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shemarmooresfedora · 3 years

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Series Summary: After being arrested, Spencer Reid desperately tries to get back home to his daughter, Camellia, who was placed into foster care in your home.

Pairing: Single!Dad!Spencer x Foster!Mom!Reader

Word Count: 1.7k

Content/Warnings: mentions of Diana’s Alzheimer’s and Schizophrenia, prison, separation of father and daughter, swearing

A/N: i hope you guys enjoy my new fic! this may be about 8 chapters or so! i’m not sure yet, going to see how interested people are in the plot :) (also quick disclaimer: i have never been in the foster care system so please excuse any inaccuracies)

Masterlist

Chapter 1

Spencer never wanted his daughter to see him like this, being brought into the BAU bullpen in handcuffs. He was supposed to be the good guy.

Right now, he couldn’t tell if he still was. He had good intentions going down to Mexico to get non-FDA approved medicine for his mom but he may have killed someone in the process. If only he could just remember.

Camellia ran into his arms to hug him, a hug he so desperately wanted to return if it wasn’t for these stupid cuffs around his wrists.

“They can’t just take you away, Dad,” she cried.

“I’m so sorry, sweetheart. I’m going to get back to you as soon as possible,” he promised, kissing the top of her head.

Spencer felt absolutely crushed as the guards had to drag his crying 11-year-old off of him so he could be taken to his holding cell.

You had just gotten off of work when your phone rang. Eileen, the head foster care coordinator, was calling.

“Hello,” you answered.

“Hey Y/N,” she greeted you, “I know you haven’t had a foster kid in a few months but I kind of have an urgent case. 11-year-old sixth grade girl. Mom has been out of the picture for a while, Dad recently imprisoned and on trial for murder. There are a bunch of family friends willing to take her but no direct family,” she explained.

“I can take her for as long as she needs,” you told Eileen.

“Great! I’ll text you the address, it’s the FBI headquarters.”

When you walked into the BAU, still in your dino scrubs and white lab coat, Eileen was surrounded by a frantic group of people.

“As I said before, I don’t doubt any of your credentials but this is the law. We can only give away a child to direct family at this point in time. If you are not direct family, you will need a lawyer to fight for custody as well as permission from her father but that process could take months,” Eileen stated.

“Spencer hasn’t spoken to his father in years and his mother is in a facility for her schizophrenia and Alzheimer’s,” a dark-haired woman spoke.

“Exactly so she must be turned over to the foster care system. I apologize to you all but this is how it works. We can’t bend the rules,” Eileen said.

“I don’t want Callie fending for herself in a house with 20 other kids,” a blonde-haired woman argued, “I’m her godmother. She stays with me all the time. She was staying with me while Spencer was in Mexico.”

“Sorry, my answer is still no. But, hopefully this will squash your concerns, Y/N!” she called you over, “This is Y/N. Jo will be placed with her. She is a pediatric doctor and currently has no other foster kids at the moment but all of her past kids have absolutely adored her. She always passes her surprise safety and wellness checks with flying colors.

“Hi,” you waved, intimidated by this huge group of frustrated people with guns on their hips.

“A doctor? So she isn’t even going to be home most of the time,” a curly-haired man scoffed.

“Actually, I own my own practice. I don’t work at a hospital so I usually have a regular 8-4 shift unless one of my patients needs urgent attention,” you clarified.

“JJ, don’t make me go,” a girl, who you could only assume was Callie, sobbed.

They were all staring at you like you were the worst person on Earth. You wanted to shrivel up and die. When you went through the process of becoming a foster parent, you thought this was a very admirable thing to do. You just wanted to provide a good home to kids in need.

“Do any of you have a key to Dr. Reid’s residence so Camellia can pack a bag?” you asked politely.

The woman closest to Callie that must be JJ pulled a key off of her chain and handed it to you.

“I’ll-um-leave my phone number and address here so you guys can contact me at any time or stop by. I understand your concerns but please know I try my absolute hardest to make sure all kids feel welcome and safe in my house,” you scribbled your information down on a scrap piece of paper.

“Are you ready to go, Camellia?” you asked softly.

She went around hugging everyone in the circle before solemnly nodding to you.

God, you felt like such an asshole.

After Callie finished packing her things from her bedroom in relative silence, you returned to the car.

“I don’t know what you like to eat but we can stop at the grocery store so we can get stuff you like and any other things you need,” you said.

You were met with silence from the backseat. You offered for her to sit in the passenger seat but she declined.

“Listen, I’m really not trying to be the bad guy here. Please don’t make me out to be one. I know you are having a tough time with your Dad’s situation right now but shutting everyone else out won’t help,” you spoke softly, “Trust me, I know.”

You sighed when the silence continued. You pulled out of the Reid’s driveway and headed to the grocery store.

You let Callie lead when you entered the grocery store, opting to follow behind her with the cart. She went immediately to the frozen meal section and started throwing them in.

“Camellia, that’s fine if those are what you want but just so you know, I love to cook so I can make you anything you want,” you offered.

“This is what I’m used to,” she spoke sharply, “My dad is not a bad dad, he just usually doesn’t have much time.”

“I never claimed he was,” you defended yourself.

After that, you kept your mouth shut. Clearly, she was a very independent girl and she had her own routine she liked to stick to.

You hauled all the grocery bags inside the house and unloaded them as Callie brought in her suitcases.

“So Camellia, I put all the food you picked out in these two cabinets. I mean obviously, you are welcome to anything in the kitchen but I just wanted you to know where the things you picked out were. I always have a grocery list on the fridge that you can add to,” you began to give her a tour of the house, “Bathroom is in there. There’s another upstairs. Here’s the living room with a TV,” you headed up the stairs, “Here’s my room.”

On your bed was an adorable toyger kitten cuddled up on your pillow.

“Oh! This is Winnie like Winnie the Pooh. I just got her a few weeks ago from a shelter. She is super friendly and loves snuggles so she will probably try to sneak into your bed unless you keep your door closed.”

“I don’t mind,” Callie spoke softly as she petted Winnie.

You smiled softly. These were the first words you got out of her that weren’t a rejection.

You continued the tour, “There’s a bathroom between our rooms but I tend to use the downstairs one so feel free to make it your own. And here’s your room,” you opened the door to a white room with a queen bed in the center, a small bookshelf, a few plants, and paintings.

“I hope this is good enough for now. We can go out this weekend to a home goods store if you want to redecorate. I’d even be open to repainting it if you want,” you offered.

Callie just set her bags down and nodded.

“Alright, I’ll leave you be. I’ll probably be downstairs for a while watching TV if you want to join. Let me know if you want me to make you anything,” you began to shut the door but Winnie slipped in first.

“Good night, you guys,” you smiled softly.

“Do you want me to wait out here or come in with you?” you asked softly.

Spencer had been denied bail, meaning he was transferred to a federal prison and Callie was going to be staying with you for a while. She had taken the news rather hard as expected when the team came over to your house to tell her. You still weren’t really accepted by the group so you mostly stood in the corner of the kitchen while they were all in your living room.

You had spoken to Eileen several times about Callie’s current situation. She gave you permission to do whatever you saw fit. This means you could opt her out of school one or two days a week if she wasn’t feeling up to it as long as she emailed her teachers and got her missed work in on time. You were researching different therapists for her to talk to because she didn’t seem to want to open up to you. You were also given a schedule of visiting times for her to visit her dad in prison.

“I’ll just go in alone,” she walked in the door to the visiting room, leaving you in the waiting room.

“Dad,” Callie tried to hug Spencer but the guard pointed to the ‘No Touching’ sign posted on the wall.

They both sat down defeatedly at opposite ends of the table.

“How are you?” Callie inquired, wiping her tears away from seeing her father locked up.

“I don’t want to talk about me, sweetheart. How are you? Emily and my lawyer visited yesterday and told me you had to be placed into foster care,” Spencer asked, concerned.

“It’s okay. Not the best,” she sighed.

“What’s happening? Are they hurting you? Are they not giving you enough to eat? Callie, I’ll have my lawyer on the phone and you out of there so quick,” Spencer frantically stated.

“No, Dad. Y/N is fine…nice, even. But she’s not you,” Callie cried.

Spencer’s face softened, “I’m so sorry, Callie. You don’t deserve to be dealing with any of this.”

“Just please come home,” she sniffled.

“I’m trying, sweetheart, I’m really trying,” he replied earnestly with tears in his eyes.

A/N: i will also be starting a series taglist if you don’t want to be added to my main taglist so just clarify which one you want to join! also i recommend listening to the song Home by Phillip Phillips because it is kind of like the theme song for this story

main taglist (just ask to be added/removed!): @samuel-de-champagne-problems @g0lden-cth @spencerreid9 @averyhotchner @coldlilheart @k-k0129 @ickleronniekinsemotionalrange @harrystylesandthegoobs @cmily @jswessie187 @rem-ariiana @hoodpankow @mochionly @spencerreid-187 @babymetaldoll @fics4arainyday @ssavanessa22 @all-tings-diego

series taglist: @ilovespencerreidmarryme

#spencer reid angst #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x fem!reader #spencer reid x you #spencer reid #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid fic #dr spencer reid #cm fanfic #spencer x reader #reid x reader #criminal minds

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just-dreaming-marvel · 3 years

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Love and Medicine ~ 14

MASTERLIST

< previous chapter

Word Count: 5,000ish

Summary: Just another day at the medical center, right? (Based off Grey’s Anatomy)

Heading back into the hospital, you went straight for Natasha’s room. The other interns were already in there, surrounding her bed.

“Hey,” you smiled, walking over to her. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m okay,” she responded. “I’m okay.”

You grabbed her hand and gave it a slight squeeze. She needed to know that you were there for her, but you weren’t going to push her into talking about something she wasn’t ready to talk about.

~~~

You slammed down a shot, needing to feel the alcohol rush down your throat.

“How was Nat when you left, Scott?” Val asked, bringing more drinks over.

“She said she was okay, again,” he responded with a slight shrug.

“Nobody goes what she went through and is totally over it by now.”

“Natasha can.”

“She’s fine,” you added, taking another shot.

“Too fine,” Val said. “She’s cold.”

“No, she’s hardcore,” Clint said. “She’s got ice in her veins. She does what she has to do to get through it.”

“She lost a baby. She lost a fallopian tube and she’s acting like she doesn’t even care. She’s acting like she has no emotions or warmth, like she’s missing a soul.”

“She’s gonna make a great surgeon.”

“Clint!”

“It’s true. You show no weakness, you make it to the top.”

“Some people just keep their feelings to themselves,” you commented.

Your eyes were on the door, where Steve had just walked in. If he noticed you, he didn’t make it noticeable. You watched as he walked over to the bar and sat beside Gamora. Steve ordered a drink from Happy before talking to Gamora. Too bad you were too far away to hear them.

“Y/N kissed me,” Steve told Gamora. “Peggy kissed me… My wife and my girlfriend kissed me on the same day.”

“Happy, do I look friend to you?” Gamora asked.

“Oh, you’re a tiny little kitten of joy and love,” Happy responded, only for Gamora to make a face. “What? He saved my life.”

“His first mistake.” She took a sip of her drink. “Captain McDreamy, go sit by someone who cares.”

“Oh gee,” Steve mocks hurt, but doesn’t make a move to go. “Everything’s gonna be fine. Peggy will leave. Y/N and I will start over. Everything’s gonna be fine. Right?”

“You are so damn stupid.”

~~~

“With Natasha out, I need everyone focused today,” Gamora told her group of interns as you all headed off to rounds. “I have a feeling it’s gonna be be one of those days and since we’re short an intern, you do not want to get on my bad side.”

“When are we not on her bad side?” You whispered to Clint.

“Speak for yourself,” he replied with a scoff. “Scott and I are her favorites.”

The group walked into their first patients room. The woman was sitting on the bed, enthralling a group of hospital workers with a tell.

“So we're in the middle of the Belizean jungle and this jaguarondi jumps out and bites one of the guides,” the woman says. “They all look at me. They're yelling, "You're a doctor, help him!" This is one time a PhD does no good.” The people laugh.

“Sorry,” Gamora interrupted, “did I miss the memo about social hour?” Everyone quickly began leaving besides your group.

“Tales of missionary life,” the woman explained.

“You’re a missionary?” Val asked.

“No, my parents. We traveled a lot. Well, they still do.”

“Lang, tell me about our patient,” Gamora ordered.

“Okay, um, this is Dr. Banner’s patient, Talya,” Scott explained. “She, uh, presents with multiple syncopal episodes and ventricular arrhythmias.”

“So you’ve been passing out?” Gamora asked.

“Yeah,” Talya confirmed, “and having palpitations.”

“Talya has past medical history of rheumatic heart disease with mitral valve stenosis,” Scott added.

“They had to ship me from Zambia to the States for 3 months of treatment when I was 8,” Tayla said. “Rheumatic fever almost killed me.”

“Someone please tell me what the primary causes of ventricular arrhythmias are,” Gamora said.

Before anyone in the room could responded, Natasha appeared in the doorway. She leaned up against it in her hospital gown with her IV stand.

“Valvular disease, mitral valve prolapse, stimulants, drugs, and metabolic abnormalities,” Natasha answered.

“Out!” Gamora ordered.

“I’m fine.”

“Out! And you better be in your bed by the time we round on you!”

“And when will that be?”

“In 15 seconds. 14. 13. 13. 11.”

Natasha turned around to head to her room, revealing her underwear through her nightgown. The group of interned laughed.

“Nice panties, Romanoff!” Peter laughed.

Natasha flips him the bird as she keeps waking. “In your dreams, Quill.”

They followed Natasha into the room, where she huffed as she got back into bed.

“L/N,” Gamora called.

“Right,” you responded. “Natasha Romanoff. Post-op day 3 from a unilateral salpingectomy.”

“And ready to get back to work,” Natasha said. “I'm taking solids and my pain is controlled with oral meds. I'm ready.”

“Well, it says here on your chart on you had a fever?”

“Y/N,” Nat growled.

“Natasha, did you have a fever?” Gamora questioned.

“Temp spiked to 101 last night. Big deal.”

“She worked 2 shifts last month with a 102 degree flu,” Clint added.

“Yes! Exactly, Clint. Thank you.”

“And we appreciate your dedication but you're staying in bed until it normalizes,” Gamora said. “You need to relax, shut up, and get better. You're a patient this week so you can be a doctor next week. Understand?”

“I understand,” Natasha grumbled.

~~~

Rounds had finished as you were heading to your assignment when you ran into Steve near the elevators.

“Skipping rounds?” He wondered.

“No,” you replied. “They just finished.” You kept walking, when Steve took your arm to stop you.

“Y/N…”

“You’ve got a wife.”

“Yes.”

“You’re life is complicated.”

“Yes.”

“I don’t need more complicated. I have that all on my own.”

“Yes.”

“Stop saying yes.”

Steve smiled. “I’m trying not to make any sudden movements.”

“You think this is funny?”

“Peggy’s leaving. She doesn’t have any more patients. There’s no reason for her to be here.”

“No reason? Really?”

“No really whatsoever.”

Steve stepped closer, bringing his hand up to brush your cheek. You stood there, trying to not let it get to your head or, well, anywhere else. Suddenly, Peggy appeared.

“Well now, isn’t this cozy?” She said. “Can I join in or are you not into threesomes?”

“I have to go,” you said, rushing away. You didn’t go too far, interested to watch everything unfold.

“Y/N…” Steve called with a sign. He turned to Peggy. “You really are Satan. You realize that right? If Satan were to take physical form, he'd be you. Everywhere, all the time.”

“I am so not Satan,” Peggy responded.

“How come you haven't got on your broomstick and gone back to where you belong?”

“Stop being petty.”

“Stop being an adulterous bitch.”

“You know, you are going forgive me eventually, right? I mean you can't just ... I mean there was a time when you thought of me as your best friend.”

“There was a time where I thought you were the love of my life. Things change.”

Peggy sighed and pulled some papers out of her bag, handing them to Steve. Steve quickly flipped through them.

“Divorce papers,” he said.

“Your lawyer said they're ok. I haven't signed them yet. The ball's in your court. If you sign, I'll sign. I'll sign and be on the first plane out of here.”

“I'll sign them immediately. I want you out of here as soon as possible.”

“Steve, have you ever thought that, even if I am Satan and an adulterous bitch, that I still might be the love of your life?”

Not answering, Steve walks away, completely not noticing you listening in from behind a pillar.

“What are we looking at?” Tony asked, appearing out of nowhere.

“Ah!” You exclaimed, jumping slightly. “Don’t do that!” You playfully hit him. “You scared me.”

“Sorry,” he laughed. “I just saw you over here and I was interested in seeing what you were observing.”

“I think… I think Peggy just handed Steve divorce papers.”

“Really? That actually surprises me. I thought she would put in a little more of a fight.”

“Yeah…”

“I guess that’s good news for you, right?”

“I guess.”

“You guess?”

“I want him to choose me because of me, not because of a divorce.”

“In my ever humble opinion, I think it will always be you. Trust me. That man is whipped.”

~~~

Natasha snuck out of her room and stole her chart. She sat in her bed as she made changes to it. Walking by, Banner looked in and noticed that no one else was in there. He quickly took the chart of Nat.

“Hey! That’s my chart,” Natasha complained.

“You're the patient. Not the doctor. Act like one,” Bruce reprimands as he studies her chart. “It's been tough finding you alone.”

“Yeah? Well…”

“How are you doing?”

“Well, you have my chart, you tell me.”

He sighed. “Natasha, how are you doing?”

“I’m fine. Perfectly okay.”

“I had a right to know.”

“Well, now you do.”

“Natasha—“

“Look. Now you know. It’s over. There’ soothing for you to deal with. So I don’t know what else there really is left to say.”

“Plenty. For starters you could've come to me—“

“And what? We could have raised it together? Or you could have held my hand when I got the abortion? I did not need any of that. I’m an intern.”

“Nat—“

“Can you just go? I need to rest. Doctor’s orders.”

~~~

Gamora called you to help her with a patient. You two walked into the patient room together, revealing a younger man on the bed.

“I thought I told you I never want to see you again,” Gamora said to the patient.

“That's only cause you're too lazy to learn anything more,” the man responded.

“Dr. Y/N L/N, this is Nick Tate. He thinks he knows so much cause he was one of my first patient's as an intern.”

“I knew as much as she did. She was clueless about how to treat cystic fibrosis. A simple cholecystectomy turned into a month-long stay.”

“Better not be alleging malpractice. Guy raises about a 100 grand a year for cystic fibrosis, running triathlons. Thinks he's a big shot.”

“Wait, you run triathlons?” You questioned, confused how it could as a patient with cystic fibrosis.

“Yeah, why not?” He responded.

“It’s a pain for one,” Gamora replied, flipping through the chart. “Says here you're finally admitting to feeling a little unwell?”

“A little.”

“How little? Truth.”

“Oh, enough to keep me awake at night. Had some seizures. Um, too weak to work out.”

“Anyone been through here with your CT results?”

“No. It's probably just my pancreatitis kicking up again.”

“All right then. We'll be back. With your results and a plan.” Gamora walked to the door, with you following. She glanced back at Nick. “Huh, where do your parents think you are this time?”

He smiled. “Hmm, San Diego.”

Gamora shakes her head as you follow her the rest of the way out of the room.

“What about his parents?” You asked. “Shouldn’t he, or we, tell them?”

“No, he doesn't like to bother them until he's well or about to get discharged. He understands his reality. He just chooses to ignore it. Denial works for him, L/N.”

~~~

After Bruce had left, it only took Natasha two minutes to have found blue scrubs and change into them. She took out her IV and snuck out to the nurses station. She began looking through patient charts. The head nurse, Phil Coulson, found her like that.

“Where’s your IV?” He asked, looking at her with a disappointed father face.

“I've taken solids. I HEP-locked it,” Natasha replied.

“On whose orders?”

“Mine.”

“Okay.” Phil quickly found her chart and began reading it. “Romanoff. How about this order: best rest, out of bed to chair, bathroom privileges. Nothing about stealing charts at the nurses station.”

“Okay, you know what….” She quickly looked around to find a nearby empty wheelchair. She brought it over and sat down in it. “There, satisfied? I’m out of bed to chair.”

“I’m telling your intent on you.”

“Y/N?”

“Yeah.”

“Oooh, I’m so scared.”

She wheeled off with a patient chart, heading to Tayla’s room. When she arrived, she witnessed Tayla, by herself, taking a pill.

“I saw that!” Natasha exclaimed from her wheelchair in the doorway. “I saw you take that pill.”

“Oh it's, it's my pill,” Tayla excused. “You know... the pill.”

Natasha quickly looked over the chart. “It’s not at all in your chart and you are supposed to tell us the meds you are on.”

“You’re not my doctor. You shouldn't even be here.”

“She’s right,” Val said, appearing from behind. “You shouldn’t be here.”

“I saw her take unauthorized medication!” Natasha continued.

“Well, you’re unauthorized to be here.”

“I’m on the pill and I had grapefruit juice this morning,” Tayla explained. “Since the juice inhibits enzymes involved in the metabolism of OCPs, I thought I'd avoid the interaction by taking it two hours after my meal.”

“She's has a doctorate in neuropharmacology, Natasha.”

Natasha huffed, “Well, Val, I don’t see any place where oral contra—“

“Okay so now you will. Will you just go back to bed and stop bothering the other patients?”

Tayla’s heart monitor suddenly started racing, bringing the other women attentions to her. She fell to the floor, unconscious, and Val rushed to her.

“She’s in V-FIB!” Natasha said.

“Call the code,” Val ordered as she began compressions.

Natasha practically jumped out of her chair to call a code, which didn’t feel good. Val got Tayla back as the code team arrived.

“No code?” The nurse questioned.

“Not anymore,” Val answered. “Can you help get her back into bed.

“I’ll—I’ll help,” Natasha breathed got, struggling to get back to her wheelchair. “Just give me a minute.”

“Would you just go back to bed? Seriously, please just go.”

Natasha nodded as she finally made it to the wheelchair. “Just… if she’s on OCP’s, mark it down. Okay, Val?”

“Yeah.”

~~~

You had gotten Nick’s x-ray’s back and were currently putting them up to view them with Gamora by your side.

“Nick’s got a mass in his midepigastrium,” you explained. “Diffused enlargement of the pancreas. That, with his hypoglycemic seizures—“

“He's going to need an exploratory laparotomy. But, despite his triathlons, his lungs still make me hesitant to cut,” Gamora added.

“What are we going to do?”

“I haven’t gotten that far yet.”

“Doctors,” Peggy greeted.

“Dr. Carter-Rogers.”

“How old is he?” Peggy asked, studying the x-rays.

“26.”

“Survivor, huh?”

“And them some. My patient for at least 5 years. I'm not gonna lose him now.”

“You planning a laparotomy?”

“Hmm. You know, I think I could help you with this. I've seen one case like this before in a 9 year old. We ended up having to do a total pancreotectomy.”

“I'd be honored to take any help you can give me.”

“You’re a neonatal specialist,” you said. “What, uh… this isn’t your area.” Gamora looked at you, annoyed, as she shock her head. “I’m just saying that—“

“I did 2 years genetic research in cystic fibrosis,” Peggy told you. “I've pretty much seen it all, Dr. L/N.”

“Oh.”

~~~

Walking down the hall, Steve found you. Always trying his best to make a conversation with you. This time it was easy.

“Are you sure your wife is leaving?” You questioned. “She offered to help on the case Gamora has me working on.”

“Just because she offered her services doesn't mean she intends to stay,” Steve responded.

“Well, what does it mean? Because it seems to me—“

“It means that she's a good doctor.”

“Huh… why are you suddenly defending her?”

“I’m not. Y/N, she gave me divorce papers. She filed.”

“Good for you.”

“All I have to do is sign, and I’m free… We’re free.”

“Is there anything to think about?”

“No,” he shook his head, “of course not. I have to read through them, sign, then Peggy’s on the next plane out of here.” He grabbed your hands. “This is going to work.”

~~~

After the conversation he had with you, Steve immediately went searching for Gamora.

“Of all the fine doctors in the city, you accept a consult from Peggy Carter,” Steve said, angrily.

“Carter-Rogers, isn’t it?” Gamora retorted.

“The point is she should be on her way home. Are you purposefully trying to drive me crazy?”

“You think this has something to do with you?” Gamora’s voice was loud and upset. “You think I’m even thinking about you and your romantic problems? I’m trying to help a patient very near and dear to my heart. And if consulting with your wife—your ex—your mistress, what ever it is that she becomes! If that’s the thing I have to do to save my patient, them I’m damn well gonna do it.”

“I understand… and I totally deserve the yelling. It’s just that—“

“Just, you look! You have put yourself between two very fine women and you looking for an easy way out and you wanna use me, and the hospital and... somebody to make the decision for you, and it's not gonna happen!”

“Could I just… could I just say a couple of things?”

“No.” Gamora stormed off.

~~~

You found Natasha sitting in her bed, in her room. Thankfully. Though she was looking through another patient’s chart. You pulled a chair up to her bedside and sat down in it with a sigh.

“What’s your problem?” Natasha asked.

“Peggy gave Steve divorce papers, which is good. I mean she’s still here, being Peggy, but it’s not like I’m jealous or anything.”

“That’s odd.”

“It’s odd I’m not jealous?”

“No, you have every right to be jealous. It's your territory and she's peeing all over it.” Natasha went back to focusing on the chart in her hands. “What’s odd is Banner’s patient.”

“Tayla?”

“Yeah. She’s been in 4 other hospitals this year. You know something’s not right.”

“You seem awfully interested in Banner’s patient.”

“This has nothing to do with Bruce.”

“Natasha, you lost a fallopian tube, a baby and a boyfriend all in one day. You have the right to be upset.”

“And you’re losing Captain McDreamy to his perfect wife. You have the right to be jealous.”

“I did not lose Captain McDreamy. Divorce papers, remember? And I’m not jealous.”

“And I’m not upset. I really need to get out of here.”

“You’re on bedrest, remember?”

“Okay, if the situation was reversed, would you wanna spend time with your mother in a confined room with one window?”

“No. I guess not. But still. You need to stay put.”

Before Natasha could respond, your pager beeped. You looked down at it and groaned.

“I got to go,” you muttered, leaving.

“Good luck!”

~~~

Peggy and Gamora met you in Nick’s room. There you began explaining the surgery to him.

“We won't know for sure until we go in there, but it looks like that I'm going to have to take out your pancreas and re-route your intestines,” Peggy said.

Nick looked at Gamora. “Did you tell her that my lungs don't do well with anesthesia?”

“Don’t I always have your back?” Gamora retorted.

“Your kidney function is decreasing rapidly and I'm afraid you're gonna go into multi-system organ failure if we don't operate,” Peggy continued.

“If I say no?” Nick wondered.

“There’s no guarantees, Nick. You know that,” Gamora answered. “It's gonna be a long, hard surgery and put a lot of stress on your body.”

“Yeah,” he smiled, “but I’m me.”

She smiled back. “But you’re you.”

“So if we don’t operate, I die. And if… we do operate, I may die.”

“Basically, yes,” Peggy responded.

“Well, I like those odds. And 26 years with this disease is awesome. And that's the reality. So if I get lucky ... great. And if I don’t…” Nick grabbed Gamora’s hand, “it’s been sweet.”

“It’s gonna stay sweet,” she replied.

~~~

Natasha was laying on her bed with her harm over her eyes when Clint walked into the room. Tayla’s chart was laid out on top of her.

“Why do you have that?” He asked.

“I’m working,” Nat answered. “Trying to figure out what’s going on with the crazy woman on four.”

“You are the crazy woman on four. Though, I have to say, you have a better patina than me and you don’t even really have a patient.” Clint plopped down in the chair next to her bed. “Y/N’s got a CF case. Peter has a gunshot wound. Val’s got the mystery arrhythmias. I have babysitting a crazy old lady! I’d rather do scut with Scott than this! I’m a surgeon. A cutter. I don’t want to be a fake surgeon! I want to be a real one!”

“She’s faking it,” Nat repeated to herself. She quickly got off the bed. “The missionary. Talya… Thank you!”

She patted Clint’s head as she walked by. Natasha headed straight for the nurses station, where she saw Val looking around for something.

“Val!” Natasha called. “How how Talya’s studies been?”

“Hey!” Val responded, not pleasantly as she took the chart from Nat. “I’ve been looking everywhere for that!”

“Negative, right?”

“Oh! The echo tests showed mild mitral stenosis, the tilt test was negative. We're doing EP studies.”

“I can tell you what's wrong with her without sticking electrodes in her heart.”

“Really. Just by the chart?”

“No, from the pill she took.”

“They were contraceptives, Natasha! Why are you so obsessed with this? Just go back to bed!”

“I think she’s doing this to herself.”

“You think she's inducing ventricular arrhythmias? She'd have to be crazy to do—“

“No, no, no. She'd have to have Munchausen’s.”

“Okay wait. You think she's secretly ingesting something to produce real symptoms? Seriously?”

“Yes. Run it by Banner and tell me what he thinks.”

“Why don’t you tell him yourself. He is standing right behind you.” Val made eye contact with the man. “Dr. Banner.”

