

Summary: Wrapping his own arms around her shoulders, Namjoon pulled her in, resting his head on the crown of her head, his heart beating steadily, which Sera heard and smiled to herself. Even with his odd lengthy limbs, they fit together perfectly, "Sera, I'm falling in love with you, that I want to convince you not to go, but I trust you. I just want you to be happy, to never cry over us again. I can't promise you that if you choose to stay with us, everything will be rainbows and sunshine, but I promise you that we won't give up on you, on this relationship. We're not perfect like everyone thinks we are, we're not the perfect bunch of soulmates, we have problems as a group and individuals, secrets that we all keep, burdens that we try to carry on our own. Though we all have each other, to fall back on when things get brought, and that includes you now. We're soulmates, so if anything happens, don't be scared to tell us.

(Poly BTS/OT7 x Reader/OC)

College Au / Soulmate Au

Disclaimer: Bts isn't my or any real life people (obviously.) Any other characters are my though. This is my story so do not republish this anywhere or I will report.

There maybe some triggers, but I will address them within the chapters.

Sources: Wattpad

Word count: 2466

"Canada ain't real and that's the tea sis." I pronounced randomly, walking side by side with Baekhyun through the fairground. Cotton candy in one hand, and beer in another.

It was a Saturday, so the fairground was packed with people, but it didn't stop us and our crazy antics. We've been here for only an hour, and we've moved onto our third cup of beer. Considering the fair was close to the college, there were a ton of uni students, all with the same idea to just get drunk tonight.

I invited Kimie to join us, after an awkward discussion of, 'if I was alright or not.' It ended up with me apologizing and Kimie just saying she was glad that I'm alright. She ended up declining as she was tired from the week that was filled with nothing best tests for her.

Somewhere in the week, I did end up calling the hospital to get more medicine, after embarrassingly explained what had happened. They offered therapy for me, but I declined as I knew therapy wouldn't help me. Because I already knew the types of questions and suggestions they were gonna tell me.

I haven't talked to Lilia yet and managed to just straight up ignore her boyfriends, which wasn't hard. We had no classes together and pretty sure we were all majoring in different things.

So it was just Baekhyun and me, and I was fine with that.

"Are you drunk already darling?" Baekhyun snorted, chugging down the rest of his beer and disposing of the cup in a nearby trash can, "We literally visited Canada for our high school senior trip dumb ass."

"It's all a ruse and Russia created Canada to watch over the US."

At that, we both giggled like little girls, feeling buzzed from the alcohol and the night just started, "Nothing in this world is real!" I yelled out, garnering a few weird looks from the older people at the fair, "it's all figments of our imagination!"

He bumped shoulders with me slightly, "Shut up you drunk."

Baekhyun was always a mean drunk.

It didn't take long for the hours to go by, with Baekhyun and I got a beer and more beer along with food, getting on rides and luckily not throwing up. There were attempts to play some carnival games, but that just ended up with me throwing a ball at him.

"What the hell you bitch!" Baekhyun yelled after I somehow threw the ball at him instead of in front of me at the plates, "my beer!" Sadly the impact caused him to drop his beer.

The vendors were staring at the two college students with amusement, not upset by the ruckus they were causing.

"Shut up you pink starburst," I yelled back, only to giggle. I was more than buzzed and tipsy, and this was always the best feeling as I bid the cute vendor guy goodbye, before dragging Baekhyun away, "I'll buy you more."

We were walking a little out of line, leaning against each other for support as we laughed over the most random things, our drunk mind thinking a blue cotton candy was worthy of laughing our ass off.

So drunk that we ended up bumping into someone.

A numbing feeling came over me, but I ignored it, the alcohol did its job to hide the feelings I didn't want to confront.

I met the most enchanting gray eyes I've ever seen, and couldn't help but giggle as I felt Baekhyun lean more of his weight against me, causing me to stumble, "Funny seeing you here Taetae!" My voice slurred slightly, as I raised my half-drunk beer up to him, "want to get fucked up with us?"

Taehyung stared amusingly at Sera, how some pieces of her light brown hair stuck to her face due to sweat. A pair of beautiful amber eyes stared at him, finally looked at him, even if it was through a drunken haze as a playful smirk played at her lips. His heart never pounded this painfully, but his eyes flickered to where Baekhyun was all but wrapped around her side and he wanted to tear them apart.

"How much did you drink exactly Noona?" He asked, voice dipped slightly when he said Noona, his eyes never leaving Sera's as she didn't bother to look away either, "you're never this friendly."

"Don't be silly! We're so much closer than you think," she then pushed the beer into his hands, along with an uneaten churro she bought few moments before they bumped into each other, "You should get drunk with us, Hyunnies beginning to get boring."

"Shut up you bitch!"

Sera didn't take offense to Baekhyun, as she slightly detached herself from him and looked back up at Taehyung, who stared on with slight fascination. He liked the way her cheeks flushed slightly, and wanted her to just keep staring at him, "You sure you ain't drunk already?"

"Not even buzzed! Where's Lilia anyway, why ain't you with her?"

Truth be told, Lilia and his six soulmates were somewhere in this fairground. They had all went together, but he and Lilia still weren't in talking terms, and not being able to stand the tense atmosphere, he excused himself from the group. Jungkook offered to accompany him, but he stated he wanted to be alone, before walking off.

"Let's not worry about her," he mumbled, before mentally saying fuck it, and chugging down the rest of Sera's beer, "lets gets fucked up tonight."

Both Baekhyun and Sera cheered at his words, as the pink-haired boy quickly went to get more beer.

Sera, the alcohol influencing her, instantly attached herself to Taehyung's side, "Taetae let's go on the Ferris wheel okay? Hyunnie and I haven't been on there yet."

Taehyung wasn't use to this, wasn't use to her being so friendly and close to him.

Sera had always been so cold and distant towards him and his other her soulmates, barely even muttering a word when any of them were near, let alone invite him or the others to get wasted with her. To have her so close, to feel her breathing as she wrapped her arms around one of his, a drunken smile on her lips. She was a drunken beauty, despite always, in general, being beautiful in his eyes, especially now she didn't have a blank expression on her face, and was now staring at him with so much.

It caused something to stir within him.

Even in his head was telling him that this wasn't right, that he had his soulmates and his girlfriend somewhere in this fairground. That he should push her away and go back to his group, but his soul was telling him to stay. That this was where he belonged.

"Yeah," he breathed in, just basking in her presence because he knew, once Sera was sober again, she would never look at him the way she is now, "anything you want."

Baekhyun came back, and seemed unfazed by the clingy Sera, and pushed a beer into each of their hands, and took the churro from Taehyung, "Hurry up dude, you got catching up to do."

Grinning slightly, just for this night, Taehyung would be selfish and indulge himself. Because while his head was screaming at him that this was all wrong, he never felt so sure with Sera holding onto him.

*****

"Fucking shit I'm gonna throw up," Taehyung frowned, leaning against a tree as he gulped down the rest of his water, "What time is it," he grumbled.

"Like 3 am," Baekhyun replied, patting the other man back in slight comfort.

They passed the stage of being stupid drunks, to being sober drunks. Not saying stupid shit and stumbling on their words, but still marking poor life decisions and most likely will not remember the type of drunk. The best type of drunk stage to just have a deep and philosophical discussion. Make confessions, because it'll be a miracle if any of them remembers what transpired.

Groaning, I looked down at the two boys on the ground, making myself comfy on top of the jungle gym I managed to climb. The cool air somewhat calming down the heat I felt as I gazed at Taehyung. Despite his need to throw up, I couldn't help but find him enchanting, especially underneath the moonlight.

The fair had closed three hours ago, and the three of us had jumped all over the place. To a bar for more drinks, a convenience store, onto college campus where we ran away quickly when we saw a security guard. Which we wouldn't have even gotten in trouble because we were students, but we're stupid drunks. Then we ended up at Baekhyun's apartment to get his car keys, but we were smart enough and just raided his kitchen, and now we found ourselves at a park in whom no gods nowhere. My phone luckily still at 20% as Baekhyun's at 80% because he was smart enough to charge it at the convenience store as we ate to our heart's content.

"You comfy over there cutie?" Taehyung called out, gray eyes meeting with clashing amber ones, a hint of amusement in them as he began to walk towards the jungle gym as well.

"You can't come up here if you're going to throw up!" I laughed, watching as he stumbled his way up the stairs, Baekhyun following him. My mark burning slightly, but not in an unpleasant way, as the alcohol in my system telling me everything was fine. My reasoning long gone as I accepted Taehyung company for tonight or morning or whatever.

"Jesus, we're going to get alcohol poisoning," Baekhyun groaned, as the two boys finally reached the top, where Sera was and seated themselves, "Where even are we?"

"Some park."

"No shit Sherlock."

"Taetae! Hyunnie's being mean! He's always a mean bitchy drunk."

The man in the middle only laughed, sounding like bells and causing my cheeks to flush, "come here cutie, I'll protect yah," he held out his hands and made grabbing motions towards me.

My heart skipped a beat with how adorably handsome he looked. Somewhere in the haze of the alcohol, my mind was telling me to stop, that I would regret this later, but my soul was telling me that I belonged in his arms.

So I listened to my soul and all but lunged into his arms. Instantly they wrapped around me securely, and while he reeked of alcohol, there was still a faint cinnamon smell to him as I buried my face into his chest. He was so warm compared to the chilly air night, and I didn't ever want to move away from here.

"I'm gonna gag," Baekhyun spoke somewhere in the background, before pulling out his phone and snapping a picture of the two. For later uses as in to blackmail Sera with whenever he wanted free food and possibly gossip with Kimie. Like he'll ever go behind Sera's back and expose her secret.

He was a mean drunk, but not a bastard of a drunk.

"I should," I mumbled, finding some reason within myself, and began to push myself away from Taehyung. While it felt so right and comforting to be in his arms, I knew it was wrong, "Lilia's my friend..."

Something in Taehyung panicked as he felt Sera pull away from him, causing him to tighten his grip and pull her back. Burying his nose in her soft hair, he breathed in her blueberry scented hair wash, "Lilia isn't my soulmate," he spoke, voice husky and deep, "Plus, all she's been doing is talking shit about you all week, I don't think she sees you as a friend anymore."

I should be bothered by his words, tell him he was wrong and try to defend my friendship.

However, I knew a long time ago we stopped becoming friends. We stopped being friends when I made the decision to keep my soulmates a secret from her. Maybe we stopped being friends a long time ago.

"She hates me because I killed her soulmate," I spoke bluntly, not being able to control my mouth and thoughts, "It's my fault why he's dead. That's why she took my own soulmates from me."

"Who's your soulmate cutie," his lips were close to my ear, as I felt his warm breath against my cheeks. It caused the most delightful shiver to run down my back, as my marks burn, not in pain, but in such an addicting feeling.

His hands went to my shoulders, before slowly trailing down my arm. So dangerously close to the very thing I kept hidden all these years. To the very thing I was so tired of hiding, "Won't you tell me, sweet Sera," his little nickname caused another shiver, "I always knew my little girlfriend was keeping secrets from us and I never liked it. Like she was trying to paint a different image of herself, that's far from reality."

The way he addressed Lilia as his girlfriend, I didn't like that at all as it caused me to feel a slight bitterness and jealousy. I should be Taehyung's girlfriend, not Lilia. I was his soulmate for crying out loud, I was all of their soulmates.

"You gave up on me," I mumbled, but I knew he heard, "If you just waited for one more year, you could have had all your seven soulmates."

"Is it really too late to find my other one? When she's so...so close."

"Shut up, you don't deserve me anymore. You gave up on waiting and began dating my best friend!" I raised my voice slightly and heard Baekhyun whine slightly in the background, "do you know how much it hurts to see all you guys together?"

Baekhyun, who knew he should shut Sera up, stop this discussion and pull the two away. However, he couldn't bring himself to, as he accepted being the third wheel as he went on his phone.

After all, all three have a better chance of getting alcohol poisoning then remembering anything that happened tonight.

Grumbling to himself, he scrolled through his contacts and clicked on a name: Nam fucking annoying Joon.

He didn't have a personal hatred towards Namjoon or any of the seven soulmates but didn't like them at the same time. They were the reasons why his friend was always in constant pain.

He grumbled slightly, then types away on the keyboard:

Hey it's Baekhyun. Come pick up your drunk boyfriend. We're at the park near the high school that's like ten miles away from the college. I'll send you our location.

Instantly he got a reply, to which he only rolled his eyes:

Why is he with you?

Ask him yourself. 

[heyyy-hey-babyyy]

They’re All Wax. Everyone.

Part II

Read part I here

Summary: Dean and Y/N investigate the disappearance of some college kids in the small town of Ambrose, only for Y/N to be captured and hurt. Dean looks for her and finds unimaginable horrors.

Pairing: Dean X reader

WARNINGS: Canon-typical violence, horror movie scenes

House of Wax (2005) Fusion with Supernatural

4079 words.

Notes: Please note that I changed the plot a bit, because some of it would not make sense if the main character was Dean Winchester. Just saying.

Spoilers for House of Wax (2005) below. 

______________________________________

You felt your knees giving out and your eyes beginning to droop, wanting nothing more than to succumb to the feeling that closing your eyes would give. Your entire body began to ache, but you felt Dean’s arm snake around your shoulders protectively, dragging you along with the group as they walked. You heard the voices of the others, but the pain in your head was intensifying and all you wanted was to lay down on the ground and sleep for a while. Anything to get rid of the pain behind your eyes. You began to let your body go slack when you felt Dean’s arm tighten.

“Y/N.” He muttered; his lips close to your ear. He pulled you back up to a standing position, bearing much of your weight against his side. “Sweetheart. You have to keep your eyes open, okay?”

You nodded your head lightly, focusing on the leather boots you were wearing as they clomped loudly against the cement, Dean practically dragging you along. You were all stopped in the middle of the road, Carley and her brother both checking the bright screens of their phones.

“Shit.” Nick scoffed, putting the phone back into his pocket, Carley mimicking his movements.

Dean balanced you against his shoulder and reached into his own pocket, drawing out his phone.

“No service.” He muttered more to himself, gnawing down on his bottom lip as he thought, glancing at you quickly with a pained expression.

Dean knew he wouldn’t be able to carry you all the way to the car in the state you were in, and without cell service he wouldn’t be able to get ahold of Sam for help. And with that jerk from the service station still out there it wasn’t safe to be standing in the middle of the deserted street with nothing but Dean’s gun to protect them. He had checked Y/N quickly for her gun but didn’t find it. Suddenly he remembered something the guy had said.

“He said he had a brother, right?” Dean asked, looking directly at Nick.

“Yeah,” Nick nodded. “Vincent.”

Charley chimed in saying, “at the House of Wax, he did all the sculptures. He’s gotta be the one who does the wax. What if he’s around here somewhere?” She added looking anxious, glancing toward the sickly pale building we saw advertisements for on the way into town. Trudy’s House of Wax.  

