#that i was in hospital for my eye operation and as a present i got a goody bag of all pokemon the first movie stuff

[emilypemily]

i could sell the trading card holder itself for like 20 quid on ebay but i will not <3

[imaginesbymonika]

LOML- loss of my life | Prologue

Pairing: Bucky Barnes x fem!Reader

Plot: You knew him at a time when he didn't, and now he is looking for you...

Warnings: depiction of violence, angst, mentions of (perhaps) death, angst, fluff at the end (maybe), takes place after TFATWS

Bucky didn't like to think back to the years when he was working for Hydra. No matter how many times people named him a victim, an instrument - it didn't change the fact that he was operating for them. Going on those missions- slaughtering hundreds of people. Innocent fucking civilians. He couldn't possibly look past that. His therapist informed him that this kind of mindset is what's keeping him from fully recovering.

Maybe she was right about that.

Perhaps that was the root of his never-ending nightmares. The ones where he can still smell the blood whenever he wakes up in a cold sweat. Where he stares down at his hands, and for a split second he can catch a glimpse of their blood. Or maybe it is his blood. He lost track of that a long time ago.

A couple of months ago he had read a psychology book where someone argued that memories are primarily silent. And he couldn’t have thrown that book any faster against the closest wall. Because fuck whoever wrote that piece of crap. He’d be happy if for once he couldn’t hear the screaming of his victims, their begging and crying…followed by his metal arm making this eerie sound whenever it crushed someone’s spine into little pieces.

Bucky takes a deep breath. God, how he yearned and wished for silence. But then again, God has abandoned him a while ago.

His dreams only consist of flashbacks. Please, I have children waiting for me at home! Stop, stop, that hurts! Your work is fundamental for mankind! Oh my god, please stop! Make this stop, please! My oldest is 7! Please, don’t forget that you’re still human underneath it all. Bucky’s eyes open and when he sits up he can not stop gasping for air. Please, don’t forget you’re still human underneath it all.

He inspects his worn out features in the mirror. When had he started to dream of her? When did she manage to tiptoe her way into this hellfire of memories? What was her name again?

You slightly flinched when Pierce's hand made contact with The Winter Soldier’s cheek. The sound echoed through the empty corridors of the facility. And her gaze quickly drops to her clipboard. Everybody around her was silent, staring at either the long-haired man or the one in the suit. Pierce looked beyond furious before his eyes fell on you and he cleared his throat:” What are you writing down.”

Fuck. You took a deep breath, and quickly improved your posture:” I am just documenting the bruising, Sir.” The older man hummed and furrowed his eyebrows:” Let me see.” Out of nowhere, he snatched the clipboard out of your hands. You slightly groan at the burning sensation the plastic left on your skin. The entire time, you were able to feel The Winter Soldier's eyes on you. How you loathed this job. But you needed to remind yourself that you didn’t have much of a choice, whether or not you wanted to be there. For almost three years, you were one of the top physicians at NYC’s best hospital. Then one evening, while you were walking back to your car, you got kidnapped. You-

“Bucky?”, Sam’s voice brings him back into the present: “Are you still with me?” There is a playfulness to his voice. One that quickly disappears, once Sam notices the look on his friend’s face. And for a few seconds, the two men just look at one another, before Bucky shakes his head:” Yeah no. I’m fine.”

“You’re gone a lot these days.”

Bucky tilts his head and blinks in perplexity:” What’s that supposed to mean? We have been working on this case together since last week, we-.”

“Mentally, Bucky.”, Sam cuts him off and brings his cup of coffee up to his lips. And he can detect an emotion in Bucky’s eyes that tells him he struck a nerve. There is a heavy silence filling the kitchen before Sam speaks up again, his voice gentle and understanding:” Where are you going?”

[shmaptainwrites]

𝐓𝐇𝐄 𝐖𝐑𝐎𝐍𝐆 𝐈𝐃𝐄𝐀 [𝐉𝐀𝐌𝐄𝐒 𝐖𝐈𝐋𝐒𝐎𝐍]

PAIRINGS — James Wilson x ex-wife!Reader

SUMMARY — James and Reader have not been on great terms since their divorce, but an emerging situation with their son forces them to put aside their differences and work together and hope that past feelings don't resurface

WARNINGS — hospitalization, chronic illness, swearing, complicated feelings (idk y'all they're divorced what more can I say)

NOTE — Okay so I have so many things to say about this fic, but if I say them all this post will be way too long it already is like this came up as 33 pages in my docs but this is a day late birthday present for @shots-of-wilson-and-whiskey who also provided the James pic I hope you had such a fun day and a great year of simping ahead!

Pronounciation — Mahlet = Ma-h-let | Hennock = Hey-knock

Ever since you had become a mother, birthday parties were the bane of your existence. The sugar overload, the loud noises, the cleanup afterwards, all amounted to your own personal hell. Yet, you would move hell or high water for your son to have the most enjoyable party every single year. 

Today was no different, eight years later you were still breaking your back to ensure every small detail was perfect, from the pin the spikes on the stegosaurus to the cake you’d spent at least a month painstakingly training to make. 

A friend of yours, another parent from the school your son Julian went to, came over in the kitchen to give you a hand with some of the snacks. 

“How are you managing here?” she asked and you took a deep breath. 

“Managing is the operative word,” you chuckled. “Kids having fun out there?” 

“Yeah, loads, you’ve outdone yourself again,” she assured you. “Will James be making an appearance?” 

“I stopped asking myself that question after we got divorced,” you said while fixing the plate of vegetables and dip. “He’s supposed to, he promised Julian, but we all know how that ends.” 

There seemed to be a bit of commotion out in the backyard and you tried to assess what was happening from the window, but your suspicions that something was off was confirmed when Julian’s best friend, Hennock, came rushing inside.

“Mrs. Wilson, something’s going on with Julian,” he said and you frowned while your friend followed you outside to see the kids circling around Julian who seemed to be gripping onto his chest. 

“Jay, what’s going on? Are you okay?” you bent down to be closer to his eye-level, trying to understand what was happening to your son. 

“Can’t…” he pointed to his mouth. “Can’t…breathe,” he wheezed. 

Your eyes went wide, but before you could grab him and run for the car he began to cough and you hoped and prayed there was just something caught in his throat that would make its way out, but with the coughing came spatters of red all over your white shirt.

“Mahi,” you looked over at your friend quickly while picking Julian up. You didn’t have to say a word, she already knew what she needed to do. 

Living close to the hospital, it was worth it to drive yourself, that way you didn’t have to wait for an ambulance to get to you. You had made the mental calculations many times before, just in case there was an emergency and now it was finally coming in handy. 

When you got Julian in the car, you checked in on his breathing, it was still laboured, but at least at this point he was getting in the air, even if he was coughing up blood. 

You turned on the car and began driving while calling your ex-husband with one hand. The line rang until you reached voicemail so you called again, expecting at least this time for him to pick up, only to hear the tone once more. 

“Dammit James!” you threw your phone down on the seat next to you knowing you’d deal with him later, now you needed to focus on getting to the hospital without killing either of you. 

Barely paying attention to how your car was parked, you grabbed Julian out of the back seat and ran into the ER with him. 

“Ma’am, what’s going on?” a nurse came and asked you as you put Julian down. 

“My son, he-he’s having trouble breathing and he’s coughing up blood I-I-I don’t know what’s happening.” 

Before you could say a word they had whisked Julian away and another nurse came to ask you some questions about his medical history and any information that may be important to the doctors treating him. 

“Where’s my son?” you asked, “I want to see my son.” 

“Ma’am I’m sorry, but the doctors are working on getting his airway cleared, you can’t be with him right now.” 

You pressed your lips into a thin line and bit back your tongue. There were a million and one things you wanted to say to the nurse, but none of them would help your situation. On the other hand, finding your ex might. 

So instead of finding the waiting room you went over to the elevator and made your way up to the oncology department, briskly walking through the halls until you reached his office. At this point, you didn’t bother knocking, opening the door to see him sitting down over a file and talking with House. 

“Hey Greg,” you said in a fake cheery voice. “Mind giving us the room?” 

“Oh, this is the wife with the kid, did you forget to pay child support?” House asked James. 

“Get out, Greg,” you said warningly and he listened, instead opting to steal the rest of James’ sandwich and slipping past you, while wishing James good luck and letting you slam the door shut behind you. 

“What’s going on?” James asked, clearly confused by your demeanour and appearance. “If this is about the party I didn’t forget I was-wait is that blood,” he stood up from his chair and came over to you. 

“What’s going on is you didn’t pick up your fucking phone,” you said angrily. 

“Hey,” James looked at you sternly. “What is going on?” he repeated his question, this time more pointedly. 

You could feel your lips begin to tremble and your vision became blurred while you shook your head. 

“Who’s blood is on your shirt?” 

You chewed on the inside of your cheek, “It’s Julian’s.” 

“Julian-I-what happened?” his demeanour changed from frustrated with your attitude towards him to worrying for his son. 

“I-I don’t know he said he couldn’t breathe and then he started coughing up blood and I just picked him up and drove him here a-and now they won’t let me see him.” 

“You drove him?” he asked incredulously. “You didn’t think to maybe call an ambulance?” 

“That’s what you’re hung up on? That I decided to drive because it was faster than getting him an ambulance?” 

“That’s not what I-,” 

“Yes it is,” you stepped back. “I wouldn’t have needed an ambulance if you were there.” 

James sighed and chose to ignore your comment, 

“Where is he?” he asked. 

“Emergency room,” you muttered. “They won’t let me see him, you need to talk to them, say something, anything.” 

James nodded his head, at least you could agree on that. He walked with you out of the office and to the elevator so you could go to the ER together and figure out what the hell was happening to your son. 

When you got down there and James began speaking to the nurses, they informed him that Julian had been moved to the ICU and his respiration was being closely monitored while they ran a few tests to see what had caused the arrest. 

You had to fight to hold yourself upright when they pulled back the curtain and you could see Julian hooked up to all the machines and with a ventilator tube stuck down his throat. You covered your mouth with your hand and shook your head again. This couldn’t be happening, now you were supposed to be cutting into cake and opening presents, not sitting in the ICU. 

You stepped inside with James and he closed the curtain to give you a bit of privacy and decided to look over his chart and see if they had given any relevant information there. Seeing none, he turned his attention over to you, seeing your eyes filled with tears, unable to tear your gaze away from your son. 

James walked over to you and cautiously put a hand on your shoulder, eventually encouraging you to turn around so he could pull you into his arms. You allowed your tears to soak his white coat, gripping onto him so tightly because there was nowhere else to hold. 

You could hear his breathing change, accompanied by the small sniffles and you knew he was doing just as bad as you were right now, wiping the tears from his own eyes as he finally allowed himself to see his son as he was, sick, helpless, vulnerable, and only moments ago, without his dad’s help when he needed him most. 

Your moment was interrupted when you heard the curtain being pulled back and you saw two doctors standing there. You pulled away from James and wiped whatever remaining tears were in your eyes so you could properly address them.

It seemed as though one of the doctors recognized James and when he looked down at the file and saw the name he made the connection internally. 

“Can we talk to you guys out in the waiting room for a moment?” he asked. 

“I don’t want to leave my son,” you shook your head. 

“Ma’am, this is the ICU and the visiting hours are very strictly adhered to, I think your husband maybe got lucky and pulled a few strings so you could see your son, but we need to leave now.” 

“He’s not my husband,” you muttered and reluctantly followed them out of the makeshift room and towards the waiting area. 

“Did you find out what was wrong?” James asked, crossing his arms over his chest. “I looked at his chart. You took him for an emergency CT and bloodwork.” 

“We also ran a few other tests,” the doctor began explaining. “From the medical history your, um, ex wife gave I had a suspicion of something so we ran a sweat test to check for elevated chloride levels and it just came back positive.” 

“Chloride levels?” you looked up at James. “What does that mean?” 

James sighed and ran a hand through his hair, “It means Julian has cystic fibrosis.” 

“I-I’ve heard of that, is it curable?” you asked. 

“I’ll leave you guys with Dr. Liu, he deals with the pediatric cystic fibrosis cases and will be able to answer your questions better than I can,” he wished you a good day and left you alone with the other doctor. 

“Cystic fibrosis is manageable-,” 

“So you can’t cure it,” you reiterated. 

The doctor shook his head, “Unfortunately there is no cure for CF yet, but many people have been able to live longer and happy lives with the medical technology now available.” 

James was silent, taking in all the information that was being presented. 

“How did he get it? Is it contagious or-or was it just always there?” you asked. 

“It’s a genetic condition, so he’s always had it, the symptoms have just gotten to the point where they’re now visible,” the doctor explained.

“I-It’s genetic so one of us is a carrier?” you pointed to you and James. 

“We both are,” James said. “Both parents have to be carriers to pass it down to their child, right?” 

Dr. Liu nodded and you pressed your lips together. 

“C-Can you just tell us what this means for right now?” you asked. “I just think-I think I need a minute.” 

Dr. Liu nodded his head and explained they were giving Julian medication to help with the infection and airway damage that caused him to cough up blood, then they would get him on some bronchodilators to help with his breathing for the time being while they assessed what other issues the cystic fibrosis had potentially caused in his body. He’d have to stay at the hospital for a while, but hopefully could be moved to the pediatric ward within the next day or so.

“We can talk more about what Julian’s medical journey will look like later, I’ll give you guys some time together and if you have any questions, Wilson’s got my pager and knows where my office is.” 

You nodded your head and thanked him quietly as he left the waiting area. You finally sat down on one of the chairs. 

James took the seat next to you and you covered your face with your hands. 

“We couldn’t give him a functional family and a happy home and now we’ve given him a chronic medical condition to top it off.” 

“Blaming ourselves isn’t going to do anything for Julian,” James said. 

“And sitting around here is?” you asked and James sighed. 

“No, no it’s not.” 

You sat there in silence for a little while longer before you noticed James stand up and motion for you to follow him. As much as you didn’t want to listen to him and just sit and wait until they would let you be with Julian again, you got up and followed him to one of the OR supply closets. He used a key to unlock the door and sifted through some materials until he found what he was looking for, pulling out a scrub shirt in your size and handing it over to you. 

You looked down at your own shirt, seeing the red specks of Julian’s blood and closed the door behind your both, pulling your shirt off over your head and handing it to James. You were about to put the other shirt on when you noticed the flecks of dried blood against your chest. 

While you eyes were transfixed on that, James had grabbed an alcohol wipe package from the shelves and tore it open with his teeth, removing the wipe and reaching over to help you clean the blood off yourself. 

“James, I can do it myself,” you reached for the wipe, but he pulled it away. 

“You’ve got some on your neck too, just let me take care of it,” he insisted. 

You knew better than to cause a fight over something trivial like this right now so you put your hands down, watching as James tossed your shirt over his shoulder and carefully began wiping away the specks of your son’s blood off your chest, collarbone, and neck. 

“Have you eaten today?” he asked you while holding your face to tilt it to the side so he could get a spot he’d missed earlier. 

“No, why?” 

“Because it’s his birthday, you’d always forget to eat until dinner and even then it would be scraps from the party until I forced you to eat something better,” he recounted. “Let’s just go grab something from the cafeteria before we go back to the ICU, okay?” 

“Will it make a difference if I say I’m not hungry?” you asked. 

“You can’t take care of Julian if you’re not taking care of yourself.” 

You scoffed and pulled the shirt over your head, “And you’ve suddenly become an expert on taking care of your family?” 

“Believe it or not, we were once happy and there was a reason we got married and decided to have a child together.” 

“And there’s a reason we got divorced too,” you added and opened the door behind you.

You didn’t go to the cafeteria, instead heading back to the ICU waiting room knowing either visiting hours would have to start eventually or they’d move Julian to his own room and you could finally sit with him. 

James clearly hadn’t followed you so you ended up alone again, wringing your hands and waiting for some sort of news. 

Eventually, you felt a bag drop on your lap and you looked up and saw James standing overtop of you. You looked inside and saw a package of a sandwich, a small bag of chips, and a water bottle. 

You knew he was right, that if you didn’t take care of yourself you wouldn’t be able to take care of Julian, so you forced yourself to eat, even if you didn’t want to. 

A little while later, Dr. Liu had returned and informed you that they were moving Julian to the pediatric ward and you could stay with him there in his room. When you joined him there, James had taken off his white coat and tossed it on one of the chairs, rolling up the sleeves of his shirt and sitting down next to Julian’ taking one of his hands in his own. 

“Don’t you have patients you need to see?” you asked, sitting on the opposite side of the hospital bed. 

“I told Cuddy I needed the day, someone else is taking care of it for me,” he said, not removing his gaze from Julian. 

With the two of them sitting next to each other like that, you could clearly see the similarities Julian had with his father. They shared the same eyes and nose, and when they smiled they had the same little creases around their eyes. 

You wished that’s what you could have been looking at, them smiling together, instead of the frown etched onto James’ face and Julian still fast asleep while an oxygen mask now delivered the air he needed to help him breathe. 

“Do you know much about cystic fibrosis?” you asked James, brushing your thumb against Julian’s other hand. 

“Only that it mainly affects the digestive system and the respiratory tract,” he explained. “I’m not too familiar with how it's managed, just that there’s regular doctor’s visits and probably some medication and therapies involved.” 

You could feel a small stirring and you looked down and saw Julian’s hand begin to move underneath yours. 

You smiled when you saw his eyes blink open and James was quick to stand up and come closer to him so he had a familiar face to look at while he took in his surroundings. 

“Hey buddy,” James smiled and you could see Julian light up at the sight of his dad. He lifted his hand to try to remove the oxygen mask, but James gently encouraged him not to. “This is giving your lungs an extra hand right now, let’s just keep it on until the doctor tells us it's okay to take it off.” 

“But you’re a doctor,” Julian countered and James chuckled. 

“I am, but I'm not your doctor. I am, however, your dad so you have to listen to me anyways,” he teased and bent down to kiss his son’s cheek and tickle him a little bit in the process. 

“Hey, go easy on him,” you placed a gentle hand on James' arm and he laid off. 

“You know,” James said. “It’s still your birthday.” 

“It is?” Julian asked and you both nodded and James reached down to grab something he’d brought with him. 

“All the presents your friends got you are at home waiting for you to get better so you can open them, but this is what I got for you,” he said. “I was gonna come and bring it to the party, but I think you brought the party to me.” 

Julian laughed a little at that and you rolled your eyes, of course James could make himself look good by not showing up. 

He sat up with the help of his dad and pulled out the tissue paper from the bag to see the present that was hiding underneath. With a big grin on his face, he took out a dinosaur stuffed animal along with a book all about the different species of the Cretaceous period. 

“This is awesome,” Julian grinned. “Thanks dad, I love it.” 

James gave Julian another kiss and you joined them, taking a seat on the bed and glancing over at the book on Julian’s lap. 

“How are you feeling sweetheart?” you asked, fixing the twisted band of the oxygen mask on his face. 

“My throat hurts a little bit,” he admitted. “And I’m kinda hungry.” 

“Let me call a nurse and we’ll see what you can eat,” you said and pressed the button to send someone over from the nurses’ station. 