Then Val left. Leaving Natasha will Bruce. She sighed as Bruce guided her into the small office nearby before listening to her.

“I mean, she obviously loves the patient role. She practically lives in hospitals. And... and, and we're like an imaginary family to her because her really family blows her off to go take care of other people.... And, and I saw her take something.”

“It's not enough,” Bruce said, shaking his head. “We have to rule out everything else. Everything physical.”

“She even lied about her job. She's a pharmacy tech, not a PhD.”

“So she's a liar. I've been lied to before.”

“Hey, we're not talking about us here.”

“Maybe we should be.”

“I didn’t lie!”

“You withheld the truth from me. How was00”

“Okay, you know what? I distinctly remember you breaking things off with me. And you didn't seem so upset about it. And this?” She motioned between herself and Bruce. “This is, this is not a relationship. This is not real.”

“Natasha…”

“Okay, and, and so what's with the big display of fake hurt and drama?” She began walking out of the room.

“Natasha!”

“I’m supposed to be in bed.”

~~~

You absolutely did not want to be in surgery with Peggy. Yet there you were.

“I need more traction,” Peggy stated. “Dr. Y/N?” You quickly did as you were told.

“Here,” Gamora called, “give me some suction there.” So you did. “Now L/N, retract the duodenum. Good. How’s he doing Vis?”

Vis was keeping watch over Nick’s vitals and such. “Harder to ventilate and no urine output since we started,” Vis informed.

Peggy shook her head, “he’s shutting down.”

“Did you increase his peak pressures?” Gamora asked.

“Any higher, I blow his lungs,” Vis responded before the monitor beeped. “Bradycardia. Pushing 1 of atropine.”

“Try ventilating him manually,” Peggy ordered, “see if he starts coming back up.” Vis began pushing on a bag.

“Did we miss any bleeders?” Gamora wondered.

“The surgical field is clear.”

The monitor began beeping faster. “Agonal rhythm,” you said.

“Any pulse with that?” Gamora asked.

“No carotid,” Vis answered.

“Okay, starting CPR.” Gamora handed over her tools and begun CPR. “Push one of EPI.”

“No extraordinary measures, Gamora,” Peggy warned. “He’s DNR.”

“No this is just good medicine.” Sh continued CPR, almost frantically. “Come on! Come on! Don’t give up. Come on.”

“You’re getting tired,” you noted. “Let me take over, Dr. Gamora.” She nodded, letting you quickly switch her places.

“Gamora, his intestines are cyanotic,” Peggy stated. “There’s no blood circulating.”

“It’s been shunted to his brain where he needs it,” Gamora responded as she studied your CPR form. “You call those compressions.” She shoved you to the side and took over CPR. You and Peggy made eye contact, worried. “Fight it. Come on.” Peggy looked around, shaking her head, and everyone stopped what they were doing. All but Gamora. “Why isn’t anyone moving? Whose recording?”

“It's been ten minutes since we've had a perfusing rhythm.” Peggy goes to stop Gamora but is shrugged off. The monitor flat lines. “It’s your call, Gamora.”

Taking a shaky inhale, Gamora stopped. She pulled off her mask as the monitor continues to flat line. “Asystole.” She looked up at the clock. “Time of death: 19:35.”

Gamora rushed out of the OR, trying not to cry. She went straight to the sinks and began cleaning her hands furiously. She paused when she noticed people covering up Nick’s body. Peggy walked in and started washing her hands as well, with you following. You both eyed Gamora a few times, worried. Soon, she left.

Peggy sighed. “It’s hard to accept the end when you’re too close.” She looked down as she slipped her wedding ring back onto her finger. She noticed you watching. “Look, I don't want someone who doesn't want me, Y/N. But if there's the slightest chance that he does, I'm not leaving New York.”

~~~

Val walked into Natasha’s room, not excited for the news she was about to tell her.

“Well?” Natasha asked.

“You were right,” Val sighed. “Talya definitely suffers from Munchausen’s.”

“See I was right…. I was right…” She closed her eyes. “I was right…” Nat began to cry. “I was right. I was… I was right. Oh… I’m—I’m—“ She let out a sob. “I’m right. I’m—I’m right.”

Val looked out of the room to see Clint walking by. “Clint! Page Y/N!”

Clint hurried in. “Why? What—what’s happening? What did you do to her?”

“She just started crying and I don’t know what to do!”

“I’ll get one of the nurses to page, Y/N.” Clint rushed out.

“Natasha,” Val tried, slowly coming closer. “Natasha, calm down.”

“The nurses paged her!” Clint came rushing back in.

“It’s okay, Nat.” Val went in for a hug, only for Nat to shrink away and cry harder. “Okay, okay. I won’t hug you.”

“What’s going on?” You came running in, panicked.

“I can’t stop!” Nat cried. “I can’t—-I can’t stop…”

“Crying,” Val finished for her. “She can’t stop crying.”

“I can’t see that!” You replied. “What did you guys do to her?”

“Nothing!”

“She’s going to dehydrate,” Clint said. “Nat, do you want some water?”

Nat shook her head, “no, no…” You tried to go in for a hug, only to be pulled away.

“NO!” Clint and Val exclaimed.

“I already tried that,” Val said. “It just made it worse.” Clint tentatively handed Nat a tissue.

“Natasha,” you tried again.

“Make—make it stop,” Natasha sobbed. “Make it stop… Somebody sedate me!”

“What’s going on in here?” Bruce asked, walking in. He was dressed like he was about to leave. There was clear concern etched on his face.

“We can’t get her to stop crying,” you replied.

“Y/N, get everyone else out of here.” Bruce was taking off his jacket. “Watch the door.”

You nodded, quickly ushering Clint and Val out. They voiced protests, but willing left. You shut the door behind you and watched. Peeking through the window, you watched as Bruce got in the bed beside Nat. He wrapped his arms around her and brought her close, pressing a kiss to the top of her head. Natasha willingly curled into him, welcoming his comfort. You sighed and turned away, leaning against the door to keep watch. Steve noticed you and came up.

“Hey,” he smiled.”

“Hey.”

“When are you off?”

“Uh,” you glanced at your watch, “in about an hour. Why?”

