#spread the spoilers and we have a problem now

[koushirouizumi]

I'm sorry (not for saying this) but even the Kizuna set included that full color poster with all 12 main Chosen, and that was a new art too.

[endlessthxxghts]

Ch1: New Beginnings

teacher!reader x student's dad!Frankie Morales || W/C: 8.8k

Ch. Summary: Frankie gets introduced to a new opportunity for his daughter, Elena. You get introduced to your new job. In celebration of these new beginnings, you both set out to a night at the bar, completely unaware that your paths are about to cross.

Content/Warnings: F!reader (she/her), female sex anatomy, reader is able-bodied. No physical descriptions of reader. Slight description of reader’s outfit (no size descriptions). Tío Santi (& TF Miller boys) makes an appearance. Slight implication reader understands some Spanish. Going out to bar/consumption of alcohol. Flirting. POV switch, mainly Frankie this chapter. SMUT 18+ MDNI. Sexual activity while under the influence of alcohol (you've slowed down your alcohol intake by that point, though). “Author Chose Not to Apply Archive Warnings” because it may result in spoilers (but there’s smut here…).

A/N: thank you to @honeyedmiller for proof-reading this for me, and thank you to @javierpena-inatacvest for peer pressuring me into giving my little idea an actual chance. I love love love you both sm🩶 to everyone, I truly hope you enjoy!! All my love xx

series masterlist || main masterlist || updates blog

August 2024

“Thank you so much for coming in, Mr. Morales.”

“It’s no problem at all, Mrs. Adams, is- is, um, is everything okay? Is Elena doing alright?” Frankie asks the second grade teacher, concerned. 

The school year hasn’t started yet, but from time to time, the school does accelerated summer sessions that last a few weeks up until the actual start date of the school year. Elena always attends these sessions, begging her dad every summer to sign her up for one because I need to learn more! she’d tell him. How could he deny her the chance to expand that beautiful mind of hers?

“Oh, yes, everything is good! Elena is wonderful, and that’s actually why I asked you to come in,” she states. “Are you aware of how smart that girl is?”

Frankie can’t help the cheesy grin that spreads across his face. “Yeah, she’s always too excited to show me her progress reports and report cards, always pulling them out before we even leave the parking lot at the end of her days,” he beams. 

“Oh, I bet. She blows me away everyday, that girl,” Mrs. Adams says genuinely. “So much so that I actually think she shouldn’t be attending here anymore,” the teacher adds, softer than the rest of her previous statements. 

Frankie’s eyebrows twist in confusion. “What do you mean?”

“Well, don’t get me wrong, I love having Elena, and everyone in this school loves her, too. She’s one of our brightest. But,” she sighs. “She is so damn smart, Mr. Morales. I’d go as far as to say she’s a prodigy.”

“Oh,” Frankie says, pleasantly surprised and confused. He still doesn’t know where she’s getting at. He tells her as much. 

“What I’m trying to say is- Elena isn’t getting the proper brain stimulation someone of her level needs. She needs to go somewhere that will increase her levels at the fast rate she’s moving and somewhere that will stimulate the creative parts of her brain. Traditional public school—at least here—cannot provide her with that.”

Frankie has always known his daughter’s natural intelligence. She often comes home either excited because they worked on a topic she’s really good at, or she comes home really bored and exhausted—because they worked on a topic she’s really good at. It’s too repetitive for her, but he wasn’t sure what other options he had. 

Frankie takes a moment to think. “Even if I did move her to a school that has all this, it sounds like it would cost a lot of money. Money that I unfortunately don’t have right now,” he says with a heavy breath. 

Mrs. Adams’ smile grows ten times bigger. “Mr. Morales-”

“Frankie, please,” he corrects. 

“Frankie, there’s a school for the gifted connected to our local university just a few miles down the way. I used to work there, and I have friends there. Please forgive me if I’ve overstepped, but I’ve spoken to the Director of Admissions. There’s a waitlist, and barely any get admitted—and it’s by semester, so you’ll have to keep up with re-enrolling her—but I told them all about Elena. They want her, Frankie. No waitlist. No tuition. They want her for this new semester. And I really think you should go for it.”

Frankie sits in Mrs. Adams’ office, utterly stunned. He’s sure his jaw is on the floor right now, eyes bugged out like those squeezable stress toys. “I- I don’t know what to say…” Frankie trails off. 

“I know it’s a big step,” the teacher comforts. “But think about it.” She pulls out a card from her desk and hands it to him. “Here’s the director’s card. I’ll reach out to them to make sure they know to expect your call.” 

Frankie knows this is a good thing. He knows these are once in a lifetime opportunities, and he knows if he goes through with this now, those rare opportunities won’t be so rare for her as she gets older. That’s all he wants for his daughter; nothing but opportunity and the right kind of challenges meant to help her grow as a person. 

So why does he feel so nervous? He’s dealt with change before, and he’s dealt with last-minute, under pressure change up in the sky where his life could’ve been on the line—but nothing compares to the anxiety when it involves Elena. Since she was born, she is all he’s ever known. It’s been him and her against the world, and although some days are more difficult than others doing this parenting thing alone, Frankie wouldn’t have it any other way. 

He gives Mrs. Adams his thank yous and goodbyes, and makes his way to the front office. It’s 12 o’ clock right now—recess time—but he wouldn’t doubt she’s propped up against a pillar with her nose in a book. He decides to check Elena out early and take her to go get dessert. 

“She’ll be escorted here in a few minutes,” the front desk lady tells him. 

“Thank you, ma’am,” Frankie says, resting his back against the wall. 

A few minutes pass and the office’s door bursts open with the heartwarming sounds of his daughter’s giggles, an excited aura filling the room. “¡Papi!” she squeals, immediately wrapping her arms around the parts of her father she can reach. 

“¡Mija!” he says, matching her energy, pulling her in for a tight squeeze. He kneels down to reach her level, placing a kiss on her forehead before he speaks. “Wanna go get dessert?”

Her eyes light up like a million stars. “Please!!” she replies, her entire body shaking in Frankie’s grasp. 

Frankie picks her up, and they make their way to the car. Buckling her into her car seat, Frankie settles himself to the driver’s seat and asks the burning question before he pulls off. “Brownie sundae spot or-”

“BROWNIE!” Elena replies immediately. Frankie has to slap his mouth to stop from the uncontrollable laughter bubbling out from his chest. He knew what her answer would be. “Okay, mija, brownie spot it is.”

Their usual brownie sundae spot is in a little diner up the street from their house. Frankie began this little tradition as a way to celebrate Elena’s wins and milestones. The first milestone they celebrated was for her first word: airplane. Frankie was ecstatic, practically jumping up and down with Elena in his arms until his best friend, Santiago, had to calm him down. “Ay, tranquilo, tranquilo,” relax, relax, he said, holding his hands softly around Elena’s little head.

Today’s milestone, however, is much bigger than any they’ve celebrated, and the notion is not lost on little Elena. 

“Papi,” she calls. “Are we celebrating something?” 

Frankie chuckles to himself, loving how easily she can put things together. “We might be, mi amorcito.”

“Hm?” She hums, eyebrows furrowed and head tilted to the side as she settles into the booth seat, sitting across from her dad. 

Their usual waiter comes before they can continue their conversation. “Hey, guys! The usual?” 

Elena answers first, very excitedly. “YES, YES, BROWNIE SUNDAE!!!” She squeals as she elongates every syllable. Frankie confirms with a head nod as he chuckles at her energy. 

“What’s the occasion?” The waiter says softer, directing the question to Frankie. 

“We’ll see after I talk with this little lady,” Frankie tells the waiter, extending his long arm out to pinch Elena’s little cheek. 

The waiter smiles and walks off, putting the order in with the kitchen and asking for a little bit of a delay to give Frankie enough time to talk things through with his daughter. 

“So,” Frankie states. 

“So,” his daughter mirrors, putting on her best serious face while fighting the huge grin that wants to break free. 

“Do you know how smart you are, mija?” Frankie asks, smiling because he knows what she’s gonna say. Duh, papi, he thinks in his head.

“Duh, papi!” She says, a troublemaking giggle she’s had since her babbling stages echoes their little corner of the diner. 

“Alright, little smart ah-” Frankie coughs to stop his mouth. “You little smarty pants,” he corrects himself. 

“Daddy, were you about to call me a smartass?” She scolds. 

His cheeks flush a bright red. “You spend too much time with Tío Santi,” he deadpans. 

She hums, nodding her head triumphantly. 

“Anyway,” he says, noting in his mind to scold Santi for his mouth around his little girl. “You’re so smart, mija, I was wondering… well, I was wondering if you feel like you’re actually learning?”

“What do you mean, papi?”

“Well, everything you’ve been learning so far is super easy for you, isn’t it?” 

She ponders for a moment. “Yeah, it’s easy,” she confirms. 

“Does it ever make you bored, how easy some days are?”

“A little, yeah,” she says a little softer. “But it’s okay because I end up helping my friends, and Mrs. Adams tells me I’m her assistant,” she giggles with pride. 

“You’re too good, amor,” he chuckles. “But what if I told you,” he starts. Immediately, her interest is piqued. “A really fancy, really smart school heard about how smart you are?”

Her chocolate brown eyes widen, and her little jaw drops. “Me?! Really?!”

“Yes, baby!” Frankie can feel his excitement rising alongside hers, his initial nervousness fading just as quick. “And what if I told you they want you to go to their school?” Elena’s hands fly to her mouth, suppressing her squeals of joy. Frankie can hear her legs kicking back and forth underneath the table. “Would you wanna go, mi niña inteligente (my smart girl)?”

“So… I’ll learn harder things?” She asks.

“Yes,” he swallows thickly. Frankie thinks she’s having anxiety. 

It’s not. “Then…” She settles for her usual diva answer. “Duh, papi!” She giggles, positively radiating pure excitement on this new journey she’s about to embark on. 

She wiggles out of her side of the booth to crash into her father’s arms, pulling him into the tightest hug ever. As she pulls away and settles next to Frankie, the waiter comes out with the sundae, Congratulations! written in cursive on the side of the plate. Elena reads the message with ease, scooping up the red icing with her finger and licking it up. “Thank you!!” She exclaims to the waiter who murmurs a sweet smartest person I know with a ruffle to her curly head of hair. 

The waiter looks at Frankie with a genuine smile, and Frankie returns it. This diner really has been there for all the Morales’ family wins. Frankie wonders what other miracles just might happen in this little building.

For the first time in your teaching career, you are nervous. 

You’ve dealt with gifted children before, and you had no problems juggling public school and the extra side lessons you’d give to the occasional gifted child. People tend to underestimate the amount of prodigal children in the world due to the constant brushing off these adults like to give to developing humans. These little children deserve as much respect and care that any other human deserves, maybe even more. The children are our future, after all. 

So, now that you’re starting a new job, in a school dedicated to your life’s passion—yeah, you’re pretty nervous. 

This school was created by the state’s local university; it was their attempt at providing children with an enriching, stimulating environment that the typical school system couldn’t care enough to provide, and their attempt was an absolute success. It will take a little while to get themselves off their feet, so tuition and enrolling students is expensive compared to what you would pay for your child in the public education system. 

However, with time and careful planning, the program’s ultimate goal is to adequately provide to childrens of all needs—regardless of their prodigal status—for little to no cost. It’s definitely an ambitious goal, but it’s one you’re absolutely ready and willing to stick around for.

You were hired this summer, August 1st to be exact. The principal—Ms. Sabatino—caught wind of the powerhouse of a teacher who goes above and beyond for her students, and she just had to have you on her team. Your interview wasn’t even a real interview: it was exchanging logistical information and showing you to your new home base, your new classroom. She told you if you wanted to take the time before the year officially started to make your classroom feel more like you, you could. 

It took you about a week to settle the vibe of your classroom, and during your preparations, you met a few other teachers, instantly hitting it off with each other that they invited you to their “semester pregame,” they called it. 

“You have to come, Ms. Powerhouse!” Ms. Smith—Linda, she corrected you—exclaimed. 

“Powerhouse?!” You repeated, a little frightened. You knew coming in that the culture here was very tight-knit, but how fast does word really spread around here?

“Yeah, you powerhouse, you!” Mr. White—Blake—chimes in. “You’re all anyone is talking about! Honestly, we’ve been dying to meet you.”

And lastly, Ms. Marshall—Leah—joins in. “You’re a real legend, ya know that, don’t you? Sticking to the Rebel theme we got going on here,” she smirks, referring to their school’s mascot, the Rebels. 

You flush under all their praise. “I really don’t know what you guys are talking about,” you say softly. “I’m just trying to do what’s best for our kiddos, like any of us would.” A proud smile graces your face, and not for the things you’ve done, but for the amazing students you’ve had the honor of meeting and teaching. There truly isn’t a better feeling. 

The three teachers share a knowing look, the one that tells you they think you’re just trying to be humble. Their hums of secret agreement don’t escape your super-teacher hearing. 

Ms. Marshall is the one to speak again. “Are you going to come though? We really would love to have you. We’ve been trying to find someone who can hold their alcohol better than Mr. Lightweight here can,” she cackles, pointing over to Mr. White, who now has an offended look on his face. 

“I’ll have you know-” he starts. “Oh, Blake, enough with the excuses already!” Ms. Smith cuts him off. 

You giggle at their banter, your apprehensiveness about this little squad slowly melting away. “I’m afraid if you’re looking for someone who can hold their own, that person is not me…but I would absolutely love to join you guys. When and where is this pregame?”

“YAAASSSSSS!” Ms. Smith is quick to squeal. She’s definitely the life of the party with these three. “We have it the Saturday before the semester starts! So, the 17th I believe. It’s a bit risky depending on how plastered we end up getting, but it’s all a part of the fun,” she says with a wink. 

You reach for your phone in your back pocket, unlocking and letting your three new friends put their phone numbers in. You group text them so they have your number, too. “Perfect! I can’t wait,” you say sheepishly, your excitement slowly rising as their smiles begin to mirror your own. It’s been a while since you let yourself go and get lost in something else other than work, and you think this little pregame is exactly what you’ve been needing.

“Oh, come on, Fish! You have to come out with us!” Santi tells you, giving Frankie’s shoulder a punch of encouragement.

Frankie hisses at the impact, swatting Santi’s hand away with a scowl. “No.”

“Fish,” Santi reasons. “The Millers haven’t seen you in a hot minute since my ‘Lena girl was born, man. They miss you. Especially Benny, you know how sensitive that man gets. And! We need to celebrate this new chapter for you and ‘Lena!”

“We already celebrated,” Frankie corrects. “At the diner.” 

“An adult celebration, Fish. When was the last time you let yourself go?”

Frankie sighs. Santi’s right. “Who would watch Elena?”

“I already spoke with Yavonna last night,” Santi says, a tinge of hope laced in his voice. 

“Let me talk to Elena-”

“Fish, she’ll be fine-”

Frankie holds his hand out to signal Santi to shut up. “Let me talk to Elena,” he repeats, “and let her know our plans for tomorrow night. You know I don’t do anything without running it through with her first.” 

Santi’s face is happier than a toddler getting ice cream for breakfast. He claps him on his shoulder, “Fuck yeah, man! Frontier boys back at it again!”

Frankie grimaces. “Pope, cállate, por favor,” shut up, please, he says, pinching the bridge of his nose as he kicks Santi out for the night. 

“Tell ‘Lena Tío Santi says buenas noches (good night) please since her daddy likes to kick me out so soon,” Santi taunts, a fake offended look on his face. 

“No,” Frankie says. Then he shuts the door. 

Frankie lets a few moments pass to make sure Santi was out of sight before he calls out to his daughter. “Baby, tío Santi wishes you good night!”

Elena comes running down the stairs. “He left already?!”

“Yeah, sorry kiddo,” Frankie frowns, meeting her at the end of the stairs to kiss her forehead. 

“It’s okay,” she says. “You kicked him out again, didn’t you, daddy?”

“Y-yeah, yeah I did,” Frankie stutters. There’s no lying to this little Einstein. 

“Hey, baby?” Frankie says again, crouching down to his knees to meet her level. “Do you remember Yavonna? Tío Santi’s girlfriend?”

Her gears turn before recognition sparks in her eyes. “Yeah!”

“Well, would you be okay if papi went out tomorrow? And you and Yavonna have a girls’ night?” He asks. 

Elena’s smile turns mischievous as she pulls her dad in for a hug, whispering in his ear. “Are you going on a date?”

“Mmm, tío Santi is nice and all, but he’s too much a pain in my ass for me to wanna go on a date with him,” he retorts. “So, no, no date. Just spending some time with your annoying uncle and some of our other old friends.” 

“Oh, okay,” Elena says as she giggles. “Have fun, papi!”

“I will, baby, thank you,” he says, pulling her into one last hug before they both venture off to bed.

It’s Monday morning, one week before the semester starts, and Frankie is buzzing. He’s nervous and excited for his daughter, but he can tell this new environment is one that gets heavily involved—in both the child and the guardian’s life.

He’ll do anything for Elena, of course, and it isn’t like he wasn’t involved at her old school. But this one makes it feel like he’s also attending this place. The thought terrifies his socially anxious heart. 

He puts his car in park and practices a few breathing exercises before he gets out. He has a meeting with the principal today—Ms. Sabatino?, he tries to remember. This meeting is for her to finally get to know him, and for the paperwork to get finalized. And because they aren’t charging him for this semester, he also needs to fill out some waivers. 

He makes his way to her office, checking in at the front desk and waiting to be pulled back. His hand fidgets at his side, the nerves getting to him again. 

“Mr. Morales?” A voice calls out, pulling him from his nerves. “Ms. Sabatino is ready for you, first door to your left.” 

“Thank you,” he replies. He softly knocks on the door before entering. 

“Mr. Morales! Come in, come in!” Ms. Sabatino waves him over. “Sit, make yourself comfortable! It’s so nice to finally meet you.” 

“It’s nice to meet you as well, ma’am, and please, just Frankie is good,” he tells her, a slight shyness in his voice and demeanor. 

“Okay then, Frankie,” she smiles. “Let’s see here,” she says, squinting to her computer. “Do you have the enrollment forms?”

“Yes, right here,” Frankie sets the folder in front of her. 

“Perfect, thank you,” she replies. “Here, you fill these waiver forms out that we talked about while I upload your forms in for Elena’s profile.” 

Frankie mutters a quick okay, sounds good, before Ms. Sabatino speaks again. “While we get through these formalities though, did you have any questions for me? About the program, the teachers, literally anything at all besides what the meaning of life is?” she tries to joke, sensing Frankie’s anxiety. 

Mrs. Adams already gave him the rundown of this place, but the financial conversation has been clouding his mind since he first found out about this place. “Well, actually, yes, I wanted to talk to you about the cost,” he starts. 

“The cost is no issue, I promise you,” she reassures. But it’s not that. Although Frankie has major social anxiety, he’ll be damned if he comes off as a freeloader—even though absolutely no one here views him that way. 

“No, I understand, but it’s more so that-” he pauses, taking a deep breath before he tries again. “I’m a single dad. I’m the one catering for both Elena and I. We’re not very well off, but we’re also not entirely poor. Just enough to…not really afford this place,” he shakes his head, he’s rambling. “Anyway- sorry. What I’m trying to say is, money isn’t an issue, but I can’t just sit here and not do anything to pay you guys back, even if it isn’t in a monetary sense.” 

This piques the principal’s interest. She nods her head, taking a moment to measure her response. The computer pings as she thinks to herself, signaling that it’s done uploading the forms. She hands Frankie the folder back. He takes it, handing her the completed waiver. “I respect it,” she finally states. “A lot.”

“Y-yeah,” he says, not really sure how to respond to that. 

Ms. Sabatino spins in her chair, pausing towards a drawer underneath her desk. She pulls out a little booklet of some sort. 

“I have one idea,” she offers. 

Frankie’s ears perch up. “Yeah? Anything,” he replies.

“It’s a lot to ask of a parent,” she says. “And I know you’re eager, but hear me out before you agree. And if you’d like to say no, then say no, that’s all I ask.”

“Deal,” Frankie tells her.

“So, last semester, the head of our PTA—the Parent-Teacher Association—quit on us. She quit and also unenrolled her child. Some weird drama, it was very unavoidable if she knew how to communicate properly… anyway, we are actually in need of a new head. I will admit, it’s a lot, but you’ll have me by your side, and I know a few of the parents would help show you the ropes and help you with anything you need.” 

Out of everything, Frankie was not expecting this. It’s evident in the shocked look on his face. 

“Like I said, I don’t need an answer right now-”

“What about the existing PTA parents?” Frankie blurts out. He may have not been PTA-level involved with his daughter, but he knows the seriousness in which parents take their roles when it comes to this. 

“I appoint the head, and choosing one out of all of them would… to be frank… be a bloodbath. This PTA needs a fresh face. A new perspective. I can tell you’re nervous, but I can also tell you’re ambitious. I can tell you’d do anything for your daughter first and foremost. That is what my PTA needs. The rest of those parents- God- I love them, but they’re more worried about looking good and their brownie points with me than their kids’ experiences.”

If Frankie was unsure before, he definitely isn’t now. All he wants is the best for his daughter, and honestly, it makes him disappointed to hear where these parents’ priorities are. He’s absolutely scared shitless about doing this, but he can’t stop the next words that come out of his mouth. “I’ll do it.”

Her eyebrows fly up. “Are you sure?”

He isn't, he thinks. “Yes,” he tells her.

“Oh- okay, then,” Ms. Sabatino smiles bigger than before. She picks up the booklet from earlier and hands it to Frankie. “Read this over- they’re just some little rules we’ve established to keep the environment thriving for our kids. We’ve never had any issues before…besides last semester… but yeah, it’s just a precautionary measure. Thank you so much again, Frankie, and please if it does get too much, do not hesitate to let me know if you’d like to quit.” 

He looks down to the book in his hand. The Rebels Guide - PTA Addition. He’s definitely not cut out for this. “Thank you, Ms. Sabatino. I’ll let you know. And I really appreciate you considering me for this. You have a good rest of your day,” Frankie says as he exits.

What the fuck am I doing? He thinks to himself as he gets himself into his car. 

The rule book stares at Frankie as he drives. Stopped at a red light, he decides to place it in the glove compartment of his car. He’ll grab it later. For now, he needs it out of his view before he spirals.

Saturday, August 17th. Semester Pregame Day. 

You’re in the middle of picking out your outfit when a flood of texts come through your phone. 

[5:47PM Linda] You bitches ready?!

[5:48PM Leah] I’ve been ready, just waiting on Mr. Lightweight to get here… 

[5:48PM Blake] Yeah okay, I’m not giving you a ride anymore, good luck.

[5:49PM Leah] Blake, I’m kidding, get your ass over here. 

[5:49PM Blake] I’ve been outside, smartass. 

[5:53PM Leah] Linda, we’re on the way to you. Ms. Powerhouse, are you sure you don’t want a ride? 

[5:55PM] Please do not call me that.. And yes, I’m sure! I’m still picking out what I’m gonna wear to be honest. I think I’m gonna be a few minutes late. 

[5:56PM Linda] OOOOO GIRL ARE YOU TRYING TO GET LAID?

[5:57PM Leah] 👀

[5:57PM Leah] Blake is driving, but he also would like to say: 👀

[5:58PM] Umm. No. I can’t make myself look nice for my friends? 

[5:58PM Linda] In this world? Not without a motif, no. 

[5:59PM] Wow. 

[5:59PM] Okay, I’ve gotta finish getting ready. See you guys in a bit. 

You toss your phone on your bed, not wanting to make yourself any later than you already are. They are right, you don’t necessarily have to get all dressed up. And it’s not like you’re getting laid anytime soon, let alone tonight. Right? Gosh, it’s been a hot minute since you’ve had any action. Well, okay, if you count your trustee wand, then it’s been about an hour since you’ve got some… but human interaction? Yeah, no. 

You shake away the deprived thoughts your new friends planted in your brain settling for a sage green tank top with a lace lining at your chest. Something casual yet not too casual, slightly flashy but not too flashy. And since it’s in the middle of August, you decide on some black jean shorts. 

It’s 6:15 by the time you head in your car. They wanted to get there around 6:30, so you’re not too far behind after all. It definitely helps that the bar they chose was a seven minute drive. 

When you enter the bar, you spot the trio immediately, huddled by a tall table, all already cheering with shots. Linda spots you with a squeal, sending Leah to grab another round with a fourth shot this time. 

With the mischievous party glint in her eyes, already you can tell what kind of night you’re going to have. One that makes you think maybe you should’ve caught a ride. 

The first shot goes down roughly, an immediate fiery burn sliding down your throat as Linda shoves a lime in your mouth afterwards. “Tequiiilllaaaa shootttsss!!” She sings, already on her fourth to your first. 

The second and third round slides down much smoother, your entire body beginning to heat up from its effects. Tequila has always had a fast effect on you, making you buzzed after one shot and effectively fucking you up after the third. Maybe you were a lightweight. Nonetheless, you indulge in one more peer-pressured round from Linda before you settle on a sugary sweet mixed drink paired with a glass of ice cold water.

Linda disappears to the small dance floor while Blake convinces the people at the pool table to let him join. It’s just you and Leah at the table now, talking here and there, but mainly just watching the other two have their fun from afar. 

“So how long have you guys been doing this?” You shout over the loud music. Once the clock hit 7pm, the music was definitely hitting the threshold for ear damage. 

Leah looks at you with a genuine smile. She’s content watching her friends be social butterflies. She has them in her presence and that’s all that matters. “We’ve been doing this for a few years now, really. Linda was at the school first, then I got hired a semester after her. Then Blake got hired a semester after me. And because we were all relatively new, we all just sort of- gravitated towards each other,” she explains. “I don’t know what I’d do without them, honestly. In and outside of the school, those two are very important in my life,” she breathes in a sniffle, quiet enough to go unheard, but since you’re watching her, you catch it in combination with a tear she sneakily wipes away. 

It’s your turn for your eyes to gloss up. “That’s really beautiful,” you tell her. 

Leah laughs a little. “Yeah. But don’t tell them though. I’ll have to strangle you,” she says in a mock sternness. Weirdly enough, you think there’s truth behind that. 

You pull your hands up in a surrendering motion, “Promise,” you respond with a smirk. “I’m gonna go get another drink. Want?”

“What are you getting?”

“Was honestly just gonna sip on beer and water the rest of the night. I’m tapped out.”

“Me too,” she grins. “I’ll get what you get.”

Making your way up to the bartender, you politely wait until she comes up to you. “What can I get you, doll?”

“Two beers, please, and also two waters, but can you give me the waters after I set the beers down at my table?” you ask a little shyly. 

The bartender gives you a sweet smile. “I got you, honey.”

She hands you the beers, and you make your way to Leah. “I gotta grab the waters real fast, give me one second,” you say, already whipping around and making your way back. 

In that short span of time, the bartender was met with a crowd of needy newly aged adults, swarming her with requests. She looks at you, but you give her a nod, signaling it’s okay. 

Two minutes, she mouths. 

You sit down on the stool in front of you while you wait, turning to check on Leah. Her eyes are back on her friends, a warmth radiating from her smile. Only now, you’re a part of her rotation, and the warmth is reciprocated to you, too. And to think you were hesitant with this bunch. 

As you sit and wait for the bartender, a group of four rowdy men take up the bar space beside you. One of them even bumps into your side, and you’re quick to jump. “Hey, watch it!” You yell over the noise. 

A large hand grabs onto the guy’s shoulder and pulls him away from you. The bar is loud, but it doesn’t stop his deep gruff from blessing your ears. “Benny, watch where you’re fucking going, man!”

“Oh, shit,” the tall, lean man turns to you. “I’m so sorry, I wasn’t paying attention..” he starts. You can feel the man fight for his life to stay on your eyes. He darts to your lips for a millisecond before he brings them back up. “Can I… Let me buy you a drink? To apologize?” He smirks like he just pulled the smoothest flirt attempt ever. Your eyebrows furrow in annoyance, but before you can say anything, the large hand from earlier is pulling the man—Benny, apparently—away from you and to the other end where their other friends are. “Pendejo,” he mutters under his breath towards his friend. 

You stifle a giggle. The man, your savior, finally actually looks at you, and at first he was going to ask if you understood what he said, but the moment your eyes meet, it’s like all the airflow was vacuumed clean out of his lungs, leaving him mentally gasping like a fish out of water. Physically, though, he keeps it cool. Or, at least, tries to. 

“Hi- uh, I’m- I’m Frankie- look, I’m real sorry about my friend back there, he can be real stupid sometimes,” he mutters, his rosy cheeks bright on display, no alcohol to blame it on. 