Dean stood you solidly in the middle of the road, making sure you wouldn’t fall over, before turning around in the general direction the guy had pointed and seeing a giant house on a hill. He wasn’t one to take risks with the lives of the people he was trying to protect, but they didn’t have a lot of options with no wheels, little to no weapons, and down a hunter. He made the decision for them all and wrapped his arm around your shoulder, securing you tightly to him before walking down the empty streets. Nick and Carley followed silently behind. As you all continued down the street Nick veered off toward a store front, and Dean read his mind instantly, turning you sharply to follow.

“Nick.” Carley said glancing around. “What are you doing? You gotta be careful.” She gripped her injured hand tightly running after Nick faster than Dean could while carrying Y/N.

“I am being careful.” Nick answered gruffly, moving to throw a wrench through the store front window when Carley stopped his movement.

“It’ll make too much noise!” She yell-whispered at him. “Why do you have to be so damn stubborn? He’ll find us.”

“Yeah chances are he will anyways.” Nick answered glancing back at Dean who nodded in agreement.

“At least with this,” Dean gestured toward the crossbow in the window while removing his own gun, “he might not want to find us.” Dean nodded at Nick to continue and he reached back his arm chucking the wrench through the glass, shattering it, both women cringing at the noise. Nick jumped through the open window and gripped the crossbow in his arms tightly, glancing back at us standing in the street behind him.

His eyes went wide as the glass on the door next to him shattered with the echo of a shotgun.

“Run!” Nick yelled grabbing Carley by the arm and rushing into the next building over.

Dean tore around sharply staring down the man with the grimy hat, his eyes trained on the shotgun scope having quickly reloaded the weapon. Dean didn’t think twice before grabbing you roughly and launching both of you through the doors of the movie theater, firing off a few rounds, before another burst of shrapnel shattered the theater doors.

_________________________________

You didn’t have time to think about your head injury as Dean was gripping your wrist tightly tossing you through the doors of the theater. You crawled from your hands and knees, Dean grabbing your waist and pushing you to stand position before you entered the theater from the lobby, having nowhere else to run.

Nick and Carley rushed in ahead of you, jumping as the lights rose up and the movie started playing. The theater was half full of stagnant long-dead humans sitting upright in chairs enjoying What Ever Happened to Baby Jane playing on the screen, the eery title number echoing off of the dust covered walls.

“I’ve written a letter to daddy…” Bette Davis sang, the pleased faces of the frozen audience mocking us.

“Come on.” Dean whispered pulling you down into a seat near the middle of the theater, him rushing further down and crouching into a seat. You didn’t dare move your head but noticed movement out of the corner of your eye, indicating that Carley and Nick did the same. The doors behind you all whispered open, the man from outside stepping in, letting the doors close with a creak.

“I know you’re in here.” He stated, the wax figure attendant with the flashlight uttering a recorded “shushing” noise in response. The man continued down the rows, poking random people with his shotgun, making sure they were wax.

Other random recorded human sounds emerged throughout the theater, a cough in one direction catching the man off guard, and he whipped around pointing his gun wildly, before returning to meander down the aisle. You began to sweat as you could feel him getting closer and closer to where you were attempting to sit as still as possible your head pounding. You saw movement next to you as the man shoved a wax figure that had similar Y/H/C hair as you did, only for the figure to topple over uselessly.

The movie continued a piano melody playing as the man approached the front of the theater where you knew the glow of the movie would give your faces away.

___________________________________

Dean stood crouched down waiting for an open shot of the shadowed figure walking toward him. He raised his gun just as the man spotted Y/N sitting in the middle of the theater. A shot rang out and Y/N ducked at the last second, the shrapnel hitting the figure immediately behind her, shattering the head into a million pieces. Dean pulled the trigger on his gun winging the guy who fell to the floor, quickly reloading the shotgun. Dean threw himself up the aisle grabbing Y/N by the hand, hoping Nick and Carley were following them, when a shot rang out exploding the projector above their heads, which sparked and sputtered out, leaving the movie theater bathed in darkness.

You turned just inside of the lobby and waited for Nick and Carley to exit, before shoving Y/N out the door after them. Dean waited for the man to emerge, slowly creeping toward the theater doors, his hands locked on his gun. He nudged the doors open with his foot and grabbed the flashlight off of the wax figure nearest the door, shining the light in, but saw no sign of the man he’d just shot. He contemplated searching the rest of the building when he heard commotion outside before a slight “Dean” was yelled.

Dean pushed open the doors and exited the theater into the cool night, his breath hitching at the scene before him.

He stopped in his tracks and watched as you clutched your right shoulder with your hand, blood seeping from the open wound. Your face was twisted in agony and Nick had his arm on your non-injured shoulder having just noticed your injury. Dean rushed over, removing his canvas jacket and the flannel he was wearing pressing it roughly into the wound, attempting to stop the bleeding.

“I guess I zigged when I should have zagged.” You muttered more to yourself than anyone, but Dean chuckled lowly, tying the sleeves of the flannel under your armpits and pulling it snug. You winced and looked up at him your eyes guarded and angry. Dean reached down and pulled his jacket back on before heading back down the street toward the dark house on the hill.

“Is there anybody left alive in this town?” Nick asked out loud looking up and down the streets again.

“What about this Vincent guy?” Carley questioned gripping onto Nick’s hand.

“Who knows if there even is a Vincent.” Dean answered lowly, glancing at Y/N who was staring off, lost in thought. “We gotta get out of this place.” He finished.

“What about Wade and our other friends? We can’t just leave them behind.” Carley asked from behind, making Dean stop and turn to look at her. They were getting closer to the house and needed to stop to make a plan before running in halfcocked.

“Alright,” Dean began glancing at Y/N who was gripping her shoulder. He looked around him taking in his surroundings. “This is what we’re gonna do. I’m gonna go up to the house and see if I can get that truck started. Y/N, you take Nick and Carley back to the road and I’ll meet ya’ll there.”

Y/N looked at Dean and her eyes flashed. “No way. No. I’m not leaving you.” Dean turned frustrated and stared into her eyes matching their intensity.

“Why do you have to be so…” He began his temper flaring. Y/N stood up taller meeting his gaze.

“Damn stubborn?” She answered for him, with a raise of her eyebrows. Dean took in a long breath and let out a sigh before answering, knowing he wasn’t going to win this argument.

“Okay. We stick together.”

__________________________________

You and Dean took off one direction toward the truck, watching Carley and Nick as they headed up toward the house, after Dean insisted that they wait there and not go inside. Nick was the only other one with a weapon, which made Dean feel better about leaving the duo alone.

The ancient yellow truck sputtered and coughed when Dean tried to start the engine and his fist slammed down on the steering wheel as he muttered out a quiet “son of a bitch.” He got out of the truck and you both headed up toward the front door to meet up with Carley and Nick who were lost in a whispered conversation.

“Wade went into that house and never came out.” Carley stated, her voice catching at the end.

“Alright,” Dean answered rubbing a hand down his face. “We’ll go in quick. Make a pass.” He stopped and looked hard at Nick. “If we can’t find your friends, we have to get the hell out of here.”

The brother and sister nodded their heads agreeing, and Dean took out his gun, gesturing for you to follow close behind him. The four of them approached the door quietly. Leaning up against the wall was a wooden bat and you gripped it placing it over your good shoulder, feeling more secure with a weapon, even if it was short range. Dean looked back and scoffed at your lightly. You raised your shoulders in a “what?” motion, wincing at the movement. A soft smile played at his lips and turned the knob of the door stepping slowly inside.

The door opened into a dark entryway. There was a phone on the wall that Carley picked up, a busy tone echoing through the handset, and she put it back on the hook uselessly. We ventured in further as the house opened up into a kitchen, living room, and side room with a pool table. You broke off, all four of you stepping into a different room when something white caught your eye.

“Dean.” You said quietly, starring into a glass case that held a small gun, and yours, an identical twin to Dean’s Colt that he bought you for your birthday a few years back. It was something you treasured and you felt guilty not having it in the back of your jeans as usual. You had noticed its absence instantly, but now knew the man had taken it off of you and you felt more violated than ever. Dean came over and reached for the bat in your hand, wrapping a towel around the end and smashing the glass case soundlessly, until it was nothing but iron bars between you and the gun.

“It’s bolted to the wall.” He stated, glancing at the back of the case. “Spread out and let’s look for a key.”

You instantly threw yourself into checking every drawer you could. It was stupid, but you weren’t leaving without that gun. You didn’t find much other than a few news articles about Siamese twins that were separated, a clue to the man and his brother’s identity, the names Bo and Vincent standing out to you. Before you could think too far into it the front door opened with a bang, and the man from before, Bo as you now knew him, stepped in, gripping his arm where Dean shot him. You crouched down under the pool table, glancing around for the others. Dean and Nick had walked up the stairs, but Carley was only a few feet away watching the man closely as he attempted to clean his wounds at the kitchen sink. When his back was turned, she hustled over to you and you put your arm around her protectively as you watched Bo. Seconds later, a truck pulled up and Carley glanced out the window, falling back with a gasp, her hand clutching her mouth wordlessly as tears slipped down her cheeks. You gripped her knee softly, eyes questioning her.

“It’s my other friends. They’re dead.” She whispered, before the door opened again and another man entered, this one wearing a mask giving his face an unnatural tint.

Bo approached the open door and started yelling. “Hey! You don’t ever leave without me. You know better than that. Don’t be so stupid!”

The other man, who you gathered to be Vincent, didn’t answer, merely approaching his brother slowly to help him tend to his wounds. The man waved him off with a harsh, “don’t!” muttering “fuckin’ freak,” below his breath as Vincent lit a candle, using the heat and wax to fix his face where a deep gash was. You were too tuned into the situation before you, you hadn’t noticed Dean motioning to you to head toward the stairs until Carley gripped your hand tightly. You hustled toward the stairs heading up and into a room with a trap door, Nick beckoning you all to follow him down.

“Dean, wait.” You stopped him, gripping his bicep. “My gun…” You muttered trailing off.

“Hey,” he started, putting a finger under your chin to force you to look at him. “It’s not a big deal, okay? We have to get these two out of here.” He look at you intently, his green eyes calming your guilt, before pushing you lightly forward to fall down the trap door, Nick catching you at the waist.

________________________________________________

Dean didn’t hear the conversation from below, but he knew there were now two men downstairs, and Y/N was hurt badly. They needed to get out of this town and quickly. Him and Sam would figure out what to do later, once Y/N and these two kids were safe. He wasn’t sure where the trap door led, but followed behind Nick nonetheless, until it opened up into a workshop of sorts and they took a second to get their bearings.

Carley stopped and gripped her brother’s hand halting him. “I saw Paige and Blake’s bodies.” She glanced back at Dean and Y/N. “They’re dead.”

Nick nodded his head slowly like he already knew. “We have to get out of here.” He pulled her along and I wrapped my arm around Y/N carefully to avoid her shoulder.

As we moved forward we approached a figure that was perched on top of a contraption leaning against the back wall, that looked like it was encased in something that was dripping onto the floor. Nick stopped near the work bench and gripped a red hat in his hands, before approaching the figure.

“Dalton.” He stated. Dean glanced at Y/N as Nick looked into the figure’s eyes. “I’ll get you out of there.” Nick continued his voice cracking as he gripped onto the metal helmet the figure was wearing. Tugging it away, the contraption broke a sickening crunch erupting as the head fell off of the person’s body.

“No!” Carley cried, gripping roughly at her brother’s shirt. He hugged her silently, and Dean gave them a moment, hearing Carley’s pain at losing another friend so horrifically. Dean glanced up into Y/N’s eyes and again saw nothing but anger and fury, knowing it was affecting her to not be able to take these two men out herself.

Suddenly the masked man approached from around the corner, and Dean took his gun and aimed, the shot ringing out.

“That’s Vincent!” Carley screamed, the man taking the bullet to the shoulder, but not stopping, coming toward us full bore. He gripped roughly at the table in his way and shoved it toward Dean, who took it to the gut, his gun falling out of his hands as he fell to the floor. Vincent extracted two long machetes and Nick approached him, raising the crossbow before taking a cut to the arm and falling back. Dean got himself up off the ground, approaching Vincent with fire in his eyes and grabbed the man by the middle careful to avoid the long knife in his hand. Vincent fell to the floor, pushing the lever on a cauldron of wax, igniting a large fire that spilled over into the grates at our feet, trapping Vincent on one side and us all on the other.

“Come on!” Dean yelled grabbing my arm and rushing us toward the exit, emerging into the wax museum. The fires from below began to lick the surface of the wax floor, and we struggled to walk as the wax melted, Nick and Carley finding themselves stuck close to an exit next to a man posed playing the piano. Carley let out a cry, realizing it was her boyfriend Wade, half of his face missing.  

“Get out of here!” Dean yelled, pointing them toward the door behind them in the corner. The two glanced at you both before picking up their feet as best they could and trudging toward the door. Dean gripped your arm roughly and pulled you further into the museum looking for another exit. Turning a corner, you came face to face with Vincent’s brother, Bo, and Dean didn’t think twice before running straight at him, knocking him to the floor.

The two scuffled on the floor, both getting in a few punches before Bo extracted a knife and shoved it into Dean’s right thigh. He yelled out in pain, gripping at his leg as the man stepped back up with a smirk. You gripped tightly to the bat in your hands and sucked in a breath before slamming it roughly into the man’s face, knocking him to the floor, where he fell halfway into the wax. You hit him again and again the sound of his bones crunching fueling your anger until his face was unrecognizable. Dean sunk to the floor and you moved toward him, your feet resisting as they slipped in the sludge.

__________________________________________

You took one step forward and Vincent rounded the corner, eyeing you, the dark holes of his mask an unreadable emotion. You panicked and ran up the stairs, Vincent following close, picking up his feet with ease.

“Don’t you hurt her!” Dean yelled from below, as you sprinted up the staircase emerging into a bedroom. Vincent entered slowly, approaching you with his knife drawn and you rounded the corner of the bed facing off with him. He rolled the knife from hand to hand looking for a fight after seeing the condition of his brother. You gripped the bat tightly preparing yourself when Dean burst through the door, shoving Vincent to the wax bed. The two struggled, Vincent attempting to stab his knife into Dean, when you spotted the one protruding from Dean’s leg. Acting fast you ripped it out of his thigh and shoved into the side of Vincent’s neck, effectively killing him, Dean shoving him roughly. When Vincent fell to the side a hole burst through the floor, flames fighting to emerge, and engulfing Vincent and his brother in the heat. Dean grabbed you and hobbled his way back down the stairs away from the flames engulfing the wax museum and leaving it a steaming pile of sludge.