“Meet me at Happy’s when you get off.” He started walking backwards, sly smirk on his lips. “Don’t be late.”

~~~

Steve and you arrived at Happy’s bar at the same time. He gave you a smile as he held the door open for you. You walked over to an empty table, Steve close behind.

“I’m glad we’re doing this,” you said.

“Me too,” Steve replied. He set it briefcase on his chair. “Want a drink?”

“Yes, please.”

Turning around, Steve knocked his briefcase onto the ground. A stack of papers slipped out.

“I’ve got it,” Steve quickly said, bending down.

“I’ll get it,” you said, picking up the papers.

You glance at the papers as you stand back up. There his divorce papers, that he has yet to sign.

next chapter >

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favefandomimagines · 4 years

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Soul Surfer 11

AN: last chapter of soul surfer! this is the ‘epic’ finale and i hope you all like it! just wanna say a quick thank you to those who have been so invested in this story! it means so much that people actually like this! an epilogue is coming and then those little blurbs with violet and jj!

Again: rafe is not canon in this story!!!

Violet had driven her and JJ back to her house, after spending the night on the beach. Neither wanted to go home and Violet didn’t want hear the questions from all of her friends.

She knew sooner or later she was going to have to talk to her father about what she found out but she was ultimately trying to avoid that conversation.

The two teens stepped into the house and saw Nick and Violet’s father seated at the kitchen counter.

“Violet Elliot you scared the hell out of me! Where have you been?” Her dad lectured as he pulled her in to a bone crushing hug.

“I was uh, playing Nancy Drew.” She joked. Rob looked from his daughter then to JJ, hoping for some sort of explanation. “We found out that Vivienne was using Ward Cameron to get her parental rights back. All while committing fraud.” Violet explained. “What are you talking about?” Rob asked.

Violet ran a hand through her hair as she sighed. “Mom told Ward that she was the heiress of an oil family, had loads of money and was going to make Ward a shareholder or something. So then he’d use his fancy lawyer and all his money to get her parental rights back.” She explained.

“That explains a lot. She asked me to get her a fake ID once but I said no.” Nick interjected. “See? She’s literally a psycho, dad. Can we call the police?” Violet asked. “Vi, this is serious. Odds are Ward Cameron called the police the second you told him your mother stole money from him.” Rob said.

The four were interrupted by the sound of a knock on the door. All heads turned towards the front door, everyone completely silent. “Violet, honey, I know you’re home.” Vivienne’s voice rang from the other side.

Eyes fell on Violet as she clenched her jaw. “Violet, don’t.” Nick said. She marched towards the front door and opened it and if looks could kill Vivienne would be six feet under.

“You have some nerve showing up here. After trying to take me away from my dad and make me break up with my boyfriend.” She snapped. “Violet, let me explain.” Vivienne said. “No. You don’t need to explain anything, Vivienne. I know the truth. You have been and always will be a terrible mother and you are going to jail.” Violet said.

“You have no proof. You just overheard a boy who has a crush on you.” Vivienne rebutted. “I’m sure Ward has proof. And Rafe wants my forgiveness so I’m sure I can get some.” Violet countered.

Rob walked closer to JJ and placed a hand on his shoulder. “How about you go back to your friends? Just in case this gets messy.” He said quietly. “But I-“ JJ started, not wanting to leave Violet.

“She’ll be okay, don’t worry.” Rob interrupted. JJ was hesitant at first but then nodded his head and slipped out the back door of the house.

—

It had been over a week since anyone had last spoken to Violet. Her and JJ’s last in person interaction had been the one at her house and no ones heard from her since. Except her and JJ frequently texted one another.

Of course there were rumors. Some say the FBI came to the house and arrested Vivienne on site. Others say Violet and her father packed up and moved again to get away from Vivienne.

But JJ didn’t believe that. He knew the truth. He was the only one who knew what was actually going on.

The Elliot’s finally went to court. The judge heard about Vivienne’s illegal attempt to get her daughter back and pushed up the court date.

Turns out Vivienne hadn’t been paying child support so she got felony charges as well as committing credit card fraud and tax fraud. Point was, she was going to the state prison for a very long time. And Rob got full and official custody of Violet.

But once that was over, Violet was free to return to her normal life with her friends.

JJ had the idea to throw a party at the Boneyard to celebrate the end of Vivienne’s reign of terror. No one knew why he had the sudden urge to party when his girlfriend was AWOL but John B thought it would help him feel better.

“I still don’t understand why we’re having a party when Violet’s basically missing.” Kiara commented as she helped carry kegs to the beach. “She’s not missing, trust me. I know where she is.” JJ replied.

“You’ve known where she’s been this entire time and you haven’t told us?” Pope questioned. “She told me not to until everything was sorted out.” JJ answered. “So that means everything is sorted out then?” Kiara asked. “Yeah. Hence the party. Don’t know if she’s going to be here but we’re going to celebrate for her.” JJ explained.

Though he knew Violet was going to be there but it was a surprise to everyone else. Mainly the Pogues.

Violet was back at home, getting herself ready for the party at the beach. “Well this is eerily familiar.” Ron commented, leaning against his daughter’s doorway.

“Except the devil incarnate isn’t here to ruin it.” Violet said. “You don’t have to worry about her anymore. So please try to live your life.” Rob told her. “I plan on it. We can go back to Sunday morning surf sessions, making banana pancakes on Saturday’s. All of our traditions. Especially now that Nick’s here.” Violet said.

Rob smiled at his daughter before placing a kiss on her forehead. “I’m proud of you, Vi. You haven’t had it easy and yet you still have that shocking amount of optimism.” He said. “I get it from you.” She said.

“Now go have fun, kiddo.” He told her. Violet smiled up at her father before exiting her bedroom and walking out of the house.

The party at the Boneyard was in full swing. People JJ didn’t even know were there but all he cared about was searching for Violet. “Who could you possibly be looking for?” John B asked his best friend.

“Uh, just making sure Rafe and those Kooks don’t show up.” JJ lied. John B bought it in enough time to turn around when JJ spotted Violet. Though they were at a party, he wanted her all to himself.

He slipped away from the group and made his way towards the brunette girl. The second he reached her, JJ wrapped his arms tightly around his girlfriend. Afraid that if he let she’d slip through his fingers again.

“I missed you so much.” He said quietly. “I missed you too. Two weeks on the mainland was two weeks too long.” Violet said. “I love you, you know that?” JJ asked. “Yes. And I love you too.” She replied.

Before she could mention the party, his lips were on hers in an instant. They both were touch starved and physical tough was definitely Violet’s love language and not being able to do that for so long, made her feel terrible.

“Violet? Is that you?” Pope’s voice interrupted the two. “Remind me to kill Pope.” JJ said. Violet laughed at her blonde boyfriend before she was basically tackled by her friends. “Where the hell have you been? Do you know miserable Sarah and I were without you?” Kiara asked.

“It’s a long story and I’ll explain later but now, we’re at a party so let’s just have fun.” Violet answered.

And did her friends deliver. It had been a while since they were just able to have fun together without any drama getting in the way.

Violet was having the best time and she didn’t think anything could ruin it. That was until she spotted Rafe walking on to the scene.

She still hadn’t had the courage to speak to him. And she didn’t even do anything wrong, it was all his doing. Yet there was no attempt from him to make things right between the two of them.

JJ followed his girlfriend’s gaze and spotted the Kook he hated across the beach. “I’ll be right back.” He announced. “JJ,” Violet started. “I’m just gonna talk to him. No fighting, I promise.” JJ said.

The girl gave him a skeptical look but let him go anyways.

“What are you doing here, Cameron?” JJ asked. “I wanted to apologize. I’ve been a dick and I’m not proud of my behavior. I’ve been clean for a while. I realized the coke made me act all crazy. That and wanting to please my dad. So I’m sorry.” Rafe answered.

“I don’t think I’m the one you need to apologize too. Violet defended you. A lot. Even when your own sister didn’t. And you screwed her over. If anyone deserves this apology, it’s her.” JJ replied. “She won’t talk to me.” Rafe rebutted. “I can’t believe I’m saying this but I will go get her for you. Just, don’t screw anything up.” The Pogue said.

Rafe gave him a grateful look before he went to go get Violet.

“Vi, come with me.” JJ instructed her. “Where are we going?” She asked. “Someone needs to talk to you.” He answered. “No, JJ, I don’t want to talk to him. He’s an ass.” Violet countered. “He’s trying to say he’s sorry for being an ass. I can’t believe I’m trying to convince someone that Rafe Cameron isn’t a dick.” JJ told her.

Violet looked from her boyfriend to Rafe before groaning. “Fine.” She said. “Five minutes. That’s all you get, Cameron.” JJ added before walking away.

“What did you want to say?” Violet asked. “I’m sorry. I’m so sorry. I wanted my dad’s approval so much that I didn’t think about how much it would hurt you. If I’m being honest, I liked you. I liked you a lot and I saw my chance to get you and I took it. I was selfish thinking that money was more important than that. I’ve been clean since that night. And I know I don’t deserve to even be your friend but if you’d let me, I’d like to try.” Rafe explained.

Violet was quiet for a moment, feeling a sense of deja vu as Rafe stood in front of her.

“How many times have we been here, Rafe? I’d say this is your third attempt at an apology. And you hurt me and the people I love the first two times. How can I trust you’re not going to do it again?” She questioned.

“This time, I promise you, I won’t mess it up. Not again.” He said. Again, she went quiet. “Okay. I forgive you, Rafe. Please don’t make me regret it.” Violet finally said.

Violet could see Rafe’s shoulder fall in relief at her words.

“Okay, your five minutes is up. Violet, let’s go.” JJ interrupted. “Can Rafe join us? He also needs to apologize to everyone else.” She asked her boyfriend.

JJ was hesitant for a moment. But if Rafe didn’t even try to pick a fight with him, why shouldn’t he give him a chance?

He nodded his head before turning to Rafe. “You try to take her from me and I will kill you.” He threatened. “I just want to be friends. That’s it.” Rafe said.

The Pogues were skeptical at first. Forgiving Rafe and being ‘friends’ with him didn’t seem like something they could do. Sarah was on board with it. She had noticed a change in her older brother after what went down with him and Violet. Violet was making him a better person and for that Sarah was grateful.

It was going to take multiple trial runs for Rafe to be redeemed in the rest of their eyes. But they figured an apology was a good start.

—

The party was well over and JJ and Violet were laying on her balcony, staring up at the stars.

Violet was pointing out the different constellations she knew, thinking that JJ was actually listening to her. But he was caught up in his own world as he looked at her.

“What are you staring at?” Violet laughed. “You. How beautiful you are and I don’t know how the hell you agreed to be with me.” He answered.

“Do you wanna know why?” She asked. JJ furrowed his eyebrows but nodded. He wasn’t expecting her to actually tell him. “Because you feel like home. I feel safe and content when I’m with you. Like nothing bad can happen to me when I’m with you.” Violet said.

JJ couldn’t really find the words to reply to her so he leaned forward and kissed her gently. They had a lot of time to make up for but were stopped by the sound of Violet’s dad’s voice.

“Dad entering the room, please stop whatever you’re doing.” Rob announced. JJ closed his eyes momentarily, at the second time him and Violet were interrupted.

“What’s up dad?” Violet asked, sitting up. “I’ve been doing some thinking. Since JJ spends almost every night here anyways, I redid the guest room for him.” Rob started.

Violet and JJ exchanged a look, neither aware to the fact Rob knew JJ had been sneaking into Violet’s room.

“I don’t know why you can’t stay at home or why you sneak in at ungodly hours and you don’t have to tell me but now, JJ, you’ll always have a place here. And you can stop sleeping in my daughter’s room.” He finished.

“Now no funny business. I’m too young to be a grandfather.” He joked before leaving the room.

The couple looked at each before Violet let out a small chuckle. “Looks like you don’t need to stay at John B’s anymore.” She said. “I can’t believe your dad actually offered me the guest room.” JJ said.

“He has a feeling something is going on at home but he doesn’t want to push or pry. You’ll tell him when you feel like you need to. He just wants you to have a safe place.” Violet said.

“Your dad likes me that much?” JJ laughed. “Yes, believe it or not he does.” The girl next to him replied. “Well thank god I treat his daughter so well.” JJ teased.

JJ felt at ease in that moment. Understanding what Violet said about feeling safe with the other person. Feeling as if nothing can touch him as long as he was with her. He was at peace with himself.

Being with her as she quickly pointed out more stars and constellations and telling what planet was where. It was a perfect moment for him.

A perfect moment for the boy who hasn’t had an ounce of peace in years.

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#imagine #imagines #outer banks #jj maybank #jj maybank imagine #outer banks imagine #rafe cameron #rudy pankow #jj maybank x reader #kiara carrera #john b routledge #pope heyward #sarah cameron

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aliypop · 3 years

Text

The Devils Star Part 4

Wordcount: 1,963

Warning: ANGST, LANGUAGE , SUGGESTIVE THEMES, BLOOD,

A/N: This one is a feels trip! Addie belongs to @herosneednotapply

They say that everyone wants to be loved, and sadly that statement held for a young girl in Gotham City, especially when that young girl was the daughter of Gotham's billionaire playboy Bruce Wayne. A young girl who learned her father's love was slowly diminishing like the old strings on her violin that he no longer had the time to listen to, hanging upside down from a bench in Cobblepot park was Yonah. It was always the place she'd go to clear her head, "Being a teen is hard... I mean, there's: tests and college and dating boys your father will never approve of ." she mumbled, looking up at Addie, who had been in Gotham for other means but made time for the curly-haired drama queen. "Always the boyfriends that your dad doesn't like." she chuckled, " I was the eldest to six girls, and my dad kept a bat at the front door, of course, that was 1946..." Addie chuckled, "Yeah... There was this one guy..." Yonah sighed, "Dad hated him, Oliver Queen, I loved him, then he just left..." her heart sunk,

"Filled your head with empty promises?"

"He'd forget I existed, flirted with other girls, and I'd sit there like a fool." her gleeful expression changed as she stared at the pigeons. Her heartbreak had been recent, she gave it her all, and it crumbled, same with Donna Troy and anyone else she loved, she was never good enough, or so Yonah thought, "But hey! I guess I'm just forgettable." she shrugged, doing a flip landing on her feet.

"Keep flipping like that, and you might just get that kiss on the cheek from Wonder Woman you gush about."

"As friends!" Yonah added as she posed.

"Keep telling yourself that kid," she chuckled, "I should get going." Addie smiled, planting a motherly kiss on her forehead, "Don't get into any trouble while I'm away."

"I won't..." watching Addie walk away, Yonah let out a small sigh, walking until.

THWACK

"We can't keep meeting like this, sweetheart." his calloused hand holding her delicate soft hands. They were, innocent clean of blood, angelic, pure, nothing like his that had stories and scares. "Maybe we can..." Yonah chuckled, her eyes focused on a sea of jet black curls and pure green eyes. In front of her was Carlo Falcone, grandson to the crime lord of Gotham and the fruit of Yonah's affection.

"Eh, your daddy wouldn't like that." he chuckled,

"He doesn't have to know," she whispered back.

"He doesn't have to know... Bella." water splashed over her face, causing her to choke, a sharp shaky breath leaving her body. "Thirsty..." he asked, snapping his fingers as more blood-freezing cold water seeped through the potato sack covering her face. "Tell me everything you know about Matthew Murdock..." he raised his hand: Angelina, his wife, Yonah's reason for pain, removed the sack, "Still beautiful like the day we broke you." she spat as he struck her across the face, "I'm not telling you anything." Yonah laughed,

"Protecting a dead man..." Angelina pulled her hair, "Pathetic.." she straddled her, knife at her throat drawing a bit of blood, their eyes meeting, still an ache of pain behind her eyes. Still a hint of admiration, a hurt of want every time her voice crossed her ear, like a poisonous perfume. "I protected you, didn't I..." Yonah coughed, water fueling her lungs damping the fire that was left.

"Are you stating I'm dead to you..." she gave her a big shinner on her eye.

"Beat me... like old times..." she laughed, spitting blood out her mouth. Angelina's fist drew back, "Just don't hurt my sister..." she smiled.

Yonah could hear the sound of footsteps. They resembled her own, catlike, stealthy, and,

"Play along..." Ezra mouthed, "The lawyers sedated ..." she chuckled, "He was a tough fight for a blind gu-" Angelina took her by the neck, blade to her throat as she pierced her skin.

"Oh, look, a paper cut." Ezra broke out the hold taking her knife from her "CATCH!"

"No need," Yonah smirked, breaking out the ties from the chair, "Fisk isn't going to like you both dead..." Angelina tried to swipe at the two with a blade lodged in her thigh. "Fury, think quick!" Ezra nearly panicked.

Yonah spun into her arms, followed by a high kick to the face.

"What the hell was that!"

"Years worth of dance Sparrow." Yonah rolled her eyes, "She's all yours."

"For me!" Ezra chuckled, waiting for her sister to zoom out. The last sound was a rolling head.

The warehouse was quiet, not a sound to be heard, not even Murdocks breathing, just eerie serene quiet. And the shuffling of mob members in her way.

"Round two fight!" she mumbled before a punch could even hit her. There stood in front of her was Daredevil,

"I could've handled this myself..." she groaned.

"Mmm..." Matt grunted the two back to back, throwing punches, kicks, swords, fireballs, and anything else that'd keep the rest of Falcone and Fisk's men down.

"See, you made it." Carlo chuckled, "My angel escorted by the devil..." he began cutting his steak, Yonah paying attention, the details of everything she could use as a weapon. "Always was a slut to fix the broken." he tsked, "Tell me how are you fixing him..."

"I know you're working with Fisk..."

"I work with my uncle?" he chuckled, snapping his fingers as they placed her on his lap, "Never... Tesoro che conosci.." he kissed her ear. "You know me..." he smirked, watching her shiver as she tried to pull away, "Course you do, you love a man with power... don't see why you're with Devil, but eh..." his grip on her tighter as she tried to pull away.

"Let me go..." he grabbed her face, "Or what..." he growled, guns pointing in her direction.

Heavy boots walked silently on the rooftops, the shadow of a long black leather coat and guns illuminated by moonlight, reaching out to touch the woman in front of him. She spin kicked him in the face.

"Who the hell are you!"

"What the hell are you doing!" Ezra rolled her eyes, "Sparrow..." she watched as the taller man blocked her hit, "Move out my way..." he pointed his gun at her head, "I see it's a gun measuring contest..." she pulled out hers, "Mmm that's not very pleasing..." she kicked him in the chest, "You fight like someone else I know..." he flipped her over, "Why are you here!" she threw her knives at him as he caught him,

"Here for my girl..."

"Holy shit... you're Frank?"

"Yeah, what about it." rifle in hand, finger on the trigger as he shot her in the leg.

"You're an asshole!"

"And you're gonna take me to this Falcone gu-..."

"Are you not happy..." Carlo asked, "Your friend is here... Your sister is..." he listened in, "Oh, your surprise is here." he paced around her. She was bloodied and bruised, her eyes nearly closing shut as her head fell on top of her steak, "For a Wayne, your table manna's are poor." he shook his head, "Hold her up, and bring him..." he growled, bloodied, stabbed, and forming bruises was, "Francis David Castiligone..." he nearly spat, "The man who killed my father..." he chuckled,

"You get off to murderous assholes, princess?" he pulled Yonahs hair, "First me then, what was it that Sionis prick, "Answer me..."

"Don't... hurt him..." she spat up blood,

"Do I kill him... or have my way with my princess..." he kissed her lips, hands in her hair, blood coming from his mouth as she spat his bottom lip out.

"Kill 'em!" he banged her head again until she was unconscious. Frank pressed through the restraints, but nothing budged. If this was the end, he had lived it, regrettably not telling her how he felt, failing to save her, just like he couldn't keep them safe.

"Oh, come on, let me out..."

"Let me play as we used to do..."

"You can hear them screaming..."

"You can hear him screaming..."

"I can help you... "

"Daredevil catch!" Ezra growled, throwing her bo-staff at him, "Where are you going..." he heard her footsteps,

"Freeing a leather jacket-wearing asshole who shot me."

"Frank's here..." he followed her tracks, dark brown hair turned pink, long super-suit turned into a leotard of diamonds, and white stealth boots into pink thigh highs. "Had enough Castle..." his face nearly cut, nose broken, "Make my fucking day..." he smirked, blood dripping from his mouth, "I ain't scared of you..." his head hung low from the beating,

"We ain't scared of you either, jackass..."

"You should be afraid of me..." she did a roundhouse kick stepping on the other, her heel digging into his eyeball, fire glowing from her hands, the two men burning into a crisp, Flicking her fingers the ropes dropping at his feet. "Bummer... I'd have loved to see you like that a little longer..." she watched him get up.

"Yonah?"

"Mmm, she's resting, Pink Enchantress, Well not exactly incantato a me tu." she winked. She was flirter, confident, and she was standing amongst her friends, standing amongst falling bodies, pools of blood, and she loved it. Gunshots, crossbows, and chaos were Pink Enchantresses' favorite sounds, they were her home, and it was what bored her, violence.

"Get out of my way, Castle..."

"Get out of mine..."

"Out of mine..." She raised her hands, the two flirting as she knocked him back. The humanity of Yonah was fastly fading as the only thing left was the Pink vessel. Fist pounding into Carlo's face, she could hear every bone break. Vengeance was finally hers, and soon Fisk would get a taste too. "This is who you're meant to be..." Carlo smirked, "Embrace it...kill me." her fist drew back as Matt held it back. "Leave the killing to me..." Frank looked back at her,

"This isn't you..." Ezra sighed,

"Let me get one last hit, and I'll..."

"Leave..." Matt commanded.

"Do you think she's ok..." Ezra played with her eyeballs. Yonah passed out on the couch in Addie's apartment. "Stop that," Addie sighed. She had patched everyone up, but Yonah was taking her time. With the swelling going down in her face and her cuts healing. She looked worse than Matt when he'd get patched. The only difference was they'd end up creating more scratches.

"Hey, wanna be the matrix. What's, got you sitting in the corner like that," Ezra asked, her tone jokingly annoying as Frank turned. His eyes were red tears coming down his face. "I couldn't keep her safe..." he looked at her sleeping form, "I had one job... couldn't fucking do that!" he banged his fist on Addie's gold table,

"Woah, calm down... I'm not afraid to shoot my sisters?"

"Boyfriend," Addie mumbled, "Frank, you did what you could..."

"Ain't good enough... not until the bastards dead!" he shouted,

"Fr...Frank?" she tried to move her head. He raced next to her side,

"Are you okay?"

"Kindly shut the hell up... you're making my headache worse..." she chuckled, kissing his nose, wiping the tears away from his face. "I'm sorry I..." her bloodied lips on his, hands in his hair, "You're always saving me... let me save you sometimes? " she tried to squeeze his hand.

"I don't want sometimes..."

"Then what do you want, Castle..."

"All the time... I can't keep hold of ya sometimes..." he pressed his forehead against her,

"Are you proposing ..."

"Is that what you want, sweetheart..."

"YES, IT'S DAMN WELL WHAT SHE WANTS!" Addie nearly shouted as Matt chuckled, Both Frank and Yonah turning to look at them.

"She's been waiting for this to happen for a while."

#oc x canon #fanfiction #marvel fanfic series #yonah shanel wayne #ezra Shanel wayne #daredevil #the punisher #matt murdock #frank castle #new #new stuff

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selenaurrr · 5 years

Text

To Hell & Back

REQUESTED: Yes

PAIRING: Matt Casey x Reader

WARNING(S): Swearing, Violence, Human Trafficking and Depression

—

“Back already, all your old buddies are gone no action to solve.”

I slightly narrowed my eyes at her comment, but playfully brushed it off like it was nothing as pre-usual.

“Oh, okay, I’m actually here to see Kim.”

Sergeant Platt is very tough on everyone, but every now and then she’ll have a soft side once in a blue mood, she nodded her head from behind the desk turning around and walking over towards the intercom buzzer, she buzzed herself through the gate and disappear for a momentarily. Kim and Platt walked back down the staircase through the gate and onto precinct floor.

“Hey Kim!” I said smiling giving her a quick hug then took a step back.

“I have a friend who works at the 911 dispatch operator, she had a chilling call that really bothered me, and I want your help on it; if that’s okay.” I spoke, “Yeah, sure.”

“I’m actually here to see two of your officers, O’Malley and Jefferies.”

Sergeant Platt tapped on the glass window behind the desk as she motioned for the two officers to come out and speak about to us. “Jefferies. O’Malley, this is officer Y/L/N.” Sergeant Platt introduced.

“Hey,” I smiled a bit.

“You with intelligence?” He asked placing a patrol radio back into the charging dock, “She wishes,” Kim mumbled underneath her breath thinking I didn’t hear her at all, I gave her a quick glare before looking at the men.

“Um, no, patrol officer.”

“A friend of mine at the 911 dispatch operator gotten a call that you guys took, 322 S. Aberdeen West Loop.”

“Yeah, sure.” He spoke slowly unsure where I was taking this, “I was just wondering why 19 - Paul?”

He strutted a bit, “We talked to the husband and wife who lived there. Wife said it was an accidental 9-1-1 call, nothing to report.” He said briefly looking at his partner then back at me.

“She said it was accidental?” Not buying a single word, “Um, okay, did you suspect domestic violence or?”

“No, ma’m” He shook his head, “No sign of abuse.”

“Did you interview them separately or?”

“Hey! What is this?”

I snapped out of my trace of thoughts to look at the other officer, “I’m sorry, I’m not checking up on you.” I stumbled over my words, “Isn’t that actually what you’re doing? Implying we just blew off our jobs.”

Tension filling the room now.

“I apologize, It’s really isn’t my intention to.” I shook my head, as I overstepped; “Yeah.”

He looked at me not buying a single word I said, “Look I get it, bothering hormones..” He started chuckling as he trailed off the conversation, Sergeant Platt stood up from her desk and approached closer. I felt Kim holding onto my forearm holding me back a bit, the nerve us female police officers have to deal with on a daily basics with sexist comments from the men in this world.

Sergeant Platt gave a look, he quickly shut up.

“There’s nothing there, husband and wife seemed happy. Um, no sign of anything wrong. We did our jobs and we left.” He shook his head, “That’s it.”

He motioned to his partner to follow him, leaving me to my thoughts.

With a stern face I headed for the front door of the district before getting stopped by Platt, “Oh no, oh wouldn’t do that.”

I turned around on my heels, “That isn’t your case. You can’t be doing follow-ups.”

I furrowed my eyebrows together, “Then I take it you’ll be coming with me?”

“She is she.” Sergeant Platt pointed to Kim.

Kim slightly nodded her head as she approached me, her and I walked off the precinct floor and out the district doors, into the cold freezing winter crisp air, “I’ll drive,” I nodded my head, as I climbed into her vehicle; buckling up my seat belt over my chest.

We arrived at the apartment complex building, I held onto a yellow folder as Kim opened the front doors for me to enter first, I thanked her and walked straight towards the elevator, she pressed the button; patiently waiting for the doors to open. Quietness between one another. Hoping the doors to open, but nothing was happening. She pressed it again, in hopes it’ll work.

Kim and I glanced at each other, I motioned her we take the staircase up to the floor. “Okay, the condo the 9-1-1 call came from condo 3B, owned by George Weller and Anne Weller,” I spoke glancing at the file in my hands then turned behind me to look at Kim who was very much walking too slow for my pace, “Are you coming?”

She scoffed underneath her breath.

Kim knocked on the door, “Chicago PD?”

She gave me a quick glance, and knocked louder; “George Weller, Chicago PD?”

Without hesitation I twisted the door knob and opened it, revealing that they didn’t lock their door. “That works too.” Kim mumbled underneath her breath, I glanced around the room to see blood. Making the both of us drawing out our weapons.

“Crossing.” I spoke walking carefully down the hallway briefly looking into each rooms, “More blood, Chicago PD”

“All clear here!” Kim said across the room, “Yeah, same here, no signs of sex or violence in the master, but there’s blood and urine.”

“Something happened here.” Kim mumbled confused, grabbing a hold of her radio in one hand, “21-02 squad.”

“Go, 21-02 squad.”

“Roll a couple of units and the mobile lab to 322 S. Aberdeen..” Kim trailed off.

“Hello,” I spoke approaching the front door to see a woman, “Is everything okay?That couple fights all the time.”

“Okay, have you seen them this morning?” I asked.

“No, I haven’t. I have been inside.” She spoke calmly before walking over towards the elevator pressing the button multiple times, “What is up with this elevator?”

“So, what do we got?” Voight spoke casually walking into the room, giving Kim a nod as he approached us more into the living room. “What we got is no idea.”

“A friend of mine who works at the 911 dispatch operator, she had a chilling call inside the condo asking for help. Patrol responded and reviewed the husband and wife before but we found the husband dead downstairs.”

Voight attention was on me, “And all this happened between the hours of the follow up?”

“Yup, patrol saw no sign of disturbance.”

“The door was unlock when we got here, signs of a struggle inside and lots of blood trail.” Kim mentioned, “Oh yeah, someone took a heavy beating in that master bathroom.”

“I don’t know, I think the wife. The landline was in the bathroom and I’m thinking she took a beating and called 9-1-1, and then killed the husband. But it’s miles away from confirmation.”

“There’s no cameras in the building and no witnesses so far.”

“Alright, let’s start with we locate the wife.” Voight ordered, nodded back.

“There’s our guys.” Kim sarcastically spoke, “C’mon.” He said.

“Hey” Voight said approaching the patrol officers closer and closer now, “Serg, this makes no sense.” The young police officer said.

“Okay”

“We were here for a few hours ago, if something had felt wrong we wouldn’t left.”

“Listen you can’t always see these things coming. What I want to know is if you guys go inside the apartment.” Voight glanced over his shoulder looking into the apartment then back to the officers. “No, Mr. and Mrs. Weller at the door.”

Voight coughed.

“They were happy. Laughing, there were zero reasons to go inside.”

“Did you see anyone enter the building?” I asked flipping the file open showing the husband and wife’s photo. “Is that? Can I see that file?”

“Yeah?” I asked slightly confused.

“This isn’t?” He started to mumbled pointing his finger to the wife’s photo, “What’s going on?” Voight asked, suspicious.

“This isn’t the woman we spoke to.”

“That’s Anne Weller current I.D photo.” Now feeling more confused on what’s going on here,”The one we spoke to was younger. She was a brunette. She said her name was Anne Weller, that she was his wife. And we had no reason to question that. Should we get our fraternal order of police lawyers here?”

“Gimme, a break.” I grumbled, turning around back into the apartment.

“That’s your first question? Yeah, I’ll probably give them a call.”

“So what made you do initial follow-up?” Voight asked standing beside me, “A feeling, I guess. I heard her in her voice.”

Voight nodded his head, patted me on the back before leaving the crime scene.

“So, if they didn’t talk to Anne Weller? Who did they talk to?” Kim asked as we made our way downstairs into the basement. “Hey”

“Well, you caught a weird one. George Weller, here. Dead were he lies. Looks like a fight happened in elevator. Got blood splatter, signs of a struggle; self-defense wounds, multiple lacerations in the stomach, killer road down with him, we think.” Adam spoke crossing his arms over his chest, looking down at the lifeless body.

“So, can anyone access this garage?” Voight asked.

“No, you need a remote. George didn’t have his, we checked his car and his crib. Pockets are empty. No cell. No wallet.” Vanessa said,”We think the killer robber him.” Adam added in.

“Jay, has Anne Weller now and is taking her to the district. She been at work all day.” Kevin spoke, walking into a our circle.

“Good, keep working this scene pull any forensic if you can?” Voight ordered.

“Serge?” I called out, “Yeah?”

“Is it okay if I worked the case with you? I’ll ride the desk the whole time.”

“Your instincts called it, you should work it.”

I made my way upstairs towards the intelligence room, I glanced down at my phone, Matt send me a few texts here and there, asking me if I wanted to go to Molly’s after shift or go straight to dinner at our favorite restaurant together, I didn’t bother replying.

“If she is prostitute why call 9-1-1 and lie about it if patrol shows up? Hailey said, standing beside the white board.

“I think we have an answer to that. George’s cell phone wasn’t recovered at the scene and it is shut off now, but we can get access to it from he’s iCloud account.” Adam spoke walking up the stairs with Kevin.

“Patrol confirm that this is the actual lady who they talked to at the condo.” Kevin pointed at the computer screen. “Time stands?” Jay asked.

“These photos were taken eight minutes before the 9-1-1 call, followed by these.” Kevin clicked the mouse to revealing another woman. “A second undefined woman in a condo with the same time frame.”

“She can’t be more than 16.” Kim mumbled.

I stood quietly in the background closely watching as everyone stood around the computer as Kevin showed the photos. My heart dropped. Gut-wrenching pain shot through me.

“She’s the one that called 9-1-1, she’s gotta be.” Kim whispered clicking through the photos before looking up, “Who is she?”

“Her photo doesn’t match in any of our systems.” Adam spoke.

“Missing person’s?” I chipped in, feeling that dark void inside of me. Knowing this feeling all to well.

“No, no one’s looking for her.” He said, “We do think we know how George booked the girls. He messaged a burner phone yesterday by a minute later the burner responded with pictures of girls to choose from.”

“George, tapped into that same burner and after that 9-1-1 call he had with.” Kevin said, “We’re thinking pimp?” Voight said, “More than likely.”

“You alright, (Y/N)?” Kevin asked, “Yeah, I’m fine.” I whispered slowly walking over towards the desk I’m borrowing for the time being, knowing all to well I’m wasn’t okay. I keep myself busy with the things I do. But every time I pause, I still think of her. Always.

