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fireinmoonshot · 17 days ago

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drawing the line | bucky barnes x fem!reader

THIS CONTAINS SPOILERS FOR MARVEL'S THUNDERBOLTS*.

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x Fem!Reader Summary: Bucky Barnes has messed up big time ... he just doesn't know it until he sees you and realises he really should've checked his texts. Warnings: There are very subtle mentions to reader having some issues mentally but nothing specific is mentioned other than her being very guarded and angry. This is inspired by and takes place during a scene from the Thunderbolts movie! It has direct spoilers for the film! If you haven't seen it and don't want to be spoiled, don't read this one yet. Word Count: 1.9k. A/N: It has been three whole years since I wrote for Bucky Barnes. Thanks to Thunderbolts, I am so back 🥰. I had this idea for the movie when I saw it again yesterday and I plotted most of it out at work today. I'm really happy with how it turned out so I hope that you will all enjoy it. More Bucky fics coming soon – as well as more Bob and Joaquín too! 💗 Requests are always open.

Bucky realises he’s made a mistake pretty quickly.

In his defence, he isn’t very good at checking his phone – especially now that he’s a congressman and he has even less time on his hands than usual. But he’d been worried about Mel, the assistant of Valentina, and had figured that by tracking her phone like she’d asked, he might have a better chance at finally taking Valentina down.

If he had read his texts, though, he would’ve seen one from you. Valentina says I have one last mission and my contract is up. I’m on my way. Have a bad feeling about this one though. Can you track me?

Yeah, he’s messed up.

He’s even more certain of that when he’s pulling the unconscious bodies of Ava Starr, Yelena Belova, John Walker and Alexei Shostakov out of the limo he’d blown up and he finds you with them. Thankfully, you’re not injured.

When you come to, the first thing you see is Bucky, sitting opposite you with his eyebrows knotted in worry. For a moment, everything is fuzzy and you’re not sure how you got here – and then everything comes back to you.

You’d been trying to outrun Valentina’s men who’d been coming after you after your escape when Bucky had shown up. Everyone in the car had been more than excited and you’d felt relieved – he’d seen your text and he’d come to save you – until he’d practically blown the limo up with you inside of it.

“What the hell, Bucky?” You blink, squeezing your eyes shut briefly as you adjust to the light in the room. You look around, seeing the others all sat nearby – tied up, some of them even restrained with pieces of metal that Bucky had wrapped around them.

It’s when you see them tied up that you realise you’re not.

“Doll,” Bucky starts, his voice soft. “Listen, I–”

“Do not ‘doll’ me,” you shake your head. “So, blowing up our car and almost killing me is okay, but you draw the line at tying me up?” You motion to the others and then to yourself.

Bucky sighs. He knew you’d be mad, but this is another level of mad. He understands – of course he does, you’d nearly died. But regardless, he’d hoped you’d be a little more lenient. “I didn’t even know you were in the car.”

You raise your eyebrows and scoff. “I text you and say hey, this mission feels wrong and you don’t think twice? Am I talking to Bucky Barnes right now? What happened to the guy that ran seven red lights two months ago when I got into a minor car accident just to make sure I was okay?”

He stands up and runs a hand through his hair, walking a few steps away from you. Behind him, you stand up as well, crossing your arms over your chest and staring him down – like you do very well. Bucky knows that you can be stubborn when you want to, but this is the next level to that. He loves your stubborn side. He loves this side of you as well… but he hates that it’s him that the anger is directed at.

This is not the you that he’d been tangled in the sheets with only a few nights ago. This is not the you that had kissed him goodbye before he’d headed off to work last week. This is the you that he’d seen the first time he ever met you. Strong, guarded as hell and pissed off at the world.

“You texted me?” He mutters, and then regrets the words the second they’re out of his mouth. He resists the urge to pull his phone out of his pocket and check his unread messages.

For a second, you just stare at him, and then you start laughing. “I texted you? Are you serious right now?” You exclaim, turning away from him and shaking your head. “No, why on earth would I text my boyfriend when I was going into a potentially life threatening situation set up by Valentina Allegra de Fontaine? I’ll remember that for next time and keep it to myself, since you’re apparently too busy to check.”

“Well, would you have even read my message if I had replied? Considering you were on a mission? Yeah, I don’t think so,” Bucky can’t help but bite back a little.

“No, probably not,” you admit. “Because I don’t have a phone anymore – it fell out of my pocket when I was running for my life back at the vault and then it got incinerated, like I would have if it had been even one second later!”

Your voice is raised even louder now, basically yelling at Bucky, though you hate to do it. You and Bucky never fight like this, not really. But this whole situation has gotten under your skin and you can’t help but be mad at yourself for thinking Bucky had come to save you, when in reality he was just there to kidnap the others for some unknown reason.

Unsurprisingly, there’s nothing that Bucky can say to that. He stares at you, eyes wide as the full gravity of the situation settles on his shoulders. You’d almost been incinerated. And then Bucky had almost killed you himself. Was there any coming back from this?

In the silence, you hear a cough and both of you turn to look over at the others, all of whom are now awake and sitting upright, watching the two of you. How much of your argument had they heard? You wince internally and start to walk towards them.

“You either untie them, or you tie me up with them,” you say, sitting down beside Walker.

Walker looks over at you, a confused look on his face. He obviously had no idea that you’re with Bucky, even though the two of them know each other. You try to ignore the feeling in your stomach, the one that says that maybe Bucky means more to you than you do to him, especially since Walker doesn’t even know about you two.

Bucky thinks it over for a moment before shaking his head and walking over to you again. He crouches down beside you and decides he’s going to try again – even though the eyes of every other person in the room are focused on him. He reaches up to try and tuck a stray piece of hair behind your ear but you bat his hand away.

“I’m not tied up so I can still tuck my own hair behind my ear, Barnes.”

You turn away from him, looking over at Ava and Alexei.

“This is your boyfriend?” Ava asks, looking between the two of you. “Girl.”

The one word says everything. You almost laugh at her.

It doesn’t take long for Bucky to make his decision. He stands up again and then beckons for you to stand up as well. “Stand up and let me tie you up, then,” he says, hoping that he sounds as nonchalant as he is intending to be. Even though not one part of him is actually intending on tying you up. It’s true – he draws the line at that.

You stand up and one second later, Bucky has picked you up and thrown you over his shoulder. You yelp, hitting his back as he walks out of the room, leaving the other four alone. “Bucky, what the hell are you doing!?” You exclaim.

He pushes the front door of the garage open with a foot and then kicks it closed behind him. Once he sets you down on the ground outside, you move to push him, but he’s quick to grab your wrists and place them gently on his chest instead. You’re mad, but he’s not going to let you hurt him, or accidentally hurt you more than he already has.

“I’m not continuing this argument inside in front of all of the others,” he says, nodding his head towards the garage and trying to focus on the feeling of your hands on his hands and the pressure of them on his chest. You’re here. You’re alive. He didn’t kill you. Nor did Valentina.

“I don’t want to talk to you,” you shake your head and try to pull your hands away, but his grip is too strong. “I’ve said everything that I needed to say in there, Bucky. I asked for your help, you almost killed me yourself. It’s clear enough.”

“You said what you said, but you barely let me get a word in, doll.”

You shrug your shoulders and look away from him, focusing on the mountains in the distance and wonder how long it’ll take the others to get free so you can all get the hell out of here. Even though a small part of you, the part of you that isn’t clouded by your anger right now, wants nothing more than to wrap your arms around Bucky’s body, bury your head in his chest and feel his arms around you.

“I’m sorry I didn’t see your message,” he begins, hoping you’ll let him talk. “I’ve been so bad with anything that’s not work these days and trying to bring down Valentina that I’ve put everything else to the side. I shouldn’t have put you there too.”

“Yeah,” you mutter, still unable to look at him.

“I didn’t know you were in that limo when I blew it up. I just knew that there were people in there that could help me bring down Valentina once and for all and I was going to stop that limo at all costs,” he explains. “You don’t know how terrified I was when I saw you were inside of it. I swear, I spent five minutes just checking to make sure you weren’t injured before I brought you all here. I couldn’t bring myself to tie you up after all that, doll.”

“Likely story,” you huff under your breath, as if the thought of him checking you over to make sure you were okay doesn’t make your heart beat faster and your fingers, still pressed to his chest, itch to pull him closer to you.

Bucky removes one of his hands from yours and carefully reaches down to cup your jaw, forcing you to look up at him. You try and restrain yourself for a few moments before eventually meeting his eyes. Just looking in them tells you that he’s speaking the truth.

“I would never do anything knowingly to hurt you, doll,” he says.

“I know,” you reply, voice soft as you try not to lean too much into his hand.

“Then do you forgive me?”

“No,” you shake your head, but in the progress, you can’t help but relax into his grip a little. You let out a sigh, your eyes fluttering closed at the feeling of his hand on your face. “I don’t forgive you yet, Bucky. I need time.”

Bucky nods and lets out a small breath of relief. “I’ll take it.”

You remove one of your hands from Bucky’s chest and place it over the hand that’s still on your jaw. “We need to talk,” you start. “Not you and me, all of us. There are things that happened down there in that vault that you need to know about before we go after Valentina, if we can even get the others to join us.”

“Okay,” Bucky agrees. “Just one more thing.” He leans down and presses his lips to your forehead before dropping his hand from your jaw and stepping back away from you, clearly wanting to give you space even though you hadn’t asked for it. The thoughtfulness makes your heart swell in your chest. “C’mon doll, let’s go.”

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #thunderbolts #thunderbolts x reader #thunderbolts x you #marvel #marvel x you #marvel x reader #mcu

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unexpectederawhilesubmitting · 1 year ago

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WARNING: DOCTOR WHO SPOILERS EXPLAINING REGENERATION SHENANIGANS

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okay so I was kind of not on board with the concept of bi-regeneration, mainly because of how it seemed like all of the Sad and the Trauma that the Doctor had undergone got kind of handwaved away? i'm all for ncuti's Doctor being sort of a fresh start/jumping on point for new viewers, but i didn't get how that could work if like, literally 40 minutes ago he was David Tennant being a sad wet puppy dog of a man

however, after rewatching it, i've realized what i think happened there, and it goes all the way back to something introduced with the 4th doctor's regeneration that was never explained: the Watcher

^this spooky guy

so, for those that don't know (or haven't seen every episode of a show that is over half a century old), the Fourth Doctor regenerates at the end of a story called Logopolis (he falls off a satellite dish, but that's not important right now). all throughout the episode, this weird figure, The Watcher, stands off in the distance, and even intervenes slightly by saving the Fourth Doctor's companion. there's not much given in the way of an explanation until the Fourth Doctor regenerates, saying "it's the end. but the moment has been prepared for..."

the watcher walks up, and gets absorbed in a super rad 1980's digital effect (never change doctor who), while his companion just gives us the not-super-helpful-for-lore statement "He was the Doctor all the time!"

then, in a crossfade, the Doctor goes from Four to weird-powder-man to Five

canonically, the Watcher is explained as a future version of the doctor that comes about in sort of a weird overlapping thing with the doctor's timeline, it's very wibbly-wobbly timey-wimey.

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

SO what does this have to do with biregeneration and satisfying character arcs/moving on from trauma?

Well, remember, Fifteen said this, about Time Lords doing rehab out of order:

so, here's the thing: Fifteen is the Doctor AFTER Fourteen (duh, I know?) But to be clear...Fourteen lives out an entire lifetime with Donna and family, gets to a ripe old age, and then, when his lifetime of healing is over, he gets yeeted back through his own timestream just to zoot himself out of David Tennant's chest.

Remember, his first words to Fourteen (after popping out of his chest) are "So good to see you! So good!", not the RTD classic "what?". He greets himself like he's almost expecting this, he then says "does anyone want to tell me what the hell is going on here?" which only makes sense if he's coming from a different point in his own timestream (remember, when two doctors interact, memory gets really weird, 10 and the War Doctor don't remember the events of Day of the Doctor until they live through them as 11).

SO TO BE CLEAR: Ncuti Gatwa is playing the Doctor AFTER he has spent years healing from his traumas. His Doctor is fine because Fourteen takes the time to rest and work on himself.

tl;dr: I didn't like biregeneration at first because I thought it looked like this:

In actuality, it looks more like this:

#doctor who #fourteenth doctor #fifteenth doctor #the giggle #dw #dw spoilers #dw 60th #tenthree #the doctor

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vettelsvee · 4 months ago

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Hi love! For your tortured poets department, can I request endgame from the reputation album, lando being the driver please please 🙏

END GAME | Lando Norris

Lando Norris x Friend with benefits Piastri!Reader

SUMMARY: You were used to have random hookups just for fun, including with Lando Norris himself. It's not until he decides to lock both of you up on his driver room and talk about your weird relationship that you don't realize that, deep down, you're willing to settle down your mind and start a dating him ↳ REQUESTED: Yes! Thanks for requesting and hope you like it 💖 Part of REPUTATION in MY TORTURED DRIVERS DEPARTMENT

WORD COUNT: 2745

WARNINGS: Slightly +18 at the end (sorry for leaving it there ☺️), mentions of friends with benefits, spelling with multiple people, angst, curse words

VEE'S NOTES: Haven't written Lando in a very, very long time, so hope you like this one! University and my mental health are killing me but you know what? Writing is what keeps me going (and specially your comments have been a boost of serotonin for me lately). Also... the 2k special is already living rent free in my mind and I can't wait to achieve the goal to post it 😭 I wanna give spoilers now so... you know 🤓 ↳ TALK TO ME / REQUESTS! | FORMULA 1 MASTERLIST

"You finally decided to show up at a race. I was starting to think you only liked having me naked in your bed behind your brother’s back."

You smiled at the screen, playing with your fingers as you thought how could you answer Lando. Your relationship was based purely on sex, moreover sexting, with barely any real conversations whenever you met, moans and orgasms speaking for you both instead.

You had never felt the need to go beyond that, to involve feelings in your relationship, or at least that’s what you had made clear to Lando before sleeping with him the very first time. You also let him know that, besides him, there were other guys with whom you had no commitments whatsoever.

However, it was with Lando that you spent most of your time. The others were nothing more than a safe escape, an easy way out when the Brit wasn’t around.

"Be grateful that I even came," you finally replied. "And don’t flatter yourself. I came to see my brother, not to make you come before a race."

You hesitated, wondering if your reply was harsh enough to keep him from getting any ideas and, more importantly, to stop him from insisting on meeting up. You weren’t sure how, but you wanted to end that strange relationship before it spiraled out of control because, whether you wanted to admit it or not, you had started to feel something for him.

Yes, just a few weeks ago, you had one of your usual encounters with a friend of one of your best friends. But everything fell apart when, right before reaching your climax, you couldn’t help it: you moaned Lando’s name instead.

That was what made you question what exactly you felt for Norris and why the label of friends with benefits seemed to be fading away.

"Don’t play dumb, Piastri. See you at the motorhome. You know exactly where."

You huffed. Of course, you knew exactly where you’d be meeting. After all, ever since your brother became a Formula 1 driver, you had visited his teammate’s personal room more than Oscar’s.

With a sigh, making sure neither your mother nor your sisters were nearby, you got up, grabbed the plastic cup that still had a bit of coffee left, and walked with as much determination as you could muster toward McLaren’s motorhome, finishing your drink along the way.

As you walked, mentally preparing a script in case things got tense with Lando, you greeted the people you knew, or at least those who knew you as Y/N Piastri. Lewis was genuinely happy to see you and even stopped to chat, but you excused yourself, saying you had already made plans. Fernando gave you a knowing look, as if trying to figure out what exactly you were about to do with a certain driver.

Even your brother crossed paths with you at the entrance to McLaren’s motorhome. You managed to lie to him, partially, saying Lando had asked you to take a few pictures of him before the race.

Oscar gave you a strange look, then rolled his eyes, offered a small smile and told you to enjoy whatever it was you both were about to do.

You said nothing, but you knew your twin brother well enough to realize he already had a pretty good idea of what you were up to with Norris. Not that you tried too hard to hide it.

When you reached Lando’s room, you didn’t even have to knock. The door opened instantly, revealing a slightly tired-looking Lando with a cup in his hand. His race suit was already on but zipped only to his waist, leaving the top half hanging loose. His team cap was still on, though it didn’t last long since he took it off and tossed it aside within seconds.

He grinned from ear to ear, like he had been waiting for you with far too much anticipation.

"Come in. Make yourself at home," he said with that mischievous tone you were so used to hearing, though something about it felt slightly different this time.

You walked inside without hesitation, crossing your arms and ignoring him, except for the occasional sideways glance to see if he would do or say something before you did. Unfortunately, he didn’t.

"If you wanted a quick fuck before the race you could’ve just said so, you know?"

"I don’t think today’s the best day to fuck you and let everyone hear," he replied. "At least, not yet. Today, we’re going to talk."

"We don’t talk, Lando," you shot back, feeling an internal alarm go off. "And when we do, it’s just to ask about the safe word of the day, what we want to do to each other, and how close we are to coming."

"Well, maybe it’s time we started talking, don’t you think so?"

His answer took you completely by surprise. Your gazes remained locked on each other, and you felt the atmosphere grow tense.

For the first time in a long while, there was no excuse you could use to avoid that conversation with Lando. Maybe the fact that you had been ignoring him for the past few weeks was enough to make him realize that there was a chance—however small—that things had changed between you two.

You took a deep breath, trying to calm the growing sense of unease settling in your chest. Lando kept looking at you with that same intensity he always did, except this time… it was different. It wasn’t the first time you found yourselves in a situation like this, where there were a thousand unsaid things hanging between you, waiting to be voiced. But it was the first time, at least on your part, where feelings were involved beyond pure physical desire.

"I don’t think there’s anything to talk about," you said as nonchalantly as possible, but your tense posture betrayed you.

Lando set his cup down on the table beside him. Then, he sat on the edge, crossing his arms again, and reached for your hands only for you to pull away and take a step back.

"I think you know exactly what we need to talk about," he replied calmly. His voice was lower than usual, and you felt the heat grow between your legs. You shook your head, feeling guilty and doing your best to push away that sudden, but familiar, awakening in your body.

"You’ve been avoiding me, Y/N. And don’t tell me you haven’t, because you were in Monaco and never called me to meet up… to see each other," he added, his voice laced with something unreadable. "In fact, we usually sext almost every day, and you didn’t even bother to tell me what new lingerie set you bought for when you came over."

"I didn’t tell you I was coming to Miami either."

Your reply, rather than making you sound indifferent, exposed you completely. Lando raised an eyebrow, as if he had caught you red-handed. That was when you realized you had seriously screwed up.

"I haven’t been avoiding you, Lando. I’ve just been busy," you insisted.

"Busy? You mean busy by ignoring me?" He scoffed, ironic. His expression turned much more serious now, and you started to worry about where this might lead. "Tell me the truth, Y/N. What’s going on? What’s happening with you?" he emphasized.

You averted your gaze, pretending to take interest in the room’s decoration, a room you already knew by heart. You knew you couldn’t keep dodging the topic, but you also had no idea how to confront it without changing everything you had so far. It was impossible to put into words what you felt for Lando, not when your relationship had always been purely physical. And especially not when there was a real chance you were just confused… and, well, you couldn’t forget the possibility that he might only see you as his hookup.

"Nothing’s wrong," you finally responded.

"I thought we were always honest with each other," Lando sighed, running a frustrated hand through his hair.

You felt your throat tighten. It was hard to breathe. You had been honest, at least when it came to the unrestricted desire between you, to touching each other without attachments, to seeking comfort in one another without questions that went beyond your wildest fantasies. You had avoided anything personal.

But now, you were slowly breaking the unspoken rules that had kept you in perfect balance until this moment.

"I’ve been busy, Lando, and the last thing I wanted was to deal with you, alright?" you insisted, trying to sound as convincing as possible. "Things should have stayed the way they were until, according to you, I started ignoring you."

"No, Y/N, things aren’t like that," the Brit denied, shaking his head. He stepped closer, cornering you against the wall. "If you don’t want to face something because you’re afraid of rejection, just tell me. But, for fuck’s sake, don’t act like I did something wrong, because you’re killing me."

"Lando…"

"Stop insisting that nothing is happening between us, when that’s exactly what makes me think the opposite."

His confession caught you completely off guard. His words—clear, direct, and without a hint of sarcasm, threw you off… especially because you knew he was right.

You felt the urge to run, to disappear, to pretend none of this had ever happened. Most of all, you wanted to deny yourself any romantic thought you had ever had about Oscar’s teammate.

When you lowered your gaze, Lando moved back slightly, giving you space and making sure he didn’t overwhelm you more than you already seemed to be. You sighed, trying to relax once again, but before you could say anything, he spoke first.

"Tell me nothing’s wrong between us, Y/N Piastri," he said softly. "If nothing has really changed, if everything is the same between us… dare to look at me in the eyes and say it."

Your chest tightened. You couldn’t run away, not when Lando had you emotionally cornered, teetering on the edge of an explosion. Your breathing was unsteady, heavy. Your mind screamed at you to find an excuse, anything that would let you stay true to yourself regardless of what happened next.