As he rambles, only then are you able to get a good look at this man—at Frankie, he calls himself. A baseball cap sits on his head, hiding what you can make out as curly hair. The dim light of the bar ruins your view slightly, but you are both near the warm light that emanates from the side of the bar, so your view is not completely obstructed. You can see beautiful brown, puppy dog eyes with a pretty scruff that grows haphazardly across his cheeks and jaw, and above his lip, too. 

“Don’t worry about it, Frankie,” you manage as you look up at him. He’s still standing. You’re sitting on an elevated bar seat, and you still have to crane your neck. Good lord, he’s tall. You introduce yourself with a smile, holding your hand out for him to take. You have to fight your body not to shudder at the warmth of his hand. 

Little do you know, he’s also fighting the same battle as you. 

“Can I get you a drink, Frankie?” you ask. Usually you’d never do this, but there is just something about him. You need to know more. 

“Uh,” you see him flush, an internal battle going on in his brain. Is it the battle of the so-called bro-code where he can’t hit on you because his friend did or because he should be offering you a drink? 

He looks back to his friend. Yup, the bro-code. You quirk your brow at him. 

“Yeah, okay,” he says with a grin as he perches himself to the bar seat beside you. “I’ll have a beer,” he tells you. 

“Coming right up,” you smirk, winking at him before you try and regain the bartender’s attention. 

You text Leah a quick I’m sorry, to which she replies with the eyes emoji again along with a winky face. Of course she saw everything. 

The bartender comes to you and apologizes for earlier with the other group and then apologizes again when she admits she completely forgot to come back to you. She tells you this round of beers for you and Frankie are on the house. You try to tip her, but she doesn’t accept. 

Frankie is really nice. Really handsome…and sexy…but you try to ignore the heat tingling between your legs because of the fact that Frankie is really nice. 

As your two beers listen in on your conversation, untouched and sweaty, you’ve come to learn a good amount about Frankie. Like the fact that he’s a bashful boy, but you can tell he has no problem getting what he wants when the confidence strikes him. You’ve been witness to it a few times tonight—a hand on your knee there, a tucking of your hair behind your ear here, a long glance at your lips as you lick the residual drip of your drink—and it does nothing to calm your core’s ache. 

The one that really sent you over the edge though was when he made you laugh particularly hard, your reaction was to lean into him. He took the opportunity to grab onto your seat and pull you against him, his thick highs entrapping both of yours.

“Oh-!” you gasp involuntarily, your eyes immediately searching for his. His gaze is dark, and so is yours. 

Although quite nervous, Frankie’s confidence has spiked being in your presence. His thumb and forefinger come up to your chin, steadying and making your heartbeat erratic all in one. He leans closer in, the tips of each of your noses a hair’s width away. “You’re intoxicating,” he whispers.

“I could say the same thing about you,” you whisper back, feeling lightheaded and not from the alcohol coursing through your veins. “Been dying for you to touch me since you pulled your friend away,” you admit.

You see his Adam's apple bob in his throat. He looks past you, eyeing the single stall bathroom. You scanned the place earlier, you know where he’s looking. Tapping his thigh for him to look at you again, you give him a look of understanding before you break away from his grasp. 

He faces the bar again, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. He catches Santi and the Millers staring at him from the pool table they took over. Santi shoots Frankie a wink while Benny looks like a puppy who’s been kicked to the curb. Frankie really couldn’t care less right now. 

Satisfied with the little window of time he gave, he stands from his seat, taking one more swig of beer before he makes his way to you. He knocks on the door softly, and you open it right away, pulling him in and immediately shutting it again. 

Like a calculated dance, his hand goes back to lock the door while your hand grasps onto the fabric of his shirt at his chest, pulling his body flush against yours. Your hands take their time in coasting the plain of his broad chest and shoulders. Your thighs clench at the sensation.

His lips meet yours for the first time tonight, and he can feel every nerve in his body spark with electricity. Your lingering taste of all the drinks you had this evening mixed with a flavor he thinks is distinctly you consumes each of his senses. 

Oh, you have him wrapped around your pretty little finger and you don’t even know it yet. 

He walks forward, backing you into the bathroom sink. 

You hop up on your own, your legs spreading without any forethought for his broad form. His hands coast the expanse of your body, settling at your ass on the counter as he pulls you tighter into his body, your center coming into contact with this hardness. He practically growls into your mouth at the heat he feels radiating from you. 

“Fuck, querida,” he moans, his teeth chasing your bottom lip. 

“Frankie,” you beg. For what, you’re not entirely sure. 

“Can I taste you?” He breathes heavily against your lips, fingers twitching to take action. 

Fuck. “Ye- yeah- yeah, okay,” you stutter, eyes wide. Getting eaten out probably has to be one of your favorite things in the whole world, yet, with your dating history, it’s a rare occurrence. Your last boyfriend was disgusted by it, and your last girlfriend ended up cheating on you. So. Your experience of receiving oral was rare, and God did you miss it. 

Frankie mistakes your surprise as fear. “Are- are you sure? I don’t have to, not if you’re not comfortable,” he says sincerely. He starts to pull away, not wanting to make you uncomfortable, but you’re quick to grab onto him. 

“No, no, I’m sorry, that’s not what I-” you laugh a little breathlessly before looking into his soft eyes again. “Yes, Frankie, please. Please, I want your mouth on me,” you say, tone a little needy on the backend. “You just took me by surprise, is all,” you whisper. 

“Surprise?” He can’t stop his curiosity. 

“I- I don’t know, guys don’t usually like-”

You don’t get to finish your statement before Frankie’s face turns angry. He places a heady kiss to your lips before he brings his mouth down your jaw, your neck. “So what you’re saying is,” he starts, his breath tickling your neck. If you weren’t propped up on the counter, you’d be on the floor with how weak your legs feel. Making his way down, he places a soft kiss in between your breasts. “This pretty little thing hasn’t been treated properly in a long, long time?” He asks as he kneels down, his eyes looking up and devouring you in your entirety. 

“How do you even know she’s pretty?” You quip back, matching his energy. 

“Oh, I know she’s fucking gorgeous based on the rest of you,” he purrs, fingers working your button and zipper. He hooks his fingers at the waist, and you lift your hips to help him. 

“You flatter me,” you shakily say as you try to tease, your resolve starting to break. 

Frankie smirks up at you before his entire demeanor changes upon seeding your exposed lower half. His face falls into astonishment, as if he just won the damn lottery, as if his last fucking meal was just placed in front of him. “What’d I say?” He mutters to himself. “Fucking gorgeous,” he answers his own question before he gives you no time to respond as he dives right in, the flat of his tongue licking a slow wide stripe up your glistening went cunt. 

“Oh, fuck,” a loud moan leaves you, your head falling back as you relish in the immediate pleasure that shoots up your spine. 

Frankie reluctantly breaks away to look at you, to check up on you, but your body is still shocked from the pleasure, and he grins, cheeks full of mischief. He hums to himself before he goes back in. “Fucking delicious, too.” 

“Jesus, shit-” you murmur, trying to brace yourself for what you know is going to utterly ruin you.

He licks through your folds once more, slow and steady, calculated, measuring every small twitch and whimper that your body produces. His tongue moves up to your clit, circling around the area reveling in the way your breathing speeds up and your hips buck. Even with your movements chasing for more, he remains steadfast in his ministrations. 

He continues his tease until he hears you huff. You’re getting impatient. “Baby, please,” you whine. “Please don’t tease,” you pout at him then, and whether it’s real or a ploy to get him to give in, how can Frankie say no to that face? 

Without lifting from your cunt, Frankie switches from slow passes around your bud to attaching directly on it, suckling and flicking the sharp tip of his tongue across you. Your legs writhe under his expert touch, your hand flying to the baseball cap to his head and flinging it off to rake your fingers through his wild curls. He groans into you the second he feels your grip, his pace faltering for just a moment before he finds his way again. 

Frankie detaches from you, dragging his tongue downward to your folds to lap up your slick. The squelch your pussy makes when his tongue makes contact is sinful. He lets his mouth wrap as much as he can around you, his tongue prodding at your entrance, testing your limits.

“Oh, Frankie, yes-” you lament, your hand pulling his face tight against your core as your hips force his pink muscle inside. His cock is definitely at full mast now, especially with how reactive you are for him. Your eyes are entirely white as you repeat his name like a prayer, your hips frantically meeting the thrusts of his tongue. 

You grip tighter into his locks, angling his head slightly down, and fuckfuckfuck you squeal loudly, this angle causes his nose to nudge at your sensitive nerves perfectly with each push of his tongue inside of you. 

“I’m c-close, Frankie- fuck- I’m gonna cum, baby, I’m gonna fucking cum- oh my God-” you practically scream, your body losing all strength as you fall back into the counter behind you, Frankie licking everything up while he tries to fuck you through your orgasm. 

The vibrations of his moaning sends you into overdrive, and you’re so spaced out you don’t even realize Frankie’s been desperately humping nothing, bringing himself to an orgasm the same time as you. He lifts off from you completely, his breathing labored as his chin threatens to drip your arousal to the ground. Frankie’s fingers reach for his face, collecting up the residue only for him to bring it back up to his mouth. The sound of him sucking his fingers up like he just ate the sauciest of wings brings you back to reality, pulling your body up weakly as your eyes go wide when you realize what Frankie’s doing. 

Your cheeks heat up, but your ability to tease is back. “That good, huh?” 

“Finger lickin’, baby,” he says lazily. 

He rises from his knees only for you to then notice the wet spot at his crotch. “Frankie-” you start. 

“Yes, yes I did,” he finishes, knowing the question you were going to ask. 

He bends down to pick up his hat, swiftly placing it back on his head while he grabs your shorts, putting them gently back in place. 

“You okay?” He checks in. 

You melt under his sweet attention. “Never better,” you beam. 

You two stand there in each other’s presence before you finally pipe up. “So how do you wanna…” you trail off. 

“You wanna head out first? I got a bit of a… mess to clean up anyway,” he says, gesturing to himself. 

“Oh! Right, yeah. Okay,” you say awkwardly, as if his tongue wasn’t just inside of you. “I’ll see you out there,” you add as you turn around, opening the door just enough to slip out. 

You stand there for a moment, giving yourself a second to register what the fuck just happened. You did not let a man you just met go down on you? At a bar, no less?! 

You make your way to the bartender, needing an ice cold glass of water to cool you off. Your head is spinning, and it’s really not because of the alcohol anymore. But you blame the substance anyway. 

Hearing the bathroom door creak, you turn around to see a blushing Frankie, his hat off his head and his hand shielding the wet patch between his legs. He sees you at the bar and he smiles, walking in your direction. However, before he can reach you, Linda magically appears in your face, drunk as shit and louder than you’ve ever experienced. 

“There you are, silly!! Where’d you run off to?? Been looking for you, I swear it’s been like an hour!!!” 

You look at Frankie over her shoulder, and he pauses in his tracks. You give him an apologetic smile. Before he can say it’s okay, the friends he was with finds him and drags him into a game of pool. 

“Hey, sorry!” You scream over the music. “Just needed some time, it got a bit too loud in here,” you lie. You’re too overstimulated—in many ways as your clit throbs against the fabric of your wet panties—to handle more ridicule from these three. “I think I’m gonna head home now, though, I’m kind of tired,” you tell her. “Where’s Blake and Leah?” 

She drags you back to your guys’ table, urging one more round of shots. You go with her to the bar to order the round, mouthing to the bartender to make yours water. She winks at you, and hands you your glass directly while Leah impressively holds the other three with a drunken ease. 

When Frankie finally spots you, happy and laughing with your friends, he smiles to himself and decides not to interrupt your time. He can find you later. 

Except, he doesn’t.

Monday, August 19th. 

Sunday was a blur. It was spent downing more water to flush out your body while surfing every account on every social media platform you have for a Frankie in your area. 

No luck. Of course. 

Frankie’s Sunday was spent the exact same way, too, although he is much less tech savvy and his attempt only lasted an hour before he gave up and spent the rest of his day moping. 

“¿Qué pasa, papi?” What’s wrong, daddy? Elena had asked him as she scarfed down her eggs. 

“Estoy bien, mi amorcito,” I’m okay, my love, Frankie responded with a kiss on her head. 

Elena didn’t bug further, but he knew she would soon. 

Monday morning, Elena was way too eager for her new school, forcing her father up and making breakfast an entire hour before they actually needed to get up. Somehow, Elena even convinced Frankie to leave the house half an hour before they needed to leave, forcing them to wait in the empty parking lot until any sign of life emerged. 

Elena buries her nose in a book, while Frankie sat there, watching the minutes tick by. As he stared at the building, red accents and Home of the Rebels painted in big white letters, he’s suddenly reminded of what Ms. Sabatino asked him. 

He reaches over and grabs the handbook out of the glove compartment. He flips open to the first page to the table of contents, and the first section, written in italicized, bold letters catches his eye: 

Ground Rules

He flips to the page. 

He scans through each bullet point, each one feeling more and more like common sense, but with the way the principal described these parents, he realizes how necessary these so-called rules are. 

His eyes scan the last bullet point, and he can’t help but bite back a laugh. 

No parent-teacher relations. Parent will be kicked off the PTA. Teacher will be reprimanded. NO exceptions. 

He flips through several more pages when Elena lets out a piercing shriek. “AHH! DADDY, DADDY, LET’S GO,” she’s jumping up and down as much as she can while being belted in her car seat. Frankie looks up to see a bustling crowd of children and their guardian. He sees Ms. Sabatino in the mix. 

“Alright, alright, mi vida (my life), I’m coming,” Frankie soothes, giving a softer tone of voice that hopefully she mirrors. He gets out of the car and opens the passenger door behind him, unbuckling Elena and setting her down to the ground, grabbing her backpack and shuffling it onto her back. 

Ms. Sabatino catches sight of Frankie and Elena, and excitedly makes her way over. She bends down to Elena’s level. “Good morning!! You must be Elena Morales, yes?” 

“YES-” she stops herself and clears her throat. “Yes! Yes, that’s me!” She says, a decibel calmer. 

Ms. Sabatino warms at her eagerness. “It’s very lovely to meet you, Elena, I’m Ms. Sabatino, the principal here!” She holds out her hand for Elena to shake. She takes it eagerly. 

“It’s very nice to meet you!” Elena emphasizes, putting on her best charm. Frankie chuckles. 

Ms. Sabatino rises. “Mr. Morales, it’s great to see you again!” He nods his head with a smile and a soft likewise. “May I walk you both to her class? I’d like to introduce you to her new teacher,” she directs the question towards both of them. 

Elena looks elated. She turns around to look her father in the eye, Frankie’s very own signature puppy dog eyes reflected back to him. He doesn’t even need to hear the question to know what her answer would be if she pulls this card. “Oh, papi, please will you come?” 

“Of course, baby,” he says, caressing the apple of her cheeks before she cheers in victory. 

“Great!” Ms. Sabatino says with a clap to her hands. “Right this way.”

On the way to Elena’s new class, Ms. Sabatino really praises her new teacher. Apparently, she’s the best of the best. One of their newest hires, but she’s practically a veteran when it comes to teaching prodigal children. She’s a powerhouse, Ms. Sabatino calls her. He gets the feeling that the teacher doesn’t really like that label much. 

When Ms. Sabatino opens the door to his classroom, the teacher is immediately there to introduce herself and welcome in little Elena. 

Frankie really doesn’t know what happens next besides the fact that his heart thoroughly stops and Elena’s voice is a muffled daddy, what’s wrong? throughout his panicked mind. 

What’s wrong? He thinks. 

What’s wrong is that Elena’s new teacher is you. 

And he is absolutely, wholeheartedly, positively screwed.

Fuck. 

I hope you liked the first chapter of my new series, New Beginnings!🥹🥹 I poured everything I have into this story, and I’ve been so eager to share it with the rest of you. I hope you are able to love it as much as I do.

Follow & turn on notifs for @endlessthxxghtsnotifs to know exactly when a new chapter comes out!🫶

Comments/reblogs or any kind of feedback to let me know what you think is my favorite part about putting out a story!! Please let me know your thoughts!!! I love you all so much, and thank you for the endless support you all show me. I wouldn’t be here without you.

Floral dividers on top & bottom courtesy of @saradika-graphics <3 section dividers in middle of fic made by me!

[terezis]

ok here's the hot goss from the nycc taz gn panel

i don't actually know whether or not it was recorded/ if they're going to put it online so here is my summary. also if i miss anything and u were there pls feel free to chime in. spoilers obviously!!!

got eight new preview pages (four two-page spreads), not the pages on the macmillan website!!!

ok i will tell u about those pages but the main thing discussed at the panel was how they went about adapting this arc into gn form. the actual time spent in wonderland has been trimmed a lot bc they had to think about what was actually important to the narrative as they are building to story and song.

basically in planning out the suffering game they also really had to decide what the rest of the series would look like, bc whatever they include now is seeding the stuff that's going to happen later.

cam is not in this book. it was implied there's less wheel spins. rowan/ash/sterling get much less screen time

almost half of this book is lunar interlude stuff (pre and post suffering game, INCLUDING REUNION TOUR!!! no word on where it ends but they made it clear that a LOT of thought went into what to include and where to end it, and what that would mean for the next book)

ok so about those preview pages

first one was post-taakitz date with kravitz sensing a lich and the umbra staff shooting at him <3 <3 <3

i thought they were going to show us the preview pages that were on macmillan so when i saw kravitz i was so shook

second spread was magnus visiting the voidfish, which now happens right before they leave for wonderland; the whole beginning of tsg from magnus trying to talk to pringles to him kidnapping those guards to the chimera fight was cut LOL bc it never really got… addressed again in the podcast

angus comes to get him for the mission but magnus has been going Through It (outright stated, they were like. he found out he's a red robe. he would probably not be handling it well. he has eyebags now. LOL) and snaps at angus when angus presses him on what's wrong.

more angus content, he will be investigating what's going on at the bureau more (his scene w magnus ties into this)

same for lucretia! more content/ stuff for her to do

third spread was merle w his kids getting saved by the red robe, is at a carnival instead of a random street this time LOL

last one was the boys arriving just outside of wonderland

wonderland looks fuckign cool

what else… oh confirmed like eighty panels of bare ass naked magnus after he gets his body back. so i think we really are getting the full reunion tour this book???

ALSO NAKED BARRY COVERED IN SLIME. WHEN HE GETS OUT OF THE POD. CONFIRMED. CANON. LOL

omg ALSO!!! ben (editor) said he campaigned REALLY HARD to have the umbra staff break during the suffering game, freeing lup early, bc he really wanted more time with her, but griffin campaigned really hard NOT to do this, and in doing so his arguments solved a lot of other problems they had been having at the time LOL

travis is the fans' champion when the others get too edit-happy. he's the one who has a good idea of what moments are important to the readers so he's like hey… too far. don't cut that. and then they don't

justin leaves great notes and when they couldn't figure stuff out ben would often say "no it's fine justin will solve this." and he ALWAYS DID

this was news to justin

??? i think that's all the main points honestly i'm v picky about adaptations but overall i feel like these are good changes that make sense when translating the podcast to gn

that said i do hope taako still gets a washing machine dropped on him <3 do this for me carey <3

[dykefaggotry]

like yes "from the river to the sea" is not antisemitic and neither is protesting "jewish businesses" if that business happens to be a weapons manufacturer

but yall seem to think that those two things are the only things people are talking about when we say leftists are being antisemitic rn

like sure fine that's great! but are you

spreading antisemitic conspiracy theories (ie "israelis are stealing unborn babies out of palestinian women and burning them/eating them/using them in xyz ways" w 0 backup yes I've seen that)? connecting absolutely everything to zionists and saying they run the world/media/banks? making random connections to this situation w no proof? (just saw someone say puerto rico getting rid of its stray cat population "has ties to 🍉" like yall need to get serious)

are you saying "idk I just can't trust anyone wearing a star of david now like at this point the star of david is basically a swastika :/ you shouldn't use it"?

are you responding to the list of celebrities who support israel with "well this isn't surprising, hollywood is jewish"?

are you saying israel and every israeli should be destroyed? not "from the river to the sea" or that israel shouldn't exist as a state but I've seen multiple popular leftists saying "idc if the entire place gets bombed and everyone dies" like you realize that includes innocent civilians and people protesting their government and non-jews as well right? like you are advocating for genocide in response to genocide and at this point yall just want more violence, not justice.

are you saying antisemitism isn't a real problem anymore? or like everyone's favorite celebrity rn susan sarandan said "now jews know what muslims feel like" as if antisemitism and islamphobia don't go hand in hand? are you saying antisemitism is a "sad interpersonal problem but not systemic"? are you saying that during the holocaust the jews should have found an alternative to israel (true) by "civil resistance" implying that no jews resisted during the holocaust and that the holocaust was somehow the fault of the jews for not doing enough for themselves? are you saying that anyone bringing up your antisemitism rn needs to shut up bc "it's not about you" because you can't comprehend that people can care about multiple things at once?

are you asking every jew you meet where they stand on palestine and accusing every single jew you disagree with about literally anything of being a zionist? are you calling jews zionists who are just scared of rising antisemitism rn? are you using "zionist" as a placeholder for "jew" bc you can immediately say you're talking about zionists and not jews even if the post has nothing to do w zionism and only judaism?

are you agreeing with and marching with nazis and white supremacists and not realizing?

are you making jews afraid to attend pro-palestine protests because they're getting harassed? and yes this happens at pro-israel protests too but this is a post aimed at pro-palestine leftists bc I am one and that is my audience

are you acting, in general, like the actions of a shitty government and shitty people equate to the beliefs of every single jew on earth? are you making posts comparing judaism to christianity bc of this? saying jews have a history of violence and conquest on par w christianity when it's quite literally just israel and in the rest of history for the last SEVERAL THOUSAND YEARS jews have been anything BUT a world power? do you not hear the parallels to antisemitic conspiracy when you insist on this? outside of israel, what instances can you think of where judaism has been a historically violent and oppressive religion? spoiler: it's not, israel is the baby of colonial interests and thus follows their pattern. it's not because of judaism

are you tolerating and okay with people shouting blatantly antisemitic things at jewish people bc they're shitty people? like think of it this way would you be fine w a bunch of straight people shouting "faggot" at a white gay republican? or a racial slur at a republican of color? would either of those things be fine? no? then aiming actual blatant antisemitism at a zionist is not okay either. you can shout all manner of things at them that don't involve antisemitic phrases, remarks, and threats.

[astaroth1357]

We Gotta Talk About Barbatos (And Kinda Solomon But This Ain't About Him)

SPOILERS for up to Chapter 16 of NB

These recent chapters have been giving us breadcrumbs about the pasts of both Barbatos and Solomon, the two of which seem to be deeply entwined. I have yet to make a post about Solomon's past (which gets twistier and twistier by the minute btw), but right now I just want to touch on my questions about Barbatos and... well. The hell is he up to?? I have one question that has been eating away at me the longer NB goes on and I think its answer could solve everything:

Is there only one Barbatos?

What I mean by this question is something along the lines of my Timeless!Barbatos idea from a while ago. Is there only Barbatos, i.e. is Barbatos a being that exists outside of the constraints of time? Is he like the controller/arbiter of time, but not subject to things like continuity himself? When he exists in a certain timeline, is that mirrored through every other timeline (i.e. multiple Barbatos that are spread throughout multiple branches) or is there ever only ONE. Just him. And he selects which timeline to inhabit?

I have this question because there are things about the Barbatos we interact with and hints dropped by others that Barbatos is, potentially, far, far older and far more powerful than I think we can actually grasp.

Thirteen's last point is the one that really makes me wonder, because if Barbatos really has such a broad ability to transcend time and space, then it would be a bit of a nightmare if there were a billion of him running around. Any random change makes a new timeline that makes a new Barbatos with those same godlike abilities until you're completely swamped in the man. Plus, Barbatos never gives us any indication that he speaks to or witnesses his past or future selves, even when he's manipulating things from sidelines...

If there is only one Barbatos, then 1. Little Dia managed to convince, like, the singularly most powerful being in the universe to play House with him, which is such a power move. And 2. That also means any interactions we have with Barbatos in this (or any) timeline cannot be replicated elsewhere. No matter how funky our time adventures get, that Barbatos remains a constant. Thus, NB Barbatos IS OM Barbatos. Probably just hijacked by Solomon to go to past. A past he was no longer present in, because he exists in a continuous state of "present" (his presence is instantly erased from past and he doesn't appear in the future).

And for a being THAT powerful, you really have to wonder...

How much has he changed...?

In Chapter 16, we learn why Beel went berserk and destroyed the Castle. He was triggered by Lucifer explaining a banshee's scream. In OM canon, two kinds of people can hear these screams: those who will die or have a loved one who will die soon and those who have heard it before.

Beel heard a banshee scream in the human world before the War and internalized it as the warning that Lilith was going to die. Naturally, he thinks that if he had told Lucifer then he may have changed his mind but Satan drops this bombshell on us.

A baneshee's warning is supposed to predetermine time. According to Satan, Lilith was alway going to die. But we have a problem here...

Lilith just. Is not dead. Like. Canonically in both the OG title and in NB, Lilith survives the War. So... what gives??

Beel can hear a banshee scream and nobody else can. There's no question that someone was supposed to die. Which only leaves three options:

1. Lilith is dead. Even as a human, she perished.

2. Lilith was never made human... Someone lied to Lucifer and she's actually dead.

3. Barbatos fucked with time to save Lilith.

Option 1 would be pretty lackluster, all things considered. Though it would be a little darkly humorous if Lilith fought and survived in a Celestial War, then got hit by a car one year later or something.

Option 2 would be... so fucked up. But could also shed some light onto Diavolo's guilt about taking in the brothers. Like, imagine if he knew that nothing could be done for Lilith and still tricked Lucifer into eternal service anyway knowing that he could never check his bluff. That would be downright diabolical... and out of character, so I don't think that's the case. (Though, I could see Barbatos lying about it if it gave Diavolo Lucifer's loyalty in the end.)

But Option 3... I think that's actually spine-chilling. Imagine if Diavolo ordered Barbatos to find some way to twist time to save Lilith. And not just spare her life, but to somehow turn her human. That means that we're already playing the events of an altered timeline.

Now combine this idea with our Singular Barbatos theory. If there is one Barbatos, then this is the only timeline where he currently resides. If Barbatos wasn't in THIS timeline, Lilith would be dead. In every other timeline, Lilith is dead. And if OM keeps the detail about MC's lineage, then MC NEVER GETS TO EXIST. They can only be alive in THIS BRANCH OF TIME. There are no other MCs. Just the one (and the corpse that got phased out of being, but we don't talk about them). And this could explain why MC's very existence would be so important to a time-travel being like Nightbringer. There's only one MC to use.

Now, since MC is so powerful (possibly as being that is an aberration in time) it makes me wonder a whole lot more about where someone as powerful Solomon actually came from... How much meddling as Barbatos really done here? If... it was even Barbatos at all. 👀 (Speculation for another day)

[professionalchaoticdumbass]

in the past week or so ive seen a lot of people posting about how there's this oversexualization of trans girls on the site, and I gotta agree, there are way too many people (including other trans women!) who act like we're all dtf 24/7 or always super kinky and horny. I've been tired of that stereotype for ages and i am saying this as a rather sexual trans girl myself...

...but I think people are overcorrecting a bit now, and are starting to veer into "trans women shouldnt be talked about sexually / need to be shielded from it" territory. and, to me, that's really dangerous, because outside of some queer spaces - and even within them- the sexuality of trans girls is heavily scrutinized, as is attraction to us. as much as I dislike certain aspects of the memes and jokes that kickstarted the stereotypes, I'm kinda grateful for them as well. girldick jokes helped with my bottom dysphoria, voice kink shit helped me like my voice, and the whole "tgirl tummy tuesday" thing gave me a lot of confidence in my body where I hated it before. I think this open appreciation of trans sexiness has done a lot for both me and others on tumblr.

again, obviously its got its problems - people end up assuming every trans girl is horny, or only spread positivity if its related to sex with us, and of course the people who do have dysphoria from the things that are being sexualized are left out (like those the "girls without dicks are like angels without wings" memes, ugh, feels icky every time). and on the note of comparing tgirls to angels, we also started getting treated like we're ethereal fertility goddesses and that t4t sex was some inherently sacred ritual. spoiler alert, trans girls are normal-ass people and t4t sex can be holy for the participants but its generally a pretty normal thing to do as well

coming back to the "don't sexualize trans girls" posts now, I think they were initially going in the right direction, but at this point I'm starting to raise an eyebrow at more than a few of them. I'm not gonna whip out the "youre a sex hating puritan if you post about it" accusation because that is obviously wrong but again, I think people are definitely overcorrecting and starting to turn this into a (false) dichotomy when it's not. its a complex topic and each individual trans woman will feel differently about it.

