#this was in JULY and every once in a while i just howl in pain

[peachybeesplease]

guards! make him fumble a dtf goth girl

[voiceoffenrisulfr]

When the Wolf Howls - Chapter Four

"I Have Always Found That Plans Are Useless, But Planning is Indespensible."

𝐏𝐀𝐈𝐑𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 -> James "Bucky" Barnes/Original Nonbinary Character(s). Secondary Pairings; James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton, James "Bucky" Barnes/Steve Rogers, James "Bucky" Barnes/Natasha Romanov, James "Bucky" Barnes/Clint Barton/Steve Rogers/Natasha Romanov

𝐒𝐔𝐌𝐌𝐀𝐑𝐘 -> The small gang gets closer to their goal, but an unexpected interaction pauses their progress.

𝐖𝐎𝐑𝐃𝐂𝐎𝐔𝐍𝐓 -> 2279

𝐖𝐀𝐑𝐍𝐈𝐍𝐆𝐒 -> (M) Snowstorm, risk, unknown (general adventure type stuff), unknown assailant.

𝐀/𝐍 -> Check it out below, or on AO3 here!

<- Chapter Three Chapter Four ->

Dividers by us! <3

- ‘Free Space’ – @buckybarnesbingo (B049); - ‘If You Believe’ – @fandom-free-bingo (Frosty Edition); - ‘Annoying Sibling’ – Fandom-Free Bingo (Gingerbread Edition); - ‘“Don’t Look at Me, This Wasn’t My Idea”’ – @fourormore Bingo (2024); - ‘Fighting Back or Fighting Back… Unsuccessfully’ – @julybreakbingo (Flash); - ‘Caught in an Explosion or Caught in a Storm’ – July Break Bingo (6x6).

We proceeded without too much difficulty, though I watched Sleipnir intently. While my own senses were sharp, the horse had a mystical sense for danger and an understanding one wouldn’t have expected, and I found myself growing quite fond of the creature. Intermittently, however, I would be reminded of his lineage, and had to swallow the urge to pull my partner from his back. The steed would eye me, as if sensing my doubt, and the anthropomorphising part of my brain couldn’t help but think he looked almost apologetic, informing me that he was no happier about his lineage than I.

I wondered if he had any sense of who his father – mother? – was. I wondered if he was aware that he was dead. I wondered if he’d care either way, if he did understand the concept.

I wondered if he felt the same darkness in his heart, and fought every day to be better than those that came before. Or maybe he tried, but secretly thought he could never outrun that darkness.

I blinked, shifting my eyes away from his.

I think I’m overthinking this a little too much.

My mind turned instead to the other child of Loki that dwelled in my thoughts. If Sleipnir was the good that had come from the trickster god, then Fenris was surely considered to be the evil – just as dark and torturous as his father, but with far more capacity for ending the world than the son of Odin had ever shown. Loki himself had proven largely content with extracting a more personal apocalyptic pain – good for the world, admittedly, though not so much so for my own bubble of it.

I turned my eyes to my partner, chewing worriedly on my lip. I’d thought Loki was the last of his kind we would ever have to face – and yet here I was. He and his bloodline seemed determined to haunt me to my last.

We passed into the mountains without issue, the peaks less intimidating than those surrounding Asgard. Nevertheless, the shadows cast over us made me shiver, fingers clenching around the reins. Bug glanced back at me with concern, and I forced a tight-lipped smile, my nod letting them know I was okay.

But I couldn’t help the way my eyes skimmed every crag and recess, half-expecting to see the mangled body of the Spiders that had haunted my dreams after my frantic search.

We could see the border in the distance when Thor stiffened, raising his hand to still us once more. His head was cocked, looking off to his left, but I was focused on the land before us.

The divide between Nornheim and Varinheim was clear – from long views of soft meadows and rough rock to the all-encompassing, blinding white of snow and ice, glimpsed in short bursts between mist so thick it looked as though one could choke. Instinctively, I coughed, clearing more clinging debris from ash-coated oesophagus, and Thor shot me a look of fury, eyes narrowed. With a jolt, I recalled the warnings he’d given as he explained the map to us.

‘The Domain of the Dark Man. Not somewhere you want to go.’

He’d seem nervous at the thought, eager to avoid whatever creature haunted this corner of a distant realm – except now neither realm nor creature were quite so distant, and his nerves were returning. With an apologetic wince, I ducked my head, fighting the immediate need to cough that arose as he slowly guided us forward once more.

I was almost relieved when the sound of horseshoes on rock became the softer thump of metal on snow, though each crack and growl and roar and howl of the ice had my heart stuttering.

And then the almighty cold wreathed itself around me and I gasped at the pain of it, air coming like knives in my lungs. Before me, Mars curled in on themselves, trembling violently. Even the great god leading our party ducked his head and hissed audibly, the wind whipping his hair around his face.

“Thor!” I called, voice hoarse from the dry, frigid air. He looked back – with some difficulty, owing to the cape flapping into his vision – and I gestured. “We can’t see a thing. We need to wait out this storm!”

He nodded once, glancing around himself, and then beckoned Sleipnir closer, leaning down to mutter indecipherably into the horse’s ear. Slip leant out a soft nicker, the sound carrying on the wind, and broke into a brisk trot, leading our eclectic party along a path only he could perceive between towering blocks of ice and wind-whipped chasms.

It wasn’t long, however, until we were led into the shelter of a colossal slab of rock, the ground around us protected from the ever-falling snow. A cavern yawned ahead of us, a dark hole in the ragged surface, and I hesitated as the horse didn’t slow.