Lando waited, unmoving, his blue eyes locked onto yours with an intensity that made you tremble for the first time in your life—without him even touching you. It was the first time he had shown himself to you like this: so vulnerable and yet so determined at the same time.

"Nothing is wrong between us, Lando Norris," you finally whispered, forcing the words out, ignoring both your heart and the boy standing in front of you.

"Say it again, but this time, look me in the eyes."

He didn’t move an inch. He knew you were lying; your posture gave you away—the way you avoided his gaze, the way your fingers toyed with the hem of your shirt and your accreditation pass…

You squeezed your eyes shut tightly. You had no choice… at least, not entirely.

Lifting your gaze, you met his blue eyes once again. Your lips parted slightly, ready to try and let out a lie convincing enough for both him and yourself.

But it was impossible. You couldn’t keep doing this, not when, deep down, and no matter how hard you tried to deny it, you felt something more than just pleasure for Lando Norris. The fear of rejection… it terrified you. The thought of him turning you away, of losing what you had with him, was unbearable.

"Lando…"

"You don’t have to say it if you’re not ready," he interrupted. "But please… stop pushing me away. Stop making this to us."

"It’s just…"

Nothing. No matter how much you tried to explain yourself, to find a logical enough reason for your sudden ghosting, you couldn’t.

"It’s just what, Y/N?" the Brit pressed. "Are you afraid to take a risk? To admit something because you’re scared of what might happen next? Because you don’t want to change the life you’ve had until now? Because you want to…?"

Lando forced himself to stop. He ran his hands through his hair, exasperated, turning his back to you. Guilt hit you immediately, your body trembling as the storm inside you began to break free. The driver rubbed his face, frustration radiating from him. This was exhausting him. You were exhausting him, to the point where he was starting to doubt his own feelings. Feelings that had started to grow the moment he realized it hurt when you ignored him, when you didn’t even send him a simple "Hey."

"I wish this were different, Y/N," he finally murmured, his voice thick with emotion as he turned to face you again. "I wish you didn’t make me feel like this. I wish I could just be content with what we had before and pretend none of this was happening…"

Your stomach twisted painfully. That was exactly what you had been thinking, the very reason you had pulled away from him and from whatever this was. You had ignored the fact that your feelings for Lando Norris had become something much stronger—maybe they had been there for far longer than you were willing to admit.

"Lando, listen" You tried to step closer, but he pulled away.

"No, Y/N, no," he said bitterly. "I tried convincing myself there was a reason you were ignoring me, acting like I was nothing to you, and then it hit me that I really want you as more than just someone to fuck."

"That…" you struggled to say, stepping toward him. This time, Lando didn’t stop you. The sincerity in your eyes, the way you looked both calm and nervous at the same time, made him realize he had to trust his instincts. And that was exactly what they were telling him.

"That’s what I wanted to tell you," you admitted, your voice barely above a whisper, but Lando still heard you. "That’s why I kept you on standby for two weeks… I knew this would change everything, that you’d react badly, that we’d end up fighting, and I… I didn’t know how to face the possibility of you rejecting… this."

Lando stared at you in surprise before a sad smile crept onto his lips.

"Y/N… I’ve always been good at reading signals, but this has been driving me fucking crazy."

"And you think it’s not been making me feel the same?" you shot back, feeling a weight lift off your shoulders.

Lando stepped closer, taking your hands in his. You didn’t resist, feeling how the both of you tensed at the contact. His lips inched toward yours, and when they finally met, the kiss was so fierce, so full of passion, that you ended up straddling him on the couch, moving against him, desperate to feel him. Even though you both knew there was still a race in two hours.

"I don’t want to touch you like this, Y/N," Norris whispered against your ear as you left small bites along his neck. "Y/N, stop it babe…"

"I don’t wanna be just another ex-love to you, Lando…" you murmured between kisses, still searching for friction between your bodies.

"And I don’t wanna miss you like your other lovers do, babe…"

This time, Lando gripped your waist firmly, flipping you onto the couch beneath him. His eyes never left yours as he carefully lifted your shirt and started massaging your breasts over your bra.

"I wanna be your end game, Y/N," Lando breathed, unable to tear his gaze away from you.

Your breath came out in shallow pants, and you felt like you were teetering on the edge. Your hands gripped the unfastened gear around his waist, tugging lightly to keep him close.

"Then prove it."

"I have a race in two hours, love…" he murmured, his voice rough as he pressed his forehead to yours, his arousal growing.

"Then you better be quick," you teased, running your hands over his abs beneath the fireproof. "Especially if you don’t want Osc to hear us…"

"You’re gonna be the death of me one day, Y/N Piastri," Lando groaned as he trailed his fingers up your thighs, lowering himself before you. "Now, open your legs for me... You deserve a punishment after being such a bad, bad girl these past few days��"

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burning-omen · 10 months ago

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OKAY. LET ME COOK. Can I request abo with Omega Wolverine (💀) and he is going into heat. And he needs his alpha to come take care of him and leads to wolverine and reader taking care of him to make sure his omega is okay.am fucking dying 💀 -😉

Logan Howlett x Male Reader

Word count: 5,841

Warnings: Smut, A/B/O/ Omegaverse, !!Deadpool and Wolverine spoilers!!, mentions of Wade and Logan figting (Logan repetedly breaking Wade's jaw, Logan has a knife in his shoulder, Ect..), Bottom! Logan, Omega! Logan, Top!Male!Reader, Alpha!Male!Reader, Marking, scenting, regular A/B/O stuff, Breeding, heat inducing wet dreams, breaking and entering.

(A/N: First fic back Hooray! I haven't written for Wolvie in years so bear with me)

Finding a man passed out drunk in your living room wasn’t something you planned for. You were actually planning to use your day off to catch up on some sleep, but this man- you recognized him as your neighbor, Logan, after taking a closer look- was really preventing that from happening. Your unexpected guest had taken over your couch and smelled very heavily of alcohol, you pushed him onto the floor so the smell wouldn't soak into your couch. You knew Logan was tough, and that he slept like a fucking 300 pound brick according to Wade, pushing him off the couch felt like you were trying to push a car with a dead battery but you were able to move the man onto the floor in an unceremonious heap after a couple of minutes of trying. A heavy thud followed his fall, but he didn’t so much as grunt when he hit the floor, and for a moment you wondered if he was actually dead, but the slight twitch in his hand told you he was fine, probably.

You weren’t going to let this ruin your day off, taking another look at the man, you did feel a little bad leaving him on the floor, not enough to put him back on your couch- no you paid way to much for it to do that- but bad enough for you to grab a spare pillow and blanket for the man. It felt a little weird, tucking in your intruder rather than calling the police on him, but you knew Logan well enough to know that he almost definitely meant to break into his own apartment and got a little mixed up. Being drunk will do that.

Moving away from him and into the kitchen, you decided to make breakfast, as your plans of sleeping had been completely ruined at- you looked at the clock on your stove- 6:37 in the morning. You just wanted to get some water before you went back to sleep, but no, now your making breakfast because even though you knew that Logan was relatively friendly- in his own way- waking up to him in your living room was fucking nerve wrecking and you falling back asleep wasn’t likely.

Opening your refrigerator, you took out a couple of eggs, then remembered that Logan was an absolutely massive man and promptly took out a couple more. You figured that eggs and bacon was an ok impromptu breakfast. Pans clinging together as you try to find the right one in the cabinet, trying to light your shitty gas stove without starting a fire, finally beginning to cook the bacon in the pan.

When Logan walked in a couple minutes later, seemingly still asleep as he nearly reached into the pan to grab the bacon that wasn’t even done cooking yet, you grabbed his wrist, nearly dropping your spatula as you yanked the man's hand away from the pan.

“Dammit, be careful!”

Your voice seemingly woke him up, eyes opening wide as he stared at you, then his face morphed into one of confusion as he looked around, realizing that he definitely wasn’t in his own apartment.

“Good morning, could you please get out of my kitchen, you smell like beer.”

He blinked, “How the hell did I get here?”

Releasing his wrist and turning back to the stove, flipping the bacon as you said, “You broke in.”

You heard him groan, probably in embarrassment or annoyance, you’d be pretty embarrassed if you broke into your super nice neighbor’s apartment too.

“Fuck..” He muttered under his breath.

“It’s fine, Logan, just let me finish cooking- and don’t sit on my couch!”

He left the kitchen almost immediately, but slowly. You figured he was hungover- you weren’t sure if that could happen with a healing factor like his but with the way he held his head in his hand, you figured something had to be happening.

Wade had pretty much filled you in on his little multidimensional adventure. He also had a tendency to break into your apartment, (which is probably why you had a relatively calm reaction to Logan) he basically just declared that you were friends one day, it was pretty unceremonious actually. He told you everything, usually things you didn’t want to know, but you didn’t mind his company.

A couple more minutes passed and you finished cooking, making plates and grabbing forks before leaving the kitchen to find Logan. It took you a second, but you found him back in the living room, sitting on the floor, in front of the TV, cover draped over his shoulders. You sat down next to him, silently handing him a plate- he looked a little surprised, but took it with a quick, “Thanks.”

You ate quietly, you could tell Logan appreciated his sizable plate. When he was finished he sat it on the ground next to him. Hesitating for a moment before speaking,

“Sorry about breaking in,”

You hummed, “It’s fine, really, you’re not the first person to break in.”

He grunted, “I know Wade comes over sometimes.”

“Yeah, he’s bought me at least five new doorknobs in the past year, he acts like knocking will kill him.”

The irony made Logan snort, “Yeah, I wish.”

You sat your now empty plate on top of his.

“No you don't, you think Al will let you stay with her if he dies?”

“I’ll get my own place”

“Uh Huh,” you hummed, “With what money?”

That made him laugh, even if it was a small one.

A moment passed and neither of you spoke, the house grew quiet and the space between the two of you became awkward.

Another moment passed and he pushed himself up off the floor, “I better get going.”

You followed behind him, to the front door where your door was left slightly open and what remains of the handle laid on the floor. You both paused at the sight, Logan glanced over at you, a bit of worry on his face.

You let out a sigh, “I'll get Wade to pay for it.”

The soft, humorous smile on your face made Logan relax as you kicked the sliced metal that used to be your doorknob to the side.

“Thank you- for breakfast..and not calling the police.”

You laughed before saying, “Anytime, really. Just..call next time.”

He smiled as he left, deciding, deep in his subconscious, that he liked you.

~~~~~~~

You didn’t see him for another month after that, you’ve caught glances of him in passing, but nothing quite as friendly as your first meeting. Until one day, at about two in the morning, you could hear fighting next door. It woke you up out of your sleep as something was thrown against the wall over and over and over, then there was the yelling and growling and snarling. You knew Logan and Wade fought a lot in a mostly unserious way, but it was way to fucking early for DIY WWE. You knew better than to get involved in one of their fights. They were mutants, you weren’t, and you were not about to get in the middle of whatever they had going on. It’s kinda funny, considering what you’ve been told your whole life- the typical Alpha propaganda, being the strongest, the fastest, the leader. Your sure it worked on some people, but you were very fortunate to not fall down the aggressive uber dominate typical male alpha rabbit hole- you knew you wouldn’t always be the fastest, the strongest, or the most eligible leader just because you were an alpha (which most alphas should have figured out by now, considering that, like, half of the fucking Avenger are omegas- it was really funny trying to see people grabble with that fact when it came out.)

Pulling yourself out of your thoughts, you realized that the fighting had stopped, and now it was eerily quiet. You decided that it wasn’t your problem and rolled over to finally get some sleep. Your eyes were closed for maybe thirty seconds when a rapid banging on your door forced you out of bed.

Your door had long since been fixed, unlocking the door and swinging it open, a deeply tired look on your face.

Logan stood in front of you, covered in more blood that you’ve seen on a person in your entire life. A large gash on his face sealing itself right before your eyes.

“Are you two done?” You asked tiredly.

He nodded, you stepped aside to let him in, only to look down and notice the trail of blood left by his boots. You grabbed him by the back of his shirt like you’d grab an unruly cat by its scruff.

“Take your shoes off, go shower.” He paused, turning around with a questioning look on his face, but he obeyed anyway.

Taking off his bloodied boots and tossing them out the door. You could smell something different in the air, but you were too tired to care- it wasn’t smoke or gas, so you weren’t worried about it, but it was something- something distinctly sweet.

You pointed Logan to the bathroom, flicking the light on with him trailing behind you. You could feel the energy practically draining out of your body every second you were conscious.

Muttering, “All the towels in the cabinet are clean-” you paused for a moment, really taking in the state of the man clothes, torn and bloodied- you noticed the small knife sticking out of his shoulder and didn’t even bother panicking, “You can leave you clothes on the counter, put the knife in the sink though. I’ll bring you something to wear.”

He listened well, you figured he must be tired too, his half-lidded expression and general obedience was surprising, but welcome at 2 in the morning.

You walked past him, turning the shower on before leaving without saying a word, closing the door behind you.

You left out a spare pillow and cover for the man, the same ones as last time, washed, of course, because Logan left them smelling like alcohol and you really didn’t want that stinking up your apartment. You moved on to half heartedly cleaning the blood off the floor with a couple of paper towels- cleaning may have been too strong a phrase, you really just threw them over the bloody footprints and moved on for the night.

Finding Logan some clothes was really a guessing game, you couldn't really ask the man what size he wore, and it took you an embarrassingly long time to find something you thought would fit him.

~~~~~~~

A sudden waft of cold air that filled the bathroom when you swung the door open, Logan could hear you moving around. Hot water cascaded down his body, washing away any evidence of the fight he’d had with Wade- really he needed to learn to shut the fuck up sometimes, that clearly wasn’t happening anytime soon, so Logan would settle for breaking his jaw over and over again until he got the point. It never stuck through, not with Wade, even after breaking his spine at least twice the man kept talking. The fight ended when Al woke up, not that Wade really cared, because even then he wouldn’t leave Logan alone. Because he likes Al, and to prove Wade wrong, he headed over to your house.

Despite what Wade had heavily insisted, he’s not avoiding you, and he’s not suppressing any feelings for you because there weren’t any to be had in the first place.

“‘Left you some clothes, i'm gonna wash yours, I’ll try and fix them in the morning but they’re pretty beat up.” He could hear how tired you were, and if he was anybody else he might have felt guilty for keeping you up this late. Surprisingly, he was enjoying the attention.

You were gone before he could respond, by the time he got out of the shower he couldn’t hear any movement around your apartment, so he figured you went to bed. Cracking the bathroom door to let some of the steam out and wiping his hand on the fogged over mirror, his body had healed completely, no longer bruised or caked with blood. Rubbing his hand over his face, suddenly feeling just as tired as you had looked, looking down at the neatly folded pile of clothes replacing his old ones. A large black Superman t-shirt and a gray hoodie, long, red checkered pajama pants, and navy blue underwear, folded right on top. The clothes smelled like you, and not just like the detergent you used, no, they had your natural scent on them. Logan wasn’t going to not wear them, considering he had nothing else to wear and he really didn’t want to walk over to his place to get clothes. He thought back to what happened last time he was here- when he broke in. He doesn’t really remember much of that night, but he does remember his dream. It started off as nothing, the usual black void that kept him calm as he slept, then an unfamiliar scent changed that- he had what he considered an under-active imagination, but that scent kicked it into hyperdrive. He dreamed of being held and loved, but most prominently of getting fucked. Logan would be the first to say that it’s been a long time for him, and that was partially his own fault, chronic self isolation did that, and partially because the only people he’d ever wanted to fuck him were dead. Not all of them, apparently, because whoever scent it was driving him insane. He’s been called feral before, along with other things, but it made him feel like his heat was about to start at that very second. It was miracle he didn’t wake up covered in his own slick that moring- or worse, start his heat in your fucking living room- and that was just from having a cover on him, actually wearing your clothes might put him in a coma.

He figured the strong scent of alcohol covered any of his lingering arousal, or maybe you were too nice to say anything. And you cooked for him- he broke into your house, damaged your property and you fucking cooked for him.

Wade swore he has a crush on you- which led to them fighting, of course, but they fought most days over any little thing. This wasn’t anything new.

He put on the clothes more hesitantly than he’d ever admit- and it was almost overwhelming, but he pushed through it, cutting off the light in the bathroom and navigating through your dark apartment. The light in the living room was on, as well as the TV, the remote was sat on top of the folded cover you left out for him. He quickly settled, he didn’t usually watch TV when he went to sleep, but he needed something to distract from your scent right now. Finding some shitty home improvement show and settling on the couch, keeping his mind as blank as he could, he had Jean to thank for that skill because it was really useful right now. Couldn’t think of sex if he wasn’t thinking at all. Letting the mind numbingly boring show be the white noise as he drifts off.

Logan, however, could not control his thoughts while he was asleep. His subconscious was working overtime, now, with a face and a voice to put to the alpha whose scent had effortlessly disarmed him and brought him to his knees.

It was such an easy image to conjure, you sitting in front of him as he rested his head on your thigh, running your hands through his hair as he stared up at you with pleading eyes, you smiled down at him, a small, warm smile, swearing lightly as he slowly unzipped your pants, already hard and waiting for him, you’d grab him by the hair and he’d let out a slow purr as you pulled him closer. Taking the tip of your cock in his mouth, sliding his tongue over it a few times, finally getting a taste of what he so desperately craves. He took as much as he could in his mouth, feeling it hit the back of his throat. Looking up at you again, a string of moans fell from your open mouth, your eyes just barely open, staring down at him. Your grip on his hair tightened for a moment, the shot of pain coursing through his scalp for a short moment, a muffled moan left him, before settling as you released him. Using his tongue to feel every little vein in your cock, moving slowly as you ran your fingers through his hair again. Feeling no need to rush as the heat in his chest and in his stomach grew hotter and hotter.

His own cock throbbed between his legs but he didn’t touch it, even as it leaked and mixed with the mess of slick in the boxer you gave him, he had no doubt that you would handle it. Letting your cock prod his throat and push past the barrier. Almost all his airflow was blocked but he didn’t pull back, trying to take you as deep as he could only to be yanked back by his hair. Pulled completely off your cock, he looked up at you, confused.

“What?” He said, his voice rough and deep.

You didn’t respond, instead, you stood, still holding onto him- and practically dragged him to your bedroom. He tried to keep up on all fours, panting and moaning at the pain and at how much this turned him on.

He was practically purring in your hand as you guided him onto your bed.

“You look so good like this,”

Your voice was sweet and genuine, quiet praises fell from your mouth as you slowly removed his clothes piece by piece. He only got hotter the more you revealed of him, the burning under his skin reaching an all time high. Once he was completely bare in front of you, you ran your hands across his body, starting at his chest, moving all the way down to his stomach and the thick trail of hair leading down to his cock, then back up again.

“Tell me what you want sweetheart.” You muttered, leaning down and pressing a kiss on his collar.

“I-” he breathed out, vision slightly blurred, “I want you.”