Meanwhile, James poured Julian a glass of water and helped him take a few sips of it. His throat was probably irritated from being on the ventilator, but his lungs had become stabilized from the use of the bronchodilators. 

The nurse came and you spoke to her about getting Julian something to eat and she said she’d double check with Dr. Liu and then grab him some food. 

“Hey, Jay,” you walked over to the bed and took your son’s hand in yours. “Are you okay to hang out here with dad while I go grab some stuff from home? The doctors said we might hang around here for a few days so I think I need to pack a bag.” 

“Yeah, that’s okay,” Julian nodded. “Are you okay mom?” he reached up and touched your cheek and you realized you'd let a few more tears slip.

“Yeah, I’m just really happy you’re okay,” you wiped the tears away and pressed a big kiss to his cheek. “Right, Jamie? We’re both happy he’s okay.” 

James looked over at you with softness reflecting in his eyes at the sound of the nickname he hadn’t heard in a long time and nodded his head. 

“Bring some cake back with you,” Julian whispered. “Even if dad and the doctor say no we can sneak some.” 

You laughed at his plan and gave him another kiss, assuring him you’d pack some in a container to bring for him when you came back.

When you arrived at your home, you thought you might cry at the sight in front of you. The kitchen and living room were completely clean, presents piled neatly on the coffee table along with a new card you didn’t recognize. Coming closer, you noticed the bright marker, signature of eight-year-olds across the country, with the message Get Well Soon Julian! written on it and signed by all his friends who had attended the party. 

You packed the card in your bag along with a few other things and made a mental note to grab a nice thank you gift for Mahlet to thank her for what she had done. 

As promised, you cut a big chunk of cake, enough for the three of you to share, and packed it in a tupperware to bring back to the hospital. 

You grabbed a few changes of clothes for both you and Julian and changed out of the temporary shirt you had on and into something more comfortable for the rest of the evening, making sure everything you needed was in place before heading out and going back to the hospital. 

When you got back to Julian’s room you saw James squished in next to him on the bed, the book he had bought him opened on his lap as he read its contents to Julian. Julian was resting his head against James’ arm and James was doing those big exaggerations he always would whenever he’d read bedtime stories to Julian, emphasizing all the insane details and changing the inflections of his voice in just the right way to make him laugh. 

“I brought cake,” you grinned, holding up the container as you entered the room, holding three plastic forks. “If Dr. Dad says it's okay, we can eat it.” 

“Dr. Dad desperately needs some sugar,” James nodded his head and closed the book for the time being while you took a seat by Julian’s legs and opened the container, handing each of the boys a fork. 

You helped Julian take off his oxygen mask for the time being and placed it off to the side, acutely aware of how his breathing sounded more laboured without it. 

James only snuck in a couple bites of the cake before taking the mask from your side and holding it ready in case Julian needed a bit of an extra hand. 

Just as he had predicted, after a few bites of cake Julian was noticing a bit of a difficulty to get air into his lungs and James held up the mask to his face, allowing him to take a couple deep breaths. 

“What do you think of the cake, Jay?” you asked. 

“Really good, just like everytime you make it,” he grinned. 

“I’m sorry you didn’t have a great birthday, buddy,” James apologized. “I mean with all your friends and classmates.” 

“What do you mean?” Julian asked. “I think I had a good birthday.” 

“You do?” you frowned curiously, wondering what kind of light he’d seen in the day that you and James as worried parents had somehow missed. “What made it good?”

“We’re sitting eating cake. Together. Just like when I was little,” he said simply and you chewed on the inside of your cheek, looking over at James whose gaze hadn’t left Julian. He almost looked disappointed, at what, you couldn’t place, but at least for the moment Julian was happy and that was all either of you really wanted. 

—

You grabbed your purse from the ground and thanked Dr. Liu for all of the information he had given you and assured you’d be there with Julian at the allocated follow-up time you had arranged. You were just about to leave when James came rushing into the room, apologies spewing out of his mouth for being late. 

“Late? You missed the whole appointment.”

“I-I did?” he said, looking down at his watch and cursing when he saw the time. 

“Jay, sweetheart, why don’t you sit down here,” you moved out of Dr. Liu’s office and set him up on a chair in one of the general waiting areas and handed him his dinosaur book from your purse. “I just need to go have a chat with your dad real quick.” 

Julian nodded and opened up the book, flipping through the pages while you grabbed James’ arm and pulled him into a dead-end hallway so you could speak in private. 

“What the hell took you so long?” you asked firmly. “We waited for twenty minutes before even starting the appointment!” 

“I’m sorry,” James apologized, “I was in the OR with a patient and something went haywire and it took longer than expected to fix it.” 

“Still, you couldn’t have told someone to at least pass on a message?” 

“I was in the middle of saving a patient’s life! What did you want me to do?” 

“I wanted you to be there for your son,” you whispered harshly. “You make promises you can’t keep and I have to watch him get disappointed over and over again. He does not deserve that, especially now.” 

James placed his hands on his hips and said, 

“I am trying to be there, it’s not for lack of effort-,” 

“Well try harder!” you threw your hands up in the air. “You’re an ex-husband James, not an ex-father. You don’t have to show up for me anymore, but you damn well better show up for him.” 

When he said nothing you continued. 

“Believe it or not, you don’t have to work as much as you do James. You chose to do that and right now that’s coming at your son’s expense and he is scared and vulnerable and neither of us know half of what Dr. Liu is talking to us about. Do you know what he said to me when I was confused about the management plan? He said Dad would know what this means. Dad can help us. And he’s right, you would have known and you can help so stop acting like your fucking schedule controls you and get your schedule under control.” 

James was quiet for a moment before he nodded his head, 

“Okay,” he said simply. 

You knew better than to get your hopes up with him and you didn’t have any more energy to argue, so you told him you could talk more later, but right now you were going to take Julian home so he could rest in his own bed and finally open his birthday presents. 

“Is dad coming with us?” Julian asked when you picked him up and began walking away to leave the hospital. 

“No, not this time,” you shook your head. 

“Did you fight with him again?” Julian asked and you pressed your lips together. 

“We just had a disagreement,” you settled on. “You can call him later when he’s done work if you want to talk to him, sounds good?” 

Julian was content with your answer and left it at that. 

Over the next few days, aside from Julian’s call, you didn’t hear much for James and you assumed things were right on track to going back to the way they had always been. You loved your son to pieces, but this was one time you wished his dad would be here to support, working and caring for Julian on top of trying to figure out how to be his at home doctor was already taking its toll and you didn’t know how you’d be able to keep it up. 

One night, you were sitting in the living room reading a book Dr. Liu had recommended. It was detailing strategies for parents with children who had cystic fibrosis. In the middle of your chapter you were interrupted by a knock to your door and you put in your bookmark, wondering who was stopping by this far into the evening. 

Unlocking the door and opening it, you found it hard to hide the surprise in your face when you saw James on the other end. 

“James?” you tilted your head. “I haven’t heard from you at all this week, what’s going on?” 

“I reduced my patient load,” he said, “and I talked to Cuddy about reducing my clinic hours. I still have to do some administrative stuff for the department, but it can be done from home for the most part.” 

“Oh,” you were surprised to say the least. You didn’t realize your outburst the other day had worked. 

“You were right,” he said. “I need to be here for Julian and I can’t do that if my work always comes first.” 

You nodded your head, following along with what he was saying. 

“C-Can I come in and see him?” James asked. “I know our custody agreement has always been all over the place-,” 

You didn’t say anything, simply opening the door wider for him to come inside. 

“He’s asleep in his room,” you said. “When you’re done we can talk some more.” 

James nodded and stepped inside, slipping off his shoes and taking off his jacket, making his way to Julian’s room to sit with him for a moment before joining you in the kitchen. 

“Want something to drink?” you asked and he said some water would be nice. You poured him a glass while waiting for the water to boil for your tea. 

“I saw the book you were reading over there,” he pointed to the couch. “Dr. Liu recommended it to me too, I just finished it the other night.” 

“Show off,” you rolled your eyes and handed him the glass. 

“What I was trying to say is I think something that stood out to me is having consistency and a routine is good, especially when things are new,” James explained. “I don’t think it makes sense for him to be moving back and forth from here to my place.” 

“So you think we should have a home base here?” you confirmed and he nodded. 

“I can come by more often, if there’s days where you need to be at work I can be doing the administrative stuff here after school and take care of Julian until you get back.” 

You pursed your lips and as you heard the kettle click, moved to pour your hot water into the mug you were holding. 

“These are all good ideas,” you started. 

“I’m assuming there’s a but coming?” 

“But I don’t want to give Julian the wrong impression is all.” 

James shook his head. 

“You really need to pick whatever it is you want,” James crossed his arms over his chest. “First I’m not here enough, I don’t put my family first. Now I’m putting my family first and you’re worried Julian’s going to think this means we’re getting back together.” 

“He doesn’t need to get his hopes up for something that’s never going to happen,” you said flatly. 

“Have you ever considered having a conversation with him instead of shielding him from every little thing that might hurt him?” James asked and you rolled your eyes. 

“Clearly every little thing can hurt him!” you pointed over to his room. “He can’t even breathe without help, James. Maybe he needs to be protected.” 

“Stop, just stop,” James ran a hand over his face. “I can’t get into a fight with you every single time we see each other. Julian is just as much my son as he is yours, if this is going to work we need to be able to have a conversation with each other.” 

You took a sip of your tea and said,

“Okay, I’m worried Julian might take the fact that you’re around more the wrong way.” 

James nodded his head, “I hear you, so maybe we should talk to him about it and say I’m coming around more to lend a hand around the house and help take care of him.” 

“Dad? What are you doing here?” as if on cue, Julian had walked into the kitchen, rubbing his eyes awake and adjusting to the light. 

“Julian, where’s your oxygen mask?” 

“I don’t wanna wear it mom,” he whined. “I don’t like the way it feels on my face.” 

You sighed, having had this conversation at least five times before, you didn’t know what else you could say to convince him. 

“Hey buddy, maybe we should listen to mom on this one,” James suggested. “You know that feeling you’ve got right here,” he pointed to his chest. “That’s only gonna get worse if you don’t wear it and we don’t want to have to go to the hospital again, right?” 

Julian shook his head and sighed, stomping back over to his room to grab the portable machine and place the tube under his nose and around his ears, allowing him to get the right amount of oxygen. 

You looked over at James gratefully and he reached his hand out to yours and gave it a squeeze. It was nice being on the same team even if you had just been arguing. 

When Julian came back he repeated his question to his dad who explained that he was here to talk to you about a few things that would be changing soon and that he’d be around more to help look after him. 

“If you’re going to be here to help look after me can you stay tonight?” Julian asked. “Mom still has some of your clothes in those boxes in her closet.” 

“She does, does she,” James looked over at you. 

“It was the stuff you wanted to give away and I never got around to it,” you said. “There’s probably a hoodie and some pyjama pants in there if you want to stay.” 

James pressed his lips together and sighed, 

“You know buddy as much as I would love to have a sleepover with you I don’t think it’s a good idea if I spend the night here,” James said. “But I can tuck you in again and wait until you fall asleep to go back home.” 

“Mom, can you come too?” Julian asked and you nodded your head. 

James stood up and helped Julian carry his portable oxygen machine back to his bedroom and you trailed behind them, watching as James carefully tucked Julian back under the covers while peppering his face with small kisses, like he would do when Julian was younger and just learning to sleep in his own room. 

“Dad that tickles,” Julian giggled and James simply smiled and continued littering his face with kisses. 

“Too bad. I love you too much; I just can’t get enough of you.” 

“Alright, move it,” you nudged James from the opposite side of the bed and took your turn. “It must tickle having two parents who love you so damn much.” 

“It does,” Julian’s laughter died out as you both finally left him alone, sitting on either side of his mattress. 

You both wished him a good night and waited as he slowly fell back asleep. When his breathing was steady and his grip loosened on yours and James’ hands you took it as your cue to leave the room. 

James placed a hand on your shoulder as you stepped out of the room, prompting you to turn around and face him. 

“I’ll come by tomorrow and we can work out a schedule or something, does that sound good?”

You nodded your head, 

“Yeah, I have a work thing tomorrow in the evening, I was gonna ask Mahlet, Hennock’s mom, if she could come look after Julian, but if you’re around…” 

“I’ll come for dinner and then do the bedtime routine,” he said and you smiled. 

“James I’m begging you-,” 

“I won’t be late,” he assured. “No surgeries planned and I’m ending my shift with clinic duty.” 

You pressed your lips into a thin line and nodded your head. 

“I’ll see you then,” you patted his arm and he showed himself out. 

You walked back to the kitchen grabbing your now lukewarm cup of tea and sitting back on the couch picking up your book and opening it, reading until you couldn’t keep your eyes open any longer, falling asleep right there on the couch. 

—

Over the next few months, you, James, and Julian had developed some sort of routine around school, work, and doctor’s appointments. A part of you thought you were spending more time together as a family than when you were married. 

Today you had to go in for work, also having reduced your hours, but in a way that you were working in tandem with James. When you arrived back home the house smelled like warm spices and big plates of home-cooked food. 

You dropped your keys on the entryway table, next to James’ keys and wallet and took off your jacket, hanging it up before coming to the kitchen and seeing Julian and Hennock doing their homework at the island. 

“Mr. Wilson, what is the difference between these two words?” Hennock asked, holding up his paper so James could see while cutting some vegetables for a salad. 

“I think the first one is the kind of principal in your school that looks after all the students and the other one is… man, that’s hard to describe. Hey, how do you describe what principle is to an eight-year-old?” James asked you. 

“I think that kind of principle is something that guides the way people behave or act,” you sat next to Julian and Hennock. “Like a principle is the foundation for something that people believe in.” 

Hennock and Julian still looked a little confused by your explanation so you tried to give an example. 

“So a principle could be to be kind to everyone we meet and so people who believe in that principle will try to follow it.” 

That put it in better terms for them to understand and there was a chorus of oh’s before they looked back down at their papers and scribbled down a few things to answer the questions they were asked. 

“They learning about homonyms?” you asked James and he nodded.

“I talked to Mahlet,” James said, changing the topic. “Hennock’s gonna stay for dinner and she’ll come pick him up around seven.” 

“Sounds good, it’s always nice to have you, Henny,” you smiled and ruffled your hand through his coarse curly hair in an endearing way. 

“Thanks, Mrs. Wilson,” Hennock smiled. 

James was now over the stove, stirring what looked like a soup before giving it a taste and figuring something might be missing.

“Can you taste this?” James asked. “I don’t know why, but every time I make it there’s something off.” 

You took a spoon and tried a little bit of the broth, looking down to see that he was making matzah ball soup and immediately when you tasted it you knew what was missing. 

“I know what it is,” you said. “But you can’t tell your mom I told you. She swore me to secrecy.” 

“My mother told you this?” James asked and you nodded. 

“When we were getting married she wanted me to know how to make it the way she would for you when you were sick.” 

“And she didn’t think to tell her own son how to do this?” he seemed thoroughly offended, but all you could do was laugh. 

“It’s tarragon. I don’t think it’s something everyone adds, it was just something special she’d put in hers to make it a little different. Here,” you reached into the spice cupboard and took out a jar of dried tarragon and took a bit of the herb out of the container and crushed it in your hands before sprinkling it into the soup. James mixed it in and gave the broth a minute to soak in the flavour before trying it again and shaking his head. 

“I can’t believe she didn’t tell me!” 

“I’ll let you finish having your little meltdown,” you patted his back. “I’m gonna hop in the shower quickly and we can eat when I get out.” 

“Did Dad forget the tarragon?” Julian asked and you nodded your head. 

“Wow, so everyone knew, but me?” James asked and you nodded your head with a shrug. 

“Sorry, I guess your mom has favourites, or something.” 

“Figures,” James teasingly rolled his eyes and you chuckled, waving him off and going to take a shower and change into something a little more comfortable. 

When you came back outside they had migrated to the dining room table, each with a bowl of soup in front of them and a plate of salad. You sat on the same side as James since Julian and Hennock were already sitting next to each other and the boys happily recounted the details of their school day and playdate with you while everyone ate their soup and salad. 

“What did you do at work, Dad?” James asked. 

“Oh, nothing interesting,” he shook his head. “I think your mom was doing bigger things than me.” 

“Bigger than treating people with cancer? You flatter me,” you drank some of your soup’s broth. “I had a meeting with a big company about a building they’re making.” 

“Did you go do a site visit?” James asked and you nodded. 

“Engineers are being a pain in the butt, keep making me adjust the design, but we’ll see who gets the last laugh.” 

“Mom always does,” Julian told Hennock and they chuckled along with James. 

After dinner James helped you clear up some of the dishes before heading out and leaving you with the boys. When Mahlet came by to pick Hennock up you invited her in for tea and a little visit. 

“Thanks for coming to stay with Julian the other night,” you said after handing her a mug. “For once, I was the late one and James had an emergency come up so it was a huge help.” 

“And how are things now, with the co-parenting?” 

You took a sip of your tea, “Weirdly good,” you admitted. “We don’t argue as much which is nice and Julian gets to see his dad more.” 

“Do you think maybe you’re not fighting because he’s changing?” she asked. 

“I don’t wanna go down that path,” you shook your head. “If Jay hadn’t been diagnosed things would still be the same as they always were.” 

“But they’re not. More often than not people show their true colours during times of difficulty.” 

You took a deep breath and sighed, “If that was the case I would have seen something worth keeping when my marriage was falling apart.” 

Mahlet nodded, seeing as you had a point and your conversation was halted as they boys came out of Julian’s room. 

Mahlet and Hennock left shortly afterwards and you quickly got Julian ready for bed, tucking him in and then going to get settled yourself. You looked through a few client papers for work before calling it a night and turning off your bedside lamp, curling into bed and falling asleep. 

Your sleep was interrupted in the middle of the night by a tapping on your shoulder and when you blinked your eyes open you saw Julian standing next to your bed. 

“Jay, sweetheart, is something wrong?” you asked. 

“My stomach really hurts,” he told you and you sat up, motioning for him to come sit with you on the bed. 

“Where?” you asked, turning on the light and he pointed to the upper right corner of his abdomen. If you remembered correctly that wasn’t exactly where his stomach was and your suspicions were confirmed when you saw the yellowing whites of his eyes. “Oh, sweetheart, I think we have to go to the hospital.” 

“The hospital? What happened?” Julian looked worried and you assured him everything would be alright. 

“We’re just being safe,” you told him. “I’m gonna call your dad, maybe he can tell us a little bit more of what’s going on. Do you feel good enough to get your jacket and shoes and your hospital bag?” 

Julian nodded his head and you gave him a kiss and he went off to grab his things while you did the same, but also taking your cell phone and calling James. 

It took a few rings, but he eventually picked up. 

“Hey, did something happen?” he asked and you could still hear the sleep thick in his voice. 

“I think something’s wrong with Julian. I’m gonna take him to the hospital, can you meet us there?” 

“Yeah, of course, I’m on my way.” 