(I feel like the internet just erases any nuance in favor of a two-sided, highly polarized flamewar with unrealistic views on both sides. actually i wouldn't even say this is a super-nuanced discussion because its really not that hard to say "fetishization is bad, but so is suppression of sexuality". will this post just end up being a void scream and people will continue drawing lines between one side and the other? probably. but I am a stubborn bitch and I have hope that we can be reasonable.)

anyways I'll close this off by saying that I wrote this between around 1:30 and 2 AM on terrible sleep the night before, that I hope what I said is coherent enough, and that I will keep being a trans girl who is openly sexual, gets horny over other trans women, and is proud to be transsexy as fuck. I will keep being critical of jokes and trends and memes that stereotype us, even from our own community. I will keep being angry at how poorly us trans folks are treated with regards to our sex lives, bodies, and relationships between the two. I will keep loving and lusting over trans women without fetishizing them. And I will keep doing all of these til the day I die.

[frickingnerd]

throw away your mask

pairing: ren amamiya / joker x gn!reader

summary: after finding out about the deal your boyfriend made with the god of control, you confront him! but ren has since changed...

tags: evil joker, kinda yandere joker too, established relationship, angst, spoilers for persona 5's bad ending, implied corruption

a/n: i replayed persona 5 and went for a bad ending this time! after seeing evil joker, i had to write this immediately! <3

“w-who are you…?”

the man in front of you wore your boyfriend's face, but there wasn't a single trace of the boy you once loved. ren amamiya was a good guy, who wanted to help people! never would he have made a deal with a god, that only brought suffering upon people!

“you know me.”

ren's eyes were covered by his glasses, making his expression impossible to read. only the hint of a smile on the corner of his lips was there to show any sort of emotion.

“you're not the boy i fell in love with! the ren amamiya that i know would've never sided with a god, much less the god of control! how could you betray everything the phantom thieves stood against!?”

ren took a step towards you, his lips parting, as he was ready to talk back at you. but you quickly stepped back and cried out:

“don't come any closer!”

ren adjusted his glasses, finally allowing you to get a glimpse of his eyes. they were staring at you uncomfortably from behind those glasses, almost as if they were piercing right through you. could this really be the same boy you once fell in love with? could those same kind eyes that made you feel all warm and fuzzy now scare you like this?

“i didn't betray the phantom thieves. i saved us! we can continue our work and finally get the recognition we deserve! the public loves us, just like they should! isn't that what we all wanted? we are heroes!”

he sounded insane! with each word that left his lips, you felt more disgusted with him. is this truly how he viewed the world? how he viewed the phantom thieves?

“heroes? don't make me laugh!” you yelled at ren. “you are not a hero! you are the villain of this story! you enslaved the whole world for your selfish wants! you are no better than those we took down! you are… just like them…”

for a split second, ren's face distorted. your words seemed to wound him, but the anger quickly faded from his face again. slowly, he stepped forward. even as you took steps backwards, it was impossible for you to escape him. soon, he had you cornered, his hand resting on your cheek.

“i am not like the palace rulers we disposed of. they were weak fools, but me? i am on the same level as a god now! the people worship and adore me! all of us, all phantom thieves, can be as gods! we can forever continue this way of life! we never have to change! we can simply live as heroes, worshiped like gods, for eternity!”

a twisted smile had spread over ren's face.

“why should we waste our time worrying about humans? humanity is enslaved by the god of control? well, this isn't our problem! you and i, we stand above them! so, join me! you and i, we can become as gods! you only have to join me and give up your foolish rebellion against me…”

ren took a step back, yet reached out his hand towards you. he didn't force you to take it, but whether you'd accept his hand or reject him would change your life forever. there were only two options; either you were with him or against him!

“what do you say, darling? will you choose humanity over me? or will you come to your senses and realize you belong by my side?”

[justporo]

Tavern Talk

I really wanted to write a little something about the companions enjoying a moment of banter at breakfast - so have them complaining about Astarion and Tav not being able to keep their… nightly activities subtle… Spoiler warning!

Pairing: Astarion / GN!Tav

Warning: Talk of sex

(Gif from here!)

The whole party was sitting together eating breakfast in the tavern they stayed in - except, Tav and Astarion sat a few tables away and none of them were really eating. While the vampire and the wood elf were sitting at their small cozy table in the corner being all cute, the rest of the party sat at the big table in the middle and openly stared at the couple - a spoonfull or two even forgotten halfway to its destination.

„I swear to all Gods that will listen that if I have to endure them going at it one more night, I‘m going to kill myself right here, Absolute be damned“, Gale moaned pressing the balls of his hands into his eyesockets. He did indeed look even more tired than usually. Seemingly, the fact that he had one of the two rooms next to the happy couple was to blame.

„I agree, maybe Tav should‘ve taught this wretched vampire to not moan so loudly - even the bard‘s yapping would have been less annoying“, Lae‘zel agreed - she had the other room next to them. She stabbed the fruit on her platter as if she tried to murder it and chewed it angrily. Karlach snorted a little at the githyanki‘s murderous mood while she took a bite of bread.

„Well, if it‘s in his nature to be this vocal than it‘s better to let it out than forcing it down“, Halsin chimed in, a somewhat dreamy look in his eyes while eating another big spoonful of his porridge. He was the only one that wasn‘t really staring at the two other elves.

The druid‘s comment made all heads turn to him for a hot second. „Eww“, Shadowheart made quietly and scrunched up her nose while she kept twirling her sole cup of tea in front of her around.

„Tchk, druid, if you don‘t mind sleeping next to what sounds like a dying owlbear then I‘ll happily swap rooms with you and maybe you can ask to join next time they‘re at it“, Lae‘zel spit towards the towering elven druid.

„That‘s absolutely not what a dying owlbear would sound like“, Halsin answered very matter-of-fact, staring down at the table now with furrowed brows. His pointy ears had turned a telltale shade of light pink.

„You‘re all just jealous“, Karlach entered the conversation. She sat relaxedly on the bench leaning back and crossed her arms over her chest: „Jealous, because they are getting some and we all don‘t.“ „Tss, getting some is not the problem. But you don‘t have to rub it into everyone‘s faces how much amazing sex you‘re having“, Shadowheart responded, nose still scrunched up in disgust.

„So, what I‘m hearing is that you might have a big orgy with an endless amount of lovers in your room every night and none of us would ever know and you would absolutely never sass us about it in your sarcastic little tone you have sometimes“, the wizard replied dryly to Shadowheart‘s remark while raising an eyebrow at the half-elf and gesturing towards her with one hand. „Well, I wouldn‘t tell you, for starters, Gale. Just because you can never keep your mouth shut doesn‘t mean the rest of us can‘t - stop projecting yourself on everybody else.“ That earned Shadowheart snorts and chuckles all around the table - and the wizard did not have a witty reply anymore.

Silence spread through the group. Lae‘zel kept murdering her breakfast, Halsin munched on his food as did Wyll. Karlach kept forgetting to put her bread in her mouth to actually eat it while still throwing glances over to where Tav and Astarion were now holding hands and leaning their heads together like the lovebirds they were. Shadowheart and Gale kept holding on to their hot beverages. Shadowheart usually skipped out on eating for breakfast - and Gale seemed to still fight with being deprived of his beauty sleep.

„But what‘s changed? We all know they fucked before“, Karlach finally broke the silence. The comment earning mumbled approval and more groans around the table („Don‘t remind me, tiefling“, Lae‘zel spat). „They smooch all the damn time in front of everyone and at the most inappropriate times. I mean, it‘s not like they‘re trying to hide anything“, Karlach continued and shrugged. „Yes, by the Gods, I‘d hope they would hide it“, Gale whispered under his breath and stared at the ceiling in desperation.

„I‘d assume what‘s changed is that they‘re both now truly free to choose the one they love and act upon it - without ulterior motives or fear behind it.“ This was the first time Wyll offered any insight on the topic. He had rather politely held his tongue on the matter, not wanting to judge and indulge the gossiping.

„Hmm“, the druid agreed with him and nodded solemnly, „I would think breaking out of your slavery of two hundred years and experiencing real love and genuine connection after that can quite positively turn your world around for the better.“ „Don‘t romanticise that they can‘t be more subtle!“, Shadowheart immediatly exclaimed and crossed her arms over her chest.

„Well, for what it‘s worth I think they deserve to enjoy their love in peace for a bit but if you‘re all so bothered about it, I can go and talk to them about it later“, Wyll offered, completely being the diplomat about the whole thing.

„Chk, warlock, don‘t bother - I feel like these people don‘t want a solution, they‘d rather sit here every morning and gossip and bitch about it“, said Lae‘zel who had finished her food and was now just sitting between the others while brooding.

„I‘m all about handling this like adults“, Gale said and lifted his cup of tea halfway ,“but if they insist behaving like rabbits, we might as well-“

The group never found out what the wizard would have proposed, because he made a sudden jolt and splashed his tea all over himself. Gale squinted through the streams of liquid running down his face and turned around.

Astarion had snuck up on them and kneed Gale in the back, making him spill his drink. Murder twinkled in the vampire‘s red eyes. Karlach and Halsin had broke out into full, body-shaking laughter, even Wyll and Lae‘zel let out a chuckle while Shadowheart just shook her head in disappointment.

„If you keep talking about Tav and me in terms of critters, I will gut you like one, wizard. And that goes for all of you“, Astarion hissed after he had leaned down to Gale who was trying to soak up the spilled beverage with some napkins.

„Please do, if you two keep insisting on being godsdamned lovebirds. You‘d be doing me a favour“, Gale replied. Astarion hissed again - but now with a dirty smirk on his face: „Well, if that‘s the case you‘re also happy to come over and watch next time, bastard.“ „You should clear that with Tav first, Astarion“, Shadowheart added dryly. The round chuckled again and now seemingly relaxed. Astarion still looked ready to spill innards but the tension in his shoulders had loosened a little.

„Yo, Tav“, Karlach shouted over to the elf after she had calmed down a bit from all the laughter „keep your guarddog in check, would ya?“ Then she laughed again. Tav just flipped her off across the room and started laughing as well.

Halsin meanwhile had finished his meal and made to get up. He walked over to Astarion and patted the vampire on the back who winced at first but relaxed quickly again. „Maybe keep it down a little next time, so we can all keep being friends, eh?“, the druid offered in a friendly manner and smiled at the vampire.

Astarion made to protest: „I‘m not your…“ But then he stopped while his gaze wandered over this unlikely party of adventurers and back to Tav as well and realised the druid was right: they were, all of them, his friends.

[sanjisluvbot]

Isekai Yandere Strawhats X Black Fem Reader Ch 18

Masterlist

Minor spoilers!!!!

Luffy hadn't been this upset in so long. He couldn't even remember a time when he was so upset he didn't want to eat. Robin smirked at the commotion she caused, the energy in the room was intoxicating and Nami leaving was the icing on the cake.

Using her fruit to add an ear to Sanji as he rushed to follow behind her the smirk on her face turned into an animalistic grin. The fruit of her quiet labor had finally shown itself.

Matter all the months of reading the media she was born from, watching you with the crew and with the heart pirates, then creating multiple plans that slightly failed. She was overjoyed at the fact that this one was working out flawlessly.

Luffy complained and started little arguments with Ussop and Zoro. They all but rolled their eyes at their captain knowing it wasn’t about their card game but at the fact that you weren’t with them.

Robin decided to leave the room telling them she was going to get a drink, of course to bother Sanji.

The cook was smoking thinking about everything that would most likely happen over the next few days. Robin opened the door and smiled at him sitting down on a booth asking him for Coffee.

It was silent for a while, both waiting to see if the other would spark up the obvious conversation. Robin was going to be impulsive tonight so she spoke up.

“ Are you also upset with me?”

“ No… I understand. I understand the both of you.”

She hummed and took a sip of her drink, “ I think it’s in our best interest if Luffy is upset, he can use the anger with Kaido.”

“ But what about our alliance? It’s also in our best interest to be on good terms with Trafalgar. I don’t think it was a good idea to mention that Y/N was planning on staying with them until we got to Onigashima.”

“ Perhaps…”

It was silent again, Robin did agree with the fact that they did need Law, and as of now Law and you were a package; one wouldn’t be without the other. However, after Wano Law would be defeated and so far there hasn’t been any mention of the Heart pirates since.

You didn’t know that though, you’ve been here so long and haven’t caught up to the manga yet.

Robin had another bright idea.

“ Sanji… have you gotten to read the books?”

“ Yes, a few. Why do you ask?”

“ I know everyone thinks me mentioning Law and Y/N was a bad idea… which makes me wonder who read and up to what but after Wano.. Law is defeated.”

Shock spread over Sanji’s face and the cigarette he was smoking dropped to the ground. With how calculating and cunning Law was— including with how powerful his fruit was… who could defeat him besides his captain?

“ I know you’re wondering who.. it’s Black beard.”

“ The heart pirates are ambushed when we all go our separate ways, and the Kid pirates were dumb enough to think they would be able to defeat Shanks.”

“ Does Y/N know this?”

She shook her head and the cook sighed in relief. This would work out perfectly, you’d finally be just with them and Law wouldn’t even be a problem in their lives.

The conversation continued for some time before the lights went out and the crew were soundly asleep.

You were curious about what Law did in your world. He kept it pretty broad when he told you about it and you couldn’t help but spark interest in what he did.

You moved closer to him pulling his attention from the stars. “ I’m feeling bold and curious right now…” you started. You never took your eyes off the sky but you noticed the slight redness on his face which made you hopeful for answers.

“ I want to know what you did when you were in my world. Were you alone..?”

“ I was. I didn’t want to risk anything happening to my crew mates. It was pretty weird, the entirety of it. From getting there to seeing everything.”

Law remembered Robin telling him to visualize different things and to clear his mind before she left the room they were in. He felt his entire body spin but he knew he wasn’t moving and when he opened his eyes he was in a bedroom.

He was in shock, it was as if he used his own transportation power but when he saw pictures of you on the walls he realized he was in a new world. Law read every book on your shelf, and glee spread through him as he learned so much about you.

He heard movement a few hours later, people were coming home. He quickly grabbed an eraser and hid into the closet. He planned to use his power if someone came in and found his hiding place.

A little while later the door opened, for a moment he couldn’t recognize who it was. Different hairstyle, different clothes, and the person in question was faced away. Until they turned towards him, and low and behold it was you.

You were just as pretty as you’d always had been but the far off look in your eyes let him know this was only half of the person you used to be. That’s when Law knew he needed to do everything to get you back home, where you really belonged.

You were simply on auto pilot, doing routines your body had gotten accustomed too without really thinking about it. He grew angry seeing you like this, and even angrier knowing the Strawhats seen you like this as well.

They made into half a person in both worlds. You were trapped with no one to notice or care because to them you weren’t really missing. He would’ve hopped someone from your universe had noticed— especially your parents but it seemed to him that either no one cared or they couldn’t really see the change in your eyes and certain mannerisms.

Law used the erasure to leave your home, unable to continue watching you. It would break his heart even further.

He strolled the streets, hoping to be seen as normal but the strange looks that he got from basically everyone let him know he needed to change outfits and unfortunately get rid of his beloved hat.

Law scoured your town after changing, never forgetting leave his hat inside of your closet. He went to the library, the parks to continue reading his long medical books.

And after a days work he went back to your house, and into the crevices of your closet. He watched you as you ate your dinner in your room, just so you could catch up with a new episode of your favorite show.

When you left the room he decided to stretch until a pair of eyes met his own. Before he could make a sound multiple hands wrapped around him and covered his mouth.

Robin had appeared to tell him you had been searching for his since last night.

“ Interesting. I thought when you shifted people couldn’t tell that you’re gone.”

A lump in your throat had formed after that sentence. No one knows you’re gone but the ones who do have been watching you in the other world. They all knew that you looked broken but did nothing about it.

The urge to leave tonight settled inside you. You were done with the Strawhats, you needed to sever this link they’ve created.

Law noticed the gears in your brain turning and he quickly spoke up.

“ Y/N.. if you go I want to come with you.”

Your head snapped to him and your eyes widened, “ You want to come with me?”.

He nodded and you struggled for words. Why would he come with you? Could he be plotting with the Strawhats so you’re never fully out of reach—

“ I want to continue exploring your world.. and I Don’t honestly think I can live life without you anymore.”

The solemn energy had dissipated, both of your hearts were racing, waiting for the other to say something even more embrassing.

“ I-I don’t know what to say. I would love for you to come back with me but… you have a life here. You were born here, I’m a completely different case. Not to mention law, your crew.”

“ I would still come back. I just want to be with you.. as much as I can. Can we move the conversation to you either saying yes or no?”

Law was so embarrassed by the words coming out of his mouth. He was begging for your answer at this point, he didn’t want too much flying out of his silly little mouth without knowing how you felt.

You bit your lip. Law coming home with you? Being with you. He wants to be with you? You could hear your heart in your ears as you finally decided to answer him.

“ No.”

“ Great we can- No? Oh..”

A giggle made it’s way out of your lip and you latched onto his jaw and pulled him in for a kiss.

The eyes watching you from behind all widened and a collective gasp was heard by their captain and you. The two of you pulled away and Law angrily told them off as his entire face turned stark red.

After he was sure there was no more peaking he pulled you closer and you both continued to stare at the stars.

“ Would you sleep in my room…”

“ If you’d let me.”

“ Okay.”

“ Tomorrow?”

“ Yes.”

Night turned to day and Luffy was getting ready for Wano packing his stretchy limbs into armor. As much as he was joking and playing like usual you not being around made everything less funny.

“ Robin, Did you find Y/N !”

“ Y/N is with Trafalgar, we’ll see her tonight.”

He sucked his teeth and the crew gave one another looks.

“ Where are they?”

“ I’m not too sure, the book never mentions the heart pirates exact locations.”

He groaned and threw himself to the ground. He didn’t want to be nice to Trafalgar anymore, he wanted to play games with Y/N and cuddle her like he used to.

He thought that after all they did for you, you’d come to your sense and just have fun with him everyday. You were a priority in his life just as the rest of his crew mates and he thought he pushed far enough with you.

With every other crew member that he has he never needed to do too much to get them to join his crew. Why did you have to be so different? It’s not that he hates how you are, you being so different is what made him so attracted to you.

Everyone else knew how oblivious the boy was to his own feelings, seeing his mind overload itself trying to understand why exactly he’s so upset right now.

Luffy didn’t want to say it himself, deep down he knew the emotions he felt for you different then the feelings for his crew mates. He slapped his hand on his face to cover the redness on his cheeks.

🏷️: @chaichaiiskai @mizzhellsingsstuff @herwritingartcowboy @axulaphie @toshirolovebot @futmblr @rhicambo @marim0cha @sasukeswife3 @mitskikinnie100 @alaurannara @angstylittleb1tch

A/N: thank you for an overwhelming 400 followers <3 I’m still shocked that all of you like this series, and the amount of new people who come everyday makes me so happy. We’re obviously nearing the end but I hope with my next series you’ll support me further 🪄

[gl1tch3doracle]

can we get a yoru x f/non-binary reader which doesn't end with the reader getting turned into a weapon (also with a little asa sprinkled in)

Love Yoru and Asa, but I dunno how much romance is actually in this thing. It's pretty long compared to my usual word count, so I don't know how spread out it could be or if things are rushed.

Anyway...

⊹ ࣪ ˖ Conflict of Interests ˖ ࣪⊹

Love Asa and Yoru and imo both need more love, but specifically Yoru.

➸ Yoru + !Neutral!Reader, Asa + !Neutral!Reader

➸ Word count; 3849 words,

➸ Warnings for gore, because this is CSM and it's Yoru. No spoilers (that I know of)

➸ Aside from the gore, I don't believe there are any other content warnings either. Don't know how well this flows because none of my work is beta read and I was also losing motivation by the end of this because I cranked this out in about two or three hours.

All things considered, you were adapting to your new life in Japan pretty well. At least, it felt like it.

Communication wasn't an issue, which was a relief - Neither was money, but your biggest problem so far was being directionally challenged. It complicated your routine to the utmost degree, and what was supposed to be a simple shopping trip had taken more than three hours because somewhere along the way you'd taken a wrong turn. Which was why, in your current moment, you were wandering aimlessly around the backstreets of Kyoto, meandering closely to the nearby high school. Silent as it was at the current hour, it still felt weird knowing that if you never left home, you'd probably be stuck in a building like that for hours on end.

You weren't though, and you were also lost. Which seriously wasn't fun, especially when you had a younger brother at home left unsupervised.

What was even less fun, though, (besides the thought of a rouge twelve-year-old boy) was the lack of people around you. Sure it was late, school was finished and the teenagers had cleared the food stalls and vendors and had already gone home, but it wasn't late enough that people would be tucking up in their homes already. The sun was still peaked beyond the horizon, casting pale light amok the city - The streetlights weren't even on yet, and yet the roads were emptier than a bucket with a hole in the bottom.

You weren't sure if that should make you feel relieved, or even more anxious than you already were.

Your first thought was a devil attack. They were common enough, and although the living embodiments of fear preferred more public areas (more fear to feed on, you assumed?) that didn't mean the weaker devils didn't slink around alleys like shifty cats when the darkness fell. And it was that thought exactly that kept you from calling out for help.

It was certainly a nerve-wracking thought, that was for sure, and a part of your new life that you weren't ever sure you were going to get used to. At least back home, devil attacks weren't nearly as common as they were 'round the streets of Kyoto. Sure, you'd go through attack drills like any other school, but luckily for you, you'd never had the misfortune of meeting one face-to-face on the streets. You couldn't even imagine the pure terror you might feel in that scenario - The pungent fear, the visceral pounding of your heart in your ears, the fight-or-flight instinct failing to kick in, maybe even the sickening, cloying stench of iron blood swarming your nose-

Huh. That wasn't good.

That sickly sweet, cloying iron scent of blood was swarming your nose.

You froze, rounding the corner, feet rooted to the ground. You almost flinched at the wet squelch that met your shoe instead of the steady tap against worn, greening concrete. Didn't have to look down to know that pools of blood were lapping seamlessly on your brand-new shoes. You didn't know what made you wince more, the price of the now ruined shoes, or the feeling of pungent fear that struck you at the unsightly view of bulging intestines flung around the wider street in front of you.

Gross - Disgusting. There was no immediate threat, you deduced after a second or two of not being attacked. No, the devil that made this mess (inadvertently or otherwise) was sprawled in the middle of the street, gangly, twisted, fuzzy and bulbous body blocking the road like the world's most horrific barricade. It wasn't moving, fur clogged with blood and flesh and guts only wavered with the faint breeze, but its sides didn't heave like it was breathing, although you weren't entirely certain that devils had to breathe. 'It could still be a trap' Was the thought that bullied its way to the forefront of your mind, and yet you still couldn't find it in yourself to move.

For the first time in what had to be a good long while since you'd left the store, you saw someone else. At first, your heart froze as the bee-like body of the devil shuddered and shook - It rolled onto its side, spilling more of its entrails onto the path. They slithered up to you sluggishly, like a trash heap toppling over, but the insectile face filled with jagged and snaggled teeth was blank as ever. There was no life behind those eyes, but you were more focused on the girl who'd effortlessly posed herself atop the body of the beast.

She wore a school uniform, you noticed, paired with an otherworldly cutlass held firmly in her right hand. The world around the two of you was eerily silent, ear-splitting and ringing in your mind. You clutched your bags a little tighter, the plastic crinkling, rustling ever so slightly in your fist.

The hunter whipped around to face you - She couldn't have been much older than you, but her darker hair framed her face fiercely, fire-ringed eyes glaring you down with such hostility that it almost gave you whiplash. She didn't budge from her spot, but her shoulders drew up tightly as she held her weapon in front of her defensively.

You just blinked - The smell of blood wasn't as pungent as when it first hit you, settling over you like a blanket. You just lifted your shirt, covering your nose as you waved the brooding, mysterious and most likely murderous stranger over to you. From where you stood, you could see the way she froze, face twisting from a scowl into confusion, before the crisscrossing scars on her face literally melted into her own skin, leaving her in perfect condition.

The sword clattered mutely against what looked like a misshapen lung, and the girl set her foot down firmly against the joint of a broken leg. It gave out immediately, and you could only watch as she yelped and tumbled haphazardly from the corpse into a pool of blood. The aura she'd been carrying up until that moment disappeared the second she looked up at you again. Her eyes no longer glowed like red-hot embers, mellow brown eyes looking nothing but defeated.

She shook herself once and heaved herself to her feet, shuffling over to your relatively clear patch on the fringe of carnage.

"Hello?" Her voice cracked awkwardly. You couldn't help but purse your lips sympathetically.

"Hey," You began, reaching into your pocket. Just your luck that you had a clean packet of tissues packed. "I was just wondering how to get back to the main road. I'm new to the area, and I'm kinda lost."

You offered her the tissues, and it looked like she was about ready to cry at the gesture.

"Oh, uh, sure. I could walk you," She froze, dabbing the blood from her cheek, "-only cause I also need to walk that way," Her face pulled into a grimace, and she subtly flinched as if someone was poking fun at her. She opened her mouth a few times, gaping like a fish before her face flushed red. Without another word, she hurried around the corner you'd just rounded, and you just followed without another word.

She didn't talk, never glanced in your direction to see if you were following her. You didn't mind, though, because you were just happy to see life slowly returning around you - Moreso the sounds of traffic and chatter and city ambience that you'd slowly lost over the past few hours. The joy of finally returning to a place you could somewhat navigate diverged your attention, so by the time you turned to at least thank your guide, she was already long gone.

It wasn't really your problem if she didn't want to stick around. What was your problem was the little brother you'd left at home by himself. You hoped that the apartment was still in one piece by the time you'd made it back.

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You finally visited the school. It certainly looked different teeming with student pushing and shoving their way to freedom. It also felt a lot different, seeing people your age running around in uniforms, talking to friends and passing by you without a second look. The uniforms, in particular, gave you a pause - They itched your brain in the most peculiar way until you remembered why. The same girl you'd met about a week ago, the one who'd slain the bee-like devil, had worn the very same uniform. Albeit, hers was doused in blood and cuts, it was no doubt the very same one.

That was a thought for later. You tapped your foot impatiently against the ground, waiting for your brother to finally make an appearance. You supposed his tardiness was payback for the time you got lost and spent hours wandering the backstreets of Kyoto, but you couldn't help but feel impatient.

He appeared a second later, thankfully, surrounded by a group of kids his age. It was nice to see him fitting in, especially after he'd only been going to his new school for about a week, although you had to admit it was funny seeing him freeze as soon as he saw you waiting at the front gate.

"Why are you here?" He scampered away from his group, looking more nervous than annoyed. You fixed him with a perpetually bored look.

"I came here to walk you home, idiot, why else? For shits and grins?" You quirked an eyebrow. He sighed and sagged his shoulders.

"But… I was gonna hang out with my new friends…" You gasped dramatically.

"And you were gonna make me walk home all by myself?" Your brother cringed. You felt nothing but satisfaction. With a sigh, you pat him on the shoulder.

"Just be back in time for dinner," You paused and set him with a stern expression. "And steer clear of devils, alright? I want you back in one piece."

He only gave you a big smile and a rushed thanks before running off, quickly rejoining his group. You shook your head and stretched your arms, noticing how quickly the crowds around you had thinned out around you.

"Oh, it's you again," You turned on your heel, coming face to face with the same, sharp-eyed dark-haired girl you'd briefly met a few weeks ago. Her face was riddled with scars again, clean cut, rough against her pale skin. You furrowed your brow, wondering if your memory was playing tricks on you.

"It's me? You were the girl who killed the devil, right?" You just had to make sure. She puffed up, eyes practically glowing orange and she fixed you with a pompous look.

"That's me. I'm an expert with any sort've melee weapon," She waved her hand as if shooing away an annoying insect from her ear. "But that's not why I came over here," Her eyes gleamed, "I was just wondering if you wanted to go shopping with me, y'know, have a walk around?"

You did a double-take.

The idea sounded nice, making a new friend, and there was a regular food vendor that you'd been meaning to try recently. But the idea of going with a stranger you'd really only just met set of alarms in your brain.

'However…' She was admittedly pretty. Those bright eyes that seemed to peer into your soul, a sharp, clean smile with long dark hair. 'Plus, it'll be in public, right? Plenty of other students and people around.'

"Yeah, sure, I have time," You missed the way her smile grew ever so slightly, stretching just further than a human could naturally.