You smiled, kissing his neck, his jaw, his lips, “I want you, too.”

~~~~~~~

The almost overbearing smell of burning oak and honey pulled you out of your sleep, checking your phone, you saw that it’s been less that three hours since you let Logan in, and his scent, which was usually calm and almost unnoticeable, was filling your bedroom, even with him nowhere in sight. Running your hand over your face with a tired groan, then you took a deep breath, and any irritation you felt rising at being woken up again melted away. You enjoyed the scent longer than you should have- it made you feel warm on an otherwise cold night.

For a second you considered opening the window- you were practically drowning in his scent and you aren’t even in the same room- but a sudden and overwhelming feeling of possessiveness kept you from doing it. Logan was vulnerable right now, what kind of friend would you be if you let just anyone encounter him like this- god, what if Wade of all people found out, you nor Logan would ever hear the end of it. A small part of your brain that wasn’t completely clouded by Logan’s utterly intoxicating scent wondered why he suddenly decided to present so strongly, a louder, more primal part of your brain screamed “Heat!” until it's all you could think of. The thought made a shiver shoot through your spine as blood pooled straight downward.

You tried to think of what could have started his heat so suddenly, but any detective work would have to wait until you didn’t feel like breeding him anymore. That quiet, logical part of your brain was telling you to stay in your room- but it was too quiet and you ended up leaving your room and heading into the pitch black darkness that was the rest of your house. You moved completely out of muscle memory, heading straight to the living room. You could feel the heat radiating off the man the second you entered, reaching for the light on the wall, missing it twice before flipping the switch. The room lit up immediately. Logan was truly something out of your wildest fantasies, face buried in a pillow, cover completely discarded on the floor, his shirt rode up while his pants were riding down in an attempt to relieve the heat burning in his skin. Hips rolling against the couch cushion as soft, almost inaudible moans escaped the man. You just stared for a long moment, frozen in shock at the sight.

You were fully aware you shouldn’t be watching this, your heart was pounding it your chest, and your dick was throbbing in your pants.

Your breath caught in your throat when he stopped, a long groan emitting from him as he rolled onto his back.

Fully hard and straining against the pajama pants you gave him, taking a deep breath in through his nose, then his body tensed, a second later his eyes snapped open and he stared you down, just a few feet away from him, just as flustered, heart pounding just as hard as his, pants just as tight and straining. He pushed himself up, swinging his legs over so he was sitting upright. He gave you a small challenging look. That’s all it took for any bit of resolve you had to be thrown out the window.

It was a messy, desperate first kiss, your hands practically clawing at each other's bodies as you pressed your lip to his- Logan decided that you were definitely a better kisser in real life than you were in his dream. It left both of you hot and gasping for air. Pushing Logan back down onto the couch, pushing his legs open and slotting yourself between them. He pulled back with a winded laugh and a smirk.

“Mhh, what’s so funny?” you asked, not waiting for him to answer before you continued kissing any exposed bit of skin you could find, leaving a hickey on his collar bone- only to watch it disappear seconds later.

He craned his neck back almost instinctively, giving you as much space as he could.

“Didn’t think I’d actually ever want an alpha,’ thought that was a bunch of bullshit.”

You hummed, your hands finding their way under his shirt, feeling his skin against yours, the searing heat of it. Feeling what Wade had called on numerous occasions ‘fucking massive tits’. You had to say he was right, watching as a shudder ran through Logan's body.

“And now?” You asked, a small smirk on your face.

He hissed quietly, rolling his hips against yours, “I’m fucking burning for you.”

You felt the nearly unsuppressable urge to mark him rise. He wanted you, he was burning for you.

Not any other alpha out there- He could have gone anywhere tonight, you're sure he knew every late night bar in a 50 mile radius, and he still came to you.

You pulled back, nearly ripping his pants in a desperate attempt to get them off- your frantic, ecstatic state made a small laugh rise in Logan’s chest, he didn’t even consider helping you. He let you do all the work, if you were that desperate for him then you wouldn’t complain- and you didn’t. (He was a considerable amount more desperate than you were, considering he was just humping your couch like a damn dog 5 minutes ago and he just started what was more than likely going to be a very, very bad heat.)

When you were finally able to get his pants off, you could feel just how wet he was. The navy boxer you gave him were drenched in slick, clinging to him, showing off the hard outline of his cock. Logan sunk farther into the couch, a low purr emitting from deep in his chest.

“Don’t just look.” he panted.

His body reacted so strongly every time you took your hands off of him, even if it was just for a moment, his body would ache and writhe the second they were away from him. He let out a low breath when you finally touched him again, one hand wrapped around his cock, the other holding his face as you kissed him. He moaned unapologetically, loud, but muffled by your lips as you kissed him. His hips bucked up into your hands as you rubbed him through his boxer. Logan's head fell back against the cushions, eyes squeezed shut as a babble of swears fell from his lips, almost indistinguishable from his moans and low growls.

You tease him for what, to Logan, felt like hours. Sensitive and so pent up, he clung to you, holding your body against his, his face buried in your neck, taking in as much of your scent as he could. The burning in his skin didn’t stop, but it felt a lot cooler with you against him.

Logan was scenting you- you realized that the two of you would be smelling like each other and sex for at least a week- a part of you wished it was longer. That he’d walk around and have everyone in his vicinity know he was yours.

Your hand slipped under his boxers, pulling them down until they were about mid thigh. Moving past his hard, twitching cock and straight down to his hole. Soaking wet, you barely touched it before he squirted more slick onto your hand. Still with your face pressed to his neck, you chuckled.

“I barely even touched you..” you muttered.

With a growl, he said, “fuck off.”

You kissed his neck, right over the scent gland, making it flare up again.

“Make me, cowboy.”

You didn't give him time to respond, pushing two fingers into his hole, feeling him clench around them. His hips shifted against yours as you massaged his walls, listening to him grunt, and purr, and moan. Rubbing his cock against your still clothed one. Little sits of pre-cum beading at the tip and smearing on your pants.

He could feel pressure building in his stomach, it was sudden and unstoppable- not like he’d want it to- with little warning to you, his body tensed hard, his legs closing around your body and his arms holding you in an almost crushing grip. He whined, bucking hard and fast against you- trying to fuck your fingers deeper into him as cum short from his cock, staining your pants and both your shirts.

Fuck, that only made things worse. Once his arms were loose enough around you, you pulled back, sitting up and looking at the mess between the two of you. His legs were wide open, one hooked on the back of the couch, the other hanging off the side. He stared at you, pupils blown wide, thrusting his hips against nothing in a desperate attempt to feel something.

“More.” He growled out.

“You want more?” You asked in a teasing tone, moving your hands to rest on his thighs.

He nodded.

You hummed softly, leaning down and kissing his cheek, “Ok sweetheart, I’ll give you more.”

He purred at the nickname. Letting his eyes close he listened to you move, hearing each article of clothes hit the floor, your scent got stronger and he breathed it in as deeply as he could.

Logan gasped when you pressed the tip of your cock against his hole, trying to press against it only for you to pull back.

“Relax.” You said, running your hands over his thighs I what he figured was supposed to be a soothing motion be it only made things worse

-you were right there, just a little bit more, please-

“You’d think after being alive for 200 years you’d learn some patients.” You pushed in slowly, watching as his mouth fell open in a silent moan. Pushing in inch by inch, feeling how hot he was around you, squeezing you tight. Finally, you were fully pushed inside him. His hands grinned the couch cushions so tight you thought they might tear.

Teeth clenched hard and chest heaving, he nearly shouted, “fucking move!”, after a second, “please.”

You abided, pulling half way out, giving him a shallow thrust. Over and over, pulling out farther and farther, then burying your cock back into his hole until you were slamming into him burying you cock deep inside him every time.

Shame seemed to stop existing for him as he moaned your name loud and clear, then,

“More Alpha, come on- please.”

He said it so easily that he almost didn’t realize it until you paused, looking down at him, a nearly unreadable expression in your face.

Panting, you said, “say that again.”

So gone, so beyond horny that his mind had slipped away from him, catching up moments later.

“More, y/n-“ you pinched his side, a wide grin on your face.

“That’s not what you said.”

He huffed, “fuck you.”

You gave him a slow, soft thrust, “come on, you already said it, it just wanna hear it again.”.

He glared up at you, resisting the urge to tell you to get to hell.

“Please..Alpha.”

The look on your face made it worth it, you pulled back until just the tip of your cock remained inside. Logan knew you weren’t going to pull out now, so he braces himself for the hard pounding he knew was inevitable. When it did come he put a couple claw shaped holes in your couch.

His body bounced hard with every thrust. Listening to you growl and pant as you hammered into him. This was miles better than any dream or fantasy. Holding on to the couch for dear life.

Minutes passed and you showed no sign of slowing down, even as another orgasm shot through Logan’s body, you didn’t stop, looking down at the cum splattered across his chest.

“My pretty omega-“ you panted, you felt Logan tighten around you, “want me to fill you with my cum, huh?”

Logan, covered in his own sweat, slick, and cum, barely able to think, nodded.

He could feel your knot starting to swell, it took more and more force to push into him- it made you slower, but you still slammed into him just as hard. Your pre-cum leaked into his hole, your own orgasm moments away and Logan could tell.

A little dizzy, he put his hands on your shoulder, trying to guide you down but you wouldn't go- even though he was dazed and ,for the most part, satiated, there was still something he wanted.

“Y/n, mhhm- Alpha- mark me-”

It wasn't a request, it was an order, and you couldn't find it in yourself to deny him.

You couldn't think of the repercussions, what this would mean for either of your futures, what it would do to your still extremely new relationship, not because you didn't want to, but you physically couldn't, the idea of making him yours was too strong.

You leaned down and pressed your teeth into his bare skin. You could only taste his blood for a short moment, the skin healed as fast as it broke- instead of perfectly clear skin being left there was a scar. Before you could even begin to wonder how that could happen you came hard, knot swelling, keeping you locked deep inside of Logan as you finished inside of him.

You pressed a kiss on his cheek, he blinked tiredly, a small grin on his face.

“What?” you yawned, feeling exhausted.

“I owe Wade an apology..”

You groaned, flopping down onto his chest.

“Don't bring him up now,”

He laughed, “‘ thought you liked him?”

“Yeah, just not while my dick is still in you, you can talk all you want about Wade in 30 to 40 minutes when my knot goes down.” you said, wrapping your arms around you to the best of your ability.

He did the same, “Fine.”

~~~~~~~

Logan’s heat lasted about a week, he stayed with you the whole time, partially because he really didn’t want to deal with Wade, but mostly because the two of you could not stop fucking. He was your mate after all, what were you supposed to do, let him suffer? In the past 6 days you and Logan have fucked a total of 9 times-

-10 if he didn’t stop kissing you neck right fucking down.

“Logan, I have to go to work,” You said in a stern tone that only made him want you more.

“Call off.”

“I’ve already been off for six days because of you.”

He really didn’t care- you could feel him leave a hickey on your neck- as though you weren’t already covered in hundreds of bites and bruises because of him.

“I’m going to lose my job-”

“Come on, please?” He said quietly.

You took a deep breath in-

“What the fuck, I leave for a couple of days and you house break my roommate!”

Oh god, it's entirely too early for this.

You don’t know where Wade came from, but now he’s in your kitchen with you and Logan.

“Kidding, I’ve been listening to you two fuck all week. You-” He puts a finger in your chest, “-are a real freak. And I thought I was a dirty dog, you are really something else.”

“Fuck off, Wade.” Logan said, seems like the mere presence of Wade turned him off.

“And you, I don’t even know what to say to you- You think you know a guy, live with him for a year and he just doesn’t tell you he’s an omega, that's considered extremely rude in most places. You don’t have to worry about anyone else being surprised, I’m pretty sure they heard you begging for Y/n sweet, succulent dick all the way in Europe.”

You stood, grabbing your keys off the counter- you were not staying and watching Wade get torn to shreds.

You turned to Logan to see that he was thoroughly pissed off.

“Don't get blood on my floor.” You kissed his cheek, knowing it was very likely that he was going to get blood on every surface. “Have fun.”

You walked away, hearing a loud thump behind you and deciding that you weren’t going to pay it any attention, even as Wade’s high pitched screams met your ears. Reaching the front door you saw it in pieces again. That was a problem for later, for now you needed to get to work and attempt to explain to your manager why you’ve been MIA.

Request are closed

#x male reader #male reader #male!reader #x male!reader #logan howlett x male reader #Logan howlett x male!reader #logan howlett x reader #a/b/o #a/b/o dynamics #omegaverse #x men x male!reader #x men x male reader #wolverine x male!reader #wolverine x male reader #wolverine x reader #top!male!reader #top male reader #top reader #spoke with the mf who requested this and they already want a part two lmao

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hotchner-edu · 11 months ago

Text

Eyes Don't Lie | Aaron Hotchner

Synopsis: The one where you think you’re being slick about your crush on Aaron (spoiler: you’re not.)

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x BAU!sunshine!reader

Warnings: fluff, Aaron's arms, drinking

You remember it all too clearly, the day you got the highly coveted profiler position in the BAU. Not because you actually managed to get the job, that was secondary, but because the man who interviewed you was possibly the most gorgeous human you'd ever laid eyes on.

And now that very same man was your unit chief. Unbending in his resolve and ever self-assured, you stood absolutely no chance. You still had trouble recalling how you even answered the interview questions back then, only remembering how your mind spun the longer you stared at him.

When you joined the team, the overflowing abundance of joy and sunshine tying them together (thanks to one Penelope Garcia) seemed to fly into overdrive.

The team never let you forget just how much they adored your smiley nature, grateful for your constant comforting presence. Although they all absolutely loved Penelope, she was usually stationed back in her lair when the team had to fly to different places, and the effects of heavy cases weighed on them during those days.

That seemed to change when you were roped into the team, always keeping someone company and trying to alleviate their stress.

Never with Aaron though.

You seemed to malfunction every time he was alone with you, and that often led you to scurry off, your school girl crush festering deeper in your heart.

"Good morning, sunshine." Derek's voice meets your ears as he enters the precinct, dropping a kiss to the top of your head as he sits beside you.

"Good morning!" You chirp with a grin, sorting out the papers in front of you— all ransom notes that had been left by the unsub for his victims' parents. All starting with demands for hundreds of thousands of dollars, and all ending with half-buried bodies.

Derek glances at the papers for a moment before directing his attention to Spencer who was staring at the whiteboard in front of him. "Any luck with the geographical profile, Reid?"

"Working on it..." Spencer mumbles under his breath, the precursor to his flow state. Yeah, he would figure it out in no time.

Your attention is averted to the entrance of the meeting room when Emily strolls in with both her coffee and yours in her hands. "Early start today... again." She grumbles playfully and smiles as she hands you your cup.

"At least we all seem to be energized today." You smile brightly in gratitude, bringing the cup to your lips so you could blow on it.

Emily nods and plops down across from you. "Yeah, and it seems like our guy is in no rush." She huffs and frowns a bit as she addresses the three of you guys. "Lisa's parents haven't gotten a second ransom note yet."

Your eyebrows furrow at the news. Lisa Thomas was the unsub's latest victim, having been snatched almost three days prior.

"He's breaking pattern?" You ask in disbelief, frowning as you think.

"Or he's found what he was looking for." Aaron's smooth voice flows into the room and you instinctively stiffen up, posture suddenly pin-straight. "Good morning." He nods to all of you.

You miss the amused look Derek and Emily share as your eyes flicker to Aaron's figure as he strolls towards the table. He was in his usual suit, bringing his arm up to check his watch for a moment, the action drawing your gaze to his hands.

Your voice dies a little in your throat and Aaron's eyes find yours, softening a bit.

Emily swoops in and jumps off of his suggestion. "You think he's found the perfect opportunity from Lisa?"

Aaron debates this and spares a glance toward Spencer's motionless figure. "Her parents are the most affluent. It could be that he's planning out his next move to optimize monetary gain."

Still, that theory didn't seem right to you. It had to be something else. His ransom notes were vague, making steep demands that were undeniably impossible to meet in his given time window.

Besides, autopsy had told you all that he had killed the previous girls only hours after the ransom notes were estimated to have been delivered.

And then it hits you.

"He was practicing." You suddenly say, blushing sheepishly when you realize you said it louder than you intended.

Aaron looks back to you and gently asks, "Practicing?"

Willing every ounce of professionalism in your body to come together, you nod and glance toward Reid's map. "What if Lisa isn't just another one of his victims? What if she was the goal the entire time? He never intended on letting any of his previous captives live, that's why he never even went to pick up any ransom money that was offered."

Derek's eyes widen and he nods, the gears turning in his head. "Her background doesn't match his previous three victims then, but how?"

Spencer suddenly cuts in, having had an epiphany as he draws four circles around the map, three forming a triangle around the fourth circle. "Status. Lisa's family lives on the top of the estate hill."

"But the other three girls also came from wealthy backgrounds?" Emily asks, leaning forward in her seat.

"The hill is the status symbol... he's been targeting increasingly wealthy girls to test the limits, to see if he'd get caught." You say softly.

Reid nods and looks to you in an almost excited manner from the breakthrough. "We've been looking at this the wrong way. He's not trying to get ransom money, it's much more personal than that and he's trying to throw us off his trail."

"We need to interview the residents living at the bottom of the hill. Prentiss, pay the Thomas' another visit and ask them about anybody in their lives who they've casted aside that may have been personally involved with Lisa" Aaron says firmly, already reaching for his phone. He pauses before looking at you, face softening a bit. "Nice work."

Your eyes widen and you stutter out a surprised response. "I... thank you, sir."

Aaron looks like he wants to say something again, but he decides not to and spins on his heel to make some calls. Derek chuckles and shakes your shoulders. "Good job, sunshine. But you have got to stop making googly eyes at the boss man."

"I'm not making googly eyes!" You protest, ignoring your sweaty palms and racing heart.

Derek lifts his hands up in surrender, his smug grin unwavering. "Whatever you say."

It takes only half a day after your revelation to catch the unsub, a secret boyfriend of Lisa's who lived at the bottom of the hill. He had intended to take her and run away since her parents disapproved of their relationship, but he wasn't able to follow through with that plan because Lisa had found out about his penchant for murder and planned to turn him in.

"How scary." You sigh and frown a bit as the team packs up, ready to leave the precinct and get back on the jet.

"You're telling me. Killing innocent girls to try and hide your girlfriend's abduction is certainly..." Emily trails off with a flabbergasted look, not having a word to describe the situation.

"This is why I am never dating." You grumble, smiling when Emily gives you an eyebrow raise. "I mean it!"

"Sure, sweetheart. Don't think we forgot how you want to be Mrs. Unit Chief." Derek jokes, snickering as he slings his bag over his shoulder.

Emily nods in agreement and pats your arm fondly. "Steam practically erupts from your face whenever he's within a four feet radius of you, honey."

You gasp in denial and turn to Spencer. "Spence, I'm not like that, am I?"

Your friend perks up at the sudden question and blinks a couple of times. "Uhm... you kinda are." He says with a sheepish smile, hating to burst your bubble of delusion.

"Oh my god... I need a drink." You huff and sigh in defeat.

"Now that's something I can agree with." Derek chuckles and slings his arm around your shoulder. "Let's celebrate when we get back."

You throw your head back and sigh dramatically. "You guys totally suck by the way."

You try to avoid thinking of the matter in the coming days, becoming even more skittish around Aaron. Unbeknownst to you, your boss had long caught on to the crush you harbored for him, and was growing more impatient with your constant avoidance.

A week after you get back from the case, you're distracted by a sight in front of you that has you nearly drooling. Aaron is pacing in his office, blinds open, suit jacket off, with his arm muscles rippling as he adjusts the cuffs of his sleeves.

He's speaking into his phone, his signature frown painting his face.

Your chin is propped up against your hand as you watch him, a hint of wonder in your gaze as your paperwork is long forgotten about in front of you.

You're suddenly jolted out of your stupor when a pair of hands land on your shoulders. "What are we looking at, sunshine?" Derek's voice rings out by your ear as he follows your gaze with a chuckle. "That checks out."

"Here to torment me again, oh great one?" You joke and poke his ribs with your finger.

He shakes his head and moves his hand to rest on the back of your chair. "Maybe later. The team was planning on grabbing some drinks tonight, and you're coming."

"I have no say in this?" You ask and chuckle, smiling brightly at the prospect of having a fun night out with the team.

"Nope. Neither does the boss man." Derek grins mischievously as he glances towards Aaron's office.

Your eyes widen owlishly and you gape. "Wait, Hotch is coming too?"

He pats the back of your chair and smirks. "Yep! See you tonight, sweetheart. JJ's picking the place so make sure to check the groupchat." He says and walks off before you can get another word out.

Blinking slowly, your mind suddenly conjures up a mental image of your closet as you start debating on what to wear.

Meanwhile, across the bullpen, Hotch is speaking lowly into his phone as he suddenly feels very silly. "So?" He gruffly asks, eyes darting to his discarded jacket.

"What? You're telling me you couldn't feel the heart-shaped lasers coming your way?" Emily's voice rings out on the other side of the phone with an amused huff.

He sighs softly and frowns. He had no idea what the hell he was doing and why he even agreed to the the team's little scheme in the first place.

"Okay, I can hear you overthinking from here. Trust me, she was ogling you like no tomorrow. And she knows you're coming tonight, so wear something nice." She advises gently.

His frown deepens and he looks out of his office window and into the bullpen, seeing your frazzled figure deep in thought at your desk. "Yeah, like what?"

"You didn't hear this from me, but she likes your arms. Do what you will with that knowledge." Emily muses out lightly, recalling the time when you had practically gushed to her and JJ that Aaron wasn't in his suit for once when he came by to pick something up at his office.

Both her and JJ figured out pretty quickly that you were raving about it because of his exposed arms as you kept circling back to how muscular they looked.

Emily felt a bit guilty for tipping Hotch off about that, but she could ask for your forgiveness at a later date.

Later that night, you're contemplating faking a flat tire to get out of the get-together, but Aaron being the kind of person he is, would likely offer to come pick you up instead.

Seeing no escape, you decide to just toughen up and join in on the night of fun. You were dressing up a bit more than usual, and you decided to arrive fashionably late to avoid being paired off with your early-bird boss. You don't think you'd survive another embarrassing interaction with him.

It's a bit past nine by the time you arrive at the bar, most of your team already two shots of vodka deep. Waving at the group, you do a double take when you see Aaron sitting beside the only empty spot, sporting a navy polo shirt that hugged his biceps deliciously, two of the top buttons undone.

You pause in step for a second and nearly stumble into someone as your eyes are zeroed in on him. What the fuck was he wearing, and was he trying to kill you?

Regaining your bearings after a couple of seconds, you continue walking and smile softly.

"Hey guys..." You chuckle as Penelope gasps at the sight of you.

"Hot! Hot!" She squeals out and stands up, hugging you and looking at your outfit.

You smile brightly and shake your head. "Says you, beautiful! Also, are you already drunk?" You chuckle, knowing she could never pass up any kind of fruity margarita.

"Not yet! I was waiting for you!" She giggles excitedly and drags you closer to the table your team was occupying.

"Look who made it!" Derek calls out and grins, a half-empty glass of negroni in front of him.