“James…the whites of his eyes were yellow. Does he have jaundice?” you asked.

“It’s possible, was there anything else?” 

“Yeah, he mentioned stomach pain, but he pointed to like his upper right abdomen, I think,” you explained while grabbing your bag and putting on some socks. 

“Makes sense as a liver issue,” you could hear his car starting in the background. “If he’s presenting symptoms now I would call an ambulance.” 

“James-,” 

“Just trust me,” he said. “Call 911.” 

“Okay,” you nodded your head and hung up, calling the emergency services and explaining the situation to them and then to Julian while you waited for them to arrive. 

James made the right call, seeing as while you were in the ambulance Julian began to throw up and the paramedics obviously handled it better than you could have if you had driven him. 

When you arrived at the ER they wheeled Julian away and you began getting flashbacks to when you first brought him in. 

“Where are you taking him?” you called after them, but no one answered you. “What the hell kind of hospital is this?! Where are you taking my son?!” 

“Ma’am they're taking your son to do a liver biopsy,” one of the nurses came back and informed you. “We need you to sign this consent form.” 

You nodded your head and took the pen from her hand, signing it, but just as you were about to ask her a question she ran off to give them the okay. 

You could feel your anger and worry bubbling inside your throat and you wanted to let it out in a scream and you were about to go running after her, but before you could you felt someone grab your wrist and pull you back. 

“James let me go,” you said warningly, looking back at your ex-husband. 

“No,” he stated just as firmly. 

“James-,” 

“I am not going to let you do something you’re going to regret,” he said and pulled you into his chest, wrapping his arms around you, even when you pushed to get away. 

“James, let me go.”

“No,” he repeated and simply held onto you tighter. 

“Let me-,” your voice broke and you stopped pushing away. “Please, Jamie, please I just want to see him,” you cried into his shirt and he squeezed you so tight you thought you might get bruises in your arm from the way he was holding you. 

“I know, I know,” he whispered. “You brought him here and he’s going to be fine.” 

“I can’t do this anymore, James. I can't be his mom and his doctor and they can’t expect me to wait out here while they drag him away and ask me to consent to God knows what.” 

James didn’t know what to tell you, instead he just continued to hold you close, rubbing his hands up and down your back, and pressed a soft kiss against your temple. 

You wrapped your arms around him and finally let yourself fully sink into his embrace, hating yourself for how much you liked it and how good it made you feel while your son was in some back corner of the ER getting a piece of his liver biopsied.

Eventually James pulled away from you, helping you dry your tears on the sleeve of his sweater and walking with his arm wrapped around you to the waiting area. You didn’t know how long you were sitting there, but it was possible that you had dozed off once or twice against James’ arm, waiting to hear some sort of news from the ER doctor. 

“Mr. and Mrs. Wilson?” 

Your eyes blinked open when James gently shook you awake. 

“That’s us,” he said. “Is Julian okay?” 

“Your son has a mild case of cirrhosis,” the doctor explained. “Due to his cystic fibrosis diagnosis we believe this is due to clogging and inflammation in his bile ducts.” 

“What does that mean for him? Does he need surgery to fix it?” you asked, fighting back a tired yawn. 

“Unfortunately, yes,” the doctor nodded. “It’s good you caught it early, there’s minimal damage to his liver so far and he’s still growing which means his liver is too. We can get him into an OR tomorrow if you consent to the surgery.” 

You looked over at James and he nodded his head. You trusted him and told the doctor you would sign the papers as soon as you could see Julian. 

“He’s been moved to the pediatric ward for now and Dr. Liu has been informed of the development. He should be in touch with you tomorrow.” 

“Thank you,” James said and when the doctor left, he helped you up and you began the walk up to the pediatric ward. 

When you arrived a nurse pointed you in the direction of his room and after each pressing a kiss to Julain’s forehead you sat on the seat bench together. 

“We should sleep,” James said, but you had a hard time imagining how that would be possible. 

“I’m having a hard time working out the logistics,” you admitted. 

“Come on, it’ll be just like on the way back from our honeymoon,” he insisted, recalling your extremely delayed flight on the way back from France, causing you to sleep with your head on James’ lap, stretched out along the airport chairs. 

You were too tired to argue or try and find another way, so you leaned down and rested your head against his legs, closing your eyes and sighing when you felt his hand rub up and down in long motions along the side of your body. Sleep could not have come quicker.

—

“Mom…Mom, Dad?” 

Julian rolled his eyes when he received no answer and grabbed the stuffed animal you had placed next to him when he’d come into the room and threw it at his sleeping parents, nailing his dad in the face. 

“Oh, God, mhm, wake up,” James shook you while he raised his hands to rub his face.

“Huh?” you opened your eyes and pushed yourself off of James’ lap. “Oh crap, my back. Remind me not to listen to you when you talk about doing something I did ten years ago.” 

“Julian, did you throw Steggy at my face?” James asked, picking up the stuffed animal from where it had fallen on you. 

“You weren’t getting up,” Julian shrugged his shoulders. 

“Julian,” you chastised and took the dinosaur from James’ hand. “You could have hurt your dad’s important doctor-face,” you joked and rubbed your hand all over James’ face making Julian laugh. 

“Okay, okay,” James moved your hand away and gave you a look. 

“How are you feeling, sweetheart?” you yawned and moved from the bench to the side of his bed. 

“A little better,” he said. “Did the doctors fix what was wrong?” 

“Not yet,” James shook his head and came to sit next to you and placed a hand on Julian’s. “You’re gonna have to go in for surgery today.” 

“A surgery?” Julian looked a little nervous. “Like cut me open?” 

“It’ll be just a line right here,” James drew it with his finger along Julian’s abdomen. “They’re going to fix a part of you called your bile duct and then sew you right back up and you’ll be good as new.” 

“Is it dangerous?” he asked. 

You looked over at James, a small note telling him to lie to make him feel better. He didn’t need to know all the details. 

“No,” James shook his head. “You’re gonna be fine and your mom and I will be here the whole time.” 

“Promise?” Julian whispered. 

“Swear on it,” James leaned in towards his son and snuck a kiss to his cheek. “We love you, buddy.” 

“I love you guys too.” 

Dr. Liu came by a little while later to inform you what time the surgery was scheduled for and he helped make Julian feel a lot better about the procedure. When it was finally time for him to go, you were a nervous wreck, but tried not to let it show for Julian’s sake, instead just pressing a big kiss to his forehead and telling him you’d be waiting for him once he got out. 

It only took about fifteen minutes of your pacing to get James to grab onto your arm and make you stop. 

“You’re gonna burn a hole in the ground,” he said. 

“I don’t know what to do with myself,” you admitted. “If I sit I’m gonna fidget, if I stand I’m going to pace.” 

“Then come on, let’s go to my office for a second, grab a coffee and a snack and then we can come back out and wait,” he suggested. 

You agreed to his idea so he stood up and you walked side by side to his office, passing House who had some comment about your dishevelled appearance together. 

“You’re an interesting man, Greg,” you shook your head at him. “You can’t think of any other reason we might be here?” 

House was silent so James explained, 

“Julian’s in surgery right now. He’s got cirrhosis.” 

“Ah so not a late night ex-wife rendez-vous. Can’t get ‘em right all the time,” he shrugged and you chuckled. “I hope the kid’s alright.” 

“Thanks, that means a lot coming from you,” you admitted. 

He raised his brows and lifted his cane to say goodbye, letting you and James continue your walk to his office. 

“House mind that you’re not spending as much time here?” you asked. 

“No, he just bothers me more when I am around,” James said while opening the door and letting you inside. 

He went towards his desk and pulled out a few packages of snacks tossing you one and you shook your head when you saw the label. 

“You still eat these? I thought the FDA recalled them?” you asked sarcastically. 

“I’m sorry I have better taste in food than you do,” he said right back. 

“Right, this is food,” you chuckled. “And if you have such good taste why didn’t your mom tell you about her secret ingredient?” 

“That’s cold,” he pointed to you with a bag of chips in his hand. 

“No, it’s true. Just like your dad telling me I was his favourite wife of yours,” you opened the bag James had tossed you. 

“Just shut up and eat your snack,” James chuckled and you listened to him, beginning to eat a little something, not realizing how hungry you were until the food made its way to your stomach. 

“You got another one of these?” you asked and he nodded, passing it to you when you were finished with the first one. 

“Feeling a little better?” James asked and you nodded your head. 

“Hey James?” you said, unsure of how you’d gotten to this point, but you were too exhausted to stop yourself from saying it. “I want you to move back in.” 

“You want me to do what?” he raised his brows and looked at you stunned. 

“I want you to move back in with me and Julian,” you said. “It’s becoming pretty clear to me that it’s safer to have two people around when possible than not and you’re already around all the time now.” 

“Are you sure this is a good idea?” he asked. “I mean you didn’t want to give Julian the wrong idea about us.” 

“Our lives changed the second we got that diagnosis. I think we need to change along with everything else.” 

You couldn’t believe that just barely twelve hours ago you were telling your friend there was no chance James had changed, but here you were saying things that had proved you had changed. Things you wouldn’t have dreamt of saying a year ago. 

“Okay,” James nodded. “I’ll move back in.” 

You just silently hoped you wouldn’t regret asking. 

Waiting for Julian to get out of surgery was a little easier now that you had some food in your stomach and you decided to wait on coffee until you got the note from the surgeon that everything had gone well. 

As James had continued to assure you almost a hundred times, the surgery went fine and before you knew it you were back in Julian’s room watching him sleep off the anaesthetic. 

“You know he looks like you when he sleeps,” James said from the bench while you sat on the bed next to Julian. 

“He does?” 

“Yeah, his nose does that same scrunchy thing when he sniffles and when he snores-,” 

“Hey, I only snore when I’m congested,” you said defensively. 

“I never minded,” James smiled. “I thought it was cute when you sounded like an old man.” 

“Yeah, but you’re not fond of all my old man characteristics,” you turned around to face him, still holding Julian’s hand in yours. 

“All your old man characteristics?” James furrowed his brows in confusion. 

“You told me I argued like an old man. Stubborn and could only see my own way. And I fought dirty.” 

“You sure did,” James nodded. “If you brandishing my mother’s clear favouritism shows anything, it’s definitely that you fight dirty, but I never said I disliked that about you.” 

“Really? Near the end I thought there was a lot you disliked about me.” 

James shook his head, “No, I was just upset and you were passionate. It wasn’t like my other marriages where things just…fizzled.” 

“We did go out with a bang,” you inhaled deeply. 

“If it weren’t for Julian… do you think we’d…” 

You shook your head. 

“No, we probably never would have seen each other again. Another old man trait, I hold a pretty mean grudge.” 

James pressed his lips together and looked over at his sleeping son. 

“I’m happy we had him,” he said quietly. “Even if we didn’t work out.” 

“Me too,” you agreed, looking over at Julian quietly snoring, just like his dad had said. “Best thing that’s ever happened to me.” 

You leaned down and pressed a gentle kiss to Julian’s nose watching him scrunch it up, making you smile. It was a miracle that two such flawed individuals could make a child so perfect. 

—

“Alright, he is asleep, but I do warn you it took some bribery so you’ll have to buy him another dinosaur book to read to him at night,” you walked out of Julian’s room, dusting your hands off like you’d just finished a heavy labour job. 

“I’ll run to the bookstore tomorrow,” James nodded and you fell onto the couch next to him and sighing as you sunk into the plush fabric before noticing what he was doing. 

“Where did you pull these out of?” you asked with a soft chuckle. 

“I was just clearing up the closet in the guest bedroom and I found a box of these,” he picked up the albums. “Look at this one.” 

He placed the book of photos on your lap and you smiled seeing as it was Julian’s baby album, filled with small mementos and little notes you and James had made in the margins. 

“Oh my God, Mom’s first day home, she looks like an angel,” you read from the side. “And my response: I look like I just got hit by a bus, cut it out.” 

“You can still read my chicken scratch writing?” James asked. 

“My most useless talent as I like to call it,” you nodded. “You wrote a lot in here.” 

“I used to bring it with me to work cause I missed you guys so much,” he admitted. “Made me feel closer to you.” 

You read through some of the notes in the book, chuckling a little at some of the written back and forth you had. Eventually you got to the family portraits you’d had taken a few months after Julian was born, smiling softly to yourself. 

You remembered the day well, you felt like you hadn’t slept in weeks, James was just getting off of a twelve-hour shift and you were almost late to your appointment with the photographer. You were worried everything was going to look terrible and you’d barely had enough time to do your hair or makeup, but James had silenced your worries with a kiss and assured you the pictures would be fine. 

In the end most of them were terrible, but the photographer managed to get two shots, one of you and James smiling down at Julian in your arms and another immediately after where you were looking up and smiling at each other. 

“That session was a shitshow,” you recalled and James agreed. “We did get a few nice things out of it though.” 

You looked back down at the pile of albums in front of you and noticed a large white one, tucked under a few things and even though nothing good could come of it, you pulled it out from the bottom of the pile, carefully blowing off the dust and turning the first page. 

Centerfold, just like you remembered it, was a picture of you and James on your wedding day. You leaned further back into the couch and James scooched in closer to get a look. 

You both looked younger in the picture, with that spark of je ne sais quoi in your eyes. 

“I told you there was a reason we got married,” he said quietly, his hand brushing the corner of the photo. 

“Yeah, we loved each other,” you said. “That was the reason.” 

“Same reason we decided to have Julian,” he added. 

You could feel your breathing become a little more shallow and a tightness in your chest as James spoke about Julian. You remembered the conversations so clearly, like you’d had them yesterday, caught between happy and passionate kisses while James made some dirty jokes about getting you pregnant. 

That was back when he still couldn’t get enough of you. Before things changed and he slowly distanced himself until it felt like it was just you and Julian against the rest of the world, and not the three of you like he had promised all those nights throughout your pregnancy. 

You wondered quietly to yourself what had changed? What had become so unbearable that there was distance in the first place? There was never a lack of love on your end which is why this was dangerous. 

At least when there was distance you could be angry with him, you could go to bed at night and not remember all the little things that made you love him in the first place. He wasn’t there as a constant  reminder that you loved his cooking, or even just your banter together. More importantly, it was giving you new reasons to feel that fluttering feeling in your stomach. 

You’d always loved how he’d interact with Julian, but now that you got to see it day in and day out, it made it harder to weigh that against the cons of everything. Most notably, this was the beginning of the end. If you let yourself fall you would both crash and Julian would be caught in the middle once again. 

You tried to distract yourself by flipping through the album photos to find some funny old picture of a relative or maybe even an embarrassing moment to tone down whatever it was that looking at that picture was making you feel. 

All you could focus on was how in every picture, almost without fail, James was looking over at you. Rarely into the camera along with everyone else. He was enamoured, that was the only word to describe it, and oh how much you missed that look. 

You made the mistake of tearing away your gaze from the pictures, looking up at James instead, and for a moment you thought just maybe you saw that same look in his eyes. But no. It couldn’t have been. The dim light of the lamp must have been playing tricks on you. 

Finally you closed the album and put it back down, unsure of what feelings might resurface if you opened another one. Your honeymoon, family dinners and pictures were all just reminders of the happy times, not what came after.

James did what you didn’t want to, grabbing another album and sifting through the pages until he found what he was looking for, taking a picture out of its protective sleeve and showing it to you. 

“Can I keep this one?” he asked. 

You took it from his hands, examining it while your fingers precariously held the edges of the photograph. 

It was a silly picture, something you had taken while you were travelling. James got someone to take the camera, but along with snapping a few shots while you were posed with smiles they caught a few candids, most notably, James kissing your cheek while you laughed and tried to squirm out of his grasp. 

Your finger gently brushed over the spot on the photo where James’ lips were against your cheek before nodding your head. 

“Sure, you can have it,” you handed him back the picture and patted your hands against your legs, preparing to stand up. “I should get to bed.”

“I’ll be out here for a while longer if you need anything.”

You gave him a tight lipped smile and stood up, walking towards your bedroom. When you closed the door behind you, you let out a breath you had been holding and ran a hand across your face. 

Maybe Julian was never the one at risk of getting the wrong idea.

—

Waking up in the middle of the night always made you feel uneasy. Especially if Julian was the one waking you up. The chance that you’d have to drive to the hospital or call an ambulance was high and you hated the fear and worry that came along with any possible complications. 

Tonight, you woke up on your own accord. Your heart was beating inside your throat and your stomach felt like it was housing a group of persistent butterflies. 

You glanced over at the clock and saw the time, flashing in red. 

3:07

You took a deep breath trying to steady your heart rate and breathing before peeling away your blanket and kicking your feet over the side of the bed. You grabbed a different pair of pyjamas from your dresser and walked into the washroom, tossing them on the far end of the floor while you stripped down and turned on the water for the shower. 

When you stepped inside you hissed initially at the cold, but forced yourself to become fully submerged under the water, closing the curtain behind you. Your muscles clenched as your body adjusted to the temperature, and when the time finally came you let your thoughts and dreams become washed away by the water coming out of the shower head. 

You were simply standing there, letting the water fall on your face when you heard the click of the door opening. 

“Julian, sweetie,” you sighed, turning around so you could speak. “Maybe you should go to your dad if something’s wrong, I’ll come out in a sec.” 

“No need,” you heard a voice that did not belong to your son. 

“James? I’m in the shower. What are you doing?” you asked incredulously, feeling the need to cover yourself up even though there was a curtain blocking his view. You felt exposed nonetheless. 

“It’s three in the morning, I thought something was wrong, I came to check on you,” he explained. 

“And what were you doing up?” you asked. 

“Got in late. There was an emergency at the hospital after you guys went to sleep, I dealt with it and just came back.”

You stepped under the running water again, washing the water over your face with your hands. 

“So, is everything okay?” 

“Peachy,” you said sarcastically, leaning against the wall of the shower. 

“Nobody ever says peachy when things are okay,” James pushed further and you sighed, moving to sit down on the floor of the shower, still positioned under the water. 

“I just had a dream, that’s all,” you said, watching as the water hit your toes and the ground around you. 

“A bad dream?” he asked. 

“No, it was more like… déjà vu.”

James sighed, and rubbed his hands on his legs. 

“Was it about us?” 

He took your silence as a yes. 

James didn’t really know what to say, his hands were clasped together as he leaned  forward sitting on the bathroom counter. 

“You’re not gonna ask what it’s about?” you hugged your knees close to your chest. 

“Would you tell me?” 

“Maybe…I don’t know,” you mumbled. 

There was another moment of silence before James spoke up again, 

“What was it about?” 

You turned to face the water with your eyes closed again, gathering the courage to speak. 

“It started when I told you I was pregnant,” you said softly. “Like the memory replayed in my head, exactly how it happened.” 

“I remember that day,” you heard the soft smile in his voice as he spoke. “You took the test at work and when it came back positive you came straight to the hospital to tell me.” 

“I was barely two steps inside your office when I blurted it out, you were eating lunch and had that stupid look on your face with a mouth full of sandwich,” you chuckled to yourself.

“I almost choked on that,” James shook his head. “And I just remember running up to you and freaking out.”