However odd the situation was, you couldn't deny it was nice to finally have someone other than your brother to talk to. Admittedly, it was also odd how her bravado slipped the minute you turned to walk into the city, but you also found the marine life facts she sputtered out like she'd rehearsed were entertaining. She just seemed happy that you didn't seem bored out of your mind.

Asa Mitaka, you learned her name was. Wasn't usually one to talk to people, and she said it was a miracle she was able to muster up the courage to talk to you in the first place. She pointedly refused to make eye contact most of the time, which was fine in your opinion since at least the conversation was kept in a lively ebb and flow you weren't entirely used to.

She talked with an edge to her voice, not an annoyed one, but rather a nervous one. You didn't really want to ask about it, seeing as you used to do something similar when you were younger, however, Asa beat you to the punch.

"I don't have many friends - I had one before, but, well, she died in a devil attack not too long ago," She peered through a window store, just looking at the array of shoes that were for sale. "I mean, I haven't had many friends at all. Just the one." You stepped up next to her, but she just peered sadly beyond the glass.

Brown eyes. You squinted. Perhaps the light turned them orange. You once knew someone whose hazel eyes turned yellow under the light. Orange wasn't too far from brown.

"Maybe we can be friends," You asked, almost absentmindedly. Asa whipped around to stare at you, her mouth hanging open. Her eyes flickered back and forth - From your face, to behind you, maybe. She worried her bottom lip between her teeth nervously and didn't say anything.

That made your heart twist a little. Ouch.

Taking a break from the sun, the two of you were stopped at a vending machine under shade, grabbing a few drinks. It was mostly quiet aside from the sound of the machine working, clanging softly as coins were inserted. You were leaning against a wall when a little thing approached you out of the corner of your eye.

"Aw, cute. Kitty cat," You kneeled and reached out your hand, letting the feline sniff your fingers before it rubbed its head along your palm. Asa made a noise halfway between a choke and a squeak before shuffling a few paces backwards.

"Yeah, cute," She seemed preoccupied, whispering something urgently under her breath. Which was odd - You were going to ask if she was okay, but Asa was suddenly in your face before you could react, those same, orange-ringed eyes staring into your very being.

Orange. Not brown.

Preoccupied, a hot flush covered your face.

"Come with me. I wanna show you something cool," The bravado was back, oddly enough. No trace of the nervous high-schooler, but rather, the cool, confident and dangerous devil hunter you'd seen the first time you'd met eyes.

The change made you nervous, but also, you couldn't really say no to a pretty and confident girl asking you to come with her, especially when she'd been so heartening throughout your entire afternoon. She sealed the deal by taking your hand in hers, wrapping her lithe fingers confidently around your own in a way that made your heart thud errantly in your ribcage. Starved for human touch, you followed her as she tugged you along with enthusiasm.

It made butterflies tumble around in your chest, a sense of happiness and friendship you hadn't known in a while. It made you feel like a normal teen, running through the city with their friend, laughing happily together. You didn't have to care about making dinner, or phoning your parents in another country, or worrying about bills - You got to just run around without care plaguing your brain. You didn't care about the people you ran past, didn't even care as the streets thinned and people slowly appeared less and less around you. You didn't even realise that Asa had dragged you into something that was nothing less than an alley.

You only realised when she'd stopped laughing and was instead standing stock still between you and your freedom.

You also stopped laughing. Your heart dropped deep into your stomach.

"Ah, shit," You puffed, still catching your breath. "Well, I guess it was a dumb mistake to follow a stranger through the city." You tried to laugh away the atmosphere - You wanted to believe that you'd make it back home to see your family again, but somehow, seeing Asa's burning orange eyes made you doubt the chance that that would ever happen.

"Not surprised. Humans aren't the smartest," She offhandedly remarked, watching you like a dingo would watch a human baby. Although, no, that wasn't entirely right. There was a cold, analytical feeling behind it, not a sensation of hunger. But that word, the little indication - 'human.'

"You're a devil."

It was less a question and more of a statement. Asa smiled and cocked her head.

"A devil you couldn't even begin to fathom," Those same ringed eyes burned, pinning you to the wall. You furrowed your brow, gut-twisting and your neurotically swayed, judging how far you could possibly make it before she could close the distance.

"Lay it on me. I'm pretty smart," Were the dying words you chose to go with. However scary a devil she could be, Asa was also still in the body of a high-school girl. The sight wasn't particularly scary compared to the devils you'd seen in the past.

"You're bravado won't save. It certainly didn't save my host," Asa reached out her hand toward you, pinprick eyes staring you down with such complexity. The visage reminded you of an owl.

"I am not Asa," Asa began - "Asa is a part of me, and I am a part of her, yet, in the end, we are two different beings." You tilted your head.

"Then, who are you?" You shimmied against the wall, trying to perhaps slide your way to freedom.

Asa closed the distance instantly, digging her fingers into your scalp with such ferocity that you could feel it digging into bone with enough force to pin you to the spot, but not enough to shatter your skull instantly.

"I don't have a name, but I go by Yoru - The devil of war."

.

"(Name). Spinal cord sword."

You held your breath.

Nothing happened.

Yoru furrowed her brow.

"(Name). Spinal cord sword."

Her face morphed into a scowl, and then a snarl.

You gave her a look, one that asked 'what the hell are you doing' and you knew she knew exactly what you were thinking.

"What the fuck - Why isn't it working?" She let you go, shoving you painfully into the wall. You were dazed, now had a sore head and probably a minor concussion, but you were alive and your limbs weren't twisted into a gorey weapon. Your eyes focussed just in time to see Asa, or Yoru? Punch a hole in the nearby brick wall.

"It's because of you!" Yoru shouted at a patch of empty air. "You and your stupid human feelings and your pathetic nature to fall in love with someone who shows you a smidge of kindness and your stupid nature infecting my mind! Sharing a body with you has done nothing but hinder me!"

Yoru howled and whined like a toddler, bashing her fists against the same wall she'd punched a hole through, clutched her hair with her face screwed up into a childish scowl. She whipped around to stare in the vague direction she'd done so before, her scowl deepening with her teeth bared in a snarl.

"I AM NOT STUPID!" And with that, the anger was gone. The scars were gone, too. Her eyes were a rich shade of brown, deep, with flecks of gold and faint rings that seemed reminiscent of the war devil's own eyes. You had no idea if it was the influence of the devil herself, or if Asa's (?) eyes naturally looked like that.

An ear-splitting silence settled over the scene. Asa slumped against the wall, curled into the pit of carnage Yoru had carved with her bare fists. She just sat there, staring blankly ahead, eyes hooded and squinted as if someone was yelling at her. You were in a similar boat, head pounding, trickling of blood dribbling from your hairline, down your face and dripping onto the concrete below.

"So," You hummed. Asa flinched, but she didn't stop staring into the empty air ahead of her. "What the fuck was that all about?"

"That, uh, was Yoru." She didn't say anything else.

"And Yoru is the war devil?" Asa nodded.

…

"Mind explaining what's going on?" Asa finally pulled herself together, physically.

"It's a long story," She offered, trying to pull her hair into a pair of twintails.

"Well, I have to make dinner. Fancy staying over?" The words were out of your mouth before you could even think about them. Why you were inviting the war devil over for dinner, or at least the host of the war devil, you had no idea. But you just had one question you really, really had to ask.

"Hey, do you know why she's such a baby?"

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"I'm heading out, be back soon!" Your brother yelled into the apartment, shrugging on a jacket.

"Don't fill up on junk food and don't talk to any weird devils, 'kay?" You yelled back. Your brother paused and looked at you before nudging his head in the direction of the other room. You scoffed.

"You know damn well what I mean!" Your brother laughed and locked the door behind him as he left.

Yoru appeared in the doorway as he left, a loaf of bread tucked under one arm with a slice hanging from her mouth.

"Where's he going?" The devil sat next to you at the kotatsu, absentmindedly watching whatever was playing on the tv set.

"To hang out with friends. He probably won't be back later so don't eat all the goddamn soba this time," You pointed your pen in her direction. The devil didn't seem particularly threatened, so you made a mental note to put aside a bowl for your brother.

"Hey, Yoru? Quick question," The devil grunted. "When will I see Asa again? Not that I don't appreciate your…" You paused and looked her up and down "Wonderful companionship, it feels weird to only see one of my girlfriends on a near daily basis."

Yoru scoffed and shrugged.

"When Mitaka can take control of this body, she's more than welcome to hang out with you," Yoru took the piece of bread she'd been eating and pressed it against your lips. You quirked an eyebrow but took a bite of the offered piece of bread. You decidedly didn't comment on her eating it plain, as last time resulted in a forty-minute tantrum including someone called 'Fami'.

After a moment of silence, Yoru stopped and grinned sharply. The same smile she gave you back in that alley all those months ago.

"Are you bullying Asa-" Yoru reached forward and grabbed you by both your wrists "-again?"

…

"Yoru?" The war devil smirked like a bitch.

"Yeah?"

"You're doing this to tease Asa, aren't you?" Yoru only cackled.

"Perhaps."

Asa is crying and shaking at the end. She can't believe Yoru would do something like that in front of her.

[witchthewriter]

𝑩𝒂𝒓𝒃𝒊𝒆 𝑫𝒂𝒕𝒊𝒏𝒈 𝑺𝒆𝒓𝒊𝒆𝒔

𝐇𝐨𝐰 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐁𝐚𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐞 𝐦𝐞𝐭

⤷ human female, ambiguous race, and any size reader. Requests are open, thank you for reading!

Warnings: spoilers!!! Talks of the real world and real world problems, trauma talks.

a/n: Reader is a massive Barbie fan, but like every woman she's had to put away her toys and grow up.

ᴹᵃˢᵗᵉʳˡᶤˢᵗ

𝑺𝑭𝑾🌿  

・It was a surprise for both of you; a very sudden surprise.

・Barbie had been in the human world for about a month when she ran into you.

・She had ventured out on her own, with a phone in her bag and some money that Mattel had given her (she got an allowance to basically keep her mouth shut about the whole Barbie Land thing)

・And she was staying at Gloria's, who had become quite protective over her.

・You were carrying a pile of books you had bought at the bookstore, and they fell on the ground as you collided with someone.

・Pages flapped in the wind, and you just hoped they didn't land into anything ... weird. This was California after all.

・Barbie was so startled, "I'm so so sorry!" She kept saying, over and over again, helping you stack them back up.

"It's okay, really, I thought I could make it to my car without an accident - looks like I was wrong."

"No, you were doing a great job! The accident is all my fault-" she said.

・Finally looking up at her, you became mesmerised.

・She had to be one of the most beautiful beings you had ever seen in your life.

・And words completely left you.

・You felt a hot blush creep up the back of your neck and spread across your face.

"Oh, your face!" She said, not realising that it was a blush. And blushes were normal things. (She was still learning.)

・Her noticing just made it worse, and words were no longer able to form. Only these weird sounds...

・And then you just scooped up whatever you could and ran to your car, hoping this wasn't a stupid tik tok joke or something.

・While in your car, you had to turn on the air con on full blast. Closing your eyes, you tried your best to shake off the encounter.

"It's fine," you said out loud. "I'm never going to see her again. So, it's fine."

・The drive back home was silent, except for in your head...

・You kept thinking of all the things you should have done differently.

・Finally making it home, you took your stuff inside and walked to your room, chucking everything on the floor, you fell face first into your bed. And screamed.

・It had been two hours later when you heard a knock at the door

・Clad in your pyjamas, you contemplated about just ignoring the person.

・But the knocking was insistent, and it didn't stop.

"Who the fuck knocks like that?" You said with half a biscuit in your mouth.

・Shuffling to the door, you opened it to find your blush-shamer.

"Oh," you said and all the thoughts evaporated from your mind. Was this the worst day ever? You knew this was the fucking worst scenario because you told yourself you'd never have to see her again.

"Hi! You left this behind," the blonde said and gave you your purse.

"Oh shit, thank you," you replied (after swallowing the food that was in your mouth.)

"Shit? Did I do something wrong?" (Barbie had only heard swear words used in negative contexts. Sasha hadn't taught her they could be used ... in different ways.)

"Uh, no. Oh, do you not like swearing?" You said with squinted eyes, sure she was taking the piss.

"I don't know. We didn't swear in Barbi- in ... where I used to live," Barbie thought it was a great save.

"Ugh, I get it- you used to live down South. You don't sound Southern though?" You said with a cocked head, trying to figure this out. Because this was definitely being filmed for tik tok. (And you weren't going to look a fool)

"I have to go now. Bye!" She said quickly and ran away, her blonde hair flying behind her.

・And then you stuck up both your middle fingers in every direction, flipping off all the hidden cameras.

・You turned on the tv and sat down, the blonde woman still in your head.

・She seemed so off.

・Getting up, you went over to your purse and found that nothing was missing. And there was a note.

"Huh, thought the cash would be gone..."

・But in fluid letters, your heart pumped as you read the note:

Sorry for bumping into you. Maybe we can be friends! This is my number, (insert number here - I don't want to accidentally type a real one) From, Barbie

・Your heart fluttered and the blush returned.

・And you thought, 'Barbie? Oh, she's definitely Southern....'

・But you looked at the number and put it into your phone. You typed and hesitated before sending the message. Hoping this wasn't part 2 of the tik tok.

・Or maybe you were on social media too much... either way, you pressed send:

Hope you got home okay, don't apologise! And thank you for returning my purse. And not stealing my money

From,

Y/N.

[smilingangel582]

Hii it's been long ik... im so sorry! But I actually decided to start writing after some time.

I waited too long for genshin impact new lantern rite... yet not a single lee!Ga ming?? I'm so sad

So I took the initiative to write, tho im not so good at it... hehe enjoy...

Ps. Ga ming seems adorable as hell! One of those fun and secret 5 stars!

Warning spoilers for genshin impact 4.4!

Punishment for payment

"Ga ming! Stop paying all the time!"

The wushoe dancers shrugs playfully, chuckling softly "But Paimon enjoys them a lot... I mean what sort of friend would I be if I didn't treat u guys to a regular dim sum?"

Aether groans, folding his arms as he looks at the young man with a wary expression. He casually turns to Paimon who has dozed off on the table like a white lump. His expression softens as he takes the final bite of the shrimp "You really are some thing..."

Ga ming gives a breif giggle, his tongue sticking out "Well I suppose you are giving in? Don't worry... I love to treat my friends to a regular breakfast"

Later that day, Aether and Ga ming left the restaurant... Paimon had insisted they could watch the Liyue vicinity in peace.

"Honestly you guys should visit more..." Ga ming states after observing the silence. Aether turns to him, leaning by the bridge as he smiles "We only went to fontaine for a few weeks you know"

Giving a childish whine Ga ming gestures "Still... its cool to hang out with you guys"

Paimon has gone earshot following a butterfly, and Aether gives him a pat on the arm "Well next time, let's go to Fontaine, and I will treat u to some cuisines"

The young wushoe dancer's eyes glistened like stars "deal! It will be dope to hang out with u Aether!" He adds frivolously "Also don't worry about paying... im gonna have to aid on the funds since your treating me"

Aghast, Aether gives him a playful shove "There you go being generous... stop it"

"What I mean I can't let the esteemed traveler pay for my starving needs" he winks and Aether pokes his side "Then allow me to split the bill at least"

With a giggly jolt he gently pushes Aether's hand away "Hehe but..."

Another poke as Aether smirks, "Now now, who was it that helped u with your family conflict?

Ga ming realises where Aether is going wjth this charade, he giggles more when the gentle playful prodding became precise, he squirms away "hehe you... its yoohou"

Aether Pauses for a moment, mischievous "Are you ticklish?"

Silence.

Ga ming notices Aether suddenly preparing and he stretches his hands front defensively, giggling in anticipation "H-hey uh what are you...?"

Aether grins wiggling his fingers "I'm gonna be paying the next Dim sum meal and you won't pay a single mora"

Ga ming bursts into titters the moment Aether tickled his ribs "ahh hehe hey! Haha come ohohon Aehehether"

Rolling his eyes Aether didn't stop "What did I say? No more tabs for you"

"Hahaha buhuhut"

Determined to get Ga ming, Aether playfully pressures his hips, a sensitive spot no doubt and sends cackles through him, high pitched and bubbly.

"Cute laughter you got there... I dont want to stop"

"EEK! OK OK WAHAHAIT" Ga ming shrieked as Aether pinches his hips.

"Oh? What is it?" Smirking. Aether traces patterns around his hips keeping him giggly and in anticipation.

"Ihihi uhuhu wehehell..." Ga ming squirms now in a mess of tumbling shrilled giggles. So cute.

Aether rubs his thumbs by the waist now "Ga ming~ what did u want to say?"

He bucks and then lets out "Ah ah! Hehehe uhum yohohou can tahahake the tab next time"

Satisfied, Aether backs off "OK so next dim sum will be my problem"

Flushed cheeks now finally returning to colour. He gasps "Haa... you sure are a merciless traveler... jeez the last time I was tickled to death was when my mom tried to punish me for pranking her"

"Oh so you were a rascal?"

Laughing Ga ming nudged Aether "Obviously... so, tomorrow's dim sum will be on me... byee!"

"Yeah, sure -no wait! Argh! Come here, you menace!"

Laughter spreads without haste... and soon Paimon joins forces with Aether to tackle him once more. The two playfully chase without cease. Ga ming will never meet a companion as great as the traveler, and the traveller will never encounter someone as delightful as the young dancer.

Liyue must be visited more often.

[shinsorokiri]

The Rockstar and The Farmer

Sam x Reader

Genre: fluff

Word Count: 2.5k

Warnings: language, spoilers for Jodi’s heart event, mutual pining, Sam being chaotically smooth

A/N: Yes I’m aware I said I’d hopefully have part two up by the end of the week, yes I am aware it is like three weeks later, everybody makes mistakes and I make big ones frequently. Part 3 will be out eventually, I promise. That being said, enjoy this very late posting of part 2! :)

part [1] 2 [3?]

“Seb, Abigail, and I are gonna unload our gear, so I’ll see you in like… an hour? Or so?” You nod. “Yeah, see you then,” you say, getting up and off the bus. 

You walk back to your farm, being welcomed by your animals almost immediately. You go check up on them and make sure they’re all happy and okay before going inside your house to grab the fish you put on ice for Jodi. You check the clock and see that it took you a decent amount of time to check your animals and decide to start walking over now. You take your time, taking the scenic route and waving to Leah as you pass by her home. You check your watch, making sure

You knock on the door before letting yourself in. “Jodi?” you call out, and she dashes out from the kitchen. “Ah, I’m so glad you came, (Y/n)! And you brought the fish! Wonderful,” she exclaims, and you hurry over to her, handing her the fish. You begin to take it out of the cooler you brought it in while Jodi turns slightly towards the hallway that leads to her two sons’ rooms. “Sam! Could you come in here and help clean this fish?” You hear a pause before Sam’s voice responds, quieter than usual but loud enough for his mom to hear, though you don’t know if she picks up on the subtle annoyance in his tone. “Yes, ma’am.” You hear footsteps and the familiar creak of his bedroom door opening while you take the fish out of the cooler and hold it in your hands, presenting it to Jodi. “Wow, it looks wonderful… and it smells so fresh!” she takes it out of your hands and into hers before smiling at you, “Thanks so much for doing this, (Y/n).”

“No problem, I can help you with cleaning the fish, too, if you’d like,” you offer, and Sam’s eyes light up. “Yes!”

“No!” Jodi and Sam look at each other, and she sighs. “Sam… (Y/n) is our guest, we can’t make them help clean the food they came here to eat.” Sam frowns, disappointed that he’s going to have to gut and clean this fish with his mom instead of his crush best friend. You feel a tinge of disappointment as well, and before you even process, you’re speaking, you blurt out, “Oh no it’s fine! You were kind enough to invite me tonight so the least I can do is help you prepare the meal! Besides, I’ve gotten pretty good at gutting fish, I bet I could teach Sam here a thing or two.” Sam raises his eyebrow at you, obviously amused. “Who said I need someone to teach me?”

“Me, Sam. I know you, and you always need someone to teach you,” you tease, and he rolls his eyes, but the smile on his face gives him away. Jodi watches, her own smile spreading when she seemingly changes her mind. “Oh, fine. You two clean the fish, and I’ll get some sides and all the other ingredients ready, okay?”

“Okay, Jodi,” you say, as Sam takes this fish from his mom, and you follow him into the kitchen. “I have been gutting fish ever since we moved here, farmer, let me show you a thing or two,” he brags and you giggle, rolling your eyes. “Please, Sam. Show me everything I already know.”

“Hey now, did you know that you can do this?” Sam begins to cut into the fish when the knife slips and falls to the floor. You both jump out of the way, and Sam quickly wraps his arms around you, pulling you back to make sure you’d stay safe. You ignore the fuzzy feeling that spreads through your chest and giggle. “No, Sam, I actually didn’t know I could gut the floor while simultaneously gutting a fish,” you joke, and his face turns bright red. “My hands got all slimy from the fish!”

“Yeah. Mhm, okay,” you laugh, bending over to pick up the knife and walking over to the sink to wash it off. “I’m being serious I am so good at gutting these guys,” he whines as you walk over to him and the fish, drying the knife off. You grin at him. “I believe you, but… maybe I should hold the knife,” you tease, standing in front of the fish and getting ready to cut into it. He sighs. “Fine, but I can still show you my tips and tricks… here,” he says, wrapping his arms around you from the back and holding onto your hand with his. You’re grateful that you’re facing the opposite way from him so he can’t see your dopy grin, but Jodi sees it. You and Sam interacting had always put a smile on her face, but especially now. She was excited to see what might come from all this subtle flirting going on between the two of you. And she’d be lying if she said she didn’t find herself encouraging this subtle flirting. She never thought she’d enjoy watching her son gut a fish this much.

With your help, you and Sam managed to gut the largemouth bass in record time, and Jodi shooed the two of you out of the kitchen so she could cook. “Come on, I have a new song idea and want you to hear it, we should have enough time until the casserole is ready,” Sam says, grabbing your hand and pulling you to his room. You feel your face heat up as Sam’s hand effortlessly intertwines with yours, and smile because you’re about to hear a new Sam original. “Can’t wait to hear Goblin Destroyer perform this one at their next show, you grin, and he chuckles a bit. He let’s go of your hand and scratches his neck. “Well, actually, this is more of a song for me…” he lets you know, quickly turning around and inaudibly mumbling, “and someone else…” You take your seat on his bed, pulling your knees up to your chest and resting your face on your knees. You grin at him as he picks up his guitar and turns to you. He begins to strum his guitar and opens his mouth, getting ready to sing, when suddenly there’s a knock at his door. A tiny little knock. You and Sam glance at each other and he smiles apologetically. “Looks like I’ll have to show you the song after dinner, then,” he places the guitar back on it’s stand and opens the door. “(Y/N)!” Vince yells, running in and hopping up onto Sam’s bed and giving you a hug. You laugh and hug him back. “Hi, Vince!”

Sam stands by his door, leaning against the wall, observing the way you interact with his younger brother. He grins softly. He’d be lying if he said it didn’t warm his heart to know that Vincent loved you almost as much as him. Almost. He realizes that his eyes go from focusing on you and Vince to just you. He’d been trying to make more subtle moves to hint at his interest in you recently, and he’s really hoping that you’ve been picking up on it. But for some reason, it’s getting increasingly harder for him to not just straight up confess to you. In fact, he has a letter telling you to meet him at 8 in front of his house all written up and in his jeans pocket right now. Of course, he’s nervous about how you’ll react, but he really just wants to be able to wrap his arms around you all the time and keep you close to him. He wants to be able to refer to you as his partner with Sam and Abigail and actually mean it. He wants the rest of the people in Pelican Town to know that the farmer who moved here is a part of the community just as much as he is. He just wants you—

“Why are you staring at us like that?” Vince's little voice pulls Sam out of his trance and his eyes widen. “I wasn’t staring.”

“Yes, you were.”

“Was not.”

“Was too.”

“Was no—”

“OKAY! DINNER’S READY EVERYONE!” Jodi yells, cutting the brothers off. You chuckle, watching Vince immediately run out to get food. You look over at Sam, whose face is still red, by the way, and get up off his bed. You walk over to him and tug on the sleeve of his jean jacket. “Come on, rockstar. Let’s go eat.” He grins slightly and follows you out to eh kitchen, sitting next to you. Dinner tastes great, you immediately start asking Jodi a ton of questions about the recipe, which she happily answers and agrees to write it down for you. You already have your mind swimming with ideas to add ingredients that might add more flavor or give the dish a new spin. You almost feel like a part of the family. It ends too soon, though, and before you know it, you’re yawning up a storm. “Oh, (Y/n), you must be tired. You did a lot of running around today,” Jodi mentions, and you wave your hand, shaking your head. “I’m fine, I promise, but it is about time I should head out. I need to go make sure all the animals are all snug and safe,” you say, standing up. “Let me help you clean the table first,” you say, starting to grab your plates. “No, don’t be silly! I can handle that. Sam, why don’t you walk (Y/n) home?” Jodi suggests and Vince jumps up. “Can I go?!”

“No, Vinny, you’re staying here. It’s nearly your bedtime,” Jodi says, and Vince whines. You give him a goodbye hug and make your way to the front door, putting your shoes on. “I’ll see you tomorrow! Thank you so much for the delicious meal!” you yell as you walk out of the house, Sam closing the door behind the two of you. Although it’s summer, it’s a very chilly night. And silly you, you left our jacket at your farm. You shiver slightly, and Sam notices. “Here,” he shrugs his jean jacket off, wrapping it around your shoulders. “Oh, no, Sam I’ll be fine—”

“No, no, no, you’re cold, you’re wearing it,” he insists, and you smile softly to yourself. “Thanks.”

“No problem, (Y/n/n).” The two of you walk past Marnie’s ranch, and you watch as fireflies light up the night. “Today was fun,” you say, and Sam nods. “So fun. Thanks again for coming to my show… and for coming to dinner… and helping me gut that fish and not my foot,” he says, causing you to giggle. “Of course. You know I’ll always be at your gigs. Oh! Speaking of you didn’t play me that song!” you exclaim, halting and turning to him. He lets out a small laugh. “That’s okay. I’ll show you another time. You wake up at like 5 in the morning and it’s almost 10:30. I’d rather get you home and in bed,” he says, grabbing your arm and pulling you to walk again. “Aw, so thoughtful,” you tease, before yawning again. “Mhm, and you said you weren’t tired.”

“I’m just used to being tired, comes with the farm.”

“Maybe you should sleep in a little later? Take a nap during the day?”

“Can’t,” you shake your head, “if I’m not caring for the animals, I’m planting crops, and if I’m not planting crops, I’m in the mines, and if I’m not in the mines, I’m fishing, and if I’m not fishing—”

“You’re taking care of the animals… I know. I guess I just worry about you sometimes. You do a lot, you deserve a break,” he shrugs, and you sheepishly grin, looking down at your feet. He’s right, you do overexert yourself. But you have to fix up the Community Center before that idiot Lewis sells it to Joja. You know you have to move quick. “Well once I have the best farm in Pelican Town, I’ll rest,” you say, and Sam rolls his eyes. “(Y/n/n), you already have the best farm in Pelican Town. You’re the farm of Pelican Town,” he says, and you shrug. “Can always be better.”

“I swear one of these days I’m gonna force you to lay down and do nothing all day long. Mark my words.”

“Words marked. I’d like to see you try though,” you say, and he scoffs. “Oh, I won’t just try, I will succeed.” You giggle as you walk onto your land, passing by the little pond by your coop. “Mr. Quackers, if you don’t get inside the coop and stop swimming around so help me Yoba, I will only let you swim in a bucket,” you shout out to your duck, who quacks at you, but seemingly understands the threat. Sam laughs as he waddles into the coop, and you close the door that lets the birds out. None of your babies are getting eaten by anything tonight. Or ever, for that matter. “Mr. Quackers?”

“Yeah. He also responds shockingly well to just Quack. He knows I’m serious when I call him his legal name though,” you grin, and Sam shakes his head. “I can’t believe he actually listened to you.”

“I just have a way with my animals,” you brag, shutting the open barn door after seeing all your animals are safe and sound inside. You glance to where your stable is and see your horse asleep with your dog asleep next to her. “Well, looks like all my animals are accounted for. Thank you for walking me home, Sam,” you grin at him as you get to the front door of your little farmhouse. He grins back. “No problem. I’ll see you tomorrow?”