“I’m going to save you a little trouble on the next part. Where you act like I’m a damn weeping willow, a place where you get crime from a sort sob story and you are going to tell me that you are on my side. How you can help? Tell me about your deep dark little past which what made you a lady cop. Your daddy touched you? Your little buddy was murdered? You were raped by the boy next door? Now you want to save all the little lost girls because of it. You are going to save me because you get it? You get me. But I know the scripted, and I know you are a fake. I don’t need you to save me, I take care of myself.” She growled.

“I’m out of the league, I don’t normally work these cases.”

“Then let me out.”

She managed to hit a nerve in me. Everyone does have a past they don’t talk about especially a dark past. You smile, but you wanna cry. You talk, but you wanna be quiet. You pretend like you’re happy but you aren’t. Behind this innocent smile of mine, lay words left unsaid. Words of longing, love, anger, and hate, all repeated inside my head.

“Hmm, you don’t need my help Mira, I need yours.”

“Out” She shot back.

“You already fought you already got out.” I said, her cutting me off; “Let me out.” She shouted.

“You fought to find away to live-e,”

“I’m not talking to this bitch!” Screaming at me now, “That girl that called to 9-1-1 is still fighting right now. She was in a place you were right now.”

“I’m not going to remember.”

“She is running out of time, I know you know that, Mira. I’m a good cop, I will find her.”

“No, you won’t and I don’t want to remember.” She tearfully cried in anger.

“You have to for her!” I shot back, feeling overwhelmed now.

“I don’t want to” She screamed in my face, I slammed my fist onto the table and screamed back into her face, “God dammit, Mira! Look at this picture now!”

Mira and I broke each other, the room filling with silences for a brief second or two, I kept my eyes glued to her. She broke eye contact with me, and started to cry. “Please help me.” I whispered.

I carefully placed the photos of the men in front of her, waiting.

“That’s him.” She pointed at the photo in front of her, “See, I know.”

“Yeah,” I whispered, recollecting the photos into a folder beside on the table, “He keeps you high. Never alone. Always someone watching. Even when we weren’t working and they were watching. I sleep on the floor, starving. They see if you cry, be afraid. Be asleep.” She said as tears rolled down her cheeks.

“Where did they hold you?” I asked, pulled up a writing pad.

I stood up from the chair and walked out of interrogation room, Matt send me another text, “Or we can stay at home cook dinner together, and watch the game?”

I inhaled and turned off my ringer to silent.

I bottle everything up, I hide my emotions, I pretend to be okay. It’s not healthy, I know, but I don’t want to be a burden, I don’t want to have people worried about me. When I’m upset. I shut myself down. I have no motivation for anything. I tell myself that nobody cares, even though I know some do. I think about all of the negative things I could possibly think of. I give myself all the pain, thinking I deserve it. I’m not sure why I do that, but that’s just how I am.

“They said Danny would separated them and take them to a really cheap motel by the highway if they step out of line.”

Everyone grabbed a hold of their jackets and were off.

I sat at the wooden desk in the intelligence room alone, staring blankly at the photos of naked girl who plead on the phone for help. Gut-wrenching, thinking back that exactly happened to her. She was at the wrong place at the wrong time. If only I was there to protect her like I was a post to be, she would still be alive today, but she isn’t.

I think the hardest part of losing someone, isn’t having to say goodbye, but rather learning to live without them. Always trying to fill the void, the emptiness that’s left inside your heart when they go. I don’t like the memories because the tears come easily, and once again I break my promise to myself for this day. It’s a constant battle. A war between remembering and forgetting.

“Hello? Hello? This is officer Y/LN, a friend of mine answered your call two days ago, she told you to hang on. I have been looking for you.”

“H-hello..”

“Hi, can you tell me where you are? What’s happening?” I asked speeding down a couple of blocks. “Um, motel, room 8. He said to take a shower, he thinks I’m taking one.” She whispered under her breath.

“Okay, okay, that’s really good. I’m on my way. Who’s there with you?”

“Daniel..”

“Alright, stay where you are and lock the door if you can.” I ordered her, “Emma”

“Hi, Emma. I’m Y/N. Stay on the line, you don’t have to say anything, okay. Don’t say anything I’m almost there. I just need you to hang on.”

I pulled my vehicle into the motel parking lot, came to a halt. I quickly stepped out of the driver’s side, holding onto the door tightly in my hands, knuckles turning pure white. Anger raged inside of me. If I couldn’t save my sister back then I’m sure of hell plan on saving this girl, I don’t plan on losing anyone else.

“Hey, Emma, I’m right here with you, alright; just hang on.” I spoke calmly into my cell phone, I reached into my pocket I hesitated to call for back-up.

I heard screams coming from my phone, without hesitating I drew out my weapon and busted down the door, I raced into the room to see no one but only hearing slashing noises coming from the bathroom. Daniel stood in the bathroom, I shot fire.

He charged at me, slamming me down onto the sink hard.

Grabbing a hold of my jacket in one hand, and then slamming me into the wall, punching me directly into the face, I screamed clawing at his face to try to get him off of me. I ripped a chuck of hair from his scalp, hit him repeatedly, crushing a nerve point in his shoulder, he groaned.

I roared with venom as he threw me down onto the floor of the cold hard titles of the bathroom, punching harder directly at my abdominal. I lunged at him then kicked him, reaching for the toilet seat cover in my hands slamming it against his head, knocking him over; giving me a chance to reach for my gun laying on the floor. He threw himself onto me, I grabbed a hold of his arm and bite him harder, sinking my teeth into him, he screamed in pan; him grabbing my head and smashing against the floor, I shot twice.

He’s lifeless dead body weighted over me like a 1,000 pounds, I hysterically sobbed as I moaned in extreme pain, I threw him off of me. I felt intense pain, tears rolling down my cheeks as I slowly climbed myself into the cold water bathtub. I grunted in pain, “Ugh! Come on!”

“Oh!” I gasped.

“No...” I mumbled, with what I had left of my strengthen I managed to grab a hold of Emma’s white t-shirt and lift her head out of the water.

“You’re okay. I’m here.” I whispered, falling into the bathtub, keeping her head rested on my chest as I waited for back-up to arrive any minute now. I felt like I couldn’t breath. Just the thought of losing her scared me.”Come on. You’re okay.”

“Chicago PD!”

“Y/N!?”

“Hailey..” I weakly mumbled underneath my breath, “Please help her..” I choked back on some tears.

“Please.. help her!”

Hailey approached the bathroom closer and bend down to reached for the lifeless body laying on top of me. “She needs CPR!” I grunted in pain.

Hailey’s heart was pounding a mile per an hour, as she was performing CPR on the 16 year old, she was cold and blue; lifeless; dead. She continued to do chest compression’s on her chest, “15-21, Henry 10-1, I have an officer and civilian down..”

“How’s Emma?” I gasped, feeling sharp pains shooting through my whole body now. The shock was wearing off now. “Are you okay?” Hailey asked, tears creeping in-between her eyes.

Hailey still continued to give Emma chest compression’s on her, until we heard her coughed out the water and was slowly breathing once again, she slowly opened her eyes. “Okay, okay.”

“Y/N, Y/N, are you alright!?”

A frantic Matt came running in the motel closely followed by detective Kim by his side, Matt wasn’t understanding why you had been ignoring his texts all day, so he tried to call you but you didn’t pick up which got him thinking maybe everything was fine but what happens if everything wasn’t fine? He had to make sure you were fine, so he called up Kim. Knowing how strong of a bond you two had was more pure than anything, when Kim told him how closely you gotten to this case; she had to let him know about your kid sister.

She went missing when she was 16 years old. And that you blamed yourself because of the amounts of arguments and countless fights they had with each other, and one day she had enough with you and left home. They thought she was staying at a friend’s place to only find out she was missing. She was picked up by a stranger and sold to the human trafficking ring, Y/N used all her power and strengthen to find her, only to get a call that she was found dead by a river a month later.

She dies and not her, and she feels guilty, if it wasn’t for her, it’d be Y/N lying there... she wished it was her instead.

“I don’t know... I don’t know..” I softly cried in a broken whispered.

Matt runs straight to me, bending down to my level, scooping me up in his arms bridal style and I buried my face deeper into the nook of his neck. I wrapped my arms around his neck tightly as he lifted me out of the icy cold bath water, muffled cries of pains, my grip tightens.

“It’s alright.” Matt’s voice cracked, holding back tears.

He lead her outside to the ambulance where the paramedics were patiently waiting, the rest of the intelligence squad stood outside waiting, watching, prayer for my safely. Matt laid me down onto the stretcher, I could hear faint voices among me; I felt them putting a breathing & respiratory equipment over my mouth and nose, I deeply breathe in and out. I slowly peeled my eyes open to see a bright shinning light above me, my tight grip held stronger onto Matt’s forearm.

I slowly closed my eyes again, everything becoming a blur, faint sirens of the ambulance rang out in the background, paramedics shouting.

My eyesight was a bit fuzzy and hazy as my vision was adjusting to the light, I realized I was laying in one of the hospital beds, the doctor had came in early to tell him that they had to remove my spleen and appendix, it had ruptured during the attack.

A part of me felt broken, like I failed.

I turned my head to the other side of the bed, a familiar figure came into view now, Matt. He sat down next to her, taking her hand in into his own. Her skin was warmer now, no more icy cold hands. “Hey.” He breathed when I looked at him, neither of us spoke. I just sat there in silence. My chest was aching from wanting to cry right now, but I didn’t let myself. Her eyes, they used to shine so bright.

The thing with broken clocks is you can always tell exactly when they stopped ticking, with people it isn’t so easy and sometimes you can’t even tell they’re broken.

Tears were rolling down my cheeks, Matt immediately brought me into a hug, stroking my back in a soft soothing manner. I hiccuped, “I’m sorry..” I croaked, bursting into tears.

“I’m right here, okay?”

#chicago fire #chicago pd #chicago fire imagine #chicago pd imagine #matt casey x reader #matt casey fan fiction #matt casey #kim burgess #jay halstead #hailey upton #trudy platt #adam ruzek #kevin atwater #hank voight #vanessa rojas #fan fictions #to hell and back #my fanfic stuff

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thebibliomancer · 4 years

Text

Essential Avengers: Avengers #222: A Gathering of Evil!

August, 1982

You know, I haven’t really thought about how long its been since the Avengers have dealt with the Masters of Evil.

The Masters are the Avengers’ evil opposite team. The Brotherhood of Evil Mutants to their X-Men. The Legion of Doom to their Justice League. The Revengers to their Avengers.

But the Avengers haven’t had to deal with the Masters of Evil since Avengers #83. And in that appearance, they took a backseat to the real master of evil. FEMINISM.

At least according to Roy Thomas.

But yeah. Its been a while without the Masters of Evil. And, uh, any team with Whirlwind has a long way to climb for credibility. Yeah, I said it. He doesn’t wear a shirt.

Also, they put She-Hulk in her at-the-time Iconic She-Hulk Outfit. This is another case of the cover lying. The reality is, somehow, even more embarrassing for her.

Last time: the Avengers had a membership drive because you can only be a kooky quartet for so long. She-Hulk and Hawkeye were recruited and took an instant dislike to each other.

Because She-Hulk cut off Hawkeye in traffic and Hawkeye proportionately responded by breaking her car.

Fun!

So lets get to it.

We start with She-Hulk trying to fix her car.

Annnnd she’s throwing random pieces out of the hood. I don’t think she knows much about auto-repair.

When the electrical system zaps her, she gets so angry that she smashes the car flat like she’s a Street Fighter. Then she jams the wreckage into a public trashcan - also flattening that.

Alas, She-Hulk’s pink Cadillac. You graced our lives for far too short a time. And were taken from us by that heinous bowman Hawkeye. This is the sin which I will always hold against him.

Wasp rolls into the scene, tsking about She-Hulk’s behavior being bad for the Avengers’ image. And hey, yeah! I do like that She-Hulk trying to fix a car in front of the mansion before getting fed-up and breaking it is a good indication that she’s not going to be your typical Avenger.

But despite the tsk she’s not too serious about the admonishment. She even congratulates She-Hulk on getting rid of the car, as it clashed with her skin color.

Reasonably enough, She-Hulk asks who made Wasp the expert.

Except, Wasp did. Wasp made Wasp an expert. She’s literally a professional fashion designer. But relatedly, she’s designed a whole new wardrobe for She-Hulk and can’t wait to dress her up.

I kind of wonder if Wasp views new female teammates as potential canvasses.

Later on, in the Busiek run, she’ll design a new outfit for Firestar pretty much without any input from Firestar herself. And it had an incredibly plunging neckline that Firestar was very uncomfortable with.

If Wasp offers to fashion design for you, feel flattered and a little bit afraid.

Anyway, She-Hulk decides well might be nice to try on a bunch of new clothes.

Y’know, She-Hulk is a bit of a fashion person herself. In her original solo book she started the ‘oops I flexed and my sleeves fell off’ fashion.

Meanwhile, elsewhere, Tony Stark at Stark International.

Big boss himself came down to the Long Island office because one of his programmers has asked for time off.

Brenner’s son is sick and he needs to pick him up from school. BUT: he’s in the middle of a complicated computer project!

Like the idealized fictional caring billionaire that he is, Tony is completely understanding.

Tony Stark, what a guy: “Well, your son is more important than any computer program, take the rest of the day off -- with pay.”

If you end up stuck in the Marvel universe somehow, see about swinging a job with Tony Stark. Tony Stark makes you feel/he’s the cool exec with the heart of steel.

Tony decides he’ll get Ordinary Electrical Engineer Scott Lang to finish the programming work.

Ordinary Electrical Engineer Scott Lang is happy to pick up the project but since Tony Stark is in the room anyway, Scott asks if Iron Man has mentioned any news of Hank Pym.

For you see, although you might think that this Scott Lang is an Ordinary Electrical Engineer, he is actually the new Ant-Man so he feels indebted to Hank Pym.

Tony responds that there hasn’t been any news since Hank Pym went to jail so Scott asks why the Avengers haven’t done anything for him. Tony claims that there’s not a lot that the Avengers can do for him until his case comes to trial.

You could hire him a good lawyer? Or pay for that therapy that you thought he needed?

I guess I don’t know that Tony isn’t doing these things off-screen, to be fair.

Tony further claims that Hank will do fiiiine in jail, because he’s tough. Scott remains dubious since he’s actually been to jail and knows what its like. But there’s only so much you can contradict the boss, even if he’s idealized fictional caring billionaire Tony Stark.

And anyway, Tony has other things on his mind. He’s more worried about Jan than he is about Hank. She’s way too well-adjusted for having gotten divorced after her marriage turned miserable. According to Tony Stark anyway.

Of course, his major misunderstanding is that he thinks “she had [Hank] to lean on for so many years” when it was more the other way around. The Jan he thought he knew was actually playing the role of the Hank Pym Hype Squad.

Meanwhile, we check in on Steve Rogers.

One thing I appreciate about this run of Avengers is that we have more of a sense of what the Avengers are doing when not Avengersing. The Avengers book feels a lot more keyed into the rest of the related Marvel universe.

For example, Steve actually got some art jobs! It looks like comics book actually! And he does art for advertisements too!

And he’s living that glamorous artist life of staying up all night to finish pages and then going ‘oh shit my day job’ when his alarm rings for the Avengers meeting.

Although he’s actually looking forward to getting the costume on and getting away from dealing with ad executives and art editors for a while.A good ol’ several hours in the Avengers gym will help work out the art desk bad posture knots out of his shoulders.

And elsewhere in Chicago, Illinois, where Ordinary Doctor Donald Blake has moved to attempt to make a life for himself separate from Thor. He’s doubtful whether he actually can.

I sorta wonder what the status quo in the Thor books is like because usually when Dr. Donald Blake shows up in the Avengers book, he’s been like a wandering expert doctor, just passing through. Showing up to do the tough medical jobs. He’s settling down in Chicago now.

But at least the thousand mile commute to the weekly Avengers meeting is no problem for THOR!

Now that Hawkeye is on the Avengers again, he’s part of the round of checking in. He’s clocking out of the security chief job at Cross Technological Enterprises. His colleagues all envying how he gets to set his own hours.

He takes a train from Yonkers to his new Central Park West apartment. I don’t know if you remember his living conditions before he got the job at Cross Technological but it was a bit suck. He’s definitely put his steady paycheck to use improving his digs.

Old (from issue #189):

New (from issue #this issue):

Although maybe too much. Because when he gets home he realizes that he has almost no food in his apartment and also no money until payday.

Hawkeye: “Where the heck does $1200 a week go, anyway? I don’t play Pac-Man that much! There was more change in my pocket in the old carny days!”

Psst, Hawkeye. Definitely sign up for the stipend check from Stark.

Another thousand a week will go a long way to keeping you living the can afford food standard of living you’re accustomed to.

He manages to find a bag of potato chips to snack on but decides he’ll have to see if he can find an actual square meal at Avengers Mansion.

Likely. Jarvis seems the sort to keep the fridge well-stocked and heck he’d probably make something if asked.

Anyway, Hawkeye being Hawkeye, he’s not going to take the elevator or stairs. He’s definitely going to fire a cable arrow so he can swing down from his balcony. Because, of course he is. He’s Hawkeye.

And he lands right in front of a taxi, the driver of which calls him a nut

Hawkeye: “You want a star in your cab or not?”

Turns out? No. Hawkeye has to walk to Avengers Mansion and arrives late because the cabbie won’t give him a free ride.

Meanwhile at Avengers Mansion (which fails to elicit the same kneejerk emotional response as ‘meanwhile at the HALL of JUSTICE’ from me), the She-Hulk clothing montage has occurred off-screen.

For shaaaame, James Shooter. And also Steven Grant.

She-Hulk isn’t so sure about the outfit Wasp put together for her.

Wasp: “I call it Arabian Night -- a blend of suppleness, strength and sensitivity to highlight your true nature!”

She-Hulk: “Don’t you think it’s a little... unusual?”

Wasp: “You’re an unusual woman, Jennifer! Your clothes should say that! We want a complete image that’ll drive me wild at the sight of you!”

She-Hulk: “Got anything that’ll drive that jerk Hawkeye one way to oblivion?”

I don’t know if fashion can do that but if anyone could design that, Wasp could. Her or Giger.

Wasp tries to defend Hawkeye but can only manage “he’s okay, just a little... um, well, you know!” but suggests that She-Hulk just be nice to Hawkeye to throw him off.

Which. Sounds like a funny idea.

Anyway, I like the outfit. The colors work for her. And maybe it’s because there are a couple Dragon Ball outfits like this but it feels appropriate for her. Because of the punching.

Iron Man comes in and goes ga-ga multiple punctuation over She-Hulk’s new look, which I guess proves that Wasp hit where she was aiming.

Wasp: “Oh, more flattery! More! I love it! And this is just the beginning. Wait until you see the fighting togs I’m designing for her!”

So I guess that this is just an outfit to look good in and Wasp is still working on the superhero outfit. Can’t wait to see it.

Captain America and Thor come in and Thor too praises She-Hulk’s new look.

Thor: “By Odin’s beard! What emerald beauty stands before us?”

They date later. Its one of those ‘wow expected this to happen way sooner than 2018 honestly’ things.

And then Hawkeye comes in.

He also loses his shit over She-Hulk’s new look. But in more of a Hawkeye way.

Hawkeye: “Waitaminit! Is it Cheryl Tiegs? Loni Anderson? No! It’s the new fashion plate -- the Savage She-Hulk! Talk about trying to get silk purses from sow’s ears!”

You’re a rude, Hawkeye.

She-Hulk storms towards him, offended, and just lifts him bodily.

And kisses him.

Then drops his ass on the ground.

I guessss remembering and putting her own spin on Wasp’s suggestion?

People need to stop kissing each other for spite and revenge reasons, honestly.

I do get a laugh at Hawkwye demanding a rematch. Can’t imagine what form that’d take. But its funny.

I kind of have a problem with the scene, beyond the people kissing each other for spite and revenge thing. Prior to joining the Avengers, the issue where She-Hulk got her pink Cadillac was Marvel Two-In-One #88 where she spent nearly the entire issue hitting on the Thing to his discomfort. And the joke was Ha Ha Sexually Assertive Women.

I really hope that we do not have that again.

Anyway, the other Avengers get some yuks over She-Hulk’s method of shutting up Hawkeye.

Iron Man even suggests that Hawkeye and She-Hulk have just had their first date to Hawkeye’s dismay.

Seriously, someone write an Avengers code of conduct and then create an HR department.

MEANWHILE, CHANGING THE TOPIC AND THE SCENE

In Egghead’s secret Manhattan laboratory.

Egghead: “No, it’s not fair! All I ever wanted was to rule the world -- is that so much to ask? I’m 52. That doesn’t give me many years left -- that idiot Henry Pym blew what may have been my last chance!”

Hah at Egghead having a baby tantrum over being thwarted. And I guess good to know that Hank screwing up the plan by calling the Avengers did screw over more than Hank Pym.

Hank may have saved the world, actually. Good job, Hank.

Egghead laments that he wishes he had another good plan but kind of put all the eggs, hah, in the unstoppable adamantium robots basket.

And then his sexy maid Anna chimes in with a suggestion.

Wait, why does Egghead of all villains have a sexy maid? Who seems to have a crush on him? Why is this a thing? Who in or out of universe looks at Egghead and thinks ‘yes this man is a sexual dynamo’?

Eh, whatever.

Anna: “Vhy don’t choo just buy the vorld, darlkink?”

Egghead: “Anna! Vhat... er, what did you say?”

Anna: “You should make a lot ov money und buy the vorld!”

Egghead: “Work?! Disgusting!”

This is probably the only time I will ever be able to say this but I agree with Egghead.

Anna: “No, no, no! Just invent somethink that everyvun vants -- a cure for baldness, mebbe... or eternal youth!”

Egghead: “That’s silly, Anna! Or is it?”

IT IN FACT WASN’T!

Egghead suddenly stands up, dumping sexy maid Anna to the floor, as he realizes that she’s right! If Egghead could invent cell rejuvenation to give people eternal youth, the world would be his oyster! People would give anything for it!

Granted, he has no idea how to invent cell rejuvenation but that’s tomorrow’s problem. Today’s problem is the logistics. He’ll need research, money, equipment and most importantly of all lackeys to steal all that stuff for him so he won’t have to Effort!

So moments later, Egghead signals a robot spy capsule that he has monitoring Atlantis at all times just because.

Egghead’s spy capsule launches a guided missile at an Atlantean prison, busting out someone mysterious unless you happened to glance at the cover.

And we go from one prison to another prison to pop in on Hank Pym at Ryker’s Island.

Ryker’s is apparently the go-to supervillain prison.

And whoops Hank Pym is one now, at least according to the law. What with being caught with all that stolen adamantium and the mind control prosthetic arm.

Hank Pym: “It just doesn’t make sense! All I tried to do was redeem myself, but things just got out of control! Egghead’s responsible for this! He committed the crime I’m accused of -- and made sure I can’t prove it! Why doesn’t anyone believe me?”

Probably because you did do the crime and were caught in the act and you wouldn’t explain yourself fully afterward. Just saying.

Hank Pym: “Jan! That’s where it all went wrong! If I could get her back, everything would work out! I know it!”

Hank Hank Hank... You’re suddenly a romantic.

A guard yells at Hank that its food time and then further yells that his son had looked up to Hank, which causes Hank to reflect whoops he let down more than just Jan and the Avengers.

When Hank sits down to eat prison chow, he’s accosted by Dave Cannon aka WHIRLWIND aka I guess Hank’s backup archnemesis?

Hank isn’t really spoiled for choice with good archnemeses so he either has Egghead or spin around real fast man.

At least Dave Cannon aka Whirlwind is trying to go for the personal lowblow. That’s a decent, if gross, archnemesis move.

He insinuates that hey if Jan divorced Hank that means Dave has a chance with her and he’s going to visit her as soon as he jailbreaks out of here today.

I’m sure he does have a chance. Like a snowball’s in hell, maybe.

Hank tells Dave to shut up because shut up, Dave.

But Dave ups the ante by suggesting that after Hank Pym gets out of jail in maybe ten or twenty years, he and Jan will hire Hank to be their chauffeur.

So Hank smashes a tray of food in Dave’s face because shut up, Dave.

He also starts punching him because in for a penny.

And because Hank totally started that ‘fight’ the guards haul Hank off for a month in solitary.

You wouldn’t think Hank’s life could get worse in every issue he appears in but you would be wrong.

And wouldn’t you know it? As soon as Hank is out of the room, the jailbreak starts without him.

He doesn’t even get to participate in activities now! Geez, Dave Cannon! You’re ruining prison for Hank.

Anyway, the mysterious figure from the Atlantis jailbreak scene is now jailbreaking Ryker’s and iiiiiits TIGER SHARK!

A guy I know almost nothing about!

-google- Ah, Namor foe. That explains him being a shark man.

He used to be an Olympic swimmer who injured his spinal cord when he rescued a drowning man. So a pretty good guy, starting off. Then to heal his spine he participated in an experimental procedure where Namor and tiger shark DNA was blended with his own and he became a shark man and an asshole.

I think that’s the Namor DNA personally. It makes people into jerks. And Namor is 100% Namor DNA so you can imagine what a jerk he is.

I’ve gotten lost in the weeds.

Tiger Shark busts in through a supposedly impregnable prison wall. The guards try to shoot him with ‘special weapons’ but Tiger Shark thwarts them with a special weapon of his own.

A TABLE!

Which he uses to block the shots and then hit them with.

They were fools to put their faith in high-falutin’ technology when they could have been investing in low-falutin’ carpentry.

That’s right, they should have gotten wooden guns.

With the guards tabled for now, Tiger Shark collects Scorpion and Whirlwind.

That’s two supervillains on his shopping list but there’s one more to get.

So the three detour over down to the women’s wing while the jailbreak of everyone else keeps the guards very busy.

And they find Dr. Karla Sofen, Ordinary Criminal Psychologist who got superpower from a space rock. Y’know, a Moonstone.

She has a few follow-up questions before she throws in with these goons but Tiger Shark isn’t a good conversationalist.

Tiger Shark: “You wanna get snuffed right here, lady?! Move! Negotiations are closed!”

She grudgingly accepts these terms. The caption box says so.

The four supervillains take a remote controlled escape boat and escape on a boat.

Later, in a safehouse on Long Island Sound, the four supervillains are all costumed up and already feeling cooped up with each other. It is a small house and they are all big personalities.

Tiger Shark and Whirlwind even get into a fight when Tiger Shark complains about waiting and about suburbia and Whirlwind tells him to shut up. And by fight I mean Tiger Shark smacks Whirlwind in the head. Because its Whirlwind.

Ant-Man’s backup archnemesis. And Tiger Shark fights Namor. Its a mismatch.

But its enough of a ‘fight’ to cause a stir.

Egghead: “Stop your silly squabbling! Fighting among yourselves won’t further my plans!”

Moonstone: “Wha -- ?! Egghead?!”

Tiger Shark: “What’s an Egghead?”

Hah.

I don’t know why this exchange amuses me so much.

Egghead is perfectly happy to introduce himself slash ramble on and on with words words words. He is PERHAPS the world’s greatest genius (hahahahah noooo) but says he may find a cure to Tiger Shark’s “repugnant amphibious condition.”

Egghead: “If you all follow me without question, you’ll share in my forthcoming power and wealth! In addition to being bodyguards, you’ll perform various tasks for me -- beginning tonight, when you loot a certain Manhattan medical research center to obtain data and supplies! Cross me -- and no one will ever hear from you again!”

I’ll make fun of Egghead any day of the week but I’ll give him this. He evidently delivers this speech with such conviction that ‘shark man who fights Namor’ just nods and apparently thinks yes this sounds legit.

And lets be honest, between Whirlwind, Scorpion, Moonstone, and Tiger Shark none of them look at this eggheaded guy threatening them and think about trying something.

Egghead appoints Moonstone his deputy and team leader. Because, he says, she’s such a well-trained follower.

Okay, okay, okay. Okay.

So, Dr. Karla Sofen first appeared as a henchwoman to Dr. Faustus.

But then she tricked the original Moonstone into giving the moonstone to her and became the new Moonstone. And here I didn’t even know there was an original Moonstone.

My point being, yes, early on you might look at Moonstone’s history and think ‘yes she’s definitely a subordinate person who won’t give me trouble’ but from a modern perspective?

I know Modern Moonstone for basically being the Starscream of whatever team she’s on. Starting from Thunderbolts at least, she’s never the boss, she’s happy being the deputy but she’s always scheming and manipulating and undermining her boss.

I really want this to be a hilariously bad judge of character Egghead has made. I really do.

Meanwhile, Whirlwind thinks that he’ll play along with Egghead’s plans. Until he gets bored.

And then I guess he gets bored like five seconds later because he decides that since the job Egghead wants them to do isn’t until evening, he can go visit Wasp.

And yeah. We scene transition to Avengers Mansion and Whirlwind is just lurking in the bushes spying on Wasp’s limo.

Inside the mansion, with the Avengers’ meeting over, the Avengers all get ready to go about the rest of their business.

Hawkeye saying he has to get home gets She-Hulk to start musing on how she hasn’t had a real home since she left Los Angeles.

Which she did for... reasons? She seemed like she was going to stay in LA at the end of her original Savage She-Hulk book. She probably did it so she could do crossovers. That makes sense.

Wasp tells She-Hulk that since Tony doesn’t charge rent, She-Hulk can just stay at Avengers Mansion for a while. And in a couple days, she’ll take She-Hulk apartment hunting.

Wasp is a good friend.

She heads out to her limo and tells Mr. Carrothers to take her to her Manhattan apartment.

BUT WHOOPS iiiiiiiiiits Whirlwind!

He knocked out Mr. Carrothers over the head and stashed him in the bushes. Wow, being Wasp’s chauffeur is very eventful.

Whirlwind: “Forget him. I’m the man in your life now! I figure with your ex in the slammer, you’re gonna need an understanding shoulder to lean on -- .”

And then Wasp shrinks down and shoots Whirlwind in the face.

Wasp: “That’s awfully considerate of you. But next time send flowers first, okay? By the way, have you ever met me bio-electric sting?”

Get rekt, Whirlwind.

This has been a really good span of issues for Wasp. I’m boggling a little. My standards weren’t super high to be honest but this has been good.

I mean, aside from her wearing her Avengers #194-196 costume again. The one with only one pant leg. Of all your costumes to wear under normal clothes, why this one, Jan?

Outside the limo, Hawkeye is trying to sneak back into the mansion to raid the pantry and hoping everyone else has gone.

Because he doesn’t want them to know that two-jobs Hawkeye is having money trouble, I guess? But dude, just confide in Jarvis. He’s a good guy.

Anyway, point being, because of Hawkeye’s hungry little tummy, he sneaks back to the mansion in time to see flashes of energy from inside Jan’s limo.

Hawkeye runs to Jan’s rescue and instantly gets blasted by Moonstone who has just arrived to yell at Whirlwind for taking off without her permission.

Whirlwind says he doesn’t have to answer to Moonstone and a presumably very frustrated Moonstone answers yes he does, that is the very thing he has agreed to when he joined the new Masters of Evil!

I feel maybe announcing loudly that you are the new Masters of Evil right in front of the Avengers is kind of jumping the gun.

Not to mention having the whole time show up to pose like a team just to pull Whirlwind’s butt out of the fire but like I said, this isn’t a very impressive seeming iteration of the Masters.

They do have this much, at least. Hawkeye recognizes each one of these bozos (muffled foghorns from Titan Up the Defense way) and recognizes that he and Wasp are outpowered in addition to being outnumbered.

Reinforced by Tiger Shark just smacking Wasp out of the air.

I think her one legged outfit is slowing her down.

So Hawkeye fires a flare arrow to try to summon help.

Remember when the Avengers had radio rings? That’d probably be a less obvious way to signal for help. Because Moonstone sees Hawkeye shoot a flare arrow that LIGHTS UP THE AREA and shoots him for sending up a signal.

And then she turns to the others and goes “Why didn’t you blunderers stop him?”

Its a good point. Tiger Shark points out though that she didn’t stop him either.

Again: not a very impressive iteration of the team.

Whirlwind, trying to put on the pragmatic hat way too late, says that they should kill Hawkeye and skedaddle because fighting in front of Avengers Mansion makes him nervous.

But he’s still Whirlwind so he’s still gross so he thinks to himself that he wants to grab Wasp before they go.

And what, dude? You gonna keep her under your bed? WHATS YOUR CREEPY ENDGAME?

On second thought, I don’t want to know. Geez, this is awful but I’m glad that Wasp died in Ultimate comics before an exceptionally creepy Ultimate Whirlwind could show up and keep her in a well or something.

Hey, maybe if we tell Whirlwind that Living Laser is also obsessed with Wasp, the two will fight to the death and I won’t have to deal with either one!

Anyway. Off-track. Anyway.

With a sound of thunder, a Perfectly Ordinary Uru Hammer THOOMs by smacking every villain before returning to Thor’s hand.

Yeah, fighting in front of Avengers Mansion? Really dumb!

Thor: “Stand back, perfidious mortals, or face the wrath of Thor!”

Wasp: “Huh? Thor! I always thought you were handsome -- but you never looked better than you do now!”

Thor: “Fair Wasp, thou art safe in my hands!”

Wasp: (Mmmm! Don’t I wish!)

Well, you’re free to play the field now, Wasp. Go for it.

Meanwhile, over in Avengers Mansion, She-Hulk hears the racket and gets up from her nap to see a supervillain battle taking place on the street in front of the Mansion and just kind of sighs about New York being like this.

Again again: fighting in front of Avengers Mansion? REALLY DUMB!

Moonstone even realizes it.

Moonstone: “This is insane -- wasting our energy battling the Avengers for nothing! We’ve got to end this fight and escape!”

She tells Scorpion to take Thor which either shows a high esteem of him or a very low regard. Either way, Scorpion is happy to try, tail-whipping Thor through the air.

Inside the mansion, She-Hulk decides that the only way to get some peace and quiet is to throw hands. Side benefit: she’ll also get to prove herself to the Avengers.

But I like that the primary reason is that she just wants to have a dang nap and this nonsense is preventing it.

So she OH YEAHs through the window because heck Tony Stark will pay to fix it and runs towards the battle.