“And then when you were done freaking out and everything sunk in you kissed me, and you told me you loved me, and we cried because we made a child. Our love did that.” 

You reached forward and turned the shower off, pushing yourself up on your feet and taking a deep breath before pulling back the curtain. You had told him what you were thinking. You couldn’t get any more exposed than that.

James looked stunned for a moment and it didn’t go unnoticed how his eyes raked up and down your figure. 

“Get me the robe, would you?” you motioned to the back of the door and he jumped down grabbing the robe and holding it out for you so you could place your arms into the sleeves and wrap the towelled fabric around you, trying it off with the belt. 

When you turned your head to look back at James, you could tell at least you’d succeeded in raising his heart rate, much like he was doing for you recently. 

You moved to go sit on the closed toilet while James retook his spot on the counter. 

“Do you remember when Julian was born?” he whispered. 

“I like it was yesterday. I can’t believe it’s been eight years,” you nodded your head. 

He was having trouble holding your gaze and you wondered what he was about to say. 

“I-I screwed up,” his voice was soft, almost hurt, like it pained him to think about what he had done. “When you were resting afterwards the nurse asked me if we were going to do a newborn screening. We hadn’t talked about it, but you were so tired and it was such a hard labour…” he swallowed thickly, his voice wavering slightly, remembering the birth. It wasn’t easy by any means and James had often thought that the hardest thing he’d ever had to watch was you in that much pain. “I told her we weren’t going to do it. I just didn’t want Julian to leave and h-he looked so perfect I never thought anything could have been wrong with him.” 

James took a deep breath and looked up at the ceiling, “I am a doctor and I didn’t get a newborn screening for my son, what the hell kind of father does that make me?” 

“Oddly enough, I think it makes you a good one,” you admitted. 

“Even though we could have known about this years before? We could have gotten him treatment, medication, therapies, all sooner?” he looked back at you confused. 

“You said it yourself, Jamie. He was perfect for us. Still is.” 

James nodded his head and looked forward at the opposite wall. You stood up and walked over towards him, reaching out a hand to gently hold his face, your thumb brushing against his cheek while he looked at you. 

“I don’t blame you for this,” you whispered. “I don’t blame you and I don’t think you’re a bad father.” 

“I know,” he murmured, “but I do.”

You leaned in and pressed a kiss to his cheek, not knowing what other comfort you could offer. 

James leaned in a little to your touch, sitting up straighter when it was gone, trying to play it off like he hadn’t been missing it and craving it as much as you. 

You were about to say something when you heard a knock on the washroom door, and this time it had to be Julian. 

“Mom? Dad, are you in here too?” you could hear his small sounding voice, a little strained and worried so you quickly assured him you were both inside and opened the door. 

“Sweetheart, what happened?” you asked, noticing his tear-stained face. 

“I just had a bad dream,” he sniffed and wiped his eyes. 

You kissed away his tears first before assuring him everything would be fine, you and James were there to take care of him. 

“Why don’t you go and lay down on my bed with your Dad?” you suggested. “I’ll get dressed and come join you.” 

Julian nodded and made his way over to your bed while you went to quickly speak to James. 

“It’ll be good for you. Both of you,” you told him. 

“You don’t mind?” 

“Just this once.” 

James thanked you with a kiss to your cheek and left the adjoining washroom, closing the door behind him and giving you a minute to get changed and deal with anything you needed to before going back to bed. 

When you opened the door and came back into your room, you saw James under the covers with Julian pressed close to him, their foreheads resting together while James told him everything was going to be alright and he could go back to sleep. 

You slipped in under the covers, sandwiching Julian between you both, letting his back rest against your chest while you pressed a kiss to his hair. 

One hand was tucked under your pillow and another was draped over Julian, and your fingers carefully placed over top of James’. 

“Will you be here when I wake up?” Julian asked his dad. 

“Right next to you,” he kissed his nose. “Now try to get some sleep, okay?” 

Julian nodded his head and yawned and you whispered a quiet goodnight to bed him and his dad before letting your eyes close, silently smiling when you could feel James’ hand finally hold your own. 

—

“You guys, relax, he’s going to be fine,” Mahlet placed a hand on both yours and James’ shoulders while you spewed out your worries. “It’s one night, I have the whole list of things he needs and I’ve taken care of him before, right? It’s just at my house this time so the boys can have a sleepover and you two can have a bit of a break.” 

“She’s right,” James sighed. “I’m still worried out of my mind, but she’s right.” 

“Mahi, are you sure you don’t want us to come even for a little bit?” you asked. 

“Absolutely, if something happens I’ll call an ambulance and then you, but Julian’s been good for months now, he can survive one night away from home,” she assured you. 

“Thank you, Mahlet. I’m sure Julian and Hennock will have a great time tonight. Just call us when he’s ready to be picked up tomorrow morning,” James said. 

James wrapped his arm around you, giving you a squeeze knowing you were still uneasy about this, but deep down you knew Mahlet was right. The chances of something going wrong at this point were small and you’d had enough time since your last hospital visit to even consider doing something like this. 

“You boys ready?” James called and Julian came rushing out of the room with his bag in hand, Hennock following close behind him. 

“You have fun tonight, okay?” you bent down and gave Julian a kiss. “And if anything happens or you feel sick, or are having trouble breathing, tell Mahlet, okay?” 

“I know, Mom. Dad already told me this like fifteen times,” Julian chuckled. 

You looked up at James and he shrugged. 

“Alright, well you guys better go before I change my mind,” you crossed your arms over your chest and that was all the permission the boys needed to run off, leaving Mahlet to say goodbye before stepping out and closing the door behind her. 

You sighed and turned around, looking at James who had his hands shoved into his pockets. 

“You hungry?” he asked. 

“I could eat,” you nodded your head. 

“Why don’t we make something for dinner together?” he suggested. 

You looked at the clock and smiled, “I think we’ve got enough time for pizza, what do you think?” 

“I think that’s a great plan,” James agreed. “I can start on the dough and you get the sauce and toppings?” 

You gave him a thumbs up before putting your hand out to high-five him, noticing how your fingers so easily intertwined before you walked apart and let go. 

James rolled up his sleeves and took off his watch, placing it on the small jewelry tray you kept by the sink for when you were washing dishes, while you went to the fridge and began pulling out all the things that could make good pizza toppings. 

Moving to the sink to wash some vegetables, you noticed James’ watch resting there. You didn’t pay much attention when he was wearing it, but now you realized why it looked extra familiar. It was one you had gotten him as an anniversary present after your first year married. 

“You still wear that?” you pointed with your eyes to the watch. 

“It’s my favourite watch, of course I wear it,” he nodded while portioning the flour into a large bowl.

“Even with that engraving?” you raised a questioning brow. 

“Dearest Jamie, Here’s to the first of many happy anniversaries. Love forever, Your Wife,” he recited the engraving back to you. 

“I don’t know why you do that to yourself,” you chuckled a little, looking down into the sink. 

“Yeah, well why do you still go by Mrs. Wilson?” 

“Easier to keep the name than change it again,” you partially lied, it wasn’t the full truth, but it was what you had been telling yourself ever since the divorce was finalized. 

James could sense you were lying, but he knew the only way to get you to open up would be to let himself be open with you. 

“The watch is my favourite because you gave it to me. Functionally it sucks and it's uncomfortable, but you went out of your way to get me something that looked nice and that’s why I love it.” 

You smiled a little to yourself, but kept your head facing the sink and continued to wash the vegetables. 

“You’re not going to say anything?” he inquired. 

“Do I have to?” you asked. 

“That’s normally how a conversation works,” he remarked and you chuckled. 

“What do you want me to say?” you asked. 

“Honestly, the real reason why you kept your married name,” he said plainly. 

You sighed, “It wasn’t a full lie. If I went back to my maiden name Julian and I wouldn’t have the same last name it just makes things complicated and confusing and I didn’t want to deal with it, but,” you added, “I always kind of liked the sound of Mrs. Wilson and even though I was pissed at you all the time I still liked that there was one thing aside from Julian connecting us. I don’t know, maybe I didn’t want to end up like Sam or Bonnie just…detached, like there was barely a trace that you were even there.” 

“It’s a fingerprint,” James said. “Mine.” 

“Yeah, even though it's small for who we were to each other, it's the fingerprint you left on my life.” 

James pressed his lips together and opened his mouth to say something before shutting it and evaluated how he was going to speak, 

“Can I ask you something?” he settled on. 

“Sure,” you nodded, moving over to the cutting board and placing yourself on the opposite side of the kitchen island. 

“Did…Did you ever stop loving me?” 

Your smile faltered and James noticed the change in your demeanor, quickly retracting his question. 

“You know what, forget I asked,” he shook his head and continued to knead the dough. 

There was a moment of silence before you spoke again. 

“I didn’t, but I got tired of not being loved back.” 

James stopped what he was doing and looked up at you with concern. 

“You thought I stopped loving you?” he asked.

“James, I was wife number three. Didn’t take much to connect the dots and see you got tired of me,” you said bluntly. “I wanted to know if I could count on you, and it was starting to feel like maybe I couldn’t. Then the divorce happened and everything after that just made me feel like I was right.” 

James chewed on the inside of his cheek and remained silent. 

“You didn’t fight for me,” you said quietly. “You fought for joint custody, but you didn’t fight for me. You just…accepted it.” 

“I…I didn’t know you wanted me to fight for you.” 

“Are you saying you would have?” you asked, unsure of whether or not you wanted to hear his answer. 

“I’m saying I thought I didn’t even have a chance,” he admitted. 

“So you wouldn’t have,” you clarified for him, beginning to chop the toppings into pieces and separate them into bowls. 

He chuckled humourlessly, “I have dated one person since the divorce. I hated it.” 

“Why do you have to talk in puzzles, James? Why can’t you just come out and say what you really mean?” 

“And then what?” he asked. “We go back to living in the same house. Sleep in separate rooms. Move on now that we know the truth?”

“Say it,” you put the knife down and looked him right in the eyes. 

“What are you going to do about it?” he asked, cleaning the dough off his hand. “I’m going to say it and you’re just going to stand there and I have to live with that?” 

You walked around the counter and came right up in front of him. 

“If you were listening to anything I was saying, you would stop making excuses and say it.” 

“Fine!” he threw his hands up in the air. “I still love you. I never stopped loving you. These past few months, even though stressful, have been the happiest I’ve been in so long because I feel like myself again when I’m with you and Julian. Because I feel like your husband, and I feel like a father and I keep kicking myself wondering how I could have been so stupid to lose that.” 

“Say it one more time,” you whispered, lifting your hands to hold onto his face. “Please.” 

“I love you,” his voice was softer, relieved like after being underwater he could finally breathe again. 

You finally pulled him into you, your lips hesitantly resting on his at first, before you found your rhythm again after so long. It was muscle memory, his hands finding the spot they always rested against on your hips, his lips moving in synch with yours, eventually trailing off and finding their favourite spot against your jaw and behind your ear. 

“James,” you breathed. 

“Jamie,” he mumbled against your skin. “Call me Jamie.” 

“Jamie, Jamie, Jamie,” you repeated the nickname until he silenced you with another kiss, muffling your voice. 

“God, I missed you,” he whispered when you pulled apart, breathing heavily due to your fast beating heart. 

You closed your eyes while your forehead rested against his, feeling his nose touch yours, his hands still firmly planted on your hips when your thumbs brushed against his cheeks. 

“Jamie?” 

James snuck another small kiss at the sound of the nickname. 

“Yes, my love.” 

“Can I count on you?” 

You could feel him nod his head and confirm with a verbal ‘yes’. And even if it turned out to be a lie, at that moment you didn’t care. He had proved to you that it was possible, you could work with that. 

“I love you,” you said and kissed his nose and then you said it and kissed him again for good measure. “You told me twice; I tell you twice.” 

James moved his hands up from your hips and brushed the back of his fingers against your cheek, a warm smile coming to his face. 

And there was that look, the one you thought had vanished over time. His eyes fully transfixed on you with nothing but love and admiration. It didn’t take much to convince yourself you could get used to seeing that look for a long, long time. 

TAGLIST —

@cuntyvicodin @paola-carter

[vroomvroomcircuit]

Wildest Dream

(A/N): This is the crackies of crack fics. Enjoy.

Summary: Oscar's girlfriend draws the line when it comes to his bunny teeth. Even in her dreams.

Warnings: None. Just pure crack.

Pairing: Oscar Piastri x fem!reader

Wordcount: 1.4k

🏎Masterlist🏎 ______________________________

(Y/N) admits that her dreams are wild. Not weird. Wild is the only word that really fits. For her it has been like that since her early childhood days. It seems like every tiny impression she collects during the day gets sorted and thought about during her sleeping time.

Sometimes upon waking up, she immediately tells Oscar what happened in her vivid dreams, always giving him a good laugh and earning herself another warm hug in bed. It’s a good trade off in their opinion.

Although, other times (Y/N) is not able to differentiate between dreams and the reality, too caught up in the emotions that have been brought up to actually wake up and take her surroundings in. Which is a thing that Oscar has yet to see actually happen.

Another night of falling asleep cuddling her Australian koala close to her after he finally came home from the latest race weekend and him yapping about how one of his engineers got a teeth transplant and couldn’t be present this time around. During his in depth description of the procedure, (Y/N) only thought about how adorable Oscar’s front bunny teeth are. His soothing voice brings her into a land of dreams, even if he is talking about cutting out teeth.

Instead of listening to Oscar, she finds herself in a hospital bed, surrounded by white walls. The cream colored sheets are scratchy against her skin, making her want to claw them away the moment she realizes this sensation. But another man’s voice momentarily distracts her.

“The procedure was a success in all departments. We couldn’t be happier with the results,” A man in a white coat and glasses congratulates (Y/N), his eyes glued to a clipboard before smiling at her enthusiastically. But the young woman is even more confused now. “What procedure?” This question brings out a frown out of the middle aged man. He takes a small light out of his pocket and shines it into her eyes, blinding (Y/N) for a second. “It looks like the anesthesia hasn’t worn off completely yet. Miss, you got a new set of front teeth transplants. You knocked them out during a racing incident, don’t you remember?”

The young woman tries really hard to remember, but nothing the doctor says seems to ring a bell or shake a tambourine. It starts to concern herself, but she trusts the medical professional more than her own anxious feelings. After all, it does make sense that she somehow knocked her own teeth out by getting into an accident. She probably doesn’t remember it because of the traumatic experience. Good to know she has her teeth repaired, something she does not have to worry about anymore.

“Oscar. I want to see Oscar. Can you please bring me to my Oscar? He is easy to spot. A lanky, really awkward guy with brown hair. Cute eyes, don’t ask me the eye color. Whenever I try to actually look into them to find it out, I get lost. But it’s not a bad thing, his eyes are my favorite labyrinth. Oh, OH! Don’t forget about his adorable smile. It’s my favorite thing about Oscar, because it shows his cute bunny teeth. Ugh, I love them so so much. Have you seen that guy?” Shamelessly gushing about her boyfriend is something (Y/N) would have still done without being under the influence of anesthesia, but it still makes her tongue lighter.

The doctor nods a bit awkwardly. “He is in the waiting room. The poor boy wasn’t able to settle down at all during the operation. I’m going to get you some water and let him know you are expecting him.”

Now (Y/N) is kind of panicking. She wants nothing more than to see her boyfriend. But she apparently just came out of a procedure. Is she looking presentable? Will he be disgusted by her current appearance? Is there any blood left?

Maybe being worried about this is dumb, but this whole situation is so bizarre to (Y/N), she does not want any more problems, especially none regarding the love of her life.

There is a short knock on the door, to which the young woman quickly calls for the person to enter the room. Her breathtakingly cute Oscar pops in. “Osc! Look! I got a new tooth implant!”

Her excitement makes him smile his polite cat smile. He steps closer to the bed and strokes her cheek. “I knof. Who do you fink gave you hif teef?” Suddenly (Y/N) sees his front teeth missing. The cute bunny teeth that made her lighten up in any situation.

She can’t comprehend it. How can Oscar even dare to get rid of them. She surely could have gotten some new teeth elsewhere. But his audacity to just take his own out? Unbelievable. A big burst of anger makes its way into her chest.

(Y/N) sits up in her bed. The hospital room is gone, she is back in her shared bedroom with Oscar moving up next to her. He must have taken her home after she fell asleep because of the anesthesia again.

“Oh, good morning, Darling”, he greets her in his raspy morning voice. But she just ignores him and gets up swiftly to get dressed for the day. (Y/N) is still mad in a way she can’t put into words.

Which leaves the Australian in a confused state. What did he do to her? Did he kick her in his sleep again? Steal the blanket?

He tries to approach her again in the kitchen, seeing her prepare breakfast. He hugs her from behind, trying to swing them both from side to side. But (Y/N) is having none of it. She shakes him off and takes a step aside, earning a puzzled glance from him. “Hey, Baby. Why are you mad at me?”

She continues to ignore him, taking her plate and already prepared drink out onto the balcony. Oscar looks at the counter, missing his own plate. Usually, when he is home from racing, (Y/N) makes breakfast for the two of them. Apparently not today.

Sighing, he makes himself a plate of food and cleans up the kitchen before following his girlfriend. The young woman is already scrolling on her phone while slowly eating without waiting for him.

“(Y/N), please talk to me. What did I do wrong to make you this angry? How can I make it better?” Oscar is borderline pleading with her, just wanting to know what happened. He already misses his affectionate girlfriend.

“Take your teeth back and I will stop being mad at you. How can you even get to the dumb idea, giving me your teeth for a transplant.”

Her outburst takes him aback for a quick second. “Which teeth? I got all of mine and you got all of yours.” This makes (Y/N) halt in her own track. She looks at his mouth, which he opens up just for her to check his claim. Then she checks her own mouth.

“But, but you gave me your cute bunny teeth for a transplant, because I lost mine in a car accident or crash or so. How-” Her question is cut off by Oscar’s hearty laugh. This gets an immediate pout from her, which makes him want nothing more than to just kiss it away immediately.

“Darling, you dreamt that. You didn’t get a transplant and I didn’t give you anything. Even though I’m willing to give you all of me John Legend style, I know you wouldn’t appreciate me getting them taken out for you.” He pulls her into a tight embrace, which she finally succumbs to and even returns, straddling his hips to get even closer to him, becoming the koala in the relationship for once.

(Y/N) hides her face in his chest. “Oh no. I am so so sorry. It just somehow made sense to me. How can I make it up to you?” She whines, looking up with doe eyes at him.

Oscar is capable of many things. But being mad at his girlfriend is not one of them. “Mhhh, how about a kiss?” Quickly (Y/N) follows his request, pressing her lips to his, a mile erupting on Oscar’s face at her eagerness. They get lost in the moment, pressing gentle kisses to each other’s lips.

“Did you just lick over my teeth?” “I needed to make sure!”

[too-much-tma-stuff]

What the Workers See

I wanted to write Hyena!Danny at work as Hood's second in command.