___________________________________________

Dean hobbled out to Carley and Nick who were sitting on the curb staring off in the distance, Nick’s arm draped around Carley’s shoulders. You approached, Dean muttering about both brothers being dead before you began the trek back toward the Impala, Y/N bearing much of Dean’s weight this time. He didn’t unclench his jaw until they made it back to the Impala. Once there, service miraculously returned to their phones and Dean used his fake FBI badge number to call in the fire department and explain away the murders. Carley and Nick leaned against the Charger listening intently, staring at Y/N, but she only shook her head, clearly not wanting to explain or give “the talk,” even if nothing about this hunt was supernatural. You got off the phone, explaining to Carley and Nick that the local cops were on their way to take statements and get them home safely when his phone started to ring.

“Yeah.” He answered, not even looking at the caller ID.

“Dean. Thank God.” Sam huffed out with a sigh. He sounded like he had been holding his breath for days and Dean instantly felt guilty realizing that was probably true when he hadn’t heard from him or Y/N.

“Are you okay? Is Y/N? What is going on?” Sam continued concern lacing his voice. Dean smiled for the first time in 12 hours hearing the familiarity of his brother’s concern.

“Yeah, Sammy.” Dean answered, glancing at Y/N, whose Y/H/C hair was shiny in the early morning sun. “We’re fine. We’re gonna leave here in a bit and catch up with you soon, alright?”

He heard Sam sigh into the phone. “Okay. Catch up soon.” Dean ended the call and walked over to Y/N placing his hand at her lower back and pulling her in, planting a kiss at her temple.

“I’m sorry.” He muttered into her hair, feeling guilty for allowing her to go off on her own. She shook her head slowly, looking up at him with striking Y/E/C eyes.

“Don’t do that.” She replied with a small smile, saying a quick goodbye to Carley and Nick, hugging Carley tight, before planting herself into the front seat of the Impala, planning to make someone else come get her car later.

Dean sighed heavily feeling the weight of the situation hit him all at once. He turned and gave Nick a quick pat on the back, thanking him and Carley and leaving them with his phone number, just in case. He nodded toward them before heading toward the Impala and stepping in hearing the familiar groan of the door.

“Well.” He started putting the key in the ignition, leaning his arm on the back of the bench seat as Y/N scooted over to cuddle against his side. “I’ll say it again…” He leaned over and placed another kiss against her forehead before pulling the car away from the faded ‘Welcome to Ambrose’ sign.

“Demons I get. People…. are crazy.”

[lavenderbones22]

Call It Fate-Douglas Booth!Nikki Sixx

Summary: Nikki keeps bumping into the same girl in the most random of places. It gets so out of hand that it starts freaking them both out. So they decide to just fuck.

A/N Just a random idea I had so just had to get it written :)

Word Count: 2871

---------

It had happened a few times that week. The first time was in a corner store in West Hollywood; his eyes followed me the whole way round while I tried to find my favourite candy. The second was when I was out having lunch with my cousin; he walked in and it would have been impossible to not recognise him with his black hair and eye-lined eyes. The third time was at the gas station and I nearly poured all of the gas over my converse when I saw him strutting his way inside to pay.

"What the fuck," I'd mumbled to myself as I watched him through the glass windows.

I must have looked like a lunatic the way that I was looking at him and he didn't strike me as the sort of guy who would miss an opportunity to say something to somebody who was staring. Especially if that somebody was a person he'd already seen twice that week.

"Are you following me or something?" He called out on his way back to his car, his smirk turning me on more than it should have but probably just as much as he meant it to.

"N-no, sorry," I laughed nervously, pulling the gas pump from my car and hanging it back up. Shit, he was making me a nervous wreck. I could feel him watching me still as I closed the gas tank and then fumbled around the passenger side for my purse.

"I don't mind it if you are," he spoke again, sounding closer this time and I could hear the humour in his voice.

"Well I'm not," I spoke with more conviction. He was on the other side of my car, his arm leaning on the roof casually. He was eyeing me like I was his prey.

"Why you out so late getting gas anyways?" He asked apathetically. I mustn't have heard what he said or even heard him speak because he waved his hand in front of my face.

Fuck. I was staring at him again.

"All good?" He chuckled.

"Shit, I'm sorry!" I ran my hand through my long hair and shifted in my spot. "I'm good, I'm just, you know, it's weird I've seen you so many times these last few days and I don't even know who you are."

"Well I don't know who you are either," he retorted. "Come on," he nudged his head in the direction of his car. "Come with me."

"What?" I raised my brows, shocked at his proposal. "I just said that I don't even know who you are and you're expecting me to get in your car with you?"

He nodded his head slowly, like he didn't understand why I had an issue with this.

"Do you think that because you're good looking that I'm just going to get in your car with you?" This guy was kidding himself! Sorry bud, but I don't really feel like being murdered tonight. "No thanks."

"Well yeah, I mean, it wouldn't be the first time it's happened." He looked genuinely perplexed by my resistance to him.

"Sorry, it's not gonna happen," I said as I headed inside to pay for my fuel.

"Let's make a deal then," he called out.

"What?" I called back without even looking at him and still walking but now slower because duh, obviously I wanted to know what his deal was; he was sexy as fuck.

"If we bump into each other again you'll give me the time of day. If not, well then have a good life."

I laughed to myself and turned around.

"You got it, rockstar," I winked.

"I'm not a rockstar, well, not yet anyway," he corrected me.

"Well you look like one."

Fast forward one month and I'm standing outside the Whisky on the Sunset Strip waiting to get inside. I loved this place but I didn't come here nearly as often as I would like to. My friends were already inside but I was late because work kept me and I always took way too long to get ready.

I hadn't seen that guy again and to be honest I was kind of bummed out about it. I told my roommate about him and she told me I was crazy to not have just screwed him around the side of the gas station.

"From the sounds of him I rekon he'd have totally gone for it," she'd said.

I was nearly at the front of the line when some commotion started. A bunch of guys came from inside with security guards behind them, shoving them aggressively and pushing them onto the sidewalk.

"I fuckin' told ya Nikki if it happens again you guys are out!" A really tall security guard emerged with a loud mouthed dude in his grip and I nearly died.

It was that guy.

"You can't fuckin' throw us out we make this fuckin' place!" He yelled in his face.

"Go home and sober up Nikki," the security guard said. "You too Tommy."

Nikki. That was his name.

"We didn't start the fucking fight man." The guy he referred to as Tommy spoke up. He was as tall as Nikki but maybe a little skinnier and he had light brown, wavy-ish hair. He was hot too.

What the hell is with all of these hot guys entering my life all of a sudden?

I watched Nikki as he stumbled around trying to find his feet and Tommy as he put a cigarette between his lips and tried to keep Nikki from wandering onto the road. I didn't know whether to say anything because he seemed pretty fucked up but this was kind of a big deal. I mean, we did agree that if we saw each other again we'd well, I didn't know what we'd agreed to do but it was something and that was good enough for me.

I toyed with my thoughts and it must have been written on my face or something because the next thing I knew that Tommy guy was coming over to me.

"Hey babe, do you have a lighter?"

"Uh, yeah, one sec," I stuttered awkwardly as I shuffled around my bag looking for my lighter. A few glances up and making eye contact with Tommy, an uncomfortable laugh from both of us then I found it. "Here ya go!" I extended my hand to him, he lit his cigarette while I watched him but also, I watched Nikki out the corner of my eye. He was standing very close to the side of the road, wobbling around and making me nervous. "Y-your friend, you better watch him." Tommy's eyes widened as if he had just remembered what a fucking fucked up mess his friend was right now, dashed over and grabbed him by both his upper arms. Tommy was taller but not by much.

"Sorry babe, thanks for this." His smile was sweet, innocent almost, as he handed me back my lighter and I was a little put out that Nikki hadn't even noticed me let alone looked in my direction. He was off in his own little world.

"Yeah, all good," I replied taking it from him.

The two boys headed off down the sidewalk and I felt my heart sink a little.

"Tommy, Nikki!" A small, well maybe just taller than me, blonde dude was coming out of the Whiskey calling their names and this made both of them turn around.

I could see even from the small distance I was standing from him that his eyes were glassy, vision most definitely hazy and eyes a sore looking red. He was wearing all black just like the previous times I'd seen him. I supposed this was his look; what he was known for. Those fuckin' skinny jeans man, they were as tight as hell and hugging him in all the right places. And his leather jacket, well that hung on him like he was born wearing it.

Shit. He was turning me on just by looking at him.

"No fuckin' way."

I vaguely heard him speak but didn't process it in time.

"We have to stop meeting like this." He was in front of me now and my sense of smell was overcome with the alcohol radiating off of him.

"I believe we'll call this fate, right?" I crossed my arms and looked up at him with a flirty smile.

"I believe we'll call this I think that you should come back to my place with me?" His voice was slower when he was fucked, raspier, dirtier even. If sex was a sound, it would be Nikki's voice when he was drunk.

He was closer, nearly pressed against me and I could feel the eyes of every girl in the line watching us.

"What makes you so sure I'll come with you this time?" I wanted to play hard to get even though I was very far from it right now.

"She's cheeky. I like that," he teased and suddenly it didn't feel like he was the same guy nearly stumbling onto a busy road five minutes ago. "Didn't we have a deal?" He whispered into my ear, hand now placed on my hipbone. Shivers.

"We did."

That was all he needed to hear right before he took my hand and dragged me out of the line.

"My friends are in there!" I laughed, pointing back at the Whiskey whilst trying to keep up with Nikki's suddenly weirdly sober strides.

"Don't worry, we live just 'round the corner," he said. "I'll bring you back after."

And indeed he did literally live right around the corner. I mean, you could see the Whiskey from his balcony.

"Wow, you weren't kidding," I mused, following Nikki up the stairs to his apartment, our hands still linked and Tommy and the blonde dude already inside.

"'Bout what?"

"Living right round the corner."

"Oh yeah," he laughed, leading me to a window. "We gotta climb through here." He stood to the side of the already opened window.

"Where's your door?"

"We had to nail it shut because the cops keep bustin' in on us," he told me nonchalantly.

"Oh...okay."

Once we were inside it didn't take long before I was pressed against the wall of what I think was Nikki's bedroom; his tongue down my throat.

We didn't need to talk about what was about to happen nor did I care that he was shit faced and I'd only had a couple of lines and a bourbon. All that mattered was we had somehow found ourselves in yet another random place but this time we'd decided to take the goddamn hint.

I ran my hands through his long hair, my fingers getting caught here and there and seemingly turning Nikki on even more. His cock was pressed into me, still covered by his skinny jeans but still very prominent and fuck I was keen.

He pushed me closer into him by gripping my ass with both hands, thrusting himself so I could feel as much of him as possible without being naked. I moved my hands from his hair and grabbed the collar of his leather jacket, too pulling him closer. Nikki intensified the kiss by grabbing my neck and shoving his tongue further into my mouth...if that were at all possible.

I was losing my breath at a rapid rate so broke away for a second. Nikki smiled a  sexy, drunken smile and whispered, "you are fucking irresistible." I ran my hands under his jacket and slid it down his arms.

"Then don't resist me," I whispered back, bringing his mouth back to mine.

Things progressed pretty quickly from there. Nikki's hands were suddenly gripping my tits, toying with my nipples since I'd forgone a bra with the dress I'd worn. Said dress was gone within seconds, a crumpled mess on the ground near his feet. His mouth was then drawn to one nipple, then the other, like a magnet.

I whined for him to take his shirt off. Nikki whined in return having to leave my tits alone for a second.

"They're fucking phenomenal," he said, eyes wide in hunger, mine probably the same because now he was shirtless.

It was weird to me for a second. I mean, we were both near naked and as far as he knew I didn't know his name and he certainly didn't know mine. Maybe this was a regular thing for him but for me, it was the first time having stranger sex.

In just my leopard print lacy thong, Nikki was practically drooling. Both hands were back gripping my now bare ass cheeks and and walked us over to his bed.

"Do you like to be on top?" He asked.

"Question is, do you want me to be on top?"

"I do," he smirked.

"Then yeah, I like to be on top."

Nikki managed to get us on the bed without letting me go, laying down on his back and positioning me just how he wanted; right on top of his cock that was nearly bulging out of his zipper.

"These really need to come off." I leaned down licking along the top of his jeans, unbuttoning and then unzipping them. They came down surprisingly easy along his legs, his thighs exposed and his cock tenting his underwear. He gasped briefly when I softly squeezed him, pulling me forward slightly so he can capture my nipple in his mouth again. "It's your turn now, bad boy," I purred moving away and back down to hover over his dick. I pushed his jeans to his ankles and do the same with his underwear. I'm pretty sure I audibly gasped when I was met with his gorgeous cock already leaking with pre cum.

Nikki grinned at my obvious arousal and pushed himself into my mouth. I closed my lips around him, pulling back my teeth and sucking hard. He groaned softly and grabbed my head, brushing my hair out of my face. I licked over the veins on his cock, massaging his balls, and kissed the tip.

"Fuck baby, keep going like that!"

The sound of a bunch of people talking and then loud music ground me to a halt. I looked wide eyed up at Nikki.

"It's okay," he chuckled. "They won't come in here with the door closed."

"How are you so sure about that?" I questioned him, his dick still firmly in my grasp.

"It's an unwritten law around here." His hand moved from my hair down to my face where he held my chin almost keeping me focused on him; like he was studying me. "Don't you worry that pretty face of yours." He stared at me for a second longer and I felt this weird sort of comfortableness from it.

"You really are beautiful though."

"And you're drunk."

He laughed and I put his dick back in my mouth. This time I licked from the base to the tip and sucked him again. I moaned around his dick and grabbed his hips to support me. I released him, and smirked up at him through my long lashes.

"You don't wanna cum yet, do you?" I asked.

He shook his head quickly. "Fuck no. Get up here!"

In an instant he'd literally ripped my thong off of me and guided my hips so that he could slip into me and fuck, slip into me did he ever.

He was huge. And it kinda hurt but also it kinda felt so fucking good from the get go. Nikki may very well have been the biggest guy I'd been with.

"Fuck you're tight," he moaned, his grip on my hips whitening his knuckles.

"And you're big," I cooed, not missing the proud smirk across his sweaty face.

I started to move slowly just to get the rhythm. Nikki's hands were guiding my movements in a way that felt pleasurable to him. He then increased the pressure on my hips and started to move me up and down his cock, causing me to groan and start panting. He felt so fucking good.

"Come on baby, that's it," he encouraged me. "Bounce for me baby girl...yeah...that's it."

My head was thrown back in bliss, Nikki's hands were holding onto my hips for dear life and my thighs were getting a better workout than the gym could have ever done. Our moans and groans mixed together in his small bedroom although drowned out by the loudness of the party now happening in his living room.

"Is this what you wanted when you first saw me?" I asked him, breathless, fishing for compliments.

"Fuck yeah it is!" He yelled. "Ahhh, yeah babe so good...I'm nearly there." Nikki's hips then started to meet mine as he got closer to his orgasm and those movements quite literally started to bring me undone as well.

"Fuck you're so deep," I cried. "Oh my god."

Within seconds I let out animalistic sounds from the pleasure Nikki had caused to erupt throughout my body and seconds after me he finally came, groaning loud enough for me to nearly hear him over the music.