“We’re… Going in there?” I clarified quietly, the shelter allowing for a lower tone, the rock echoing my own voice back at me.

“I would trust Sleipnir with my life – and, more importantly, that of the pair of you,” Thor added, glancing back at us. With a stiff nod, I loosened my grip on the reins, giving Glaðr her head and letting her follow Sleipnir into the darkness.

The night was as uneventful as the one before, though sleep eluded me just the same. The roar of the wind and the sound-smothering effect of the snow left me feeling helpless, left to simply stare at the mouth of our temporary shelter, gazing into the swirling, white abyss.

Thor slept easily now, reassured that the storm would keep any potential chance encounters at bay – ‘even the wolves wouldn’t venture out in such weather’. But no comfort assuaged my anxiety; with my love curled close against my chest and snoring softly, I knew I wouldn’t find peace until we were far away from this place and the horrors it contained.

The dawn brought with it an eventual end to the storm’s raging, an encompassing silence falling with little warning. A weak, sickly glow radiated through the mouth of the cave, the true light of day approaching with startling speed, and I strained my senses, casting out feelers for any creatures crawling from their holes, hungry after their enforced captivity.

The distant sound of powder crunching under light footsteps had every muscle in my body hardening into steel, pausing only momentarily before sliding myself from beneath Mars, careful as I lowered their sleep-warm cheek to the sleeping bag.

I hadn’t any idea what I’d face beyond the security of our cave – but it didn’t matter. I’d face anything for my dozing soulmate, snoring lightly on the ground behind me in a brief respite from their innocent quest.

A shadow shifted in the light streaming from the mouth, and I dove at the vaguely humanoid shape, half-blind at the difference in the brightness glaring off the fallen snow. My adversary landed in the drift beneath me with a soft oomph of air leaving lungs, before a blow to the side of the head had me tumbling down beside them. Dazed, I blinked, wondering what manner of beast had the power to swat me aside so easily as my ash-lined throat burned and spasmed, the cold doing little to ease the pain in my chest.

Firm hands on my shoulders pinned me down, and I snarled, legs curling up to throw my attacker from me. Icy, metal fingers on my jaw, shaking roughly, paused me in my attack, and the words broke through the sound of my heartbeat deafening in my ears.

“... A grip, would you? It’s us, you goddamn idiot!”

Blinking, I squinted at the silhouette in the light, taking in a mouth set in a firm line and long, dark hair falling around features startlingly similar to mine. “... Win?”

He rocked back onto his heels, rubbing the side of his jaw where my fist had found its mark, the skin already shifting to a startling purple. “Hey, dumbass.”

My gaze flickered over his shoulder, and I started in surprise, another set of identical eyes peering back at me, uncertain and concerned. “Tem?”

The meekest of us offered me a timid wave, chewing his lip, gaze darting back and forth across the barren, boulder-dotted landscape. I winced sympathetically; Темнота remembered our time in Siberia better than Winter and I, and the wind-swept snow piling around his boots was likely an unpleasant reminder of the hells he’d endured. “What are you all doing here?”

“Clint called. We got here as fast as we could.”

My head tipped back to find the sailor looming over me, arms folded, one eyebrow quirked in amusement. “Seems my boy is the fiercest of the three of you, hm? I’m not surprised.”

I grunted and pushed my brother off, eyeing my former headmate with mild irritation and embarrassment. “Was that really necessary?”

Snorting, Win offered me a hand, pulling me to my feet as I rubbed at the throbbing spot above my left ear. “You came for me first!”

“You snuck up on us! How was I supposed to know that y-”

“Yeah, well, we had to catch up – someone decided to go off and risk our Bug’s life without even bothering to-”

“-had an option! You know Mars; they’ll do what they think is right, even if-”

“-stopped them! It’s not like you couldn’t-”

“What in Odin’s name is all this shouting about?”

Win and I turned our blazing eyes from one another to take in the half-conscious God of Thunder stood in the mouth of the cave, yawning as he rubbed his eyes. He stiffened only briefly as he took in the new arrivals, nodding at each of my brothers in turn. “Winter. Temnota. I thought you might find us eventually.” His brow creased a little as he took in the sailor looming by Win’s shoulder – defiantly fragile, but willing to risk life and limb to defend his lover against any possible threat. It was admirable, really – if a little amusing. “And this must be Lieutenant Tyne?”

Greg nodded, shooting me one last glare before extending a hand to the towering blond. “A pleasure.”

They shook politely, and I bit back a grin as Greg winced infinitesimally, seemingly bearing the brunt of Thor’s disapproval at his harsh awakening, his skin blanching whiter around the god’s fingers.

“Mars?” Tem pressed timidly, fingers twisting in front of himself. My smile was more genuine at that, touched as always by my brother’s shyness.

“Aslee-”

A dark-haired, fabric bundled blur streaked past me, squealing with surprise and delight as they flung themselves at the pair stood waiting, one arm wrapping tight around each neck. “You’re here! How are you here?! What are you doing here?!”

“We came to find you, Crazy,” Win laughed, scooping them bodily from the ground and spinning them around. “What were you thinking, disappearing like that? You could’ve died!”

“Yeah, yeah,” they mumbled into this shoulder, legs dangling and wriggling happily. “You can skip this part; I already got it from James.”

“You haven’t had it from us,” Tem retorted, his voice unusually stern as he frowned minutely. “We were worried about you, Mars. You were gone, and we didn’t know if you were okay.”

They slid to the ground, humbled, head low. “I know. I’m sorry.”