Haha look at that tiny alarmed Jarvis in the window. I love that kind of background detail. Amazing.

Wasp takes a break from, I dunno fantasizing about Thor, to fly over in a panic.

Wasp: “Oh, no! That outfit is an original! Tear it -- and I’ll never speak to you again!”

She sure has her priorities. I think maybe she doesn’t think these new Masters of Evil are all that threatening.

Maybe she shouldn’t be so worried though. She-Hulk just jumped through a glass window and the outfit looks untouched.

She-Hulk: “You can’t be serious?! You are. Ohhh... fudge! This is ridiculous!”

She definitely had to stop herself from saying an f-bomb.

So She-Hulk stops running to help Thor and sits down to start pulling the Van Dyne Original outfit off so Wasp won’t friend break up with her.

I’m sure Thor is doing fine though.

Ha ha, just kidding.

Moondragon is keeping him pinned down with her laser blasts and Tiger Shark hits him with something almost as powerful as TABLE.

A CAR.

Tiger Shark: “That Avenger creep thinks he’s the strongest there is. Me, I can withstand the pressures of the ocean’s floor without breathing hard. So when you’re talking strength -- you’re talking Tiger Shark!”

Hey, cool! Its the same thing writers use to argue Aquaman Strong Actually. I wonder if this actually predates that. It’d be funny if Tiger Shark preempted Aquaman in anything.

Wasp (while blasting Scorpion in his Scorpion neck) asks Thor if he’s okay but I think Thor is more annoyed than endangered by being ganged up on by the villains.

Thor: “Aye, the villain’s cowardly attack availed him naught against the might of Thor! I would see this battle ended!”

Tiger Shark basically says ‘nuh uh’ or “Together we can turn him into hamburger!” but then someone punches Tiger Shark from behind and knocks him out.

Scorpion: “Who in -- ? Some chick from Frederick’s of Hollywood?”

She-Hulk: “Don’t tell me you don’t know who I am! I don’t want to hear it!”

So, yeah, She-Hulk has arrived. In her underwear. So she doesn’t offend Wasp.

I guess after the Moondragon arc, Wasp is paying forward the wardrobe embarrassments.

Very rude, Jan.

Hawkeye is also up and raring to arrow. And he nails Whirlwind with said shock arrow annnd knocks him out.

Yup, this is the part of the book where we’re running out of pages so the villains start going down really easy.

Next, Wasp shoots Moonstone and She-Hulk multi-tasks by punching Moonstone into Scorpion and knocking both of them out.

Which means that She-Hulk is MVP of this fight. She arrives the latest but knocks out the most people. Good job, She-Hulk. Even Hawkeye admits that she did pretty good (qualified with “for a beginner!” which She-Hulk just laughs off.)

Meanwhile, in his hidden laboratory, Egghead is thinking that you can’t get good help these days.

Egghead: “Fools! We would have destroyed the Avengers eventually! There was no need to upset my timetable!”

But its only a minor setback and he considers that this stomp may leave them more willing to see that his ideas are best ideas.

I really hope that everyone pins the blame on Whirlwind when Egghead inevitably has to break them out of prison again to assemble his Masters of Evil again.

Hm, and I didn’t wonder this before but why Masters of Evil as a team name? He has no connection with any of the previous iterations, I don’t think. Weird.

Back at the mansion, the Avengers stand around being pretty pleased with themselves for beating up a bunch of people who attacked them for no reason and sucked at it.

The only sour note is that Wasp lost yet another limo (to Tiger Shark’s deadly CAR attack) but even then she says she was ready to trade it in on a DeLorean anyway.

Wait, aren’t DeLoreans known for having disappointing performance for a car and adequate performance as a time machine? Wasp, why are you getting a DeLorean, you kook!

She-Hulk, who sold her dignity to keep Jan’s friendship, suggests that the two of them go looking for new cars together.

OH RIGHT. Issue started with She-Hulk’s poor lamented pink Cadillac being junked. That’s bookends, it is. They’re the Sisterhood of the Broken Cars now.

So a very decent story!

Stuff is being setup with Egghead, the Hank Pym plot thread is still going, and we’ve got a new Avengers roster to settle into.

Although. Between the Moondragon arc and this, I’m wondering if clothing mishaps is going to be a running joke going forward and I hope not. Or at least let the guys in on it. Let Thor get locked out of the house in his underwear. It is only fair.

To the readers, if not the characters.

Although, I guess that is kind of what happened in the Molecule Man story. Tony Stark stuck in only his underwear and had to wear Ordinary Doctor Donald Blake’s jacket around his waist.

Not much more to say about this. Its a solid issue.

Follow @essential-avengers. Because: reasons. Also like and reblog. Because: similar but different reasons. Selling myself is hard.

#Avengers #Masters of Evil #Egghead #the Wasp #She Hulk #Hawkeye #Thor #essential avengers #Whirlwind is a creep #She Hulk's sweet new threads #f in chat for She Hulk's pink cadillac #She Hulk kisses hawkeye and its terrible for everyone #including you #essential marvel liveblogging

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fanficsaremylifeline · 5 years

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Fandom: Captain America (Movies) Relationships: Rebecca Barnes Proctor & Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes & Rebecca Barnes Proctor & Steve Rogers Summary:

Rebecca's calm life in the retirement home is turned upside down once more, when all of a sudden Steve, who to her recollection died about seventy years ago, stands in her room, here to make good on a promise he made to her 81 years ago.

***

“Ms Barnes?” After a soft knock, Nurse Moira poked her head through Rebecca's door.

“What is it, dear?” Rebecca looked over at the woman and put her book down.

“You have a visitor.”

“Oh, I thought Adelaide wasn't going to come around this week.”

“No, Ms Barnes, there is a charming young man here, who'd like to see you”, she smiled.

Huh. Rebecca was pretty sure that the only charming young men she knew, worked here at the nursing home. Well, except for Philip, her godson. Though it would be very unlikely for him to visit on a Wednesday morning.

Nurse Moira turned around, probably to the man in question and gestured at Becca's door.

“Thanks.” He stepped into the room. And Rebecca could not believe her eyes. “Hey Becca.”

“Oh, you gotta be kidding me!” With what was probably a new record time for her, she jumped up from her chair and dashed straight towards the visitor. “Steve? Is that really...” She cupped his face, pulled him a little down, so she could properly inspect who she was pretty sure was a) dead and b) six years older than her, even though the man standing in front of her didn't look older than thirty. “Is that really you?”

“Yeah”, he nodded with the widest smile. “I know it's weird, but it's me.”

“Oh my!” She wrapped her arms around him in a tight hug. “I missed you, so, so much!”

“I missed you, too.” Steve held her tight, leaning down just enough so he could rest his head on hers, while she pressed her face against his chest. It may have been 70 or so years, but Becca basked in the familiarity of his touch, his scent and her eyes filled with tears.

“Becca, you know damn well that if you start crying, so will I”, Steve laughed, but he was clearly choked up.

“Tough”, she sniffled, “that's just what you get for coming back from the dead.”

“Fair enough.”

Becca leaned back and looked up at him. “Steven Grant Rogers, you always were an impossible punk.”

“I think that's a compliment.”

“Yeah.” Without missing a beat, she boxed against his arm, as hard as she could.

“Ouch!”, he cried out, his face falling into offended confusion. “What was that for?”

“For dying after promising me you'll come back home! And this”, she hit his other arm, “is for you and Bucky needing to be self-sacrificing idiots!”

“I'm so sorry, I really am! We...”

“I'M NOT DONE YET! This”, she boxed against his stomach, “is for taking seventy years to come back.”

“Are you done?”

“One more. How DARE you look that good at 94?”

“That isn't actually my fault”, he defended himself, his arms raised up defensively.

Not that she had actually managed to hurt him; as fit as she was for her age, she was an old woman in her late eighties and Steve was – apparently still – in the prime of his life. Whatever Howard Stark had cooked up back then, it still worked wonders.

“Well, how about you and me go for a nice cup of coffee and you can tell me what the hell happened.”

Becca grabbed her purse and her walking stick and linked her free arm with Steve's.

“I don't suppose Mildred's is still open?”

“'Fraid not. But the one here in the park is just as good.”

After Steve had finished his story, Rebecca could only stare at him. “So, let me get this straight: you didn't actually die, you were just... deep-frozen?”

“Something like that. Don't ask me how they defrosted me, though; Bucky was always the science nerd.”

“Yeah... They didn't thaw my brother out with you by any chance?”

His smile dropped and he shook his head. “I'm sorry.”

“Not your fault.” She put on a smile, but Steve saw how much it pained her, and he got it. He felt just the same. Not exactly the same, to him all that was only weeks ago, not seventy years... “Besides”, she added, “I have made my peace with that. With losing you as well. Thank you, for that very unnecessary heartbreak.”

“I can't tell you how sorry I am.”

“I know you are. I know my Stevie after all”, she added with a grin.

“Yeah, you do. So, tell me about your life! What happened to you? Did you become a lawyer?”

“I did”, she smiled proudly, “eventually. I didn't get into a lawschool until '61, I tell you, it was a lot of work and fights to get through. But it was definitely worth it, I was one hell of an attorney.”

“I don't have any doubts, because you, my dear, are fierce.”

“You have no idea...”

“Oh, yeah I do”, Steve laughed, “I have been on the receiving end of your fierceness plenty of times.” She could get down right scary; almost as much as Steve's Mum.

“Well, you deserved it every time. I didn't get married. I don't feel like I missed out on anything though, all my nieces and god-children were enough for me.”

“Oh wow. Lizzie, Ruth... Are they...”

“No”, she shook her head, “you missed Lizzie by about four years. Ruthie, she… she got sick, just after the war ended.”

“Oh.” Steve’s heart just broke into a million pieces. The Barnes-girls were like sisters to him, and knowing he’d really never see the two again really hurt.

“Yeah... Lizzie did the whole housewife thing though, got married, has two amazing daughters, Jamie and Stephanie. Can you guess after whom they are named?”

“She named her daughters after us?” Oh, Steve felt his eyes starting to sting and filling with tears. This was so bizarre yet so amazing!

“Yeah. Jamie is 57, works in Seattle at an advertising firm, she has two sons, Richard and Martin, wonderful boys, both in college at the moment, Richard doing IT and Martin becoming a teacher. Stephanie is 55, lives in Washington, she studied politics and works actually in the White House. Being named after Captain America probably helped with that”, she giggled. “Anyways, she has a daughter, Melissa, who works at a publishers, and she is going to be married soon!”

“Wow.” So much information about so many people Steve should know but didn't. “I can't wait to meet them”, he just smiled.

“They'll be ecstatic to meet you too, Uncle Steve.”

He couldn't keep the snorted laugh in anymore. “Uncle Steve?” That sounded somehow weirdly nice, yet all kinds of wrong at the same time.

“That's you, believe it or not.”

“It is not the most improbable thing that happened in the last few weeks… So, Lizzie’s husband… Do I know him?”

“You do”, she grinned, “on the third of April 1954, she became Mrs George Davis.”

“No.” Steve’s jaw hit the ground. “She married little Georgie? Seriously?” Little Georgie… He lived just down the street, was a year or two under Steve and Buck, and an adorable fellow. “Buck always assumed that he was gay.”

“He wasn’t. Steve, you should have seen him, he was one hell of a guy, protective of Lizzie and the girls like you wouldn’t believe and such a wonderful father… A guy like George I might have married”, she smiled. “But that guy, who promised to make an honest woman out of me if we both were still single by 35 just had to dive an airplane into the ocean, didn't he?”

“Oh my”, Steve laughed, “I did promise that, didn’t I?” After he caught his breath again, he smiled over at her. “Well, I can’t help but notice that we are both over 35 and still single…”

“Steven Grant Rogers.” He braced himself for being cussed at for such a ridiculous comment, when she raised her eyebrow. “If you think that this counts as a proposal you are sorely mistaken.”

“Wait, what?” His eyes went big as he tried to comprehend what she just insinuated.

“I might be a badass lawyer, but I’m also a romantic woman”, she continued, keeping their eyes locked. “So, until you go down on one knee, don’t expect me to even consider it.”

Huh. “Alright…” He cleared his throat and took a deep breath before smiling at her again. “Duly noted.”

“Good. Then, how about you escort me back to the home? I should be back for lunch.”

“Of course, my lady.” Steve got up and held his arm out to her and together they walked back through the garden to the home’s dining room, where they were greeted by some curious looks.

“My, Rebecca, who’s your friend?”, one lady asked, looking Steve up and down, which only made him a tad uncomfortable.

“That’s Steve”, she explained as he helped her into her chair. “You could say I’ve known him my whole life.”

Steve came by almost every day. He was offered a small apartment in Brooklyn, only a few streets from where she lived; it was like back when they were young. With the difference, that them meeting went over a lot calmer and quieter; they mostly spend their days out in the park or in her room, talking, catching up.

“So, my dear”, Steve smiled, as they sat out on a bench on lovely Tuesday afternoon, enjoying the sun beaming down on them, “I have made a promise to you, a long time ago. And well, I am a man of my word.” He searched his pocket and got up, before kneeling in front of her and holding out a simple silver band with a red gem on top.

Rebecca was speechless, which was quite the unusual feeling for her, as Steve took her hand. “Rebecca Dorothy Barnes, would you do me the honours of becoming Mrs Rebecca Dorothy Rogers?”

“Steve… you punk are impossible”, she smiled and nodded happily. “Yes, I would love for you to become Steven Grant Barnes.”

With a laugh he put the perfectly fitting ring on her finger and nuzzled into an embrace.

“If Bucky could see us now”, she laughed, “he’d be so jealous!” She grabbed his hand and squeezed it gently. “I always assumed he’d be the one Barnes you’d put a ring on.”

“Yeah…” Steve softly stroked her hand. “Wait.” He stilled suddenly, turning to her with wide eyes. “You… You knew?”

“Of course I do”, she chuckled, “I know my two idiots after all.” She looked up at him with an encouraging smile. “I don’t know when it happened that your friendship turned into more, and I also don’t know if you two ever were together, but know that I support you.”

“Thanks”, he sighed, clearly relieved.

“At least you're gonne be a Barnes, one way or another.”

“Well, first of all, I was under the impression I became an official Barnes the day Buck adopted me in... fourth grade I think it was. But more importantly, you are not some leftover, because I can't marry your brother. I could not wish for a more awesome, fierce and beautiful bride.”

“Aw, Stevie”, she cooed and, to keep from blushing too much, she cupped his face and put a soft kiss on his forehead.

“Besides, you'll look so much more lovely in a wedding dress than Buck ever could.”

The visits became a little unregularly, once Steve became an Avenger. And here Rebecca was, thinking her worrying about that boy had ended with the second world war, but no, he was back in uniform, fighting aliens and so many more unimaginable things.

“You are my fiancé”, she scolded him, “I do not appreciate you putting me through this torture again!”

“I know. It’s my job, though.”

“Doesn’t mean I have to like it.” Softly, she stroked the bruise on his face.

“At least we won.” Steve offered her a shy smile and damnit, that just got her every time. “Fine. You are forgiven.”

“Phew…”, he grinned. “And I promise to do my best to always come back, alright?”

“You made that promise once before”, she reminded him of the last time they had seen each other, back in the forties.

“And I kept it, didn't I?” With a skew grin he tried to mask the pain of his memories, but Rebecca knew him well enough to see right through it.

“This time 'round I might not have 70 years to wait for you anymore”, she just shrugged and went to inspect his bruised and battered arm. Sure, some of this country's best doctors had taken care of Steve, but she was damned if she didn't properly look after her fiancé.

“Never say nev... OUCH!”, he cried out, when she got a little too close to a particularly bad bruise.

“Wuss”, she just scoffed. It did look extremely painful though. Whatever those Alien-robots had been doing to the Avengers, it was effective. As aware as she had been all these years, in this moment she knew it more so than ever before: she couldn't live through mourning him a second time. “Promise me something else”, she asked of him.

“Anything.”

“Promise me not to die again. I don't care if you come back again or not, but do not make me mourn you, not one more damn time. You got that?”

“Yes”, he nodded and squeezed her hands. “I promise.”

“Hey Becca.” Steve put his head through her door and smiled at his fiancée.

“Steve”, she sighed and waved him over. “Come on in.”

He stayed in the door. “I have a surprise for you.”

“Are you finally marrying me?” Not that they were ever going to be married. It was however one of the greatest joys of her last few years and months, to have their fun with a promise they had long outlived.

“Better.” He opened the door wider and pulled someone in after him. All she could see at first was long, brown hair; when it was brushed away, her heart skipped a beat. “Wha…”

“Hey Becca”, her brother smiled and after a push from Steve, he walked over to her bed.

“James? Is that…” With all the strength she had left, she pushed herself up, Bucky holding out a hand, helping her sit up.

“Yeah”, he smiled and immediately the siblings were in a tight hug. “I missed you.”

“I missed you more”, she cried, holding tight onto him out of fear he’d disappear again if she let go.

Eventually, they did break apart; his face just as tearstained as hers; from the corner of her eye she saw Steve wiping the tears off his cheek.

“I love you, James.”

“I love you more.” He took her hands in his and softly kissed them; until his eye fell on the ring on her finger. “Hold up.” He straightened himself out and looked from Becca to Steve, back to his sister. “Steve told me about Ruthie, about Lizzie, but he never mentioned you being married… Please tell me you didn’t marry Arthur Thompson.”

Yup, there was her big brother, protective of Becca and the guys courting her. “I did not”, she clarified and smiled at Steve. “So, you didn’t tell him. Interesting.”

“Didn't tell me what?”

Steve turned a few shades redder and cautiously walked over, sitting himself besides the siblings. “Well...”

Buck held his hand up to shush Steve and turned back to Becca, who couldn't suppress the wide grin any more. “Seriously?”

“Back in the day he promised to marry me if I were still single by 35. I was still single by 88, so, being a man of his word, he proposed to me.”

After a short moment of silence, James just burst out laughing. Until now, Becca hadn't even realized how much she'd missed that sound and was happier than she ever thought she could be that she got to hear it again. “You guys are impossible... Did you get married?”

“Unfortunately, Captain America over there was too busy saving the world”, she commented with a roll of her eyes.

“Of course...”, he scoffed before turning towards Steve. “You better do right by my sister or I'll go all Winter Soldier on your pretty behind.”

“What's Winter Soldier?”

The way both Steve and James' faces dropped at her question, left her to be sure that it was nothing good.

“Nothing you need to worry about”, Steve smiled. “But Buck is right. I made a promise that I'd like to keep. What do you say, doll?”

“That I am not the one to make an honest man of you”, she answered with a warm smile. Steve and Bucky always were the dream team. And now that fate had given them a second chance, it was not on her to stand in their way.

“You met somebody else?” With wide eyes, James turned back to Steve. “Are you cheating on my little sister?”

“Of course not!”, he defended himself, “I would never!”

“I should hope so”, Buck grumbled and turned back to Becca. He took her hands back in his and softly brushed his thumb over her fingers. “I know that punk over there didn't ask me, but you two would have my blessing.”

“Aw, sweetheart!”, Becca smiled and pulled him into a hug. “And you two have mine”, she whispered into his ear. By the way he jumped, it was probably not what he had expected to hear from her.

“What?”, he choked out with wide, unblinking eyes.

“You heard me.”

“Heard what?” A little confused, Steve looked between the two of them.

“Nothing”, Bucky was quick to answer, blushing just enough for Becca to know that the past eighty years didn't change too much.

She smiled up at Bucky. “Just hurry, I'd like to see you get it sorted out and I don't think I have too much time left.”

“No, please don't say that! I just came back!” The insinuation about Buck and Steve's relationship was forgotten, as the tears filled his eyes once more.

“It's only fair. I had to mourn you, too.”

“Yeah, but you're stronger than me and Stevie put together...”

“Now that's some bull”, she laughed and took Steve's hand in her free one. “You two are gonna be fine. You got each other and that got you through the war, it'll get you through living in the 21st century.” Looking from one of her boys to the other, both with tears in their eyes, she got emotional as well. “Stop crying, you two. You know that when you cry, I'll start as well.”

“Sorry”, Steve chuckled and wiped his eyes.

“I'm not”, Buck made clear. “I love my pain-in-the-ass little sister.”

“I should hope so”, Becca laughed and, with the boys' help, she lay back in her bed. All that excitement was just a little too much, and maybe a nap would do her good.

She wasn't afraid to close her eyes, either; her two boys barely left her side and whenever she woke up they sat next to her. With Steve's celebrity status, nobody made too many problems for them ignoring all rules of visitation hours. They even stopped going on missions and as little as she would want to keep either from doing their jobs, Becca was eternally grateful not having to worry about them.

It took about two weeks for the boys to get their heads out of their asses and finally admit to the other how they felt and walked into her room hand in hand.

“Please tell me this means what I hope it means”, she sighed.

“Yeah, it does”, Buck grinned, his cheeks flushing a bit and looking over at Steve who had the biggest heart eyes.

“Finally”, Becca smiled. “Now I can die in peace.”

#rebecca barnes #steve rogers #captain america #bucky barnes #winter soldier #stucky

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wcstlcys · 5 years

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it me june, back at it again here with my third trash child. honestly dunno what im doing but we out here anyways. throw this post a like && i’ll hit you up for plots !! pls give this garbage boi some love pls and thnx ily all.

( CLAYTON CARDENAS. THIRTY THREE. CISMALE. HE/HIM ) in texas, NICOLÁS MARQUEZ is known to most as NICO/NICK. they have been riding with the DIABLOS for FIFTEEN YEARS. they originally from NEWTON and the SOLDIER is known to be very BLUNT & CYNICAL but the other club members will tell you they are INTREPID & RESILIENT. as the years go by, they’ve gained a lot of respect in the club and around town. they rarely ever drive a car but when they do THE WORST IN ME by BAD OMENS is usually heard blasting. ( blood stained blades, scar tainted skin, words that could cut. nightmare plauged memories ) [ hello it me ]

[ blood, violence, assault, prison, ptsd trigger warnings]

✘ it was always just nick and his mom growing up, he never really met his father and honestly never cared to either. all he needed in life was his mother and he was perfectly content with life with only just the two of them. sure, he had his mom’s side of the family in his life as well, but when it really came down to it, life always seemed to just be the two of them. his mom worked hard and he’d always appreciate everything she did for him.

✘ he grew up in newton his whole life, and for the vast majority of it he always seemed to be a trouble maker. he never acted out for a specific reason, it was always just within his nature. he enjoyed the rush he felt whenever he got into trouble, the adrenaline that came with running away from the authorities. hell, even getting caught was fun in his eyes. everything always seemed to be some sort of game to him, what he could do and how far he could push things. what he could and couldn’t get away with -- and the longer he went on the quickly grew to learn that he could get away with a lot of shit.

✘ his delinquent past was exactly the reason he decided to join the diablos, he often ran into them whilst he and his buddies were getting into their own trouble. so why the hell not, he could gain a whole new family who catered towards his lifestyle. it also gave him a sense of belonging, something he didn’t know he was lacking until he joined the club. the diablos added both the love and violence he kept abundant in his life. life was good, it was fun and dangerous and exciting. he truly could not get enough of it. nick always seemed to be the fun, laid back guy that was willing to go along with anything. his spirit always energetic and vibrant. until that light was suddenly shut out, however.

✘ it wasn’t meant to go down like this, a brawl quickly got out of hand and before he knew it his hands were soaked in blood. he let his anger take control of him, landing himself in the back of a police car with cuffs slapped on his wrists, facing serious prison time. he was more focused on ensuring none of the other members got caught, that he landed getting himself caught instead. none of this was supposed to go down this way, none of this was supposed to happen.

✘ the law wasn’t kind to him. considering he had already racked up a pretty hefty criminal record for himself, judge and jury weren’t exactly lenient on the biker. his ‘gang affiliation’ payed him no favours either. his only saving grace was his lawyer, who got his time lowered drastically on a plea deal. while he wouldn’t end up spending the rest of his life in prison, he still had to serve time. so off they shipped him, to repent for his crimes in prsion.

✘ he will never admit how much prison ruined him. hell, he wasn’t expecting it too. he put on a tough face and insisted that everything would be fine. mostly for the sake of his mother and club -- but god how he snapped. it didn’t help that the guards seemed to have a vendetta against him, or the constant fights that seemed to surround him, but nick managed to get himself thrown into solitary confinement far too many times than he could count. the whole ordeal was torturous, and once he was finally released -- the nick everyone once knew seemed to be gone.

✘ his once light and energetic nature had died out, leaving behind something dark and hollow. a vast majority of his views became cynical, nothing in life having much meaning anymore. he developed an incredibly blunt nature to everyone around him, seemingly uncaring of how harsh his words had become. everything was replaced by pain, no matter how much he denied it.

✘ he’s always been an honest man, never finding the need to beat around the bush and hide away his feelings. however, back then his whole demeanor was a lot more nonchalant and chilled. while he still has remained truthful, expressing his feelings for what they are, his emotions are always tainted by dread. nothing seems to excite him anymore, nothing holds any meaning, as if he never truly escaped the hole the law shoved him into. the solitary he was forced into, having nothing but his own thoughts to plague and torture him, has ripped his very soul to shreds.

✘ nick nearly left the diablos once he was released from prison, but he was somehow talked out of it. the diablos being the only thing keeping his head above waters these days, keeping him from completely losing his shit and giving into his adopted reckless behaviour. nick is now quick to jump into any situation, no matter how dangerous or deadly it may be. his own mortality no longer a concern of his. his own well-being unimportant, he needs his club to reel him back in from the deep end and save him from his own damn self.

✘ he’s slowly picking up his broken pieces, attempting to mend the many cracks and flaws that have changed him, but it’s been a long and grievous process. remnants of his old-self seem to glimmer through every now and then, but even those moments seemed to be dulled by the fog that envelopes his very being.

✘ he finds himself spending a lot of time at deseo. he likes the company and a place for him not to be confined to his own thoughts. he needs the distraction.

WANTED CONNECTIONS:

✘ first love [ open ] -- i imagine this as someone he fell head over heels for, a love that has always been pure. this person means the world to him, even if what they had was damaged by his incarceration. ever since he was released, he’s been attempting to push them away. even going as far to as breaking things off between them before he was sent off. it’s his way of keeping them safe, wanting them to do better than him.

✘ exes [ open ] -- i imagine he’s tried to get his life in order, date and settle down but he just fucks everything up and pushes everyone away.

✘ deseo dancers / workers ?? [ open ] -- since he spends a lot of time there, gimme connections for it. i can see him developing a bit of a ‘protective’ nature around the dancers. he cares about them a lot, even though he won’t admit it.

✘ hookups / fwb [ open ] -- he has needs alright. a mans has needs. he’s biromantic / bisexuals ofc.

✘ ride or die [ open ] -- i imagine this to be mostly likely someone from the diablos. someone that he really connected with and trusts with his whole heart. he would do anything and everything for this person. i imagine this is the person who convinced him not to leave the club as well !!

✘ lawyer / legal help [ open ] -- please for the love of god gimme someone who will help this idiot keep his life together. he makes a lot of dumb decisions and gets himself into a lot of shit. the boy doesn’t need to go back to prison.

✘ club friends [ open ] -- even though he’s been fairly dark and gloomy, he still loves his club with all his heart so pls gimme all the diablos love.

✘ unlikely friends [ open ] -- just some people who you wouldn’t expect he’s befriended, but somehow over the years they’ve grown quite close. whatever works here honestly.

✘ enemies [ open ] -- give mah boi someone to hate pls and thnx

UHH THIS IS ALL I CAN THINK OF FOR NOW OK PLS GIMME ALL THE PLOTS IM OPEN FOR ANYTHING HONESTLY

#rideintro.#ya yeet here comes the trash #its late and im tired idk wtf this is #im warning yall i proof read none of this lmfao

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anemoyoucantgetridof-blog · 5 years

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It's obvious that accident attorneys have a negative credibility in our culture. We have all heard the stereotypes as well as jokes about those "rescue chasing" legal representatives: that we make the most of at risk people for our own personal gain, that we go after rescues looking for our next cash advance, and that we will do any dubious or questionable action to get paid.

These stereotypes are not just false, yet they are damaging to our legal system. The legal system is what people need to resort to in their time of demand. As well as reality be informed, the substantial majority of injury attorneys help their customers obtain the settlement they are entitled to. People that are injured in a cars and truck crash, accident, or harmed by a faulty product look to crash legal representatives daily.

Additionally, the adverse stereotypes originate from legal representative promotions themselves. A number of these advertisements make it seem that lawyers are cash starving and that they persuade individuals that they require an attorney to recuperate millions of dollars in also the most pedestrian of injury crash situations. Additionally, it appears the customers are evaluated by their negotiation quantity, as well as not as a person. Nonetheless, these money starving attorneys are the minority. A lot of injury attorneys do not treat their clients as meal tickets.

Not just do Albany GA injury lawyers help their clients in their time of demand, however their job makes sure that people live in a safe environment as well as society. Negligent corporations and also individuals are mindful that they may be needed to pay civil problems if they make a decision not to act reasonably and also safely. Personal injury lawyers are also responsible for making sure that neighborhood, state, and also government safety and security regulations as well as guidelines exist to safeguard the general public at large. These regulations were established in reaction to damaging irresponsible behavior as well as they ensure that people remain healthy as well as risk-free when making use of products that are made as well as produced to be safe.

I can see why people believe the worst concerning personal injury attorneys because unfavorable stereotypes are all over them. Definitely the legal representatives do not assist themselves and all it takes is "one negative apple ruins the entire bunch." However, while you usually learn about the immoral attorney that swiped their customer's cash in the news, you nearly NEVER become aware of any of the favorable points attorneys do for their clients-including functioning pro bono for triggers the lawyers rely on or minimizing their fees to make certain that their clients get all the justice they deserve. While it holds true that some injury lawyers are greedy as well as self-seeking, the huge majority really appreciate their customer's legal rights and are strong supporters for their clients.

Obviously what is commonly overlooked is that the key press behind these negative stereotypes are corporations and also insurance provider that intend to use these bad public images to their advantage. They try to say that injury lawyers and their customers are the antagonists attempting to gain from a claim lottery, as well as the attorneys are trying to take advantage of their customer's miseries. Nevertheless, it takes a great deal of effort and also dedication to do what we do and lots of attorneys chose to work with injured individuals due to the fact that they want to assist people.

There might be a time in everybody's life when they are confronted with a scenario that they will certainly take into consideration working with a personal injury lawyer. Remember that there are lots of injury attorneys available that will certainly fight difficult for you. You are not, and should not be just one more number or income for your lawyers.You are a private with your very own concerns as well as really hopes concerning your case. You deserve to be treated with respect by an injury lawyer who appreciates having you as an Albany GA client.

One of the most waited for thing after any type of accident is the case of compensation you make to cover the loss - obviously just in cases where it applies. The procedure entailing the claim is usually taxing and also a great deal of lawsuits occur against readjusting the quantity of the case, which is even decreased to an extent. If you desire to stay clear of these situations, it is better to designate a personal injury attorney who would certainly take the duty on your behalf to recover the quantity of insurance claim as high as feasible.

An accident attorney may help you as soon as possible after an accident has actually happened on an emergency basis. Normally, the lawyer might charge virtually 40% of what is recuperated from the insurance claim or you can pay the attorney a fee that is been chosen between the two of you, ahead of time. There is a circumstance where you can seek for the professional aid of a lawyer yet as a civil service which is not suggested to be charged in any way but still the lawyer charges, a much lower quantity from individuals that come for aid.

So before you select any kind of attorney to take your situation, be prepared with a set of questions which would pick the destiny of designating the lawyer. If you do not receive satisfactory answers, you might deny the individual and call for an additional attorney for interview.

Points to check from an Albany GA accident lawyer