“Yeah, for sure… oh wait! Your jacket!” you start to shrug it off as he begins walking away. “Nah, it’s fine. I’ll see you tomorrow anyway. ‘Sides, it looks better on you,” he says, turning around and shooting a wink at you. You feel butterflies erupt in your stomach, and heat start spreading through your face all the way up to your ears. “I’ll get it to you tomorrow!”

“Or you can hold onto it for a bit, really, I don’t mind,” he insists, and you shake your head. But there’s no hiding the smile that breaks out across your face. “G’night, farmer!”

“Goodnight, rockstar,” you say, waving at him as he turns and begins walking home. You walk inside your home, your dog rushing past you when he hears the creaking of your door. You grin and lock your door for the night, slipping your shoes off. You’re about to take Sam’s jacket off when you stop. Maybe you’ll wear this to sleep in tonight. Just because you might as well get as much use out of it before returning it to him. Obviously. That’s a good reason to sleep in it. You change into your pajamas, before slipping the jacket back on and getting under your covers. You breathe in Sam’s cologne, noticing it’s more comforting than it usually is right now, and start drifting off. You don’t even hear your mailbox opening or notice your pup staring at the window for a moment before lying his head back down and falling asleep curled next to you. You fall asleep, with only one thought in your head. 

‘See you tomorrow, rockstar.’

[fillinforlater]

You asked for it

Male Reader x Im Yeojin

Length: 3645 words

Tags: degradation, self degradation, spit, vibrator, anal play, teasing, begging, crying, doming, name calling, dehumanizing, mind-break, rough sex, slaps, breeding kink, daddy kink, slave play, spanks, harsh, hardcore, stand and carry, missionary, slave!Yeojin / master!Reader

TW: ofc spoilers, but this one is very hard. Massive degradation, dehumanizing, slave/master dynamic, mind break, spitting at idol

Inspiration: Her outfit. Yeah.

Credit: @sooyadelicacies for co-writing. Thank you, it was a pleasure!

(A/N: another collab with Sooya! And this time, we went berserk. Poor Yeojin)

“Uhm, hey…”

You never really noticed Yeojin before, but her hair, the outfit and especially the outfit—this was a new Yeojin.

"I've heard what you've been doing with some of my bandmates and I want what they get from you, Daddy. Isn't that what you like to be called when you are dicking down my Unnies?"

You gulp. All the things you've done with the four H's, how does she know them? They were supposed to stay secret, and as their dorm's trusty cleaner, staying there almost daily never caused suspicion.

Or did it?

"Yeojin, what are you even saying?" you speak slowly to sound convincing. It is futile however.

"Stop playing dumb and innocent, Daddy," Yeojin groans, grinding her hips and butt on your jeans covered thigh. The moment you saw those outfits you were ready to plow her members in them, but Yeojin's looks exceptionally hot. The others are quickly forgotten.

"I know how you love to cum all over Heejin's abs," Yeojin sultry says, while her hands rub over yours, "I know you fuck Hyeju from behind, while kneading her tits. And the cat stuff with—"

"Fine, fine! Fuck, shut up. We don't have as much privacy as you might think."

"Give it to me! Those girls, even Haseul and Kim Lip, always get attention from boys and fans. I often feel like I'm just in their shadow, so I wanted to prove that I could attract with my visuals too. Do you like my outfit, Daddy? You want me to be your little baby girl and fucktoy?”

Yeojin's hands straddle your body, her hips still grind on your leg, but her crotch is not moving to the growing problem in your now tight pants. A tease that works.

You answer her wordlessly. Aggressive hands move to her skirt and immediately underneath it. A yelp and a giggle, and then vise-versa when you pull her panties down and go down as well.

"Shut up. Don't moan too loud," you hiss before planting your face under the blue garment. A strong sniff, a remarkable scent from her drenching slit.

"D-Daddy—"

"Yeojin? Why are you already this wet?!"

"For you, Daddy, all for you. I wanted you for a long time. Plus, you've never fucked me before and I can promise you this: my pussy is the tightest of them all, an unclaimed pussy, doesn't that turn you on, Daddy? This pussy, any of my holes belong solely to you, so stuff it with your cock, your cum!”

You rise to your feet again, significantly taller than the small idol. She probably thinks her offer sounds irresistible to you, especially with all the kinky promises spread throughout. However, her needy eyes reveal how desperate she is to get what her friends get: your cock.

"I'll do what I want to do. And we shall see how tight you are, bitch. Now follow me. And don't dare to pull your panties back up. If you stumble, you stumble."

Yeojin tries to carefully, yet quickly follow your pace as you lead her into a special area, down a rarely used hallway, to a designated bedroom where you defiled her other members before. 

"Wait, has this room been here for the whole time? How come I never noticed it before?"

"You must be dense. Oh well, your body still looks hot as hell."

Yeojin doesn't respond to your words, visibly mesmerized by the soft blanket on top of the bed. At this moment, she is not paying enough attention, and finally trips over the panties around her ankles.

"Wahhhh!"

You could catch her. All it would take is stretching out one arm and putting a little effort in it. To your own amusement you decide against it, and watch the small idol fall on to the antique, smelly carpet below. 

Yeojin winces in pain, holding her wrist. She does not look seriously hurt, after all, the fall wasn't particularly heavy. Not that you care.

"You are so stupid. My God, you are even more dense than I imagined." 

Removing your shoes, you walk next to her. Like a vicious god from above, you look down to an insignificant creature below. You can do anything to her. 

"I don't care how mean you are," Yeojin hisses, trying to get up despite her restraining panties,"I just want your cock in my pussy."

"You have no idea what you want… you can't even handle me. If I had to take a guess you're totally inexperienced, aren't you? Why such a need to prove yourself to anyone?"

With a light stomp on her back, you let Yeojin fall back to the ground. She shrieks and shivers, and it only increases when you lean down and rub her bare skin, spine upwards to her nape. With a rough grab, you force her to look at you, confused, fearful eyes.

"I... I just want what they have. You must be so good, having multiple members. I want your big cock to... to..."

"Fucking hell! So needy!"

Yank her head down and pull her skirt up. Don't hold back, and slap the cute, exposed butt harshly. Yeojin wiggles and cries out, but she does not dodge or move away. 

"What if I don't want your pussy? I could just let you stay a virgin. The last virgin of Loona, probably."

"No, please! Do what you want, just... deflower me."

"What are you even saying? Such slutty behavior will be punished." 

From underneath the bed you pull out your favorite toy to use on Hyunjin: a pink vibrator. Although it's actually small in size, compared to tiny Yeojin it looks big.

"Spread your ass, stupid whore! And stop talking like that. Call me Master and only talk if necessary."

"O-okay, Ma-Master."

Turn to her face, grab it in one hand furiously and get uncomfortably close to it.

"That was not necessary, bitch."

"Heejin, Haseul, Hyeju, Hyunjin, those are the ones you know about and I have respect for them. But you? You're just a needy virgin slut way over her head coming to me. You know why your other members are my sluts? Because they are fucking good at what they do and are good partners, you… what can you even offer me? Pathetic."

"I will g-give you my precious first time—"

"Shut up," you shout at her, "I don't fucking care that it's your first time and precious to you!"

With your glaring, fiery eyes on Yeojin, you spit into her face. Full of shock, she touches the spot where it hit her. Before another reaction comes from her, you grab her miniscule body and spin it around. 

Yeojin's skirt does not cover her leaking entrance, but it was never your destination. In rage you tear apart the garment hiding her small breasts, they jiggle in the cups of her bra. Seemingly uncontrolled, you strike at the hard nipples on top of the mounds.

Yeojin screams in pain, despair and fear in glistening orbs that release a couple of tears. Luckily for her, no words leave her gasping mouth. Only a wince at every hit and eventually, high pitched moans.

"This is your punishment, whore! If you apologize, I'll ram something in your cunt. Do it!"

"But… but… I-I didn't do anything… I didn't do anything wrong! I—"

"That's it!"

No further warning: you raise her legs, spread her tight ass cheeks just a little and mercilessly shove the vibrator up Yeojin's puckered hole. In a shadow crushing scream, she exclaims the pain shooting up her body.

You will not leave it at that: turn on the vibrator, to turn shock and pain to a punishment of pleasure that makes her tiny frame twitch and jerk all over.

Yeojin screams in a mixture of pain and pleasure as her body is rocked by the humming of the vibrator, she starts to leak. 

"Leaking on the bed? The bed preserved for my girls? Disgusting. You're getting your juices everywhere!" 

You spank her ass with the toy still shoved in. 

"Naughty filthy bitch, staining my sheets like that."

"S-stop, please! I-I want it in here!" 

Through the uncontrollable movements of her body, Yeojin somehow manages to trace a trembling hand down her toned midriff and spread her glistening, almost spraying pussy. 

"P-plug me up!"

"No, slut!"

You spank her again, this time on the exact same spot, in a fast rhythm that makes her ass turn a deep reddish color. Yeojin sobs and cries, like she doesn't know a solution to end it.

"Apologize, you idiot! Stupid whore, it can't be this hard!"

Click. Realization kicks in. Yeojin doesn't want this to stop. She likes it too much. She loves all this rough, violent behavior you considered punishment. It's not effective, not teaching her a lesson, not showing her her place.

But it's too enjoyable for you as well.

"You're, you're rough with the other girls, but you like them. You care about them, but with me you don't have to like or care about me. I’m just a toy for you to fuck and use. Be as rough as you want with me, break me, ruin me. Please fuck my virgin pussy hole and claim it as yours and only yours!”

Her words trigger you. A fuck toy? You didn't have to keep a relationship going with her? Yeojin offers herself as nothing but a cumdump, a fleshlight for your own pleasure. Finally, she found something that spikes your interest. She might regret these words.

"I'll fill you everytime I fucking want. I don't care if you are in the mood, or tired or already full of cum. If I call, you are coming and you will kneel or bend over. You won't get kisses or cuddles, and don't even think about love. Your orgasm doesn't matter; you don't matter. Do you understand that this is the life of a fucktoy?"

Stare at her melted, needy face in devilish seriousness, before pushing the vibrator into the furthest depths of her rectum.

"If you say 'Yes, Daddy, I'll be your fucktoy slave' I'll use you as a cockwarmer, an anal cocksleeve, a slapping bag, a stress reliefer. Hell, if I want to ruin and end your career just for fun, I will. Are you desperate enough to accept it, sex toy?"

"Yes, Daddy! I'll be your fucktoy slave! I need to… I don’t care about my career, I only care about your cock, your pleasure—so fuck me! Own me, Master!”

The one hand that used to shove the vibrator in Yeojin's asshole now reaches for her throat and gives it a passionate squeeze. If her tongue was out before or came out at that exact moment is an irrelevant factor. It would have been a nice mechanism: choking leads to ahegao.

Yeojin's hands try to tear off the remains of clothing hanging on her body, but she ultimately fails. The penetration of your rock solid cockhead into her tight, unused cunt brings her entire focus to the one thing she always craved.

"Master's cock! It's filling me up!"

"Shut up, toy! Only speak when spoken to."

Not a second thought, the palm of your hand crosses her face, leaving a red imprint on the tiny, lustful face. The idol smiles through the sting, the harsh treatment of her make-up covered features, and continues her “defiance” with a wave of devoted screams.

"Mhmm, Master! Master! Fuck me harder Master, fuck me, ravage me, break me!" 

Slap after slap hits her face. She is too far gone, too broken to understand your commands. Nevertheless, you continue to drill into her. A hand spreading her legs makes it easy for your hips to push and push, with the force of a tank. Yeojin might have been a virgin seconds ago, but her pussy is slick and wet like she does get this pounding daily. These hard thrusts make you feel every inch of her insides. From lips to cervix, your cock attacks it with an unrivaled power. It's not surprising anymore that Yeojin starts to cum with shrieks and squirt. 

It motivates you to go faster, break the soundbarrier. Overstimulate her, flick her clit, she is nothing but animalistic sounds. In her eyes you see nothing resembling decency, control or human. 

Yeojin is broken. From a cute, little idol dreaming of stardom to a cockloving, mindless sex slave.

"Bitch, I'm going to fucking explode in you. Don't you let a single drop go to waste. And if I  happen to breed you, you'll carry that child like a good whore won't you?"

Yeojin nods. Or is it her head rocking back and forth from you fucking her into the bed? Her eyes flicker, tongue spills drool all over her face, depending on how her neck bends in orgasm. The tiny rest of mascara is everywhere, just like chestnut strands. 

The girl is a sweaty bundle. You pick her up, just to try a little stand and carry. You have never finished with one of the girls like this, although Hyunjin is perfect for it. However, the cat girl is visibly scared of taking you in this position, and because you care for her, it’s a pass.

For Yeojin, you don't have to care. Even if the company fires you, she will crawl to your house and serve you with her body. Even with her face, more red because of your slap then from arousal, she yearns for more and even with her completely destroyed pussy, probably hurting from being deflowered with your massive rod, Yeojin is ready for her life as your private slave.

"You're so small but you take my cock decently, you little whore. How ruined is your pussy right now? Hm? Still fucking mean what you say, my toy?"

"Hmmmm, y-yes, Master."

Yeojin squeezes out actual words through her mewls, even as her eyes roll into the back of her head. An orgasm of mind-altering dimensions. As wave after wave of galactic pleasure jolt through every cell of her tiny body, the thought of being an owned toy, a slave is connected with pure joy and satisfaction.

You continue to hold onto her small body rocking on your cock and you don't relent pumping into her pussy. As you continue to carry and fuck her, you reach for a phone and hand it to her. 

"Prove it! I want you to call someone from the company right now and tell them you'll quit your idol life to be my cocksleeve."

Yeojin's hand looks like it's lagging from all the convulses and shivering. Her orgasm is still overwhelming her, and moans from overstimulation put you further into heat. If she does it or not, it doesn't really matter to you. You will fill her with cum, until she, consequently, will be bred. 

Ironically, her body seems to fight back against the prospect of calling. When you try to start the call, the phone firmly pressed to her wet, flushed cheek, her pussy grips. A next... level of tightness makes you yelp in surprise. Scorching, like the shape of her walls are imprinted onto the skin of your throbbing cock, you still manage to start the call. How will a silly-fucked Yeojin respond properly, though?

You stop your thrusting waiting with a smirk as the phone rings and a voice of a manager picks up on the other line.

"Hello, Yeojin-ssi? Why did you call me? Is everything okay?"

"I, ahh!"

You buckle your hips and legs, while simultaneously pressing her slender body onto your shaft. A few slow, hard pumps, and Yeojin squeals and moans into the phone. Put your ear next to the phone to hear what the confused and panicking manager is saying.

"Y-Yeojin, what is happening? Are you... h-hurt?"

"F-f-fuck! I need... I want... I cum!"

With perfect timing, you pull out of Yeojin's tight pussy grip, only the tip parting her folds. Immediately, she starts crying, wide open eyes full of fear of losing what she craves the most. Her attempts on getting your cock to penetrate her slit again are erratic yet futile. Easily you hold her back. She breaks completely:

"I don't want to be an idol! I only want my Master's cock! Please, fill this needy, useless hole and use it as your toy!"

"W-what a-are you s-saying?! Yeojin, are you having s-sex right now?"

You can hear the manager heavily sweating from the other side, and if he isn't hard already, the lewd sounds of Yeojin's wet core being fucked again should do the job. 

A piercing scream later, and both you and Yeojin finally cum. Yeojin’s tightness went above what you ever expected, and so your load is pumped fully into the velvet cavern. The manager on the other side has stopped talking, but he is definitely still listening. You whisper to Yeojin:

"Tell him Yeojin, tell him what you want and why. Tell him if he doesn't execute your wishes...you'll leak to the higher ups about this call and he'll be fired....tell him what you want my slutty slave."

"I am a bitch, a cockslut, my Master's toy. I only love his cock and want to serve him. B-but if you tell the boss... I'll make you lose your job. U-understood?"

Her intimidation attempt is laughable, but with the Manager groaning on the other side and saying 'Yes, of course!' It seems that Yeojin's career might not be over. Yet.

You take the phone and end the call. Seconds later, the manager tries to call back, but you just turn off the device and look down to Yeojin playing with her folds. She spreads them apart and watches the cum slowly run out of her. Amusement, covered as rage, makes you shove three fingers into the leaking snatch and push all the white goo back in.

"Never do that again, slave! Stand up, and keep it inside yourself!"

The small woman obliges with whimpers. She waddles on her sore legs, unable to stay upright properly. Your stern eyes roam her body and stare her down. Yeojin avoids them, looking down with a lowered head, as your vicious plan unfolds.

Gravity lets the cum fall out of her, no matter how tight she is and tries not to. Tiny globs of your stickiness run down her thighs and legs to stain the carpet. In horror, she looks up, tears at the corner of her adorable eyes.

"You failed. Turn around and bend over."

You slowly rub your cock on the rim of her pussy. 

"Master, please… I need your cock!" 

"No, you deserve nothing. You deserve no pleasure, because you're a useless slave. You can't even be my slave because you're still an idol, so what good are you to me?"

"Master, I'm not an idol anymore. And, although I need your cock, I only deserve—"

Yeojin raises her hand, and with an unexpected harshness, she slaps her cute, red butt to make the new coloring seem permanent. 

"—spanks. Spank me, until I can't sit, Master. I deserve this."

"You mean you want this. Maybe I just want to leave you like this, and lure all your friends here to see you in this position, craving for nothing but my cock."

Yeojin gasps. Yet again, you found a turn on for her. She is like an open book to you, never before has someone been this easy to look through. As your fingers fondle the soft, beaten skin of her bottom, you realize the vibrator is not inside her twitching puckered hole anymore. It must have fallen out at some point during the fucking.

"Pick up the vibrator," you command, pinching her thigh for emphasis, "and shove it up your whorish ass. Only wear your skirt and top, no underwear, no bra."

Your wish is her command and through her task, you see a diligent, delightful side of Yeojin. She is ready to do everything for her Master. Maybe it's only because she doesn't know what's next.

"You actually did that well, slave. Now, for your real task: go about your day."

From below, a confused look on her face. Roll your eyes in annoyance and fiercely bunch up her hair. You guide her to the door, open it and point out into the vacant hallway. Yeojin's breathing gets heavier. You feel it as you bend down to her and make her look at you. Pull her hair painfully, then spit into her face.

"Stupid bimbo! Go about your day as usual. Let my cum drip out of your cunt, bend over to show off, moan when you are randomly alone with someone. Give them hints about how you are a slut for me. And if someone notices and tries to confront you, masturbate in front of them with your vibrator. I'll always watch you. They don't get to fuck you. You are my toy after all.

But they should see what a big slut you are. Nothing but a lusty object."

A hand on her sweaty back shoves her out onto the hallway. She is not hidden by soundproof, closed doors anymore. A tiny movement and her skirt flies upwards, revealing bare cheeks and folds. 

Yeojin stumbles. After a couple of meters, she looks over her shoulder. She looks too afraid to plea and too ashamed to walk towards one of the doors where people do their jobs, stylists, producers, idols.

Your gaze is unimpressed. After the fuck session from before, a trembling Yeojin leaves you unfazed. With a cell phone pressed to the side of your head, you wait for the person you saved at ‘1’ to respond. 

The words you whisper into the speaker barely reach Yeojin.

"Haseul, tell the girl's to come to the long hallway behind the stage.

Your maknae has something to show you."

(A/N: I know this went wild and hard, but FUCK. Yeojin makes me feral!)

[kuromitos]

May the best hero win!

[Dick Grayson x GN!Reader x Jason Todd]

Plot: what happens when two batboys have a crush on the same person? Chaos. Petty Chaos.

Note: more storyline based on my OC that I'm too nervous to share with. The reader has a hero name called 'incognito'

It was supposed to be a regular night. A typical run down of the latest mission in Gotham. But we are talking about the Wayne Family here, or should I say the batfamily, there is nothing 'normal' or 'typical' about them.

Instead of going to collect the Intel from their reliable source, like they are supposed to do, Nightwing(Dick) and Red Hood(Jason) are fighting each other on top of a rooftop. With Red Robin(Tim), the signal(Duke), Spoiler(Steph), and Robin(Damian) watching them from another rooftop and taking bets on who will win the fight. While the black bat(Cass) goes off and completes the mission.

How did we get to these events? Well, things first started earlier in the night. Batman contacted the members of his family to gather inside the Batcave for their briefing before patrol, "we have received Intel earlier in the month that shipment of a new drug is coming to Gotham in the coming week." Batman stated while pulling up the required information on the back computer.

"A new drug?" Nightwing asked, "I ain't heard anything about no new drug." Red hood said with a mad tone, his regular tone. "That's because it's technically not new." Red Robin pulled up articles and reports from his wrist computer to the bat computer for everyone to see. "It's originally a chemical used in medicine but somebody decided to use it as a base for a new drug. There have been huge reports of it in Chicago, Detroit, and Baltimore. Recently, there's been rumors of it spreading to Gotham and now it's have been confirmed."

"The problem now is we don't know where the shipments is being dropped off." Batman said, changing the info on the screen to a photo of three men. "That has only been shared privately with these men only. But we have a double agent that was able to get the location for us and going to give it to us at the usual location on top of the Lincoln bank building. " He concluded his small speech with his back to the group because he doesn't want to see their faces of annoyance from them.

"The agent is . . . . Incognito. " "UUGGGGHHHH!"

Now hearing those groans you would think that they hate or can't stand the person called 'incognito'. Quite the contrary, they love them and consider them as an extended family member. What actually causes those groans were the two guys that like incognito some much more than everyone else. So much they turned it into a petty competition.

"I'll go" "I'll go"

They both turned toward each other when hearing each other voices and glare at each other. Those glares were signs to everyone around them that this was going to all night. Especially when Duke uttered the words "not this again."

"Don't you have to be bludhaven right now? Dick. " "Don't worry about that, Jay. I settled things before coming over. What about you, huh? Shouldn't you be covering crime alley or hanging out with the outlaws?" Dick smirks at his brother's poor attempt at jabs. "Just got done with a mission, dick head. " "Then you must be tired. I'll do this little info collecting-" Jason interrupted dick with a finger shoved in his face. " Don't give me that crap. You talked to them last time. Im going this time!" " Come on Jason. I'm just looking out for you. You don't think straight when you're around them." "Better than you. At least I think with my brain here" He points at his head, "and not the one down here." Jason grabbed his private part in a vulgar manner, which got a reaction out of dick. Pissed off. He was about to retort back but he was stopped by hearing Bruce scream at them both, "Enough! " which grabbed their attention. Jason still grabbing his. . . Little hood.

"Both of you going to the meeting point, then. Whoever gets there first can collect the information. I don't care who does it, just go!" Bruce yelled at them. They both stood there for awhile before Jason run towards his motorcycle screaming 'I'm getting there first!' With Dick on his tail also screaming, 'No you won't. '

~~☆~~

That's how we got to where we started. They raced thru the city using their personal own shortcuts until they bump into each other on top of an apartment building. Both felt they won't get their private moment they wanted with the double agent of their dreams, they decided to fight the other. First one down on their back, wins.

At first simple sparring quickly turns into a full-on brawl. Going at each other for at least an hour. Neither holding back on the other. While throw petty insults at each other too.

"Dickhead"

"Blowhard"

"Man slut"

"Zombie"

They took so long on this fight the other kids stop their patrol to watch and place bets. Jason was getting the winning votes.

It looks like the fight could go on forever since neither one looks like stopping anytime soon but a certain stop them in their tracks.

"Got it." They both turns towards the voice to see black bat with a piece of paper in her hand. "Got what exactly? " Dick asked with his hand on Jason's jacket, tight in his fist. "The location. It's the docks." She jump away from the two and probably back to the big bat. Everyone else follows her, forgetting the other two men.

Hearing they lose their chance, they let each other go and awkwardly stand beside each other. Their stupid fight got in the way. They missed the person who stole their affection. All because of their petty fighting. Hopefully this would be a lesson for them both to stop this -

"First one back, can meet them on the next meet up"

"You're on. Don't blame me when you lose. "

*sigh* nevermind. They're hopeless

Sorry if they are ooc here. I hope to improve my skills soon.

I'm also might do a part two if you guys like it enough.

That's all I got. Bye for now ( ≧∀≦)ノ

[revnah1406]

Operation Kingslayer: 3/?

OCs:

Hannah "Sparrow" Clayton - @revnah1406

Alyssa "Aly" Martinez - @alypink

Mandy Macfie - @alidravana

Charlotte "Jade" le Jardin - @sleepyconfusedpotato

Captain Arjun Dhingra - @welldonekhushi

Annabelle "Gremlin" Pham - @applbottmjeens

Damien Whitlock - @kaitaiga

Captain Lachlan Jones - @kaitaiga

(so many OCs! 👀 I would thank specially to all my mutuals and people who participate in this fic to help me with the writing and their ocs! thank you so much guys. I love you so much <3)

Spotify playlist!

Warning!: This chapter contains specific violence, and a detailed description of torture methods. Non-accurate medical procedures.

(All locations and places that appear in this Fic are fictitious and based on the Ghost Recon Wildlands video game)

NOTE!: The events of Op Kingslayer take place before MW3, so there are no Spoilers. This chapter was written before the Call of Duty MW3 campaign was released. Despite the little relevance it has, you may find differences between the fic and the campaign.

<- previous chapter

The bullets flew like an intense rain of fire. The team could barely hold the position. Arjun was shot in the leg and little by little his vision began to blur due to blood loss.

"Mandy! Where the fuck are you?! We need an emergency evac now!" Aly exclaimed over the comms.

"I'm trying to! But I'm taking heavy fire! I can't get close!" Mandy responded over the radio, from her tone of voice she seemed to have problems too.

"Shit. We have to get away from here as soon as possible"

How had they ended up in a situation like this? Well the story is a bit long, but long story short, the team finally found El Yayo. He seemed to be a reasonable man and someone who could be negotiated with. After all, he was just an old coca grower trying to survive under the feet of an empire. Rodolfo Yana didn’t like the idea that his grandson Gonzalo was on his way to a federal prison in the United States. But in the end he came to his senses knowing that it was the safest place for him, away from El Sueño. He also didn’t overlook the fact that his grandson had been tortured. Jade did a great fucking job, despite the torture, Gonzalo Yana was still alive and even though he was missing some nails there would be no permanent physical damage.

Bowman managed to negotiate with El Yayo, assuring him immunity and protection from the CIA, if he collaborated with them, of course. And this is how they managed to end the first pillar: Production. Now it's the next one's turn: Influence.

El Yayo didn’t seem to have great friendships with the rest of the leaders of the Santa Blanca Cartel. But he managed to give information about the head of the pillar of Influence.

His name was Gustavo Serrano, better known as El Cardenal (The Cardinal) . He was the preacher of the Santa Blanca Cartel, the greatest devotee of La Santa Muerte. He was also one of El Sueño's closest advisors. Gustavo Serrano was in charge of the propaganda and philanthropy strategy of El Sueño, and he is the one who gives the sermons on the radio and in the churches of Santa Blanca. As responsible for its public image, he encouraged El Sueño to participate in charitable events and develop educational and humanitarian activities for NGOs.

And if they managed to catch El Cardenall and make him talk. Maybe they got a direct pass to El Sueño. The interesting thing about El Cardenall is that deep down he was a good guy. He tried to do charity work to help Bolivians, build schools and churches, but neither the church nor the politicians were going to help him. He was aware of the damage caused by the cartel, but he believed that all the good he could do would outweigh the bad...

In summary, El Cardenal wasn’t really a cocaine drug trafficker, just someone who wanted to spread the word of God and La Santa Muerte. And in a way, maybe the team underestimated him a little bit.

How did they find it? Well, that was a masterpiece on Aly's part. Thanks to the information Sparrow got from that cocaine lab. Aly found a large network of trafficking in people and especially children, which extended throughout South America. Aly made this information public on social networks, using fake profiles. Staining the history of the Santa Blanca cartel.

All this scandal forced El Cardenal to come out of hiding and hold a mass in the Church of Santa Blanca in the Malca region. To explain to the people that child trafficking was pure lies and false rumors.

The team thought they had El Cardenal by the balls. That they could capture that bastard before he said mass but everything went wrong too quickly. In the blink of an eye the church and the entire city of Malca had been filled with Narcos armed to the teeth ready to shoot down anyone who looked suspicious. El Cardenl was nowhere to be found and their chances of making it out alive were significantly reduced.

"Shit Aly! Keep your head down!" Sparrow forced Aly to lower her head. Before a burst of gunfire could hit her. Alyssa was too busy looking for possible escape routes and getting to the extraction point without being gunned down.