I collapsed on his sweaty chest, breathing heavily and laughing a little. Nikki's arms wrapped themselves around my back and he held me long enough that it started to feel like we knew each other. You know, actually knew each other.

We laid in semi silence for a few seconds just basking in our post-coital calmness.

"My name's Nikki, by the way."

I snickered.

"Yeah, I know."

TAGLIST: @chocolatealmondmilkshake

[dreamsinthefoxhollow]

Hik and the Not-Dogs

I had been on the job for only a few hours when I managed to track down the suspect and his little child at a department store. I had done a decent job of staying out of sight and could tell they had no idea I was following them. They stayed in the store for quite a long time, perhaps an hour? They were browsing and acting like a parent and child doing parent-child bonding. The sun had set when they decided to exit and move on. I followed. As they cross the parking lot to some parked car in the mass of vehicles, I split off and went in the opposite direction. I didn't have a car, but I spotted one nearby that I could steal and use. I waded through the throng of shoppers moving in the parking lot while trying to keep a casual watch on where the duo was headed. I noticed they were nearing a cluster of tan cars. I used a lockpick to quickly open the door of a mid-80's type of van which had a camper style back to it. No one was inside and it was in dirty but seemingly working condition. I didn't know who it belonged to but I wasn't going to damage it much and they'd get it back eventually. I hotwired it from under the steering column. I looked up in time to see the man and presumably the child driving away in a tan 70's sedan. A real boat of a car. It had a white vinyl top. I coaxed the van into gear to follow, but as soon as I edged the nose out of the parking spot, a cluster of people got in front, including a car that was trying to move out of a different spot, and another blocking that car from behind while trying to get through. It was a typical traffic pile-up of idiots refusing to get out of each other's way. By the time it cleared and I was able to get out of the parking lot and to the notch in the sidewalk leading to the main street, the man, child, and their car were long gone. I didn't see which way they had gone. I beat a hand on the steering wheel in frustration.

Some time later, I stood in the same lot bent over the side of a parked car. The lot lighting was mostly off, the store long-since closed. I was having a mild argument with the man sitting in the car, centered on the idea that I was going to go run off and do something brazenly idiotic and probably morally wrong, and he was trying to talk me out of it. We were on the same side of things, really. Both of us were trying to track down the man and child, but at this point I had stopped being passive about it and was planning a confrontation. I even had a helper, who was parked next to the department store in a blue, idling 80's Ford bronco. My own was parked behind, though it was also an old, blue 80's Ford bronco. Company cars? I ended the argument by walking away, but the guy got out of the car and followed, still arguing that we shouldn't go out and do some random vigilante justice act. He followed me all the way to the door of the waiting Bronco, where the other guy sat in silence and just looked at us. We were still arguing over it.

Some time passed and I was alone in the parking lot, standing far away from the department store, and on the sidewalk. It was colder now and there was a bit of a wind blowing through. Things were still fairly dark. Only some street lights and a random parking lot light were keeping the darkness from swallowing everything. The lot was deserted. It must have been really late, or early. Depends on how you looked at it. I spotted something moving in the shadows of the side of the department store building. It wasn't a customer area or a loading dock. Just a fenced in spot for storage and a bare white-painted cinderblock wall. I walked towards the deep shadows. My eyes adjusted as I moved out of the lighted areas and I could see two dogs running in circles around each other, and around the shadow area of the building. They never went into the lighted areas. They were slender like greyhounds, but a bit larger. One was black and one was white. I remembered someone telling me that these dogs would shred anyone who went into the darkness. They weren't really dogs, after all. I stepped into the darkness with them and they skittered towards me, claws clattering on the dark asphalt. I pulled out a round tin from my jacket pocket. It was grey and had embossed writing on the top. It wasn't important. It was just a holder. I turned the lid and a slot opened on the top. I shook it into my open hand and two marble-sized objects fell out. They looked like cheap dog food pieces, all brown and powdery. But they were squishy in my fingers. They were also made specifically for this. The two dogs were upon me. I couldn't see their eyes, just their bodies and long legs and rows of sharp teeth. These weren't normal dog teeth, but more like peaked sawblades. I could see the sharpness as the flashed in the dark, rising up to me. I casually tossed the little food/treat balls to each not-dog, one for each. The not-dogs instantly stopped in mid-air and silently dropped to the ground. They weren't chewing. They seemed to just have absorbed the things, or swallowed them whole, or they just vanished into their bottomless mouths. It didn't matter. It was the offering that mattered. Both were now 'bought' and would serve me for a while. They started to circle around me, still darting about with randomness but not straying far, as if on a hunt. I started walking again, towards the back of the building, keeping to the shadows. The not-dogs followed, circling close, silently, save for the clattering of claws on the cold asphalt.

I was searching for someone. I had remembered talking to them some time ago. They were in desperate shape. I remembered they were wearing torn clothing, a trenchcoat or an overcoat maybe. It had holes worn in it and was dirty. They looked homeless, though their manner seemed more of sheer fright. It was as if they had been attacked several times and had been on the run. They needed help. Someone else, or perhaps myself, had told them to seek out this one place. It was a rehab center for druggies, but was also more than that. It was a safe haven. See, the guy wasn't being attacked by anyone or anything. What had been after him was something unearthly. The rehab center was a safety area where such things wouldn't be able to attack. He had run off after agreeing to go to the place, and I wasn't sure if he understood what the place actually was. So, now I was going to look for him to make sure he made it. It's also why I had bargained with the two not-dogs. They were for protection. I kept walking along the back of the department store, through the silent load dock area. I reached from the main street to the far residential street. The wall of the department store was a blank, white facade in the darkness. The area behind the loading dock was paved in spots alternating with blank dirt areas. There were no buildings there, though my mind told me there should be. I almost reached the end of the dock area, near the residential street, when the rehab center building came into view like the filtering haze of a mirage. It was as if I just couldn't see it, but now I could.

I hopped over the landscaping boundary between the dock lot and the parking area for the rehab center. It was just a step-length filler of some crushed, dark rock with small trees planted into them. The trees were young and barely leafy. It looked like they were held up by red, wooden sticks. It was brighter, warm, and not-quite-sunny. It was more of a moonlit sort of light, but without the cool blue tint. A security guard at the gate to the lot seemed to instantly become aware of my presence in the lot and stepped out of the guard shack while staring at me. He noticed the two not-dogs circling and just nodded slowly, then stepped back into the shack. I nodded back and walked towards the front of the building, past a few nice cars in the parking spaces. I stopped when I heard the sobbing. It was coming from behind some cars, near the front entrance of the building, but off to the side closer to the corner. I walked over and around the cars. The two not-dogs circled in closer to me, almost rubbing against my legs. The man I was searching for was on the ground, kneeling haphazardly on the red gravel, clinging to a slightly thicker young tree and the accompanying wooden stick it was lashed to. A man was standing nearby and bent close, leaning a hand on one knee while extended towards the man on the ground. I recognized him as my vigilante partner from earlier. He nodded to me as I walked closer. The man on the ground was sobbing deeply and moaning. He kept repeating the same words in some fashion. "It's me! My fault! Me! Me! I angered it! I angered them. I have to stay here. I can't go ... I have to stay here. I angered Hik! The ... Hik ..." I looked at the other guy and he just shrugged. I knew the name, vaguely. Hik. Some kind of supernatural thing. I guessed the guy on the ground was hugging the tree, thinking that was a way to atone for whatever transgression he had done. It must have been something dire, since he was even more beat-up looking than when I had seen him last. He really crossed a bad supernatural force. Well. I was there to help with that. I put my hand down at my waist with my palm towards the ground. Both not-dogs stopped circling and stopped under my hand. Obedient little guard spirits. Of course, their doglike bodies were just a convenient way of getting around without undue notice, out here in the open world with people. They were far more potent, and gruesome, than they appeared. The lack of eyes was one small giveaway at their true nature. My hand held two black leashes, and each let to one of the not-dogs. There were no collars for them to attach to. They just extending into the bodies of each, at the neck area. I stepped over and handed my 'partner' the tin of treats and told him to get two out, and give them to the not-dogs as soon as they made a move towards him. I then handed the leashes to him. The not-dogs, contract with me now broken, moved to attack the man, straining at the leashes that held them. He immediately fed them the 'treats' and the two not-dogs settled down, but were straining at the leashes. They wouldn't attack me, as my contract was a voluntary separation and a hand-off. They were still bound to protect, just not obey. That was now what my 'partner' had as a responsibility. I told him to let go of the leashes, as the not-dogs worked best if they were free to roam and circle as they needed. He let go. The not-dogs scampered around in the parking lot, never straying far, this time with their noses to the asphalt as if following scents that led deep underground. Their pacing sped up, almost frantic, as they scrambled around and around.

Something was near.

I noticed a group of people near the center of the small parking lot. There were maybe five or six of them. Some were dressed in brightly-colored raincoats. A woman in a red one seemed to stand out the most. She was looking down with a stern expression. They all were. I walked closer. The not-dogs stopped to look at me, then stared into the middle of the circle of people, as well, though from a bit further away. They appeared to be straining, noses pointed toward something underground. In the middle of the circle was a square of missing asphalt. It reminded me of a kitchen floor with a ceramic tile pulled out, but on a larger scale. Two workers were in the hole created from the missing square, about a knee-deep level lower than the lot. The stuff underneath was like a waterbed made of pink or orange material, but more like clay in how it behaved. The workers pulled at the side of it as their feet sank into the spots they were standing. It looked almost organic. One of the not-dogs brushed up against my side and under my hand. I was suddenly detached from myself. I was a floating camera eye in the air, invisible and free to move in any direction. My view moved towards the ground, then under the ground, much like a camera showing the surface of a still lake then plunging underneath to view from below the surface. My view was similarly unhindered save for a slight haze. I could see the underside of the pink-orange layer and the underside of the trees, the roots, the sky far above them all. In one corner of the pink layer was a shape. I focused there. It looked like a face, or a skull, pressed to the material. The material was stretched over it, or perhaps was sucked into it. This was what the people were looking for. It was ...

I was woken up.

[chaniters]

MOTHER’S DAUGHTER

________________________________ Sorry about the long delay, writing comes and goes for me and last time it went away for quite a while. I’m trying to get back into the mood and finish amazing @kruk-art‘s  Awan Cormac fic! It’s been a long time so here are the previous chapters.

1 https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/185591914314/only-human

2 https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/185662034909/crisis-control

3 https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/185824503359/reaper

4 https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/186475284144/sunken-town

Hope you like this, and as always there might be spoilers for Fallen Hero ahead.

Added a new villain in this.

_________________________________

“Seriously?”

“This tunnel’s the best way to get inside unseen” Elyise answers.

“Best way to get crushed to death you mean!“

“The other side is safe” she replies as her powers methodically remove the debris pieces blocking the tunnel

“You know there’s not a single safe thing in here!” you say amazed that it’s you concerned about safety for once.

“Well we could always go back to the main entrance and knock,” she says smiling.

That’s a no-go. You took a brief peek at the facility, and the place is swarming with guards and cameras. Someone took the time and money necessary to restore most of the ruin and turn it to a death trap to infiltrators such as yourselves.

“This is a bad idea” you concede walking trough.

“Well it’s the only idea”

“Not sure if suicidal ideas count”

“Oh, they totally count believe me”

You have to turn back the night vision mode since the way ahead is pitch black. The tunnel Reaper’s console detected goes through several sections of different collapsed buildings. As you advance you go trough a ruined subway tunnel, then to a cracked apartment building corridor, then a set of bent scaffoldings on top of a seemingly bottomless pit and finally a collapsed staircase.

Advance is slow, as the way is littered by all manner of obstacles, random debris, furniture, and even some rusted cars. Elyise goes on ahead since her powers can clear the way.

“So how did you get involved in this mess?” you ask breaking the silence

“What do you mean?” she says

“You must have been following a different lead into the kidnappings?”

“Oh. Yeah, I have” She nods

“...so?”

“So what?”

“You’re not going to tell me?”

“Alright, hmm... Let’s just say I'm mostly interested in finding the villain behind this”

“Void or Psycopathor?” you ask

“Neither. Those two don’t normally assault hospitals for a living. They’re working for someone”

“And you know who that is?  

Elyise doesn’t answer, focused on clearing out a broken wall. You have to get into it and aid, pulling some rocks by hand to create a passage wide enough to come through.

The other side seems to be a store-room, pitch black, but relatively clean. Several boxes are piled up against a wall, bearing logos of pharmaceutical companies.

“We’re in” she states, hopping trough the crack and landing on her feet. You follow closely, studying the room.

“Ah, there she is” she says pointing to a graffiti on one of the walls. IT looks like a masked nun holding both hands together in prayer, in red paint. Some melted remains of candles lying on the floor next to it.

“What.. is that?” you say walking closer.

She takes a few seconds to answer that.

“Have you ever heard about… Mother?”

“Mother Superior you mean?” suddenly remembering the urban legend

“Same one,” she says walking on

“Yes, I’ve heard about her. Mostly that she doesn’t exist.”

“She exists,” she says pointing at the graffiti, which on closer inspection looks more like an improvised shrine ”And I’ve been after her for a very, very long time”

You struggle to keep up her phase as she turns and walks avoiding piles of boxes towards the door

“Alright. Let’s say she’s real. They say she has the power to save people from hero drug secondary effects. That she’s created of a lot of villains. And that her costume looks sort of like a nun.”

“You got two of those right”

“Which ones?”

“Her outfit does look like a nun. And she’s generated a lot of villains. But she doesn’t have powers”

“What? So how does she do it?”

“She’s a scientist. And she’s figured out how to calculate the odds anyone has for surviving hero drugs. All she does is find people with good chances and use them, then pretend she can do the same for everyone else ”

“If she can do that, why aren’t the pharmaceuticals doing it too?”

“What makes you think they aren’t? They just can’t talk about it, because hero-drugs are illegal outside labs and the military, and no one can be 100% accurate either.”

“Alright… so what is she to you?”

“It’s personal”

“So It’s all about her then? That’s why you contacted Reaper?”

“That, and Reaper is one of the few people who actually knew her”

“What? How?”

She sighs looking at you. “You ask a lot of questions, you know?”

“Well, I like to know what I'm up against”

“Alright fine. She’s been active since the ’70s. She worked on the original drug, became the pharmaceutical’s scapegoat and then pariah in the scientific community. So she went into the black market, providing aid to anyone wanting to take the drugs. Claimed she wanted to atone and end all hero-drug deaths with her illegal research. Lots of powerful people saw her as a saviour”

“So when did she meet Reaper then?”

“Rich guy wanting to take hero drugs? What did you think he just bought some in a dark alley? No way. He paid her a small fortune and she tested him in every way possible before he took them.”

You can sense her mind’s holding back something else. But now ‘s not the time to push.

“What’s your interest in this?”

“It’s personal too” you answer drily. They attacked the Hauswald hospital.”

“Oh. I saw those promos. Didn’t think it was more than publicity”

“Well, it is. They do amazing work there. I’m going to rescue those patients.”