You slowly shuffle toward the only vacant spot that was coincidentally beside Aaron, narrowing your eyes playfully at your beaming friend. "I knew you'd come kicking down my door if I didn't turn up."

Derek simply picks up his glass and cheers to your words, not even bothering to deny it. Shaking your head a bit, you place your bag in your lap and brave a glance at Aaron, plastering on a small smile when you meet his gaze.

"You look beautiful." Aaron says to you in a low voice, his entire attention focused on you.

"Oh, thank you, sir..." You say bashfully, eyes scanning his face and dropping down to the pink cocktail JJ's sliding to you with a subtle wink.

Aaron tilts his head a smidge and smiles at you fondly. "How many times have I told you that you can just call me Aaron? Or Hotch, at the very least."

"Oh, right. Sorry, Aaron." You say a bit shyly, taking a sip from the cocktail and praying no one takes notice of your shaky hand. "Uhm... I'm surprised you came out tonight."

Aaron leans his elbows on the table, keeping his head turned to face you. It was sinful the way his muscles were flexing, and you really couldn't escape the sight of the defined veins running down his forearms.

His large, calloused hands kept calling for your attention and you could only force yourself to look away from them when he responded to you.

"Well, I thought it would nice to celebrate a bit."

You nod at his explanation and gaze at him. "You... you look really nice." Your voice is soft and barely audible over the booming laughter and upbeat music echoing around the bar.

Aaron seems pleased by your words, his eyes twinkling as he chuckles and smiles almost boyishly. "Thank you, sweetheart."

Your entire face blossoms with warmth as you hear the pet name, mouth parting a bit in surprise as you try to muster up a response. Luckily, you're saved when Penelope loudly announces that everyone is doing a round of shots, leaving no room for argument.

The rest of the night is filled with endless laughter and tall glasses of colorful cocktails, leading Penelope and Derek to quickly get tipsy, hitting the dance floor together before you're even through with your first drink. You and Aaron decide to opt out of drinking too much, with the man being completely sober by the time midnight rolls around.

It's not long before you find that your entire team, save for Aaron, are scattered around somewhere in the bar. You glance at the man and find him already gazing at you, expression soft and adoring. It was clear that he was growing a bit weary the longer the night dragged on, and you couldn't understand why he was forcing himself to stay.

"Are you the designated driver?" You ask and smile kindly at him, knowing everyone else on the team would be sloshed by the time they had the sense to call it a night.

Aaron nods and he leans a bit closer to you, shoulders sagging tiredly. "Seems like it." He pauses before sighing almost bashfully. "To be honest, I lied to you earlier about why I came out tonight."

"Huh, why?" You ask and tilt your head, your heart racing a bit as he licks his lips nervously.

"Because... Well, the reason I decided to come tonight was because of you." He states quietly, eyes gazing at you fondly. "I'm tired of waiting."

You stay silent, eyes wide as you try to process his words.

"May I kiss you?" He finally whispers, eyes flickering from yours and down to your lips.

Without hesitating, you surge forward and lock your lips with his, hands resting against his firm chest. Aaron reciprocates immediately, one of his hands moving to your waist while the other rests against the back of your head, gently keeping you close.

Kissing Aaron feels magnetic, every movement flowing into something more intense as neither of you can help but draw closer to one another. His hand squeezes your waist as his nose nudges against yours, his lips relentless in their pursuit of yours.

When you finally pull back a little for air, you grow a bit shy as you see the string of saliva between you both.

"I like you." You whisper, hands rubbing against the material of his polo shirt.

He chuckles breathlessly and pulls you closer to him by your hip. "I like you too, honey." His arm wraps around you and your eyes close instinctively, feeling yourself becoming addicted to his lips already.

Neither of you see your team members cheering from across the bar as they see Aaron dive in for more kisses from you, movements akin to that of a starved man.

When they finally stumble back to the table a mere ten minutes later, no one says anything for a second as they all realize you're both long gone.

Emily groans softly and plops down in one of the chairs. "Did Hotch forget he was our ride home?"

Derek grunts and picks up a pink sticky note on the table, your penmanship a bit sloppy as if you had written on it in a rush.

'Called cabs for you guys! JJ, I called Will. Text us when you guys get home safely x'

#aaron hotchner x reader #aaron hotchner imagine #aaron hotchner fanfiction #aaron hotchner x you #aaron hotchner fluff #aaron hotchner fic #aaron hotch x reader #criminal minds x reader #criminal minds aaron #criminal minds aaron imagine

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bwabys-scenarios · 1 year ago

Note

Hello dear! How are you? Could you please do Perv! Chrollo if it's not too much trouble? I haven't seen much Perv Chrollo content out there, and I'd love to see that in your writing! You can ignore it if you want, have a nice day ♡ (Sorry if it seemed confusing, English is not my first language ☠️)

His pretty girl

Perv!Chrollo x Fem!Reader

warnings: perv behavior, panting stealing, reader is mentioned to be chubby, excessive gift giving, somno, dubcon, reader is innocent and naive, breeding kink, pregnancy, bit of Yandere chrollo if you squint, Chrollo calls you princess/angel/goddess, minor manga spoilers about Shalnark

A/N: not the biggest chrollo fan but him being head over heels in love and just a big softy with his lover does do something for me.

NSFW: @lightshowerrr @jungtoast @nenggie @pannacottababy @aliceattheart @atransmuter

‼️If you want to be added to the taglist, please check out the taglist information then comment what you want to be added to! Make sure you have your age in your bio and that your blog can be tagged/mentioned!‼️

Unlike most pervs, Chrollo is much sneakier with his perversion. You won’t catch him sniffing your panties or jacking off to pictures of your cute face… but you will find pairs of your panties covered in his cum in your dresser, and lots of pictures of you saved on his phone if you go looking.

Chrollo absolutely adores you, he enjoys seeing you blush and stutter when you find a particularly nasty love letter stuffed into your mailbox, or those pair of missing lacy panties folded neatly on your bed, with strange stains on them.

He first fell for you when Shalnark introduced him to you. You met Shal through the Hunter exam years ago, though you didn’t pass. Regardless, the two of you stayed good friends, with Shal making sure you stayed safe while under his care.

But Shalnark was quick to back off the second Chrollo showed interest in you. You were just too cute, with your chubby frame and pretty face. Chrollo had never really put much thought into his sexual preferences, but seeing your plump ass and fat tits was enough to awaken something… sinful in him.

After that first meeting, you started receiving little gifts from him. At first, they were just pretty trinkets that Chrollo found on his missions, but as his obsession and adoration for you grew, those little trinkets because expensive dresses and luxurious jewelry.

At first you thought it was just him being generous with you, considering your living situation wasn’t the best. You were very appreciative, your cheeks heating up and your voice small when he smiled sweetly after you thanked him.

But over time, strange things started happening that you just couldn’t explain!

Your windows would be open in the morning when you were sure you closed them last night… and what was that sticky stuff on your face?

Chrollo had gotten into the habit of breaking in to watch you sleep. In the beginning, it was because he felt such intense love and care for you that he just couldn’t bear the thought of you getting harmed in your most vulnerable state!

He’d sit at the edge of your bed, reading a book while gently stroking your cheek. It was cute, you seemed so content and happy in your sleep when he was with you. It made his heart soar thinking that maybe, just maybe he had something to do with it.

But soon those soft and innocent intentions shifted when he noticed how… revealing your pajamas were sometimes. Those flimsy little shorts and the fact he could see your nipples through your thin white tanktop had his cock straining against his pants.

You always looked so soft and peaceful, something he wanted to protect and cherish. You were the only person linking him to the normal world, where your biggest problems were paying rent on time and figuring out what to eat for dinner, while his were trying to keep his friends from dying and which heist he should plan next.

You lived in a completely different world than him, and that was some of the appeal. Chrollo had never lived a normal life, but with you, he could have some shred of normalcy. He could marry you, make you his sweet little wife and live out the rest of his days keeping you happy and safe.

But… deep down Chrollo knew this was next to impossible. He was a wanted criminal, with more enemies than he could care to remember.

He still liked to imagine it, though. You, sitting in a rocking chair your swollen belly, carrying his child. He’d come home from a heist, carry you upstairs and ravish you, making sure to be extra careful with your delicate body.

Chrollo stroked his cock to this thought, his tip gently pressed against your lips as you slept. He’d done this exact things countless times… he hadn’t been expecting you to wake up right as he buckled his pants after cumming on your lips.

“… Chrollo?”

You rubbed your sleepy eyes, then wiped at your mouth, grimacing. Did you drool in your sleep? It was too dark to make out what was on your hand… but there was just enough light to see your friend Chrollo standing there, peering down at you with a slightly surprised expression.

He quickly took on his usual calm, charming facade. “Hello, (Name). Shal asked me to come watch over you. Apparently there’s been a few break ins in town that got both him and I worried for you.”

It was all lies, but something he loved about (Name) was her naïveté. You smiled sweetly, your cheeks heating up. “Really? You came to make sure I was okay?”

Chrollo nodded, setting his book on your nightstand before sitting at the edge of your bed. “Of course… I don’t think you understand just how much you mean to me, (Name).”

You didn’t have time to react, he was already leaning closer to you. His eyes were captivating in the moonlight, reflecting the light and shining like jewels.

“You’re divine, (Name), like an angel sent from Heaven just for me.”

He cupped your cheek, his thumb brushing against your lip. “I want you, more than anything.”

Hearing this from a handsome man like Chrollo felt unreal. He wanted you of all people? It was hard to believe.

As if sensing your hesitancy, Chrollo tilted up your chin. “Do you want me to show you?”

Before you could answer, his lips met yours. He had been holding back for so long, he needed this, he needed you. You were always so sweet to him, making sure he was eating well and even coming to visit him when you could. How could he ever ask for anything more than you?

It wasn’t long before his tongue entered your mouth and his hands slipped under your shirt to grab at your perky, plump tits. You whines softly into his mouth as his thumbs ran over your sensitive nipples.

“Like that, princess?”

He gave them a soft pinch, biting down on your lip as he moved one hand to your shorts. He didn’t both with taking them off, he ripped them and pinned you down, one hand pinning your wrists and the other unbuckling his pants.

“My darling…”

His eyes settled on your pretty cunt, wet and glistening in the moonlight. Chrollo had a few one nights stands in the past, but he never felt like this before. Your pussy, all wet and ready for him was enough to have him groaning into your neck as his cock sunk into your warm heat.

He grabbed onto your hips, his fingers sinking into the soft fat. You were so cute, tears pooling down your cheeks as you blubbered incoherently, too fucked out to speak. He leaned forward and kissed those soft lips of yours, so soft and gentle with his little angel.

“Shh, just take me okay? Fuck, you’re divine, my angel, my goddess…”

With one leg over his shoulder as he pressed your bodies together, Chrollo fucked into you. He tried his best to restrain himself, but god you looked way too pretty when you came around his cock for the third time.

You clung to him for comfort and some sort of stability as he mercilessly pounded your sensitive cunt. “Pretty, god you’re just gorgeous, my sweet girl…”

By the end of the night, you were too exhausted to even speak, your pussy full of his seed. He held you now, cooing softly as he peppered kisses along your cheeks and jaw. “Did so well, such a good girl…”

From then on Chrollo’s obsession with you would only deepen. He’d marked you up, leaving love bites all over your neck and chest. You were his, and he’d make sure everyone knew that.

It wasn’t long before he had moved you away, somewhere you could be together and also under the radar. After Shalnark’s death, he became a bit paranoid that Hisoka would come after you next.

So now there you were, belly swollen with his child as he held you in his lap, his palm resting on your baby bump.

Chrollo had you, and although it wasn’t quite the life he had expected, he was still happy with it. You were here with him, carrying his baby and unable to get a way, even if you wanted to.

And that was enough for him.

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drabbles-mc · 24 days ago

Text

Invisible Silver Linings (1/7)

Robert 'Bob' Reynolds x F!Reader

Series Warnings: 18+, Thunderbolts* spoilers, language, angst, mentions of scars, mentions of self-harm/suicidal ideations

Summary: You signed on to become part of a study when you realized that you didn't have anything left to lose. What harm could it really do? How much worse could it really get? ... You didn't expect to get answers to those questions. You also didn't expect to meet Bob. You'd end up thankful for at least one of those things.

Chapter Index

Word Count: 1.5k

A/N: i know i haven't written for Marvel in a while, but i started working on this lil series the second i left the theater on Thursday. it's so nice to see Lewis Pullman getting the creds he deserves. 🥰anyway!!!! I've finished this series and will be posting updates on a weekly or twice-weekly basis until it's all up here and good to go. please let me know what you think!

“They've been taking us in batches,” you told him. You hadn't even bothered to introduce yourself to him, but from the moment they brought him into the room with the rest of you, he'd been looking around, a little twitchy and on-edge. You supposed that you couldn't really blame him. It was a strange position that you were all finding yourselves in. Then again, you had all chosen to sign up for it.

He turned and looked at you, eyes wide and worried at the same time. “Wh-what?”

You nodded in the direction of the doors on the opposite end of the room, not the ones that he had just walked through or anyone else either. One set brought you in, another set brought you out. You had yet to see anyone come back into the room after they left, and while there were plenty of things that that could mean, you wondered if it was the worst case scenario that had crossed your mind before. Judging by the look on his face, it wasn't going to take him long to think of that worst case scenario either.

“The doctors. Scientists. Whatever you wanna call them,” you gave up on titles with a shrug, “have been taking people in batches.”

His mouth dipped into a frown as he took in what you said. He looked around the room that the two of you were in, looked at all of the other people who were in there with you. No one looked very happy to be there even though, if their situations were anything like yours, they had signed off on being here. Not that you looked ecstatic either, so maybe you shouldn't judge. You were just tired. And uncomfortable. All these people stuffed into this room and they couldn't find better seating arrangements? At least the clothes they were forcing you all to wear were comfortable, even if they weren't exactly fashionable. Sure, they kind of made you feel like you were in an asylum of some kind, but they were baggy and soft so it could’ve been worse. The new guy looked like he was close to swimming in his.

He looked around long enough to realize that most people were sitting. There were limited chairs and tables, but you clearly hadn't let that deter you as you found a pocket of space on the floor to sit on. Not quite in the corner but you were far enough off to keep an eye on most of the people in the room with you. The entry door was also close by, and while you didn't have any plans or desire to make a break for it just yet, you figured that it might end up being your best bet if it came down to it. Staring down at you, he watched as you rested your head back against the wall behind you. Your legs were bent at the knee, and your arms were draped over the top of them. Whatever it was that he saw in your facial expression must've been just safe and inviting enough for him to decide to sit down next to you.

It wasn’t a graceful descent on his part, but he didn't fall on top of you. He was closer to you than maybe a stranger should've been in a place like this, but he didn’t seem like he even noticed. He crossed his legs, hands resting in his lap as he looked back and forth between you and the room around you. Something about the way he was sitting, the look on his face, he looked a little bit like a boy stuck in a man's body. He didn’t seem like the kind of person who should be signing up for sketchy medical trials that bring you to undisclosed places.

You would've been content to sit there in silence until it was your turn to get called, but apparently you were alone in that sentiment. “I'm Bob, by the way,” he said, sounding more sure of himself than he had the first time he spoke to you.

When you turned to look him in the eye, you found him already waiting and watching, an expectant look on his face that only added to the little aura of innocence around him. You figured one good turn deserved another if the two of you were going to be stuck together for now, so you gave him your name in return. He smiled at the sound of it, giving a tiny nod of acknowledgment.

“I think you're the first person I've talked to since I got here,” you told him.

He tilted his head, brows furrowing in thought. “When did you get here?”

Looking up at the ceiling, you thought about it for a moment. Being in this strange, mostly empty room that had no windows for natural light had already messed up your sense of time even though you hadn't been there that long yet. “Day before last.”

His eyes widened again. “And they still haven't taken you?”

You chuckled. “You should've seen how many people were in here. I think that's why they're doing…whatever they're doing, in batches.”

“How are they choosing people?” he asked, looking now at the small clusters of people who were still waiting. Some people were keeping to themselves, much like you had been before Bob showed up and decided to switch things up on you.

Letting your eyes close while your head was rested back, you shook your head. “No clue. I don't work here.”

He let out a quiet laugh at that. “Right. Sorry.”

Even though you weren't looking at him, choosing instead to stare at the backs of your eyelids, you could still feel the nervous energy that was radiating off him. If he kept this up, he was going to tire himself out before he even got to the hard part. If he couldn’t handle waiting, there was no way that he was going to be cut out for whatever was waiting on the other side of the exit doors. You didn’t have any words of comfort to offer him, mostly because you had no idea what the hell was really going on yourself. Something told you, though, that it wouldn’t take very long for him to pick up another topic of conversation. Wouldn’t take long for him to start asking more questions that you wouldn’t have any answers to.

As if he could hear your thoughts, he said, “Anyone say what exactly it is that they're doing?”

You didn’t open your eyes. “Nope.”

When he spoke up again, his voice was softer, almost like he was afraid for anyone to hear what he was saying. “I hope it works.”

That got you to crack one eye open so you could give him a bit of a sideways glance. He wasn’t looking at you anymore, instead his stare was fixed on the hem of his pants. He'd found a loose thread and was starting to pick at it.

“What'd they tell you?” you asked.

You wondered briefly if his eyes would ever end up getting stuck wide like that. “What?”

Turning your head to face him in earnest once more, you elaborated. “What'd they tell you they were doing? What'd they offer you to do this?”

His expression dampened, and suddenly it was like he couldn’t meet your eyes. His focus shifted back to the thread. He was shaking his head, and something told you the action wasn't directed at you, but rather at himself. “They said that they could make me great. They…they could make me better.” He found it in himself to look at you, and it was then that you could see how glassy his eyes had gotten. “I really wanna be better.” He sniffed, blinking a few times to beat his tears back into submission. Giving his head and shoulders a small shake, he tried to get himself sounding normal again as he asked, “Wh-what'd they tell you?”

“Something similar.” The point of your elbows dug into the tops of your knees as you dropped your head into your hands. Raking your fingers back along your scalp, you rested with your head down for a moment before looking at Bob again. “I'm not really looking to be great. I just,” you shrugged, “it can't get much worse for me so I figured why not?”

The genuine sadness on his face shocked you. All those feelings for someone who was a complete stranger to him. “Oh. I'm sor—”

You waved him off before he could finish the apology. “Don't be. Not like any of it was your fault. Besides, we both still ended up here regardless,” you made a brief gesture to the room, “so what the fuck does it really matter?”

There was a thoughtful frown on his face as he considered your words. “Right.” Quiet filled the space between you again. You could only try to venture a guess at what Bob was thinking about. Probably everything that led him here—that's what you'd spent most of your time thinking about, anyway. Wondering if this was the right choice or not, not that there were many other choices at your disposal anyway. No use in regretting it. You were here in your pajama uniform with Bob and dozens of other people whose names you hadn't bothered to try and learn. This was what you had now. There was nothing more to it than that.

Marvel Taglist (please let me know if you'd like to be added!): @garbinge @artemiseamoon @late-to-the-party-81 @blackhawkfanatic

#marvel #marvel fanfiction #thunderbolts #thunderbolts fanfiction #bob reynolds #robert reynolds #bob reynolds fanfiction #robert reynolds fanfiction #bob reynolds x reader #bob reynolds x you #x reader #x reader fic #mcu #mcu fanfiction #invisible silver linings #my writing #fanfiction #drabblesmc

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thefandomthings · 1 year ago

Note

Zuko x reader

"That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Betrayal

Hurt prompt #11: "That's not what I meant, and you know it."

Pairing: Zuko x F/Gn!reader

Warnings: Angst, No comfort, Established relationship, !!SPOILERS¡¡, Takes place in Book 2. Ep. 18

Notes: Oh boy, I have so many avatar requests, it's amazing. Thank you guys for participating in my event it makes me so happy! Tell me if y'all want a part 2.

Prompt Event Part 1 Part 2

All you felt was pain, deep inside your chest. Watching your boyfriend take sides against the avatar once again was brutal. What made it even worse was Iroh was to be imprisoned, you would hold the same fate if you were captured.

You stood next to Katara and Aang, Azula and Zuko on the opposite side of the cave. Azula held the same malicious grin on her face, watching the three of you with smugness.

"My, my Y/n. You seem so down, how sad." She mocks you with a slight chuckle. Zuko gives her a glare, his eyes wandering back to you. They are full of guilt, pleading for forgiveness from you. Practically begging you to understand why he did it, to come with him.

"Leave Y/n alone, Azula." Zuko grunts, getting in a fighting stance with his sister. Azula clicks her tongue and rolls her eyes at her brother.

"They're the enemy now, Zuzu. Can't protect them forever." Azula laughs, blue fire erupting from her fists.

The blue flurries of fire woosh past you fastly. Katara quickly blocks the fire with her water. Using her octopus arms she slashes and whips at Azula, both going back and forth. The ground beneath the five of you shakes and cracks.

Aang and Zuko are going at it hand to hand. You watch out of the corner of your eye as Zuko takes a hit by Aangs wind, sending him flying back into one of the crystal pillars. Your heart stops, skipping a beat as Zuko groans.