You need to inquire about the accreditation and also accomplishments of the injury attorney as well as provide the attorney with all the details you have concerning the accident or personal injury. These two areas have to be plainly scrutinized prior to designating the individual.

As you are the person that would certainly be keeping the lawyer for the task, you have the flexibility of asking concern in regard to the reliability of the personal injury attorney. According to the feedback given by the attorney, you require to choose whether he is qualified enough to get you the case. In case of an incorrect choice there will certainly be a lot of included sufferings apart from the fees of the lawyer that you will need to compensate.

You can check the number of instances the injury attorney has actually so far been connected with as well as the number of positive results amongst them. If the response declares, you would have the ability to establish some trust on your attorney.

You need to discuss on a note, the details of the accident that happened. The day and time of the case, the place, even the name of the lane it happened, traffic condition at that point of time, name of the close-by roads as well as intersections, any type of kind of drugs you were related to, whether you had alcohol on that particular day, the last time you had visited your medical professional, the factor of your check out and the responses of the medical professional offered to you. Most notably you must state the type of problem you are facing owing to the injury, level of the injury, degree of discomfort, medical professionals advice and few a lot more relevant details. Give this to your attorney, to make sure that he can tell you if he can make good of your instance.

#personal injury lawyer Albany GA #Albany GA personal injury law firm #Albany GA law firm for injuries #personal injury attorney Albany GA #accident law firm Albany GA #car collision lawyer in albany georgia

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glowwormsmith · 5 years

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FC5 Week-Day 5

In which Layla notices an eyesore and gets some interesting history about her new community...

Warnings: implied violence, nothing of note

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

“Huh...” was all Layla could really say as she leaned against the doorway and looked out towards the mountains. When she had first arrived, under a cloud of family tragedy and the combined anxieties and hopes of moving, she had only taken in a small part of the natural beauty of Hope County. Being a native Montanan and having taken many trips into the wilderness also desensitized Layla to her surroundings, so it was only on her third day after moving in with her sister and nieces that she noticed the sign.

“Hi, Aunt Layla! Whatcha’ lookin’ at?”

Layla turned to smile at her nieces, Hazel and Fern coming towards her. She was happy to see Hazel walking about, her injured arm in a sling, but both girls looking clear-eyed and bright even after the recent badness. Hazel had been the one to address her, her younger sister looking at Layla with a curious glance and head tilted in wonder.

“Oh, well, that. You guys know what that eyesore is all about?” Layla asked, jabbing her thumb outwards and looking back at it with a skeptical look.

She saw Hazel and Fern’s looks turn into disgust, Hazel’s eyes rolling so far into skull Layla was afraid they would be lost while Fern sighed.

“Ah, well, it’s a giant “YES” sign, for one thing...” Fern said. Hazel then interrupted bluntly, “Aunt Layla’s not stupid, Fern, she can read.”

“It’s okay, Hazel, it’s good to see that it is a “YES” sign. What’s it for?”

The girls looked at each other before Fern said, “Mom said it’s Mr. Seed’s type of preaching. The Power of Yes. It’s for the purpose of gathering new followers.”

“It’s sooo stupid! Like, he takes motivational speaking way too far!” Hazel added. “He even has dumb billboards all over the county. Nice way to show you have money to throw around when you’re not busy being a greedy lawyer, a-hole!”

“Whoa, whoa, now I don’t have to unpack all of that, kiddos! Who’s “Mr. Seed” and why is he going around talking about “yes” so enthusiastically?” Layla said. “That doesn’t even sound like a real name, why am I only learning of this now?!”

Fern cleared her throat and Hazel fell quiet, though she gave an eye-roll at Fern’s excitement to explain. “Well, his name is John Seed. He’s part of these group called Eden’s Gate—they’re like Pastor Jerome’s church, but they follow their own doctrine, one that Mom thinks is not God’s true voice—and they’ve been here for a while. Mom tells us they’ve been here since I was maybe five, or six. They’ve really grown bigger and louder really recently, but John’s the loudest. Did you see the boards with his face on it while you were driving here?”

“I didn’t really notice. Was too busy worrying about Clover barfing in the car and having Grandma and Gramps micro-managing the move,” Layla said, a warm smile as she saw the girls chuckle. Always good to see them happy. If that poor excuse for a father was still alive, I’d kill him myself for ever hurting them.

“Well, we’ll point some of them out to you next time we’re on a drive,” Hazel said. “There’s some with weird symbols and phrases, but most here in the valley has John’s dumb smug face on it, talkin’ about how “we’ll love you and we’ll take you.” Good to know creeps are advertising their plans to kidnap people.”

“Anyways,” Fern said, her voice rising over Hazel’s, “John Seed is the “face” I guess you could say of this Project. His brother, Joseph, is the leader, but John handles all the finances. He’s kinda handsome.” Fern blushed a bit and rubbed the back of her head with a small giggle. “He’s also wealthy, too. If it wasn’t for Mom saying Eden’s Gate was bad, I’d say he’s like a prince.”

Hazel made a gag noise, but didn’t say anything. Layla said as her brows furrowed, “Your mom never talked about these crazies before, and she knows how much I love ragging on crazies like this. Why does she think they’re bad?”

The girls went quiet, with Fern shifting in her chair and looking away while Hazel bit her lip and narrowed her eyes. Hazel then spoke up.

“We always went to Pastor Jerome’s church, but it changed when Da-that bastard started going to the Seed’s services and talkin’ about how—how great they were, and how “The Collapse” was real, that Joseph was the only righteous voice.” Layla noticed how Hazel’s good hand clenched and unclenched at her side. The girl then spoke loudly, startling the two, “They’re crazy! They’re not good Christians like Pastor Jerome or Mom! Mom became frightened at even the drop of their name when she got pregnant with Todd, and you know she’s not scared of nothin’! That bastard wasn’t the nicest, but he became downright looney and obsessed with Eden’s Gate, even ready to sell our home to John. And I hear things in town. About John buyin’ up properties, weapons being brought in, weird shit goin’ on in the Whitetails and to the east, people disappearing when they make Eden’s Gate mad. They even have a statute of that lyin’ prophet of theirs nearly complete out in the Henbane!”

“Wha—? A statue?! That can’t be legal!” Layla sputtered. What had I gotten into by moving here...and what has Tess not been telling me?

“They can pretty much get away with anything these days. Poor Mayor Minkler is cowed by these people and Sheriff Whitehorse has been overwhelmed by people quitting or...“leaving,” one might say,” Fern said. She then shivered. “Some of the members came to one of Pastor Jerome’s services. They stood outside and shouted how Jerome was a false shepherd, that the Collapse was coming, and the Father was the only path to salvation. Dad and a few others walked out to join them...Mom was very upset with him after that.”

“Don’t call him “dad,” Fern!” Hazel snapped, but softened up. “He wasn’t our “dad” for a long time, and he sure ain’t now after what he did. The fight, y’know, the one where he...he shot us and took Todd away and killed himself...it was about Eden’s Gate,” Hazel said, her voice low. The girls looked ready to cry and Hazel wanted to scream. “Eden’s Gate are evil. I just...get bad feelings from them, even if they had nothin’ to do with my family. They’re bad news.”

Layla then came to the girls and hugged them, rubbing their arms and a kind smile on her face. “Hey, hey, it’s okay. These people sound like every doomsday cult I’ve studied, but guess what?”

After a pause with her nieces who looked confused, Layla said with a sly smirk, “Your badass Aunt Layla is going to be a deputy with the Sheriff’s Department, and you know I don’t let any shit slide when it comes to BS, right?”

“Hell yeah!” “Language, Hazel, but you’re right, you are tough, Aunt Layla.”

“So, if John of Joseph, or any other Seed tries to come around and harass you or Tess, I’ll go and kick their loony-tune as—butts, alongside Clover, right Clover?” Layla’s dog lifted her eyes towards the trio, but she didn’t leave the couch as she let out a small gruff. “Darn straight! No one will mess with my family or their friends, so there’s no need to be afraid anymore, okay?”

Weak smiles returned to the girls’ faces as they looked a bit calmer. Layla then stood up and said, “Tell you what? We’ll go see your mom at the hospital, go to whatever favorite restaurant you like, and take some eggs along to hit any Johnny Appleseed billboards we see. Sound fun?”

“Oh my gosh, yes!!” Hazel said. “Fern, you up for it?”

“Yeah. Will you be okay?” Fern asked. Hazel let out a small huff and flicked her good hand.

“Pfft, I’m fine! I bet I can throw better with my one hand than you girls!”

“Oh, we’ll see about that, young lady!” Layla scoffed as the girls laughed and went to prepare. Before she walked off, Layla gave one last glance at the large white “YES” sign. Unease settled into her stomach, but she shoved the bad thoughts away for happier times with her nieces, to keep things good after all that’s happened to them.

She did allow one snide thought: I wish I had a grenade launcher to shoot that shit down. That would be awesome.

#FC5Week #FC5Week2019 #far cry deputy #depyootee layla

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foreverwayward · 6 years

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“Wayward Hearts” Season 2 Chapter 10: Heart

Summary: After the sudden death of John, Sam and Dean, along with Riley, continue their quest for vengeance. As Sam and Riley’s powers continue to grow, the three young hunters find themselves closer to the Yellow-Eyed demon than ever before. The strength within themselves and their loyalty to each other will be tested as they are left to fight their families’ lifelong war alone, unaware that unimaginable evil will lead them to face darkness itself as they carry the weight of their fathers’ legacies.

Masterlist

Word Count: 9,027

Content Warning: language, light smut and violence

DISCLAIMER: any words or phrases in bold in the story are not my own and are credited to the writers of Supernatural.

**GIFS ARE NOT MY OWN**

Dean and Riley sat on opposite beds in the dingy motel room somewhere in San Francisco as they cleaned their guns. The familiar sound of the metal clicking as they took them apart felt like sweet, yet strange, childhood memories.

The Winchester’s eyes looked up at Riley as she focused on her task and he watched her for a brief moment as a smirk crept up his face. Even with silence between them and being lost in their work, the couple enjoyed those quiet moments. Words didn’t need to be said for them to enjoy each other’s company.

Breaking his attention away from the guns and the girl in front of him, Dean looked towards his brother. “So, this lawyer guy you checked out at the morgue today, he the first heart-free corpse in town?”

“First man,” Sam emphasized as he got a bottle of beer from the fridge. “Nate Mulligan, a local lawyer. But, over the past year, several women have gone missing. Dead bodies all washed up later in the bay, too deteriorated to draw firm conclusions.”

“But no hearts?”

“No hearts. They were all hookers working Hunter’s Point.” Sam sat backward in his chair, facing his partners as he popped the cap off his drink. “Now, cops are trying to keep things under wrap, but they’re looking for a serial killer.”

“What about the lunar cycle,” Riley asked.

“Mm-hmm. Yeah, month after month, all the murders happen in the week leading up to the full moon.”

“That’s this week, right?”

“Hence the lawyer.”

Dean snickered. “Awesome.”

With a breathy laugh, Riley gazed up from her gun saying, “damn. Geeking out much over there, Dean?”

“I’m sorry, but what about a human by day, a freak animal killing machine by moonlight’ don’t you understand?” Dean opened a black, smaller, rectangular box filled with silver bullets. “I mean, werewolves are badass. We haven’t seen one since we were kids.”

“Okay, Sparky,” Sam started in a playful and teasing tone. “And you know what? After we kill it, we can go to Disneyland!”

Dean ignored his brother’s snarky comment. “What about you, Rye? Run into any of these guys before?”

“Uh--yeah. I was about...13 I think? Dad and I caught wind of one when we were in Minnesota right after I had really started hunting with him. It was a tough son of a bitch, I’ll tell you that much.” She was already up and putting away her gear as she tied her hair up in a messy bun and synched it tight. “My first kill on a hunt actually.”

“Damn,” he nodded, impressed. “You went balls to the wall.”

“Well, Dad always said, ‘know your gun, know your target, and don’t miss’.” She laughed at the ridiculous mantra. ”Good thing I’m a damn good shot.” Riley tilted her head with a shrug. “It’s a gift.”

Dean chuckled. “A gorgeous woman who can handle a gun, what more could I ask for?”

She bent down to kiss him with a smile as she sat on the bed.

“You know what the best part about it is? We already know how to bring these suckers down.” Dean held up a silver bullet and admired it. “One of these bad boys right to the heart. So, what’s our next move?”

“Talk to the girl that found the body,” Sam added.

------

In a well-decorated apartment, the three stood waiting to speak to the witness. The walls were a soft neutral color with nearly sheer white window curtains. Subtle plants sat the perfect positions of the living room among the clean and somewhat modern furniture.

The witness was a young woman named Madison. She was taller than Riley and truly beautiful. Her long brunette hair ran over her shoulders and touched her chest. Madison had fuller lips and a soft skin tone that just suited her so well.

A neighbor had already been visiting when the hunters got there. He was a meek-looking man with a head of dark curly hair, with a beard and mustache to match. The man was wearing a yellow shirt with a logo from ‘Mission Church’ and a large cross.

Sam, Dean, and Riley weren’t dressed in their suits, though still posed as detectives for the case.

“I’m Detective Landis.” Dean pointed to Sam before gesturing to Riley as well. “These are my partners, Dante, and Wadleigh.”

“I don’t understand,” Madison said looking slightly confused. “I already gave my statement to the police.”

“Right. We just have to go over a few things,” Sam replied.

The man’s face looked almost sad knowing it was time for him to leave. “Well, I guess I’ll leave you to it. Just call me if you need anything, Madison.”

“I will. Thanks again for the casserole.” After the neighbor had taken his leave, Madison looked over to the undercover hunters. “He’s sweet. Glen--he’s a neighbor. Came over to check on me.” She exhaled. “Alright, well please--have a seat.” Madison guided them all over to the glass countered table as they sat down to talk.

“You must be pretty shaken up. You were Nate Mulligan’s assistant, right?”

“For about two years, yeah.”

Riley looked over at the woman trying to get a read on her. “So, would you say you pretty much knew all about him?”

With a nod, Madison answered, “yeah. Probably knew more about him than he did. Nate was…” she smiled fondly. “He was nice. But, uh--I mean, you get a few scotches in him and he’d start hitting on anything within a five-mile radius. You know the type.”

“Did Nate have any enemies?” Dean inquired.

“What do you mean? It sure looked like an animal attack.”

“No, yeah--we’re just covering all the bases. Anyone that might have had a beef with him--a former client, an ex…”

Madison groaned softly hating to answer that question. “Well, this is kinda embarrassing, but my ex-boyfriend, Kurt--Kurt Mueller. He went a little nuts after our break up. He’s...kind of been stalking me. I guess he got it in his head that there was something going on between me and Nate and showed up at the office one day. Kurt came in pissed and started something with Nate and threw a punch. Security had to come in and drag him out. I’m lucky I didn’t lose my job.”

“When did you see Kurt last?” Riley felt a gentleness coming from Madison. She seemed like a genuinely sweet girl. Everything she was saying up until then was the whole truth. It didn’t seem like she had much to hide at all; except for the fact that Riley was able to pick up that the girl was definitely attracted to Sam.

It made her have to hide a smile she felt coming on.

“Actually, a few nights ago, the night Nate died. Kurt showed up when a bunch of us from the office went out for a drink. It was like--he was watching me? He just disappeared. I’ll be honest,” Madison paused. “He scares me.”

------

The hunters went down the steps toward the sidewalk. Bare winter trees surrounded the area and the cold bay air caused their breaths to fog.

“So, what do you guys think?” Riley asked. “I mean, the stalker ex-boyfriend hated the boss and was there the same night.”

Dean looked around the neighborhood, checking things around them as he always did. “Think he’s our dog-faced boy?”

“Well, it’s a theory,” Sam shrugged.

“We’ve gone off worse.”

As they all reached the Impala, Riley reached for the front door handle. “I say we give Kurt a friendly visit.”

Riley and the Winchesters got in the car and drove down the road.

At that moment, Madison began to peek out the window after hearing a noise from outside. Moving the curtains to get a better look, she saw Kurt standing on her lawn, staring back up at her. She gasped and jumped back.

When she went to look again, Kurt was already gone.

------

That night, the boys and Riley had arrived at Kurt’s apartment. After scoping out the area and knowing he wasn’t home, Dean picked the lock before they all went inside.

Nodding her head and giving a face of approval, Riley looked around some more before speaking. “Huh. Much nicer than what I was expecting.”

“What were you expecting?” Sam asked.

“I dunno...not so clean and decorated. More...serial killer-ish? I mean, where’s the wall mural of Madison photos? Stalker fail.”

He chuckled and looked over to Dean who was looking in the fridge. “Anything?”

“Nah. Nothing but a six-pack and leftovers.”

“Check the freezer,” Riley said, interjecting. “Might be some frozen remains. Oh, and see if he’s got any ice cream. That sounds amazing.”

“No left-over doggie food or Haagen-Dazs.”

She sighed. “Wishful thinking.”

There was a sound nearby of a door opening and then shutting and the hunters all turned to look at each other.

Dean opened the sliding glass door out to the balcony and stepped outside. On the wall, he could see claw marks in the concrete that drug down to the ground.

“Guys,” Dean called. “Come here.” They joined him and he pointed to his find. “Check it out.”

After Sam, Dean, and Riley went back inside to continue their search for more about Kurt, the sound of a gunshot echoed through the neighborhood from outside.

Immediately, the three took off in its direction and found themselves on the side of the apartment building. In the alley, behind a large dumpster, lied the mauled body of a policeman. His flesh was torn into and his chest cavity had been ripped completely open. The fresh blood still gushed from him onto the concrete.

Sam pulled out his phone. “I’ll call 911.”

Dean pushed the dumpster out of the way before bending down to get a closer look and Riley joined him.

“I’d say Kurt’s looking more and more like our Cujo,” he said looking over the mangled body.

“Crap,” Riley muttered. “We gotta go check on Madison if he’s out there.”

------

It was early morning as the hunters knock on Madison’s apartment door, across the hall, Glen opened his door to the sound. “What’s going on?”

“Police business, Glen,” Dean answered.

Madison opened the door in her pajamas and robe, surprised to see them again. “What is it?” she asked, worried.

Glancing over at Glen, Sam told her, “maybe we should talk somewhere, privately.”

She stepped out of the way of the entrance letting them all in.

Riley turned to look at Glen once more and her eyes squinted slightly, not understanding on what she was picking up on him. It was strange, but she just studied him for a moment before he shut his door and disappeared into his apartment.

When they were all inside and into the kitchen, Madison poured them all cups of freshly brewed coffee. Steam formed as the warm drink filled their mugs.

“Has Kurt been here?” Sam sipped at his mug.

Riley could feel Sam’s heart flutter as he talked to Madison. His thoughts rushed and she could hear him think about how beautiful she was. Knowing they both liked each other, Riley had to somehow get them to spend time together.

Riley knew Madison would be good for Sam. Not to mention the guy hadn’t exactly spent much time with a woman since losing Jess.

“Not exactly,” she responded. “He was outside last night. Just...looking at me.”

The three exchanged looks and it didn’t go unnoticed by Madison.

“Oh god, has he done something?”

“We’re, uh--we’re not really sure...”

Dean jumped in, “It’s probably nothing, but...we just don’t wanna take any chances. In fact, one of us should probably stay here with you? Just in case he stops by. Where does he work?”

“He owns a body shop.”

“You mind grabbing that address for us?”

She nodded at his request and left the kitchen to retrieve it.

“Alright,” Sam started. “I’ll stay here. You guys go check out the body shop.”

Agreeing, almost too earnestly, Riley replied, “yeah! I think that’s a great idea!” She was smiling knowing that was her opportunity to get them together. “We’re gonna get out of here.”

Riley took Dean’s hand and waved at Sam before pulling her boyfriend along with her.

The brothers shared a quick look of uncertainty before they could no longer see each other.

When they got to the hallway, Dean closed the door behind them and glanced at her in curiosity. “What the hell was that about?”

“We…” she said hooking her arm into Dean’s, “are gonna let those two have some time alone.”

It took a second, but Dean caught on his eyebrow hooked. “Did you pick up on something?”

“Ohhhh yeah. Let’s just say...even if they have nothing to talk about, they’ll still enjoy each other’s company immensely.”

Dean grinned. “My boy.”

------

Later that morning, Madison went through her mail while Sam watched her from the kitchen. When she felt his eyes on her, she turned to meet his gaze. He smiled uncomfortably at Madison, not knowing how to act around her.

“Um...do you wanna sit on the couch?” she offered.

“No, no, no. I’m okay.”

“Are you sure,” Madison pressed sweetly. “It’s more comfortable.”

“Ah, I’m fine.”

She came back to the table with a basket of laundry and turned it over to drop it all in front of the hunter. Madison began to sift through the clothing and sorted out her underwear as she pulled out a lacy thong.

The second Sam saw the sexy underwear, he swallowed hard and blurted out, “you know what? I think I will sit on the couch.”

He awkwardly got up and went over to find another seat away from her lingerie and she smiled at his response. Sam’s cell phone rang and he pulled it out to answer.

Riley’s voice came through the line before he could even speak. “Let me guess, you’re trying to think of something to say to her and sitting all the couch like a scared teenager,” she teased.

“Did you find Kurt?”

“Nuh-uh. Dude hasn’t been in for the last week. Boss says he’s M.I.A. But, because Dean and I are just so freaking good, we got a line on where we might be able to find him.”

Sam could hear the familiar squeak of the doors as Riley and Dean got into the Impala.

“What’s she wearing?” Dean shouted loud enough for Sam to hear.

“Bye, guys.” Sam hung up immediately after, returning to his uncomfortable situation and fiddling with his hands.

Madison walked over to the couch and sat beside him before picking up the remote and turning on a soap opera.

Sam made a face, obviously unhappy with her choice.

“I saw that,” she teased.

He tried to play innocent. “What?”

“Okay, here’s the deal,” Madison smiled. “My house, my TV, and I never get to watch my show. So, suck it up.”

------

The credits from the daytime drama rolled as Sam sat on the couch completely riveted. “Wait, wait--okay, so just to get back at him, Kendall married Ethan’s father?”

“Mm-hmm. And now? All those casinos that Ethan is supposed to inherit? They’ll all go to her.”

“What a bitch!” Sam said emphatically before they both started laughing.

“Admit it. You’re hooked.”

“No, no, no, no, no, no. I wouldn’t say I’m hooked.” Madison giggled at Sam’s words. “You know, can I ask you a question? It’s--it's a little personal.”

“You’ve seen my entire underwear collection. Go ahead.”

He smiled and nodded. “Okay, um…well, you’re--you're clearly smart. I mean, your house is full--is full of great books, you know? And you’re independent…” Sam trailed off before looking over at her. “What were you doing with Kurt?”

After a pause, Madison shook her head. “I don’t know. I mean, it’s not like he introduced himself, like, ‘hi, I’m possessive and controlling and I like to punch people. Wanna be my girlfriend’?” The two laughed again as Sam nodded lightly. “I mean, we all make mistakes, but mine’s wanted by the police.” She took a beat again before becoming more serious. “You wanna know why I stayed with him? Really? ...I was too insecure to leave.”

“I find that hard to believe. I mean, you don’t really seem like the type.”

“Yeah, well, some stuff happened. My life changed, I changed--for the better, I think.

“What happened?”

“Well, for one thing, I got mugged.”

Sam was taken back and smiled, surprised by her answer. “And that’s supposed to be a good thing?”

“Now, don’t get me wrong,” she started. “It rattled the crap outta me. But I kinda had an epiphany. I could either take control of my life or keep feeling sorry for myself. First thing I did was tell Kurt that it was time for him to go.”

“Smart move.”

“Apparently, after that? Things just kind of blossomed. All of it really has been kind of wonderful.” When Sam shrugged, she asked with a smile, “what? Doesn’t everyone think that the best thing that ever happened to them was some random, crazy act of violence?”

Sam laughed. “Not usually, but you’re--unusual,” he added awkwardly.

“Unusual like...” she circled her finger, pointing at her head in a funny gesture as to say ‘crazy’. “That kind of ‘unusual’?”

“No, no, no, no, no…” he replied earnestly. “Unusual like...impressive.” Sam looked at her like he hadn’t looked at another woman in longer than he could remember.

“...really?” Madison tried to hide her desire to grin, completely flattered, before softly asking, “you think so?”

Sam’s phone rang, interrupting their moment and he smiled, apologetically. “Hey.”

“I found him,” Dean told him over loud club music. He was sitting in a private booth of a strip club with Riley as his eyes landed on Kurt who was drinking a beer.

“Good. Don’t take your eyes off him,” Sam’s voice echoed from the other end of the line.

Dean ended the call as Riley gave him a flirty look. “What’s going on in that little mind of yours?”

“Well…” Riley got up and straddled Dean with her arms around his neck.

His hands went to her waist and gripped at her hips as his breath hitched.

“We’re in a strip club and you’re trying not to look at naked women because of me. Least I can do is make sure you get a little show…” She bit her lip and played with the back of his neck.

Dean beamed and he suddenly got antsy in his seat as she took off her jacket, revealing her low cut, black tank top. Her lace bra poked out the top just enough to be the perfect tease.

As she began to slowly grind on his lap to the music, Dean tried to hide the groan that tried to claw its way out of his throat. Their jeans rubbed together in the most perfect way as the heat between them rose.

Riley could see him begin to wiggle underneath him and she grinned before leaning into his ear. “Good thing the music’s loud,” she whispered. “Wouldn’t want anyone else knowing you’re gonna be getting a strip club ‘happy ending’.” She softly nibbled his ear and that moan finally escaped him.

Dean grabbed her backside and encouraged her grinding as he looked her in her eyes intently. “God, I love you.”

“I love you too. Hey, don’t forget to keep an eye on the creep alright?” she reminded him.

“Right--right.” Dean almost moaned as his mouth found her neck. “We’re on a job and I take my work...very seriously,” he mumbled into her skin.

------

Riley and Dean had followed Kurt back to his apartment building. It was night and they leaned against a large dumpster in the alley below as they watched for anything to happen. Loud music came from Kurt’s place and the lights were all still on.

Loading her gun with a silver bullet, Riley cocked it. She gazed up at the apartment and then back at Dean who was pouting.

“I get five minutes in a booth with you and the guy takes off,” he complained with a huff. “You know it’s been over a week since we’ve had time alone together? I’m dying over here.”

She chuckled. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be such a tease--thought for sure we’d have more time.”

“Yeah, well...you better be ready when the opportunity presents itself because you started something and I’m fucking finishing it.”

Riley bit her lip and met his eyes. “Mm…” she mewed. “Better keep that promise.”

Grabbing the back of her head as his fingers tangled into her hair, Dean pulled her in for a passionate and heated kiss.

Not more than a few seconds later, a loud crash of glass shattering came from above them and they turned to the sound as the lights above turned off.

“What that fuck?” Dean muttered before they both ran towards the entrance of the building in a sprint.

After they had climbed the stairs and finally reached the apartment, Dean kicked open the door with he and Riley holding their guns ready.

He glided in first, clearing the room as she covered his back. They split up as Dean went into the bedrooms and Riley into the kitchen. She slowed down as she heard a loud crunching coming from just ahead.

Riley peered inside and lowered her gun in shock. On the floor, was Kurt. His chest was torn to shreds and a woman was feeding on his freshly dead corpse.

The creature heard the hunter and turned in her direction. Electric blue eyes with slanted pupils that resembled a cat, stared back at her. The creature’s nails had grown long into deadly claws. Fierce, blood-stained teeth snarled harshly as flesh fell from her mouth. It was Madison.

“Oh shit…” Riley murmured under her breath. In that brief moment, the hunter could finally hear the growling inside the monster. It sounded more primal than anything she had ever heard before and it sounded hungry.

Before she could yell for Dean, Madison lunged at her and threw her against the wall. Riley grunted at the impact and fell to the ground. Her gun fell from her hand and out of her reach as her eyes began to close.

Dean rushed into the room at the commotion and found Riley and Kurt’s body on the floor. Whatever had been in the kitchen with them, had already fled. He fell to his knees by his girlfriend’s side with fear and dropped his gun. “Sweetheart--Rye, you okay?”

Suddenly, there was a sound coming from behind him and when he spun around, Dean’s eyes widened as he saw Madison charging towards him. She had already been too close for him to react. The was no time to grab his gun before he was shoved across the room and hit the wooden floor.

The werewolf jumped on top of him and he struggled to hold her back as he pulled out a silver knife and sliced her arm.

Madison growled out loudly in pain before dashing towards the open window and disappearing into the night.

Dean had hit his head as well and the room began to grow dark around him. “Riley…” he whispered before losing consciousness.

------

“Dean…” Riley begged as she shook him. “Dean, wake up.”

He slowly opened his eyes and saw her hovering above him as the soft morning light glowed on her face.

Riley sighed in relief and Dean instantly reached up for her.

“Shit, are you alright?! I couldn’t get to you. Madison...she came outta nowhere...”

Riley shushed him. “Dean, it’s okay. I’m okay.”

Dean grunted as he sat up, sore from the blow, but he had to get to Riley. His arms wrapped around her and pulled her close.

As though it had all finally come back to him, he pulled away and grabbed for his phone. “Shit. I gotta call Sam.”

------

Sam walked over to the kitchen and grabbed a glass before turning on the faucet to get a glass of water. His lips met the rim and he drank while his cell phone rang. It was Dean.

“Dean, are you guys okay?”

“Yeah, now that we’re both conscious. The werewolf knocked us both out cold. Sam, it’s Madison.”

“What?!” Sam asked in shock. He walked into the living room and then down towards her bedroom and opened her door. She was sound asleep in her bed.

Riley stretched her neck and seethed through her teeth at the pain before yelling, “nice job keeping an eye on the girl, Sam!”

“I’ve been here the whole time,” Sam’s brow furrowed and he was more than taken back. “She’s in bed, asleep.”

“Well, she wasn’t a couple hours ago. Check her right arm below her elbow,” Dean pushed. “I nicked her with a silver knife.”

Sam hung up the phone and stood in Madison’s room near the foot of her bed. She woke to the sound of his boots hitting the floor.

“Good morning,” she cooed. Sitting up to look at him, Madison realized she was naked, covered only by her bed sheet.

Sam could see the cut on her arm that Dean had described as she wrapped her arm over her chest.

“Um...where are my pajamas?”

Shaken and clearly upset at what he had just discovered, Sam didn’t say a word, only to leave the room and stomp off.

“Sam?” she called. Madison wrapped a blanket around her and went after him. “Sam, what’s going on? Where are you going?” She walked into the living room to see him at the front door, locking it.

“I’m not going anywhere...and neither are you.”

------

After allowing her to get dressed, Sam had bound her wrists to a chair in the main room. He stood in front of her with a gun in hand and his arms slightly folded. Sam was so angry with himself for being so foolish. He kept telling himself that he should have known.

“You’re psychotic,” Madison told him. “The whole ‘I’m a cop’ trick? God, I’m so stupid.”

“Well, I guess neither of us are who we are we were, huh?” Sam snarked.

Fear filled Madison as she stared at the hunter and she fought back the urge to cry. “Sam, you’re sick, okay? You’re imagining things. Monsters don’t exist, not really.”

“You know what? Save the act.”

“It’s not an act!” she finally sobbed. “I am not a werewolf! There’s no such thing! It’s made up, alright? Th--they’re not real! You know they’re not real!”

“No?!” he snapped and pointed to her fresh wound. “Then where did that come from?”

“I don’t know! Sam, God, you need help. Please, don’t do something that you’re gonna regret. I’m not what you think I am. I’m not.”

Sam was visibly upset and shaking with both rage and pain after having developed feelings for her. There was a knocking at the door and he went to answer it.

Dean entered and Riley followed. The older brother smirked at Madison.

“How you doin’? My head feels great, thanks. By the way, you’re lucky I don’t put a bullet in your right now for hurting her.” Dean threatened, pointing at Riley.

“We’ve gotta talk.” Sam brought his partners into the other room to talk in private. “She says she has no idea what I’m talking about.”

“She’s lying.”

“Or, maybe she really doesn’t know she’s changing, you know? Maybe--maybe when the creature takes over, she blacks out.”

Annoyed with his brother’s theory, Dean rolled his eyes. “Like a really hot Incredible Hulk? Come on, dude, she ganked her boss and her ex-boyfriend. That doesn’t sound rash and unconscious.”

“Yeah, but what if it was, Dean? I mean, what if some animal part of her brain saw both those guys as threats? Hell, the cop, too.”

“What are you, the Dog Whisperer now?” Riley asked with attitude.

“Look, I just...I don’t know. There--there was something in her eyes.”

“...the look of a killer, mayhaps?”

“But if she has no control over it--”

“Exactly,” Dean agreed. “She can’t control it. Even if she’s telling the truth, it’s not gonna change anything.”

“I’m not putting a bullet through some girl’s chest who has no idea what’s happening.”

“Sam, she’s a monster and you’re feeling sorry for her?”

“Maybe I understand her.” Sam paused and his face softened with almost a pleading look. “Look, there might be another way we can get the job done without having to waste her.” He went over to his bag and pulled out John’s hunter’s journal.

Riley put up a hand to interrupt. “Another way to stop a werewolf? Oh, this should be interesting.”