Sparrow didn’t hesitate to counterattack by shooting in that direction. The entire team was behind a barricade of ruins and debris caused by the explosions and grenades. Jade and Sparrow held the position, shooting any mercenary or narco who got too close or dared to stick their head out for more than two seconds.

Arjun gave orders while putting pressure on the leg. The captain grunted as he tried to get up but fell back to the ground. His leg didn't respond.

"Sir, you should stop moving. You will bleed to death if you continue like this!" Sparrow looked away for a moment to look at his captain.

"Keep your eyes on the firefight, Sergeant." Arjun ordered groaning. He was in a terrible mood at that moment. He had his reasons, he was about to captureEl Cardenal, he was a few meters away, everything seemed to be going perfectly, until a sniper bullet pierced his leg. And that's when the chaos began.

Aly hurriedly approached Arjun to try to make a tourniquet around Arjun's leg.

"Shit! They're surrounding us!" Jade exclaimed when she saw more armed vehicles appearing behind them. "Fuck!"

"Jade! Take care of those vehicles. Sparrow hold position!" Arjun ordered grabbing a grenade from his vest and throwing it right under one of the cars.

"Shit..." Hannah turned away for a moment. All that was chaos. It was practically impossible for them to come out alive. At least all of them.

Adrenaline coursed through his veins, his pupils dilated taking in everything that was happening. Jade shooting at any enemy that moved, sweat sticking her red locks to her forehead. It was clear that she was exhausted. They had been like this for hours, and since they arrived in Bolivia they didn’t have a single day of rest. Aly seemed to be on the edge. On the verge of collapsing, no matter how much she searched on her mobile device and maps for escape routes, she couldn't find anything. She tried to contact Mandy but there was no response. And if that was enough, she also had to help Arjun with that injury. Damn, Arjun. He was bleeding to death. The blood coming from his leg was beginning to create a worryingly large puddle.

Hannah had to do something. If She didn't do anything…they would all die.

"Fuck..." Sparrow closed her eyes trying to think.

"Hey sergeant." Arjun called her after a few minutes of silence. "Can I ask you something?"

Sparrow opened her eyes. She realized that she was sitting on the edge of a cliff near the safe house. It was night, the full moon was shining in all its splendor high in the sky. Everything was silent except for the crickets and insects around. Sparrow looked down at the abyss that the cliff provided, a drop of several dozen meters, full of rocks, stones and dirt.

They had returned from detonating a cocaine warehouse and now they had to rest, at least a couple of hours. But Sparrow couldn't sleep and decided to go out for some air. Apparently the captain soon noticed her absence and went in search of her. When he found her, they were both sitting there, looking at the moon and having deep conversations, about their dreams, ideals or simply things from the past.

"What is it about sir?" Sparrow asked, confused.

Arjun looked at his sergeant for a few seconds.

"What do you think is the hardest decision you've ever made?" He asked with his eyes fixed on the landscape.

Sparrow thought for a bit and then smiled sadly.

"Cut the rope."

Arjun looked at her without understanding what she was talking about.

"Cut the rope?"

Sparrow nodded. "It's the hardest decision for any climber." She sighed as she swung her boots that were hanging from the cliff. "When you have to climb, it’s better to do it with someone. If something happens to you, your partner can help you and save your life. Normally when climbing, both have to be connected with a rope. If one of them slips and falls, the other will be able to hold it. But…” She paused and looked at the moon. "Imagine that when your partner falls, he hits his head on the ice or rock and is unconscious and very badly injured. His body is hanging from the rope that you are holding and you aren’t able to lift him up. If your partner were conscious and in good shape you could both do it. But being alone? No, impossible. Then you stay there, with your half-dead partner hanging from a rope that you are holding. You won't be able to hold it forever, you will end up getting tired and you will both die, both of you falling. into the void or dead from the cold. So the decision is... Will you cut the rope? Would you cut it to save yourself? You know that if you don't cut it you will both die. But if you cut it you will kill your partner."

Arjun thought for a few moments and nodded. He seemed to understand the situation. Being alone up there, with your friend's life and yours in your hands.

"Did you cut the rope?" Arjun asked.

Hannah pursed her lips and looked at her boots. She unconsciously stroked the scars on her face.

"On K2... Before the avalanche hit me and my brother. I cut the rope. If the avalanche was going to hit me, I didn't want my brother to be swept away too. I didn't think about it much. I cut the rope to sacrifice myself and save my brother. Let's say that... I was the injured companion and my brother was the one holding the rope. And I made the decision for him. I accepted my fate and decided to die alone on that mountain."

"I understand."

There was another long silence.

"Sir," Sparrow looked at her captain this time decisively, "if it’s necessary. For the good of the entire team. Don’t hesitate, and cut the rope."

Arjun didn't know what to answer. He was very capable of giving his life for the team, but… sacrificing one member of the team to save the rest? He didn't know if he was capable of giving an order like that.

Sparrow opened her eyes decisively. She knew what she had to do. She took out her sniper rifle and handed it to Aly, who was clearly very confused.

"Hannah what...?"

"Jade, I need you to do me a favor!"

Just then, the redhead took cover behind the wall while reloading.

"What is it about?!" She asked, shooting again.

"I have to get to that armored truck!" she pointed to a vehicle that had a turret attached to the roof of the truck. "I need you to cover my back. I'll use the turret to divert their attention!"

"Hannah…what are you talking about?!" Jade asked worriedly. What was she up to? Whatever it was, it was suicide.

"Aly. Have you found an escape route?"

Aly checked the maps once again "huh… yes, from the south-east we can reach the forest and lose them off among the trees." She said pointing to a road on the map, not sure if that was the most appropriate route, but there was no time to confirm it.

Arjun sat up leaning his back against the wall.

"Sergeant. What are you up to…?" Arjun didn't like what Sparrow was trying to do.

"I'm going to cause a distraction. I'll use the turret to take out most of the enemies and–"

"No." Arjun interrupted her. He had a dead serious expression. "And leave you behind? Have you gone crazy?!"

"Sir, it's the only way for you to get out of here alive."

"There has to be another one. Hannah, we can't leave you here alone. They'll kill you!" Aly grabbed Sparrow's shoulder as she shook her head repeatedly.

It broke Hannah's heart to see her friend like this. But that wasn't going to make her back down, she was willing to do whatever was necessary to move them forward.

"I can't let you die here Aly…" Sparrow put his hand on Alyssa's.

"Sparrow." 

Arjun grabbed Sparrow by one of the straps of her vest and pulled it until Sparrow looked him in the eyes.

"Listen to me soldier, open those fucking ears because I'm not going to repeat it again." The tone of voice Arjun used and his piercing eyes were able to make Sparrow break out in a sweat. Oh, the captain was pissed. "Follow my fucking orders. Hold your position and don't even think about doing anything crazy of yours." Arjun couldn't believe that Sparrow would take such a drastic decision. "Can't you trust your fucking team?! Are you that selfish?!"

"Fuck the orders!" Sparrow couldn't bear to watch his captain bleeding out on that floor for another minute.

Sparrow swallowed and grabbed Arjun's wrist, which was holding her tightly by her vest. She showed determination and hid the nervousness caused by her angry superior. "It's not about selfishness or distrust. I trust this team can get out of here alive without me, I trust you can kill that bald son of a bitch."

She tightened her grip making Arjun divert his attention to Hannah's hand.

"Captain…"

Arjun looked his sergeant in the eyes again.

"You have to cut the rope."

Arjun gritted his teeth and closed his eyes, the mere thought of leaving Sparrow behind made his chest ache. "No. I'm not going to do that."

"You have to do it. We have to sacrifice something to save something even greater."

"Hannah..." Jade interjected. She had a worried and serious expression. What her friend was saying was completely crazy. Jade shook her head.

Sparrow rested his hand on the former MI6 agent's shoulder, "I need you to cover my back so I can reach that vehicle."

Jade frowned and shook her head determinedly, "I'm not going to send you to the gates of hell, Han."

"You have to do it. I'm not going to die, not today. I won't give those sons of bitches that pleasure. I'll just be a little late."

Jade sighed and looked away. She knew Sparrow was a tough nut to crack.

"Don't even think about dying halfway, Sparrow."

"With you covering my back? I doubt it."

Both women shook hands, like two Spartans ready for war. Jade nodded determinedly.

Aly took out a small locator from one of her vest pockets and placed it inside Sparrow's vest. She hit Hannah's chest with her fist and took a deep breath.

"I'm going to find you."

"I know you will, you always do."

Sparrow looked at her captain determinedly.

"I await orders sir."

Arjun looked at his team. Even though he didn't say it out loud, he was proud of that team. He looked at Sparrow, she had that determined look, ready for anything. Arjun understood, he had to cut the rope. But he no longer feared for his sergeant.

"If you die I'm going to go down to hell and drag you here. And I won't be merciful."

Sparrow chuckled and patted Arjun's shoulder.

"You'll have to get out of here alive first, sir."

"Do you think I'm that weak, Sergeant?"

Sparrow laughed and shook her head.

"Negative, sir."

Arjun sighed and nodded.

"Jade, get ready. Aly, help me up. Sparrow, on my signal."

Jade and Sparrow nodded. Aly helped Arjun up while he grabbed his rifle.

Everyone was in position. Ready and waiting for the captain's signal. Arjun threw a flashbang grenade and waited for it to detonate.

"NOW!"

Sparrow jumped over the barricade with agility, Jade hurried to take cover and shoot any enemy that had not been affected by the flashbang.

Hannah ran with all her might, shooting anyone who got in her way. Jade's bullets flew near her, but never hit her. The narcos fell on Sparrow's feet.

The sergeant reached the armored vehicle, jumped on the hood and then onto the roof of the truck. She stood behind the turret.

"In position! Come on, get out of here!"

Sparrow used the turret against the enemies. Shooting at anyone in sight, no one was able to get close to where the team was.

"Let's go!" Jade exclaimed, giving the signal to Aly to help Arjun get up and run away from there.

The plan worked. The Narcos turned their attention to Sparrow. She devastated anyone who got in her way.

The team managed to flee and move away to a safe distance, eventually entering the forest. Between Jade and Aly they managed to carry Arjun.

"I have your visual!" Mandy's voice sounded over the communicator while the noise of a helicopter was heard nearby.

"Macfie! Are you okay?! What's your status?" Aly responded worriedly.

"The helicopter has received some damage but will hold up for extraction. Sparrow may have to take a look at the engine."

A silence fell on the team. Jade and Aly looked at each other, Arjun simply closed his eyes in frustration and tried to bear the pain in his leg.

"There is a clearing about a kilometer to the east of our position." Arjun spoke over the communications, "Wait for us there."

"Roger."

Jade suddenly stopped, causing the rest of the team to do so as well. She looked back, her eyes lost as the wind swayed her red locks.

"What happened?" Aly asked.

"There aren’t more gunshots..."

____________

"Shit." Arjun exclaimed through gritted teeth as Mandy finished removing the bullet from his leg.

"You've been very lucky, sir. You're going to limp for a few days but it won't be a big problem. I'll bring the painkillers from the medicine cabinet." Mandy reported after stitching up the wound.

"It's not the first time I've been shot. I'll be fine." Arjun sat on the side of the helicopter.

The team was trying to recover in the clearing where they had agreed to meet. The helicopter had suffered serious damage but appeared to still be able to fly. Mandy knew how to pilot gracefully through all that hell.

Jade had gone out to explore the surroundings, to make sure they hadn't been followed. While Aly tried to use the computer to locate Sparrow.

"Mierda. There's no signal..." Aly cursed after trying several times. "We need to move places. I can't find Sparrow here."

"She'll be fine. She can handle herself well." Mandy commented.

Arjun was still deep in thought, debating whether they could have found a better solution.

"You guys made quite a mess back there huh?" An unknown voice appeared.

Without thinking twice the team raised their weapons in the direction of that voice.

The unknown man raised his hands.

"If I were you I wouldn't pull the trigger."

Suddenly a bunch of Bolivian guerrillas came out of the bushes. Surrounding the helicopter, aiming their rifles at them.

"If you know how to count... you will know that you are at a clear disadvantage." The man lowered his hands.

Aly frowned.

"Eres Pac Katari ¿verdad?" (You're Pac Katari, right?)

Aly recognized the man Laswell mentioned at the bar and then Bowman at the first briefing. Aly had found little information about him. He knew how to hide his tracks very well.

"Veo que has hecho tu trabajo, chica.." (I see you've done your job, kid) The man began to walk towards them. "Then you'll know we're on the same side."

Suddenly all the guerrillas turned around, upset, looking towards the tree line. Pointing in all directions, shouting orders but not really knowing where to aim.

A red dot appeared on Pac Katari's back. There was a sniper, somewhere hidden in the trees, aiming for the heart of the leader of the rebel forces.

"I decide if we are on the same side." Arjun spoke seriously.

Pac Katari turned to see the red dot that was now pointed at his chest. He laughed lightly.

"If your sniper shoots, my men will kill you all"

"If my sniper shoots. We'll cut off the head of a snake." Arjun corrected him with a stone attitude. He wasn’t going to let himself be trampled on by an amateur guerrilla fighter.

"That snake can be a very good ally if you let it live"

"What can a snake offer but bites and poison?"

"It can offer information. Valuable."

Arjun pondered for a moment. He couldn't trust that man, not even a little bit. But as much as it angered him to admit it, they needed help, the team was at a dead end.

"What is it about?"

"First order your sniper to stop aiming."

"No." Arjun responded quickly and firmly.

Pac Katari sighed in defeat.

"It’s hard for you to trust huh? And I respect that. Bowman already told me about you." He slowly put his hand in his pocket, which upset the entire team who adjusted their grip on their weapons. "It's okay. I'm just going to take out my cell phone." The man reported.

Pac Katari took out a cell phone and showed a photo. Because of the distance they couldn't see very well what it was about. Arjun looked at Aly for a second and nodded.

Aly approached slowly, lowering her gun but still holding it. When she arrived next to the guerrilla, she looked at the photo he showed her. Aly frowned, feeling a whirlwind of emotions rise from the pit of her stomach.

"What is it about Alyssa?" Arjun asked, when he saw how his partner's expression changed drastically.

"It's about Sparrow." Aly didn't look away from the photograph.

"Your Sergeant is alive." Pac Katari informed, looking at Arjun with a serious expression.

The photograph showed Sparrow kneeling, with her hands raised. Surrounded by drug traffickers who pointed their weapons at her. But that wasn’t the most worrying thing.

"She has been captured by El Cardenall and… El Sueño." Aly couldn't believe it. The man they were looking for, the man they had to put a bullet in his head... they had him so close... And now that piece of shit had Sparrow hostage, pointing at her head with a gun. El Cardenal seemed to have a victorious smile on his lips.

"Vishta..." (shit...) Arjun cursed in Marathi.

"I propose a deal, Captain." Pac Katari spoke again "We both have the same goal: End the Santa Blanca cartel. We can help each other."

The captain thought for a moment. Weighing the options, the pros and cons, the risks and benefits.

"You have the strength and the skills. I have the knowledge and the necessary men." Pac Katari continued.

"We have to go after her, sir." Mandy spoke.

"I know."

"What do we do?"

"We need a plan. And more soldiers..." Arjun's mood only worsened. He tried to handle the situation as best he could, take care of his subordinates and achieve the objective. "We have to contact 141."

Arjun sighed and with the help of Mandy got up.

"I'll tell you what we'll do." Arjun spoke in an authoritative tone. Straightening his back and lifting his chin. Showing who was in charge. "You will have our services. We will help you in your fight against the cartel. In exchange we want resources, ammunition, radios, vehicles, information and protection." Arjun approached Pac Katari, imposing his height. "If you show me even the slightest suspicion of treason. I'll have my sniper pull the trigger while you sleep." Arjun threatened in a chilling tone.

"In exchange for El Sueño’s head? I can offer you much more." Paco Katari offered his hand.

Arjun looked at the hand for a few seconds and then looked towards the tree line. But not in the direction where the sniper's red dot came from, but in the direction of one of the guerrillas' flanks.

"That's enough! You can stop aiming."

Noises were heard in the bushes, a dark figure emerged from the trees. The frightened guerrillas turned towards the silhouette.

Jade came out of the trees still carrying the sniper. And with a look that was capable of making any guerrilla who was nearby retreat.

"Do you have more than one sniper?" Pac Katari asked

Arjun looked over his shoulder at him, "no."

That's right, Jade used the laser sight of her weapon as a decoy to make them believe she was hiding behind them. But she was really aiming from one of the flanks. Waiting for Arjun's signal to open fire if the situation got complicated. The guerrillas wouldn’t know where they would be attacked.

The snake had fallen into the jaws of the lion without knowing it.

Jade approached Aly and Mandy. She nodded to both of them in greeting.

"The perimeter is secured too. How are things going around here?"

"It seems they are negotiating the terms of a deal." Aly mentioned.

"Arjun’s angry." Mandy added.

"We all are." Jade sighed.

Arjun spoke for a few more minutes, with the leader of the rebel forces. Until he decided to return to his team.

"And?" Mandy asked.

"We have a deal."

___________

"Be careful with that! Can't you see that the blades are delicate?!" Mandy was trying to keep an eye on the guerrillas who were in charge of fixing the damage to the helicopter. "Jesus Christ... Sparrow would have fixed the helo in half the time..." Mandy murmured, placing both hands on her hips.

She sighed and looked around. The place where they were was incredible. She would never think that a place like that could be the base of operations for the rebel forces.

It was like a small town inside a mountain. A huge cave that had no roof, a huge hole where there were supposed to be huge rocks. It was like a hollow mountain with a huge hole through which sunlight came in, allowing vegetation and trees to grow inside. There were small wooden houses and cabins on the stones, walkways and bridges that connected them to each other. A stream crossed the cave and came out like a waterfall that fell who knows where.

It was the perfect lair.

Mandy still remembered how bad it was to get the helicopter down there. The hole was big but if a helicopter blade hit the rock, it could be fatal. But Mandy was too good to make a mistake like that.

She heard footsteps. She turned and saw Arjun approaching.

"How's your leg?" Mandy asked as she saw him limp towards her.

"It hurts like hell. But I can walk."

"It's an unusual place isn't it?" Mandy commented as the captain reached her side.

"It is. Although it’s a very good place to hide, I have to admit. There are families here, everyone helps each other. They are better organized than I thought." Arjun sighed.

"Mhm..." Mandy nodded. "How are things going there?"

"You don't want to know... Alyssa is angry."

Mandy raised her eyebrows "then I was right to stay out here."

"You're right…"

While inside one of the largest cabins, the one that was used to organize the operations of the rebel forces. Aly walked from one side to the other, nervous, furious.

"Aly, love. I understand your situation but–" Price tried to stay calm.

"But what, John?!" Aly put both her hands on her hips looking at the screen where the video call was running.

Price pursed his lips and shook his head, pacing the briefing room. When his wife got like that it was difficult to reason with her.

"It was her decision. She assumed the consequences, she knew she was going to be alone in this." Price was beginning to lose patience. He had been arguing with his wife for a long time, he wasn’t able to make her understand his situation. Price had water up to his neck, flooded with shit. He already had enough problems, and now Aly added one more.

 "Are you really telling me this?!" Aly approached the computer, placing both hands on the table, she was about to tear off a piece of the furniture with just her nails.

"I can't be in two places at once."

"Sparrow is your sergeant. She is part of the 141." Aly emphasized the last word.

Price sighed and looked away. He knew where that speech was going to go.

On the other hand, Jade was behind Aly, with her arms crossed listening to the conversation. She shared a look with Ghost who was in the same situation with Price. Listening and observing.

Jade showed a small smile of compassion towards Ghost. It was an awkward moment for both of them. Jade didn't even know when the atmosphere had gotten so heated. Simon nodded slightly without moving from his spot, also not really knowing what to do. But intervening was the last option. They both knew their difference of opinions. Ghost was in favor of Price, the 141 had too many problems currently. Hannah wasn't an idiot, she knew what she had gotten herself into and what the consequences were. But Jade thought differently, she wasn't going to abandon her friend. They were going to find her, no matter what, with or without Price's help.

"Jonathan Price! Look at me when I talk to you!" Aly caught his attention again.

Price pursed his lips and took a deep breath. Reconnecting his gaze with Aly.

"I know you didn't choose Sparrow personally. She's not as close to you as Soap, Gaz or Ghost. But she's still your sergeant, she's still one of your subordinates." Aly continued talking, trying to control her anger. She still couldn't believe that Price had refused to help. That really made her angry and disappointed. "You were able to do all that for Laswell. When you found out that Kate had been kidnapped you were able to burn the entire world to save her."

"Aly..." Price sighed.

"Don't start John. You know damn well I'm right." Aly struggled to maintain her composure, a lump beginning to form in her throat. Anger had turned into helplessness. For having to crawl like that and ask for help because she felt like she wasn't capable of protecting her team. That she couldn't protect her friend. "You were able to do all that for Laswell and now you're going to stand by while they slowly kill Sparrow in a chair?"

Price listened to Aly's voice gradually break. And that broke his soul. He knew that both women were very close, they had been through a lot of shit together. Hell, Sparrow had helped Aly with the pregnancy, and even when Price was on mission, Sparrow had stayed with Aly to help raise Lily. Even when Hannah was still recovering from injuries from her accident in the mountains and couldn't go with the 141, she was there, helping Alyssa take care of her daughter.

"My hands are tied, Aly…" Price had a tired, even helpless expression. John wanted to do something, if it were up to him they would already be on their way to Bolivia. But the situation was different from when Laswell was kidnapped, very different.

Aly could see it, she knew that what Price was going through was also hard, very hard. But Aly had to try anything to save Hannah. She wouldn't forgive him if he didn't do anything about it. She shared a look with Jade. Charlotte had a look of concern for her friend. Aly looked mentally exhausted. Jade was too, but she had to stay strong. For Aly, for the team.

"If your hands are tied then find someone who has their hands free." Aly looked back at the screen.

Price knew who she was talking about.

"They are a bit far away. It will take them a while to get to Bolivia."

"You're old friends right? He'll listen to you."

He finally sighed.

"I'll make a call." Price nodded, not very convinced. That was a big favor to ask without warning.

"Good. We'll keep in touch, over." Aly hung up the call without even saying goodbye.

The room fell silent. Price sighed. He was cornered, Makarov, Shepherd, Sparrow… Every time he felt like he had less hair on his head. He felt Ghost's silent gaze on his back. He knew Ghost would support him in this, he wasn't so sure about the rest.

"I need a fucking smoke." Price murmured, patting Ghost's shoulder and ready to leave the base.

When the fresh air from outside hit his face he felt like he could breathe again. He hated arguing with Aly, he always had. He would probably have to sleep on the couch for a while.

He took out a cigar and placed it between his lips, lit it and took a long drag. Feeling the nicotine run through his veins. He watched the place, how the world revolved around him, ignoring what was happening.

"I sense that the conversation hasn't gone very well." Laswell's voice brought him out of his thoughts.

"You sense well."

"You told her no." Kate stated.

"With the bloody mess we have here… I think it would be worse for them if we go there. We can't risk their mission anymore, we can't bring our shit to them."

"You haven't told her then."

"I didn't want to worry her anymore. She's had enough with Sparrow." Price responded by taking another drag of the cigar.

Laswell sighed, took out a cigarette, and Price offered her the lighter. She nodded in thanks, taking a drag as well.

"I got her into this." Laswell shook the cigarette lightly to knock the ash onto the floor.

"You didn't force her. It was her decision." Price justified. "Sparrow is all grown up."

"Now you defend her? A month ago you flatly refused to give up Sparrow for this operation." Laswell raised an eyebrow.

"Well..." Price smoked a little more "You know how Sparrow is, she would have gone even if I forbade him."

"That's true."

There was silence. Finally Price grunted and threw the cigar to the ground.

"What are you going to do?" Laswell asked.

"Place a call to Australia. You take care of calling Sergeant Pham."

Aly was right. Hannah was his soldier, he had known her since Task Force 141 was formed years ago, and she may not have been one of his chosen ones but they went through hell and back on more than one occasion. So he wasn't going to sit idly by and do nothing. If his hands were tied, he'd find someone with his hands free who could break that bastard of El Sueños' nose. That was personal.

"I don't think Anna is up to it John."

"It's Sparrow who's tied to a damn chair. She'll accept it."

______________

The curtains were drawn. There was almost no sunlight coming in. It was noon and she still hadn't gotten out of bed. So that? She didn't want to face the world, and the world wasn't going to care one bit about what she was going through. The world could go on fucking spinning without her. Fuck the world. She could also roll over in bed. Trying not to let her thoughts flood her with another existential crisis, she spent the day sleeping so she didn't have to think and even then, she found herself terribly tired.

The overwhelming silence of her room was interrupted by the buzzing vibration of her phone. Damn she thought she had turned it off. She lifted her face from the pillow and checked who the hell was calling her.

Her eyes tried to adjust to the brightness of the screen when she could finally read the name that appeared.

"What?" She was confused, why was she calling her? In the end she picked up the call and put the cell phone to her ear. "Yeah?"

"Anna?" Laswell's voice came over the phone's small speaker.

"That's me..." Annabelle sighed and rolled over on the bed, staying in the middle looking at the ceiling.

She didn't seem to want to talk much. Where was her endless energy? That pyromaniac gremlin attitude. Where was it? Probably under all that mountain of dirty and used tissues.

"It's urgent. I need you to get equipped and prepare. I'll send you the plane ticket and the exact coordinates." Laswell began to explain.

"Wait wait. Just a moment" Anna frowned and pinched the bridge of her nose. "What are you talking about?"

A sigh was heard from Laswell. She seemed tired, was it something very serious?

"It's about Sparrow."

"Birdie? But wasn't she on a super secret mission in Bolivia with Jade and the rest?"

There was a pause.

"She has been kidnapped. The team lost contact with her more than 24 hours ago."

"What?!" Anna sat up suddenly. "Are you sure about that?!"

Suddenly a feeling of worry washed over her. One of her closest friends was in danger, and she was there. Rolling around in bed non-stop.

"We have visual evidence. She has been seen as a hostage." Laswell explained.

"Shit, biride..." Anna rubbed her face with her free hand.

"I know. But there's no time to waste. The team needs reinforcements, and the 141 is up to their necks in shit, so you're joining the 2nd Commando Regiment, as soon as possible."

"With the Aussies?" Anna asked, "Has Price called his old friend again?"

"He's in it. You know it's hard for him to ask that man for favors. They're like brothers."

Anna nodded as if Laswell could see her. Then she sighed.

"Alright, I'll do it."

"Great. I'll send you the details and exact coordinates. I'll also keep you informed about the team and reinforcements."

The conversation lasted a little longer. Anna asked about the task force. Especially for Gaz, his brother of another blood. She really missed them but her situation was complicated.

In the end she said goodbye to Laswell and hung up the call, remaining silent in that dark room. Then she looked to the side. Towards one of the corners of the room. The luggage bag, with all her gear and clothes completely disorganized and lying around.

Anna groaned and got out of bed.

"Fuck, Hannah..."

_________

Laughter filled his ears. His two daughters were playing and prancing in the park. Enjoying that weekend with his father. Not every weekend they could spend it with him.

Ava, the eldest daughter, about thirteen years old, was chasing Mia, her eight-year-old little sister. It wasn’t cold that afternoon in Perth, the sun warmed the grass and there were no clouds in the sky.

Even the stoic Captain Lachlan Jones smiled as he watched his daughters play and laugh. Those small moments are what he treasured most, those moments of calm. It was like entering a paradise inside a bubble, to recharge his batteries and return to hell later. But Lachlan didn't want to think about that. He was sitting on a bench enjoying the sun while supervising his girls.

When they were tired of playing he would buy them each an ice cream. And maybe for him too.

"Oi! Come on dad! Come play with us!" Ava called to her father, waving her hand in the air.

Lachlan's smile widened a little more and he raised his hand, signaling that he'd better stay on the bench.

Mia complained when she saw that her father wasn’t paying attention to them.

"Don't be a grumpy old fart! Come on! Come play with us!" Ava insisted even more.

Lachlan sighed and stood up. He couldn't say no to his daughters. Both girls laughed excitedly and happily, but just as Lachlan stood up his phone started ringing.

Ava's smile faded a little as she watched her Father pick up the call and start talking to someone.

"Who's calling Dad?" Mia asked.

"Dunno..." Ava frowned trying to listen to the conversation but her father was too far away to hear.

She saw Lachlan shake his head several times, sigh, pinch the bridge of his nose, and frown. Ava didn't like where this was going.

Lachlan's expression showed discontent. But after a long conversation and arguing he ended up agreeing. He had given in to something and neither Mia nor Ava had any idea what it was. But they wouldn’t like it. 