“We are going to rescue the patients” she corrects.

“Hold!” you say in a hushed voice pulling her back behind a corner.

“W…” she mumbles before a pair of masked, robed figures, a man and a woman walk through the corridor you were about to go through.

“Hurry up! Mother needs these samples right now” the woman says moving forward as the man struggles to follow carrying several vials of fragile chemical samples

“What are they wearing?” you whisper. Dark robes, hoods, masks, metal necklaces…

“Sorry. When I told you she’s seen as a savior I should have actually said “Big and crazy cult-leader. Wherever she goes these guys follow. I’m not sure how are we going to get close enough to...”

“Hm... that’s going to be the easy part. Take this and follow me” you say before handing her a metal pipe from the floor before rapidly closing the distance towards the two cultists. You know your infiltration techniques well.

………………………………………………

“I think I'm allergic to this fabric” Elyise complains whiles scratching her neck under the stolen robe “And it smells funny too”

“Shush,” you say while scratching your own arm. You’re pretty sure you’re insulated under your nanomesh but somehow you’re feeling itchy as well.

Cultists seem to be wearing their own individual masks, so you and Elyise are just keeping your own costumes under the hoods. Your powers are making up for anyone noticing something odd, and this plan can actually fool the numerous security cameras as you go deeper into the facility. If you had known about these costumes before, you could have just walked through the main door.

Black curtains cover the next tunnel and a couple of guards wearing the powered suits stand at each side. They let you pass as soon as you present the samples they were expecting.

A stair opens up into a huge open room, probably the lunch area for the workers that used to work in the plant. Unlike the rest of the facility, it seems to be pretty much intact. It’s been refurbished as a small amphitheater, with numerous robbed figures attending some sort of event.

You instinctively raise your shields as you notice the giant standing over the improvised stage.

Psycopathor, talking to a few guards. He briefly looks your way but his gaze doesn’t linger. Whatever is going on it hasn’t begun yet and the audience is scattered talking among themselves.

“Let���s split… I think there’s a small bathroom there” she points to a line “I’ll get in and try to contact Reaper again, see if he could call the rangers You see if you can find the hostages?”

“Alright, we meet here in 15’t” you whisper back before walking into the crowd.

Performing a scan with so many people around is awful, but on the bright side, there’s little chance of Psycopathor noticing anything wrong since he must have the same problem. You end up sticking to a corner next to a chatty group after implanting the suggestion that you’re part of their clique.

Only as you wander through the minds of those around is that you begin to understand the scope of this “Cult”. THere’s not only the desperate but also the super-rich. Fanatics and working people looking for some excitement. The disillusioned mix with the optimists in Mother Superior’s cult as they all look up to her to do something that will change the world.

No. Not something. They want her to change their lives. Change them personally. Make them better… make them… the idea reveals itself as you dig deeper...

Boosted. The realization comes as a bucket of cold water. Every single person here hopes that Mother Superior will give them boosted powers without having to take any risks. That somehow she’ll magically make hero-drugs safe and let everyone realize their dreams. They have absolute faith in her plan.

All of their thoughts go in the same direction, and simply following the flow lets you find the mind you’ve been looking for. The cult leader.

“Found them?” the hand on your arm startles you bringing your mind back inside your skull as hard as a rock. “Sorry! Are you ok?”

“Yeah... I'm alright,” you mutter struggling to recover. Now’s not the time for a migraine. “Mother Superior’s behind the stage, and the hostages too. She’s about to start the show”

Mother Superior is behind the curtain on the stage where Psycopathor’s standing. Ready to start the show. The hostages are with her”

“The rangers are in the area but they’re having trouble tracking our location inside the facility and they don’t have Reaper’s tech. There must be some sort of jammer working here. We need to…”

“Everyone, be seated” Psycopathor interrupted her with a commanding voice aimed at the audience.

“This way,” Elyise says pulling you to the side behind a few columns and out of immediate sight as everyone heads for the stands.

The curtain opens, revealing a tall, thin masked figure. It is wearing a powered suit, but unlike the guards, Mother’s power suit looks really advanced. Behind her, in a semi-circle facing the audience are the hostages, tightly secured to rectangular slabs with medical tubes attached to each of them. All of the devices are connected to a central machine at Mother’s right side.

A large table stands by her left, full of… syringes with a blue transparent liquid. You almost choke as you realize what it is.

Hero drug doses. Hundreds, ready to use. You can sense the crowd looking at them as well, in anticipation.  

She steps forward, up to Psycopathor. Her suit seems to include a pair of mechanical arms with claws that seems deadly to anyone with skin. A faceless white mask with a golden crown on top of it looks onto the audience. The rest of the armor is covered by an elaborate black dress over it, though it’s layers are still revealed where it’s bare. You can tell high tech from miles away and this is top-notch.  She has clearly spent a fortune on it.

She taps something in her mask -possibly activating the mic- and speaks in a clear, warm voice. A distorter is clearly at work.

“My brothers and sisters! Thank you for joining us tonight. I know it is difficult to reach this spot, but it is what the government has reduced us to. Hiding in the shadows, while we struggle to perform the work that they have refused to do for decades. But we never surrender!”

The crowd cheers loudly at that.

“Thank you… thank you” she goes on as the cheering dies out. “Tonight, as was foretold by our precognitive allies, we take the first step towards a new beginning as a species! Yes, my brothers! The time for ascension has come!”

You’re not sure what “Ascension” means but when a madman speaks about it to a room full of fanatics over tables full of hero drugs it sounds really concerning.

“This…” she says motioning to the machine “...is the culmination of three decades of study on one particular problem. How to materialize a boost without risk to human life.” you can sense every single mind enthralled by her words “For a long, like others, I worked in perfecting the drugs themselves. It took me a long time to realize, there is nothing wrong with the chemistry of it. It is not the drugs, but the human body which is at fault. Only now, I have the means to correct this injustice!”

Two women whom you can only assume to be her lab assistants walk on stage and begin operating the device.

“Not every individual exposed to our holy drugs can produce every power. Each strand of DNA is unique and will react differently, we’ve known that for a long time. These individuals…” she now focuses on the hostages to her left “... each of them possesses unique DNA strands that prevent them from developing dozens deadly boost, the kind that would cause immediate death. These others…” she turns to the other half of them “...have each developed antibodies that make them immune to different hero drug reactions that would poison their bodies in a matter of hours. However, individually, none of them stand a chance to be immune to hero-drugs. They just have a better chance than average, that’s all.”

Your mind finally grasps the reason behind Void and Psycopathor’s kidnappings. They weren’t taking boosts at random... they only wanted ones with complete medical records for Mother’s crazy experiment. She’s truly the one behind this all.

“Oh no,” you whisper realizing what she’s about to do. Elyise frowns as Mother Superior’s exposition reaches its high point.

“However, if all of their uniqueness was to be combined into one individual,” she says as she approaches the seat by the central device “... then complete immunity would be achieved.”

“Shit,” Elyise says. She now realizes it too. The crowd has gone completely silent by now.

“You shall all be witness to my ascension. I will drain what I need from them, produce a hybrid DNA infusing their life energy with my own. I will make my body a temple ready to receive the gifts of our greatest evolutionary science!  Once I undergo Ascension, I will be Immune to the danger of our sacred Drugs. I will become more than human! I will be an angel from the heavens, able to take on as many powers as I choose to boost myself with… and I will invite everyone here to drink from this chalice  after me!”

The crowd erupts in deafening, fanatical cheering of their self-proclaimed savior angel.

“We, are made of light, and today, we all become better! Today, we all shine together! Today, we become gods!” she cries out to her followers.

Psycopathor seems interested as he observes… maybe he’s even considering it as well. Just what the world needs.

“She’s gone completely nuts. We need to stop her long enough for the rangers to get here” you say bringing Elyise back to earth.

“I’ll distract her. You just find a way to show the rangers the way.”

“Distract her? How are you going to…”

But she’s already walking towards Mother Superior, making her way through the crowd.

“You are not a prophet or an angel. You’re no savior! You’re just lying to all of these people! You will only bring death!!”

Mother stops her speech turning towards Elyise as she climbs the stairs onto the stage.

“So you wish to interrupt me, young one. Why don’t you tell us all your name?”

“Gladly!” she answers, removing the robes in a swift motion letting the crowd gasp at the reveal.

The villain studies her up and down.

“Elyise… I should’ve known. You’ve been tracking me and my church for years now.”

“Let me take care of her” Psycopathor says walking forward, ready to take her down right there. Elyise raises an arm preparing her powers, but Mother motions for Psycopathor to stop.

“Stop. Let the fool say her piece. This ought to be interesting” she says with soft laughter, the crowd focused completely on the stage. “I’m attempting to stop the killing and bring a new age of free access to boosted powers to mankind. What right do you have to stop me?”

“You’re insane, and you’re dangerous.  You are making everyone believe they can be boosted when you know it’s a lie! You hear me?” she speaks to the crowd ”She’ll just get you all killed!”

The crowd doesn’t respond the way she expects tough, eyeing her with hostility. They’ve bought Mother’s lies for a long time now to trust a complete stranger over her.

“You’re wrong, hero. No matter the lies of the government, I know everyone CAN be boosted, and I’m the one who will make it happen. Lead mankind into its next stage! It is the only logical consequence of human intellect. Artifical, endless, precious evolution”  

“You’re killing people! Is that part of  your vision too?”

“Necessary sacrifices! So-called Heroes like you have far more blood on your hands, and you will bring no end to the scourge of boosted deaths. Only I can make hero-drugs safe for everyone!”

“Your vision? Don’t make me laugh. You’re just a fake, a liar, and you are… you are...“ her voice breaks.

“And what.? Can’t even finish your own insults?” she says laughing again

“... you are a murderer!  A terrible person. And a horrible mother!” Elyise says defiantly, removing her mask.

Mother steps back clearly shocked, and uncomfortable silence lasting for a few seconds. “R.. Riley?!”

Wow. You knew something was up between those two but you didn’t see this coming... A second reveal?! And she’s her daughter? That’s just nuts.

No one stops you as you make your way to the control booth since as far as distractions go, Elyise has gone above and beyond.

“Elyise… Riley… Was that some sort of failed attempt at an anagram?” Mother seems to say finally regaining some momentum.  “Nevermind child… It doesn’t really matter. What do you expect to accomplish?”

“You know precisely what I’m doing. I’m ending this madness!”

“Selfish brat! Can’t see beyond yourself and your misguided feelings! You should be helping me! You know the importance of my work! Why I have to do this!”

“The only thing I ever learned from you is that you need to be stopped!”

“Stopped? You can stop me, ingrate! I’ve almost delivered my dream! After tonight, boosted deaths will be a thing of the past!!”

“And how many will you kill for this?” Elyise points at the hostages behind her “How many will it be this time Mother? Have you told them about your OTHER experiments? Have you showed them how many of them failed?!” she says turning to the cultists who look like they’re caught inside some sort of soap-opera dimension. Some do actually seem a bit unsure now.

“All will be will be worth it after tonight!” she says in a confident, reassuring, angelical voice.

“You experimented on me! Your own daughter!”

“I made you BETTER! That is what everyone wants. You just can’t appreciate the gift for what it is! If anything you’re proof of my abilities! You have some of the strongest powers i’ve ever given to anyone!”

You finally reach the tech-booth. As fascinating as this is, you need to actually tell Ortega where you are Elyise’s family reunion will go badly.

“Move,” you say holding a hand over the guy’s shoulder. Your tone is soft, but the mental command is irresistible. He simply stands and joins the others as they watch the scene, Elyise (Or Riley) and Mother throwing barbs at each other.

It takes a few moments to find the Jammer controls and deactivate it, setting up a beacon instead, hoping the rangers will find it. You manage to turn off the alarms too.

You focus on the rest of the systems and realize you can access Mother’s DNA machine from here. The computer shows the status of each of the hostages' slabs, and the patient's life signs are indeed dropping as the process has already begun some time ago. The devices must definitely be extracting something out of them and concentrating it on the central device for Mother’s “Ascension”.  You have to be quick, yet you’ve no idea how this. The first few attempts at canceling the extraction fail, as prompts immediately pop up stating that it can’t be done at this stage.

Your fingers race trough the keyboard exploring alternative routes and nothing seems to work until…

You can sense the mind standing behind you. Masked among the crowd, he approached knowing you’d be distracted. Your hand reaches for your targeting scrambler but he is faster, holding your wrist.

“Stay still and don’t do anything stupid. Nobody knows you’re here, at least not yet”

“Void” you grumble.

“Oh, not calling me Nath anymore Sidestep?” he says mockingly.

“Why are you helping madmen? I thought you were in it for the money”

“There is money in this. More than you’d possibly think”

“Well I'm stopping it,” you say ready to rain fists upon his face

“You’re too late. I’ve already done that” he says tapping the screen. Your gaze turns to it, and you can see one of the pods is reporting a critical error… and then another.. And another. All of the patient’s slabs are failing, one after another as the process reaches 50%. “I set a virus to shut it down after half of it is complete so Mother won’t be able to tell the difference. It’s going to be a blast when she fucks up her own DNA up on that machine for all her followers to see.”

“You sabotaged this?” you say incredulously “What’s your angle?”

“So many angles. I’ve been paid by Mother to help keep her base secure, I got paid by Psycopathor to help him on the kidnappings. Also, I'm getting paid by three different lobbies that want Mother’s illegal research into hero-drug immunity to fail publically. Big-Pharma shares would crumble if suddenly anyone could get boosted without risks And I’m keeping a copy of her research too, in case I need a bargaining chip later, so I might get paid again later If I find the right buyer. All in all, it’s been VERY good business to visit in this hell-hole.”

“So you’re betraying everyone at the same time. For an asshole, you’re really consistent. And you’re telling me this why?”

“Because I’m going to be extremely rich. So, rich, I could even afford to forgive you. One last chance. We could be a team again. Join me, we get out of here together, and forget about all that nonsense” he says motioning to the escalating confrontation

Your gaze falls upon Elyise, who’s keeping back a few cultists with a telekinetic shield as Mother commands them to capture her, then back to Void.

“You know I won’t do that”

He sighs and pats your back, which makes you cringe on the seat.

“Suit yourself. When you realize your mistake it’ll be too late... Anyways, I’m leaving. Between you and me, I don’t think Psycopathor will the patient once Mother’s big experiment fails, so if you want to save anyone I'd hurry up,” he says turning and walking away before disappearing as his cloaking device activates.

As he goes out of sight, Psycopathor steps forward, going through Elyise’s telekinetic barrier and punches her chest while Mother simple observes how her own daughter is sent flying into the crowd.

She sits on the central device’s chair, steepling both pairs of hands in a decidedly diabolical gesture.

“Beggin Ascension” she orders her assistants who promptly remove a piece of her armors back, needles coming into her exposed skin while Psycopathor jumps down the stage approaching the fallen hero. The crowd moves out of his way.