Hyena!Danny Masterpost

tw: physical abuse

Jason had been delighted when Danny had presented him the ideas for his Hyena costume, helping him sort out the details and reminding him to add armour. Danny had argued he’d heal anyways so there wasn’t any point, and surely the armour would make it less sexy! Jason had just rolled his eyes and reminded Danny that he was trying to keep his powers secret, and if Nightwing could look like that in his heavily armoured suit Danny would be fine. 

He had sighed and relented, asking for help to get some of the materials he would need, which Jason happily provided. Danny worked on it in their free time, and Jason watched with fascination as Danny’s nimble fingers and equally quick mind fingered out the construction and problem-solved any roadblocks. It was impressive, and when it got to the try on stage most of them ended with the suit on their bedroom floor by the end, Jason just loved it. He particularly loved the choice of the collar.

One rational corner of his mind mentioned he should probably talk to Danny about the power imbalance and the fact that Jason was definitely possessive and abusive. But the other half of his mind fucking purred at the sight of Danny in the collar and catsuit and that part won out, Jason didn’t mention it. 

When it was finally time to unveil Hyena Jason called a meeting of all his goons. The ones that worked for him consistently, not the villain hoppers or the temp workers, they’d find out eventually. If he called everyone who worked for him sometimes he’d need a fucking football field, this would do. As he knew they would they all came, gathering and mingling in the warehouse in front of the makeshift stage.

Jason hopped up onto it about ten minutes after the time he’d told everyone to be there, once he was sure everyone who was coming was here, and Danny was here. “I know you’re all nervous about why the fuck I called you all here. First off let me assure you it’s nothing bad and not a fucking scheme. I have an important introduction and an announcement.” He said and made a hand signal.

Danny, the dramatic bastard that he was dropped down from the rafters and landed on overly light feed on the stage. He grinned behind his muzzle and made a little ‘tada!’ motion that made Hood role his eyes fondly. 

“This is Hyena. He will be working with me from now on. If I am not here you take orders from him in my place, obey him like you would me.” He explained and Hyena gave a dramatic little bow and a cackling laugh. “Is that understood?”

“Yes Boss,” People chorused, looking a little nervous and curious about the new person still. Hyena would have to do some work earning their respect and trust but Jason knew that Danny was more then up for the task. 

---------

As the fighting wound down Jason looked over the damage. It wasn't to bad, but it was so fucking unnecessary, there shouldn't have Been another gang trying to operate out of his territory, under his fucking nose! Did they really think he wouldn't notice? They should have just left when he confronted them, not actually initiated a fight! Now they had bodies to deal with, of those who didn't run, and a bunch of injured people.

A loud whistle made Jason jump slightly before he glanced over to Hyena, who was taking charge. He beckoned a couple field medics forward and cupped his hands around his muzzle to yell over the crowed. 

"If You'd rather go to a real hospital clear out! you need stitches line up here, if you need a bone set, line up there," Hyena directed before glancing around as people straggled into lines. Not many left to go to a actual hospital, in Gotham people tended to be suspicious of doctors, and field medics got a Lot of practice.

"You two!" Danny pointed at two goons who jumped. "You're unhurt, I saw you hide when the fighting got bad. You carry anyone who can't wait in line to the front for emergency care, then we'll talk about reassigning you."

Jason hadn't noticed that, but he was usually too caught up in the fight once blood started to spill so that wasn't Overly surprising. He was grateful Danny had. 

The two singled out looked sheepish and started to obey Danny's commands, checking on those on the ground and either dragging the dead to one side or carrying the living over to Hyena and the other medics. Danny grabbed one of the first aid kits the medics had brought in, ignoring their disproving look, it faded quickly as Hyena started efficiently, and correctly tending to those who needed stitches.

Jason wasn't surprised, Danny had stitched Jason up more then once and he had always done a damn good job. Jason loved seeing Danny liked this, in his element, taking charge and taking care of people. It reminded Jason how much he loved Danny, and it was hot as hell. 

Jason approached Danny, who glanced up at Jason from the wound he was cleaning on a goons arm who was looking away from the blood looking a little green. "Hey Boo, are you hurt?" Danny asked. Jason could hear in his voice that he was smiling even though his muzzle his it.

"No, I'm perfectly fine," Jason assured, he was bruised but he wasn't bleeding anywhere and he could move all of his extremities. 

"Good, I'm glad you're okay. Now make yourself useful and go grab some more clean water," Danny directed him, focusing back on his work.

Jason laughed, if anyone else talked to him like that he'd probably blow a gasket, but Danny was allowed. Jason looped an arm around Danny's waist and leaned his forehead against the top of the other man's head for just a moment, wishing their masks weren't in the way so he could kiss Danny. Jason let go again almost immediately before Danny could start fussing at him for being in the way. 

"You got it Cub," Jason assured fondly, striding off to make himself useful as well.

--------

Unfortunately not every fight went well. They couldn’t win everything, and sometimes the people Hood was after got away. It was another fight, fucking Black Mask had tried to move in on Hood’s territory! Unusual for the cowardly little weasel, he had decided to come himself and join in the fight.

It was absolutely the perfect opportunity to kill the creep once and for all! And maybe Hood was a little too fixated on that, because he was on a fucking one frack mind trying to get to Mask. Hyena was covering his back, and giving orders while he wasn’t paying attention to what was going on, compensating for his tunnel vision though he didn’t notice that. 

What he certainly did notice was when Hyena yanked him back. Mask had called a retreat and was on his way out. Hood had been about to give chance into what was definitely a trap, or at the very least a bad idea to abandon his people and run into a gang of… however many people Mask had left, Jason had not been counting.

It wasn’t a smart thing to do to follow Mask, but that didn’t mean that Jason was fucking okay with Danny manhandling him! He was furious, he was consumed by green blood lust and obsession, and he absolutely would not see reason. 

Hyena was trying to say something but Jason didn’t hear what it was past the blood rushing in his ears. He swung around and struck Hyena hard sending him stumbling back, Jason could see a little blood from where the metal of the muzzle had cut Danny’s cheek under the force of Jason’s blow. 

“Hood,” Hyena pleaded, holding out his hands towards Jason. “Listen, you can’t-”

“Don’t tell me what I can’t do,” Jason snarled, advancing on Danny again, though at least he wasn’t still trying to follow Black Mask anymore. Danny didn’t shield his body when Jason punched him in the stomach clinging to his arm instead, forcing him to stay close and to pause. 

“We’re in public, people are watching,” Danny wheezed, big blue eyes fixed on Jason’s face. He recoiled when he saw tears gathering at the corners, Danny had never looked so… genuinely hurt when Jason had hit him before. But then again, he’s always done it in private before. 

Shit! They weren’t in private! 

Jason looked up and around them, at his people watching them with horror and shock. He saw judgment, anger and disgust there too and shame joined the uncomfortable roiling of emotion in his gut. “We’ll deal with your anger when we get home,” Danny said softly, letting go of Jason’s arm and resting his hands either side of Jason’s helmet instead, making him look back at Danny, focus on him. “I can handle this if you need to go calm down.”

“No, I’ll be fine,” Hood said, gently brushing his fingers over the bruise on Danny’s cheek. It wasn’t healing, he didn’t know why. Could Danny… stop himself from healing? Did he have that much control?

“Good,” Danny said, leaning in to Jason’s touch. “I’ll be fine. Let’s get this over with.” 

Jason nodded and the two of them separated and took control of the situation again, Danny starting to give orders regarding medical care as always, and Jason starting to direct repairs, and plans for retaliation against Mask.

Most of his goons seemed to snap out of their shock and start following orders on instinct, though Jason couldn’t help notice the worried looks that were being directed at Danny in particular. And it seemed Danny did too and was getting sick of it. 

With everyone either treated or being treated he hopped up on a random crate and glared over the room with narrowed eyes. “Of anyone has something to say then fucking say it!” He demanded in an angry hiss that still carried throughout the room. 

When nervous looks were shot Hood’s way he shrugged, spread his hands, and then gestured back at Hyena. Red Hood wasn’t going to interfere, so answer Hyena’s question. 

After a awkward moment one brave soul seemed to appoint themselves the spokesperson and shuffled forward, Danny’s eyes fixed on them, raising an eyebrow. 

“We’re just worried I guess? We all know the two of yous are together, and you know it’s not right for him to hit you right? We all saw the way that Harley was treated and I know you two-”

“We’re nothing like them,” Hyena cut in scowling. “And our relationship is none of your business. If I wanted to stop him I could, we do things the way that works for us. It’s not your place to question it, and I don’t want any of you fucking worrying about me. God forbid if I ever catch anyone pitying me I’ll show them exactly how big of a mistake they’re making. 

“And don’t you fucking judge Hood either. I told him he could do that. I started it. You should mind your own business,” He practically snarled. He hopped down from his makeshift soapbox and stalked passed all the goons without looking at them. “Let’s go home,” he said, grabbing Jason’s hand and leading him away. 

Jason was so grateful to Danny for defending him, and he had a feeling he owed his boyfriend some flowers and a very nice dinner for putting him in a position where he had to. 

[space-mermaid-writing]

I didn't realise you are the author of vamp and the were! Love the fic and how unique it is. And so fun to read. Thank you for writing it.

A generic hospital prompt for ironstrange. I know its generic but its fascinating to see how different its interpreted and also since its canon that as characters both of them have a distaste for it. It can be taken so many ways. I leave it upto you unless you want me to be more specific :)

Thank you! I'm happy you liked The Vamp And The Were <3

For your generic hospital prompt I went with pre-powers. If you had something more specific in mind, feel free to drop that in my inbox. Until then you get a Tony who picks up Stephen at work for a lunch :)

Ko-fi | Masterlist | Word count: 0.5k

It was safe to say that Tony hated hospitals. He had never been a fan of doctors who were way too eager to check and touch his body. He didn’t like it as a kid when he was sick and his parents called them, and he still didn’t like them now. Hospitals were even worse; with the ever present smell of antiseptic and their overall aesthetic of white and gray.

The fact that Tony had just entered a hospital voluntarily was nothing short of a miracle. He wasn’t in actual need of medical attention, so that was a plus. No, he was here to pick up a certain doctor.

Tony took the elevator to the fifth floor. He knew the way to the surgeon’s floor by heart.

Curious glances still followed him – something that would never change no matter where he went. But he also got some friendly nods from members of the staff who were by now used to his visits. Tony returned them, even if the sunglasses on his nose hid his lack of interest.

Tony tolerated being here. But only because of one man.

He stepped out of the elevator and walked to the office.

Halfway he heard the familiar deep voice as Stephen stepped out of it, talking to a nurse. When he noticed Tony his face lit up noticeably.

Tony smiled. This was what made it worth it to endure being in a hospital. And he liked having this effect on the doctor. It stirred something in his belly; feelings he wasn’t yet ready to deal with. So he shoved them deeper down.

The nurse seemed confused about his reaction and followed his gaze. As soon as her eyes landed on the approaching Tony, she understood.

“I’m here to pick you up for our meeting, Doctor Strange.” That was their code for a lunch date. Tony knew Stephen preferred to keep their relationship professional in front of co-workers and Tony respected that. Except in the presence of Christine, who called them out on their bullshit. And she often sided with Tony; one of the reasons he liked her so much.

Stephen handed the chart he was carrying to the nurse. “Take that to Doctor Robinson for the blood test.”

“Yes, Doctor Strange.” The nurse left, not without throwing an amused and knowing smile at Tony.

Only when she was gone Stephen spoke again, keeping his voice down. “A surgery came in an hour. A transfer from Huntington with a pituitary tumor. The transnasal transsphenoidal operation has to be done.“ It almost sounded like an apology – only that Stephen didn’t do apologies.

„We can go to Papa John’s down the street and you can take your book for the read up of the case with you. It will just be a quickie.” Tony winked at him. He knew any surgery that Stephen was involved with would take at least a few hours and Tony felt better knowing he had eaten beforehand.

Stephen scoffed because Tony had brought that innuendo into his workplace. A quick look around reassured him that no one was within earshot. He thought about the offer. “Alright, I’ll get my coat,” he then agreed.

Tony had already learned that Stephen had a hard time refusing Tony’s offers – as long as they were well-thought-out and convenient.

He followed Stephen into his office. Maybe he could convince him into another kind of quickie before lunch as well.

[hail-americas-ass]

🔆JUNE FIC REC II

✒ a greek tragedy by ash 

(I can’t express enough how amazing this is) 4.6K Words

When Steve started drawing the comic, he drew himself before the serum and Bucky as he remembered him when they worked together to keep from ending up on the streets and dreamed of futures with floating cars. He drew them then and now, scenes against a New York he remembered and scenes against this future he didn’t quite fit in, one drawn soft and hazy, the other hard lines. When he drew them in the present, he never drew himself looking at Bucky; Bucky was always behind him, a shadow that followed as he tried to find a trace of the world they used to know in this one. He called them Orpheus and Eurydice.

🦾  Touch Me I’m Going to Scream by buffypeppers

(This is a classic in my opinion. It’s got recovering!Bucky and every trope you can imagine, so very fluffy) 107.5K Words

Only a few days have passed since the Winter Soldier put Sam into a hospital bed but Steve is ready to find HYDRA’s assassin and bring him to justice.

Things won't go according to plan once the Avengers find the infamous man.

🕵️‍♂️ End of all Days by Minka ( @minka-g​ on tumblr)

(I was motivated to reread this recently, it kept me on the edge of my seat the first time I read it and it had the same thrilling effect when I reread it too. There’s only one word to describe it: thrilling.) 

(Archeological Historian!Steve x Spy!Bucky) (Indiana Jones & Atomic Blonde AU)  116.7K Words

Captain Steve Rogers had thought his military days were behind him, left in the bloody nightmare that was Saigon. Retired and working as a History Professor, the last thing he expected was to get caught up in a cataclysmic Slavic prophesy foreshadowing the end of the known world.

With Cold War tensions running high, Steve finds himself in need of a guide and translator to get him behind the Iron Curtain and into the isolated snowdrifts of Siberia.

It’s deep in the heart of Bucharest’s resistance fighters that Steve finds the ideal candidate, but swaying the enigmatic ex-operative known as The Winter Soldier proves to be complicated. Trust is hard-won, especially in the world of espionage, and with a KGB death squad nipping at his heels, the Soldier has countless reasons to stay presumably dead.

As the lines between right, wrong and the supernatural begin to blur, Steve is forced to reconsider everything he’s ever believed, right from the sanctity of his own country to the very foundations of creation itself.

❤️‍🩹 Every Door Opens by Notoska ( @notoska on tumblr)

(This fic, the words and the way they were written, not only yanked my heart out of my chest, it also sunk deep in my bones where I was forced to carry it and think of it for days. Fantastic.) Recovery fic. 73.9K Words

Then Bucky licks his lips, tip of his tongue just grazing the sensitive skin of Steve’s ear and Steve moans. Nothing close to the surge of lust behind his ribs, but a tiny, breathy sound all the same. Bucky doesn’t react—he must not have heard. Though a minute later he curls his fingers and extends them again, moving just slow enough for it to be a caress.

Just tip your head into his touch. He’ll take the lead and trace the folds of your ear with his tongue until you can’t keep quiet any more. Then he’ll smother your desperate little noises with his mouth, fingers twisting in your hair. Kissing deeply, tongues reaching to declare your filthy intentions. Find his knee with your hand and slide wolfishly up his thigh until you reach the bulge behind his fly. Palm him through his trousers until he’s panting in your mouth, until he’s pressing his forehead to yours, hips bucking, and you can see his dark eyes, glinting in the screen’s flickering light, pleading—

Steve jolts back to the present. The credits are rolling and Bucky is reading them as well. The screen blacks and two fluorescent lights buzz to life. Bucky loosens his hand from Steve’s head, welcoming the world back in.

[wheredafandomat]

Hired Gun

Bodyguard Loki x y/n Stark Reader

Part 10 Last Part

The journey from the carpark to the ambulance and into the hospital passed in a blur. Your only focus was Loki. You barely even registered the journey or even thought about Brock, reserving all of your attention for Loki. The only time you were snapped back into reality was when the doctors prised you away from him, spitting something about stabilising him. You begged and thrashed to stay at his side but you couldn’t. Leaving him made you cry again. When the double doors leading Loki into the operating theatre closed, that’s when you realised that you had been accompanied.

“They’ll look after him.” He spoke, leading you towards the waiting room. Turning to face him, you recognised him as the man who Loki had met with earlier. You followed him to the waiting room, accepting the coffee he offered once you had sat down.

“You must be the girl.” He spoke, breaking the silence as he took his seat next to you. Glancing up at him, you finally realised who he was. Loki had previously spoken about another person in his life, one that he trusted, you figured this was him.

“You must be the brother.” You answered, causing a small smile to spread across his face. It was conforting to see he clearly wasn’t as worried about the situation at present as you were.

“How did you know?” He queried.

“I guessed, he’s spoken about a brother before.”

“Mhmm” he hummed before speaking again, this time a little more animated “you’ve got spunk girl, I see why he likes you.” He grinned causing a small smile to now spread across your face before it fell. As if sensing your worry, he quickly spoke. “And don’t worry about our little problem, it’s been taken care of.”

“Thank you.” You answered relieved before a comfortable silence settled between you both.

“I’m Thor by the way.” He broke the silence again.

“Y/n.” You introduced.

“You know he finds it hard to love, that brother of mine” Thor reminisced “to trust people. If he’s given you his heart, which I suspect he has, he’s really given it.”

“Well, he’s only exchanged it for my own.” You answered.

“I thought as much.” Thor smiled before you were both met by a doctor confirming that Loki was now stable and that you were able to see him.

“Loki?” You called, walking inside and sitting next to him before grabbing his hand and holding it in your own. He was unresponsive but he was alive, that’s all that mattered. Thor followed in after you, watching you stroking Loki’s hand before he turned to leave again, wanting to give you both some privacy. “Stay.” You spoke, glancing up at him before he gave you a curt nod in response and sat down on the opposite side of the room. Moments later, Loki began to stir, eyes fluttering open as you smiled warmly at him, bringing his hand in your to your lips. “Hey.” You whispered, looking at him.

“Y/n” Loki answered, squinting slightly “what ha—”

“Don’t worry, you’re alive, that’s all that matters.” You quickly cut him off before leaning down to kiss him. Just as your lips touched, the door flew open causing the three of you to turn to it.

“When were you going to tell me you’re banging the hired gun?”

“Dadddd” you gasped, instantly flushing as you dropped Loki’s hand and stood up. Walking towards the door, you pulled your dad outside it as you stepped out. “I love him.” You stated.

“You do?” He questioned.

“And he loves me.” You added.

Silently, he observed you suspiciously before looking towards Loki’s room and eventually looking back at you. Your heart was racing as if his disapproval would mean the end of you and Loki.

“I knew I should’ve gone with the old guy,” he sighed, “this one was too attractive” he continued, placing his fingers against his temples “when did you get so grown up?” He finished, asking you, causing you to smile “well, who am I to stand in the way of love.” He continued to sigh, clearly over dramatically now causing your smile to widen. “Besides, he’s already in the hospital so there’s not much I can do now.” He shrugged as you rolled your eyes before you both walked back into the room Loki was in.