Tem’s hand found theirs, grasping gently, and he pulled them to his chest, metal fingers smoothing their hair. “It’s okay. You’re okay, and that’s the most important thing. Just… Maybe don’t do that again? I mean, you definitely would, if the same situation arose, and we both know it. But, y’know… Ideally, don’t.”

They chuckled weakly, face burying into his neck. “I love you. I’ve missed you.”

They caught the boys up as we continued to walk, hands waving as they discussed their plan of action. Win and Greg were just as incredulous as Thor and I, but Tem simply nodded along, eyes lighting up.

“If Bug thinks they can do it, then they can do it,” he argued stubbornly, arms crossed across his chest.

“Now isn’t the time for your blind faith, Temnota,” I growled, jaw setting. “Don’t encourage them.”

“Someone should be on their side,” he muttered, sullen, and I shot him a glare.

“We’re all on their side – that’s why we’re here,” Win interjected, a hand finding our brother’s shoulder as he glanced at me pointedly. His expression said it all – Tem was the one we protected at all costs, nurturing his sweet, innocent nature and keeping him as wholesome as we could. Win and I had been embittered by our experiences – Win in particular had a grief in his soul that seemed unable to be lifted – but despite everything, Tem stayed light-hearted, eternally joyful and optimistic. We didn’t discourage or dissuade him, not ever, and I’d broken an unspoken code in speaking to him harshly. He was an adult, that much was certain, but his rose-tinted approach to love and the parts of the world he deemed safe were almost childlike in nature, and reprimanding him felt like kicking a puppy.

“Win’s right,” I agreed softly, reaching out to squeeze his hand apologetically. “We all just want our Bug to be safe – it would be great if we could help Fenris, too, but their wellbeing comes first.”

Tem nodded slowly, his expression relaxing. “I think they’ll be okay. They’re a really good dog trainer.”

I hummed my agreement, watching my partner speak with their former headmate, eyes alight with excitement. “They are,” I agreed quietly, unable to settle the nerves writhing in my stomach.

[the-dreadful-canine]

Impromptu skydiving, dark strangers, reality checks and a gift not-horse.

Or: Elizabeth wakes up in a new realm, chooses violence, gets a weird pony.

As I sank through the darkness, the lashing wind at my back was my only companion; the howling in my ears a banshee’s forlorn song. A lifetime passes me by before light arrives, bearing spears made of sunshine, driving away the void like a golden beast.

It wrapped around my frame like a mantle, moving with a life of its own over my skin. Tendrils of silver bury under my flesh, latching onto my bones; anchoring feeling back to my body as they did so. The howling wind swallows my pained scream when the fiend’s bite rips at my shoulder once more. Agony summons dark blots to dance in front of my eyes, and my mind attempts to clutch the darkness to flee the torment.

Sadly, the awareness brought by the tendrils is too much to fight. It holds my eyelids open wide, having me watch my hubris’s repercussions. As if a veil pulled from my face, the light parts under me.

A pine forest sprawls over the ground below; tapered trunks reaching for the sky like shining spears, the snow-coated tips gilded by the fading sunset, leaving no doubt of my future. Or the absence of it.

A heartbeat away from becoming kebab, thunder roars around me. A powerful force shoves me off danger’s way, turning the world into a green blur. When I get my bearings, I’m lying folded on a branch like I was Mother Nature’s laundry, left out to air. What the fuck?

“What was that even for?” I glare at the sky, dragging myself into a seating position. “Was it payback for the stabbing?” My only answer are critters darting away from my noise and the creaking trees bowing to the wind. “Bah! Here I thought gods were above acting like petty children. It didn’t even hit your ugly mug!”

Revenge? Karma? Lack of attention while perching at the top of a pine tree? Whoever fault it was, my moment of reprieve ends as the words leave my lips. The crack of the branch giving under my weight snaps me out of my anger, but there’s nothing to do to stop the fall.

As if insulted by my earlier escape from spearing, the forest doubles down on its ire; sharp bark and spiked leaves scratching and cutting any skin they reach. The descent lasts forever, and my body hits every single branch on the way down as if chasing a new Xbox achievement. Done with the piñata life, I land on a soft, cold pile of snow.

I lay motionless on my back, willing the ice to soothe the 4th of July in my nerves while my lungs work hard, reclaiming the breath beaten out of them. As the last red rays of sunset lick the treetops, a coughed laugh leaves my chest at the absurdity of my situation. Spite helps me ignore the pull of abused muscles as I raise my trembling arm in the air; middle finger rising with so much intent, I knew if fuck you was a spell, I just cast it.

I lived, you bitch-ass fleabag.

“I’ve been around enough to recognize a rude gesture when I bump into one.” A deep voice speaks from somewhere above my head, and my soul just about leaves my body. “Can assure you neither the trees nor the Maker himself will give nug piss about your anger, pal.” I search the best I can from my disadvantage point, gulping when I spot my unexpected companion.

Keep reading on Ao3

[itgetsdarksometimes35]

When Two Lonely Hearts Come Together

Warnings: Non con, dub con, witchcraft, demons

Prompt: I am so glad I swallowed before you said that

Word Count:

Pairings: Dark!Demon!Winter soldier x Witch!reader

Summary: Witch reader decides o summon a demon to keep her company

~ indicates a time change

A/N: Wow it’s been a while. I’ll spare you the nitty gritty of finals and work and just say this was a challenge for @what-just-happened-bro​ ‘s challenge in July. Oops. Anyway enjoy! More coming soon ;)

XXX

The Winter Soldier. AKA, the demon of obsession. Every witch you knew avoided contacting his spirit, in fear of the power he possessed. Though nobody was completely sure, his powers could be positive. The risk, however, of him being a negative spirit was enough to deter anyone from trying.