“Shitshitshitshit,” you let out before rushing to stand in his way, taking off your hood and robe, not very sure about what to do next as he stares at you with incredulity before giving you a murderous smile.

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

My fanfics: https://chaniters.tumblr.com/post/181692759294/my-fanfiction-for-fallen-hero

DISCLAIMER: This is a work of fan fiction using characters and the setting of the Fallen Hero: Rebirth and upcoming Fallen Hero: Retribution games written by Malin Riden. I do not claim ownership of any characters from the Fallen Hero wold. These stories are a work of my imagination, and I do not ascribe them to the official story canon. These works are intended for entertainment outside the official storyline owned by the author. I am not profiting financially from the creation of these stories, and thank the author for her wonderful game/s, without which these works would not exist.

[goffilolo]

Revival of Midoriya Izuku part 2

Well well well, its been 84 years hasn’t it? as always you can find the fic under the the same name on ao3. looking forward to the comments and notes

“I can’t believe you dragged me out before I could put on some of my best moves” whined Izuku as he fell into step with the doctor.

“See, the issue here is that there is no difference between your best and your worst moves” deadpanned Shin. “I was saving you from yourself” he added as an afterthought, while mentally praying (to whichever God that has yet to be killed by Izuku) for the safety and sanity of Izuku’s new crush.

It’s been a long day for both of them to say the least. What started off as a casual meet up for breakfast ended up becoming another one of Izuku’s shenanigans that got them both arrested. While that in itself is nothing new, this time they’ve been held up for much longer than usual, because of course they were.

The duo (or trio if you were to count the alleged dog) were currently on their way to Izuku’s house, as the doctor insisted on walking him home from the police station while his mom went in the opposite direction to buy some groceries for tonight’s dinner.

“Saving me?” scoffed Izuku “I think it’s a bit too late for that. But it doesn’t matter, I still have a chance.”

“How so?” asked Shin, with about 80% of disbelievement and 20% curiosity.

The question above has unfortunately unleashed Izuku’s Rant ™ mode.

“That guy mentioned coming back from an entrance exam. If we take into account all the schools that are within a relatively short distance from the police station, as well as the time he arrived, the only logical conclusion would be the UA exam that we KNOW took place today. Also he’s Tensei’s brother, which means he has to have a pretty good quirk so I don’t doubt he passed the entrance exam with flying colours. Do you know what that means Shin?!” asked the teen, with an excitement of a squirrel on 23 red bulls.

“It means that your stalker tendencies are making a comeback?” which apparently was the wrong answer as the doctor’s kneecaps soon found themselves becoming victims of Trash Bandit’s headbutting.

“NO!- I mean, yeah but-” stammered the boy “-the point IS that I know where to find him! Once the new school year starts I can just go to UA to see him whenever!”

“Uh-huh, and what about that teeny-tiny detail of, oh I dunno, YOU NOT ATTENDING UA, IN FACT YOU NOT ATTENDING SCHOOL AT ALL?!”

“First of all, don’t you fuckin use that tone with me Doc, you’re making it sound like I’m a drop-out” pointed Izuku “And second of all, how dare you assume that something as simple as a security system can come in the way of me getting laid.” Not to mention he has technically enrolled into a high school, whether or not he will actually attend is a different story.

“Why do I even bother?” lamented the doctor “I should’ve just kept you locked at the psych ward when I had the chance.”

“But ya didn’t!”

The two continued their usual banter, until they finally reached Izuku’s neighbourhood, at which point the boy took the pity on the bespectacled man and told him to go home, knowing that the man haven’t slept in the last 36 hours and that another 12 hour shift was awaiting him tomorrow morning.

“Oh shit, I do need to go home” mumbled Shin. “I didn’t get to call my wife when we were at the station.”

“What do you mean you didn’t get to call her?” asked Izuku, while trying to hide his surprise and disappointment at the doctor’s marital status, as it puts his matchmaking plans to an end before they would truly begin “Didn’t they give you one call to make?”

“Well yes, but it was a long day and I got hungry, so I ended up calling a takeaway instead.”

“You know Shin, I never thought I would say this about you, but BIG MOOD.”

It was only after they bid each other farewell and went their separate ways that Izuku has noticed something strange. He felt like he was being followed, and for once it wasn’t a quil induced paranoia (or maybe it was? kinda hard to tell these days), looking over to Bandit, he noticed that the sheep also seemed to be on guard. So it’s not just me then .

He made a subtle turn, trying to see if there there were any people behind him. In doing so he failed to notice the the sudden appearance of a tall figure in front of him and was thus more than unprepared for the incoming “ I AM HE-! ”

“BANDIT! ATTACK!”

What followed was a litany of confused screams and vengeful sheep noises enveloped in a spontaneous cloud of smoke, which Izuku threw his axe at, because that is now his go-to solution for any problem. If he wasn’t already so startled by the whole situation he probably would’ve noticed that said cloud of smoke was vaguely All-Might shaped, at least before the sheep was added to the equation. As the smoke began to dissipate it revealed a tall, skeletal figure of a man who looked like if one of those ugly ragdolls you find at goodwill stores came to life. The man in question barely managed to stop the incoming axe using his bare hands, keeping the blade in a karate chop like hold, which would’ve been impressive if it wasn’t for the fact that Trash Bandit was hanging off the man, chewing on his blond his hair. So to say that the current situation was confusing would be a big understatement.

“Who the fuck are you?!” asked Izuku, playing up his ‘good cop/bad cop’ act, except the good cop went and killed himself 9 months prior by smashing his head open against a koi pond, because that’s how it always is within the world of criminal justice; the good ones die too young. Doesn’t matter, Bandit can play a cop, whether he’d be good is questionable, but he’d still a better job than like 90% of the police force he dealt with so far. Except Tsukauchi, he’s a good bitch, far to overworked and underpaid for his job. He’s perfect. Him and Shin would be perfect together, if the doctor wasn’t married that is. Wait, what was he saying?

Oh yeah.

“I asked who the fuck are you” he repeated while pulling out his backup axe out of his yellow backpack “And I don’t like to repeat myself, especially to some old, creepy guys who seem to think it’s ok to go around following underage boys” he explained as he waved his weapon in an unspoken threat.

Which seemed to do the trick as the stranger started to fumble around looking for an excuse and a way to pull the sheep off his hair.

“Aah, sorry about the misunderstanding! We’ve met briefly during the villain attack earlier today. What you did back there was incredible young man!”

“Yeah yeah, pretty sure I would remember meeting a guy who looks like he’s one step away from dropping dead, now answer my question. WHO THE FUCK ARE YOU?”

The man seemed to hesitate as he looked around to make sure no other people were around, which was dumb given that they were still very much in a public place “It’s kinda complicated” he said eventually, like the bullshitter he probably was.

“Look bitch, my whole life is ‘complicated’ ” exclaimed Izuku using obnoxious air quotes “So out with it!”

“What I’m about to tell you is extremely confidential” replied the man, with the grave seriousness of someone who’s about to reveal to their own son after ten years of absence that they’re a mercenary, and yes he is getting personal, fuck you “Under no circumstances are you allowed to tell anyone about my identity-”

“Your fuckin’ secret is safe with my indifference” deadpanned the boy.

The man sighed and took a tentative step back. Once again a cloud of smoke enveloped him. It disappeared almost as soon it came, revealing a figure of no-other than motherfuckin’ All Might.

“I suppose this form is more memorable , isn’t that right young Midoriya?” asked the man, as if he wasn’t a goddamn living legend revealing his secret identity to a kid whose hobbies include committing felony, ravaging through junkyards; and being gay.

“JESUS FUCK! You can’t just DO THAT! Revealing your secret to a random civilian? What the hell All Might, you had too much dumb bitch juice or what?” screamed Izuku, or rather ‘whisper screamed’ as he was trying to juggle scolding his ‘used-to-be role model’ and having an internal meltdown over scolding his ‘used-to-be role model’! To say that the situation he found himself in was bizzare would’ve been an understatement.

After all, it’s not everyday that you meet a man whose very face was a reminder of all the things you could not have, and the person you never got to be. He felt wronged, like the universe has robbed him of an opportunity, except that is not the case as there was nothing to steal to begin with. Still, that vicious little voice inside his head that always whispered ‘you can’t do this’, ‘you can’t have this’ in a poor imitation of Kacchan became almost bearable over time. Almost , being the key word. It became less of an insistent, self-deprecating chant it once was, and slowly morphed into something akin to a static noise from those old TVs; quiet and ever so slightly inconvenient at best, but otherwise unnoticeable unless one deliberately thought about it. And now, being forced to face All Might, Izuku could hear that voice louder than ever before, reminding him of what a failure he used to be, how naive he used to be and ‘did you really believe you could ever compare yourself to him? ’

“Actually, you know what? Nevermind” he continued, hoping to carry the conversation enough to distract him from his own thoughts “Just...why did you want to talk to me? After what happened?”

“Ah, yes! What you did during that villain attack was incredible my boy, reckless but incredible” exclaimed All Might, with the casualness of someone remarking on unusually nice weather despite his overly enthusiastic tone “It’s been a long time since I’ve seen such honest bravery, especially from someone as young as yourself. Even when faced with a villain that other heroes did not dare to go up against, you still ran head first towards the danger, despite lacking any power yourse-” and his inspirational ramble got interrupted by a bloody cough and YET ANOTHER cloud of smoke, reverting him back to his skeletal form.

“Ok yeah- I get it! I’m awesome, the baddest bitch in the town and whatever the fuck, but CAN YOU PLEASE stop coughing up blood?”

All Might continued to wheeze for another minute or so, while Izuku and by extension Bandit were fretting over him.

“I apologise, my health is not what it used to be”

“I can tell”

“You see, 6 years ago I was fighting this one villain-”

“No, stop- don’t care” interrupted Izuku as he waved his hands in a dismissive manner “Please spare me the unnecessary narrative exposition, everyone already knows the story.”

“Who is ‘everyone’? And what are you talking about?” asked All Might in utter bewilderment.

“ Oh, you know ” says Izuku, addressing the reader more so than answering All Might.

That answer explained exactly nothing, but All Might was willing to let it drop and move onto the actual reason for his sudden presence, which if he was being honest with himself he was already regretting.

“Midoriya my boy” he said instead “The reason I wanted to speak to you is because I have a proposition for you...”

“Goddamnit! I knew it!” exclaimed Izuku in a sarcastic, yet over dramatic manner not unlike the characters from Shin’s favourite telenovelas “I knew you were a dirty bastard all along, picking up boys off the streets, using your hero persona to gain their trust-”

“I beg your pardon?!” shouted All Might, ever so scandalised as he did not catch onto Izuku’s joke.

“Then beg” deadpanned Izuku.

Making fun of the number one hero was all nice and good in Izuku’s opinion, but the man did seek him out for a particular reason and they’ve been loitering around the neighbourhood long enough. It was about the time to stop the jokes and get to the point.

“Ok ok, jokes aside, what do you want?”

“I want you to be a hero”

Ouch, too fuckin’ soon.

“Uhm, I don’t know how to tell you this you All Mighty fool but that’s not gonna happen” replied Izuku, utterly unimpressed and very much ready to start crying at any point now “I’m a ‘quirkless nobody’ remember?”

“That can be changed” announced the man, with such conviction that Izuku was almost willing to believe it, despite the ridiculousness of the statement.

“I don’t think it can”

“My quirk is rather unusual, in a way that it can be passed onto another person. I was also quirkless before it was passed onto me and so-”

Oh, no, no no - no fuckin’ way, this is not happening! He knows where this shit is going-

“-due to my health it’s about time for me to find a successor”

“All Might” said Izuku, his voice trembling in fear of what was coming “Don’t, please don’t ask me that question” because he couldn’t bear to hear it, the possibility that was all but wasted, that came far too late, that he let go off before it even presented itself-

“I want you to be a hero” repeated the man.

Instead of an answer, All Might received a pitiful wail.

Because it wasn't fair, wasn’t fair at all. Izuku knew that life wasn’t fair, the fact learnt and ingrained deep within his soul since the day he received the diagnosis. And yet THIS was a new height of cruelty all together, it made Kacchan’s remarks seem like light teasing in comparison. It took everything he once deeply desired, but couldn’t have. Everything he had to give up on that rainy afternoon 9 months ago in order to put himself back together after falling apart for something he could never have; it took all of that and dangled it in front of him like a cheap bait. It was pure mockery. It made his blood boil. So much so that he could do nothing but cry and fall on his knees.

“You know -sob- if you made that offer a year ago, I probably would’ve said yes”

“And now?”

“And now” he whispered in between the sobs “And now I’m gonna ask you to fuck off!”

“Why?” asked All Might, completely stunned by the boy’s reaction.

“BECAUSE I CAN’T DO IT!” screamed Izuku, like a wounded animal that he very much looked like “ I CAN’T BE A HERO, NOR DO I WANT TO BE ONE, NEVER AGAIN!”

It was all too much, far too much, he needed to leave, leave this conversation, leave this man, leave this thought and never look back.

He slowly stood back up, Bandit ever so faithfully waiting at his side holding one of his axes in his mouth like a dog who proudly brings the morning newspaper to their human. Still, it felt wrong to leave without saying anything else, especially considering All Might’s bewilderment.

“I-” and he wasn’t even sure how to explain himself “I always wanted to be a good person and help people, don’t get me wrong, but-”

“But?”

“-but I’ve learnt that being a hero and doing the right thing are two very different things” he stated, remembering the words of his father; words far too powerful, presence far too brief. “Being a ‘hero’ no longer stands for the bravery, nobility and selflessness. It used to, but now it’s merely a job title; a dangerous job yes, but it’s just a job. Originally all real heroes were vigilantes, weren’t they? They took the risk for the sake of doing the right thing, regardless of what the law said, and now heroes are just glorified cops” he ranted.

For a moment Izuku thought he said enough, but there was another thing; a personal thing , even more personal than the whole ‘failed dream’ and ‘existential crisis’ business.

“You said you used to be quirkelss as well, didn’t ya?”

The man in question nodded, not sure where this is going.

“So tell me, the great All Might” exclaimed Izuku as he approached the hero, spitting his name like it was a curse “Why did you accept that quirk?”

The man stood still, staring at Izuku, as if looking long enough will tell his the correct answer.

“Did you want to be a hero? Or did you want to do the right thing?”

“I-”

Ok, so maybe abruptly leaving All Might in the middle of the empty street wasn’t the smartest thing he’s ever done, but Izuku never denied being a dumbass so fuck him sideways. He was far too worked up for all of this bullshit. The day already turned to shit with the whole sludge fiasco and now the universe decided to test his patience and sanity (which he did not have much of anyway). Although he is a little glad that he left before he could dish out some of the more vicious things he had in stock, like calling All Might a ‘quirkless sellout’, or anything else of that variety as long as it got the point across. Sure he promised to keep the man’s secret, but he never promised to be nice about it, because fuck him, he can still do good things and help people, even without a quirk.