“I love you” Loki spoke as you sat back in the chair at his bedside “I just—I was so scared that I wouldn’t be able to tell you properly-you know, not just whilst we’re having se—”

“My dads here.” You quickly stopped him, aware that whatever analgesia they had Loki dosed on was making him unaware of his surroundings.

“I’m glad you’re okay, I just wished you had kept your hands off of my daughter.” Tony gritted.

“Dad.” You warned.

“I know, I know.” He excused himself, leaving the room before Thor joined him.

“You know I love you too, by the way” you giggled, kissing Loki before breaking it “and you’ve probably lost your job.”

“I’m alive and I’ve got you, what more could I ever want?” He finished, kissing you again.

The end

Yayy we’ve reached the end of this oneshot idea I managed to stretch out into 10 bits 😂 I hope you enjoyed it and thank you so much for reading!! Next I’m thinking we take a trip to Asgard for some Asgardian prince Loki x reader

Tags:

@lokiprompts @mischief2sarawr @lulubelle814 @lokisgoodgirl @mochie85 @eyesbluelikethetitanic @mcufan72 @fictive-sl0th @peaches1958 @lokilvrr @evelyn-kingsley @strangelockd @xorpsbane @lovingchoices14 @donaweasley @sailorholly @daggers-and-mischief @kingtwhiddleston @michelleleewise @vickie5446 @blog-the-lilly @anukulee

[thenatashamaximoff]

The Last Day Of Christmas; Day 1

Summary: On the first day of Christmas, my true love gave to me...

Pairing: Wanda x Reader

List of warnings could be found on the masterlist

Words: 3,132

✎ | ☃

December 14th, 2022 (Present Day) When her arm swept across the bed in front of her, she couldn’t stop her eyes from flying open at the feeling of the cold, vacant space. She sat up, eyebrows scrunched in confusion as she searched for you, but her eyes couldn’t find you no matter how many times her head went on a swivel around the room, kicking the blankets off of her as she climbed out of the bed. Her mouth remained shut as she looked towards the dark bathroom, an empty pit forming in the bottom of her stomach. She couldn’t recall the last time she had woken up with you gone, knowing you'd always wake her with the softest kiss against her forehead before leaving.

She hated waking up without you.

Her lips had just parted open in her first attempt of the morning to call your name, but the bedroom door opening caused her voice to get caught in her throat. She watched as you walked into the room, her eyebrows that were once pinched together in confusion raised in suspicion when she eyed the small, wrapped box in your hands. You sent her a kind smile, the worry that had formed in her bones deteriorating at the sight of the warmth portrayed on your face. “Hey, sleepyhead.” You were cheerful, happy, one of the many sides of you she had fallen in love with.

It was a much different turn than what she had seen of you last night, having come back from a mission with the look of death in your eyes. She had made the mistake, at the time, of delving into your mind to find out what had exactly gone wrong on that operation. Yet she only had the smallest taste of the pain and agony you had mentally played on repeat before she pulled out, but it was enough for her to know that the only thing you needed was for her to be there.

Now? Well, now you weren’t thinking about whatever had transpired last night. The two of you have enough experience with blood and death through your jobs, it had become a silent agreement that neither of you would talk about anything relating to SHIELD off the clock. No, you were keeping your mind focused on naming as many of the states as you possibly could off the top of your head when she had taken a dip into your thoughts.

You were definitely hiding something.

“What’re you hiding?” You reached the edge of the bed, watching as she crossed her arms over her chest. Her head tilted very slightly and the warm smile you had on your face turned to a playful smirk as you placed the gift onto the mattress.

“And what could I possibly be hiding, dear?” You mimicked her stance, crossing your arms over your chest and tilting your head to the same degree as her. 

“Wisconsin.”

You clapped suddenly, oblivious to the subtle jump from Wanda when the loud noise caught her off guard. “That’s the one I’m forgetting! Hold on, now I have to start over. And don’t help me this time.”

“Y/N.” She smiled, she couldn’t help it, but she did manage to swallow the soft laughter building in her throat. “Stop concealing your thoughts.”

“I got you a present.” You gestured towards the box on the bed, looking at her softly. “We’re trying something new this year.”

“Oh, yeah?” She cautiously walked towards you. “Last time we tried something new, a certain someone ended up in the hospital for three days.”

You rolled your eyes, shaking your head as you moved your hands to grip your hips with a huff. “This one doesn’t involve any crossbows, alright?” You shook your head, muttering under your breath, “Geez, challenge Barton to one competition and you never hear the end of it.” She chuckled lightly, but you were quick to smack her hand away when she reached out to grab the present. 

She looked at you with wide eyes and you bit your tongue to fight the laughter tightening your chest. “You said it’s for me!”

“I didn’t say you could open it,” you countered. “At least hear my idea first.” She sighed, gesturing for you to hurry along. You sent her a cheeky smile, clearing your throat. “We have twelve days until Christmas, yeah?”

She nodded. “If I counted correctly, yes.”

“You don’t even count the days.”

“I’m just agreeing with you.”

“It’s because I said it confidently, right?”

“I find you extremely irresistible when you’re confident, and, baby, I’m not having any trouble resisting you right now.”

You stared at her, mock pain painting your features, and the laugh that bubbled out of her throat made you crack your façade as a small smile stretched your face. “That was really hurtful. I’m taking the presents back now.” You grabbed the box off of the bed, but she was fast to grip your elbow with another laugh.

“C’mon, darling, don’t be a grin-” She furrowed her eyebrows, and your smile grew as you watched the moment of realization form in her brilliant green eyes. “Presents?” She looked down at the box, processing the singular item, before meeting your gaze once more. “Plural?”

“On the first day of Christmas, your true love gave to you…” You trailed off, moving out of her hold to hand her the present. “Twelve days of presents, my love. Open your gift.”

“Twelve?” She blinked. “But why?”

“Because I love you,” you answered, grinning widely as you leaned forward, “forever and always, darling.”

“Y/N, I… I didn’t get you any-”

“I don’t recall asking.”

“But you-”

“Open the present.”

“I can’t-”

“Come now, Hex, there’s really no use in fighting this. It’s going to happen no matter what, so just accept it and open the damn present.”

She stared at you, unblinking. “I’m really finding it difficult to resist you all of a sudden.”

You maintained eye contact with her for a moment, contemplating your next action - the way she was looking at you was almost undeniable… almost. You decided to laugh, shaking your head and sitting on the edge of the bed. “Come on.” You patted the empty spot next to you, smiling when she joined you. “I’m extremely late and Steve’s blowing up my phone right now. It’s numbing my ass with all its vibrating. Open it.”

She laughed softly as she looked down at the present before ripping the paper off. You gladly took the garbage away from her, crumpling it up into a ball in your hand as she opened the jewelry box. Yet the smile on her face only contorted into confusion, pulling up the necklace to see the crumpled bullet charm looped through the chain. You couldn't stop the wide grin from lifting your lips, crossing your arms over your chest as you watched her try to figure it out.

"It's a bullet," she had eventually stated, looking at you as she lowered the jewelry back into the box.

"Thank you for your close inspection, Miss Maximoff," you expressed. "It seems to have given us accurate results."

"I'll bite, Y/N," she said. "What's the significance of the bullet?"

You scoffed, shaking your head in mock disappointment. "You seriously don't know?"

"Nope."

"Not even gonna try to read my mind?"

"You're definitely not thinking about the bullet right now."

"That's fair. I’m thinking about all the other presents." You shrugged, smirking at her.

Her eyes widened. “Really?” You laughed heartily when she rolled her eyes, gently bumping against you. "No you're not."

“Of course I'm not, Hex. I’m not new to this whole ‘girlfriend is a mind reader’ thing.” You ran your hand down her cheek gently. “I'm simply commemorating the moment you penetrated me for the first time.”

━━━ᗢ━━━

August 11th, 2016 Natasha sat in front of you on the bench in the training room, your disassembled gun in between you both. Cleaning a gun was delicate work, yet Natasha wasn't making it any easier by pestering you. And you knew she was doing it purposely, scratching the surface of annoying in an attempt to get under your skin.

It was secretly working.

"The process would go much faster if you just let me help you." She instantly pulled her hand back when you swatted it, preventing her from grabbing one of the parts. You looked at her, an eyebrow raised challengingly.

"Nobody touches my gun," you stated, your voice teetering in between playful and serious.

She rolled her eyes, but the smile on her face was as clear as day. "You let Wanda touch it."

You huffed, shaking your head. "That's a different story."

"Just bite the bullet, Y/N," Natasha stated. "She likes you, you like her. It's really not that hard, but you're both being cowards."

 You began reassembling your gun, looking down at the parts to avoid her smug stare. "It's not about cowardice, Romanoff."

"What's it about then?"

"It's about time," you declared. "She just lost her brother-"

"Last year."

"-and she's still adjusting to the whole superhero thing-"

"She's had a year to adjust."

"-not to mention she doesn't really know anybody around these parts-"

"She's become well acquainted with everybody the past year."

"-and I just don't think it's the right time to pursue her." Natasha stared at you while you shrugged in casual defeat, your fingers working to solve the puzzle of your weapon. It was as if everything she had said didn't reach your ears.

"It's annoying when you do that."

You paused to look up at her, feigning innocence. "I don't know what you're referring to." 

Natasha pursed her lips together as you returned your focus to your gun, not bothering to hide the smile cracking your posture, but whatever she had to say would never come to light when someone cleared their throat to gain your attention. You both picked your head up, but you were the only one grateful for the interruption.

Your teasingly smug smile turned soft and warm when you noticed Wanda standing a couple feet away from you, meeting her green eyes that held a comfort you couldn't find anywhere else.

"Hey, Maximoff." You acted casual, relaxed in the presence of your best friend sitting in front of you. You knew that if you had made a fool of yourself in front of the girl of your dreams, the redhead across from you would never let you live it down. "That was a nice job on the mission. We were put in a sticky situation and you handled it flawlessly. So, thank you for, y'know, saving my life and all."

She nodded subtly, tugging her sleeves over her hands nervously. You looked back down at the gun you had disassembled, putting the pieces together slowly yet effortlessly. "You save mine all the time, so it was no big deal." You grinned, immediately experiencing that same stomach-churning feeling you get whenever you hear her voice. "Things could've gone much differently."

Your movements halted, straightening your form and turning your head to return your gaze to her. "But they didn't."

"They could've."

"You shouldn't dwell on the past, Wanda," you said gently, "you're stealing from the future."

"Either way," she expressed, "I was put in a scenario where I couldn't use my powers and it taught me that I shouldn't really rely on them." You returned to your gun assembly, though she still maintained your full attention. You wouldn’t be able to stop listening to her even if you wanted to. Which, to be fair, was never. "Maybe you could teach me how to shoot."

You pushed the final piece of your gun together, listening to the sound of it clicking into place as your hand automatically cocked it back. You flipped it over, giving it to the witch, handle towards her. She was hesitant at first, looking into your eyes as if she were searching for something. You were unsure if she found what it was when she slowly reached out until her hand wrapped around the grip and you released it. You felt Natasha nudge her foot against yours, but you waved her away as you stood up.

"I have to go see if Barton needs a hand," Natasha announced, standing up after you. You didn't watch her leave, focusing on Wanda as she turned her back to you, but you could practically hear her teasing thoughts.

"Shooting a gun is relatively easy," you assured her. "First thing's first, don't aim the gun at someone you don't want to shoot." She looked at you over her shoulder and you released a quiet breath. Natasha was right, just bite the bullet… "Find a comfortable position. The default is feet shoulder-width apart." She nodded, adjusting her stance, but you were quick to place your hands on her hips and use your foot to move hers farther apart. You could feel the goosebumps tickle your skin at the touch of her, fighting the chills rapidly climbing your back. "Raise your arm so it extends out in front of you." You moved your hands to her shoulders, sliding down until you reached her elbows, pushing her arms up. You swallowed harshly, forcing down the gasp building in your chest. "Hold the pistol with both hands, and align the sights at the target."

You could hear her breath catch in her throat when your chin rested on her shoulder, giving yourself a better view of her hands while at the same time getting you closer to her. "Like this?" Her voice came out as a whisper, barely managing to get it louder than that.

"Exactly like that," you said back softly. "My gun's trigger is extremely sensitive, so keep your finger on the side until you're ready to shoot. And, when you do, brace yourself for the recoil."

With your body pressed against hers, you prevented her from fully reacting to the recoil of the gun when she pulled the trigger. You pulled away from her the moment the bullet pierced through the head of the target on the other side of the room, feeling butterflies erupt in your stomach when she turned around to face you with a wide, excited smile.

"First shot," you congratulated, mirroring her grin. "See? You're a natural."

"It's nice to have another option when out in the field," she confessed, looking down at the gun in her hand. You were grateful she had averted her gaze, already feeling the heat color your cheeks a warm red. "In case we're in another bind."

"How about you shoot the target a few more times before you decide you're a professional marksman," you told her, laughing lightly.

She raised her eyebrow at you when she picked her head back up, the corner of her lips curling upwards into a smirk. "How many tries did it take you to get your first headshot?"

"Oh, oh," you laughed. "Should we recall how many bullets you went through yesterday?"

"I don't think-"

"An entire clip," you interrupted. "With the last bullet being an absolute miracle worker."

She rolled her eyes, though the smile that remained on her lips told you she was enjoying the moment just as much as you were. "I'll get better than you before the end of the week."

"Considering it's Tuesday right now, I'll take that bet." You smiled at her. "Winner takes the loser on a date."

You would've been blind if you missed the way her cheeks glowed a light pink at your proposition, making you think that maybe Natasha was telling the truth. Maybe Wanda did return your feelings. "It's a deal." She held her free hand out, to which you eagerly accepted.

But your mind didn’t make sense of the second gunshot that echoed throughout the room until you watched Wanda’s soft, heartwarming smile fade into shock, her face paling with nausea. She tugged her hand out of yours to cover her mouth, her eyes growing wide with terror as pain erupted through your leg. You didn’t want to look down. You didn’t want to see the blood staining your pants. But you did. And your stomach felt empty as your gun fell from Wanda’s hand, clattering to the ground. You hadn’t even realized you were reaching for her until she stepped closer to you, allowing you to use her upper arm as a crutch. It took everything in your power to not release a noise caused by the searing agony throbbing in your nerves.

Wanda Maximoff just shot you.

“I just shot you.”

“It’s fine.” Your voice was a low croak, incapable of anything more. 

“I just shot you!”

“It’s just a flesh wound.”

“I’m pretty sure your definition of a flesh wound is much different than mine!” Though your grip on her arm was tight, it wasn’t doing much in helping you stay upright. She inched closer to you, allowing you to wrap your arm around her shoulders to keep you standing. 

“I do tend to have more experience with this kind of thing.” You practically placed all your weight into her, releasing a heavy puff of air under your breath as you tried to muffle a groan.

“That’s-”

“Wanda, dear, as much as I’d love to keep talking about this, and I know this may come as a shock to you, but I’d actually prefer it if I didn’t die in front of you.”

She gasped lowly with realization as your words seemingly pulled her out of the shock she had succumbed to. She let you use her as support while she guided you out of the training room, ignoring all the wary looks and pertinent questions as you walked down the hall.

━━━ᗢ━━━

Present Day “Nat never did let me live down that biting the bullet phrase after that.” You laughed heartily when she rolled her eyes. "Those were my favorite pants, too, by the way."

"That was six years ago," she expressed. "You kept the bullet for that long?"

“Of course.” You smiled, your eyes sparkling as you looked at her. "It was the moment I realized I was in love with you."

She blinked, breathing out slowly. "All I had to do was shoot you to make you love me?" She shook her head, smiling softly. "I would've shot you sooner if I had known that!" She laughed as you threw the crumpled ball at her, watching it bounce off of her shoulder as she looped an arm around your waist, pulling you into her.

"I'll always have a scar from the moment I fell in love with you, Wanda Maximoff. Forever." You smiled widely at her when she sighed, shaking her head as she moved forward to connect her lips to yours.

[chelseachilly]

king of my heart - pt 8

i loved you in spite of deep fears that the world would divide us so, baby can we dance through an avalanche?

pairing: reader x ben chilwell summary: ben’s injury begins to take a toll on your relationship warnings: angst & some cursing word count: 1.8k

a/n: sorry for more angst :( it won’t last long, i promise!!

see my masterlist for previous chapters

benchilwell

liked by yourusername, masonmount and others

benchilwell Absolutely gutted to have injured my ACL again so early in the season. I’m going to work hard to return to the pitch as quickly as possible and get back to playing for my club and country. Thanks for all the support. 💙

yourusername ❤️❤️❤️

masonmount You’ll come back stronger ❤️

cmpulisic You got this chilly 💙

jackgrealish Speedy recovery mate ❤️

-

It’s an incredibly tough couple of weeks following Ben’s injury - for both of you.

The first few days, he’s in so much pain he can barely move at all, on complete bed rest except for the trip to the hospital to get an MRI.

You see something shatter within him the moment the doctor tells him it’s a complete tear of the ACL and he’s looking at 6-9 months for recovery. The Euros are in nine months, which means he could not only miss the rest of the season with Chelsea, but also be unable to play for his country once again. The possibility of that is too grim for you to take after everything he’s been through in the past.

The surgery is successful, thank goodness, and you take a few days off to devote yourself fully to his care. Ben insists that he can ask his parents to come down or one of his mates, feeling guilty that you have to use your vacation time, but you won’t hear of it. You can’t imagine not being here for him at this time.

The day after his operation, Ben’s parents drive down to London to visit. You’ve actually only met them once before, when they were in town for a visit during the summer. Due to Ben’s busy schedule, he doesn’t get home as much as he would like, but they come to London to see him and watch him play as much as they can.

“Ben, sweetie,” you say gently as you enter the dark bedroom.

The pain meds have made him particularly drowsy, and you want to encourage that rest as much possible, so you got him set up in the main floor guest room for the morning while you cleaned his house to make it presentable for his parents. You’ve been living off takeout since his injury and way too tired to clean up after the both of you after waking up with him throughout the night to get him his pain meds or a fresh ice pack.

Ben stirs slightly as you sit next to him and run your fingers through his hair.

“D’you need to change the bandages again?”

“No, babe, not yet,” you tell him. “Your mum just texted, they’re almost here.”

He nods drowsily and sits up, grimacing as he does so. You help him put on a t-shirt and some comfy basketball shorts and grab his crutches so he can make his way into the living room.

His parents arrive a few minutes later. His mum, Sally, comes prepared with all of Ben’s favourite foods, and his dad, Wayne, suggests they put on a rugby match. You know that watching sports is how he and his dad bond, and you appreciate that he had the sense not to put on a football game - especially since Chelsea is playing today in their first match since the injury.

You make everyone some tea and bring it into the living room along with the biscuits Sally made. While Ben’s parents are happily chatting away and updating him on his sister’s uni application process and how his grandparents are doing, he barely says a word - he just sips his tea and stares down at the thick bandages and brace on his knee, a reminder of how long it will be before he’s back to doing what he loves.