You had agreed with them at a time, but now as your town that housed all the witches of the land burned down as you ran for safety into the woods, you realized you were completely alone. At first, you got by with no contact with others, but alienation isn’t healthy for anyone. Not even a witch.

You were a part of a community that was killed within the span of just a weekend after a local town pledged everyone you knew. You had barely escaped, using your mother's spirit’s warning as a sign to run before the fires even started. You looked back with horror. Witches could do evil, but more often than not they didn’t. Choosing a life of quiet rather than to stir a pot that couldn’t be undone. 

As you sat in the middle of the forest, the home to you for the past 2 years because of the freedom to move as your fear of staying anywhere too long progressed, laying out all the equipment you needed. Most of what you owned burned, but you saved what you could while remaking other necessities. Everything was ready for the séance, you just needed your blood. 

The blood would be a guide for what the Winter Soldier was to cling to. You. You needed a companion, one who would be obsessed with you. The desperation you had sunk to was enough to have your dead friends and mother clawing at your soul, warning you not to do this. You blocked them all out, knowing the only way to stop the pain you felt would be to play a game with the devil for one of his children. A risk that could cost you your soul to be trapped in an endless Hell.

The knife sliced through your hand and you held it over the star that you made in the dirt and out of rocks. You chanted the words you had memorized at the young age of 10, and as you did you felt the wind tousle your hair. Your eyes instinctively rolled to the back of your head as the words dripped from your lips like poison. In the wind, you could hear the sounds of tortured souls screaming for mercy as the gates of Hell opened to release one of their most prized possessions. 

Then, silence. The only thing you could hear was your heavy breaths, and you could feel the sun lowering to make way for the night. You slowly opened your eyes to see the star in the dirt spewed and your rocks clear of any blood you had just painted them with.

He’s here.

Your eyes searched the tall trees until your eyes landed on a man in black. He wore a mask that covered his face and his arm shined in the little light the sky was blessing you with.

You slowly stood up, grabbing the cup filled with herbs and other things to help the demon adjust to the world, while he followed your body’s every movement. You stalked closer to him, wary of his intentions, while showing your hands as a gesture you meant no harm. Who conjures a demon to fight them?

“Winter Soldier. I say your name therefore you hold no power over me. I’ve asked upon your spirit of obsession to accompany me in life.” You told the demon your name and stopped a few feet in front of him. He looked so alive; his eyes looked like you could drown in them. You handed him the cup and watched as he removed his mask to drink it. He grunted in pain before throwing the cup away.

“The fuck is in that?” The words came out rough, his throat sounded unused. 

You hesitated a moment. “Herbs.”

“And?” He could tell you were holding out.

“Crushed beetles.”

The soldier seemed to chuckle. “I am so glad I swallowed before you said that.” You laughed nervously with him, and a quiet beat followed.

“You’re lonely.” 

“Yes.” It wasn’t a question, more a statement, but you still answered it like it was. He still doesn’t move, and you felt so awkward. Now what?

You cleared your throat. “Well, uh, are you going to come from behind the tree?” You tried to smile, make this less excruciating. For once the silence you had lived in all your life was no longer acceptable to you.

“I haven’t seen anyone else since the year 934.” The soldier ignored you as he stayed perched behind the tree. His body was huge, not even the tall pine could hide him from you, though.

“Oh.” He didn’t need to explain the story to you, you knew it well. The Winter Soldier was released by a witch to reign destruction on the village. He killed millions in just one day. The witch was burned and the Winter Soldier’s story was passed down from generation to generation of witches. Some say the witch meant harm, others say it was the demon who decided how those people met their end. That’s why a mystery was connected with him for so long. 

“What do you want?”

You looked to the demon, finding an uneasy comfort in his eyes. “Everyone I have ever known is dead. I have no one left, they are just white lights and voices that dance around my dreams, gone as soon as I open my eyes.” 

The soldier stared at you a bit, considering you, before moving to stand fully in front of you. “So you want me to bring them back?”

“No, their spirits are at peace. All I want is someone to be with me until I can meet them in the afterlife. Your obsession can be me, I just want your company.”

The soldier had never heard anything like this before. Everyone contacted demons so they could do something for them. Who contacts one for a friendship? Something snapped inside him in that moment. He finally felt a calmness at the realization, and he smiled devilishly at the woman. 

You raised an eyebrow in confusion before he grabbed her by the forearm with his metal arm, burning her skin. You howled in pain, the sound of sizzles and pops filled your ears. Smoke rose from your arm. The demon finally let go, leaving a mark permanently on your skin.

“What the fuck was that for?” Demons couldn’t touch humans and vise versa. Not unless you wanted to feel like you’re sitting in Hell.

“You’re mine now.”

You looked at him confused before taking a better look at your arm. There you saw the mark of the Winter Soldier. 

“No, I own you. Like a genie in a lamp, I let you go so you do my bidding now.”

The demon laughed again. “Do you know who you contacted?”

Oh no. Had you messed up? “You’re not the Winter Soldier?”

Again, the demon let out a hearty laugh. “The Winter Soldier replaced the devil a long time ago, darling. I run the show now. And I make the rules.”

Your eyes got big. How could this be? No demon is so powerful that they could overthrow their leader. It’s unnatural, it’d be like God being overthrown.

“N-no, it’s not possible. I banish you back to Hell Winter Soldier.”

“That won’t work on me.”

You tried again. “Go back to the fiery pits from which you came from, leave this earth and all its inhabitants behind. I say your name, Winter Soldier, with power over you as I exile you back to Hell!”