The point was that he was bitter, which ok, nothing new, but he was particularly bitter about the whole quirkless thing. It wasn’t so much that he thought of himself as worthless, those days were long over for the most part thanks to months of therapy. It was All Might’s offer that felt like a slap to the face.

Regardless of his current views on heroism he had potential , and isn’t that how the whole thing started? All Might approached him because he saw potential…

A potential that couldn’t be of much use without a quirk.

And didn’t that fuckin hurt.

He suddenly regretted burning the entirely of his All Might merch right after being discharged from the hospital, because now he had nothing left to destroy.

Nevertheless he dropped Bandit off at home - his mother already there, working on tonight’s dinner - and made his way to the Dagobah beach, or what was left of it anyways. During the past 9 months he became more restless; even with homeschooling he had far too much free time than he knew what to do with, which partially resulted in his shenanigans, but it also resulted in looking for a place where he could just be . His mother, bless her soul, was far too overbearing at times despite her good intentions and Izuku was a bit more than fed up with hearing “Are you ok?” every twenty minutes like a goddamn clockwork.

And so he started visiting the local beach, which hasn’t looked like a beach in a long time, as people began to dump their junk there years ago. Bad for the environment, great for Izuku’s need for solitude.

As he entered the beach grounds and began to stumble through the usual mountains of trash he greeted the few people who usually hanged around the place, one of them being the ‘Florida woman’.

Florida woman was not her actual name, but he never asked and she never told him. All he knew was that she was from Florida and that she frequented the trash beach grounds, because it was the only place empty enough where she could take her pet crocodile out on a walk without people screaming in terror at the giant reptile. The crocodile in question, named Cracksaw was lovely and much more obedient than Bandit, he couldn’t understand why people made such a big deal about it.

Another beach regular was Hitoshi, who Izuku met in a cat cafe last year. The guy looked like a lovechild of a zombie and one of those tiny troll dolls from the early 2000s, although Izuku’s hair is just as much of a mess, so he probably can’t judge. Hitoshi was also applying to UA’s hero course and so they originally agreed to meet up this morning so that Izuku could give him some words of ‘encouragement’ or whatever the fuck it is friends are supposed to say. However, since Izuku got caught up in an impromptu fight with a villain he wasn’t able to meet him in the morning.

“Where have you been this morning?” asked Hitoshi.

“Fighting a villain” replied Izuku, ever so casually.

“I can’t tell whether you’re joking or not”

“It’s better if you don’t”

Which is how most of their exchanges went anyway. The less they know about you the better afterall, at least according to the Florida woman. Nevertheless he got caught up in a bit of a smalltalk with Hitoshi, asking about how he did at the exam and so on.

“And so we’re all sitting here, the presentation is just about to start and suddenly the door slams open and some guys runs in-” remarks Hitoshi, more excited than Izuku has seen him in a long time, which to be fair doesn’t say much, because he still looks like he has a serious case of a tired bitch face “- foaming out of his mouth and muttering about fighting a sheep. For a moment I thought you had something to do with it, but the guy looked like he had rabies”

“It’s not rabies, that’s just his personality” replied Izuku, fully aware that he did in fact had everything to do with this, but was not willing to give out anymore details.

“All right, then. Keep your secrets.”

“Oh buddy, I sure will.”

[purpleswans1]

Izuku’s Feud with the Yakuza

Another addition to my Villain!Izuku AU. For Villain Month day 11. The prompt is redemption, but I think I used the prompt very liberally... BTW this is the second time I’ve posted this section, I wasn’t able to format the original correctly, and my computer complained every time I tried to edit it to add links.

Read also on FF and AO3

It all started with what was supposed to be an easy robbery.

Izuku had noticed a certain casino with an unusual security system. He’d suspected that it had some less-than-legal activities going on behind closed doors, but didn’t consider the implications of that until it was too late.

A couple of days before they planned to rob the casino, Toga had stealthily extracted blood from a random businessman. It was just a small syringe, small enough that the target wouldn’t notice what the girl who bumped into him was doing, but large enough to get the blood Toga would need for 2 hours of transformation.

Now, Toga was walking towards the seedy casino disguised as the businessman, pretending that she was stressed and wanted to gamble.

“Just got my paycheck, now all I need is to play the odds and I’ll get enough to retire!” She gruffly told the man in line behind her.

“I thought I told her to stay inconspicuous,” Izuku said even though there was no way for Toga to hear him. “We don't want them to notice anything is different, and we definitely don’t want them paying attention to her.”

“She’ll be fine,” Uraraka insisted. “Toga’s used to this kind of stuff.”

“I know, I know.” Izuku said. “Just remind me to get her some inconspicuous communication device for her to wear so I can give her instructions when she’s on missions like this.”

Dabi raised his eyebrows. “You mean like a cell phone? We’re already using that.”

He was right. The audio Izuku was currently hearing came from Toga’s phone, which she had called Izuku with before they started. Izuku’s phone was currently on mute.

“I mean like an earpiece,” Izuku explained. “I may make one hidden as an earring, but I’d prefer one that was either invisible or flesh-colored.”

Around that time, Toga wandered into the casino and started to scope out the place. Izuku had told her to find the security room, where all the security and bank information would be. There wasn’t a door directly in the back, but there was a side door that wasn’t as well decorated as the other doors, so she decided to start with that one.

The door opened to stairs leading down. Toga followed the stairs to the bottom, where she saw a crowd of people surrounding a large metal cage. She couldn’t see what was going on, but there were a lot of growling sounds. To the side, she saw several dogs packed into too-small cages, covered in matted fur, flees, and blood.

Poor puppies. They look so cute covered in blood, but they also look miserable, Toga thought. I’ll ask Izuku if I could release them as a distraction.

On the other side of the room, she saw another door. None of the patrons where passing through it, but she did see a security guard use a keycard to open it.

Bingo.

Near a side wall, Toga found a broom closet. She grabbed one of the brooms and went to linger in the shadows on one side. After a few minutes, another security guard came her way.

As soon as he’d passed her, Toga hit him on the head with the broom handle. Swiftly, she caught the unconscious guard and dragged him into the broom closet, shutting the door behind her.

It was a cramped, dark space, but at least it was private.

She pulled out her phone to give Izuku and update. “I’ve knocked out one of the security guards. I’ll take some of his blood and his security card, which should let me in the back room.”

On his end, Izuku turned off mute. “Good job. Find some way to clear out the room, then put us on speaker.”

“I will,” She confirmed.

Toga emptied the contents of her fake-clothes pockets, including a trusty pocket knife. She used the knife to make a small cut in the guard’s arm. Several drops of blood decorated the cut, and she was quick to lap them up.

A few moments later, Toga left the broom closet, now looking like a security guard in this place. She easily slipped the security card in the slot and opened the door to a room filled with computers.

Two other security guards were watching monitors in the room. Well, no big deal.

Toga pretended to be relieved. “I’m so glad I found you guys! The boss is upstairs, he wants to speak to you.”

The two others looked up with wide eyes. “Overhall is here?” one asked.

Toga had no idea who that was, but nodded anyway.

The other security guard stood up. “Come on Kaname, I’ll show you to the private rooms. I only hope that he’s in a forgiving mood.”

Once the two had left the room, Toga sat down at one of the monitors and pulled out her phone.

“Okay Izuku, you’re on speaker,” she said after putting it on speaker.

“Good. Put the flashdrive I gave you in any of the desktops. If there are multiple computers there, you may have to try several, but I’ll be able to check each of them individually.”

Toga took the flashdrive out and did as she was asked. Shortly afterwards, the mouse on her monitor started moving on its own, bypassing passwords and opening programs all over the place.

Izuku’s tech skills are really great, Toga thought.

Eventually, Izuku spoke through the phone once again. “Okay, I’ve found the accounts. Let me just transfer the money, shouldn’t take more than a minute. By the way, do you know anything about these “kennels” that have cameras?”

“Oh, that must be for the doggies being kept here. That reminds me, can I try to free them as a distraction before I get away?”

“Did you say that there are dogs being kept there?” Uraraka asked. “Why would they…”

“They were all covered in blood, but looked really miserable. Can I, Izuku?” Toga asked again.

“Dogfighting,” Izuku said. He sounded like he was seething, something she’d only seen him do around Shigaraki before. “That’s what they’re doing behind closed doors. Don’t worry Toga, we’ll help the dogs escape. I think I can unlock their cages from here.”

“Yay!” Toga said. She spun around in her chair, which led to her eyes catching something on the floor in the corner of the room. “Hey guys? I think I found a safe.”

“What kind of safe is it?” Izuku asked.

Toga walked over to the safe and kneeled down. “Just a standard turning dial. Should I try to open it?”

“Leave it. We don’t know the combination, and I don’t want you to make noise trying to break it.”

Toga looked at a little slip of yellow she saw on the side of the safe. “There’s a sticky note here with the number 5, 15, 25 on it.”

“...In that case, go ahead and try it.”

Toga tried it. The safe opened.

“Well, there’s a few stacks of cash in here, as well as a gun with amo. Want me to take it all?”

“Wow, yeah, please do.”

Toga grabbed an empty briefcase from the floor and started shoving the money in it. “You got it, Izuku.”

“Good. Okay, the money has finished transferring. I’m going to open the kennels in a moment. Get the flashdrive, get out quickly, and take the long way to our hideout. Got it?”

Toga closed the briefcase, stood up, and grabbed her phone. “Got it.”

Outside the door, she could hear the clang of metal, followed by loud barks and screams. She pulled out the flashdrive and calmly power-walked out of the casino. When she passed the broom closet, she stealthily dropped the access card so her victim could find it later.

She got away scot-free, or so they thought.

--------

The next day, Izuku pulled out the new gun and ammo Toga had brought back. He wanted to sit on their new funds for a couple of days, but Toga had demanded a present for completing the job, so he gave her some cash to go shopping. Spinner had decided to join her and get some fresh air. Dabi had gone out to find another place they could make their hideout, since Izuku didn’t want to stay in someplace that All For One technically owned any longer than necessary. The only people still in the hideout were Uraraka and Izuku.

Izuku studied the gun. It was very similar to what he was used to: semi-automatic pistol with 12 in the clip and 1 in the chamber. The bullet size wasn’t the 9mm he used with his usual gun, so he’d have to keep a couple on hand to compare when he restocked. Still, there were enough in the box that once he’d loaded the clip half the box was still left.

He pushed the clip in and made sure the safety was on before walking away with the gun. “Uraraka, I’m going to shoot in the basement,” he shouted to the only other person in the house.

Uraraka looked up from the computer she’d been watching videos on. “Oh, okay. Want me to come with you?”

Izuku shook his head. “It’ll be loud, and all I’m doing is shooting at tin cans. Not the most interesting training, to be honest.”

Uraraka shrugged. “If you say so.”

Izuku descended the steps to the basement. He wasn’t sure why this particular warehouse had a basement, especially one this big, but he was grateful for it. The basement stretched out far beyond the boundaries of the building and probably even several blocks, giving Izuku a long concrete tunnel that suited him just fine as a shooting gallery.

He’d already set up makeshift targets from old tin cans about 10 feet from the entrance, so all he had to do was aim and shoot.

Bang!

The first bullet missed, significantly to the right of the target. Izuku was about to shoot another round, but he noticed some discoloration on the ground where the bullet hit.

He walked up to the target. The trajectory of the bullet was marked by a deep read, similar to blood. The bullet had traveled quite a distance, but it wasn’t hard for Izuku to find it on the ground several feet from the target. The bullet had split along the sides and squished on impact, opening up like a metallic flower.

Along the splits, Izuku found a thick, red liquid.

It it is blood, Toga will be able to tell.

Izuku decided to store the bullet in a plastic bag so Toga could look at it later. He was walking up the stairs to store it when he heard a loud noise from upstairs.

Izuku ran up to see what was going on.

Two men were standing in the entranceway, having thrown the front door off its hinges. They were both wearing plague masks. One was a large wall of muscles with long white hair. The other had black hair, but didn’t look particularly imposing. Izuku knew enough about the world of villains to know the smaller man was probably the greater threat, especially with his air of superiority.

Uraraka was standing in front of the unexpected guests. “What do you think you’re doing?” she demanded. “Who do you think you are?”

The smaller man spoke first. “I am Overhaul, the leader of the Eight Precepts of Death.”

Izuku had heard that name before and laughed. “The Yakuza? Come on, you don’t seriously think anyone is scared of you gangsters anymore!”

Overhaul’s eyes jumped to Izuku and narrowed. “You’re going to regret that. We originally came for retribution and to return the items you stole from our casino, but now you’ve insulted our honor.”

Izuku only rolled his eyes and laughed harder. “You really need to increase your security there, by the way. A sticky note with the lock combination right next to the safe? Really?”

Overhaul turned to his companion. “Kendo, teach him a lesson.”

Kendo, the larger man, nodded. “Sure thing, boss.”

Kendo took off running towards Izuku, but he only took a couple of steps before Uraraka flew towards him and knocked him back. Her air-powered jet shoes shot both her and Kendo into the opposite wall.

Izuku was glad he’d gotten her into the habit of wearing her support equipment all the time, even when resting.

A single hand hold followed by throwing the large man into the air ensured that Uraraka had the upper hand in the fight. It was hard for people with physical quirks to attack with zero gravity.

“Tck,” Overhaul turned to Izuku again. “I’ll just do it myself then.” He then took off running towards Izuku.

Shit, Izuku realized. I have no idea what their quirks are.

He turned and led his attacker to the other side of the room. Overhaul followed, gradually gaining distance. Considering how much Izuku had trained this was rather impressive, but not impressive enough to be his quirk.

When Overhaul was a few seconds from touching Izuku, he snagged Toga’s favorite pillow from a nearby bed and blocked Overhaul’s touch with it.

The pillow scattered into a million fragments, feathers and threads flying everywhere and hindering both fighter’s views. Izuku took the opportunity to jump on top of a table and climb up a shelf just out of Overhaul’s reach.

It’s a good thing he did, since a few seconds later the pillow miracuously came together again.

“Ah, so that’s how your quirk works,” Izuku said. “You’re able to deconstruct and reconstruct things you touch, correct?”

Overhaul glared at Izuku. “Yes, but you should know that’s not my only trick.”

Quick as a flash, Overhaul pulled a gun out of his jacket and fired at Uraraka. Right after impact, she fell.

“URARAKA!”

“Don’t worry, she should recover with time.” Overhaul said.

Izuku didn’t care. He’d forgotten until now, but he was still holding the new gun. Without thinking, he fired it at Overhaul.

It missed the heart by a wide margin, but still hit the Yakuza boss’s side.

Overhaul winced in pain, but surged forward to touch the shelf Izuku was standing on.

Nothing happened.

Overhaul raised his eyebrows. “Oh? So you’re already using those bullets?”

Izuku had no idea what he was talking about, but pretended he did and said, “Yes. They’re very useful.”

Overhaul gave Izuku a calculating gaze.

“Oi! What happened here? Get away from my friends!”

A flash of blue flames shot across the room and forced Overhaul to back away.