You curse under your breath and run towards him, Aang is calling your name frantically. You slid against the rock surface and get the few rocks that landed on Zuko off. He lets out a huff of air, the weight of the rock off of his chest allowing him to breath.

He's quick to sit up, using his hands, he does a walk over away from you. Your heart felt like it was stabbed, watching as he gets in a protective stance. He knows you'd never hurt him on purpose, and he'd never hurt you.

"Why are you doing this, Zuko? Why are you so desperate to gain your honor back?" Your voice is meek, tears gathering at your waterline, blurring his figure.

"You know why I have to, Y/n. This is my chance to prove to my father I am worthy."

Zukos heart physically aches, seeing your tears making him question everything. He never wanted to hurt you, never wanted to put strain on your relationship. You're his everything, you've been with him since the beginning along with Iroh. Loving him even when he didn't love himself.

"But Zuko, when you get home and see your father, will he even except you? What if he hurts you again, or what if he tries to kill you?" You plead, knowing this isn't him. He's just confused and fighting himself.

Zuko stays quiet, thinking over your words carefully. You have a point. His father could easily do all of those things, Azula to. Does he really want to go through with this? Having Uncle imprisoned, possibly you too?

He closes his eyes tightly, fists clenched at his side. He lets out a long breath, salty tears slide down his cheeks as he looks back up at you again.

"He won't. I'm sorry Y/n. You can't change my mind. I'm going home." He lifts his fists back into a defensive stance, hands trembling.

"Please...Please forgive me."

You let out a strangled sob at his words, heart clenching and shattering. Zuko grits his teeth, holding back his own cries.

"Get out of here, before Azula realizes I haven't killed you." Without realizing it, Zuko was beside you. Taking you into his arms, he holds you as close as he can. His lips pressing multiple kisses to your head. His nose buried in your hair, taking in your shampoo scent one last time.

"Does this mean you don't love me anymore? Since you're leaving?" You asked, face hidden in his neck, tears hitting his skin like rain. Zuko squeezes you softly, kissing the apples of your cheeks.

"That not what I meant, Y/n. And you know it." He pulls away from you, taking a few steps back to create distance.

Water then wraps around his waist sending him flying. You scream his name as Katara takes you in her arms. You sob holding onto Katara as she sees you down.

"It'll be alright, Y/n. I promise." She hugs you tightly, the sound of wind echos in the cave as Aang enters the avatar state. Suddenly lighting cracks, blue electricity shoots towards Aang. Shooting into his back like a spear.

"AANG!" You and Katara race towards him, watching as he falls, his body is lifeless. Katara catches him, tears falling from her eyes. You use your bending to keep the three of you protected as Katara holds Aang and bends up the waterfall.

Zuko watches as the love of his life disappears. He lets out a sob, his fist pounding the ground.

He's sorry. So, so sorry. He never wanted to hurt you, cause you this much pain. Yet he has, and he might never, ever be able to fix it.

He hopes you're safe, and he'll come and find you when the time is right before it's to late.

#thefandomthings #avatar the last airbender x reader #zuko x reader #fire lord zuko #prince zuko #aanga x reader #sokka x reader #katara x reader #the gaang #prompt event #writing prompt #atla #legend of korra #legend of korra x reader #zuko fluff #zuko angst #zuko smut

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pyract0 · 2 months ago

Text

╰┈➤Angst thoughts (Hsr edition)- Part 2

☁︎Just short little collection of thoughts of different scenarios! ☁︎Amphoreus spoilers! If you haven't played any of the 3.0 story onwards be warned (Not many, but would consider a few parts) ☁︎Warnings: Angst, death/ injury descriptions, illness ☁︎ No specified gender/ physical descriptions, referred to as "you", ☁︎Mydeimos, Anaxagorus, Gallagher, Aventurine, Dr Ratio, Jiaoqiu (continuation) ☁︎Part 1 here, part 2 here

╰┈➤Mydeimos (+Tribbie)

Mydei who after losing you had to relearn the simple things you used to help him with. Some days waking up forgetting you're gone, seeking you out thinking you're walking about somewhere after rising early.

You who used to sit down with him, talking about plans while braiding his hair, now gone forcing him to do it himself. Some people wouldn't even realise you had passed, him doing everything in his power to stop everything else from changing.

With you both being "parents" (the cities children who just love you), having to explain to them why you aren't coming to play with them anymore or give them gifts like you used to.

Like to imagine Tribbie would be naturally close to you, seeing you as a parental figure, who tries to be positive that she'll "see you tomorrow" but takes it just as hard as Mydei. The two of them trying to cheer up the other but in the end just making themselves realise further that you aren't coming back.

╰┈➤Anaxagorus (Spoiler warning!)

Anaxa losing you in the same incident that took his own life, yet only one of you were given a core flame and revived. Him waking up breathing again just for your body to remain unmoving, pulse long gone.

Him pushing that people use his full name, not only because he sees it as disrespectful but because it's what you called him. Wishes to keep it as your designated nickname, as both a way to respect and remember you.

Imagine you both who liked gifting small things, rings in particular, with Anaxa wearing them each day without failure. Never taking them off in fear of losing them, with them becoming apart of his normal attire. Wears an extra ring that you never gifted him, matching the one tucked away in a small box that he never got to give you.

╰┈➤Gallagher

Instead of him losing you, he was the one lost in the end. You knew it would happen eventually, he didn't exist, he was never meant to accomplish anything other than his mission. Yet it still hurt when he inevitably disappeared.

You who took it upon yourself to release "Sleepie" with the help of the trailblazer, letting go of what felt like the last piece of him that remained living in hopes that one of you could be happy. Though you later find the creature in search of Gallagher, coming to you in a means of finding him.

The man who begins to fade from the dreamscape, with people and memories slowly forgetting him, yet you can't seem to stop thinking about him. You keep a small locket with his photo, yet each day he looks less recognisable as time moves on without him.

╰┈➤Aventurine

Aventurine who saw you as a friend, someone who he could confide in on his home planet, the only person he had left besides his sister. Yet you fell alongside everything he knew, leaving him the only known survivor of your world. The only one to hold your memory.

He fell in love with a ghost, imagining you growing up beside him, being able to free himself and move on to a new life with you. He began to drive himself insane, living as if you were there the whole time as a comfort, though it did more harm than good.

Who after falling into the deepest part of the dreamscape sees you again, finally letting you rest as he walks away from his past.

╰┈➤Dr Ratio

Dr Ratio who loses you early into your relationship to an illness he failed to detect, blaming himself for your death and using it as a motive to keep working on his studies. Imagines a world where he saved you as his end goal, that somehow if he found an answer it could bring you back.

Him picking up sculpting as a way of preserving your memory, engraved in stone for years to come. Having a room dedicated to solely you, each sculpture doing something you loved as if you were still there.

Refers to you as if you were still alive, never failing to mention you in conversation when he sees fit. His students believe you're still breathing, as if at any moment you would walk in to deliver something to him, yet you never come. And only he knows why.

╰┈➤Jiaoqiu (Please read part 1 for context!)

Less like idea, more just my thoughts since the last part.

Since he's a foxian, I imagine his anatomy to be different depending on if it's more based on his human side or not. If his body, specifically his digestive system, is more canine based then this idea isn't as plausible.

But if he's more human

He'd likely fall ill from the consumption of the raw blood and organs that weren't cooked, maybe he get's a deadly bloodborne disease?

Worst part is, he's a doctor so he'd see the signs. If not initially of what you had been doing, he'd know from the telling's of his own body. Nausea, fatigue, fever. He would know.

But would he seek to get treatment or let the possibly fatal disease choose his fate?

He hasn't fulfilled his promise of curing Feixiao yet, but can imagine his losing motivation from your death. While he isn't killing himself, he isn't stopping the disease that could potentially end his life.

Or, he takes your sacrifice as his reason for moving forward, for living his life to the fullest because that's what you would have wanted.

Just some thoughts I had for it, might just die who knows.

╰┈➤ Note

I might do him in another one of my pieces but y'all.. Sue me. I don't really like Phainon. Like I see the appeal but his design doesn't do it for me 😔 He is pretty though. (I also just didn't have any ideas for him)

I have a request I plan to write next, not sure when it'll be done but plan to finish it soon :)

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lovelytsunoda · 26 days ago

Text

let me go | jake seresin

summary: jake is twenty years old and about to ship off for his first assignment in the us navy. he thinks his girlfriend deserves better, but she's here to tell him just how wrong he is

pairing: jake seresin x childhood sweetheart! reader

warnings: angst, based on the song 'let me go' by christian kane, cliffhanger ending because i'm evil like that, spoiler: accidental pregnancy

author's note: i usually don't listen to country music but i caught a rerun of my favorite 'leverage' episode the other day and remembered this song existed, and the fic wrote itself from there

Jake Seresin's Ford Ranger was parked as close to the edge of the cliff that you could get without being a danger to yourself and others. The view over the grassy cliff and into the turquoise water of the bay around Stacey's Point was to die for, but neither was focused much on the water. The lighthouse stood proud behind them, occasionally swinging around the illuminate their bodies.

The pair had spent many a night at this point, perfect in the late spring and early fall, free of the tourists that flocked to the Point's picturesque shores. In mere weeks the town would be overrun, college boys tripping over each other for lifeguard jobs that would allow them to show off their muscles to any tourist girl in a ten mile radius.

They lay in the back of the truck, Jake's letterman jacket over her shoulders. She was too good for him, he thought to himself as he nuzzled into her neck, gently sucking a hickey. At her quiet moan, he felt a stabbing pain in his heart.

How could he possibly say goodbye? Walk away from the best thing that had ever happened to him? The mere thought made him sick to his stomach.

"Sugar, there's something I need to talk to you about."

She pulled away from him, pulling his ratty old football jacket tighter around her shoulders. "Talk to me, Seresin. What's going on?" She always had been good at reading him, understanding him the way that nobody else could.

Jake sighed, averting his eyes. "I got my marching orders today. They want me in Fort Worth by the end of the month."

There was silence for a long stretch, and then he felt her warm hand engulfing his. "We'll figure it out. Jake, when you first enlisted I told you I was in it for the long haul. That's not going to change."

Jake shook his head. Why couldn't she get it? "You've got another year of college to go, sweetheart. You have a future. You have parents that love you. What do I have? I have a chequing account with ninety-three dollars in it, and this old fucking truck."

YN's face fell. "That doesn't change anything. I've heard Texas is beautiful this time of year. We can go long distance until I'm finished school, and then I can meet you in Fort Worth. Jake, we can make this work."

"No we can't. Haven't you been listening? You've got it good here. Don't throw it away on me, you're just going to get hurt in the end."

Anything could happen to him while he was in the air. Injuries, dismemberment, death.

Whatever happened to him, he couldn't put her through that.

Red-faced and with his head in his hands, Jake got up from the back of the truck and started pacing along the dry grass.

"Why are you so eager to give up on me, Jake? Do you want to know what I think?" She shouted, trying to get him to look at her. "I think you're scared. You're not as strong ad you think you are, and I think you're scared to be in love. I think this is the realest relationship you've ever been in, and you're trying to sabotage it because you don't think you deserve to be happy."

She was right. She was right and they both knew it.

A lot of people had let Jake Seresin down in the long run. Teachers, friends, the adults of Stacey's Point. His own father had wasted no time in telling Jake that he wouldn't be smart enough to get to college on his own, and that he'd need a football scholarship to get there. Low and behold, Jake hadn't been good enough at football either. He'd seen the military as his only chance.

"You deserve better than me, YN. You deserve someone stable, someone who can always be there for you."

He'd thought it through, he kept telling himself. Breaking her heart now would be better for both of them in the long run.

"You're being ridiculous. I want you, Jake." She pleaded, one hand over her stomach through the thin linen of her pinstriped dress. Her eyes stung with unshed tears, and she could feel the heavy pressure in the back of her throat.

"God knows why." He snorted back a laugh. "I'll only break your heart down the road. You're better off without me."

"Don't fucking say that!" Her voice cracked. "Why can't you see that I love you?"

"I love you too, YN, but I'll never forgive myself if something happens to me while I'm out there, and you get left alone to pick up the pieces." Jake's voice was firm as he sank to his knees in the soggy grass, taking one of her hands in his. There was a wild desperation in his eyes, pleas in his voice. "So please, just let me let you go. It's better that way."

She shook her head, tears beginning to track down her cheeks. She couldn't do that, for more reasons than one "I can't, Jake."

"Why not?"

"Because I'm pregnant."

#jake seresin x reader #the coastal collection 2025 #top gun x reader #top gun maverick x reader #hangman x reader #jake hangman seresin x reader #jake seresin imagine #top gun fanfiction #mini fic

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ultimatelytired · 3 months ago

Text

Lullaby

word count: 9428

Fandom: Poppy Playtime Pairing: N/A Pronouns: She/Her Relationship: Familial Occupation: Caretaker Ability: Ballerina Music Box

The character takes the appearance of a beautifully crafted music box ballerina figurine made of the toughest porcelain and glass, their clothes made from real fabric that is soft to touch and hair so smooth and silky you'd mistake it for real hair. Attached to their back is a wind up key that continuously spins when they're active and stops when they switch off. If the key is removed they cease to operate until key is returned and they are wound up again. Before CatNap, the character was the one to put the children to sleep with their built-in music box that would constantly be updated with new songs to play to help ease the children to sleep.

Keys:

[F/N]: Female Name

Warnings: spoilers for chapter 4 and those who haven't played the game, blood, death and all that shit.

"Lullaby" pt. 2, pt.3

bound to be mistakes that I was too lazy to find or fix.

that is all.

This beautiful ballerina is what every little girl dreams to be! Each doll sold plays a different song when you wind her key and her articulated, posable body in shimmery outfits add to storytelling. This doll is ready and waiting to be taken home to sing and dance for your little girl, all day, every day, forever and ever!

She is your best friend, Ballade Ballerina!

Subject: 1179

Original Procedure Date: 11/90

Behavior:

Assigned to Home Sweet Home within the Playcare, it acts as a motherly figure towards the children with a "warm" and "caring" attitude. That attitude switches off around the staff and it acts "cold" and "unresponsive" but will do as it's told when given orders. This was one of the few experiments that had their cognitive thinking intact instead becoming one of those mindless individuals.

Much like it's predecessors, while also maintaining the ability to think and respond, it acts as a bodyguard and or security that monitors the children when it's lights out. Nothing seems to get past its watchful eyes while also documenting who comes and goes both Home Sweet Home and the Playcare.

A stage was built into Home Sweet Home where it resides while its built-in music box would play lullabies to help put the children to sleep or when they're stressed it would help calm them down, however, it roams around during the "day" and interacts with the children.

While their temperament becomes apathetic around the regular employees, it becomes more nervous and prone to aggression around the scientists but what intrigues me the most is how it acts around me. Sometimes it would shut down completely when in my presence but is obedient to any order I give it, going so far as to drop any other previous order to complete a task I give it.

Conclusion:

Have it remain within Home Sweet Home for further monitoring.

Subject 1179 is one of the more successful Bigger Bodies that thinks, acts and listens while it can go unmonitored and it won't act out or misbehave.

Signature: Dr. Harley Swayer

"Hey, wind up the key already."

"Just... give me a sec, alright. This thing is so hard to turn!" two human employees struggled to turn the wind up key attached to the back of a giant four meter tall ballerina figurine doll, the coiled spring within its body needing to be tightened enough to function throughout the day. The two let out a breath of relief when it finally clicked into place and the third took a step back just as the figurine sparked to life, she sat on her knees with her head in a bowed position but when she turned on she slowly sat up with her eyes blinking to life.

"Good, you're awake." a yawn escaped her lips as she stretched her arms above her head, she looked down at the human in front of her when they snapped their fingers in front of her "Ballade, state your tasks for today." her face, made of the finest but toughest porcelain, held little to no emotion as she continued to stare the human down.

"Wait for the children to wake. Help the children get ready for the day. Entertain the children as the day progresses. Assist the Smiling Critters if needed. Abide by the orders the employees give. When the children--" she stops when they held a hand up to her, their other hand pinching the bridge of their nose in mild irritation.

"Okay, okay, that's enough. I hate doing this." one of the other employees places a hand on their shoulder.

"It's standard procedure, pal. We've got to ask so we know that she knows her daily duties and tasks. If anything is amiss we've got to report to Dr. Sawyer." the three of them shudder, missing how Ballade twitched at the mention of the doctor "You know how he is, that freak."

"Yeah, and besides, we're lucky that we're around one of the few toys whose first thought isn't to bite our heads off." at that comment, they peak up at Ballade and saw how she just continued to stare at them, eyes unnervingly not breaking contact with the three of them as they spoke "Let's not take our chances though." they step off her stage and draw the curtains.

"You know what you're supposed to do." she nods and they leave, she lets out another yawn before finally standing to her feet and waiting for her cue. She laced her fingers together as she stretched her arms and legs, not that she needed to, and got into position at the sound of the soft pitter patter that was the children's footsteps along with more heavier footsteps of the Smiling Critters.

"Haha, alright children. Now that you're all awake, let's help wake up our last friend! You all remember what to do, right?" the voice chuckles softly when the children nod their heads enthusiastically "Alright. One, two, three... oh, Miss Ballade~ rise and shine!"

"Rise and shine, Miss Ballade!" a silence washes over them when nothing happened.

"I think we need to be a little louder, one more time children. Oh, Miss Ballade~"

"Rise and shine!" they hear the sound of soft laughter as a melody starts to play from behind the curtain, they all cheer when the curtain is thrown open and Ballade steps out with a bright smile on her face.

"Good morning children! Thank you for waking me, I really needed that. So, kids, are you all ready for breakfast? Let's find Picky Piggy, I'm sure she's fixed you all something to eat!" at the mention of food a few children scatter to the dining hall, and a few other children lingered around and waited for Ballade "Remember kids, with a healthy diet and enough practice, you just might be able to be like me one day." she says as she takes a step off her stage while reaching for one of the children.

"Really? Can I become a ballerina like you when I grow up?" a genuine smile spreads across her porcelain face as she picks the little girl up and holds her up, the girl starts to laugh when Ballade nuzzles her nose against hers.

"Of course, when you believe in yourself, anything is possible." a laugh escapes her lips when the little girl wraps her arms around her neck and hugs her, she grunts when another pair of arms wraps around her and pulls her into a hug. She pursed her lips and looked down at DogDay, whose already permanent smile stretched wider while his tail wagged when she managed to free her hand to gently caress the back of his head "Good morning to you too, DogDay." he giggled softly.

"Good morning, Miss Ballade." she happily greets the other Smiling Critters, who were rounding up the leftover children, and form a line so no child is left out during breakfast. DogDay was leading them with Ballade, who was ultimately the tallest toy within the Playcare, was the last in line while Hoppy, Kickin and Bubba were mixed in with the children. As they made their way to the dining hall, Ballade was singing different nursery rhymes with the children and Smiling Critters joining in happily to keep them entertained "Who's hungry?"

"We are!" DogDay smiles as he steps to the side and gestures for the children to take a seat in the dining hall, where Picky was setting up the food.

"Well, go take a seat and Picky will serve you right up!" Ballade takes a step back and watches as the children take their seats, whether it be with their friends or by themselves, even the Smiling Critters take their designated seats "Miss Ballade, join us." DogDay says, Bobby smiles warmly as she gestures for Ballade to sit with them.

"Yes, join us!" she gently shakes her head.

"Perhaps later, we are still missing a face." this caused DogDay to look around and notice who exactly was missing.

"Drats, he must have gone back to sleep. Allow me to--" she raises her hand.

"I shall retrieve him, it will be no hassle. Besides, he listens to me." DogDay's ears lowered as a soft whine escaped him, she gave him a comforting smile as she gently patted his head "Do not worry, friend. I will make sure he comes down to join us for breakfast." he nodded, albeit reluctantly.

"Alright." another whine leaves him when both her hands pinch at his cheeks and start stretching them, this caused the children to laugh when DogDay grabbed her by her wrists to stop her "Okay, okay!" she lets go and chuckles when he was rubbing his cheeks, Crafty and Bubba comforting him when he cried softly.

"Good, I'll be back with him in toe." she pats his head before turning on her heel and leaving.

The Smiling Critters consists of eight members, that being DogDay, Bubba Bubbaphant, Bobby BearHug, CraftyCorn, Hoppy Hopscotch, KickinChicken, Picky Piggy and last by certainly not least CatNap. Ballade was created before the Smiling Critters and is the one in charge of them all, keeping them in line and checking on them as ordered by the Doctor himself. She, of course, knows about the experiments and knows who the children were before they were placed into their Bigger Bodies. They, too, recognized Ballade as the nice caretaker who looked after them when they were still human and trusted her with all their heart. Ballade's stage resided within the main foyer in the center of the room where she would usually sing and dance for the children, as for the Smiling Critters, they generally resided in cells beneath the Playhouse but Miss Stella Greyber thought it would make the children happier if they stayed in Home Sweet Home so Ballade wouldn't have to go far from the children just to check on the Smiling Critters.

That being said...