You continued to chant as the wind picked up again, the pits of Hell opening to welcome back their ruler. Only, he isn’t going back. He just stood there, smiling at you. 

“Are you done?”

You shook your head. How is this possible? Before you could pick up the fruitless chants again, the soldier grabs you by the arms and drags you down to Hell with him. You watch in horror as the portal to your world closes before your eyes. 

~

Turns out, the Winter Soldier was right. He ran the underworld. Demons and their victims fell to their knees as he walked by them, bowing to their lord.

You saw fire and destruction, pain painted everywhere. They all cried for the mercy of death, but it fell to deaf ears as their tormentors continued their hatred.

You didn’t burn, you didn’t even feel hot, as you trailed behind the Devil as he pranced around his kingdom. His home was likable to the place a royal family would stay. A huge red castle with black accents here and there. Inside held the same colors. It smelled of ash, yet, it didn’t bother you a bit.

The Winter Soldier led you into a room with two thrones. A man stood near the thrones, metal cuffs around his bleeding ankles. Your eyes widened at him. He had dusty brown curly hair and beautiful brown eyes. He was gorgeous, what did he do to get caught up in a place like this?

“Lucifer.” The soldier nodded to the man and he quickly set his sad eyes down to the floor. Lucifer? As in? “I hope you can help my guest feel welcome, she’s come a long way.” He smiled at you, but you just glared back. The ex devil just nodded his head at his new master.

You were beckoned to sit on the smaller chair next to the bigger one where your captor sat. He turned to you after telling Lucifer to get him and his friend some food. 

“What do you think?”

“What do you mean?”

“Well, do you like it? I designed it all myself, it wasn’t easy you know.” He smiled at you, showing you sincere adoration. You could’ve puked.

“It’s Hell.” His face dropped. 

“Obviously, but I think I’ve made it work quite nicely. You’ll get used to it?”

“What? No, you’re going to send me back to earth!”

“How could you be my queen on earth, silly?”

Queen?

“What? No, I can’t be your queen! I can’t stay here forever, I have to die on earth so my spirit can move on in the afterlife. So I can see my friends and family again.”

The soldier shrugged. “They can visit.”

You could’ve shouted. “No, they can’t! I’m- I- This isn’t why I summoned you.”

“Isn’t it though? You needed a companion, I needed a companion. It seems everyone is happy here.”

Lucifer returned with a tray of fruit and the soldier started eating the grapes. “Ugh, I’ve never been able to get used to mortal food. It’s all yours, my love.”

You pushed the tray from you as he tried to hand it to you. “I should’ve never called to you. I should’ve listened to what everyone said, your powers are used for evil. Not good.”

The Winter Soldier rolled his eyes. “Is that what everyone says about me? Because of what happened with that witch, huh? Well, let me tell you what happened. The bitch wanted to take over not only our realm but hers as well. I agreed to help her, but when I killed everyone to turn into demons she no longer wanted to comply. She sent me back to Hell, and that was the day I vowed to never be turned down again. She was the woman who was supposed to be my wife. My first love, and she slandered my name. Well, that’s why the cunt lives here forever, wishing she would’ve never double crossed me. After that, I started my plans to overthrow old Lucifer here so I could make the rules. I come and go as I please, wherever, whenever.” He looked accomplished with himself.

“Except Heaven.”

The soldier laughed so loud it boomed in the empty castle. “Heaven? Aw, you poor thing. You still believe in that place. God left everyone a long time ago, dear.”

That’s it. You had had enough. “Let. Me. Go.”

“Nope.”

“Now!”

“No! Look at your arm, you’re bound to me forever. If you leave my side down here, you’ll burn. As your soul leaves your body it’ll be cast down here with everyone else forever to be tortured. You’ll never get the chance to live with your loved ones. The only way you’ll see them is if you stay with me. I’ll take you wherever, but you will never be apart from me.”

Your eyes filled with tears. “Why?”

“Because I love you.”

~

The Winter Soldier’s hips crashed into yours at a hard pace, just how he liked it. Your moans mixed together in the room as you both reached your peaks together, his cum painting your velvety walls.

He reached up to feel your swollen belly and smiled into your neck. “They’re almost here.” 

You hummed in response. You had been stuck in Hell for the past year. You accepted everything slowly, but surely. Once you did, your husband showed you an unwavering amount of love. He let you see your family and friends, whom you hadn’t seen in years, and he let you travel to different realms. You never wanted for anything. He quickly, with you by his side as queen, took over all realms of the universe. Everything belonged to him, and in turn, to you.

Once you both learned of your pregnancy, you were nervous. You never thought you’d get married, let alone have children. The soldier helped you through it all, though, and your nerves were replaced with true joy as you thought about the triplets growing inside your belly. 

You never knew how much love could come out of two lonely hearts meeting together. 

[tomtenadia]

Island Dreams - Chapter 19

Good evening, afternoon, morning to everyone and welcome to chapter 19.

I have a few notes before letting you to the chapter. Rowan and Aelin finally attend Heb Celt. Heb Celt is this wonderful festival held in Stornoway each year (non covid years) and it's all about Scottish and Celtic music. It's big and it's amazing. That's where they are. I mentioned some groups. Peat and Diesel have been mentioned before in the fic. The new ones are Skerryvore and Skipinnish. they do some amazing music and I highly recommend it if you want to try some Scottish bands. They also sing in Gaelic. The song from Skerryvore that Aelin sing is called You and I. Awesome stuff.