Dabi was standing in the destroyed entranceway, looking as effortlessly casual as usual.

Overhaul’s eyes shifted between Izuku, Uraraka (who had started to stand up again), Dabi, and Kendo. He must have realized he’d lost the advantage.

“Kendo, we’re leaving.”

“But Boss, I wanted to rough them up more!” Kendo said.

“You’ll get another chance,” Overhaul said, “But for now, we have more important things to do.”

Izuku couldn’t resist the urge to snort.

Overhaul gave him one last look. “You’re getting away with it now, but don’t you dare consider stealing from the Eight Precepts of Death again. You will regret it.”

He then turned and led Kendo out the door, brushing shoulders with Dabi on the way out.

Once they were out of sight, Izuku climbed down from the shelf.

“I’m gone for a few hours and you guys manage to get in a fight,” Dabi said. “Seriously, who were those thugs?”

“The Eight Precepts of Death, the Yakuza organization that owned the casino from yesterday,” Izuku explained.

Dabi sighed. “Only you could accidentally piss off he Yakuza. I thought those organizations had lost power with the age of quirks?”

“You and me both,” Izuku walked over where Uraraka was clutching her calf. “How bad is it?”

“Not bad, at least, I think.” Uraraka said, biting her lip “It’s just a graze, but something still feels off…” She leaned down and touched her shoes. “My quirk… It’s not getting lighter. I think my quirk stopped working!”

Izuku frowned. That was worrying, but might explain why Overhaul wasn’t able to finish the job after Izuku shot him. If the bullets these Yakuza used were the same as the ones Toga picked up yesterday, then Overhaul must have lost his quirk when Izuku shot him. The fact that Overhaul didn’t seem too worried about this meant that Uraraka was probably going to be okay eventually.

“Come on, let’s get that bandaged up.” Izuku lead her over to the couch. “Dabi, did you find a new place?”

“Yeah, there’s an old house for sale about 10 minutes from here. It’s not in the best shape, but should only cost us about half of what we got from the casino job,” Dabi explained. “I guess you want to move sooner rather than later?”

“Yes. I’ll move the money through a couple of dummy accounts to make sure they can’t trace it, but we should be able to buy the new place by this evening.” Izuku said, pulling out some bandages to wrap up Uraraka’s leg.

“Well, you should make sure they can’t track us there with whatever they used to find us here,” Dabi said. He noticed the box of bullets on the table. “Hey, are those from yesterday?”

Izuku looked at what Dabi was talking about. “Yes. I was trying out the gun this morning, but I’m starting to think there’s something special about those bullets.”

Dabi emptied the box onto the table. Bullets rolled around the table and fell on the floor, but Dabi was only interested in the empty box.

He shoved the empty bullet box under Izuku’s nose. “Doesn’t that look like an electronic tracker?”

A small red light was blinking at the bottom of the box. There wasn’t much encasing it, but it should be enough for a little circuitry.

Izuku scowled. “You’re right. Do me a favor and destroy it?”

A puff of blue flames later and it was done.

------

Izuku had planned a while ago on meeting with a local support gear supplier to refill Uraraka’s air canisters, order more syringes for Toga, and get more bullets for himself. However, the morning after they moved hideouts he didn’t start the meeting with any of those requests.

Instead, he slapped a wad of cash on the table. “I’ll give you all this right now if you can tell me the location of the Eight Precepts of Death’s headquarters.

The supplier raised an eyebrow, but was more than happy to provide that information.

----------

“You know, all this sneaking around is more of Toga’s thing,” Dagi said. “Why didn’t we bring her?”

“She wanted to look after Uraraka,” Izuku reminded him. “Besides, we shouldn’t need her quirk for this.”

About a week after the confrontation with Overhaul in the old warehouse, Uraraka had gotten her quirk back but still wasn’t in fighting shape. Izuku would never say how relieved he was when she made her blanket float by accident, but getting shot in the leg would put her out of condition for a while longer. Toga had felt so guilty for not checking for trackers when she brought stuff home, so she’d gone above and beyond to make Uraraka’s recovery as comfortable as possible.

Izuku, though, had thrown himself into getting revenge on the Eight Precepts of Death and Overhaul. A few innocent questions to the local small-time villains and Izuku had gathered plenty of information on both the major members and their business practices. Apparently they were trying to dominate the underground again using drugs that enhanced and removed quirks, and held a monopoly on both quirk enhancers and the quirk-erasing bullets.

To be honest, it kind of reminded Izuku of how All For One had maintained a stranglehold on villain society for so many years by taking and giving quirks as he saw fit. Izuku knew how much power that could potentially bring, and wanted to make sure the Yakuza couldn't keep it.

Or, better yet, he wanted to take it for himself.

That was why Dabi, Spinner, and Izuku were here now, sneaking into the Eight Precepts of Death’s compound. Toga had given all three of them training on hiding their presence, so they should be able to slip in undetected and destroy the supply of drugs and special bullets. Hopefully they'd get some critical manufacturing equipment as well. Even better, Izuku was hoping to take pictures of their bullet-making process so he could reverse-engineer it.

Spinner, who had been crawling on the ceiling until now, dropped down in front of Izuku and Dabi. “There’s a door to the left,” he whispered.

Izuku nodded. “Let’s check it out.”

Just around the corner where spinner had said, Izuku found a closed door. It wasn’t locked. He opened it, but what he saw made him stop in his tracks.

It was a little girl’s room. Izuku had expected to find a stockpile of weapons, drugs, or the labs they’d use to make those things. Instead, he saw a rainbow painting, dolls strewn all over the floor, and a pink bed.

On the bed, a little girl with a horn looked at Izuku with fear in her eyes.

“A-are you… Is he…” The girl was trembling, but tried to voice her question. “Does he need to unmake and remake me again?”

Unmake and remake? Izuku wondered. That sounds like Overhaul’s quirk...

Suddenly, what she was saying clicked in Izuku’s mind.

“Dabi, Spinner, go on ahead. Take pictures of anything you think I’d be interested in, and destroy any stockpiles you can find.” He said.

Izuku heard the two of them leave, but didn’t take his eyes off the girl. He walked slowly towards her, holding out his hand.

“Don’t worry, I’m not with Overhaul,” he said. “My name’s Izuku, what’s yours?”

The girl looked at his hand wearily and didn’t move. Eventually, her quiet voice said, “I’m Eri.”

Izuku gave her a comforting smile. “Hello Eri. Do you mind if I sit next to you?”

Eri did not respond, so Izuku went ahead and sat on the bed.

“Does Overhaul unmake and remake you a lot?” he asked.

Eri looked down at her hands, but eventually nodded.

“I’m sorry to hear that. I’m sure it must be painful.” Izuku reached a comforting hand out and gave her a one-armed hug.

Surprisingly, Eri didn’t flinch. She actually started to lean into his arm some more.

“Do you want to leave here?”

Eri looked up at Izuku in surprise. “I.. Can I leave?”

Izuku gave her a comforting smile. “If you want, I can take you away from here. There’s already five people in one house so it might not be as comfortable as you’re used to, but at least Overhaul won’t hurt you anymore.”

Eri clutched his hand, holding onto it with more strength than he thought her small body could muster. Her eyes were wide with hope. “Please, please, please! I don’t want to be unmade anymore!” She was on the edge of sobbing.

Izuku held her close, shushing her. Looking at Eri, he couldn’t help but remember when he was young and All For One had just taken him in. Did he tremble in fear as much as Eri?

No, he probably hadn’t. All For One hadn’t been actively torturing him.

Izuku tightened her arms around Eri and lifted her off the bed. She was so light, Izuku suspected she’d been malnourished.

“Try to be quiet,” he whispered. “I don’t want anyone to notice what I’m doing.”

Eri nodded and put a finger to her lips, the universal symbol for “quiet.”

And so, Izuku walked out of the Eight Precepts of Death’s facility with a little girl in tow, leaving Dabi and Spinner to destroy the drugs and bullets.

For some reason, they weren’t able to find the process to make quirk-destroying bullets.

---------

“Aw, aren’t you the cutest thing!” Uraraka squealed at the sight of Eri.

Dabi, on the other hand, gave Izuku a hard look. “Izuku, why did you have to take her home?”

Izuku rubbed the back of his head sheepishly.

“Aw, Dabi, you’re just jealous that she’s so cute!” Toga said.

“Umm…” Eri fidgeted with her nightgown. “I’m sorry, I don’t want to be a burden…”

“No, no, no you’re not a burden!” Uraraka said. “Dabi’s just being a stick in the mud. By the way, it doesn't look like Izuku brought any of your clothes with you. Would you like to get some new clothes?”

Eri fiddled with her nightgown some more. “If you want.”

“Hm… you can’t go to the store in that nightgown…” Toga considered. “Oh, I’ve got it! Eri, come with me real quick.”

Toga led the tiny girl up the stairs to the bedrooms.

Once the girl was out of earshot, Izuku turned to Dabi. “Overhaul has been using his quirk on her. Regularly destroying her body and putting it back together. I couldn’t leave here there.”

“I see,” Dabi suddenly turned away from Izuku. “Well, there’s also the fact that she’s a kid growing up in the ‘care’ of a villain organization…”

“Dabi!” Uraraka hissed.

Izuku couldn’t figure out what they were implying, but before he could ask Toga returned with Eri.

“Ta-da!” Toga said, showing off Eri dressed in a black t-shirt that was so much bigger than her it worked like a dress.

Izuku recognized the design. “Isn’t that my shirt?”

“Well, you’re not using it right now,” Uraraka said. “Besides, it looks so much better than that ratty nightgown.”

Eri shuffled over to Uraraka, apparently to show off her clothes. Something made her trip and hit Urarak’s hurt leg.

“Ugh!” Uraraka grunted in pain from the impact.

Eri immediately jumped back. “I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

“Oh, no, it’s fine sweety,” Uraraka assured her, sitting up from the couch. “It was an accident, after all…”

Uraraka froze. Something was different. She unwrapped the bandages around her leg. The wound was completely gone.

Somehow, Eri’s bump had healed her.

“Wow Eri! You have a healing quirk?” Toga asked.

“N-no, that’s not it.” Eri was trembling again. “It’s dangerous. I ‘rewind’ people, and it can make people completely disappear by accident…”

“Well, that just means you need to learn to control it,” Uraraka said.

Eri was close to tears now. “But I can’t control it. The only person who can control it is Overhaul, when he uses me to cleanse the world of quirks…”

Izuku’s breath caught. Is she saying…?

Swiftly, Izuku kneeled down so he was eye level with her. “Eri, your quirk is your power, nobody else’s. Overhaul won’t touch you again, and I know you’ll figure out how to control it with time.”

“But… But what if I hurt someone?” Eri asked.

“We’ll be careful, and I’ll help you get a handle on it. Okay?” Izuku said, patting her on the head.

Eri still looked concerned, but didn’t protest.

“Hey Uraraka, since you’re doing better, how about you take Eri and Toga shopping? She needs clothes, after all.” Izuku said.

“Right! That’s a wonderful idea,” Uraraka said, bolting up off the couch. “Come on you two!”

“Yay! It's a girls-only outing!” Toga cheered, taking Eri’s hand and following Uraraka out the door.

With the girls gone, Dabi and Spinner went to their rooms to catch up on sleep. Izuku though, grabbed a particular gun and the corresponding bullets and walked down to the old hideout where his shooting gallery was still set up.

One by one, Izuku emptied clip after clip of the quirk-erasing bullets. They destroyed the cans and stained the whole place red, but Izuku just kept shooting until the last bullet made from a little girl’s suffering had been spent.

This was his redemption.

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

The next day, the Mustafu police force received an anonymous tip about the source of illegal quirk enhancing and erasing drugs. They forwarded this information to the Nighteye agency, where All Might’s successor was still interning. This prompted a raid on the Eight Precepts of Death’s facility, where the hero LeMillion defeated the villain Overhaul.

The public at large didn’t think too much of this, but Mirio and Sir Nighteye both thought it was too convenient, especially since none of the Yakuza and tried to use their quirk-erasing bullets. They asked to interrogate Overhaul about this, and the police granted their request.

“Someone took the child. My guess is that green-haired kid with a smart mouth, but I can’t say for sure,” Overhaul said in response to questioning.

"The child?" Mirio asked.

"What green-haired kid?" Nighteye asked instead.

Overhaul scratched the side of his face. "The girl is none of your concern, but if you must know she's the Boss's granddaughter. Now for the green-haired kid, he's apparently the leader of a new small-time group of villains. I don't know his name, and I wouldn't have even concerned myself with him if he hadn't stolen some quirk-erasing bullets from me. He didn't even seem to realize what he'd done, but still made himself a nuisance."

"You still haven't explained what this has to do with your lack of resources," Nighteye pressed.

Mirio want to ask about the girl again, but let his mentor take the lead.

"A few days ago someone broke into our facility and destroyed our entire stash of bullets and drugs. They burned them and scattered the ashes so even I couldn’t reonstruct them. They also took the only source I had for the quirk-erasing bullets. I investigated, and found out that some green-haired boy had been asking about our operations. His description matched someone I’d recently caught stealing from our legitimate businesses, so I planned to track him and his gang down, but you showed up first.”

“You say this boys took your source for the quirk-erasing bullets. Is it possible he’ll try to create his own?” Nighteye asked.

“I doubt it. But if he does, well, that’s your problem isn’t it?” Overhaul responded.

“Would you be willing to tell us what you know about the green-haired boy and his gang?” Mirio asked, “If nothing else, so we can save the girl.”

Overhaul gave Mirio a calculating stare for a few moments. “I’ve only seen three of them. I don’t know what the green-haired boy’s quirk is, but he is skilled with a pistol and has a deep understanding of the underworld and how it works. He’s got this brunette girl in his group, and her quirk somehow lets her and the people she’s fighting float. The last one I only saw a glimpse of, but his body was covered in burn scars that may have been because by his blue-flame quirk. Is that good enough for you?”

“It’s a decent start,” Nighteye said. “Mirio, let’s go.”

As they walked through the walls of Tartarus, Mirio turned to Nighteye. “Did you get enough information?”

“Not even close. Overhaul is definitely hiding something,” Nighteye pulled out his phone and started texting his sidekicks. “There’s a good chance we’ll learn more if we can find that green-haired kid and figure out if he really did destroy the stash and steal the source of those bullets.”

“And the girl?” Mirio asked.

“Again, we need to find the green-haired kid before we can judge.” Nighteye suddenly stopped, a look of shock on his face. “Mirio, did you notice how Overhaul started talking about the girl but quickly changed to talking about the source of the bullets?”

Mirio's heart sunk. “You think that’s because they’re the same thing?”

Nighteye started walking faster. “I don’t know for sure, but we have to find that green-haired boy.”

Unfortunately, the Nighteye Agency’s investigation on this matter proved fruitless for about a month. The most they got were a few rumors about a kid collecting support gear, but they never led anywhere.

That is, until a green-haired boy introduced himself and his friends to the world by attacking Endeavour.