"CatNap~ I know you're in there." she gently knocks on the door before opening it to find the colossal cat sleeping soundly on his cat bed, she enters the room and closes the door behind her then approaches him. Her hand reached to press gently against his head, she smiled fondly when a purr rumbled out of his throat and she continued to stroke his head as she knelt down on her knees "It's time to eat, Theo." she spoke softly, she tilts her head to the side and saw that his eyes opened.

"I'm not hungry..." she frowned.

"I see they still haven't fixed your voice box yet." he grunts at her words.

"They don't care about me." he looked up at her when she wrapped her arms around his neck and laid her head on top of his, her cheek rubbing into the top of his head.

"But I do, and I wish I could help you." her eyes trailed down his body and winced when she saw his skeletal figure "And I wish for you to join us for breakfast, my boy. The others are waiting for us to join them, so we mustn't keep them waiting." he huffed and turned away from her, his tail flicking around in disinterest.

"They're not waiting. They don't care about me either." she pouts but doesn't stop petting him.

"That's not true, they care in their own way. Won't you do this for me, my sweet boy?" it still wasn't enough to convince him, haa, when he gets like this she only has one last thing to resort to "I see, I guess I'll leave you to sleep. But DogDay will be very upset." a subtle smirk stretched across her lips when his ear perked up.

"DogDay...?" she shrugged her shoulders as she removed herself, dusting the skirt of her dress.

"Mm hmm, he was upset that you weren't there to join us for breakfast. I won't pressure you to join us, but I guess Crafty will be the one to keep him company." playing with his feelings like this was cruel but DogDay was CatNap's closest friend where he got pretty jealous when the others got too close to him "I'll tell him you're still sleeping, so sweet dreams my baby~" she's waving him goodbye as she takes her leave and closing the door behind her, she's walking away and quietly counting down from five and the moment she gets to one his door was kicked open. She snickers to herself and stops to wait for him, as she's turning around she notices that he isn't slowing down and before she can do anything to avoid him he crashes into her.

*SLAM*

*THUD*

*CRASH*

"What was that?" DogDay was quick to his feet at the sound of a loud crash, the others quickly settled the children as he and Kickin rushed out to see what it was, only for them to hold back their laughter at the sight. The cause of the sound was CatNap charging into Ballade and the two of them tumbling down the stairs when they reached the bottom Ballade fell face first into the floor with CatNap on top of her, DogDay continued to laugh quietly as he approached them "Are you... alright, Miss Ballade?" he and Kickin burst out into laughter when she answers them with a thumbs up, face still in the floor.

"Sorry, Miss Ballade..." CatNap apologies as he lifts his hand upon realizing his paw was pressed into the back of her head.

"It's alright, my dear boy. You were just excited to eat with your friends." she reassures them that she's alright as they help her to her feet and they return to the dining hall, Ballade had a bright smile on her face at the sight of all her children eating together. Despite the horrors that lie beneath their feet, she could never ask for a better job than thi--

"Ballade." her eyes snap away from the children and see that it was Stella Greyber calling her name, she gestures with her finger for her to come so with one final look at the children she slinks away to see what the Head of Playcare could possibly need from her.

"Miss Greyber, how may I be of assistance today?" a bead of sweat formed on Stella's cheek as she stared up at the figurine, despite the friendly smile on her face, her eyes were void of any emotion as her voice was monotone.

"I need you to accompany me and the other Head Executives for a meeting, we have some guests that I'm worried will act out." she raised a brow.

"Act... out?" her mind thinks back to the other times Stella or the other Head Executives called her out when they were having meetings with especially unruly guests, she slowly nods her head "I understand, Miss Greyber." Stella smiles and claps her hands.

"Splendid, just follow me out." she nods her head but stops and looks to where the Smiling Critters are.

"Oh, CatNap!" she calls out, his head snaps up and looks to where she is, he scowls when he sees Stella but his gaze softens when Ballade smiles "Look after the children for me while I'm gone, hmm? I trust you'll keep them safe." her smile brightened when he nodded, slowly, but he nodded.

"Okay..." she laughs softly and waves the children goodbye when the children bid her goodbye, Kickin and Hoppy pout as they watch Ballade follow Stella out before they all look up at CatNap, who went back to eating his food "... what?"

"How come you're in charge? I thought she'd at least choose DogDay."

"I'm not in charge. She only told me to look after the children..." DogDay nods.

"Yeah. Besides, he needs more time to hang around the children! Since he visits the doctor more often than us, the children have been missing him and want to spend more time with him! She must have thought of that as to why she chose CatNap to look after the children." Bubba nods.

"I agree, CatNap is becoming quite popular with the children." Bobby giggles softly.

"Sounds to me you're just jealous she chose him and not you two."

"We're not jealous!" Crafty places her hands on their backs to calm them.

"Now, now, no fighting. Miss Ballade wouldn't want us to." CatNap watched as his friends bicker amongst each other as he thought of the real reason Ballade asked him of all the Smiling Critters to look after the children, or rather, watch. The reason she asked him was because he was more capable of guarding them while she was away, she didn't act as just a caretaker to the children, she was also their bodyguard in case guests that were welcomed into the Playcare acted aggressively around the children or staff. She waves at the few children outside Home Sweet Home as well as the Miss Delight teachers as she continues to follow Stella to the Gas Production Zone, and it was the moment she was out of sight that she dropped her friendly demeanor.

The human employees were quick to shuffle away when Stella entered with Ballade trailing close behind, her heavy footsteps echoing throughout the production zone as they stepped onto the lift and had them lowered towards the prison. Stella looked back at Ballade and noticed how she grew nervous as they traversed through the toy graveyard, she was nervous herself but she noticed how the figurine was clasping her hands together as she kept her glass eyes down to avoid looking at the toys. To the people who are unaware, they would think that it was just rejected or ruined toys they were walking by, but to the people who knew the truth... it was better not to think about it for their own sanity.

"You're here, finally!" Leith Pierre, Head of Innovations and owner of Playtime Co., announced when Stella entered the room with Ballade in toe. He was speaking with Stella as Ballade looked around the room and spotted the familiar looking box in the corner of the room, she sighs, so she was on cleanup duty huh? She blinked when Leith was in front of her and snapping his fingers to get her attention, she slowly turned her head to look down at him and saw the irritated expression on his face "Alright, you know what you're to do, hmm? I've got six guests coming down to discuss a couple things when in reality, I'm just going to have you two get rid of them. It's the media that's gotten a little too nosey and I need you to silence them for, well, ever. Got it?" she stared blankly at him then nodded.

"Understood." he gives her that all too familiar smile; fake.

"Terrific! Get into place." she nods once more and takes her place beside the door. Despite being in the lower area of Playtime Co. where a prison was built, the room was nicely decorated with all sorts of toys littered around so it wouldn't be odd to see the popular, life-sized doll of Ballade Ballerina in the room. She takes a breath before holding the first position (a basic ballet position) with a kid-friendly smile on her face, she also temporarily slowed her wind up key so you wouldn't hear it tick as it moved "Okay, bring 'em in."

...

'So boring...' she could feel the yawn building up in her throat but had to fight it down as to not alarm the unsuspecting guests that she was alive and watching their every movement, she had been watching them closely since they stepped foot into the room and would look away when they would glance up at her. The three Head Executives were answering questions their guests were asking and it started off with the usual, she was watching them again but stopped when they gestured to her.

"My little girl has a Ballade doll, I never would have thought you would have made a life size version of her. I've seen the Huggy Wuggy and Kissy Missy ones, but I still can't get over the sheer size of them." Leith laughs at the comment.

"Of course, of course! The children love them, or rather, they love to climb all over them. Our Ballade here is our most delicate one. Unlike Huggy, who's made of fur and fluff, or Mommy, who's made of plastic, she's made of porcelain. She's one of our finest toys and mascots, the children just love her."

"Does she sing too?" Stella nods.

"She does indeed, she has the wind up key and everything but it's a hassle to wind it up because of the technical stuff inside her." the lady deflated a little.

"A pity. Well, anyway, back to the interview." she picks up a stack of papers and then spreads them across the table to reveal a couple photos of the factory, it was a wonder how they managed to capture them when it was against the rules to film or document anything when within the factory, they must have a really good photographer "I am very curious about the many locations within Playtime Co., especially the building we're in now."

"Yes, and by the looks of it, it kind of looks like a... prison?" Eddie M. N. Ritterman, the Head of Research, just let out a laugh.

"A prison? Don't be ridiculous! Why would we, a company known for making toys, build a prison? This place is merely a warehouse for toys that just didn't appeal to the children." that answer didn't really convince the interviewers, not that it mattered, they weren't leaving this room, let alone the building itself "We bring toys that don't make the cut down here so we can brainstorm and see how we can make them better! Down here is where all the "science" happens, you know?" they raise a brow.

"Science?"

"Well, our leading scientist isn't here to give all the boring details about how we run things, but he's what makes the toys come to life! He's the reason why our Ballade here is so lifelike, you see." at this comment one of the interviewers stood up and looked at Ballade closely.

"Now that you mention it, it's almost as if her eyes are following me..." he murmured to himself and started moving side to side to see if she was really watching them, the three Executives watch Ballade's eyes closely and saw that she managed to not look at him and when the others saw this as well he was quickly yanked back into his seat.

"Stop that, you're making yourself look like a fool." they whisper sharply.

"But I swear we're being watched." Leith chuckles at that.

"You can thank our security for that! We pride ourselves in our security to make any intruders as uncomfortable as possible." that comment caused them to grow a little nervous, Eddie laughed when he could feel the rise of tension because of Leith's words.

"What Leith is trying to say is that with our security, anyone that trespasses onto Playtime Co. property without proper invitation, well, they better hope that the silent alarm that goes off is the only thing they should be worrying about." this caused the lot of them to shrink a little, the staff hadn't realized that this man came onto the property multiple times disguised as a guest to take photos but he didn't go unrecognized by Huggy and Mommy, the mascots who were the security for the main entrance and Game Stop of Playtime Co.

"Mister Pierre, sir, we didn't mean--" Stella winced and looked away when Eddie raised his hand to stop them. Eddie's eyes narrowed as they all looked at how their guests shrank under his gaze.

"Now, there's no need to apologize. I must say, you got some really good shots of our factory. I should thank you, clearly we need to update our human security since they failed to check if anyone was carrying a camera when it is prohibited to bring such things into the factory. A hazard, you know? I should get to that right away!" he stands to his feet and readjusts his blazer "I'll be sure to have our security take care of things." Stella and Eddie follow close behind as they leave the room, closing the door behind them and leaving the six people in there.

"Great! They're probably going to call the police."

"They're going to have us barred from entering the property."

"I'm more surprised they didn't confiscate the photos."

"He said that security was going to "take care of things", or whatever that means."

"Think we can just leave?"

"Yeah, and find the exit through this maze? I think it'd be better to wait for security." they start discussing what they should do when they hear a subtle ticking sound, they look over and see that it was coming from the Ballade Ballerina figurine "Is it... ticking?" one of them asked as they approached her, looking her up and down and noticing how her wind up key was turning.

"Is she on or something?" they jumped when the box in the corner of the room started making a noise, the crank on the jack-in-the-box turning on its own and playing its familiar tune, creeping them out even further "Is it automatic or something."

"Shut it off if it freaks you out so much." a few of them approach the box while the others paced the room.

"All around the cobbler's bench..." the man in front of Ballade whipped his head up at her when she started singing, the room fell into silence when both she and the box started playing "Pop goes the Weasel", Ballade sang it slowly with an eerie and dull expression on her face "The monkey chased the weasel..." the woman pacing the room shook her head.

"Why is she singing?"

"Is she supposed to sing that slow?"

"The monkey thought 'twas all in fun..." the man in front of her shook his head as he approached the door.

"Fuck this." he rushes for the door and grabs the doorknob, he's in the process of yanking it open when a large hand slams it shut. He stares at the hand that is bigger than his head before slowly looking up to see Ballade staring down at him, his breath hitches when she stares him straight in the eyes.

"Pop goes the weasel." the room is filled with screams when her hand grabs him by the neck and closes around it, promptly snapping his neck and killing him on the spot. What followed next was the sound of blood-curdling screams and cries for help, yet their pleas fell to deaf ears as they were killed like cattle in a slaughterhouse. When the room fell quiet, Leith peeked inside and smirked softly at the sight of Ballade feeding Boxy Boo the dead interviewers one by one, well, the interviewers who weren't already half-eaten by the gluttonous toy. He whistled softly when he saw a few holes in the concrete walls, she was quite the masterpiece, he had to admit. Despite being a porcelain doll that is normally very fragile, the doctor had constructed her body with the finest but toughest porcelain he could find. She acted as not only the security for Playcare, she was essentially a bodyguard for the three Head Executives as well as extra muscle for cleaning up dead bodies "Open wide, Boxy." she cooed as she held a dismembered torso in her hands and dangled it above him, a faint smile graced her lips when he obliged and opened as wide as he could and she dropped it into his mouth.

"Haha, well done!" she didn't pay Leith any mind as she continued to feed Boxy "We'll have the Specialist mop up all the blood, and Ballade? Don't forget to clean yourself up." at the mention of that, she looked down at herself and saw the blood dripping down her fine china.

"We're lucky porcelain doesn't stain easily, or else it'd be a pain to explain why she's been dyed red." Eddie comments, Stella sighs softly.

"Well, she does get the most maintenance out of all the toys. She requires a lot of cleaning or else she'll fall apart." Ballade let out an oh when she felt Boxy nudge her side, she looked down at him and saw that he was licking the blood off her fingertips. Experiment 1160, better known as Boxy Boo, was the first experiment from the Bigger Bodies Initiative that was a success but unlike her, he was violent and gluttonous with his purpose being the disposing of lower-ended employees aware of the Initiative. While her main purpose was to look after the children within Playcare, she also helped Boxy Boo and the Specialist deal with "clean-up duty" and because of that, she was constantly around him since she was the only one who could control him. Due to that, Boxy Boo was more like a dog around her since she treated him nicely.

"Clean up the rest of the bodies then you can go back to Playcare after returning Boxy Boo to his cell." she nods her head.

"Yes, sir." she has to hold Boxy Boo's head down to stop him from lunging towards Leith, who approached her knowing that she would keep him safe from the ravenous toy, just to pat her on the arm.

"Good girl." she just huffed softly. It only takes a couple minutes for Ballade to feed the last of the bodies to Boxy before he's tuckered out and slinking back into his box, she's caressing the top of it and cooing sweet nothings to him until he falls asleep. He too was once a child, she wasn't going to treat him like a savage just because he'd lost himself to this experiment, she had a role as a caretaker and she was going to fulfill it no matter what.

"Goodbye, Boxy Boo. I'm sure I'll see you soon." she says as she pats his head, he whines softly but lets her go nonetheless. She exits the room and is escorted back to the Playcare by a few prison guards, she smacks their hands off her when they grab her and practically growls at them not to do it again. She doesn't really get in trouble for killing any of the employees, Leith prefers it because it's fewer people to pay wages to, he practically encourages it and the humans all know it. Ballade double checks she'd gotten all the blood off of her before finally stepping back into Playcare, it was easy for her to lie to the children about her whereabouts and why she was gone as it was the breathe. Sometimes she felt guilty for lying to their faces but it was better for them not to know; it was better for them to remain unaware that she was a stone-cold killer who was more than capable of killing them.

"Come on, Miss Ballade! We made something for you." she gasped softly, placing a hand on her chest.

"For me? You shouldn't have." she'd been led by the hand of a few children towards the playground close to the schoolhouse where they showed her small drawings they made "What's this?" they laughed softly.

"Miss Delight told us to draw something that makes us happy, so I drew you!"

"Me too!"

"I did too!"

"Miss CraftyCorn helped me with mine." Ballade took each of their drawings and looked at them closely, making sure to look at each detail "Do you like them, Miss Ballade?" she smiled fondly at the drawings before placing her hands on their heads one by one, snickering softly when she messed with their hair.

"I love them. It warms my heart to know that I make you happy." she pats their backs when they hug her legs "Now come, let's go join the others. I hear you guys are playing hide and go seek." they gasp in anticipation, hide and seek was always fun with the Smiling Critters. Ballade sat with CatNap under a tree by Home Sweet Home as they watched the children run around looking for spots to hide, they were too big to participate in hiding and though the other Smiling Critters were just as big, they were more capable of hiding than them. CatNap is curled up behind her as she lets her body rest against his, her hand gently stroking his head while his tail thumped gently on the ground.

"Thank you for looking after the children, CatNap. Did anything happen while I was away?" he lets out a soft grunt.

"No. The children were well-behaved." she smiles.

"That's good. Did they give you any trouble?"

"Not really, they mostly bothered DogDay." this caused her to laugh softly and she looked over to where DogDay was and saw him chasing around one of the children he managed to find that was hiding in a bush "He is the favorite one amongst us all."

"With his friendly personality, I wouldn't see why anyone wouldn't like him." CatNap huffed at that "But you're still my favorite, I always did love the smell of lavender compared to vanilla." she chuckled when he started purring as he nudged his against her side, she rewarded him by scratching under his chin while pressing a kiss atop of his head, this only intensified the purring. About an hour or so goes by before the game ends and they come to collect the two, only to find them both sleeping soundly in each other's company. Ballade didn't mean to fall asleep, she could technically go days without "sleep" so long as her key kept turning, however, her key had stopped since she was leaning against CatNap and she evidently fell asleep on him. It took Bubba to wind up her key to get her to wake up, and when she did, she apologized for doing so since she promised she'd watch them play.

"CatNap can put just about anybody to sleep!"

"But I didn't expect to see Miss Ballade to fall asleep. She's never one to fall asleep while on duty."

"Perhaps whatever she had to do tuckered her out." no, my key just stopped and I inadvertently fell asleep... but CatNap is very nice to nap around, hence his name. To make up for it, Ballade spends the rest of the day with the girls, and the boys who want to participate, practicing ballet moves. Of course, she only shows them how to do basic moves but shows off her body's flexibility, since her body didn't have bones she could bend and twist her body however she liked. She was by no means like Mommy Longlegs, who could manipulate her body however she liked, but she could easily fold her body in half with little to no strain.

"Am I doing it right, Miss Ballade?" she looked over and saw a little girl trying to perform the pirouette but couldn't quite keep her leg up as she spun nor keep herself from tumbling a little.

"You're quite close, little one, you just need to work on your balance." she kicks at the ground.

"You make it look easy." she chuckled softly.

"I struggled a lot too, it takes years and years of practice. As they say, practice makes perfect. Just don't give up and your efforts will be rewarded." she takes a step back and performs the pirouette once more and does a little bow at the end, she takes a knee and gestures for her to try again "Nobody is going to make fun of you for not getting it on the first go." Ballade, no, [F/N] watched with a fond look as the little girl tried and tried again to stick the landing and was getting there with each attempt she made.

[F/N], that was her name before she became Ballade Ballerina; before she got stuck in a body that she couldn't recognize. She couldn't remember much before her time at Playcare but she did remember that she was older than most of the kids at the orphanage, perhaps that's where she could her motherly tendencies from and why she loved to care for the children, because she knew better than the adults who lied to their faces like they were stupid, but she wasn't stupid. What she could remember was the day when she was chosen, out of all the children who were more eager to be selected, she was the one that was picked and she didn't know how to feel. At the time she was anxious, both at the thought of being with a new family but also leaving the kids she had grown to love, but what choice did she have? Maybe she was happy that she was leaving that underground orphanage to see the sun again, she was excited to feel the wind blow through her hair and to be normal again.

All that happiness was short-lived when she was taken deeper into Playtime Co. to be experimented on by the infamous Doctor Harley Sawyer, that cruel and ruthless man who cared not for her wellbeing but the advancement of science and what he could do. She could almost remember the day she woke up and felt trapped in a body that she just knew wasn't hers, she just felt wrong. Her body no longer felt dense but rather hollow, if she tapped her finger against herself she could hear the way it would make a clinking sound as if two cups came together. Her face felt like it was stuck in place and she couldn't properly express the way she felt, even if she felt herself cry she couldn't even feel the tears that would fall down her cheeks. She felt it was impossible to move, that if she did she would come apart, even still, she could barely bend her knees and elbows and they were stuck in place.

Doctor Harley Sawyer called her his masterpiece, how her body was made from delicate porcelain that he reinforced to make her durable enough to not break easily if she were to suffer enough force or heavy weight to her person. Her body had articulated joints so she could fold and bend her body like a normal person but didn't suffer the strain or pain a human would, she was capable of twisting her limbs in all directions and not feeling a thing. She was practically a machine, she felt like a machine because she had practically lost most of her senses. She couldn't feel anything upon her glass-like skin, taste anything on her artificial tongue, or smell anything through her nose that felt more like decoration on her face. She couldn't eat, she couldn't sleep and if they didn't want to deal with her they could just turn her off by the wind up key on her back that was practically her lifeline. Without it, they could practically turn her off forever and forget about her.