“Dad’s theory--” The youngest Winchester read his father’s words. “Lycanthropy might have a cure if you kill the werewolf who bit you, severing the bloodline”.

“Might have a cure.” Dean started. “Meaning “who the fuck knows?”

“It’s worth a shot.”

Riley sighed heavily. She could feel Sam’s emotions, how desperately he wanted to find an answer. She wanted more than anything for Sam to be happy, but she’d be damned if he’d be with a werewolf.

Gently, Riley told him, “Sam, where would we even start looking? I mean, the bitch that bit her could be long gone. Could be anyone...or anywhere. Madison could have been bitten years ago.”

Sam’s eyes lit up with a realization. “No. I don’t think so.” He led them both back into the living room where Madison was still tied to the seat. “Madison, when were you mugged?”

She just looked up at Sam, scared and hurt as she refused to comply.

“Please. It’s important, alright? Just answer the question.”

“About a month ago.”

“Did you see the guy?”

“No. He grabbed me from behind.”

“Did he bite you?”

Madison looked at Sam as tears formed in her eyes. “On--on the back of my neck. How did you know that?”

Showing that he meant her no harm, Sam made it clear to her that he was setting his gun down on the table and went behind her.

Brushing her hair away, he exposed a scarred lump the size of a golf ball on her neck. Riley and Dean joined him to see what he had found.

“Oh, that’s just a love bite,” Dean teased. “Believe me, that could have been a lot worse. Actually, I think she’s gotten worse,” he nodded in Riley’s direction and smiled with pride.

Riley scoffed through a laugh and hid her face while Sam gave him a look urging him to move on.

Dean cleared his throat. “Where were you at the time?”

“Walking home from a friend’s loft.”

“Let me guess, not too far from Hunter’s Point?” Dean asked as he circled her.

Madison nodded.

As the brothers motioned for them to all leave the room again to talk, Riley stood in her spot just looking at the woman who had attacked them only hours before. She was trying to penetrate her mind and see if she had been lying.

Unfortunately, it seemed that besides the animalistic noises that came from monsters; thoughts of creatures were much harder to read.

A minute more of focusing, Riley could finally hear her. “What is she looking at me like that for? Oh my god, they’re gonna kill me. They��re all crazy. They really think I’m a werewolf. What the fuck have I gotten myself into?”

The hunter’s face softened and her muscles relaxed. Riley turned on her heel to meet the boys. She swung open the kitchen door where Sam and Dean were talking.

Sam was finishing his thought. “The same place where those other murders happened. I’m telling you, it’s a werewolf’s hunting grounds.”

“Maybe,” Dean returned. “But that doesn’t mean it’s gonna be out there tonight.”

“You guys…” Riley said softly.

“It’s the right time of the lunar cycle,” Sam nodded. “Look, I know it’s a long shot.”

“Guys…” she tried again.

“Hey, you’re forgetting something. Maddie’s probably gonna turn soon, alright? We can’t just let her take off to an all-you-can-eat buffet,” Dean snarked.

Riley huffed and raised her voice. “Alright, if you both don’t listen to me right now, I’m gonna start kicking your asses.”

Sam and Dean’s eyes widened slightly as they both gave each other a look of ‘yikes’.

She sighed, calming herself. “I got through to Madison. Yes, she’s something you probably don’t wanna feed after midnight, but she really doesn’t know she’s a werewolf.”

“Wait, seriously?” Sam asked hopefully.

“Yeah. She thinks we’re all nuts. The girl is scared out of her mind.”

“I’m gonna stay with her. You guys go.”

“And if she busts loose?” Dean waited for his brother to respond and when he didn’t he grew more stern. “Sam?”

Sam’s voice broke a little as he told him, “I’ll shoot her, okay? But Dean, I need you to go out there--at least go look for the thing. Guys, please. We can save this girl.”

Feeling everything that radiated from Sam, all the pain and desperation, Riley knew it was all so real for him. This wasn’t just a crush. Sam felt something for Madison--something he hadn’t felt in a long time and he wasn’t ready to give it up.

“Okay,” Riley told him. “Let’s do it your way.”

Dean was looking intently at his brother with worry and she reached for his hand.

“Come on, Dean,” she whispered as they both left.

When Sam went back into the living room, he saw Madison still in her chair, with tears running down her face. “Please…” she begged through her sobbing. “Please...just let me go.”

He sighed heavily and hated to see her in pain. The hunter grabbed a chair and pulled it closer so he could sit in front of her. “Look…” Sam’s tone was soft and gentle. “I know you’re scared. I also know that there’s no way in hell you’re gonna believe me. But I’m doing this because I’m trying to help you. I’m not gonna lie, alright? The odds aren’t exactly in our favor. But, if this goes the way I pray it does...I’ll untie you, and I’ll walk out that door, and I’ll never come back. You’ll live the rest of your life,” his voice was almost at a whisper as he felt the lump in his throat grow and tears forming at his eyes. “...and I’ll just be a bad memory.”

------

Sam stood looking out the window, his heart heavy with guilt. He gazed at the moon as it’s light softly glowed on him and the curtains of the windows.

Hearing something behind him, he turned to see Madison. Her fingernails began to grow before his eyes and stretched into long claws.

Madison’s eyes changed to a bright blue and her teeth had suddenly become monstrous. She growled as she bared her hungry fangs and ripped through the restraints that held her down, releasing herself. The now turned werewolf went straight for the hunter.

Her claws met Sam’s cheek and tore through his skin. Madison’s strength was enough to send him to the ground onto his belly.

Sam quickly got up and drew his weapon.

He couldn’t shoot her. He wouldn’t shoot her. There had to be another way to buy some time.

Sam backed up as Madison eased towards him with her mouth drooling, ready to rip him apart and devour him.

Realizing there was a door to her bedroom behind him, he pulled it open as she lunged in his direction. Immediately, Sam slammed the door shut behind her and pushed the entertainment center in front of it.

The door rattled and shook as the creature inside banged and fought to free itself.

------

In a dark alley in Hunter’s Point, Riley and Dean had been canvassing the area. The night was still as they stayed quiet and vigilantly looked for the creature they hoped to find. They wouldn’t be splitting up this time.

A blood-curdling scream came from nearby and the hunters sped in its direction. Their hearts beat fast and their breaths quickened as their boots rapidly hit the street.

Dean and Riley stopped when they saw a blonde woman screaming for help with a man on top of her. He was growling, had massive claws, and his fangs were ready to feast.

Being quick at the draw, they both fired two shots each directly into the werewolf’s chest. He jolted at each bullet and then collapsed beside the woman as he began to cough up blood.

The blonde, scared and shaken, got up and ran off.

“You’re welcome!” Dean shouted.

Riley scurried over to the defeated creature knowing exactly who it was. It was Glen, Madison’s neighbor. She knew then why she felt that strange feeling coming from him before.

As she looked down at him, Riley crouched nearer as his eyes and teeth returned to their human state.

Blood poured from his mouth and his body shook in shock. “It happened...again,” Glen choked. “Where am I? H--help me. Oh, God. Oh my God.”

Closing her eyes, Riley went to touch his arm.

Dean blurted, “Rye, don’t.”

“It’s okay, Dean...he’s not gonna hurt me.” She focused all her energy and thought, “please, let me at least do this right.”

Riley reached into him and brought about thoughts of better times into his mind. Her abilities helped ease Glen’s moment of terror as flashes of childhood memories swam through him. There was a brief smile as he released his final breath.

That breeze of death that Riley had begun to expect blew through her as his soul left his body.

------

Madison awoke in the comfort of her bed. The morning birds sang as she opened her eyes and looked towards the doorway, there was Sam. The door had nearly been torn apart with claw marks leaving it completely destroyed.

“It should be over now.” Sam’s eyes flooded and he sniffled. “You’ll never see me again.”

She slowly got up and surveyed her bedroom. All the furniture and walls were ruined beyond recognition. Scratches and tears ripped through everything she owned.

As her eyes went back to find Sam, he was already gone.

------

“It’s sad actually,” Dean started as they all sat in the Impala outside Madison’s home. “Glen had no clue what was going on. Hey, why do you guys think he didn’t kill Madison? I mean, why turn her?”

Sam stared up at the house, still wishing he could go back inside. “I think he had a thing for her.”

There was a silence that fell in the car and Riley shifted to look at Sam who sat in the back seat. “Sam, what about Madison?”

“What about her?”

“Oh, come on. I know how you feel about her. I can feel it practically seeping out of you. With how strong these feelings are, hell, I miss her.”

“What do you want me to do, Rye? She thinks I’m a fucking lunatic.

Dean shrugged. “You saved her life, man.”

“She doesn’t know that.”

Madison appeared at the window beside them. “You know, for a stake-out, your car’s a little conspicuous. What are you still doing here?”

“Honestly?” Dean replied. “Uh--we’re pretty sure you’re not gonna turn tonight, but we’ve gotta be a hundred percent, so, you know, we’re...lurking.”

Riley gave Dean a look and slapped his arm. “You’ll have to excuse my boyfriend. His mouth tends to run away from him.”

“I know this sounds crazy,” Sam told her with hopeful eyes just happy to see her again.

“Sure does.” Madison paused with a sigh. “So, you were telling the truth weren’t you? About everything. You were just trying to protect me…”

Sam nodded softly. “Yeah.”

She wasn’t ready to let him go. Sam already meant more to her than Madison cared to admit. “Well, if we’re gonna wait it out...we might as well do it together.”

------

Just short of twenty-four hours later, the hunters had waited out the next long night. All four watched from the large window in front of the house as the sun rose over the horizon.

Madison had made it through the night without turning.

“Does--does this mean it worked?” Madison asked eagerly.

The tense muscles Sam had carried over the last two days finally relaxed as he looked at her. “Yeah. I think so.”

She sighed in relief, “oh my God. Thank you. Thank you so much.” Madison’s arms wrapped around Sam in a warm and grateful embrace.

Wanting to be recognized as well, Dean cleared his throat and she turned to face him with a smile.

“Yes, you too, Dean...and of course Riley. Thank you.”

“Aw, don’t mention it,” Dean told her as if her words weren’t necessary.

There was an awkward pause in the room and Riley could hear Sam’s thoughts. “God, are they ever going to leave? Jesus.”

Following immediately after was Madison’s. “They’re not gonna want to stay, right?”

Riley clapped her hands together. “So, Dean, I think it’s time you and I head back to the motel room.” She smirked and put an arm around his waist.

Dean’s arm dropped down over her shoulders and he shot her a playful look. “Oh, that is most definitely true. We’ll, uh--we’ll just leave you two kids to it.” As he and Riley walked towards the door, Dean pumped his fist up in the air as a signal to Sam before the couple disappeared behind the closing door.

“That was smooth,” Madison joked with a laugh.

Sam was mortified by his big brother. “He means well, but…”

“You mean, he thinks you’re gonna get laid.”

“Look, I--”

“Sam,” she said shaking her head. “It’s alright.”

“No. I know I scared the shit out of you, alright? I--I mean, I tied you to a chair.”

“That’s right up there with me scratching up your face.”

“There’s just no way...we could go back, you know? Before it happened.”

“You’re right. There’s just no way.”

The two stood in front of each other fighting every urge they had for the other. Sam’s heart beat hard in his chest as he stared into her brown eyes. wanting her more than anything.

Madison bit her bottom lip and after a moment, she surrendered and kissed him.

Immediately responding, Sam pushed her against the wall as they kissed passionately.

They stripped each other of their clothing and made their way to the bedroom, falling back onto the bed. The fireplace glowed through the room and danced on their skin as the couple went back and forth over who would pin down the other.

Sam kissed every part of her body in earnest and he bit at her neck and ear. Pulling her up and into his lap, Sam brought them together as they both moaned out in unison.

It was better than Sam had even imagined. They rocked together before he laid them down and continued to give himself to her as he groaned into her neck.

Throughout the day and into the night, Sam and Madison continued to make love again and again as they let go of all they had been holding back. Finally, they both fall asleep in each other’s arms, completely content.

------

The door to the motel room swung open and hit the wall as Dean and Riley came through, already kissing each other in hunger.

Dean kicked the door closed behind them, never breaking away from her. Both went to work quickly undressing the other as their lips clung together. Dean picked her up and held her tightly under her upper thigh as her legs wrapped around him. Carrying her over to the bed, he sat on the edge as Riley slowed them down and gazed deep into his eyes.

They drank each other in as she lowered herself onto his lap and Dean’s jaw went slack as he moaned deep from his chest.

Riley’s head fell back as she lost herself in everything he was and his mouth went to her exposed chest and neck.

After a few moments, Dean picked her up once again and flipped her onto the bed never releasing their bond. He grabbed the headboard and forced himself as far as he could as Riley moaned his name.

“Look at me…” he whispered through a grunt. Their eyes met again and they both shook with pleasure. “I love you.”

Panting, Riley fought to catch her breath. “I love you, Dean.”

------

The next morning, Riley and Dean laid together in bed, tangled in each other. Riley traced her fingers on his chest and he rubbed her back as the silent minutes passed peacefully.

“Dean,” Riley picked up her head and placed her chin onto his chest and he lovingly looked back at her. “I have to tell you something.”

“Okay…” He brushed her hair behind her ear.

Closing her eyes to gain her courage she took a deep breath. “The Demon. He came to me in my dreams.”

Dean’s eyes grew. “What? When did that happen?”

“Actually...it happens almost every night.”

“Why didn’t you tell me? What does he say?”

“That I’m special and I’m not like the rest.” Tears welled in her eyes. “Dean, he said he’s coming for me.”

Dean quickly sat up to lean against the headboard and pulled her up with him before holding her chin in place for their eyes to lock. “I won’t let that happen. Do you hear me? I’m gonna keep you safe.”

“Dean...what if you can’t? What if Sam was right? Maybe this is our destiny.”

“No.” Dean’s voice was stern and adamant. “You and Sam? You’re all that matters to me. There is nothing and no one that will ever take either of you away from me. I will burn the world to the ground before I let you go.” His hands found both sides of her face as he kissed her hard and fervently. “If you’re in this with me, Rye...then it’s till the end.”

Riley’s hand sat on top of his as it cupped her cheek and she sniffled back her tears. “...till the end,” she whispered. She looked towards the door and her brow furrowed as she focused on a feeling nearby. “Sam…?”

There was a loud bang at the door and Dean grabbed a sheet to cover himself as he went to answer. The banging continued relentlessly. “I’m coming!” he yelled.

When he opened the door, there stood Sam, completely breathless and panicked. “She--she turned.”

“What?!”

“I couldn’t grab her in time. She’s out there somewhere.”

“We’ll find her, Sammy,” Dean offered in comfort. He turned around to run back inside for his clothes while Riley was already half-dressed and hurrying to go.

------

Sam, Dean, and Riley all hurried down the stairs from the China Sea Motel. The cold wind blew through them and Riley’s hair flew slightly behind her.

“I already called Bobby,” Sam started. “He doesn’t know anything. Well, except he knew that severing bloodlines doesn’t work. All our connections agree with him too. It’s completely impossible to reverse.”

Riley shook her head. “But it doesn’t make any sense. Why didn’t she turn during the night when we were all with her?”

“There’s gotta be a way to help her--some legend or something with answers.”

“If there was, don’t you think someone we know would have known it?” Dean asked.

“Well, we just have to look harder until we fucking find something!”

Dean put his hand out and stopped Sam so he could look him in the eye. “Sam, I don’t think we got a choice here anymore. I mean, she’s a sweet girl and I hate to say it, but part of her is--”

“Evil?!” Sam interjected. “Yeah, that’s what they say about me, Dean! And Riley! So, us you won’t kill, but her you’re just gonna blow away?”

Sam’s phone rang and he answered with a scoff still frustrated with Dean. He didn’t get a word in before someone spoke through the line. “Madison…? Where are you?” he questioned in a panic.

His brother and sister both looked at him, anxiously awaiting answers.

“Okay, Maddie, stay there. We’re coming to get you.”

------

The hunters sat at Madison’s dining room table with her and listened to her tell her story of the night before. Sam’s eyes refused to leave her face as he felt a swell of emotions for her.

Riley had to close her eyes and focus to keep his pain from consuming her along with Madison’s own fear and guilt.

The gun that sat on the table felt like a dark cloud that hung over them all.

“I don’t remember anything,” Madison recounted to the others. “I probably killed someone last night. Didn’t I?”

“I don’t think there’s any way to know that yet,” Riley replied in a soothing voice.

“Is there something else we can try to make it go away?”

Sam refused to give up on her. There had to be a way. “We’ll find something. I mean, there’s gotta be some answer--somewhere.”

Interrupting, Dean looked at the scared woman and shook his head. “That’s not entirely true. Madison, you deserve to know. We’ve scoured every source. There’s just no cure.”

She turned to Sam in desperation. “Is--is he right?”

The young Winchester’s jaw clenched and he felt he would explode in pain as he stood and turned away. A lump in his throat grew so large he could hardly swallow.

“Well, we could lock you up at night,” Dean offered hesitantly. “But...you bust out, and some night you will, someone else dies. I’m sorry. I am.”

Madison began to cry and exhaled heavily. “So, I guess that’s all there is to it, then.”

Shocked at her response, Sam spun around to look at her. “Stop it,” he told her. “Don’t talk like that.”

“Sam, I don’t want to hurt anyone else.” Her voice broken as her gaze met his. “I don’t wanna hurt you.” Madison picked up the gun and walked over to Sam.

“Put that down.”

“I can’t do it myself.” She handed him the gun and swallowed hard. “I need your help.”

“Madison, no.”

“Sam...I’m a monster.”

Sam’s breaths grew harder and harder to catch as their conversation went on. “You don’t have to be. We can find a way, alright? I can. I’m gonna save you.”

Crying even harder, she pleaded with the hunter. “You tried. I know you tried. But this is all there is left. Help me, Sam. I want you to do it. I want it to be you.”

“I can’t,” he said firmly.

Tears streamed down Madison’s face and rolled down her neck. “I don’t wanna die. But I can’t live like this. This is the way you can save me. Please. I’m asking you to save me.”

Sam shook his head, unable to find any more words.

Riley had a tear falling down her face as she touched Dean’s shoulder. “You have to help him. He can’t do this, Dean. It’ll kill him.”

Dean looked to her and acknowledged the thought as he got up slowly and moved closer to the couple. He delicately took the gun from Madison’s hand and Sam walked to the kitchen.

She stood in the spot where he left her as Riley and Dean followed Sam into the other room.

Sam’s lips and jaw trembled as he choked back his tears. His partners silently entered and walked over to him.

“Sam,” Dean said behind him gently. “I’m sorry.”

With tears filling his eyes, Sam turned around to look at them and his face quickly grew wet as his heart broke to pieces. “No, you’re right. She’s right.”

“Sammy, I got this one. I’ll do it.”

“She asked me to.”

Riley tried so hard not to cry and be strong for Sam. But, the pain that broke through him hit her chest so hard it took the wind out of her. His suffering was so immense and she couldn’t fix it.

Trying to bring him comfort wouldn’t help, telling Sam it was going to be okay wouldn’t do anything. Riley’s tears fell as she reached for his arm. “You don’t have to do this, Sammy.”

Sam sobbed. “Yes, I do. Please.” He held out his hand with tears streaming down his face, waiting for the gun.

Dean finally obliged and placed it in his brother’s shaking hand.

“Just wait here.” As Sam went to the doorway, he glanced back at Riley and Dean, his face soaking wet and his chest rising and falling rapidly. He then turned and slowly stepped back into the living room.

With Sam out of the room, Riley lost control of her abilities. Sam’s emotions were too strong and they overwhelmed her in a way she had never felt from someone else before.

Riley’s knees buckled and Dean caught her as she wept. “I--I can’t…” she uttered through her tears. “It hurts so much. Sam--he…it hurts, Dean…”

Wrapping his arms around her, Dean held her tight against his chest. He kissed her head as a tear ran down his own cheek. “Focus on me. Stay here with me.”

Riley tried to listen to Dean’s heartbeat and drown out the agony in the air, but it was useless. The sound of a single gunshot went off and the two flinched. Not able to fight it anymore, Riley went nearly limp in Dean’s chest and wailed silently into him.

Her brother’s heartbreak was her own as the wind was knocked from her chest. It felt as though she was dying, like she would never fully breathe again. It was pure and unimaginable suffering that she couldn’t shut out. If that was what he was feeling, how could Sam ever come back from this?

Sam swore he would save Madison, only in the end, he couldn’t.

Dean’s promise echoed through Riley’s mind in that deafening silence. Maybe her fate would be the same, her light snuffed out by the man she cared for most; a tragic love story to which there would be no happy ending, only darkness and death.

------

S2 Chapter 11: What is and What Should Never Be

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theattainer · 5 years

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THE TEN WORST THINGS YOU CAN DO IN A NEGOTIATION

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http://theattainer.com/the-ten-worst-things-you-can-do-in-a-negotiation-2/

THE TEN WORST THINGS YOU CAN DO IN A NEGOTIATION

The best negotiator I knew always acted like an idiot. He acted so well that I thought he was really stupid. I also thought at the time that he was my best friend.

That was probably an act also. Just two years later he stopped talking to me forever.

I ran into him in the street the other day. He smiled and shook my hand. I felt warm, like he liked me again. Then he was gone.

Negotiation is first about warmth. Two sides deciding if they want to be friends with each other. If they want to be in the same tribe, fighting side by side in this harsh world.

After that it’s about vulnerability. Making yourself into the type of person someone else wants to take care of.

This is not a mystery. When a baby is born the negotiation begins. It lasts until at least the baby is an adult.

My oldest turns 16 tomorrow. She negotiates with me every day. I love her. But maybe that’s what makes her such a tough negotiator.

I’m not so good at realizing where all the boundaries are.

Between the outer me and the inner me. Between the me that always loves her and the me that wants her to love me back.

I guess that’s how I am with everyone. If they don’t love me back, I’m afraid, I’ll be less happy.

If I’m honest where the boundaries are, then we can begin to set up the rules. Then love begins.

Tricky!

I’ve probably seen over 1000 negotiations in action. I’ve probably been directly involved in 100 or so.

Every day life is a negotiation. I’m not talking in this post about the every day negotiations although the same rules apply. I’m talking about negotiations where careers and money and reputations and maybe love is at stake.

For me, that latter is the hardest. So take my advice with a grain of salt. In fact, I’d rather tell you all the ways in which I’ve messed up in negotiations. Because this is really the classroom I learned in.

A) IF YOU HAVE A SMALL LIST OF TERMS, YOU LOSE.

Let’s say you are selling a company. One side is usually focused on the final price. That side will henceforth be called “the loser”.

Make your list bigger: what are the terms of the non-compete, what is the length of the earn out, what are the salaries of the new top executives, what are the perks, what are the options packages.

Or if it’s a job: what are the responsibilities, what are similar people being paid, what is the path to higher promotions, what are the details of health, vacation, moving expenses, reviews, etc.

The side with the bigger list can give up the nickels for the dimes to the loser.

B) IF YOU DON’T GET ENOUGH SLEEP, YOUR WILLPOWER WILL BE ZERO.

Carl Icahn, one of the best investors in the world, uses this technique.

He schedules his negotiations for the early evening.

Our peak mental ability (according to Dan Ariely, author of Predictably Irrational, and many other books) is approximately 2 hours after we wake up until about 4 hours after we wake up.

And then throughout the day, our willpower slowly leaks away until we sleep again. That’s why we watch TV and eat donuts at night rather than when we first wake up.

So Carl Icahn will sleep until 4pm and then go to the negotiation at 6pm.

On the other side of the table are exhausted lawyers who have been working all day.

BAM! Who do you think will win that negotiation.

C) MOST PEOPLE THINK SHORT-TERM. BE THE VISIONARY AND YOU WIN.

Applied Semantics didn’t want to sell to Google in 2001. They had raised some money and thought they could make it.

A few months earlier I had made the mistake of turning them down when they were raising money. “The search engine business is dead!” said the greatest prophet of modern times.

Me.

Larry Page told the CEO of Applied, “I’m not getting off the phone until you say yes”.

So Applied Semantics sold themselves in exchange for 1% of Google. ONE PERCENT.

This was before Google went public. So it was a total unknown what those shares would be worth. Larry Page had the vision of where they would be.

Applied Semantics became the Adsense division of Google. Which now accounts for 99% of Google’s revenues.

Are they upset? Shouldn’t they have sold for more?

Of course not. They sold for over a billion in value and created the end goal of making one of the best companies in the world.

You can only get rich once. Don’t worry so much about maximizing your percentage of something. One percent of $250 billion is better than 100% of nothing, as the saying goes.

I’m going to take a break for a second and say something that has saved me considerable stress.

NEVER WORRY ABOUT WHAT IS IN SOMEONE ELSE’S POCKET.

Let other people do well. Then you will do well.

Ok, back to what you shouldn’t do in a negotiation.

D) DON’T SAY NO.

I say this even though I wrote the book, “The Power of No”. What I really mean here is, bury your NO inside of a YES.

I was negotiating with one company once. They wanted me to be an advisor. I said, “no”. But not like that. What I really said was, “You have a great company and I am happy to give advice.”

What a great way to say no! They kept calling. They really wanted me. I said, “Here’s what you should do without me” and I totally laid out the plan they should do. I did it for free. That was another way of saying “no”.

This made them want me as an advisor even more. Eventually they offered enough that I said, “yes”. They followed my advice exactly. The advice that I had already given for free.

There’s a well-known improv technique of “Yes, and…”

In improv, the first performer creates the premise. The second performer can’t change it or reject it, he can only build on it.

In a negotiation if someone says, “well, you’re only worth $1 because you have X” you can say, “yes, and we also have Y so let’s take that into consideration.”

Suddenly your value is higher because you didn’t start a fight. You agreed and added.

E) MANY PEOPLE NEGOTIATE WITH THE WRONG MATH.

This is the part many people don’t get right and it’s hard to explain. I’ll take a simple example. I don’t know if the negotiation took place this way but it describes what I mean.

Why did Facebook buy Instagram for $1 billion. Instagram had 11 employees and zero revenues.

On that basis, maybe Instagram was worth…nothing. Or close to it.

But maybe the negotiation went something like this:

Instagram: Let’s agree to a formula first on how we should value our company.

Facebook: Err…Ok.

Instagram: Forget about our revenues for a second. But let’s just assume we can earn $X for every user you have (call that number $Y). Pay us $X * Y.

Facebook: Err.Ok.

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Asked us to come up to New York and, as he said, “bring a camera.”

We did. And what happened next was absolutely incredible — live, on camera, this famous celebrity conducted what we can only describe as “a magic income experiment.”

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Instagram probably then showed how they could add $1 in value for every customer Facebook had. Facebook has a billion users. So a billion dollars.

Come to the negotiation with your formula. Know how to fill in the variables before the other side does. Every good negotiator does this.

The reason I know this? Because this is how I’ve lost many negotiations to good negotiators. I’ve had very good mentors on this one aspect of negotiation.

Because we all negotiated the formula, but not the price, in advance, then everyone has already said “Yes” to something and they basically have to stick with it.

(Well, they don’t have to. But it’s high stakes and you don’t want to seem like you don’t live up to your word.)

F) IF YOU HOPE FOR ONLY ONE OUTCOME, YOU NEVER GET IT.

I really wanted my company, Stockpickr, to be bought by Google. I threw everything I could into the basket. I would send them love notes in the middle of the night.

Seriously, I was in love with the woman doing the negotiating.

I didn’t have a technical team was the problem. We built the whole site for a few thousand dollars. I had one partner. We had 99% margins on our revenues but Google likes technical teams.

Oh well.

I then focused on getting alternatives. I called AOL, Yahoo, Reuters, Forbes. Then thestreet.com bought us.

Sometimes people write me and say, “I sent my ten ideas to my favorite company but they haven’t called back. Should I call them again?”

That’s the wrong question. The right question is: “What’s the next 100 companies I should write to?”

It’s no secret that being able to walk away from a negotiation is the best starting point in a negotiation.

G) SMARTER PEOPLE LOSE.

This is what I like to say: you guys are the experts at this, we’ve just been focused on building our product, company, art, whatever.

Then I say, “if you were me, what would you ask for?”

I ask them advice. Because they are the experts. It’s not a lie.

If you are applying for a job with someone more senior than you, why not ask the more senior guy for advice? He knows more than you.

Very often they give very good advice.

H) IF YOU NEGOTIATE WITH A LOSER, YOU LOSE.

If two sides are negotiating, you need at least one champion for what you are doing on the other side.

One time I was working with a company and GE offered us a billion dollars for the company. Yes, a BILLION.

They laid out the time frame. “The deal will be closed by November 15” said the highest ranking person in the room from GE.

I went back to the CEO of the company I was advising and told him that.

He said, “Who were you talking to?” I told him.

He said, “100% chance this deal doesn’t happen”.

But they offered! I told him. They actually made an offer.

“Trust me. No way. There’s no real champion for you on the other side who is close to being a decision maker. She is 5 rungs below the decision maker and she’s your only champion.”

And he was right. That deal did not happen. They found a better way to get what they wanted for 1/200 of the price.

You can only cross the bridge to the other side if someone strong is there holding out their hand to pull you in.

I) THE DEAL IS NOT THE FINAL DEAL. DON’T RELAX!

People think when they agree on a deal, that’s the end of the negotiation.

I’m sorry to say, that is only the beginning of the negotiation.

There’s agreeing, there’s signing, and there’s closing.

The final two steps are equally important and everyone assumes they are easy.

They aren’t. They are excruciatingly painful. The honeymoon period lasts for two days after you agree. Then there can be another six months to go.

Agreeing is easy. “I’ll buy your product or business for $X.”

Signing a deal involves all the little things that are the nickels and dimes (see above).

Closing a deal means both sides delivering everything they represented in a deal.

At each stage of this is buyer’s remorse and seller’s remorse and often things have to be renegotiated.

So every day after agreement, make it a point to stay in touch, be friends, keep focusing on the vision (particularly with the champion for your deal on the other side), have just as much energy to close all the details, keep in touch with the lawyers to make sure paperwork is going through, keep working on the alternatives (since the negotiation is not done til it’s DONE), and so on.

So many deals fall apart after agreement. You don’t need this pain in your life.

LOVE IS A NEGOTIATION.

Taking another break here in the post. Please forgive me for not laying it out all perfect.

When I used to go on a first date I was both scared and excited. I’d get excited first, “she wants to date me!” And then I’d get scared. “Ugh, what do I do now?”

I’d literally do homework for the date. I’d find out her interests and read books on them. I’d watch comedy beforehand. I’d think of things to say and questions to ask. I’m not saying preparation is bad.

One time I was an expert on Kaballah. Another time I had to be an expert on Al Gore (long story). Another time I had to bribe the counter girl to pretend she knew me before my date arrived.

I’d be too scared to show my real self so I’d have to get her to like my fake self long enough for me to feel comfortable showing the real me.

Sometimes that never happened. In many cases I never had a real me. I was always jumping through hoops to keep the fake me going. I had to keep bribing the counter girl everytime we went for yogurt.

This is the difference between agreeing on a deal (the first date) and closing (trust, love, real compassion). This is a problem I’m afraid I will always have. I hope I am getting better bit by bit.

J) MOST DEALS DON’T WORK OUT.

You agree, you sign, you close, and STILL it’s not the end.

Don’t be the guy (or woman) who falls apart now that all the energy of the deal has been expended.

It’s a negotiation and a deal because NOW there is work to do. There is a common vision to be achieved. There is a fantasy that must be made into reality.

Be that person. Be the one who delivers. You have a new baby in your hands as the result of this negotiation.

Now the hard work begins. Raise that baby to be a good adult.

What do you think?

#All #Money

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mygiantesslove · 6 years

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Are you still alive?

2. A real party with friends

A few more days passed by like if nothing happened. Annie worked at the coffee shop, always a bit daydreaming here and there but mostly doing well considering nobody around her knew about her being a shrinker. She enjoyed her work it was not too far from her apartment, and everyone would tip well. One day, After her shift, she walked home and got into the apartment lobby. Right there was Marilyn looking at her mailbox and both girls exchanged salutations.

“Hey Annie, how you doing?”

“Oh, I’m good! Tough day at work, but I can’t complain!” said Annie smiling and looking at Marilyn head to toe. She was wearing a blouse and cardigan vest, with a black skirt and black nylons. She wore some high heeled black leather ankle boots with a zipper on the outside.

“Yeah, you’re living large now, must be nice to be free for a girl like you.” Said Marilyn, as she closed her mailbox and pushed the elevator button.

Annie stuttered a bit and bit her lower lip. “Yeah, it’s nice.” She said. The elevator doors opened and they both walked in, the door closed and the elevator started slowly going up.