Half way through you will notice Elide and Lorcan appearing in the fic. I tried to keep Lorcan IC as much as i could. not an easy task. I had to give them modern world jobs so Lorcan in my head is perfect for a rugby player. He is the Captain of the Glasgow warriors. They are a real team in Glasgow. The boys also mention the Six Nations. This is a wonderful competition that if you are in Europe you might have heard of. It happens every year and it has 6 teams competing: Scotland (YAY), Italy (YAY - I am Italian... imagine my pain on a Sco vs Ita game), Wales, Ireland and France. I love this competition and it's going to start this weekend. Rowan and Lorcan joke about England and Scotland. Although England wins most of the times (grrrrr) a few years back Scotland actually won and it almost became a new national day after St Andrews. I am not joking. Rugby is a big thing in Scotland.

Two Gaelic phrases: -Tha Gàidhlig agam cuideachd: I speak Gaelic too -Tha beagan Gàidhlig agam. I speak little Gaelic.

Quick update as well about the fic. Most of the chapters have some big chunks written. But there are two important chapters: 22 - something big happens. I wrote the main important part 5 times already and probably re write another five before i publish it. It involves something I don't usually write and I am really nervous. So finger crossed.

26: this will be the last chapter (there's an epilogue as well) and again I have written the main event. There is so much fluff that it's probably not healthy :)

So, after this massive introduction I can let you go and enjoy (hopefully) the chapter.

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Aelin had woken up before Rowan that morning. It was finally mid July and it was Heb Celt day and she was super excited. The festival would run for three days but they had chosen the one with the most of their favourite artists. Plus Rowan had tickets for Peat and Diesel and they could not miss them. She rolled out of bed and went to the kitchen. That morning it was her turn for once to prepare breakfast. Rowan had taught her enough for her to make breakfast safely without burning the house down. It was a special day and she was going to make eggs and bacon, the only concession Rowan would make in his perfect diet. Once a week they could treat themselves to a non healthy breakfast. She prepared the coffee, sliced some bread for the toaster and started frying the bacon in one pan and getting the eggs ready as well. She felt good, she could make breakfast for Rowan for once. She was almost done when she felt his arms around her waist and a soft kiss behind her ear. “It smells lovely.”