They threatened her with that possibility each time she wouldn't give them the results that they wanted, that if she continued to act up or be difficult they'd throw her away to rot in the prison. That terrified her, she didn't want to be trapped in a cell in a body that felt more like a cage, so she complied and listened. Listening is what granted her freedom, or rather, to leave the lower levels and return to Playcare as Ballade Ballerina, the life-sized music box figurine, to care for and protect the children like she did when she was still human. [F/N] felt herself die each time she would smile at these children, knowing that what she was doing was only going to get them killed and she could do nothing but smile and laugh as they'd be taken, happy that they were chosen like she was... only for their lives to be cut short before it even began.

She was just like those damn adults.

"Miss Ballade?" she blinked when the little girl called her name.

"Oh, y-yes? I'm sorry, I was distracted. Show me again, why don't you?" the girl frowned softly then approached Ballade, taking her hand and squeezing it.

"You don't have to lie, Miss Ballade. I know I'll never be as good as you, so it's fine to tell the truth." her heart ached at her words, and she quickly shook her head and held the little girl's hand within her bigger ones. The few memories she managed to cling to before she became what she is today was that when she was growing up, when she still had a family that loved and cared for her, she wanted to be a ballerina. How ironic, but she remembered when she was young and had that same devastated look on her face when she just couldn't get the basic moves right and was ready to give up.

"No, no. Being as good as me shouldn't be what's on your mind, you've got to be as good as you can be. You won't be as good as me, and that's fine, because you can just be better than me."

"Can I really?" she nods.

"Of course! Because you can continue to grow, while I'll forever be the boring doll who is only good at ballet." she let out an oh when the girl started rocking back and forward.

"I think you're pretty cool for just a boring doll." if she could cry she'd feel her eyes glisten with tears.

"... I really appreciate that. Now come on, show me again. I'll be watching, I promise." she's clapping her hands in encouragement when the girl tries again and again until he finally sticks the landing, she's rewarded with Ballade picking her up and twirling her around with a proud look on her face "See? You did it! Just like I said you would, I am so proud." she caresses her cheek against hers then booped her nose.

"Thank you, Miss Ballade." she says as she wraps her arms around her neck.

"Anything for you." she spends the next half hour performing a couple more moves before the adults tell them that it was time to head back to Home Sweet Home. She allows DogDay and Hoppy to lead the children back into Home Sweet Home where they are separated by gender and brought to separate bathrooms to clean up, she ends up in the kitchen to help Picky sort out dinner while the rest of the Smiling Critters are left to set up the dining hall. She's standing in her usual corner when the children finally arrive with Bobby and Crafty pleading for her to join them at their table, she planned to decline their invitation but was brought over by CatNap nudging her over to them. It felt quite nice to just sit with the Smiling Critters and since she didn't need to eat to sustain herself, she sat quietly with them and would speak every now and then when they spoke to her.

"My favorite part of the day..." CatNap said after dinner was finished and they were all leaving the dining hall.

"Because you get to go back to sleep?" he nods and turns towards the staircase to return to his room, only to be stopped when he is grabbed by a few of the kids and tugged towards Ballade's stage.

"You can't go to sleep yet, CatNap!"

"Miss Ballade's gonna read to us." this caught his attention and he looked to where she was stepping onto her stage after taking a book from one of the kids "You're gonna join us, right? Miss Ballade always makes storytime fun!"

"Come on CatNap, join us."

"It just wouldn't be the same without you." he grumbles softly.

"... alright." they cheer and practically climb all over him when he takes a seat in front of her stage, she smiles when CatNap joins the crowd of children but knows that he is going to sleep through most of the story, not that she minded.

"Okay, kids. Despite having read this story over a thousand times, I'm sure you wouldn't mind hearing it again." she clears her throat then throws her arm out for dramatic flare "The Adventures of the Word Wizard!" they all laugh when she puts on a theatrical performance as she read the book, using different voices for characters and playing her music box for some background noise. She always was good at storytime, able to draw the children in with ease and entertain them, it warmed her heart to see them so invested in a story they had heard time and time again but not get tired of it.

It was one good thing this stupid place had to give her.

"And with his final word, this story has come to an end." the children, including the Smiling Critters, all let out a round of awes that it was over "And now it's time for bed." she laughs when they made more sounds of disappointment, besides Catnap, who stood up and started carrying that were laying on him off to bed.

"Can't we have one more story?"

"Yeah, just one more?" she shakes her head.

"I'm afraid not. Besides, you're all yawning." she closed the book and placed it down as she stepped off her stage and to where the few tired children were sitting, the Smiling Critters gathered the other children and either started carrying them or leading them back to their beds "Sleep is just as important, one should not neglect the need to rest just to continue having fun. I mean, look at CatNap! All he does is sleep and he has fun."

"Then he must be having a lot of fun since he's always sleeping."

"Uh huh, and he must be having the most wonderful dreams because of that. So, why don't we all go to bed so we can dream and have fun while we're asleep? We can always continue the fun tomorrow, it's not like it's going anywhere." that was a lie, she nor the children had no clue whether that would be their last night alive and that thought scared her "Now come, CatNap is ready to help you children to sleep."

"Oh, alright." she scoops them up while grabbing another by the hand to lead them back to their rooms, she's tucking them into bed and pressing kisses onto each of their heads as she passes them. She's mentally counting each child to make sure that all have been returned to bed and that none were missing, the last time she failed a headcount she, well... let's just say she never misses up the headcount anymore.

"Are they all here?" she nods "Whenever you're ready..." she goes through the assortment of songs she had before finally choosing one, the moment CatNap heard her music box start to play he exhaled enough of the red smoke from his mouth to help them doze off but stay awake long enough to hear her sing.

"Lavender's blue, dilly, dilly, lavender's green~" this was CatNap's favorite part of the day, not only did he get to sleep, but he got to help Ballade put all the rowdy children to sleep as he listened to her sing. Before he got put into this body, when he was Theodore Grambell, Ballade was the only one who understood him. He had few friends and preferred keeping it that way because the other children annoyed him, but Ballade was different. Instead of pestering him like the adults would, trying and failing to get him to open up, she would merely sit with him in silence and wait patiently for him. She had a boisterous but calming personality that she could easily switch between depending on who she was interacting with, it was why the children loved her so much; it was why he loved her "Because you love me, dilly, dilly. I will love you~" she looks at CatNap and smiled at him, despite the permanent smile on his face, she could see a crease in his lips that let her know that he was giving her a genuine smile

When her music box struck its final cord and all the children had fallen asleep, she brushed the hair out of one of their eyes as they slept soundly before standing to her feet and going over to CatNap. The back of her hand brushed against his cheek and scratched under his chin as she walked him back to his room, she stayed with him until he fell into a deep slumber and wouldn't notice when she slipped out of his room to check on the other Smiling Critters. She found them all sleeping in their designated rooms and made sure to give them goodnight kisses as well, she had a feeling they would know if she didn't give them one, then went back to roaming the quiet and empty halls of Home Sweet Home.

Since she did not need to sleep, she aimlessly roamed around Playcare for nothing in particular, or that's what it seemed if people weren't aware of why she was stationed in Playcare. Huggy Wuggy was the security for the main lobby, Mommy Longlegs was the security for the Game Station, and Ballade was the security for Playcare. It was rare, very, very rare for someone to trespass onto Playtime Co. property after hours, and nearly impossible to make it past Huggy and Mommy alike to get into Playcare. The only likely situation you could get past those mascots was if you were an employee who knew their way around, but one thing was for sure, you would never make it past Ballade. She knew the entire layout of Playcare as well as the prison below, Leith and the Doctor made sure of that, so no matter where you go, she would always find you. Despite her large stature, she was very nimble on her feet. She was so good at sneaking around that you wouldn't even know she was behind you until she spoke up. The Doctor, Stella and Eddie would constantly make her sneak up on Leith to scare the living daylights out of him, she had to hide behind them when he threatened her with solitary confinement if she kept it up.

Anyways-

"It was almost too easy..." a voice whispered as they explored the Playcare, completely unaware that they were being watched. Ballade didn't bring it up with the three Executives when she noticed after the carnage that there were only five bodies instead of six, how the sixth one got away undetected, she'll never know, but he won't make it far. People were already aware that there was an onsite orphanage within Playtime Co. but as stated before, cameras were not allowed onto the property in case they caught something that would get them into a whole heap of trouble "If I can make it out of this maze, I'll make a fortune out of these photos." he spoke as he entered the Playhouse where he couldn't help but marvel at the sight of the playground with maze-like elements decorated with colorful brick walls and tunnels but it was pretty creepy exploring when there were no lights to illuminate the building, he makes sure to put the flash on before taking photos on his camera.

He takes a couple photos of the dark just to see where he is going, but when he sees the developed photo he is a little startled to see a pair of glowing eyes through the darkness that is staring right at him, he looks back in the direction he took it and takes another photo. He freaks out when the eyes are closer, so he starts walking backward while taking another with each step, he tries to listen for footsteps but can only hear his own as well as his panicked breathing. Whatever he was seeing drew closer and closer, but no matter how hard he tried to catch a glimpse of what was chasing him, he couldn't see past the flash, and through his terror, he accidentally dropped his camera. He's quick to drop to his knees and blindly search for it only to freeze when he feels a soft breeze on his face. With trembling hands, he finds his camera and takes a photo just to set the flash off and sees staring at him through the darkness was Ballade.

"How naughty~ Playtime Co. doesn't take lightly to trespassers." her hand was quick to close around his mouth before he could let out a scream and sound off the alarms, her fingers are digging into his skin as she planned to snap his neck but thinks for a bit "... hmm, the Doctor has stated that he's been wanting a live test subject. Guess you're the lucky one, congratulations." she picks up the camera and drags the poor man down to where Doctor Harley Swayer was, ignoring the confused stares from the prison guards and employees alike as she made her way to his lab while the photographer struggled against her iron-clad grip.

*KNOCK*

"What is it?" Sawyer cocked a brow when he didn't get an answer and the door was opened, usually, he'd yell at anyone who'd interrupt him but was surprised to see Ballade enter the room "My, what brings you here little dancer?" he smirks when he saw the way her body started to tremble, well, that was until he saw her drag in an unknown man.

"I caught an intruder, sir."

"And you're telling me this why?" she bounces on her feet nervously.

"You said you wanted a live test subject, so I brought him thinking you'd want to use him for your research." the man looks up at Sawyer for any sort of help only to be ignored when he lets out a sigh.

"I don't need him for anything, so you can just feed him to Yarnaby." she nods her head.

"Is Yarnaby in his cell?"

"Yes, he is. Close the door on your way out." she nods once more.

"Yes, sir." she let out a breath as she closed the door then looked back down at the man "You have no idea how lucky you are, Mister Intruder. You won't have to suffer at the hands of the Doctor and will get to die a quick death... well, that all depends if Yarnaby has been fed or not." she chuckled softly when she saw the panic flash on his face, poor man should have left when he had the chance. She's back in the prison and tells the guards to open Yarnaby's cell door and when they do she tosses the photographer inside and closes the door so he can't leave.

"Wait, no! Please, let me go! I-I swear I won't publish those photos!" she's in the observation room as she tosses the camera up and down "I don't want to die...!"

"You should have thought of that before you decided that taking pictures was worth more than your life." his body slumped when she shrugged her shoulders "Oh, Yarnaby~" she called out just as the door that kept Yarnaby contained opened up, her expression is indifferent when Yarnaby stepped out and looked up at the man curiously. This lion-like toy is rather adorable with its derpy expression and one would think he was going to play by the way he was tilting his head, that was until his face opened up to reveal his large open mouth hollowed out inside his head with rows of sharp jagged teeth along the outer rim of his mouth. The man couldn't even get a scream out when Yarnaby's mouth closed around his head, spilling his blood all over the window and killing him instantly.

Such a shame, she thought. He had quite a promising future if he had just left Playtime Co. instead of taking a few more pictures, maybe she should have let him go so he could expose the dark secrets this toy factory had but if she didn't kill him, the others surely would have.

"What a shame." she murmured before crushing the camera in her hand and looking back into the cell to see Yarnaby now aimlessly chewing on his torso, she always did find him adorable.

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keithyp00 · 15 days ago

Text

●・○・The Congressman's Shadow・○・●

Pairing: Congressman!Bucky Barnes x f!assistant!reader

Warnings/Tags: slow-burn, secret identities, mutual pining, angst, eventual partnership, redemption, mild language, references to violence/espionage, tension

Word Count: 1.9K

Author Note: This was inspired by Thunderbolts* but does not contain any spoilers so don't worry!

Please do not copy or translate any of my works. Thank you!

Washington D.C. was a city of secrets.

They clung to the marble walls of Capitol Hill and twisted like ivy up the columns of the rotunda. They slipped into briefcases and beneath the tailored hems of suits. And Bucky Barnes- James Buchanan Barnes, newly elected Congressman from New York's 14th district- was learning quickly just how deep those secrets ran.

But none, he would later say, ran as deep as yours.

______________________________________________________________

You were already in his office when he arrived that morning.

Coffee in hand, heels off, fingers flying across a tablet. You didn't look up when he opened the door, just muttered, "You're late."

"You're early," he countered, tossing his coat onto the couch in the corner of his office.

"I'm always early. It's my job to be early."

"And my job is to be charming," Bucky replied, flashing a grin. "Which means I'm on time, actually. Fashionably."

You gave him a flat look. "You have a committee hearing in twenty minutes and a briefing on the humanitarian bill draft after that. I moved your meeting with the energy council to next week because they double-booked you with a security panel."

He scrubbed a hand over his face. "How do you keep all that in your head?"

"I'm terrifying and overqualified," you smiled with a shrug.

You were. And he knew it.

When Bucky first hired you, he figured you were another one of those political lifers- impossibly efficient, quick with a lie or a smile, maybe both. What he hadn't expected was someone so... sharp. Like a blade that hadn't dulled with time. Someone who didn't flinch at veiled threats or news of violence overseas. Someone who looked at him like she'd already figured out every angle of his plan and had a backup for every possible outcome.

"You ever think about running for office?" He asked once, weeks ago, after a long day of policy wrangling and political bullshit.

You laughed. "No. I've seen what it does to people."

"From the inside?"

You just smiled. "Something like that."

______________________________________________________________

He learned more about you in pieces.

Like how you hated being called 'ma'am' even by staffers, or how you could defuse a tense room with a single sentence. How you noticed things- things Bucky didn't even know he's missed. The way a hallway felt too quiet. The change in security's walking patterns. You moved like someone who had trained to make herself invisible, only now you chose to be seen.

And god help him, you were his type. Smart, steady, unflinching. Unreachable, most days. But he could see the slivers. The soft smiles when he made a joke that landed, the concern that crossed your face when he rubbed at his arm for too long, the subtle way you always knew when he needed to take a break.

He tried to ignore it.

He failed.

______________________________________________________________

The shift came quietly. A fundraiser. A suit. Your dress.

"You clean up nice," he said, eyes trailing the sweep of your gown.

"You say that like I'm usually covered in dirt."

"You say that like you haven't threatened six lobbyists this week alone."

"They deserved it," you replied flatly, but there was the ghost of a smile lingering on your features.

He laughed and offered you his arm. And when you took it, something clicked into place.

You belonged at his side.

Not just in the office, not just at events. But somewhere deeper. And Bucky- who'd known war and pain and redemption- felt that longing stir like a ghost.

Still, he didn't act.

Not then.

______________________________________________________________

Everything changed in early spring.

A car exploded three blocks from the Capitol. Not near Bucky's office, not officially tied to his work, but close enough to raise alarms. Security tripled. Surveillance swept wider.

But it wasn't until the second explosion- a smaller one, near a protest line- that the fear set in.

That night, Bucky sat at his desk long after the rest of the building emptied. You stood across from him, tablet abandoned on your desk, arms crossed.

"You know something," he said quietly.

You didn't respond at first.

Then, softly: "It wasn't random."

Bucky met your eyes. "How do you know?"

You hesitated. Then: "Because I used to be the one who cleaned up after these."

The silence stretched.

Bucky didn't move.

"I wasn't always in politics," you said, voice flat. "I did clean-up work. Intel. Field extraction. A few other words that mean 'get in, get out, cover the mess.'"

His jaw tightened. "For who?"

"Multiple flags." You looked away. "Mostly ours."

The room spun slightly. You'd always been a mystery- but this? This was something else. Not a background in policy or communications. You weren't just overqualified.

You were dangerous.

He should have been angry. Should've felt betrayed.

But all he said was, "Why tell me now?"

"Because if this keeps escalating, you're going to need to be more than a congressman. You're going to need to be someone who knows the shadows."

Bucky stood. "Then I want you in the field."

You blinked. "Excuse me?"

"You heard me. You said you used to clean up messes. Well, we've got a mess. I want you in it with me."

You stared at him. "That's not how this works."

"It is now."

______________________________________________________________

The days that followed were a whirlwind.

Behind closed doors, you coordinated with quiet operatives still in the game. Bucky pulled strings through back channels, dug for funding, arranged travel that wasn't logged. Together, you became something more than just a politician and his assistant.

He wore suits by day, but carried a sidearm by night. You traded in heels for boots, tablet for a burner phone. The city didn't know that their congressman was going off-grid with a former spook, but they didn't need to know.

The intel led to a hidden cell. You were recognized once, during a recon trip in Prague, and Bucky had pulled you into an alley, pressed close, and pretended to kiss you to hide your face.

It wasn't a hardship.

Later, in the hotel room, you broke the silence. "I should've told you who I was."

He shook his head. "You did. Just not with words."

"And this? Us?" You met his eyes. "What are we?"

He stepped close. Touched your cheek. "We're a team."

Then, softly: "We're more than that."

______________________________________________________________

The mission ended with a fire. A final ambush. You dragged Bucky out of the flames with blood running down your arm and smoke in your lungs. He woke up in a safehouse, dazed and furious with worry- until you limped in, bruised but smiling.

"You survived," he whispered, pulling you close.

"You make it sound like I do this often."

"You do."

"...I did." You cupped his face. "Not anymore."

He kissed you then, fierce and aching and full of everything left unsaid.

______________________________________________________________

Back in D.C., the headlines never learned the full story. Just whispers of an international threat neutralized through backdoor diplomacy. The public never knew about the fieldwork, the close calls, the quiet way Bucky took your hand when no one was watching.

You returned to your role as his assistant.

But sometimes, when the shadows whispered of danger, he'd look to you.

And you'd already be ready.

Because you were never just a congressional aide.

You were his partner- in every sense of the word.

______________________________________________________________

You didn't talk about the kiss again- not for a while.

It lingered instead, suspended between you in the quiet spaces. In the mornings, when you handed him coffee and his fingers brushed yours just a little longer than necessary. In the silence of long car rides, where you sat just a little closer than before. In the hotel room in Berlin where you shared a wall but never knocked.

You were both too careful.

Bucky had lived through too many secrets, too many betrayals. And you... you had buried your heart deep beneath mission reports and false identities. Feelings, you'd once said, made people weak. Vulnerable. And Bucky had nodded, because he knew exactly what it meant to fear wanting something so badly it hurt.

But he wanted you anyway.

______________________________________________________________

Three weeks after the mission ended, you walked into his office just after sundown. You looked different- no heels, no blazer, just a soft sweater and jeans that made you look like someone who belonged somewhere safe.

He was still in his suit. Tie loosened. Sleeves rolled up.

You didn't say anything at first. Just closed the door behind you and leaned against it.

"I thought we agreed to keep it professional," he said gently.

"I didn't," you replied.

His chest tightened. "You didn't what?"

"I didn't agree. I just didn't say anything."

Silence stretched between you again, like a wire strung too tight. Then you stepped closer.

"I'm tired, Bucky," you said. "Of pretending. Of acting like I don't think about you every damn time I lay down to sleep. Like I don't see you in the field and feel something real, something dangerous-"

He crossed the room before you could finish.

His hands cupped your face. "You scared the hell out of me when you got shot during the last mission."

You smiled faintly. "I scare you a lot, don't I?"

"Only because I-" he stopped. Swallowed. "Because I don't know how to keep you safe without locking you away."

"I don't want to be safe," you whispered. "I want to be with you."

The kiss was slower this time. No need for cover. Just lips on lips, hands in hair, breath caught in throats. You pulled him in like gravity- like coming home.

______________________________________________________________

After that, it changed.

Not in the obvious ways. Not publicly. You were still his assistant, and he was still the rising star of Capitol Hill. But when the doors closed, when the world fell away- Bucky became yours.

He started spending nights at your place.

At first, he brought nothing. Then a toothbrush. Then a drawer's worth of clothes. He cooked like a man who used to forget to eat. You teased him for it until he made you pasta that tasted like heaven.

You weren't used to softness. But he gave it to you anyway.

You slept in his arms, legs tangled, his hand always resting lightly on your hip light he was afraid you'd vanish. You told him stories of old missions- bits and pieces, never names. He listened like every word mattered.

One night, as rain drummed against the windows, you asked: "Do you ever regret this? Politics, I mean."

He was quiet for a long time. Then: "I regret not meeting you sooner."

You looked at him, heart aching.

"I would've fallen for you no matter where we met," he said, voice low. "But maybe if I met you sooner, I wouldn't have been afraid of it."