“How long can you be inside someone’s shoe before starting to panic and all?” said Marilyn out of the blue, curious, but also trying to have small talk and prevent the silence.

“Huh..?” Annie was surprised. “Oh... well, my sisters kept me shrunk for whole weeks in their shoes when I was younger...I used to panic more before, but now I’m kinda used to it so, I try to just....you know...enjoy my time.”

“Wow, this is fucked up you know.” Said Marilyn with a scoff.

“Yeah” Annie smiled... “yeah I know...”

There was a silence.

“I got lots of shoes you know.” Said Marilyn.

“You do?” asked Annie, a bit curious but also a bit shy. Marilyn really was a nice person and she really wanted to get to know her but she didn’t know how.

“Yeah...” was only what Marilyn said. “oh, by the way, I’m hosting a small party tonight with some friends if you want you can come to say hello and have a drink with us.”

“A party?” Annie paused. “Wow, I’ve never been invited to a party before.”

“Heh, you’re funny...” said Marilyn. The elevator came to a stop and doors opened. Annie was just looking down at Marilyn’s ankle boots. “This is your floor, Annie.”

“Oh!” Annie got out of her daydream. “right. Thanks...” she walked out of the elevator while Marilyn was already pressing the close doors button to go up one more floor.

“8 Pm?” said Marilyn while the doors were closing.

“Sure....!B...bye Marilyn,” Annie said. Marilyn smiled and the doors closed completely. It was over. Annie went to her apartment and locked herself inside, full of emotions, happy to have spent a few minutes with Marilyn and to have been invited to a party.

Time went slow, Annie took a shower, she dressed, undressed, retired, did not know what to wear. It took her several tries to finally be satisfied with her ponytail. She put on some mascara, a bit of makeup, eyeliner. She looked at herself in the mirror and thought she looked pathetic. She felt like crying but she held it. The finishing touch was her purple jewel necklace, she carefully wore around her neck. Despite its power, it was a nice beautiful necklace to wear. At 7h59 PM she was standing at Marilyn’s loft apartment door and she waited until it was 8h00 to finally muster the courage to knock. She heard laughs inside and someone walking to the door. Marilyn opened it and Annie’s jaw dropped. The woman was stunning in her black dress and black nylons. She wore nice black classic high heel pumps with a 3 inches tall spike heel. She had the most incredibly deep red lipstick. She was holding a glass of wine and her cigarette in the same hand.

“Hey Annie, come in!” said Marilyn, closing the door behind the 20 years old girl. They walked into the big Loft room. There were a few people there and the air was thick with cigarette smoke. Marilyn went on with the presentations.

“Everyone, this is Annie, my new neighbor from below, she’s just moved in earlier this month. Annie, this is Amanda, Fanny, David, Josh, and Kate.” They all said hi, Annie gave them all a shy smile, almost instantly forgetting who was who and what were their names. Marilyn offered Annie a glass of wine and people starting talking a bit among themselves, leaving Marilyn and Annie together near the kitchen counter.

“You look cute Annie.” Said Marilyn. “I see you brought the jewel...” Marilyn careful took the jewel in her hand and admired it.

“Yes, I think it looks great with this dress.”

“And it does.” Said Marilyn. Marilyn and Annie raised their glasses of wine. “Cheers!” they both took a sip and smiled at each other. They then mingled with the others and talked about everything and nothing. The people were interested in Annie’s job, where she was from, and all, but Annie always tried to answer evasively and ask questions to Marilyn’s friends. Those people really enjoyed talking and laughing and making jokes and Annie felt very privileged to be among wonderful people who did not judge her.

Annie learned that David and Josh were a gay couple, that Amanda was a lawyer working with Marilyn, Fanny was an actuary and Kate a hair stylist. They all were great people.

At some point, Fanny saw Annie’s necklace. “Wow, Annie, you’ve got quite a beautiful necklace there, can I see it?”

“Sure,” said Annie, already halfway her second glass of wine.

“Is it an amethyst?” asked Fanny while holding the jewel and inspecting it with fascination.

“Be careful about that necklace!” said Marilyn from the other end of the room.

“What’s so special about it?” asked David.

“Oh nothing, it’s from my mother.” Said Annie, a bit shy, taking back her jewel and holding it close to herself. Annie’s heartbeat went up a notch. She glanced at Fanny’s high heels and then looked over across the room at Marilyn who was walking back to the group.

“Come on Annie, don’t be shy to tell everyone what you are.” Said Marilyn, getting close to Annie and putting a hand on her shoulder. Annie’s heart stopped beating for a moment. Everything was going so well, why did Marilyn have to bring that up!?

“Hmm, I....”

“Annie is a shrinker.” Said Marilyn. There was a weird silence and Annie’s heart twisted as she saw a few heads doubletake at her. Annie looked at Marilyn with disbelief and then notices Marilyn was under the effects of alcohol.

“Are you serious?” asked Josh.

“Wow.” Said Amanda.

“Yep! She’s free though, she lives like a normal human now.” Added Marilyn. She shuffled Annie’s hair with her hand, messing the ponytail Annie took so long to tie up. Annie felt humiliated and didn’t see that coming. “She’s my new tiny little friend!”

“You know what, that’s good!” stated Josh. “Hell, shrinkers are treated so badly. This is so wrong!” he said. “Good for you Annie... way to go, I drink to that.” He raised his glass and everyone cheered, except Kate who was more like, half-cheering. Annie felt like all the tension was now gone, that the people around her were understanding people, and they accepted her despite her being a shrinker.

“Yeah thanks, guys, I huh. I appreciate your support.” Said Annie, feeling relieved. Marilyn beside her asked the girl to stand up, Annie did. Marilyn pulled Annie into a hug.

“Don’t be shy with us, Annie. We’re all different in this world. See, David and Josh are gay, and back a few years they had to fight for their rights to be recognized, look how much they’re happy today!”

“Yeah except, it’s hard for shrinkers to fight when you’re always under people’s feet.” Said Annie, her stress being released a bit.

“Oh right...” said David. “That sucks.”

A conversation started on the subject, Marilyn’s friends all wanted to know everything about Annie, about shrinkers and how it felt, how cruelly they were treated, etc. Kate wasn’t talking much tho, Annie couldn’t help but notice Kate being somewhat uncomfortable. All in all the party went well, and Annie felt great.

People started to feel tired and slowly left. The gay couple left first, then, Kate, who was visibly uncomfortable. Then fanny and Amanda left too, leaving only Marilyn and Annie. Marilyn poured some wine in Annie’s glass and in her own. They both sat int he living room and talked some more.

“Say, your friend Kate, she didn’t talk much.” Said Annie.

“Well, you see, she had a shrinker in her boot. She told me when I walked her to the door. She felt bad because of this, she didn’t want to look like a cruel person, but she had a squirming tiny shrinker under her foot all night long... haha can you believe it..” Marilyn sipped some more wine.

“Yeah, I can see why she felt that way.” Answered Annie. “Who was it she had in there?”

“Her nephew. She told me she's babysitting him for the week while her sister is out of town”

“Oh... okay.” Said Annie, feeling a bit out of place.

“So how did you like being in my ballet shoe the other day? We didn’t get a chance to talk about it.” Asked Marilyn.

“Oh. Hmmm, You’re a very talented dancer. I could feel when you were spinning on me. I liked that. But I had a broken rib and my legs were hurting” Said Annie, the wine clearly easing her talking about things.

“Oh...sorry about that. At some point, I just forgot you were there.” Said Marilyn.

“Yes, that can happen...no worries.” Said Annie. “I’ve been forgotten in shoes quite often.” They both finished their wine.

“Thanks for the party, Marilyn. I had a good time.” Said Annie, getting ready to leave. They walked to the door and Marilyn removed both of her shoes and offered them to Annie, she was a bit drunk, but not too much.

“How about you sleep with these in your bed tonight, like on your pillow?” said Marilyn with a corner smile. “Plenty of my foot sweat to breathe in for you in there.”

Annie considered and then smiled genuinely at Marilyn. “Thank you. I will.” Annie left the apartment and went down to hers. She was grateful to have found a good friend after all those years of being abused by her family. She brushed her teeth and went to bed, with Marilyn’s high heeled pumps on her pillow.

#giantess #g/t #g/t writing #foot crush

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wroteasongabouther · 7 years

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fratboy!harry - part 17

so basically this was just going to be a blurb explaining alex and his relationship with y/n but it turned out to be like 5k words and good enough to be an official part so yeah enjoy lol -- give me feedback too!!

fratboy!harry tag >>> story page >>> pinterest inspiration board

The morning was quick and loud, reminding you of when you were just a kid - right down to Bailey being stuck to your leg the whole time. Only thing missing was Luke. Nagging you to get out of the shower, to stop playing your crappy Bieber music too loud, and you nagging him for a ride to school while he steal your sandwich so you have to make a new one. That all stopped during your senior year of high school, yet sometimes it felt like just yesterday. Especially today as you drive your mom’s car just out of town to your dad’s house where he’s obviously still asleep as you pound on the front door.

Luke’s death only added onto the crap your dad was going through in life. Mom left him, got married and had another kid, then your grandparents died so he took their house for himself here surrounded by green forest, and then Luke passed. It broke him. You frown while leaning over to hit the doorbell again.

“Dad,” you call through the door.

You hear some mumbling before the front door opens up and reveals your father. A smile tugs on your lips at the sight of him, you’ve missed him. Dressed in an old tshirt and flannel pajama pants, he wipes sleep from his hooded hazel eyes and stares at you.

“Y/N? What are you doing here?” He asks, confusion on his face as you walk into his house.

“Dad,” you sigh, “we talked last month, I texted you yesterday after I landed,” you exclaim while setting your bag down on the couch. You don’t miss the few dirty dishes on the coffee table or the open bag of chips on the far side of the couch. Still a mess it seems.

“Oh, right, right,” he mumbles and shuts the front door. “Let me just get dressed really quick, make yourself at home,” he calls while making his way back upstairs to where the master bedroom was located in the small home.

When you were like five years old, your parents had bought the house your mom currently lived in. It was a perfect home for a perfect family. Till the perfect family fell apart, the screaming and fighting and then the lawyers and packing. It was tough. Your dad lived in an apartment for the first year, it was small and cramped up, then your grandma died and one week later your grandpa did. Although you were sure your dad didn’t want to, he moved into his dead parents house and barely had time to remodel the old people feel to it. But you liked it, it was good for him.

After about ten minutes of scrolling on your phone, looking through Instagram and Snapchat, you dad reappears and offers you some coffee. You turn around on the couch and watch him walk through the dining room into the small kitchen.

“I’m alright, thanks though,” you say.

“I was thinking,” your dad pauses as he enters the room with a fresh mug of coffee after a minute, “we should invite Alex although today,” he smiles.

“Uh,” you pause and shrug a shoulder, “sure,” you nod.

“You know, him and his family had me over for Thanksgiving,”

“Yeah, he mentioned that,”

“You guys still talk?” Your dad raises a brow.

“Not like that dad,” you chuckle, “not anymore,” you add while picking at the loose thread on your jeans.

“Why not? You and Alex were good, you know what they day distance makes the heart grow fonder,” your dad says. You give him a small smile but shake your head at him. “Oh come on, kiddo, the guy still loves ya. Don’t think he ever hasn’t, even after Luke’s warning,” your dads smile doesn’t reach his smile this time. Mentioning Luke still felt like a knife to the chest. But his statement add to the ache in your chest. You had Harry now, not that your father knew just yet, but something told you when you mentioned it he was gonna frown and go off on how perfect Alex was for you.

“I’ll shot him a text,” you say and pat his knee as he drinks his coffee.

hey i’m in town, my dad wants to know if you’d like to join us for breakfast??

Hey! Sure, what time?

probably like 30ish minutes, at iHop?

By the shore?

yes

Kk meet you guys there

“Lucky for you,” you pause and look at your dad, “Alex actually woke up a decent time today,”

“Oh good, it’ll be just like before ya left,” he smiles before standing up and disposing of his mug in the kitchen. You force another tight smile while standing up from the couch and gathering your purse and your moms keys again.

“We should get going, did you want to drive?” you ask your dad.

“Sure,” he nods and finds his own keys on the mess of the coffee table. “Meant to clean this up last night,” he mumbles, but you are well aware he’s lying.

Driving in your dad’s work truck takes you back to your younger days. When you’d push in your Jonas Brothers CD, crank it loud, roll down the window and catch your dad singing along with you. Of course that would all stop once you guys picked Luke up from hockey practice and he winced till you turned off your music. Now, you sat in the front seat looking out the window at the ferry boats on the sea and enjoyed the bit of silence between your two.

“The kid beat us here,” your dad bellows as he passes the hostess and sees Alex seated at a table by the window.

You turn away from the smiling hostess - whom you recognized from school, maybe a year younger than you - and look to where your dad was walking off to. Alex stands from his seat as your dad approaches him. He’s wearing some blue jeans, white shirt and a grey zip up sweater over top - and you can tell he’s definitely been working out.

“Hey coach,” Alex grins while embracing your dad in a hug. As he is, he looks over your dad shoulder at sees you. You can’t help but blush under his stare.

“Oh quit calling my coach, would ya,” your dad teases him as their embrace comes to an end.

“You coached him since he was just a kid, dad,” you say while stepping forward and rolling your eyes at him. Your dad simply judges you before taking his seat. “Hey,” you smile at Alex.

“Hey,” he breathes out.

“Give me a hug,” you chuckle. As you wrap your arms around Alex’s torso and his fall around your too, you feel a sense of familiarity. This was what your later high school years were like, hugging Alex and smelling his musky cologne. He was your first love, and you never forgot a thing about your first love.

The hug ends, you smile up at Alex, then take a seat next to your dad while Alex sits across the table from the both of you. He really hadn’t changed that much in the few months since you’ve seen him last. But there’s a pang in your chest as he sits there, across the table from you, and you can’t really explain why you get that feeling. Alex was great, both as a person and to you. He had been best friends with Luke since they were just kids, became pretty much attached at the hip through their years growing up, which meant you saw a lot of Alex. It started off as some stupid little crush on the smiley brown haired messy boy. Then one day, he brushed his hand against yours in the bathroom between yours and Luke’s room, and the look in his eyes told you that he liked you too.

As your dad had pointed out earlier, Luke had warned Alex off as you got older and he noticed his best friend taking a liking to his little sister. But that didn’t stop Alex from asking you to be his date to his senior prom. Luke acted as though he hated it, but then he said he was sort of happy it was someone he trusted dating you instead of some other douchebag. Things weren’t always easy with you and Alex, but they lasted up till the winter of your senior year. He broke it off and the next time you saw him he had a black eye courtesy of your lovely big brother.

“How’s school?” Alex asks after the waitress takes your orders.

“It’s good, I aced my midterms, but let me tell you calculus freaking sticks,” you exclaim before taking a sip of your water.

“Always been the smart one,” your dad says, obviously not catching what he had said as he looks at the smaller promotion menu. But you and Alex catch it, looking at each other with tight smiles. Luke barely graduated. He and Alex skipped more classes than they’d like to admit. While you were a straight A student and your parents loved to brag about it.

“Thanks dad,” you say, “anyways, how’s school for you?”

“It’s fine, school sucks, you know,” Alex shrugs.

“You’re done upgrading, right?”

“Yeah, next semester I can start taking college courses,”

“Maybe you can go to Arizona State with Y/N,” your dad smiles.

You widen your eyes at the seriousness in your dads voice. He truly was the biggest fan of yours and Alex’s. He was just as heartbroken about your two breaking up as you were. You swear he had been playing the damn wedding already.

“I, uh,” Alex chuckles and his gaze falls to the table for a quick second, “I don’t know about that one, coach,”

“You’re telling me you never once thought about ASU? Especially with how much Luke mentioned it,” you dad says. You gaze down at your glass of water at the mention of your brothers again. Even after all this time, just hearing his name aloud makes your chest hurt.

“Exactly, ASU was always Luke’s plan, it was never mine,” Alex shrugs.

“Yeah, and you know I’m always the one stealing Luke’s ideas,” you joke, nudging your dad harshly with your elbow. He chuckles, nudging you back and your heart nearly bursts at the interaction. He seems better, which lets you finally breathe again instead of worrying about him all the time.

Your food is brought out to the table then, your mouth waters at the sight of your waffles covered with enormous glops of whipped cream and lots of strawberries. The moment the plate is placed in front of you you’re cutting a big bite and stuffing it into your face. It’s not till you’re half way through chewing, cutting off more and lifting it to your mouth, that you see Alex watching your every move.

“What?” you question, covering your mouth since it’s still full of food.

Alex just chuckles and shakes his head, “haven’t changed a bit,” he says.

“Shut it,” you narrow your eyes.

Some more conversation about life goes on through bites of food. Alex talks about his job, your dad chats about how his company is doing and the yard work he wants to get done. Of course Alex is a sweetheart and offers to give him a hand. The laughter and smiles, sitting with your dad and your ex boyfriend who’s still a great friend to you, this was exactly what you had hoped for this morning.

“Hey, tell me about that boyfriend of yours,” Alex teases as you all pick at the last bites on your plates. You nearly choke on your water, which only makes Alex’s smile grow.

“Boyfriend?” your dad questions, his voice both confused and upset. There goes his hopes and dreams of getting you and Alex back together.

“Uh, yeah,” you nod and set down your water, “his name is Harry,” you state.

“Had no idea you were seeing anyone,” your dad says.

“It’s been a few months, and you know when I told mom she wasn’t all that excited. Guess I just forgot to mention it to you,” you shrug.

“So, what’s he like?” you dad asks, having a bite of toast before looking to you. This was so weird. Talking about your current boyfriend with your ex boyfriend and your dad who didn’t really talk to your about your life. It was just weird.

“He’s great,” you nod, “he’s from the UK, studies computer sciences, is really sweet, treats me nice, an amazing soccer player,” you list off some things worthy enough to share with your company.

“Sounds like a decent guy,” your dad nods.

“Yeah,” Alex nods in agreement, “from your Snapchat stories and things, he seems really nice, Y/N,” he gives you a small smile.

“He is,” you mirror his smile. Then when you turn back to your dad who’s staring back at you, you feel like a little girl again as you pull out your phone and unlock it. “Wanna see a picture of us?”

“Sure,” he chuckles as you lean into your dad and bring up a photo you had of you and Harry on your camera roll. It’s in his Range Rover, you lifted the camera up high and snapped the photo one day as he stopped at a red light - turning to smile for the camera without a question before driving again. It makes you smile, totally forgetting about your first love sitting across the table.

Your dad pays for the whole bill, which Alex fuses over for a minute before you simply give him a look while getting up from the table. He pouts out a bottom lip and mouths ‘sorry’, and you swear you’re having deja vu - only this time you don’t walk up into his big chest and kiss his pouty lips.

“You know,” Alex pauses to hold the door open for the three of you, “you should come hangout tonight, we’re gonna drink at Stephan’s and then go out to The Black Dog,” he explains.

You glance over to see your dad getting into his truck while the two of you stop directly in front of the truck. A piece of you wants to say yes, but then another piece of you wants to say no. You run a hair through your hair and tug your cardigan around your body as a cold breeze blows by.

“Come,” Alex urges you.

“Okay, okay,” you chuckle. “Just text me later about it, my dad’s waiting,”

“Feels like I’m 18 again,” Alex smirks.

You roll your eyes and chuckle again, “I know what you mean,” you say.

“See you later,” he says, bringing his arms around you for a quick hug before you’re walking over to your dads truck and jumping in.

This morning went well, you think as your dad drives you two back towards his place. But now all you can think about was how tonight was going to go. Maybe agreeing to hangout with Alex and his friends, who were only yours because you were dating him and Luke was your brother, was a mistake. Guess you’ll have to wait and see.

“Oh shut up!”

“Yeah we missed you so much, it’s so great you’re back!”

“Oh, thanks,” you shrink back in the couch at Stephan’s house as Mary and Jill sit on either side of you, grinning since you arrived claiming there was too many guys around. They had been friends with Alex and Luke through high school, always the two girls that actually stuck around till you showed up upon the start of yours and Alex’s relationship. Then you two broke up and you rarely saw these two - till Luke passed away and your world took an entire 1-80.

Some people handle grieving well and you thought that you would be one of those people. Never did you think that you’d end up drinking your sorrows away, sleeping with your ex boyfriend again repeatedly and getting tattoos scattered over your body to reflect the pain you felt inside of you. But one day you sucked it all up, shipping yourself off to ASU and got your shit together - leaving everyone in Seattle behind.

“Here,” Alex walks up, his leg bumping into your knee, staring down at you while passing you an unopened cooler.

“Thanks,” you smile before he walks away again to where the boys were all hanging out.

“You know,” Mary pauses while leaning closer to you, “Alex really hasn’t dated anyone since you,”

“Yeah we’re pretty sure he’s still hung up on you,” Jill nods.

“Oh,” you breathe out, cracking open the cooler while glancing across the room where Alex stood. He looks over his shoulder and catches your stare, smiling before turning back to the guys and engaging in their conversation again. You shake your head and tilt your drink back to have a good hefty sip. You weren’t into Alex anymore, yeah a piece of you would always love him but that was because he was still your friend and he was Luke’s best friend throughout his entire life pretty much. But you weren’t in love with Alex anymore. You were pretty sure Harry filled that place in your heart now.

The bar sucked as much as it did when you were under aged and showing your fake to get in. You did have some fun on the small dance floor, Snapchatting some videos onto your story - you’d dance with the girls, lift up your drink and then smile at the camera before posting it. By midnight you had enough drinks and were damn tired too.

“You alright?” Alex asks as he joins you at the bar where you had taken a breather. You were just checking who had looked at your story, noticing Harry’s name near the top. It was morning across seas now.

“Yeah,” you smile towards Alex and rest your cheek in the palm of your hand.

“Tired out?” He chuckles.

“Yeah,” you repeat, letting out a sharp breath to blow away a strand of hair that was in front of your face.

“You’re having fun, right?” Alex furrows his brows before taking a sip of his beer.

“I am,” you nod, “I party like this almost every weekend now, don’t ya know, dating a bloody fratboy,” you chuckle and so does Alex at your shit British accent. Always liked to pull that one out while you were drunk.

“I’ve seen,” Alex says.

“Oh, speak of the devil!” You smile as you catch Harry’s name and face on the screen of your phone. Picking it up, you swipe your finger across the screen and lift it to your ear while plugging the other to block out the music and sounds around the bar. “Hey!” you say with utter excitement. You missed Harry.

“Hey,” he echoes, his voice less excited though.

You hold up a finger to Alex and walk towards the front doors of The Black Dog. “What’s up?” You ask.

“Just laying in bed,” Harry all but sighs out.

“Oh, another one of these calls, huh?” You tease.

“You’re drunk,” he states.

“Yeah,” you chuckle, “I’m just out with some old friends,” you add.

“Saw that,” he mumbles. Something was up, even in your drunk state you were catching onto his uneasy tone and short answers. You sigh and lean against the brick wall, shivering as the cold temperatures of Seattle hit you - you were only wearing a tube top and high waisted jeans. Not exactly ideal with the winter weathers here.

“What’s wrong?” You ask in a quiet voice, aware of the fact one of Alex’s buddies is smoking a few feet away from you.

“Nothing,” Harry answers.

“Really?” You’re annoyed now. “Just tell me what’s wrong, H,” you say.

“Who’s the guy? You’ve been Snapping him all day in your story,” he grunts. You recall Alex being in your snap of your waffles this morning, and then during the pre drinks at Stephan’s he was in the shot of you all lifting your drinks into the air. Finally there was the selfie you posted of you two, both puckering up for the camera just moments ago before you sat at the bar.

“My friend from home-“

“That’s rich,”

“You’re not even going to let me explain, really?” You shout out, Alex’s friend looks towards you now. You try to ignore him as he puts out his cigarette and walks back inside to leave you alone to shout at your boyfriend in peace.

“I’m supposed to just believe you’ve been drinkin’ and having breakfast with some old friend and that’s it,” Harry shouts back at you.

“You’re supposed to trust your damn girlfriend Harry!” You say, wanting to kick at the wall or throw your phone from the amount of anger pulsing through you.

“How do you think I feel waking up and watching my girlfriend with some guy I have no idea about, huh?” His voice is a bit quieter but it’s still laced with anger.

“Fine, want to know who Alex is?” Your stomach twists and turns from the frustration you’re feeling and maybe the ton of liquor you’ve had to drink too. “Alex is my ex, ok? He was a childish crush turned into my first fucking love, alright? He means a lot to me and is still one of my best fucking friends because-“ you swallow your words as you’re about to blabber on about how you’d always keep Alex as a friend because that’s what your brother would want. Telling Harry about Luke like this wasn’t how you wanted to tell him.

“Please, keep telling me about how much you still love you’re bloody ex boyfriend, little bird,” Harry hisses out the nickname like it’s venom on his lips. It breaks your heart.

You don’t respond right away, instead you breathe in till your chest feels tight and your eyes are watering. This was not how you wanted your night to go. A few tears fall down your cheeks as all the emotions you’ve felt the past twenty four hours hits you. Everything with Luke and with Alex and now Harry, it was too much.

“Y/N,” Harry’s voice is softer after the moment of quiet through the phone.

“Yeah,” you hiccup out the response.

“Y/N,” you turn around and see it’s Alex calling out your name this time. Harry stays quiet while you stare at Alex, keeping the phone pressed to your ear. “Did you want to go home?” He asks, eyes as soft as you needed them to be.

You nod at Alex, your bottom lip quivering as he steps closer. “I’ll call you later, Harry,” you say into the phone before hanging up and stepping into Alex’s open arms.

“Hey, hey, shhh, it’s okay,” Alex comforts you as you sob into his chest. Thank god he had changed into a black vneck instead of a white shirt so you didn’t stain it with your mascara.

“I—I can’t go home, Alex,” you gasp for air while the uncontrollable sobbing continues. You feel your phone buzzing in your jean pocket as you cry into Alex’s chest. With Harry’s words still fresh in your mind and the thoughts of Luke, you feel like you can’t breathe. You’d also blame it on the liquor. “His room is right there and I haven’t gone in yet and I want to but it’s too much-“ you break out into more sobs as you explain yourself to Alex.

“It’s okay, you can stay at my place if you want,” he mumbles into your hair as he hugs you. His body heat warms you up immediately.

“O—okay,” you hiccup.

Alex drops his arms from around you, only to grab ahold of your hand as you wipe your face with your other and he hails down a taxi. The two of you both get into the back seat and he gives the driver an address while he rubs his thumb on the back of your hand. You still feel like crying, but you can’t in the back of a taxi that’d be an all time low. You inhale sharply and then let out a sigh as your phone buzzed again. Alex tugs your arm gently till you are leaning against him and resting your head on his shoulder.

“It’ll be on debit,” Alex says as the taxi pulls up to his apartment building. Same place he’s lived at since he moved out after graduation.

You remember how Luke wanted to move out too but your mom told him he could live rent free and live his life as he wanted to since he was an adult as long as he was still respectful. He was of course, being her favourite child as always. Luke would crash on Alex’s couch some nights - he only slept over once when you had and that next morning was awkward enough to start communicating of when you’d be there overnight or not. Then you two broke up and Luke spent more time at home too. But of course bros will be bros and the bruise barely healed before they were cool again.

“Did you want anything?” Alex asks as he opens the door of his place. He leaves you behind in the small living room as he walks into the even smaller kitchen. “Water?”

“Please,” You croak out. Alex returns with a glass of water and hands it to you. You don’t waste a second before drinking half of it.

“Thirsty, hey?” Alex jokes.

“Yeah,” you hum. Your head hurts already, seems your hangover as arriving early since your boyfriend started a fight from over the ocean and you finally broke down about your brother in god knows how long.

“What happened back there? Seth came in, said you were shouting at someone on the phone,” Alex states.

“It was stupid, we’ll get over it tomorrow,” you mumble before finishing off your glass of water. “Always do,” you echo the words that were once said by Jess from the last fight you and Harry had.

“I think I have something for you to sleep in,” Alex says, respecting the fact you didn’t want to get into the conversation that was your boyfriend being a jealous dick. You follow him down the hallway to the bedroom, as he flicks the light on you see it’s recently been cleaned. Years ago you would’ve cleaned up around this apartment, done dishes and laundry downstairs with the coins he’d leave around.

“Thanks,” you whisper out as Alex sets down some old sweatpants and a tshirt on the bed.

Alex stands up straight, looking at you for a long moment. You keep the eye contact for much longer than you would’ve if you hadn’t been drinking tonight. He sighs and takes a step towards you, with his closeness you feel your chest tighten up.

“You were my first love too, you know,” Alex says softly as he reaches up and brushes a strand of hair behind your ear.

He had heard the end of your call with Harry. Your cheeks heat up instantly, causing Alex to chuckle. His smile is genuine and makes your lips tug upwards too. His hand cups the side of your face, he brushes the pad of his thumb just close to your lips and your skin tingles from the contact. For a moment you’re seventeen again and falling in love for the first time. But then as you notice Alex’s eyes drifting downwards, you snap back to reality - where you’re falling in love with someone else who’s currently in the UK and upset with you. You sigh and step out of Alex’s touch.

“I think I love Harry now,” you blurt out aloud of the first time.

“You don’t think so, Y/N,” Alex pauses as your eyes find his again and he shows you a small smile, “you love him, so tell him. Trust me, it’ll make the mans life a lot better,”

You nod your head, unsure of how to respond to him. There’s more behind his words. A hint of jealousy even. You swallow hard and look away from his stare again.

“You uh,” Alex pauses and you glance up at him, “you can sleep in here, I’ll take the couch,”

“I’m sorry,” you say.

Alex forces his smile, “it’s okay, just-“ he stops to think about his next words, “you’ll always be my best fucking friend too, Y/N,” he grins. You chuckle and shake your head at him before he walks towards the door.

“Goodnight,”

“Night, sleep tight,” he says before shutting the door behind him.

It’s not till you’re dressed in the clothes Alex had left for you, swimming in both the top and bottoms cause they’re so big, that you look at your phone. There was four texts from Harry and one from your mom. You open your moms first.

Where are you?

I’m spending the night at Alex’s, be home in the morning.

You know she’s have a few words for you tomorrow. But that was a problem for then, when she could call you a slut to your face for all you cared. As you said before, Luke was her favourite kid and that didn’t change after his passing. She’s always complain about you and look down on you for any choices you made. Especially spending the night at your ex boyfriends house without any context.

How do you expect to me act when you act like this??

This is bullshit and you fucking know it… please try and think of a good lie to tell me when we talk later for you hanging up on me for your ex

You’re making me crazy

Sleep with him and we’re over

Tears spill down your face as you read over Harry’s texts. You turn off the bedroom light and slowly make your way into Alex’s bed - very much alone - while imaging how upset Harry must be. This wasn’t how you wanted things to be. You didn’t want to fight with him during the holidays, you wanted him to trust you and understand things but you knew you needed to explain the whole story for him to get why Alex meant so much to you. You just didn’t use the right words tonight, and you’d blame the liquor for that one.

As you read them for a tenth time over again, you feel anger this time. Did he really think you’d cheat on him? After all the shit with Lindsey and with him reacting how he did with Thomas? Your chest aches while you type out your response.

I’d never do that. Never. Just fucking trust me for god sakes Harry. I’m going to sleep now.

You want to type out so much more. You want to type those three burning words. But you know if you were to send back everything you’re feeling, the sadness and the hurt and the anger, it’s only add fuel to the fire at this point. You sigh and wipe away your tears before setting your phone on the pillow beside you and rolling over to try and sleep. Thing was, the sheets spent so much like him. Like your first fucking love and your brothers best fucking friend. Your fists curl up with the blanket in your hands as you squeeze your eyes tightly. Everything hurts again.

#fratboy!harry #duhh duh duhhhuhuhuhuh #not so smooth sailing for the lovely couple #next chapter will be out friday as planned :))#you're welcome for the extra unplanned part lol #TALK TO ME ABOUT THIS THO #harry styles #harry styles imagine #harry styles fanfic #harry styles fanfiction #harry styles x reader #harry styles x you #harry styles blurb #harry styles imagines

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