“It’s a special day today so we are having our special breakfast.” She told him while finishing ti prepare the eggs. She was very proud of her job. “I’ll set the table.” He added and moved away and she missed his arms. “So, the main event is tonight at seven.” She said passing him the plates with food “I had a look at some events and it seems there is enough for us to fill up the entire day.” “You have done a good job,” he commented taking a bite of the food she had prepared for him. She tasted it as well and found it edible. Well, at least she was not going to poison them and he seemed satisfied. “Look at you.” He pulled her to him, and Aelin sat on his lap. She grabbed her plate and finished her breakfast with one of his arms around her. She was really loving it living with him. It had taken her a little while to adjust to his way of life but she had realised that living with him was quite easy. They had their little fights but he seemed to hate to hold grudges for too long so every time they had fixed their issues quite quickly. The two of them ate in silence for a moment “This is good, Fireheart.” And he polished off his plate. “I had a good teacher.” She stood and Rowan noticed that she was only wearing a large t-shirt, his t-shirt, and under it he could very barely notice her underwear. He grabbed her and pulled her back on his lap and she straddled him. His hands landed on her butt and she kissed him. “You really love teasing me, don’t you?” “It’s fun.” He looked at her in a weird way “Sure, torturing a poor man like that.” She got up again and took all the plates to the sink and she walked swaying her hips on purpose. Rowan almost howled at the sight. She started washing the dishes and at the same time she began dancing and singing and that’s the way we do it, the way we do it in the Western Isles. Rowan laughed and helped her. She washed and he dried them. She kept singing and bumped her hips into his and the two started dancing together. Once they were done Aelin went to her old room to get changed. She wore a pair of shorts and a t-shirt. Then she braided her hair and tied a colourful bandana to her head. She prepared her backpack and she was ready to go. Once out, Rowan was waiting for her. He had blue shorts a grey t-shirt and on top of it a blue shirt with short sleeves and his sunglasses on top of his head. Aelin took a photo of him “so sexy.” He raised an eyebrow at her comment “I am not—“ “Shh…” she said placing a finger on his lips “I am your girlfriend and I am the one to judge.” He bit her finger in reply. “Fine, fine.” He grabbed her hand “Come on, I have a surprise for you.” Her face lit up and he could spend an entire day staring at her smiling at him. It was such a beautiful sight. They left the house and began their walk all the way to the harbour and Aelin was getting curious about their destination. They reached a small house down at the pier and Rowan pulled her toward the small group of people gathered. Aelin noticed another couple and a woman on her own. She was quite intent in studying the couple. The woman was quite petite with black hair and black eyes as well and she had a very bright smile. The man was almost the opposite. He was tall, Aelin suspected even taller than Rowan, something she could not believe it was possible. He had a thick muscular build with long dark hair and same for his eyes. But where she exuded a friendly attitude, he seemed to scowl even at the stones. “Is this part of the festival?” Wondering about his plan. “In a manner.” He explained quite vaguely “It’s just a pre festival fun.” Sure, now it was clear, thought Aelin, none the wiser. Rowan left her side for a moment and she noticed him talking with a man who, from the way he was dressed seemed to be a crew member on a boat. Rowan looked relaxed and Aelin suspected the two were friends. And with sadness she realised she had never met any of Rowan’s friend and he did not seem to mention any of them. “Ready for an adventure?” He told her once he came back, carrying two lifejackets. Aelin stared at him and then he pointed at the small rib boat and he gave her a huge grin. “I know one of crew members, Callum,” and he pointed at the man he was talking to. We used to dive together. I asked him if he could save us two seats for this morning. It’s a gorgeous day and a boat trip seems like the best way to spend the morning.” “You are a very resourceful man, Rowan Whitethorn.” She tiptoed on her feet and kissed his nose. One of the crew member walked around distributing lifejackets and explained the basic health and safety measures. Aelin wore her vest and Rowan double checked it was up to his standards. Once he was happy that the jacket was safely on he helped her to get on the rib. The brunette girl who was part of the couple sat beside her giving her a wide smile full of excitement that probably mirrored Aelin’s. “I am Elide.” The woman introduced herself and Aelin took her hand. “I am Aelin.” She smiled back “Are you here for the festival too?” She had a feeling they were tourists. “Yes,” she replied excited “Lorcan and I come every year. We love it.” Then she turned to the man at her side “This is Lorcan by the way. Don’t worry he does not bite. That is just his regular face” and the man grunted in reply. Aelin laughed. The man seemed to be mad at the world. She turned to introduce Rowan to the couple, but she noticed he was still on the pier chatting away with one of the crew members. “The tall guy on the pier with the blue shirt? My boyfriend, Rowan.” Elide’s gaze took in Rowan and Aelin smiled wickedly at the woman’s stare of understanding. “Did you come here for the festival too?” “Oh, Rowan and I live here. He is the local, I moved her a few months ago.” “Nice,” said the woman. Aelin liked her already, she had a very bubbly personality. “Lorcan and I live in Glasgow.” “I never been there but Rowan did uni there..” “You should come and visit. It’s quite a fantastic city. So alive.” Rowan finally returned and sat down beside Aelin “nice chat?” “Yeah, I haven’t seen him in ages. I knew he had opened a boat tours business but I never had the chance to come and say hi. We were just discussing some ideas for possible diving adventures.” She caressed his head and realised that there was still so much she did not know about him. Some days he still felt like a huge mystery, but still, she was madly in love with him and she was looking to find out more about him day by day. “I made a friend by the way,” and she pointed at the woman at her side “This is Elide. She and her boyfriend Lorcan are here for the festival too.” Rowan extended his hand and then he and Lorcan exchanged a manly nod and both women rolled their eyes. Rowan fussed over her again and double checked one more time that her lifejacket was fitted and tied properly, when the rib boat started to move. His hand reached behind her back and he leaned comfortably against the side of the boat and closed his eyes, letting the sun kiss his face. Aelin and Elide on the other hand, were taking photos and chatting away happily pointing at all the points of interest. The boat glided on the water and Aelin leaned back against Rowan, taking in the scenery in front of her. She had explored all of that during her adventures, but seeing it from the water was a completely different experience. “Thank you for this.” She said to him. “Hopefully we will see some wildlife.” He added “Callum said that yesterday they spotted Orcas.” Aelin’s eyes went wide in surprise “I saw whales at the Butt of Lewis, or what I think it was whales.” “Highly likely.” Then she turned to Elide “So, you guys are staying here for the whole festival?” The woman nodded “Yes, Lorcan and I always rent a cottage for a week and spend the whole weekend at the festival. I am looking forward the main event tonight: Peat and Diesel.” Aelin almost squealed “us too. Rowan introduced me to them very recently and I am dying to see them live.” “We have been to one of their concerts in Glasgow at the Barrowlands.” Said Lorcan almost grumbling. “Oh, he speaks,” joked Elide, patting his leg and giving him a smile. He did not reply and just placed a hand on her back. “What about we spend the day together?” Aelin turned all excited to Rowan who gave her a nod “Yes,” she shouted looking at