“Ben, do you want some more tea?” you ask after he’s finished his cup, gently placing a hand on his arm.

“No, I’m fine,” he mumbles, not making eye contact with you or reciprocating your touch.

Although he was quite clingy and wanted you as close to him as possible when he was still coming down from the anesthesia, he’s been a bit distant toward you since. You can’t blame him, knowing how much pain he’s in both physically and mentally, but it still hurts a bit. You’ve never seen this side of him before, not even after a tough loss.

“Y/N, would you join me in the kitchen for a moment?” Sally asks with a small smile.

You nod and follow her into the other room, pouring both of you another cup before sitting down at the kitchen island and burying your head in your hands when you think she’s not looking.

When Sally turns around, you try to plaster a fake smile on, but it’s pretty clear that she’s not buying it.

“Are you alright, dear?” she asks you in a motherly tone.

“Yeah,” you say, maybe a bit too quickly to be believable. “It’s just been hard to see him like this.”

Sally nods sympathetically. “I can’t thank you enough for taking such good care of him, Y/N.“

There’s a pause as she comes and sits on the stool next to you.

“He can be…difficult when he’s injured,” Sally continues, lowering her voice. “The last bad one, when he missed the World Cup, that took quite the toll on him.”

You nod, your heart aching for him even more.

“I just wish I could take it away,” you confess. “I hate that anything is standing in the way of his dreams. He’s so talented and he’s such a good person and I just…”

As you trail off, there’s a smile on Sally’s face, and she reaches out to grab and squeeze your hand.

“I can see why my son loves you so much,” she says sincerely. “He’s incredibly lucky to have you, and he knows it. So if he’s ever acting like a bit of a prick, just remember he’s upset with the situation, not with you, alright?”

You nod and blink back the tears that had begun to form in your eyes, smiling back at Ben’s mum.

“Thank you, Sally.”

-

While you try to take Ben’s mother’s words to heart, knowing that you can trust the woman who raised him, things seem to be getting worse as Ben starts to heal.

Although he’s incredibly reliant on you for the first week and a half, needing your help showering and moving upstairs, he starts to become a bit more agile on his crutches as the pain goes from agonizing to bearable.

Since it’s clear that he’s feeling slightly better, and has even begun to see the Chelsea physio, you decide that it might be good for him to socialize a bit. He’s an outgoing guy and he’s used to seeing his mates every day, and lately the only people he sees are you and his medical team.

While you’re driving him home from his three-week checkup, at which he was cleared to start bearing partial weight on his leg as tolerated, you suggest having some of the boys over later.

“They’ve got training,” Ben mutters.

“Not in the evenings,” you point out. “I know Mase wants to see you, and I’m sure Christian and Reece would-“

“I don’t feel like it,” he snaps.

You drop the subject for the remainder of the drive, ignoring his bitter tone and the way he doesn’t say anything else the whole way home.

The next day, you have to go into the office. You’ve been working from home as much as possible to make sure you’re there if Ben needs anything, but you have an important meeting that requires your presence.

When you get home - well, to Ben’s, but you’ve only been to your flat to get some clothes since his injury - you are greeted by Oscar at the door, but are surprised that Ben isn’t at his usual spot on the couch.

Confused and a bit worried, you make your way upstairs and enter the bedroom. When he isn’t in bed either, you feel significantly more worried, calling out his name.

He doesn’t answer, so you try the bathroom, the gaming room, another bedroom - all empty. Finally, you open the door to his home gym, the last place you wanted to find him.

He’s sitting on the floor next to the treadmill, a few weights next to him, sweat on his forehead.

You feel your blood begin to boil with rage, but you try to restrain yourself from yelling at him.

“What are you doing in here?” you demand, putting a hand in your hip.

Finally noticing your presence, Ben takes his earphones out and looks up at you.

“Just a light workout,” he mutters as if he hasn’t done anything wrong.

“A light workout?” you ask incredulously. “Ben, you’re only supposed to be walking a few steps at a time and with assistance. You should not be working out, definitely when I’m not home.”

Ben refuses to look you in the eye, fiddling with the hem of his shorts.

“I’m serious!” you continue, walking closer to him. “You could injure yourself again or at the very least slow down your recovery-“

“Y/N, I’ve gone through injuries before,” Ben retorts. “I’ll be fine. I’m done sitting around doing nothing-“

“You tore your ACL less than a month ago, Ben! You need time to heal.”

“Do you think I don’t know that?” he snaps. “Trust me, I’m well aware that my bloody knee is messed up yet again and I’m stuck at home for god knows how long, I don’t need you telling me what to do.”

“Oh, I’m so sorry for taking care of you when you’re hurt,” you snap back. “Sorry for trying to prevent you from making your injury worse, for supporting you-“

“By treating me like a fucking child who can’t take care of himself.”

Ben seems to know he crossed a line by the look on your face the moment he said it. Your heart drops in your chest at the cruelty your boyfriend is showing you right now - he’s never said anything nearly this hurtful to you before.

You begin to walk away out of fear that you’ll start crying in front of him, and you can hear him trying to get up behind you.

“Y/N, wait - ow, fuck-“

Despite how angry you are with him, you can’t ignore his grunts of pain as he attempts to stand up, having obviously overdone it today.

You can barely stand to look at him, but you still offer him a hand and help him hobble over to the bench, setting his crutches up on the wall next to him.

“Yeah, you clearly don’t need my help,” you scoff, shaking your head. “I’m going home. Call one of your mates if you need help. Maybe they won’t treat you like a ‘fucking child’.”

Although you can hear him calling out for you, you keep walking, slamming the front door behind you and running to the car as your tears blend with the rain pouring down outside.

tagging: @xjval​  (just let me know if anyone else would like to be tagged in upcoming chapters!)

next chapter 💙

[she-karev]

The Pregnant Resident (Andrew DeLuca x Alex Karev’s Sister Imagine)

Age Rating: 12+

Chapters: One of Four

Fandom: Grey’s Anatomy

Ship: Andrew DeLuca x Amber Karev (Alex Karev’s Sister)

Canon Episode: Season 19 Episode 2

AN: Hey guys I decided to show some soft pregnant Amber Karev chapters. The next three chapters will be released once daily with the next one coming out tomorrow morning.

Summary: Amber becomes the chief resident while six months pregnant where the interns underestimate her abilities due to her condition, but she proves them wrong.

Words: 1335

September 12th, 2022

“Finally, the world is in balance.”

Amber says as she puts her baby blue scrubs on for the first time in six months. The residency program shut down in March due to complaints about the methods. But they reopened it with a new batch of interns. Amber DeLuca has been appointed as the new chief resident of this group and it makes her excited to finally getting back to the job she was meant to have. Her visions from when she was an intern did not include a six-month pregnant belly, however.

“You know you can start maternity leave at any time, Grey and Marsh said it was fine.” Amber turns to her husband, Andrew DeLuca, sitting on the bench behind her clearly hovering to her annoyance.

Amber grabs her antacids from her cubby, “We’ve got interns who look like they came straight out of a gen z teen show and their resumes could only be accepted by a state penitentiary infirmary. Maybe.”

“I know these guys didn’t get straight A’s like us and they aren’t as tough and able to take a punch like you, but they show promise.” Andrew stands up to face Amber in his navy-blue scrubs and lab coat, “They did pretty good for their first day on the job in the middle of a crisis.”

Amber narrows her eyes, “Adams almost cost live saving organs for a patient because he didn’t know to use full names when addressing grieving loved ones. And Kwan reminds me of my brother when he was in intern.”

Andrew hisses at that comparison knowing how his brother-in-law was when he was Amber’s age, “Ouch I feel bad for him when he’s on your service.”

“Oh you should.” Amber pulls out a candy bar and devours it in two bites to Andrew’s shock, “I’m eating for two don’t judge me.”

“I’m not judging I know better than that. And I also know how you’re getting crankier as the due date draws near. Being a chief resident at a major hospital your bound to snap and cause a scene that can make you look…”

“Aggressive?”

“I was gonna say passionate.” Andrew mends before giving his wife a concerned look, “Are you sure you can handle working here today? We do have other residents.”

“We have Parker, Qadri and Schmitt and I only trust one of them to operate on me if I was dying.”

“I know Schmitt is dead last.” He says amusingly.

“I’ll be fine babe, it’s the ER today where Hunt is working so I’ll be fine.” Amber’s smart watch beeps and she groans, “I gotta get to the locker room and greet the interns. I’ll see you tonight where I can brag how I’m a much better chief resident than you were.”

Andrew chuckles at that, “You know those hormones make you cocky too, more than usual at least.”

“You were the one who knocked me up this is all on you pal.” Amber teases before walking away from her husband who watches in amusement at his wife’s waddles.

Later

“How bad do you think this is gonna get?” Casey Parker asks his friends and fellow residents Levi Schmitt and Dahlia Qadri as they wait inside the intern locker rooms for Dr. Nick Marsh to present their chief resident who will give them instructions for the day.

As they wait they watch the interns change and are astonished by how young and innocent they look. It makes them wonder if they looked that way their first week and how they perceived the residents in charge of them.

Dahlia shrugs, “Well Amber is sixty months pregnant, the residency program started up and these guys are from a generation of backtalkers and privilege seekers. I think we’ll be fine with her as our boss.”

Schmitt eats a granola bar and asks with his mouth full, “What about the interns? How are they gonna feel under her rule?”

“Oh they don’t stand a chance.” Dahlia confirms after years of working with Amber and being close friends with her.

Casey chuckles in agreement, “Ten bucks says she makes an intern cry at the end of the day.”

Levi joins in, “Twenty says she yells at one so loud they faint.”

“Fifty says those hormones of hers yells at the first person who pisses at her, intern or attending wise.” Qadri bets with confidence.

“Oh you are so on, I’m gonna be rich.” Casey smiles at that before Marsh walks in and stands in front of the interns with the residents behind him except for Amber.

“Listen up. Dr. DeLuca is your chief resident.”

Mika Yasuda whispers under her breath, “She's our only senior resident.”

Marsh continues, “She is not here at the moment but she will be. She's gonna be handing out your assignments while I'm doing a kidney transplant. Who can name the top three causes of end-stage renal disease?”

The interns raise their hands except for Kwan who answers immediately, “Hypertension, diabetes, glomerulonephritis.”

Jules Millin calls out to Marsh, “He didn't raise his hand.”

“Yeah, I don't care about any of that.” He says dismissively.

“Am I correct?”

“Yeah, you are.”

“Do I get to scrub in?” Kwan asks causing the residents to roll their eyes at the eager puppies.

“No, uh, you cannot. Where is Dr. DeLuca?”

Qadri explains, “She’ll be here soon she’s just…a little slow nowadays.”

Kwan scoffs dismissively, “And they made a slow person chief resident?”

Casey chuckles at that knowing Amber will hate him, “Oh you are gonna make me some good money Kwan.”

Kwan furrows his eyebrows at that just as Dr. Amber DeLuca enters the room exhaling deeply due to how winded she is from her power walk there.

“Sorry I’m late.”

“It’s no problem.” Marsh turns to the confused interns who look at Amber curiously, “Okay this is your chief resident, Dr. DeLuca.”

Most of them look at the pregnant woman shocked to have her as their boss. This causes Amber to grin sarcastically at the young doctors while her friends next to her shake their heads knowing the interns are in for a ride today.

“Have fun, DeLuca.” Marsh leaves the room causing Amber to walk to the front with her tablet in hand.

“Okay people here’s the deal. I am in charge of the ER today in a major populated city, I have to watch over interns, I am six months pregnant with my first baby and the heartburn stops for five minutes a day. So, nobody complain or we will have words and they will be one’s you’ve never heard in the same sentence before.” Qadri grins at that threat as the interns look taken back while Amber explains their duties for the day.

“Adams, you're with Dr. Pierce. Kwan's with Ndugu. Yasuda you’re coming to the pit with me and you will report to Owen Hunt. Millin and Griffith you will join us and do surgical consult in the pit.”

“Uh, two of us for one consult?” Simone Griffith asks causing Amber to glare at her.

“This is a world class hospital and your interns on your first week. Leaving one of you to care for a patient would be like giving a loaded gun to a coked-out monkey.” Casey and Schmitt snicker at that comparison that makes Millin and Griffith look offended but Amber ignores it, “Now, don't embarrass me or kill anyone or drop anything inside a patient. I am dead serious about that last one.”

“Oh trust me she is.” Schmitt states knowing it’s from his rotation at the hospital when he and Amber first met. This makes Parker and Qadri smile while Amber frowns at the interns who are still standing there frozen.

“What are you all waiting for? Chinese New Year? Go!”

The interns scurry off in fear leaving the residents in the room where they nod in approval of Amber’s first moment as the chief resident. Amber ignores them however and heads to the pit.

Next Chapter Here

[nifflering]

Part two Beware spoilers for life on mars series one and two

Hello, hello, hello (some brainrotted fellows will understand this reference) Welcome to another edition of

*me rambling at you about life on mars (the UK version)*

Most important thing: this is my interpretation/analysis.

So, these are my personal, quite uneducated opinions. Also: I bought the series on DVD. No one will be safe.

Today, we'll be talking about the usage of colours in lom in general. If I do start and finish a rewatch and find some interesting scenes – I will add my commentary on them.

Like I already said many times before – there aren’t really many scenes in 2006/2007.

The shooting script of the first episode (I found it while floundering around on the waybackmachine) originally includes a scene in Sam and Maya’s appartement. (Context my beloved: Sammy boy is being kind of an ass, too busy with his job to solve his issues with Maya. She attempts talking to him but fails. I don’t know why they deleted it, because it would have really provided more context to their relationship and – most importantly, for my cause, a sneak peek of their apartment – I imagine it as very clean and kind of impersonal, a few personal touches, Maya’s attempt to brighten up the place. I think they’re both really busy, they started decorating but then Sam became DCI and he got too busy to use the apartment for anything except for sleeping. #Overwhelmed king)

Anyway, let’s take a look at.... a shot that to me represents a big theme of the show and some ✨️colors✨️.

After Sam gets hit by the car , he wakes up in this construction site with a poster of the soon to come high way. An image of the Future.

There’s a really distinct difference between the colour palates. The “future” sky is a nice light-blue, not a cloud to be seen, with some touches of orange and green. Everything is all white, clean and perfect – and it’s all coming soon(er or later).

Of course, it’s a very idealized version of the future. Because it’s how Sam perceives it – at this point in time, he’s very desperate to return.

(Just look at the scene where he first gets contacted through the math programme through the TV. The way Sam crawls towards the TV….. SIR, YOUR ACTING CHOICES. PLEAAASEEE.)

But it’s still surprisingly accurate. However, the idealistic picture of the future is quickly shattered, if you consider that – let’s squint our eyes - to see little Sam’s limp body lying on the ground. Surprisingly, in the 1970s we don’t really see a person being hit by a car (as far as I can remember - except Sam ofc)- But – let’s be honest in 1973 the streets are just every ground that is remotely driveable on.

The past still contains traces of those colours, mostly orange as seen in the dirty underneath the bridge. The air is heavy and greyish, trash and building material is littered on the ground.

The only bits of white are the high-flats in the background, but they are far far away.

Those buildings and streets are still being built – everything’s in flux. Things can change. But, should they? Sam is generally really unsure in that whole department but that’s the thing about it:

We never actually find out, (side note: I haven’t yet seen ashes to ashes) if Sam’s choices actually make an impact in the present. It certainly gives you the impression – his father staying away, his mentor teaching him those lessons, Maya’s birth, etc. etc.. But does it really matter in the end?

Or is it just all in his head? Is he still Sam Tyler in a hospital bed in 2006 or is he an amnesiac Sam Williams in 1973 on an undercover operation?

In the past, there are several buildings – bound to Sam Tyler’s identity, and which I will be further explaining in another ramble.

Let’s get back to colours. Two examples where a similar concept applies: The interrogation room and the general office space of the police department.

The room is flooded with light – courtesy of the huge windows (side note: privacy??? What’s that?). The situation is very transparent as the interrogation is literally being recorded. The person being interrogated has their whole support team with them, including lawyer, social worker and psychiatrist. This scenario is as by the books as you can get it.

I also really like that little shot of Sam adjusting the pens, character go brr.

Same thing in the general offices – a 2010s fever dream with all those clunky computers – which school computer lab have you magically transported me to?

Imagine the absolute horror that Sam feels when he sees the past police department.

Look at it

Without considering the lighting and furniture, the room looks sort of modern – it has a lot of windows and could be causing the same effect as the interrogation room on a visitor.

The officers are working diligently and carefully through every case and issue – investigating every clue and they never rest until they catch the perpetrator.

But that’s wishful thinking - In reality (at least in the past)the room is tinged with brownish yellow lighting, there’s no order to the tables, paper strewn all over the desks and even spending a second in this room will lead you to smelling like smoke for the next 55 years. I would faint. And I’m not even talking about the consequences of not being a white straight guy….

This police department doesn’t even have an interrogation room, they also rarely record any interrogations (leaving a lot of room for interpretation or using some creativity to catch the suspect or get an important lead) and mishandle, don't notice or even collect crucial evidence.

In the lost and found

Even asking for a lawyer – leads to being laughed at and insulted by the literal governor of the department. It’s quite dark and very cramped – it’s quite private – so no one will notice you beating up an innocent person….

But I still feel the office feels very lived in.

There’s a giant dart board, random trophies, dirty dishes strewn about… Good luck getting your case solved. Where’s the evidence that could solve your murder? It’s probably buried under some spicy magazines and a bunch of cigarette buds.

For all the time the police spend at the office, they sure do know when to stop and start going to the pub.

One scene in the later seasons – in the episode about the false imprisonment of the teenager who murdered his younger girlfriend, Gene Hunt is determined to catch her killer for good. He’s made a promise to her father and he’s willing to do almost everything to make his city a safer place (any means necessary). He urges the police men to do anything they can, work day and night and not sleep a wink until they’ve put the right person in prison.

And then, he peeks at his watch and drops everything because they need to get drunk in the pub.

and that's it, hope you enjoyed :)

BONUS: have some cinematic shots

For u @roxannepolice <3

featuring: desperation, isolation and crippling loneliness

lom 1

lom 2

[shimmeringweeds]

(Written between s2 episodes 10 and 11)

“Every game has to be a fair give and take. So now I’m giving.” - Episode 6, English dub vs. Chinese sub:

I found it interesting that the English dub chose to translate that line this way when, just a few episodes earlier, Qian Jin makes a similar remark.

To my limited understanding, the Chinese subs are more accurate, while the English dub is taking liberties, but I want to think on this because it may not be off the mark.

We take and we give. The foundation of this game...is fairness and equality.

Either Qian Jin taught this to Li Tianchen, or someone else taught them both. Honestly, this rule might be the only reason they've survived each other for so long, but that's my headcanon. EDIT ep. 11 Well it sure AF wasn't Qian Jin. If anything LTC was trying to teach him that and it really was the only reason they survived each other smh.

How does this philosophy apply to the current game with Cheng Xiaoshi? Here is where things get convoluted, because, yes, Li Tianchen actually does do a lot of giving, while Cheng Xiaoshi does a whole lot of withholding/taking. But no one can blame him for that except, apparently, Li Tianchen.