______________________________________________________________

The next mission came quietly.

And anonymous tip. A potential mole inside a federal agency. Something smelled wrong.

Bucky wanted to send someone else.

You refused.

"This is what I do," you said. "What I've always done."

"But now you have more to lose," he said softly.

You reached out, resting your palm against his chest. "So do you."

The op was simple. In and out. Or it should have been.

Instead, it ended in a warehouse fire and a chase through the streets of Philadelphia. You made it out, barely. Bucky took a hit to the shoulder and refused medical attention until you were safe.

Back at the safehouse, you stitched his wound with trembling fingers.

"I hate this part," you whispered, dabbing away blood.

He looked at you. "Because it hurts?"

"No," you replied. "Because it reminds me what I'd do to keep you alive."

You sat on the floor afterward, arms wrapped around each other, like survivors after a storm. You didn't speak. You didn't need to.

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triptuckers · 21 days ago

Text

you're not alone - bob reynolds

Request: nope Pairing: bob reynolds x reader Summary: when you wake up early, you find out you're not the only one who's awake Warnings: THUNDERBOLTS SPOILERS !! bit of angst (happy ending I promise), mentions of nightmares, mentions of past trauma, loss of loved ones, bob being a lil sad :( Word count: 2.5K A/N: listen it's very simple. I saw thunderbolts. I saw lewis pullman. that's it. enjoy!

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your eyes snap open as you blindly reach for the knife you keep under your pillow. but instead of an intruder, your blade meets empty space.

the only sound in your dimly lit room is your heavy breathing. damn these stupid nightmares. you were close to asking yelena if she could just knock you out so you could get some sleep.

you return the knife and lay back down.

but now that you're awake, and adrenaline is coursing through your body, it's hard to go back to sleep again. you haven't really spoken about it to anyone, but you know you're not the only one who has nightmares.

yours got worse after a mission was intense or had nearly gone wrong. you'd been doing the odd job here and there for valentina when she'd send you to go after someone who was going to rob one of her facilities.

but when you finally made it to the vault, you weren't met with just any robber. instead, you were met with a bunch people who seemed to have gotten the exact same assignment as you.

you were all there to kill each other. messy ends tying up themselves. after all, doing the dirty work was what you were good at. it's what you were trained for. follow orders, go in and out quickly, get the job done.

but instead of fighting these people, you worked together once you figured out valentina's real plan.

the next couple of days were a whirlwind of adrenaline, fighting, a lot of confusion and very little sleep.

you'd been trying to catch up on rest now that you've got a room in the former avengers tower, but after reliving your worst memories, the nightmares came back stronger and more intense than ever. all the details were there now, and you couldn't forget them.

you finally had a place where you could safely rest, and yet you didn't get more than two hours of sleep a night - if you were lucky.

you're looking around the room now. devoid of personality. you didn't have many personal belongings to take with you. mostly the weapons you carried and the clothes on your back.

taking yelena's advice, you'd gotten dark curtains to keep out the light. she said it helped her fall asleep. it didn't really help you much, but you were grateful for her advice nonetheless.

there's a dim glow coming from a gap in the curtains. you push the sheets off of you and walk over to the window.

way down below, new york was slowly waking up. people on their way to their work, or out on an early morning run. you glance over your shoulder at the alarm clock. almost 5 am. not too bad. it's more morning than night, and you decide that's acceptable for today.

you pull on a pair of socks and blindly grab a sweater. maybe you could use the extra time you got now by planning in an extra training session. it always helped clear your mind after a short night filled with bad dreams.

the hallway is dark when you exit your room. as you make your way to the kitchen, you wonder what else you could do today. there weren't any missions for you planned.

bucky was off on an assignment with sam, and alexei hadn't been home for a little over a week. maybe you could ask yelena or ava if they were up for a sparring session.

you enter the kitchen, not bothering to turn on the big light as you open the fridge.

the light seeps out and illuminates a figure standing on the other end of the kitchen island.

you reach for the nearest kitchen knife as bob turns on the light.

'jesus.' you breathe. 'bob. you scared me.'

'sorry!' says bob, visibly upset that he startled you. 'I'm sorry! I thought you saw me.'

'you're good, don't worry about it.' you say, returning the kitchen knife. 'I'm just a little jumpy, that's all.'

'I was about to make breakfast, do you want some as well?' asks bob.

'yeah sure, that sounds nice.' you say. 'thanks.'

bob walks over to you and smiles. somehow you didn't understand how someone like bob could also be the void. the two seemed so different from each other.

you make coffee as bob gets started on breakfast for the two of you. you pour a cup for bob and slide it over to him. then you take your own cup and move to sit at the kitchen island.

'what were you doing up this early?' he asks.

'couldn't sleep.' you say.

'nightmares?'

'yes.'

there's no point in lying. everyone here has nightmares. you'd be terrified of one of your new roommates if they didn't. you didn't live a life like the one you did and be able to sleep at night.

'want to talk about it?' says bob.

you really appreciate bob. he's always helping you, telling you he'll listen to you. always the first to welcome you back when you return to the tower after a mission. and right now, he's making you breakfast.

but as much as you appreciate him, reliving your worst trauma's because of the void was something that felt too personal to share. especially since bob doesn't remember anything.

you'd told him about the day the void had half of new york trapped in their most traumatic moments. you figured he deserved to know. you also knew he felt terrible about it, and you didn't want to remind him of it.

'no, it's fine.' you say.

bob nods as he turns around and sets a plate with eggs in front of you, as well as some toast.

'thanks.' you say as bob sits down next to you with his own plate. you notice he's careful not to touch you. he doesn't really talk about what happened, but you know it's hard for him. you just don't want to push him. he'll talk to you when he's ready. but you're desperate for him to know it's okay to talk to you, should he choose to do so.

you study his face as he eats his breakfast. you know he's tired too. he was awake when you went to bed last night, and he was up before you as well. the dark circles under his eyes seem to be permanent.

'bob?' you say.

he turns to look at you.

'why were you awake?'

'I was up all night reading a book yelena got me. it was so interesting I couldn't put it away.'

'bob. you told me that last week.'

'I did?'

'yes. when I asked you why you were still awake when I got back from a meeting at 3 am.'

'oh.'

you turn your chair to fully face him. bob leans back, so you're not accidentally touching him.

'what is going on, bob? I know we're all tired. but at least I get a handful of hours of sleep at night. do you sleep at all?' you say.

bob looks everywhere but your eyes.

'what are your nightmares about?' he asks you, catching you off guard.

'uh, well. bad stuff.' you say.

'will you tell me about it?'

'I'd rather not.'

'then I won't tell you why I don't sleep.'

bob grabs his plate gets up and instinctively, you reach out to grab his sleeve and pull him back.

he inhales sharply and recoils from your touch. the plate falls from his hands and clatters back down on the counter.

'sorry!' you say.

you see bob close his eyes and clench his jaw. you had made a mistake.

'I'm sorry.' you say again. 'I just... don't really talk about what happens in my nightmares. what I have to relive at night.'

your last sentence catches his attention.

'relive?' he says.

'fuck, did I say relive?' you say. 'I meant-'

'did I make it worse?' says bob.

'I didn't mean-' you start.

'don't do that!' bob cuts you off.

you raise your hands as a gesture of surrender.

this time, bob is the one to apologise. 'sorry. it's just that everyone always says this team is built on trust and yet no one seems to trust me. I'm not a child, you don't need to act all careful around me. you don't have to hide the bad stuff from me just because I can't remember what I, what the void, does.'

you're silent as you watch him fidget with the empty coffee cup in his hands. and you realise he's right. you can't tiptoe around him all the time. it's not fair.

'okay.' you say.

'okay?' questions bob, looking at you.

'okay, I'll tell you what my nightmares are about. but then you tell me why you don't sleep, deal?' you say.

'deal.' says bob.

'let's go to your armchair though, I don't want john accidentally walking in on me spilling my secrets.' you say, trying to lighten the mood.

bob is silent as he follows you. he sits down in his chair and you sit down on the couch next to him.

you take a deep breath as bob looks at you.

'as you know, I had a training that was similar to yelena's. I was young, and was trained to be a mindless soldier, assassin, whatever they called it at the time.' you say.

you look out over the skyline of new york, choosing to focus on bob's presence next to you, in case the memories start to drown you.

'I was training night and day. with other kids, then with older trainers, and then with holograms. to test every single probability, variable, whatever. then came the final round of training. holograms designed to look like the people I loved the most. friends I had when I was younger, my family. in a simulation, I was to kill them over and over again. I wore this specifically designed suit so everything felt real.' you say.

you look at the rising sun in the distance, aware of the way bob's eyes are fixed on you.

you take a deep breath. 'the final test, it was not a simulation. there was no holographic target. except I wasn't told that. I put on the suit, the glasses, everything that went with it. and then I killed everyone I'd ever loved. when I got the clear to take off the suit, the room was stained red. I was looking at the bodies of my friends, my family. that was the day I succeeded the program. I had nothing anyone could use against me. no one who would remember me.'

you quickly wipe away a stray tear that had fallen down your cheek. 'I relive that memory every night. except when the void got to me, it felt like it did that day. it felt real.'

bob is silent as you take a few deep breaths, trying to steady yourself.

'that's why I don't sleep.' he says in a soft voice.

you turn to look at him.

'what do you mean?' you say.

'what you described, your worst memory. to have to relive it in such a real way. I did that.' he says. 'I do that to people.'

'no.' you say, moving closer to him. 'no, bob, the void does that to people. not you. you hear me?'

'still though, he's a part of me.' says bob, who hasn't moved away from you this time. your knees almost touch.

'I don't sleep because I'm afraid if I wake up, days will have passed. and I won't have any memory of any harm I've done to people.' bob confesses in a soft voice.

'oh, bob.' you say. you wanted nothing more than to reach out and pull him in for a hug, but you know you can't.

'I'm terrified of hurting you guys again. I don't know how to stop him if it would happen again.' says bob. 'I don't want to go to sleep alone. what if I wake up somewhere else?'

'well..' you say. 'that's easily solvable.'

'how?' says bob.

you shrug. 'we share a room. or I can sit next to you when you go to sleep in your own room. or if you take a nap in your chair, here. anywhere, really.'

'and then what? what if the- what if he takes over? what if-'

'then I'll try my best to wake you. I'll go through all of those rooms to find you.'

'you just told me what you had to relive. I wouldn't want you to go through that again. not for my sake, anyway.'

'bob. how many times do I have to tell you for you to finally understand it? you are not alone anymore. we've got you. I've got you.'

bob looks at you with an odd look in his eyes.

'I really wish I could hug you.' he says.

you smile. 'you can.'

'but-'

'stand up.'

he gives you a confusing look but does as you ask. you stand up as well, then gesture at him.

'you're taller than I am. so long as your hands don't touch any of my skin, we should be good.' you explain.

'I don't want to accidentally send you back.' mumbles bob.

'you won't. I trust you.' you say.

you step closer to him and wrap your arms around his waist, resting your head against his chest. you feel his muscles strain as he tenses at your touch. then you slowly feel his hands carefully rest on your back.

you wonder when the last time was anyone hugged him. you long to be closer to him, to press your face in his neck, but you stand still.

'thank you.' says bob softly when you finally pull away. you smile up at him.

'see? told you it would be okay. now, do you want to go and take a nap? we can still get up in time for everyone else to wake up, if you want to.' you say.

'that sounds nice.' admits bob.

you look at him and a part of you swears he looks happier than before. or at least lighter. maybe he just needed to get this fear off of his chest. maybe you needed someone to listen to you as well.

something in you shifts as you follow bob to his room so he could take a nap.

'can't remember the last time I voluntarily went to sleep.' says bob as he enters his room. 'you'll be here?'

'I'll be here.' you confirm. 'and I'll get you out if the void takes over.'

'you promise?' says bob, as he lays down and pulls the covers over his body.

'I promise.' you say as you listen to his breathing become heavier until he falls asleep and soft snores fill the room. you'd stay next to him for as long as he needed you to.

A/N: thanks for reading! everything that I have written can be found on my masterlist. please do not copy, translate, plagiarise or repost my work! some of these are requested by other people and I spend a lot of time and effort on my works <3 much love, marit

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jetblack4realz · 1 month ago

Text

protector - haymitch abernathy

what a party

masterlist

you attend your first capitol party in celebration of your win - and haymitch is there to save you from the sharks.

warnings: sexualizing, allusions to sa and gross people, spoilers to sotr, age gap of like 3 years

word count: 1.8k

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your neon turquoise drink bubbled in your hand as you smiled sweetly at another guest, your shimmering blue dress holding you in tightly by the corset.

"yes, it was scary," you told the woman dressed like a hammerhead shark, a large headpiece on her crown that seemed to hit every passerby as she turned. "but, i knew i could survive. obviously it worked out all fine."

"obviously," she crooned with a heavy laugh, whacking another guest as she glanced at her husband who expertly ducked underneath the sharkhead. "so, dear, i've been wondeirng-"

"excuse me."

you turned quickly, narrowly dodging sharklady's headpiece as she followed your movements. the young man standing in front of you was a sight to see - a perfectly tailored navy blue suit that looked suspiciously close to yours, wavy blond hair quiffed in a way that was both messy and perfect, and striking grayish blue eyes accentuated by glittery blue eyeliner you were sure he fought against.

"mr abernathy!" sharklady exclaimed with a chirp of delight. she immediately began fanning her face and stuck out her rounded chest enough that her husband stepped away with an eyeroll. she looked to you, taking out another guest as she did, and gestured to the man by your side. "miss flanagan, let me introduce you to haymitch abern-"

"we've met," he said bluntly, turning to shoot you a boyish smile. "good to see you again, honey."

honey. golden, smooth, sweet - exactly the nickname for a girl like yourself. not that you realized why. it was just the first thing that came to his mind when your grandmother hastily introduced you both backstage of caesar's talk show the night before.

"you as well, haymitch," you answered, mustering a small smile.

he then turned back to the capitol couple who'd had you stuck for the last fifteen minutes, smoothly stealing the fluorescent glass from your hand and offering it to the woman. "you mind if i steal her away for a dance?"

sharklady mindlessly took the glass and nodded with a giggle. "not at all! have fun!"

haymitch nodded at her, grinning lazily as he took your hand and pulled you quickly after him towards the center of the room where the rest of the couples were slow dancing.

his hand found your waist instantly, pulling you closer as his other hand held yours gently, your free hand on his shoulder now. his eyes roamed the room, carefully taking in the beachy decorations in honor of district 4 before meeting yours again. "this is quite the party for ya."

"yeah," you said with a thin smile. "the capitol's been very kind."

"kind enough to let you enjoy it without being strung from the ceiling at least," he said with an ironic smile and a huff of breath. you furrowed your brows in question and he continued: "that's how i spent my victory parties - in a gold cage where people could poke and prod and toss food all they liked. the whole week."

"oh." you looked away from him and at the exotically dressed capitol citizens all here to celebrate you and the murder of 23 other district children. "then yes - i guess they have been kind to me."

"they won't be, if you haven't figured that out already." he tilted his head and tugged you forward gently so your eyes met his again. "did you speak with mags?"

"yes," you replied quietly.

"and you're okay with this?" his grip on your hand tightened a bit as he searched your eyes again.

"if what you both say is true, which i believe... i'll do anything to avoid it," you answered, meeting his eyes more fully.

he nodded, pulling you into him further as he dropped his mouth to your ear and whispered quietly: "then unfortunately, honey, the games are back on."

he spun you out, twirling you under his arm and laughing loudly to catch the attention of surrounding guests, who began to whisper to themselves as he caught you back in his arms.

his mouth was back at your ear. "smile."

and you did, widely, letting out a short laugh as you kept your eyes strictly on the blond boy in front of you.

"you look very dapper tonight, mr abernathy," you told him as the next song began playing, your steps moving quicker to accommodate the new beat.

"and you look absolutely stunning, miss flanagan," he said, winking and earning another laugh from you in response. "it seems as though our stylists have had similar ideas when it came to themes."

"how cute! we match," you giggled.

he spun you again, but stopped so your back was at his chest and he glanced down at you from behind. his grin was the one you were used to seeing in the news - casual, mischievous, glowing a sense of carelessness that only suited the gorgeous rascal of district 12. you smiled back up at him with your own carefully-curated-capitol smile.

you both pretended not to see the flash of a camera in the crowd.

"don't we look great together, honey?" he hummed, chuckling as you rolled your eyes before spinning you back so you were dancing properly again.

"i fear that is the point, 12," you answered quietly as he pulled you closer into his chest.

"it's a good thing we're both so damn gorgeous then, hm?"

you rolled your eyes again, but quickly smiled to cover it as you spotted a particularly interested guest furrowing her brows at you.

"yes, it's a very good thing."

you two continued to dance until the end of the song, haymitch dipping you dramatically with his face too close to yours and a stupid grin that made you want to either slap him or kiss him - both a surprise to you.

once you were standing again he pulled you to the side, his lips at your ear in an instant.

"how do you wanna play this?" he mumbled, his eyes flickering around the room at the all-too-attentive capitol guests. "wanna sneak out now and let 'em talk or drag out the flirting?"

"shouldn't we just jump straight into it?" you wondered as you turned to face him completely, your back to the party and his hands on your arms. "since it's gonna happen anyways?"

"up to you, darlin', but i'll tell you that they love their drama, and if they think they're getting in the way of you and me potentially getting together they'll stay away," he answered, his eyes finally dropping to meet yours again. he shrugged and opened his mouth to speak again before another cut in.

"play the game."

you looked quickly to the side, your heart jumping at the sound of this new man's voice and found yourself face to face with plutarch heavensbee. he'd introduced himself at the interviews before your games as a friend of your grandmother's but you hadn't seen him since.

"i'm sorry?"

a warm smile pulled at his lips and he moved to rest a hand on your arm, pulling away only when realizing haymitch currently had hold of both.

haymitch eyed him warily before letting out a short breath. "mags tell you?"

"she did. she asked for my advice, and my advice is the same to you now: play the game," he said again, returning his gaze to yours. "drag it out, make subtle moves and comments and flirt around each other enough to keep attention on you."

"i thought the goal was to keep the attention off of me," you said with a frown.

"honey, the attention is already on you and is going to stay for a good long time," haymitch said, his head lolling to the side as he eyed you and finally released your arms. "the goal now is to change the narrative. keep them from wanting to be with you to-"

"wanting to be you," plutarch finished with his brows raised encouragingly. haymitch shot him a side-eyed glare for cutting him off.

"and us flirting will do that?" you asked.

"yes. and also staying separate. a game, like i've said. push and pull," plutarch continued. "for example, i will now take you to dance."

"hey, what-?"

but plutarch had already whisked you away, the sound of strings surrounding you.

"see?" he hummed as he swayed you easily, a soft smile on his lips as he met your eyes. "people are looking, aren't they?"

you glanced over his shoulder to see the capitol citizens looking away from you, off to the corner you'd just been pulled away from. "they're looking at haymitch."

"exactly. and soon, when the song ends he will take you away once more and the whispers will begin. it's a very predictable game," he told you. "but for now just smile and dance. and when you go back to haymitch be subtle. you want this to be exciting for them, like a mystery."

"right," you mumbled. "except it's a mystery to me too."

"it's not. that's why you're doing this," he reminded quietly, his brows raised before he spun you. your eyes roamed the crowd and found their attention back on you and the heavensbee boy.

the song was short and your dance quickly ended. you smiled politely and curtsied at the man, him returning with a bow, before someone took your hand.

"you wanna get a drink?" the words were mumbled in your ear and you turned quickly to find haymitch in front of you. you breathed a sigh of relief, nodding shortly.

"yeah," you said, mustering a bit of a laugh. "i think i could use one."

"me too, honey," he answered, his lips tipped into a frown, but turning immediately into a keenly polished grin as he turned and pulled you into the crowd. "'scuse me, folks - coming through."

you held onto his hand tighter as you weaved between people, eyes following you as you followed him. he plucked two glasses from passing trays in one hand, balancing them expertly between his fingers before he finally came to a stop near a bubbling blue fountain in the center of the patio. people were still chattering about, the sounds and smells overwhelming your senses, but as he handed you your bright yellow champagne you felt the slightest bit of calm.

"thank you," you told him, sipping from the tall glass. it tasted like banana candy and somehow you didn't hate it. "you seem to be an expert on pulling me away from social situations."

"one of my more favorable attributes," he said with a lopsided grin, drinking from his own flute of taffy-flavored bubbly. "you'll be experiencing it often."

you heard a muffled giggle from behind you, like some girl had overheard the subtle flirting from the abernathy boy and failed to hide her giddiness. your eyes traveled over the sea of people, already drooping in exhaustion over the idea of having to do this for another two weeks before you finally went home, and then again for your victory tour a few months later.

you steeled yourself and returned your eyes to the blond boy in front of you, smirking and tilting your head at him. you raised your glass a bit. "yeah, i suppose i will."

#haymitch abernathy x reader #haymitch x reader #thg haymitch #haymitch abernathy #sotr #thg sotr #sunrise on the reaping

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