He approached his daughters with a serious expression.

"What's up, dad?" Ava asked worriedly.

Lachlan thought for a moment what to say.

"Dad’s got work." He said it in the softest tone possible.

Suddenly the expression of both girls changed to one of disappointment.

"But how come? you promised we'd spend the weekend together!" Ava complained.

Lachlan pursed his lips and nodded. He knelt in front of his daughters so he could be at their height.

"I know love... and I'm so sorry." Lachlan tucked one of her locks of hair behind Ava's ear. "I promise to make it up to you when I get back."

Both girls were insisting to their father for a long time. But Lachlan could no longer change his mind. He had accepted. He couldn't turn back anymore.

Lachlan ended up taking his two daughters to his ex-wife's house. Both girls complained non-stop about their father's work and the little time he spent with them.

Lachlan sighed as he drove. His head was starting to hurt. His daughters had a lot of perseverance and too much energy.

"If you keep quiet I'll convince your mother to buy you ice cream when you get home."

"Chocolate ice cream?" Ava asked.

"Yes…"

Mia and Ava looked at each other for a few seconds, silently discussing whether it was a good offer.

"Deal."

They ended up arriving at Lachlan's ex-wife's house.

An incredibly beautiful woman answered the door, tall, with long blonde hair. With a lioness gaze on her face.

The woman looked at the girls and then at Lachlan.

"Has something happened?" She asked, confused.

Both girls went inside the house.

"Ask dad!"

The woman looked at her daughters and then at Lachlan. She tried to understand what was happening but soon discovered it in her ex-husband's eyes. She sighed and closed her eyes.

"You’ve been called in, yeah?"

Lachlan nodded slightly.

"Sorry. It's an emergency that—"

The blonde woman raised a hand stopping the captain's excuses.

"You don't have to tell me anything. It's not my heart you’re breaking, it’s theirs." The woman had a stoic attitude like her ex-partner.

Lachlan glanced at his daughters who were already sitting on the living room couch with long faces. He snorted a little sadly, but didn't show it.

"I know…" Lachlan replied. "Breaks mine too."

They both looked at each other for a few long seconds. Without saying anything. Expressions that said nothing but that hid deeply buried feelings, and that for the good of both of them, should remain that way.

Damn, that was the most beautiful woman Lachlan had ever seen. No matter how hard he tried, that look always managed to awaken his stone heart. He still loved her, that was clear. But he didn't want to complicate things more for her.

So he put on his cap and cleared his throat a little.

"I'd better go."

"Yes. You have work to do. As always."

Lachlan pursed his lips and hid his gaze behind his cap. He turned to leave, but his ex-wife's voice stopped him.

"Just…" she hesitated for a moment whether to say it or not, "be careful. And… come back in one piece."

Lachlan didn't know what to say. He was mesmerized by her eyes.

"Our daughters need a father. I can't do all the work alone." The woman looked away.

Lachlan gave a small smile and nodded.

"Yeah, ‘course."

The woman nodded, and also smiled slightly. Almost imperceptible, but Lachlan knew it was there.

In the end Lachlan left. Leaving his family behind once again, so he could do his duty. For a few seconds his heart sank, it always hurt him to leave everything, to stop being a father and become the captain from B Company of the 2nd Commando Regiment again.

But as soon as he got into his car, his stoic personality returned. He grabbed his phone and called someone.

A phone rang on the other side of Australia.

A young man was fixing the engine of one of the farm's tractors. It seemed to make strange noises. He had his hands inside the engine when he heard his phone ringing somewhere in the garage.

"Fuuuck me, the fuck is it?" Damien growled morosely. The tractor was giving him problems.

He got out of the tractor and walked to the work table, where his cell phone was. He kicked some tools that were laying on the floor while he wiped the motor oil from his hands with a dirty rag. He slung the rag over his shoulder and answered the phone.

"Yeah? What?"

"Whitlock." His captain's voice was heard on the other end of the line.

"Boss?" Damien asked, confused. Lachlan didn't usually call unless it was extremely important.

"Listen, I know we just got back from a mission but…" Lachlan began to tell his sergeant the situation.

Damien walked out of the garage listening to what Lachlan had to say, breathing in fresh air, looking out over the farm and the fields. The sun was beginning to set on the horizon. A chicken that had probably escaped from the coop was pacing and pecking around Damien's boots.

Then Damien frowned.

"Hey? Didya just say that Hannah has been kidnapped? Sparrow? The Sparrow we know? Our bird? From 141?"

"Deadset."

"Fuck me dead…." Damien massaged his forehead. "She always ends up gettin’ into trouble like this, her and her reckless decisions."

"Well, reminds me of a certain someone, ay..?" Lachlan responded wryly. Knowing perfectly well that Damien was just like Sparrow or even worse.

Damien chuckled. "Bugger off! You're exaggeratin’, sir."

Then he sighed and his expression became serious again. He looked at the ground, at the chicken that was walking around without a care in the world. Damien and Sparrow were close friends, damn, almost like siblings. Since what happened to his best friend Daniel, Sparrow has been the closest thing to a best friend that he had, Alyssa was too, but Sparrow was the one who followed him in all his craziness. Aly was there to scold them every time. 

He touched his shoulder where he had the gunshot wound. An old scar from a couple of years ago. That afternoon in Afghanistan, the ambush, the sniper. Daniel died in front of him, trying to heal Damien's wound. And he could do nothing but be dragged away from him. It was incredible how quickly your life slipped through your fingers. One second you're alive and the next you have a bullet inside your brain.

Damien remembered how much the death of his best friend hurt. Damn he still hadn't even recovered yet, despite the years. And to think that the same thing could happen with Sparrow made him sick to his stomach. Hell, maybe he wouldn't be able to get back up from a second hit.

Damien clicked his tongue. He had returned home just less than a week ago. And now he had to return to the battlefield. But for Sparrow he would go to hell and back. She would do the same for him.

"When we headin’ off?" Damien asked.

"Now. Grab your shit, we're goin’ ‘gainst the clock."

"Rog.".

_______________

"Anna." Lachlan called her. "Your turn."

The woman nodded and stood in front of the armored door. She placed the explosive charge and activated it.

"We're going to blow up this fucking building." Anna murmured with a smile on her face.

"Oi, this is gonna upset all the fucking drug dealers in the building and for miles around." Damien whispered, looking down the dark hallway they had come down.

"I didn't think you were a coward Damo." Anna raised an eyebrow and smiled as she finished preparing the explosive charge.

"I’d like to get back to the HQ in one piece." Damien counterattacked, narrowing his eyes.

"And you will! You just have to trust me. And this beauty right here." Anna finished off the explosive.

"They’re gonna catch us with our pants down and they’re gonna leave us like strainers if you lot don't shut up." Lachlan scolded them both. Damien and Anna had been arguing like siblings since they started the mission. And both the sergeants were starting to get on Lachlan's nerves.

Arjun sighed, trying to stay calm. This whole situation tenses his muscles and stresses him out too much. Arjun could swear he was starting to lose his hair because of the stress. He just wanted to get Sparrow out of there alive. Hell, he didn't even know if Sparrow was still alive. But he would soon find out.

The team had infiltrated what appeared to be a military base of operations for the Santa Blanca Cartel. A huge base located in a valley between mountains. It was literally the devil’s cave.

After the call with Price, Aly managed to find Sparrow's locator. The coordinates indicated a fixed location. It seemed like they had Sparrow held somewhere. Thanks to the help of the Bolivian rebel forces, they found the place. It looked like a damn impregnable fortress. Only someone with suicidal instincts would want to go in there. But luckily, reinforcements arrived a few days later. Lachlan, along with Damien and Anna, joined the team.

They managed to enter with the help of the guerrillas. They created a distraction by causing an explosion close enough to the base for the narcos to direct their gaze there. Giving the team the perfect opportunity to sneak inside the base. Arjun, Lachlan and Damien were in charge of eliminating the Narcos and guards inside the base in a stealthy manner. Checking all the floors, room by room, looking for Sparrow. Anna had the same job as the rest, but she was also in charge of placing explosive charges at key points in the building's structure, so that when the time came for extraction they could demolish the building and hit the Santa Blanca cartel right in the balls. Show those bastards what happens when you mess with the wrong team.

Finally they reached the underground levels. Aly reported that there was a shielded room without cameras. The team wasted no more time, suspecting that they might be holding Sparrow there.

"Alright. Everything is ready." Anna announced, proud of her work.

"Right. Sort yourselves out!" Lachlan announced, placing himself with his back to the wall next to the door. "Damien, you make first entrance."

"Bet your fucking arse I will." 

The team stood on both sides, with their backs against the wall.

"On my signal, Pham." Lachlan ordered. There were a few seconds of tension. Lachlan assured that everyone was ready. He glanced at Arjun who nodded. "Now!'

Anna pressed the detonator. A strong wave of heat hit everyone but not enough to hurt them. Damien wasted no time, with his rifle raised he entered, pointing in all directions. Arjun followed him and then Anna and Lachlan.

They checked the entire room and realized that no one was there. The room looked like a dark warehouse lit by a single, sad light bulb hanging from the ceiling.

"Clear." Damien muttered.

"Where are you Han…?" Anna murmured.

"Well… She's definitely been here." Lachlan kicked a corpse, turning it over. He had severe bruises, a broken nose and a broken glass stuck in his neck.

"There are three more," Anna announced, looking around the room.

Arjun turned over another dead body of a narco. He had a broken arm and neck.

"It was Sparrow's job." Arjun recognized his sergeant's fighting pattern.

"Damn... did our bird do that?" Damien looked at the other bodies.

"We call her Sparrow but she charges like a fucking bull..." Anna muttered.

Arjun was starting to get impatient, finding those corpses was a good sign. Sparrow was alive and had the strength to fight, but it also meant that she was moving, and they had to get to her before someone more dangerous did it first.

"Arjun." Lachlan called him.

The captain approached the other captain.

"What is it?" Arjun asked.

"Have a gander at that." Lachlan pointed his chin at a work table full of torture tools, some of which were bloody. There was a battery with cables and clips and a cattle prod.

"Fuckin’ hell…" Damien approached the table.

"Mh?" Arjun turned to Damien with a raised eyebrow.

"That's a cattle prod. It's an electric wand. Some farmers use it to push cattle and make cows move forward. Not me of course. If that thing is used on a person you can cause significant damage." Damien muttered with a frown. He touched the object carefully. "It's still hot..."

"They used it recently. Sons of bitches..." Lachlan growled.

Arjun tightened his grip on the rifle. The knuckles turned pale and the veins on his arms began to stand out more than usual.

"She has been tortured here. There is no doubt about that." Arjun muttered.

"I don't see the chair." Anna asked, looking around.

"They didn't use a chair." Arjun pointed to some chains hanging from the ceiling. Blood was dripping from them. "They hung her like a fucking animal ready to be skinned."

Lachlan looked around.

"Look at the size of those chains. How did she get free of those?" Anna approached, amazed.

"Those corpses are still bleeding. She shouldn’t be far." Lachlan reported.

Arjun was still immersed in his own thoughts when suddenly something lying in a corner caught his attention. He approached and crouched in front.

"What is that?" Anna approached curiously.

Arjun was holding Sparrow's bulletproof vest, now bloody and with empty pockets. It had the locator still attached. Arjun took a deep breath trying to stay calm. He tore off the patch and stared at it. That patch with the skull of a king and a sword piercing the skull, the word "Kingslayer" was embroidered at the bottom. The patch was stained with blood of course. That sight of his sergeant's patch covered in blood only altered his calm and professionalism. At that moment Arjun was like a ticking bomb. If he found El Sueño right now...

Arjun grabbed the radio button and contacted Aly and Jade.

While the rest of the team had checked the entire building, Aly and Jade went up to the upper floors, looking for the control room. Where Aly could have full access to the cameras and electrical systems. Jade escorted Aly there, stealthily finishing off whoever crossed their path.

"Alyssa. We have news." Arjun's voice was heard over the Comms.

"Go ahead captain." Aly replied. It was difficult for her to hide her nervousness. She just wanted to find Sparrow and get out there.

"We have found the torture room but there is no sign of Sparrow. The guards are dead, and judging by the wounds Sparrow has recently escaped."

Aly sighed. Sparrow was alive, that was a huge relief.

"We will notify the rebels to establish a search perimeter."

Jade spread a map on the table. They both looked at it for a few moments. And they agreed where the perimeter should be established. Jade nodded.

Aly looked at the map, Sparrow could be anywhere. She sighed in defeat, it was like finding a needle in a haystack. Suddenly a hand landed on her shoulder. Aly looked up to see Jade giving her a comforting smile.

"We'll find Hannah. Don't worry."

Aly tried to smile and nodded.

"Thank you Jade."

The redhead nodded.

"I will inform the rebel forces." Jade announced, and quickly contacted Pac Katari.

Aly nodded, and looked back at the cameras.

"¿Dónde chingados estás Han?" (Where the fuck are you Han) Aly murmured worriedly.

After chatting with Pac Katari, Jade returned to Aly.

"The rebels report that the Narcos have heard the explosion and are on high alert. They are clearing the entire building."

"Understood. We will meet you as soon as possible." Arjun announced. "Alyssa, it's time to turn off the lights again. We'll take care of those bastards."

"I'm working on it" Aly was in charge of turning off all the electrical systems, thus the alarms and communication antennas of the drug traffickers were completely unusable. They couldn't call in reinforcements. "All systems disabled."

"Roger that Aly." Arjun replied. "Keep us informed of your situation at all times. Understood?"

Suddenly she heard something. It was almost imperceptible, it came from outside, on the other side of the door. It was as if…

"Alyssa?" Arjun asked Aly again after not receiving a response. Aly seemed to ignore him.

Aly frowned and looked at Jade.

"Have you heard that?"

Jade looked at her confused.

"Hear what?"

They both remained silent, listening. It was heard again, it was a sharp, fast, melodic sound.

"I think it comes from outside, from the forest." Jade tried to guess.

"No, no..." Aly paid more attention. Closing her eyes and listening as much as she could.

She waited a little and then heard it again for the third time.

"It's like…" Jade frowned.

"Like a..." then Aly's eyes widened. "a whistle."

As soon as Aly discovered it, she didn't hesitate to run to the door and throw it open.

"ah?! H-hey! Aly wait!" Jade tried to stop her. 

It was too dangerous to start running through the hallways! The building was full of guards! What was happening to her now?!

Jade followed her trying to catch up.

"Aly!" Jade tried to follow her, making sure no one was following them.

Oh my God. Had she perhaps gone crazy?

A group of three drug traffickers appeared from another hallway. Jade growled and pointed her gun. She shot all three between the eyes.

Screw discretion.

Aly stopped at an intersection of hallways, listened again.

"Come on, come on..." she murmured, panting.

"Aly, my god, what's going on?!" Jade finally caught up to her.

"It has to be around here." Aly looked in all directions.

Jade heard the voices of the drug traffickers who began to get closer and closer. Judging by the sound of the boots, there were many of them.

"¡Vamos cabrones! ¡Tienen que estar por aquí cerca!"

"We have to get out of here. We can't hold them off for long. I'm low on ammunition too." Jade stood in front of Aly, with an expression of complete concern for her friend. "Aly, what are you looking for?"

"I just need a little more time, I just..."

"We have the narcos breathing down our necks. We have to get out of here and return with the rest of the team."

Another whistle was heard.

Aly turned her head towards the sound as if she was an owl. And without saying anything else she started running again.

"Aly!" Jade followed her again.

They both walked through the hallways. Shots could be heard coming from the lower floors. The team had come into contact with the enemy. Over the radio, Arjun and Lachlan could be heard shouting orders between gunshots. But shots could also be heard coming from further ahead, right where they were heading and that worried Jade.

Aly opened an emergency door that led to a narrower, darker hallway. It was illuminated by red emergency lights. Jade reached her.

"We have to lock the door, now." Jade grabbed the ax and emergency fire hose on a nearby wall and managed to bar the door. "We have an army of Narcos on the other side. And if we don't hurry they're going to—..." Jade's words were interrupted by pained moans coming from the dark hallway.

Aly and Jade stared into the complete darkness, dimly illuminated by the red emergency bulb. Listening to someone dying of pain. That situation seemed like it had become a horror movie. Jade pulled out the gun slowly, Aly did the same, loading the gun trying not to make too much noise.

Suddenly they saw something moving on the ground. Something was crawling in the distance. It didn't have a specific shape. Until he got close enough to the red light and they realized he was a drug trafficker who was crawling because his legs didn't work. He was bleeding to death, but still he was fighting with all his might to run away from something.

"Perra asquerosa, maldita zorra…¡El Sueño te encontrará y va a hacerse un abrigo de piel contigo!" (You filthy bitch, you fucking slut...El Sueño will find you and make a fur coat out of you!) The drug trafficker cursed whoever he was fleeing from.

Suddenly a whistle was heard, which sounded much darker thanks to the echo generated by the narrow hallway.

The drug dealer raised his head and looked back. That was his fatal mistake, as a deafening gunshot was heard and a bullet flew down the hallway until it pierced the man's skull. The corpse remained motionless, staining the floor.

Jade and Aly's breathing was heavy. They didn't expect something like that. Footsteps were heard, a pair of heavy boots approaching them.

"Do you think..." Jade finally understood, but she still remained alert, holding the gun.

"She's here." Aly smiled. Her hands were shaking, from the adrenaline, from the tension, from fatigue. Everything had accumulated at that moment.

She put her fingers to her lips, took a breath, and whistled too. She whistled, creating a short little melody, just two notes, but it was enough to make the footsteps stop for a second.

Aly stood expectantly, waiting, waiting for an answer.

The silence became endless until finally, from the depths of that dark hallway, the song of a sparrow was heard. Incredibly sharp and fast.

Aly covered her mouth with her hand, her eyes filling with tears. Her lower lip was trembling and her heart was pumping rapidly.

At last.

A dark silhouette appeared, tall and large. That person had one hand supported, they seemed to be limping. The silhouette whistled again, another sparrow.

Aly couldn't stand it anymore, and started running towards that silhouette. She ran and ran until her body collided with the other, she didn't care. She hugged them tightly, hiding her face in the other person's chest. Aly ended up collapsing, tears streaming down her cheeks as a pair of arms wrapped around them lovingly. A heavy hand rested on her hair and stroked it lightly.

"I told you I would find you." Aly murmured, resting her forehead on her chest.

The chest vibrated with a light laugh. Aly looked up, seeing a smiling Sparrow.

"And I never doubted you" Hannah widened her smile.

Aly smiled too and wiped away her tears.

"You are an idiot." Aly joked between sobs.

"Well someone has to be." Sparrow responded with a chuckle.

They hugged for a few more seconds until it was time to separate. Sparrow watched Jade slowly approach.

"Hannah…" 

Sparrow smiled.

"I'm glad to see you well Jade."

"Oh, shut up." Jade hugged her too, tightly. "You made us very worried. We thought we had lost you."

"I'm sorry I kept you waiting." Sparrow reciprocated the hug.

"Don't say that."

They both separated.

"Jesus, Sparrow, you don't look good." Jade commented worriedly. "My God, you're bleeding."

Despite Sparrow's tired smile, her body was covered in bruises and she limped on one leg.

Aly lifted Hannah's shirt and opened her eyes in horror.

"You have been shot."

"Yeah, one of the guards managed to catch me when I tried to run away."

She had a gunshot wound to her lower abdomen, and it was spitting out dark blood, slowly but constantly. On the sides of her torso there were burns, small and surrounded by reddened skin. Surely from when the torturers used the cattle prod.

Jade took one of Sparrow's hands. The wrists were mangled, covered in bruises, marks and dried blood.

"How many nails have they pulled out?" Jade asked, looking at Sparrow's hands in terror.

"Four... It wasn't enough to make me talk." Sparrow looked exhausted, swaying from side to side, it was as if she would collapse at any moment.

"We have to get out of here. Now." Jade ordered.

Aly had Sparrow put one of her arms over her shoulders.

"Let's get you out of here Han."

"I'll inform the rest." Jade pressed the button on her radio. "Captain. We have found Sparrow. I repeat, we have found Sparrow."

"What?! Are you serious?" Lachlan replied. Although his voice sounded distorted by the gunshots. They seemed to be in quite a bind. "Take her out of the building and we will meet at the extraction point."

"And leave you alone with that army of Narcos?!" Jade exclaimed.

"It's an order. Getting Sparrow to safety is a priority. Dami—..." Interference cut off Lachlan's words.

Jade was going to answer but suddenly knocks and gunshots were heard on the other side of the door. Someone was trying to open it.

"Get ready." Jade ordered, taking out her karambit and gun. "That door isn't going to hold up much longer. Aly." Jade called to her partner.

"I know." Aly pulled out her gun with one hand and held Sparrow with the other.

"Let me help." Sparrow took a step forward but Aly stopped her.

"Are you crazy? Have you even seen yourself?! You've been tortured for days Hannah, you're bleeding to death and you can barely stand."

"I can still fight, I didn't get here by pure luck. Let me do it."

"Aly is right." Jade answered, she had returned to her serious attitude, ready to murder whoever came her way. "You're in no condition to engage in combat. Besides... We already trusted you once, now it's your turn to trust us."

Sparrow tried to reproach again but Jade's look was enough to silence her. Sparrow sighed.

"Then kick those sons of bitches' arses for me."

Jade smiled and nodded.

"Aly?" 

"ready.."

Jade leaned her back against the wall of the door. She adjusted her grip on the gun and knife. Aly did the same and pointed towards the door.

They waited, the gunshots and screams continued until suddenly everything was silent. The three looked at each other. The atmosphere was tense again. A heavy silence that squeezed everyone's lungs. Suddenly there were loud, heavy knocks on the door. Someone was trying to knock the door down.

Everyone was on alert until the door finally gave way and burst open. Jade didn’t hesitate to stick the barrel of her gun into the temple of the person who had just burst in. She was about to pull the trigger when she suddenly recognized the blonde mullet.

"Whitlock?!" Jade asked, confused.

"Fuckin' hell, Jade!" Damien exclaimed.

"Damien!" Aly sighed in relief and lowered the gun. "Shouldn't you be with the rest of the team?"

"Yeah, well, the captains sent me to look for you as soon as you didn't respond to Arjun."

"Damien fucking Whitlock… What in the bloody hell are you doing here?!" Sparrow exclaimed with a frown. Then she looked at Aly. "Seriously?!"

"We couldn't rescue you alone. We needed reinforcements." Aly shrugged.

"And of all people... it had to be him?!" Sparrow pointed at Damien.

"Oi! Drop that shitty attitude and show some appreciation that I even bothered to show up!" Damien took a step forward, clearly pissed.

Sparrow removed her arm from Aly's shoulders and straightened her back so that she was level with Damien. Holding her abdomen because of the wound.

"Appreciation? I don't owe you anything! I didn't ask you to come! I could get out of here all by myself!" Sparrow took another step forward.

They were like two dogs ready to fight and tear each other's throats out.

“Guys please…” Aly sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. Clearly tired of both of their attitudes.

Jade simply watched the two of them as if she were watching a tennis match. What was happening here?

"You know, I was so comfortable back home, enjoying my days off when suddenly I get a fucking call that a certain little bird needs to be rescued on the other fucking side of the world."

"And they really thought you were the best one? You're always getting in the way of people with your huge butt!"

"And you can barely even walk with those huge duck feet!"

They spent a few tense seconds looking into each other's eyes, being only a few centimeters away. But in the end they both couldn't help it and a smile escaped their lips.

"C’mon, come ‘ere..."

They hugged each other tightly and patted each other on the back. The two chuckled.

"Don't scare me like that again..." Damien murmured, patting Hannah's head.

Sparrow snorted, trying to hold back a smile. She was really happy to have Damien there, she was able to trust him with her life without even thinking about it. She just liked to annoy him, and he liked to do that too.

"Sorry Damo." She rested her forehead on her friend's shoulder.

Aly sighed in relief and smiled. They always behave like this. Like two siblings who hate and love each other at the same time.

"What has happened?" Jade asked.

"Eventually you get used to it." Aly shrugged.

Damien and Sparrow chuckled. But suddenly Hannah's expression changed completely, she had turned completely pale and seemed dizzy again.

"Oh bloody hell…"

"Hannah!" Aly tried to reach her before she collapsed but Damien was faster and reached her first.

"Sparrow, what's wrong with you?!" Damien held Sparrow as best he could.

Hannah was slowly losing consciousness.

"She's losing too much blood. We need to get her out of here and have Mandy take a look at her." Jade ordered.

Suddenly interference was heard on the radio again.

"We have a visual of El Cardenal!" Lachlan's voice came over the radio amidst the gunshots and noises of the gunfight. "He's running away! Third floor! Right next to the east windows! We can't reach him with the mess here. You're going to have to take care of it!"

"Third floor? That's two floors down, we won't reach it. Much less carrying Sparrow."

"You go... I'll stay..." Sparrow muttered barely.

"I would rather die than leave you here." Damien answered with a completely serious look.

Jade was thoughtful the whole time.

"Take care of Hannah. I'll take care of El Cardenal." She put the gun back in its holster.

"You won't have time, there are too many stairs." Damien shook his head.

"I'm not going down the stairs." Jade answered determinedly, checking the harness that surrounded her thighs and hips. She took down a rappel rope from across her chest and tied one end to the harness and the other to a pair of carabiners.

Hannah looked up and chuckled weakly as she understood.

"Sometimes I think you're crazier than me..." Sparrow replied. "Just make sure the knots are tight."

Jade smiled and rested her hand on Sparrow's shoulder.

"You worry about staying alive, Han."

"I'll try not to disappoint you." Hannah laughed weakly.

Jade snorted, trying not to laugh in a situation like that, and looked at Alyssa and Damien.

"I leave her in your charge."

"Good luck, Jade." Aly nodded.

Jade nodded back and left. She started running down the hallways they had come through before. In one hand she held the gun and in the other the rappelling rope. She encountered several enemies who didn’t even have time to raise their weapons. Jade didn’t hesitate to shoot them in the head the moment they appeared in her field of vision. A very big guy stood in her way, trying to stop her. But with a quick pirouette she managed to throw him to the ground, rested her knee on his neck and shot him point-blank in the temple. Evidently the shooting had attracted more drug traffickers, so Jade hurried and ran.

She ended up reaching the end of the hallway, which opened onto some huge windows. Jade listened to the Narcos hot on her heels. She slid nimbly along the floor until she reached one of the concrete columns that supported the ceiling. She had arrived at the right place. She wrapped the rope around the column and secured it with the carabiner. As best she could, she measured the rope and did the calculations in her head. Was it a suicide? Yes. But there was no time to think about it. If she thought twice, El Cardenal would escape from under her nose.

The drug traffickers arrived, the bullets began to fly near her, threatening to pierce her body at any moment. Jade didn't waste any more time, she got up and ran towards the windows, without stopping for a second. She covered her face with her forearms and hit the glass. It went through the window, breaking the entire glass. The small pieces flew through the air, they remained suspended in the air, like Jade, for a few milliseconds, as if everything were in slow motion. But gravity soon did its work, the weight of the world hitting the pit of her stomach as she began to fall. She descended until the rope was completely taut, and like a pendulum the rope made Jade go from falling in the air to about to hit the windows two floors below.

Jade frowned as soon as she saw El Cardeanl near the windows. With her boots first, she burst into the building again, breaking the windows and taking El Cardenal with her. The sole of her boot impacted his cheek.

They both rolled on the ground. Jade got up as best she could, shook her head trying to get rid of the dizziness. From the corner of her eye she saw Gustavo Serrano, El Cardenal himself, who had already managed to recover from the kick that Charlotte had given him in the face. Jade pulled out the gun as soon as she realized it. But El Cardenal pulled out another gun and also pointed it at Jade.

"Mr. Serrano. Drop the weapon." Jade ordered firmly. "If you don't I will be forced to pull the trigger."

The man didn't say anything, he lowered the gun but instead of letting it go, he raised it higher.

"Sir." Jade threatened again.

Now the barrel of his gun rested on his own temple.

"Santa Muerte will come for all of us sooner or later." El Cardenal spoke in a sinister tone. "We are all sinners. Responsible for our actions. Only La Santa Muerte can bring us before the Lord."

"Drop the gun. You don't want to do this." Jade shifted her weight from one leg to the other nervously. They needed El Cardinal alive. And that son of a bitch was willing to take his own life without even blinking.

Where did she have to aim? To the leg? No, even if she fired, that wouldn't stop him from pulling the trigger. To the hand? It was too close to the head.

Shit…!

"Sacrifices must be made for the common good. To preserve what is good and what is pure."