Why? Li Tianchen acts very entitled using his possession ability on Cheng Xiaoshi. As if it is a given that he should be allowed to possess. He gave, so now he gets to take. But a "fair" game from our perspective would allow Cheng Xiaoshi the chance to give. We cannot blame him for not trusting Li Tianchen's motives, because then he would have to give blindly.

Li Tianchen is not giving Cheng Xiaoshi the opportunity to ask questions. Why? Is it because Li Tianchen has already told everything he can?

Let's try and see things from Li Tianchen's perspective.

(I'm operating under the assumption that Li Tianchen really believes he is playing fair while Cheng Xiaoshi is cheating)

The rules we know so far (let me know if one was missed):

Disappearing into photos is unfair. (?)

Present possession is fair (because it is the endgame?)

Lying is unfair.

Use of outside forces are permissible (the police, QJ's henchman.)

Every "take" must be balanced with a "give."

The game's foundation is trust.

I want to go back to "lying is unfair." Why was Li Tianchen able to hide behind the identity of Li Tianxi? That doesn't sound very trustworthy. But then again, he's always hidden behind the identities of others. In fact, when approached by others, he's fairly tight lipped and seems to prefer not to speak. When he does speak at length, it's either behind a facade or quiet, under his breath. ( ironically, I realize LG might be the exception to this. LTC was angry lol.) EP11 EDIT okay maybe I misread that, both disguise and speech. LTC fans got some content.

So, from Li Tianchen's perspective, disguise is just what he does. Showing up in person at the theater is one more way he is "giving." I think we can take his general words as truth.

I also think that showing up to the police station as his sister was not only a way to gather sympathy, but it was also the only way Li Tianchen could quietly communicate what he wanted from Cheng Xiaoshi.

"Can't loose my good big brother." -- Save my younger sister. Is it even possible for both of them to be saved?

______________________________________________________________

The Game Thus Far: Encounters

Night at Time Photo Studio: CXS invites Red Eyes to a game. LTC gives information about the murders. CXS lies about not calling the police. LTC returns and "punishes" the lie. He asks CXS to give information. CXS does not give willingly.

First night at the hospital: LTC/LTX take the phone. LTC/LTX give the photograph.

Interview with "Li Tianxi": LTC gives more information. LTC takes CXS. CXS gives Lu Guang (yeah I said it. He didn't mean it, but is that not what happened.) and LTC takes him in exchange.

Interview with Li Tianxi: LTX gives information on her ability. LTX continues to give her allegiance. She's sticking close. Notice that. She doesn't want to loose her brother. CXS takes her help.

Ransom exchange at the theater: LTC gives Lu Guang. CXS gives himself. LTC tries to take what was given.

Okay, so, looking at it like this, it's not the photographs that are cheating. Cheng Xiaoshi is cheating because he keeps finding ways to escape his part of the "give and take."

And to his defense, Li Tianchen is not being..... let's say considerate, in what he might be taking. He's got a solid end game in mind, (is possession really the end game though?) and he doesn't seem to accept that loosing is also a reasonable outcome of the game. That's the question I keep coming back too.

Why does Li Tianchen think he deserves Cheng Xiaoshi's blind trust?

Because that’s the foundation of the game.

But also, might it actually have to do with the "someone" who taught him the rules of this game?

[fluffypotatey]

watching Leverage: episode 2

ok i made myself some pb&js and i am off to ep 2

spoilers, duh

thoughts before i watch:

i feel so conflicted about sophie/nathan and not in the way you think

i feel conflicted as in i don't know if i want to know all the details of their history together

like i love just the added layer that says "these two knew each other and had something in the past but have drifted apart for reasons"

so it's a "tell me!" but also "don't tell me! let them be mysterious about it!"

so will the next episode kick off from the last one? or will it be like a little time skip and some cons later kind of thing?

i'm fine with either because with the time skip, it helps alleviate the stress of building new character dynamics in a way. like, they're still new and some character will clash at first, but it's lessened a little (or not and that will be one of the major conflicts in the episode).

but i also like seeing how they work immediately after, seeing the awkward kind of team up and such. do they hang out after a con? do they live together or is that just the base of operations?

but enough of me talking about that. let's get into it!

le thoughts while i watch:

ok apparently the site i was using crashed so i spent....too long (for my patience) finding another BUT I DID IT

got worried for a second because the first scene was not with our gang and thought i accidentally clicked on an army show

rip the soldiers you seemed like fine dudes, you probably would have joined a frat

right off the bat we have deaths. like i know i said i'd wait but this is episode 2! AND it came out of nowhere!!!!

ooooh we talking about veteran insurance??? and how the govt just sort of drops them if they're disabled???....yeah, this is gonna be heavy

"i'm sorry [talking about how the guy's finacee left him after the incident]" "i'm not mad, it happens" when i tell you my heart BROKE. no! no it shouldn't!!!

also the site..... is buffering on me..... and i WILL commit crimes if i cannot watch this episode

i am glad the doctor is looking after the dude tho, but she's upset that she has to let him down and my HEART

"you know this is a soap commercial right?" god, i love you sophie, make that soap commercial a soap opera

"peggy killed her first husbanD" I LOVE HER

they made their own office goddam

ok so did they just, not talk after the first gig? did they go their separate ways and just hope that one day they'd do another heist again? it seems like nathan and alec kept in touch but what about everyone else????

elliot i want to know your life

how can one know a type pf gun from the sound of its gunshot???

wow, they really just exPOSED lobbyist corruption with the government huh....damn

oh i wanna punch that congressman

so many things happening what is going on???

holy shit whyyyyy were they shooting army men??? they were gonna kill perry in cold blood. puppy eyes perry??? perry who was practicing physical therapy after hours be himself T^T because he knows his days in that hospital is limited???

parker is so cute, sure she's probably committed arson, but that means nothing

alec is the best, i love him, he's my boy

"yeah i hack the camera just give a minute or two--" *elliot just throws a rock* "...or steal my thunder why don't you"

no matter who's together, the ot3's chemistry is *chef's kiss*

parker was just WAITING for an excuse to blow up that door akdjsd i love her AND ALEC'S EXPRESSION I LOVE

ALEC MY BOY

"this is racial isn't it?" i cackled so hard.

man that congressman switched up so fast lmao then got caught

nathan bought a tesla.....i am so sorry all i can think of it present news lmao

it is nice to have a heist show where like....nothing goes wrong

everything that they planned for happens and if there are things that go left, they have a backup for it that they use and it's so.... n i c e and refreshing to watch a show like that

general thoughts:

like, i knew there would be episodes that criticize corporations and there'd be discussion of government corruption but....episode two???? they really aren't pulling any punches

also how they show the struggle a lot of disabled veterans go through because they don't have a funded safety net. like the doctor for perry really wants to help, and you can see that when she lectures nathan about trying to scam perry (he wasn't but from the outside, it's not hard to understand why she thought that). it hurts her to have to try and help these people who just want to get better, but have such limiting resources to the point that she has to turn them away after a couple months.

nathan is very much still a firm believer that this gang of crooks can become a gang of good crooks. and this is really sweet. you can see that they gang still helps him with the heist even if they can't believe that they are good people. but i like the ending for this because they're acknowledging that yeah, it felt great to help return the money to the people who needed it, and maybe they'd like to do this again.

moral of the story: corporations get fucked and i am enjoying it

remember kids, cleaning blood money works better with cold water, not shooting witnesses. that just adds to the dirt.

[fizzyxcustard]

Why Now?

Fandom: Spooks

Pairings: Lucas North x Fem!Reader

Warnings: Angst, language.

Summary: From the imagine, "Imagine breaking up with Lucas North at Christmas."

Comments: Requested by @sweetestgbye and @sazzlep Thank you! As always, reblogs and comments are appreciated very much. If you would like to be added to or removed from my tag list, let me know.

It was Christmas Eve. All the presents were wrapped and beneath the tree, the vegetables were cut and prepared for the following day. Lucas lingered behind you, unable to keep his hands off you. Every now and then he would curl his arm around your waist, whisper sweet words in your ear, or lace his fingers between yours. 

The pain was mounting inside you, and every time that he touched you, it seemed to up that level. Until suddenly, you spoke. “I can’t do this anymore, Lucas,” you said softly. His arm, which was around your waist, grew limp and he looked at you with question in his blue eyes. 

“Do what?” he asked, but that instinct rose in his gut. He knew what you meant, and didn’t want to have to face it. 

“This. Us.”

Lucas blinked hard and in quick succession. It was in that way he always did when he was puzzled or frustrated. “I…I don’t get where this has come from?” His words felt so stupid and feeble. 

You felt the base of your back rest against a cupboard door as you turned from him, it being the only thing that was propping you up. These feelings had been festering now for a couple of months at least, and you had been too scared to even mention it. Everything had broken free in the last few minutes. You sighed, knowing that you loved Lucas more than anything, and despised yourself for even thinking what you did. But he had a right to know how you felt. 

Lucas’ face was contorted in anguish. Was this really the end of your nine-month relationship? To some people that was barely anything, but in those months he had finally found some peace and solace. You were the open door to a normal life. “Why now?” he asked. “It’s Christmas Eve, for fuck sake!” The anger was burning in his words, heightening by your timing. 

“I’ve been living with this on my mind now for a good couple of months…” 

Lucas cut you off. “What the fuck is it?” 

Tears trickled down your cheeks. “Your job is important to you, I get that, but I can’t stand by every time you go on deployment and not know if you’re going to come back. Only last month and I was called into the hospital by Harry because you had a bullet in your stomach…Or should I say, another bullet. I’m proud of you for everything you do, but I’m not cut out for this. I’m second best to MI-5, let’s face it.” 

“Is that what you really think?”

“I know it’s true. The phone rings and you’re there. But whenever I call and need you, I’m put off. Look, I know the job is important…I’m not taking anything away from that fact. You’re amazing at what you do.” 

Lucas turned around and brushed his hand up the back of his neck and head. “Don’t bullshit now.” 

“I’m not bullshitting. You are good at your job. But it’s not the best job to have when you’re building a relationship with someone. Most of the people you work with are single, aren’t they?” 

Lucas glared at you angrily. “And now I am, too, so it seems.” His voice was full of venom. He never spoke another word until he got to the door, his coat in hand. “Merry Christmas,” he said bitterly and then slammed door behind him. 

You stood motionless for a few seconds, feeling the tears fall down your cheeks. Were you being unreasonable? Whatever anyone else answered that question with, it didn’t eradicate the fact that you felt second best in everything. When Lucas had been in hospital, with you visiting, he was still discussing operations with Harry and pushing to get back out into the field. Was it selfish to want to be first in his life? 

Lucas let himself into his flat a short while later and immediately grabbed a bottle of whiskey from his cupboard, downing a huge mouthful. He grit his teeth and slammed his fist down into the counter top. Nothing was more important than you, nothing. But he knew there was no way you would actually see that fact. Your insecurity was always getting the better of you, and nothing would stop you lacking that self-worth. Lucas’ job as an intelligence officer with MI-5 was physically demanding; it was hardly a job that he could walk away from and turn his phone off to. He had to be on hand, on call; after all, that was what he was paid the bigger bucks for. 

Rain tapped on the glass ceiling of Lucas’ bedroom. He looked up, imagining what you were doing. Tears trickled down his cheeks, as if mirrored by the ceiling above. He loved you. It surpassed any other time he had been in love. This was real. It was so deeply woven into his heart and sat in the base of his gut. Whenever he saw you, the sight of your eyes and that smile, all of it made his heart soar. For once he was choosing love, not making himself feel it out of necessity like he had done with his ex-wife who was a Russian operative. Lucas chose to love you. 

Back at your flat and you sat motionless on the sofa, your elbow leaning on the arm of the sofa, propping up your head. The television was playing away to itself in the corner. Nothing made any sense to you. It was all just pointless noise in the background. 

You took out your phone and smiled sadly at the photo of Lucas and you on your lock screen. It made you think back to the discussion he had with you about six weeks into your relationship. Your vetting had to be completed before you could make your relationship public, and even then, you couldn’t introduce him using his proper name. Your family all knew him as Tim, not Lucas. Everything was so secretive still; this wasn’t how a relationship should have been. 

You made yourself a mug of coffee and watched the rain trickle down the windows. On the countertop you noticed Lucas’ watch which he had taken off when helping you prepare dinner for the following day. 

Lucas’ watch remained on your bedside table that night, alongside your mobile phone. You hoped and prayed that he would reach out to you in some way. That was your selfishness shining through yet again. You’d pushed the man away and now expected him to fight for you. 

As you lay awake in bed, staring at the ceiling, you were sure you could smell his deodorant. It was a faint fresh smell, and with every deep breath you took, it pushed you closer toward sleep. 

***

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[dmitriene]

hi! i'm so sorry if this isn't allowed, i didn't see anything against it in your guidelines but just in case, my bad!

anyways i literally JUST got top surgery 2 hours ago and i was wondering if you would be comfortable writing something about leon getting top surgery, and chris or someone of your choice comforting them and helping them recover?

again, if it's not your wheelhouse apologies and no worries! and also if you're swamped with asks feel free to take as much time as you need.

have a wonderful day, i'm sending good vibes!! 🩷

꒰ 𝘩𝘦𝘭𝘭𝘰 𝘩𝘶𝘯! 𝘧𝘪𝘳𝘴𝘵 𝘰𝘧 𝘢𝘭𝘭, 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘨𝘳𝘢𝘵𝘶𝘭𝘢𝘵𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘯 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘨𝘦𝘳𝘺, 𝘪𝘵'𝘴 𝘴𝘶𝘤𝘩 𝘢 𝘣𝘳𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘴𝘵𝘦𝘱 𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘸𝘢𝘳𝘥, 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘺𝘦𝘴, 𝘰𝘧 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘴𝘦, 𝘪'𝘮 𝘩𝘰𝘯𝘰𝘳𝘦𝘥 𝘵𝘰 𝘸𝘳𝘪𝘵𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘧𝘰𝘳 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘪 𝘩𝘰𝘱𝘦 𝘺𝘰𝘶'𝘭𝘭 𝘭𝘪𝘬𝘦 𝘩𝘰𝘸 𝘪 𝘥𝘪𝘥 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵! 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘯𝘬 𝘺𝘰𝘶 𝘴𝘮!🤍 ˑ༄ ꒱

❝𝘵𝘪𝘵𝘭𝘦❞ 𝘳𝘦𝘴𝘪𝘭𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘤𝘦. ❝ 𝘤𝘰𝘯𝘵𝘦𝘯𝘵 ❞ 𝘳𝘦4 𝘭𝘦𝘰𝘯 𝘬𝘦𝘯𝘯𝘦𝘥𝘺 𝘹 𝘤𝘩𝘳𝘪𝘴 𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘧𝘪𝘦𝘭𝘥. ❝ 𝘵𝘢𝘨𝘴 ❞ 𝘱𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘧𝘭𝘶𝘧𝘧, 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘧𝘰𝘳𝘵, 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥𝘭𝘺 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘤𝘢𝘳𝘦.

 ✎ 𝘮𝘢𝘪𝘯 𝘮𝘢���𝘵𝘦𝘳𝘭𝘪𝘴𝘵. 𝘳𝘦𝘲𝘶𝘦𝘴𝘵𝘴 𝘢𝘯𝘥 𝘢𝘴𝘬𝘴. 𝘢𝘰3. ˑ༄

Leon had wrestled with the decision for a long time, a journey marked by uncertainty and introspection.

It was a path that had required him to summon courage from deep within, a courage he might not have found without the unwavering support of his friends, especially Chris Redfield.

The days leading up to the surgery were filled with anxiety, but Leon had persevered, he found a reputable clinic, meticulously planned the operation, and prepared himself mentally and physically for the transformative step he was about to take.

As he layed in the sterile hospital room, groggily waking up from the anesthesia, he squinted against the harsh light, disoriented.

His bleary gaze finally settled on a familiar figure by his bedside. Chris Redfield, ever the pillar of strength, was there, concern etched on his rugged features — «Hey» Chris murmured, leaning in closer — «How are you feeling, Leon?»

Leon's voice was hoarse as he responded — «I… I think I'm okay» his fingers trembled slightly as he reached out and Chris's hand met his, offering a reassuring squeeze.

A small, reassuring smile touched Chris's lips, and he gently stroked Leon's head, ruffling his hair.

Throughout his stay in the hospital, Chris was constantly present with him, his visits made Leon feel safe and warm, he brought books, snacks and even Claire's homemade cookies, Chris's mere presence helped ease the discomfort of the recovery process.

The day finally came when Leon was discharged from the hospital.

On his first morning at home, while the sun was still low, Chris walked up to Leon's door, the early hour caught Leon off guard and he sleepily wandered to answer the door, wearing only a pair of sweatpants.

The scars from the operation on his chest were still fresh, but he wore them with pride.

Chris hesitated at the sight of Leon, his lips pursing in a mixture of concern and affection — «Hey» he said softly — «Are you okay?»

Leon yawned and sleepily rubbed his eyes — «Yeah» he mumbled, his voice barely above a whisper — «Come on in»

Chris followed Leon inside, a gentle smile playing on his lips as he admired the sleep tossed agent, while Leon shuffled into the kitchen, his bare feet padding softly on the floor, and Chris couldn't help but think that even in his sleepy state, Leon looked sort of charming.

As Leon prepared the coffee and tea, Chris watched him with a mixture of admiration and tenderness, the scars on Leon's chest were a testament to his bravery and the journey he had embarked on, Chris knew that they represented not only physical healing, but also a deep emotional and mental transformation.

When the drinks were ready, they settled down on the couch, Leon curled up next to Chris, his head resting heavily on Chris's shoulder, and he sighed contentedly as Chris wrapped his arms around him, holding him close.

They talked about everything and nothing, the conversation flowed from work to their favorite movies and the latest case they worked on, Leon felt safe in Chris's presence, and the fatigue of recovery began to weigh on him.

As the minutes passed, Leon's eyelids grew heavier and his breathing slowed, Chris noticed the subtle change and gently patted the top of Leon's head, holding him closer — «Rest, Leon» he whispered — «I'll be right here»

Leon muttered a quiet «thank you» before letting sleep take him, and as Chris continued to hold him, his heart filled with affection and pride for the man who had come so far, both in his personal journey and in their shared experiences as friends.

In the silence of that morning, as the soft light filtered through the curtains, Leon found comfort and solace in the arms of the man who had always been there for him, and Chris, ever the unwavering support, held him close, knowing that their bond was unbreakable, and that no matter what challenges lay ahead, they would face them together.

As the minutes turned into hours, Chris simply enjoyed the feeling of Leon's presence beside him, relishing the warmth and contentment that filled the room.

The world outside kept spinning, but in this cozy apartment, time seemed to stand still, Leon took a bold step towards self-discovery and self-acceptance, and Chris was there to celebrate it with him, offering nothing but unwavering support and unconditional love.

Together, they found comfort in each other's presence, a bond that transcended words and spoke volumes in the quietude of that morning.

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