The Cardinal closed his eyes and looked at the ceiling. And he pulled the trigger.

"¡NO!" 

But the bullet never went through Gustavo Serrano's head. In fact, a punch hit El Cardenal directly on the cheek, causing the bullet to deflect and hit a wall. Gustavo Serrano rolled on the ground from the impact.

Jade looked at the newcomer. Arjun shook his hand trying to relax his fingers.

"Captain…"

Jade realized that Arjun's eyes radiated anger, contempt and even madness.

Arjun had had enough of that fucking game. Could that man really take his own life after what he did to his sergeant? No, he did not deserve such a merciful fate. He deserved to suffer, just as he had made Sparrow suffer.

El Cardenal rubbed his sore jaw from the blow. He grunted and tried to get to his feet. But Arjun didn't let him. He kicked him in the mouth with his boot, causing him to fall to the ground again.

"Santa Muerte is not interested in you yet.Motherfucker." Arjun growled. "Do you think you can torture one of my soldiers for days and not suffer the consequences?"

"Sacrifices are necessary to—..."

Arjun hit him again.

"Sacrifices?! You are fucking genocidal. You bring hell to the innocent. You cheat, steal and kill for your own benefit without giving a shit. And you want to talk to me about sacrifice?!"

Arjun hit him again and again. Leaving the gloves soaked in blood. He didn't care about anything anymore. The chains, the torture tools, the cattle prod, Sparrow's Operation Kingslayer patch so stained with blood that the colors could no longer be distinguished. Just imagining that they had used all this on his sergeant made his blood boil. Arjun only saw red. Blood was splashing on his face, he didn't hear anything, his ears were ringing.

"Arjun!" Jade untied the rope still tied to her harness. "It's enough!"

Jade tried to grab Arjun by the shoulders but she didn't have enough strength to push him away.

"We need him alive!" Jade tried again. "Come on!" Jade's blood ran cold as she saw El Cardenal's disfigured face, all swollen and full of blood. He had to hurry or Arjun would beat him to death.

Suddenly another pair of larger, stronger arms appeared and between the two of them they pushed Arjun away from Gustavo Serrano.

"Arjun! Calm down, mate!" Lachlan pulled Arjun along while Jade went to inspect El Cardenal's condition.

"Let me go Jones! This bastard has to pay!" Arjun exclaimed terribly angrily.

Lachlan placed his body between Gustavo Serrano and the other captain, and put his hand on Arjun's chest.

"I understand your pain, Dhingra. But right now we need him alive. He is the right hand of El Sueño. We cannot waste this opportunity." Lachlan spoke calmly while still looking Arjun in the eyes.

"You've seen the torture room. What he's done to Sparrow…" Arjun closed his eyes and took a deep breath. No… he already lost a very close friend, and he still blamed himself for it. He had to be a better leader, he had to protect his people. It had to be better.

"I would have done the same in your situation. I am capable of burning the entire world for my own people. But you know perfectly well that this is not what Sparrow wants."

Arjun sighed and shook his head. He should have been the one to sacrifice himself for the team. Unconsciously he held his leg with that bullet wound, it hurt like hell but he could walk. He just had to ignore it. A punishment for his actions.

"What is the status of Serrano?" Arjun asked.

Jade checked El Cardenal’s pulse and pupils.

"He's unconscious. He's barely breathing but he's still alive."

"Okay, I'll deal with him later." Arjun came closer. "And Sparrow?"

Jade looked at Arjun with a worried expression.

"She is alive but needs immediate medical attention. She has been shot in the stomach and some of the wounds appear serious." Jade reported standing up and holstering her gun. "Damien and Aly are with her."

"Good. They have to go immediately to the extraction point."

The burden on his shoulders eased a little. Still, Arjun couldn't relax until the entire team was safe and sound at the base.

Hurried footsteps were heard and Anna appeared.

"The explosive charges are already placed and activated." Anna reported. "Fuck me! That's El Cardinal?! What the hell happened to him?!"

"Divine justice." Arjun replied seriously without looking at her.

"Alright guys. Time to go" Lachlan informed. "I’ll carry Gustavo Serrano."

Jade nodded.

"Aly. Sparrow needs to be moved to the extraction point as soon as possible. The charges are already placed and active." Jade reported over the radio.

"Understood. We're on our way. Damien is holding Sparrow. She doesn't seem very happy." Aly answered.

Anna laughed.

"Typical Sparrow."

"Come on guys, time moves on. We have to move." Lachlan ordered, carrying Gustavo Serrano's unconscious body on his shoulders.

The team made their way through the different floors of the base. Shooting all the guards and drug traffickers who stood in his way. And finally they managed to leave the building.

"To the truck! I'm driving!" Arjun ordered, after killing the drug dealer who was driving the said vehicle.

They all went up. They left El Cardenal lying in the back seats of the truck next to Lachlan. Jade took over as co-pilot and Anna jumped into the bed truck that had a turret attached.

"Oh fuck...!" Anna cursed as she saw more Santa Blanca Cartel vehicles approaching along the roads. "More reinforcements are coming!"

"Shit!" Lachlan stuck his head out of the truck window. "We have to hurry! The explosive charges will soon explode! Pham! How much time do we have left?!"

"A minute at most!" Anna responded.

El Cardenal raised his head in confusion. It seemed that he was beginning to come to his senses. Lachlan noticed and with the butt of his rifle hit him in the back of the head again.

"Sweet dreams you piece of shit." Lachlan groaned "Where the fuck is the rest?!"

"I think I see them! Shit they have a fucking army behind them..."

"Use the turret!" Arjun ordered, starting the car.

"A pleasure!" Anna grabbed the turret with both hands and began shooting at any Narco that threatened those who were just arriving.

Damien ran out of the building carrying an unconscious Sparrow fireman's lift style, Aly ran next to him, protecting Damien as best she could.

Anna motioned for them to run in that direction.

They both jumped into the bed truck. Damien left Sparrow on the floor of the truck and joined in the firefight. Aly put pressure on Sparrow's wound. Hannah complained weakly but barely had the strength to speak.

Anna made sure everyone was in the truck. She hit the rear windshield of the truck to warn Arjun.

Arjun didn’t hesitate to step on the accelerator and speed away from there. Just then there was a series of explosions inside the building, the entire area had been filled with dust and dirt. And shortly after in one last explosion the building collapsed, like a titan that had been defeated.

Mesmerized, Anna watched the building fall. That always left a strange feeling.

"Anna, help me with this!" Aly asked, breaking Anna out of her thoughts.

Anna knelt down along with Aly.

"Sparrow doesn't look very good." Anna mentioned, worried, seeing her friend's state.

"The wound must be packed. We have to reduce the bleeding as soon as possible."

Sparrow opened her eyes and realized that Anna was there.

"I've been calling you for several days…" Hannah murmured weakly. "You didn't answer."

Anna smiled sadly, and cupped Sparrow's cheek.

"I didn't want to bore you with my dramas, birdie."

"Looks like I'll have to do this more often so I can talk to you." Sparrow smiled and closed her eyes.

Anna chuckled and shook her head.

"Don't even think about doing this again, idiot."

Aly smiled listening to the conversation between both women, but then returned her gaze to the wound.

"Anna keep Sparrow awake, don't let her fall asleep for a second." Aly ordered, ripping off a sleeve of her shirt and then tore it into strips.

"Hey hey. Hannah! wake up!" Anna lightly patted Sparrow's face. But she didn't respond. "Shit she’s not opening her eyes."

"Hit her harder."

"What? Really?"

"You heard me. Slap her like some asshole grabbed your ass without permission. Hannah's a big girl. She can take it.”

Anna smirked. 

"Very well. You asked for it."

Anna raised her hand and slapped Hannah's cheek with all her might.

"Fucking hell!" Hannah's eyes snapped open.

"That's my girl! Now keep your eyes open Sparrow!" Anna exclaimed, patting Hannah's chest.

Aly began to insert the pieces of cloth into the bullet wound as a plug to reduce the bleeding. Hannah complained again.

"Guys…" Damien interrupted them. He grabbed the switch on his radio. "We got visitors. Enemy vehicles approaching. There’s heaps of ‘em."

Several armed cars appeared behind the truck, chasing them at full speed.

"Roger. Let's try to throw them off." Arjun responded over the radio.

He turned the wheel and drove down a road that wound through a very narrow valley. A dangerous road that was on the edge of a cliff between two mountains that looked like giants that wanted to pounce on them.

"Okay guys. Get ready to engage!" Lachlan ordered as he pulled his body out the car window and pointed his gun.

Jade did the same.

"Pham to the turret. Now." The Australian captain indicated.

"Rog!" She looked at Aly. "Can I leave her in your care?"

"I'll keep her awake as long as I can. Go." Aly nodded at the turret.

Anna nodded and moved right behind the turret.

"Let's teach those pieces of shit when to fucking give up!"

"Fuck yeah!" Damien responded, placing one knee on the floor of the truck and aiming his rifle.

The first enemy trucks appeared on the road. Chasing the truck at full speed.

"Contact!" Jade screamed as the drug traffickers began shooting from their vehicles.

The team soon responded with fire and heavy artillery. Making sure to keep the narcos at bay and that they won't get too close. The road was already dangerous enough without now adding a shootout.

One of the trucks from the Santa Blanca cartel came too close, becoming parallel to the team's vehicle. Arjun looked towards the window realizing that a narco was pointing a gun at him.

"Back off Captain!" Jade exclaimed.

Arjun obeyed and leaned his body back giving Jade room to shoot the driver and co-driver of the truck. Arjun swerved to the side and pushed the other truck over the cliff, causing it to fall into the void.

"They're called traffic laws for a reason, idiots!" Arjun groaned as he watched the truck crash into the bottom of the valley.

Suddenly his attention shifted to his ears. The engine of a helicopter could be heard approaching from a distance.

"Is it Mandy?!" Jade asked, trying to make her voice heard over the gunshots.

A second helicopter was heard approaching and suddenly a rocket hit the road a few meters ahead. Arjun had to make an effort to prevent the truck from overturning.

"I do not think so!" Arjun replied.

"Shit...! Anna! Grab the RPG!" Jade screamed, sticking her head out of the window.

One of the armed helicopters launched another rocket that hit the mountain wall, causing huge rocks to start falling onto the road. Arjun could dodge them with difficulty.

"Hurry up Gremlin! We have to shoot down those helicopters." Jade exclaimed watching the rocks fall dangerously close to the vehicle. Some rocks crushed the drug traffickers' trucks that were still chasing them.

Anna grabbed the RPG, dug her knee into the ground.

And she placed the rocket launcher on her shoulder.

"I only have one shot!" Anna grunted in annoyance.

"Then make sure you don't miss. And take one of those helicopters to fucking hell." Damien said as he shot at one last enemy truck.

"Fuck it." Anna pulled the trigger and the rocket was launched at full speed, hitting the tail of one of the helicopters, causing it to lose control and crash into the mountain wall in a large explosion.

"Way to go Grem!" Damien shook Anna's shoulder euphorically.

"I wouldn't celebrate victory this early, Damien. There's another helicopter to shoot down." Lachlan spoke on the radio.

"We'll use the turret." Damien grabbed the weapon with both hands and pointed it at the cockpit of the remaining helicopter. "If we hit the pilot—..."

But a rocket appeared out of nowhere, flying through the sky at high speed that collided with the remaining helicopter.

"What the fuck?!"

Some interference was heard over the Comms.

"Sorry I'm late guys." Mandy's voice appeared.

A third helicopter appeared flying between the valley walls. This one had the Operation Kingslayer symbol painted on the front.

"Mandy! You don't know how happy I am to hear your voice!" Jade exclaimed in relief over the radio.

"I'm sorry for the delay, these bastards haven't left me alone for a single moment." Mandy answered.

"How's your new toy treating you?" Arjun asked.

The helicopter that Mandy previously used had received too much damage in the last few missions. And now with the new additions to the team they needed something bigger and more armed. Luckily Pac Katari got a new helicopter for Mandy.

"Wonderful, sir. I think I'm growing fond of it." Mandy joked.

For the first time in days Arjun chuckled lightly.

"Good to know Macfie" then returned to his serious demeanor. "Proceed to extraction point B. Sparrow needs immediate medical attention."

"Roger that captain." 

Finally the team managed to escape from the cartel and those facilities. As soon as they reached the extraction point, Arjun and Damien took Sparrow to the helicopter while the rest boarded.

"Aly I need you here with me. We have to find a safe route to return to the base." Mandy asked as she sat back down in the pilot's seat.

"Hannah needs help." Aly informed.

"I know."

"You're the team medic Mandy." Aly responded worriedly.

"I have to pilot the helicopter too, I will give instructions so that you can treat Sparrow's injuries or at least hold on until we get to the base." Mandy justified, understanding her friend's anxiety and concern.

"Alyssa." Arjun called her and placed a hand on her shoulder. "Sparrow is going to be fine. We will do everything in our power to save her."

Aly looked at Sparrow, who was lying on the floor of the helicopter while the rest of the team tried to tend to her. She then returned her gaze to Arjun.

"Take care of finding a safe route so we can all get home." Arjun spoke softly and understandingly. "Clayton will be fine."

Aly sighed and nodded. She sat next to Mandy and with the help of the maps and her laptop she began to search for routes in the satellite images.

"I have a route."

"Good. Let's take off." Mandy answered using the controls to lift the helicopter into the air again and fly in the direction Aly was pointing.

While in the back of the Helicopter they tried to make sure Sparrow was still alive.

"Jade, I need you to put pressure here." Lachlan was giving orders. "Damien, get the first aid kit."

Both attended and obeyed orders.

Arjun knelt next to Lachlan.

"Macfie. We need instructions on how to remove the bullet." Arjun said.

"The bullet is quite close to the liver. You have to be very careful. The blood is red at the moment. That's a good sign, it means it hasn't damaged the liver yet." Mandy explained. "But if the blood comes out black. Sparrow's countdown will have slowed down significantly."

"Why?" Damien asked worriedly.

Mandy was silent for a while, thinking about how to explain it.

"The liver is in a way responsible for purifying the blood, as are the kidneys. But the liver extracts toxins and residual substances from the blood. If the liver is affected, these toxins may go into the bloodstream again in high quantities and poison her own blood." Mandy explained. "We don't know how close the bullet is to the liver, but what we do know for sure is that if Sparrow keeps moving and the wound gets bigger, it will eventually hit the organ."

"We have to remove the bullet as soon as possible." Arjun summarized.

"But if we do, we run the risk of Sparrow bleeding to death." Aly added.

"That's why we need to have a blood transfusion ready in case things get complicated. Jade, Sparrow and you share a blood group. O negative is quite unusual, you're the only one who can give her blood."

"Understood." Jade nodded.

"We have to make two groups. One will be in charge of the blood transfusion and the other will be in charge of removing the bullet and cauterization."

"The sergeants and Jade will handle the transfusion. Me and Captain Jones will handle the extraction. Understood?" Arjun ordered and everyone nodded.

Without wasting any more time, following Mandy's instructions while she piloted. One group was tasked with preparing the intravenous lines and injecting serum into Sparrow's veins. While the other group was in charge of preparing the scalpel and forceps to extract the bullet.

Meanwhile, Sparrow was barely unconscious. Blood stained the floor of the helicopter. Her vision was blurry and sounds sounded like she was underwater. For a moment she locked eyes with Aly, who was unable to look away. She had a terrified and worried expression. Sparrow wanted to raise her hand, tell her that everything was okay, and that she would get through this, like she always had. But she didn't have the strength to do it.

"Starting with the incision." Lachlan reported after lifting Sparrow's shirt enough to show the gunshot wound. It didn't look good...

He brought the scalpel closer and made a cut along the wound. Sparrow grunted and shook hard in pain.

"Hold her!" Arjun exclaimed, grabbing Sparrow by the shoulders and pinning her to the ground.

Damien did the same, pinning her legs.

"I proceed to remove the bullet."

The moment Lachlan pushed the forceps into the wound, Sparrow began to thrash about in pain again, grunting, screaming, and trying to twist her body.

"Fuck Sparrow!" Damien exclaimed, trying to keep the sergeant still.

"The head! Hold her head!" Arjun exclaimed as he saw Sparrow unconsciously hitting her head on the floor of the helicopter.

Anna quickly knelt in front of Hannah and held her head with both hands preventing her from hitting the ground once again.

"Shhh everything's going to be fine Han, it's almost out. Hold on, just a little longer." Anna tried to calm Sparrow by caressing her cheeks with her thumbs even though her hands were shaking and she was having trouble hiding her fear.

Sparrow's life was slipping through her fingers and she could only tell her that everything would be okay.

"Shit, the bullet slips too much." Lachlan was having trouble removing the bullet.

"There is too much blood." Jade murmured worriedly.

"HANNAH!" Aly jumped out of the seat and tried to get closer, she was on the verge of hysteria as she heard Sparrow's screams and grunts of pain.

"Aly no!" Damien quickly stood up and stopped her by grabbing her torso.

"Damo! She—!"

"She's not going to die!" Damien looked Aly in the eyes. He was just as scared as she was. The hands holding Aly were shaking. The thought of losing another friend in front of his eyes terrified him. It made his legs fail and he didn't know how to respond. But he had to stay strong.

Sparrow screamed as Lachlan pushed the forceps deeper into the wound.

Anna closed her eyes tightly fighting not to let the tears fall and rested her forehead against Sparrow's.

"I'm sorry birdie... I'm so sorry"

Aly tried to go to Sparrow but Damien stopped her again. Alyssa could only collapse in the sergeant's arms as she watched her friend suffer.

"The bullet is out!" Lachlan reported as soon as the bullet came out.

"We have to stop the bleeding and cauterize the wound. Now!" Mandy ordered from the pilot's seat.

"Shit she's bleeding to death."

"Hannah, don't fall asleep!"

"Jade the blood transfusion!"

"We're losing her!"

________________

The intermittent but constant beep was the first thing she heard, followed by the light passing through her eyelids. A feeling of dizziness and nausea hit her like a wave. The last thing to wake up were the pain receptors, absolutely her entire body hurt.

For a moment she thought she had returned to K2.

She opened her eyes with an enormous effort. The light bothered her terribly, she had to blink and keep her eyes squinted for a while. The first thing she saw was her body covered in bandages and lying on a medical bed.

She made another effort and looked around. It looked like a field hospital, a huge tent with several medical beds. There were other wounded people, nurses and doctors walking around. People she didn't know.

Where the fuck was she?

She looked to the side. There was a small table, on the furniture there was a glass of water and a couple of pills, there was also a patch. Her patch. It had been washed, no longer completely stained with blood, the colors could now be distinguished, but there were still traces of red in certain areas.

Her ears became accustomed to the noise, she could hear more and more things. It was even starting to get overwhelming. She heard a breathing, deep, calm. She looked the other way and found Jade, she was sleeping, her arms and head resting on Sparrow's lap.

Hannah didn't know how she couldn't notice Jade's weight on her. Maybe her body, despite the pain, was still numb.

As best she could, she stretched out her arm towards Jade, her hand trembling exaggeratedly. It seemed as if Jade had stayed there, for hours, waiting.

"I wouldn't wake her up if I were you." A familiar voice was heard. "More than half a liter of her blood runs through your veins, she’s absolutely buggered."

Hannah finally looked up and realized she had a visitor.

"Damo...?" Sparrow's voice sounded dry. Her throat hurt, she even coughed a little.

"Hey hey." Damien stood up from the chair he was sitting in and carefully brought the glass to her. "Drink up, c’mon."

Hannah obeyed and drank some water as best she could. She felt that her body absorbed that water like a sponge. How long had she gone without drinking water? And without eating?

"That's it. Slowly. It has cost us a lot to keep you alive, we don't want you to die now from choking on some water." Damien joked lightly.

Hannah nodded when she had drunk enough water. Damien put the glass away and sat back down.

"What the hell happened?" Hannah asked, resting her head on the pillow again.

"Well... I asked a mutual friend to have a little chat with the devil and tell him that your time hasn't come yet." Damien smiled.

Hannah tried to smile too.

"Did you tell Daniel to kick me out of hell?"

"I reckon Dan would’ve dragged me into hell if he realized I let you die." Damien answered.

Hannah chuckled but it made her ribs hurt more.

"I have to admit, using the defibrillator was fun but scary at the same time," a female voice said.

"Gremlin." Sparrow stretched out a hand and Anna didn't hesitate to grab it.

"Hey birdie." Anna smiled sadly.

"It's nice to see you again." Hannah replied weakly, "I wish circumstances were different."

"Shut up." Anna rolled her eyes and ended up hugging Sparrow without much force.

They separated and looked each other in the eyes. They knew each other well, they had been through many missions together, Las Almas was no exception. And Hannah could still see in Anna's eyes that what happened there still affected her deeply. There were cracks in those cheerful eyes. And although Hannah couldn't quite figure out what it was, she knew something was broken.

Anna sat in a chair next to Damien.

"You look like shit." Anna joked.

"If you ask me, I reckon she even looks better than before." Damien answered.

They both laughed and bumped fists. Hannah just rolled her eyes.

"How nice it is to have you as friends..." she said ironically.

"The best you will find." Anna smiled.

Sparrow shook his head and looked back at Jade. She was still fast asleep. Sparrow took one of her red locks and tucked it behind Jade's ear. And to think that she had only been saved because she and Jade coincidentally shared a blood type...

Death really liked to play with her.

She would have to treat Jade to breakfast or something as a thank you for saving her life. She would have to ask Ghost what food she likes.

"How long has it been?"

"Since you came back to life? About ten hours." Anna checked her watch.

"You had a good nap." Damien crossed his arms and leaned his back against the back of the chair.

"I think we all need a good nap after this." Anna stretched her arms and yawned. "Or a fucking coma. Sleeping for a few days wouldn't be bad."

"I vote for an alcohol coma." Damien answered.

Anna laughed.

"Amen brother."

Hannah watched them in silence. Happy to see them there. They were able to cross half the world just for her. She had a lot to thank them for.

She noticed that they were both wearing Operation Kingslayer patches on their vests as well.

"So you've joined the crew." Hannah pointed to the patches.

"Well considering the fucking disaster we've encountered we couldn't let you do it yourselves." Anna shrugged.

"Lachlan has spoken to Arjun. The Regiment will stay in Bolivia for a while." Damien rested both hands on the straps of his vest.

"Just you two?"

"That's all ya need." Damien smiled confidently.

"And Arjun?" Hannah asked, looking around. Wondering where her captain was.

"Taking care of El Cardenal." Damien answered. "He hasn't woken up yet."

"Woken up?"

"Oh yes. When Arjun finally saw Gustavo Serrano, he gave him the beating of his life in your honor." Damien explained.

"He looked so hot." Anna bit her lower lip.

"Annabelle Katherine Delgado Pham what in the actual fuck is wrong with you?" Damien raised an eyebrow. 

"What? It's true. And you can't deny it." Anna crossed her arms.

Hannah laughed but said nothing. She just watched them talk and argue. She had really missed them.

Footsteps were heard approaching. The three looked up. Mandy and Aly walked over.

"It seems that sleeping beauty has woken up." Mandy joked.

Sparrow smiled.

"How many beers do I owe you for saving my ass again Mandy?" Sparrow asked.

"Well, enough already." Mandy walked over and quickly hugged Sparrow. "I'm glad you woke up. How are you feeling?"

"Like hammered shit." 

"You look like one too." Mandy laughed.

"Ha! told ya." Damien added and earned a furtive glance from Sparrow.

Mandy rolled her eyes and returned her attention to Sparrow. "You're going to stay in bed for a few days. You're out of danger but you're still pretty weak. It'll take you a few weeks to recover. But you'll get out of it."

"Under your care I have no doubt that I will recover Doc." Hannah smiled.

Mandy did the same and patted Sparrow's shoulder.

"Rest for now. I'll inform the captains and the 141 that you've woken up."

Hannah nodded and Mandy walked out of the tent.

Sparrow turned his head and saw Aly.

"Hey…o-oh–! Wow! Haha! ouch!" Sparrow was surprised when Aly rushed into her arms. "Aly, you're going to wake Jade up. Hahaha."

Aly ignored her and hugged her tighter. Sparrow sighed smiling and returned the hug as well. Not caring about the pain that the hug caused her.

"If you scare me like this again, I'm going to tie you to a chair." Aly muttered.

Sparrow chuckled.

"Sorry."

Aly pulled away from Hannah, she had a sad smile on her face. Dark circles rested under her red, puffy eyes. Hannah felt bad for scaring her so much.

"It would have been too hard to tell Lily that she would never see her favorite aunt again."

"Hang on!" Damien intervened. "I thought I was her favorite uncle!"

"Know your place Damo." Sparrow gave him the middle finger.

Damien did the same.

Anna just laughed and shook her head. Knowing perfectly well that she was the favorite. Or maybe they all were? Lily would never confess.

Aly laughed. Their expressions seemed more relaxed than before. At least everyone had returned safely, and that eased her heart.

"Can I have a moment alone with Sparrow?"

Everyone turned their heads towards where that deep, masculine voice came from.

Arjun came closer with his hands inside his pockets. He seemed serious and not in a very good mood.

Everyone looked at each other debating what to do. In the end they got up and left except Jade, who was still sleeping peacefully, she had donated more blood to Sparrow than was allowed and that had left her completely exhausted, not to mention everything she had gone through during the mission.

"I'll come back to check on you later." Aly said goodbye, kissing Sparrow's head. "Now I have to go talk to John."

"Is Price in trouble?" Hannah raised an eyebrow.

Aly sighed, she didn't seem very happy with her husband.

"I'll tell you later."

Aly left with the rest, leaving Arjun, Jade and Sparrow alone.

"Hasn't she woken up yet?" Arjun asked, looking at Jade.

"No." 

Arjun took a jacket from a chair and placed it on Jade's shoulders.

"She's been up all night with you. She wanted to make sure you were okay and the rest of the team was rested. So she stood guard." Arjun sighed and grabbed a chair and sat next to the medical bed. "She cares too much about the team and not about herself."

Sparrow nodded.

"They told me that you beat up El Cardenal for me." Sparrow tried to joke, trying to relax the atmosphere between the two of them.

"I did what had to be done Sergeant." Arjun replied, "I wasn't going to let someone else die for me. At least… not again."

Sparrow tried to decipher Arjun's eyes, there was something hidden, a story that had never been told. A deep pain that had not yet been released. But Sparrow didn't ask, it wasn't her place, at least not for now.

"I wasn't able..." Arjun had his eyes fixed on some point. "I wasn't able to cut the rope. I couldn't leave you there, pretend everything was fine and continue with the mission."

Sparrow thought for a bit about what to say.

"It was crazy, maybe one of the craziest things that I ever did." Sparrow nodded a few times. "That's why I'm glad you didn't cut the rope."

Arjun looked into her eyes for a few seconds.

"It took us too long to rescue you."

"You did what you had to do sir."

"As captain it is my duty to protect my team."

"And you have done it. We are all here, we are all alive and we have achieved our objective. We have El Cardenal and valuable information."

"I doubt Gustavo Serrano wants to talk." Arjun shook his head.

"No, El Cardenal won’t speak."

"We're still going to try. My way this time." Arjun leaned forward, resting both his elbows on his legs. "You mentioned that we have obtained valuable information. Do you have anything?"

Sparrow was slow to respond but nodded.

"Did you see him? El Sueño?" Arjun raised his head.

Sparrow nodded again.

"He spoke to you?"

"Yes but he didn't say anything important. Just threats and attempts to buy my loyalty."

"He didn't get it."

"Of course not. He can shove his money up his ass. But I learned to listen, to pretend I was unconscious at the right time."

"Did you get another name?"

"That's right."

Arjun thought a little. They hadn’t yet lost track ofEl Sueño. They still had a chance to hunt him down, and now that they had the Bolivian rebel forces they could hit harder. But for now, they had to rest and keep a low profile. At least until things calmed down a bit.

"This war isn’t over yet." Arjun stood up and patted Sparrow's shoulder. "But for now rest. We'll take care of the rest."

Arjun left, he left the tent, once again finding the base of the Bolivian rebel forces. In the distance he saw Lachlan talking to Pac Katari. Lachlan realized that Arjun had left the tent, and raised a hand indicating Paco Katari to wait a moment and walked until he reached Arjun.

"How's your sergeant?"

"She's awake, she'll be fine." Arjun replied. "Do we have any news?

"Gustavo Serrano has woken up."

Arjun sighed and cracked his neck.

"Good. There's work to do."

___________

EXTRA!

drawing made by the beautiful @alypink. I'm crying so much!! I'm in love with this drawing!! T^T <333