Elide again. They sailed for a bit longer and reached Tiumpan Head and Rowan told her to keep and eye on the sea. Not a moment later she spotted a couple of fins and she and Elide almost jumped. “Dolphins,” Rowan said in her ear. She made a 360 and sat on her knees facing now the water. She felt Rowan’s arm tight around her waist. “Please, don’t fall in the water.” Her hand was in the water and a dolphin passed very close to her and she almost touched it. Rowan used his free hand to take pictures of her. His phone gallery had nothing but pictures of Aelin. Elide turned as well and Rowan noticed the panic in the other man’s eyes and they exchanged a glance of understanding. Aelin leaned a bit further but Rowan’s arm pulled her back “Please don’t. Lifeguard service is not in my plans for today.” “There’s dolphins around the boat.” Aelin squealed. “I know, Fireheart,” he pulled her back “but you need to calm down.” She sat back down to a safer position and Rowan felt like he could breath again. “Is that Tolsta?” She then asked when they continued north and she recognised the place in front of her. The closer they got to the beach the clearer the water got and Aelin was in awe “This reminds me of when Lys and I swam at Luskentyre.” Oh yeah, Rowan remembered the day and very quickly chased the memories away. They were in public. The boat made a turn and they began to make their way back to the town. Aelin snuggled to Rowan’s chest, with her arms around his waist. “Are you cold?” He demanded “I have your favourite hoodie with me.” “I am fine.” An hour later they were back at the harbour and Aelin was high on excitement. The trip had been amazing. Once off the boat she flung her arms around Rowan’s neck and kissed him “Thank you. I loved my surprise.” “You are most welcome.” He pulled back from her “Let me say bye to Callum.” And she was left alone with Elide and Lorcan. “That was a nice trip.” Said the woman, grabbing her boyfriend’s hand. “Totally. I had never seen dolphins before. It was so awesome.” “Really?” Elide was curious. Aelin nodded “Until a few months ago I lived in London. Born and bred there. Not much chance to see dolphins in the water. I doubt they would enjoy the Thames.” Elide gazed at Lorcan “We were planning a quick weekend in the capital next month.” “Ask me anything. I can tell you the best places to go and how to survive London without breaking the bank.” “That would be lovely,” was Lorcan’s reply “I feel like I need a mortgage for this trip.” He kissed the woman’s head and she noticed the first sign of affection “But it’s a belated birthday present, so…” he shrugged. “Ach, I can help you with that. I survived London on a budget when I was student.” Rowan finally came back and embraced her from behind “Sorry, Callum and I were just planning an excursion for next Sunday.” He kissed her ear. “Can I come too?” “Of course.” Then he lifted his head and looked at their two companions for the day “Aelin and I are going to grab lunch, fancy joining us?” Lorcan almost protested but Elide poked his shoulder “Stop being grumpy.” Then she turned to Aelin and Rowan “Of course we are coming.” Rowan smiled and took Aelin’s hand and started walking to Maeve’s. He laughed when he noticed that Aelin was almost skipping. Gods, the woman had never ending energy. While walking to Maeve’s Rowan and Lorcan ended up side by side and Aelin just noticed that her assumption was right and Lorcan really was taller that Rowan. The man must have been closer to two metres. She felt tiny all of a sudden and Elide seemed even more petite beside the huge man. She could put Aedion with them as well and they could form a sexy, tall wall of muscles. She grinned and was glad that Rowan was busy talk to Elide so he did not notice her savage blush. They reached the cafe and noticed that it was packed and Rowan sighed. He loved the festival but it also meant a savage invasion disrupting his day to day life. He entered first and went to his aunt and Aelin smiled when she noticed that Maeve had managed to find some space for them. “Privileges of being related to the owner,” he smiled, going back to them. “This is a lovely place,” commented Elide “why we never stopped here?” “So, will you be enjoying the entire festival as well?” Asked Elide, passing a menu to Lorcan. “No, Rowan and I will be doing today only. Tomorrow we have to reopen the bookshop.” The woman’s eyes lit up in surprise “do you run the bookshop down the road?” Rowan nodded “It’s my shop.” He took Aelin’s hand in his “she helps.” “Yeah, I fix his displays and I charm customer. Rowan scares them away by being a grump” She grinned back at him and he, in exchange, flicked her nose. “I am a primary school teacher,” continued Elide who was definitely the chattier of the pair “And Lorcan is the coach of the Glasgow Warriors. They are a rugby team.” And Aelin was grateful to the woman for the clarification. “No way.” Said Rowan amazed “That’s why you looked familiar. You were their captain until a few years back. Lorcan Salvaterre.” Lorcan nodded. “I studied at Glasgow university and the Warriors were, and still are, my favourite team. I went to see plenty of their games. You guys are awesome.” “You like rugby?” “Aye,” added Rowan and Aelin studied him for a moment. He was alive all of a sudden, his usual calm disappeared and he was one beautiful sight “Stornoway has a small club and I go and watch some of the games. But I miss the big league guys. I usually get tickets for the Six Nations as well.” Lorcan smiled “I can get you some tickets for one of Scotland’s home games. Perhaps for the one against England. Wonder if it will be finally the year we trash them as they deserve.” “Hey,” Aelin exclaimed almost hurt “English woman here.” And as a joke she pushed her London accent. “No one is perfect, Fireheart.” Rowan kissed her temple. She pinched his side and he barely reacted “Fine, I will support England this year, just to annoy you” She threatened and the two guys glared at her. “Fine.” She raised her hands “but you need to teach me Flower of Scotland.” “It would be my pleasure.” And he pulled her to him and in that instant Maeve came with their order “Sorry for the wait guys, we are quite busy today.” Rowan said something in Gaelic to his aunt and she walked away with a smile. Elide turned to him “Tha Gàidhlig agam cuideachd.” Rowan’s face lit up. “I teach at the Glasgow Gaelic School. I am not a native. I picked it up at uni and I fell in love with it. I spent some time on the islands to learn it and then I got a job as a teacher.” “Yeah if she starts to shout at me in Gaelic I know she is really mad at me.” The man joked taking her hand. “I only know a few sentences. Tha beagan Gàidhlig agam.” Aelin said proudly “Rowan has been teaching me.” They finished their lunch chatting away nicely and getting to know each other. Lorcan did manage to utter a few more sentences but he became quite talkative once he and Rowan started talking about rugby. Aelin ordered a trip to the ice cream parlour. And the boys followed. Aelin took Elide’s arm and let Rowan and Lorcan follow. They were super immersed in their conversation. Aelin wished Lysandra was there too. She had a feeling the three of them would get along greatly. Aelin and Elide got a triple cone and the two men just went for something more sober with just one flavour. “Look at them all perfect and healthy.” Aelin mocked them and Elide giggled at her side. Rowan, in front of her just met her gaze and then licked his ice cream in a very taunting way and took great pleasure in noticing her reaction. Aelin almost chocked and his eyes flashed in amusement. A wall, she just wanted a wall and twenty minutes alone with him to remove that smirk form his face. He knew he had rattled her and hated the way he casually went back talking to Lorcan. She would have her revenge. Eventually her mind started functioning again and went back talking to Elide, hoping the woman had not noticed their exchange. That would have been embarrassing. Slowly they reached the festival grounds. They made it till four and they still had three hours to fill in before the main event. They all collected their tickets and ventured inside the main arena. Aelin squeezed Rowan’s hand and once she turned to him she noticed he had the most amazing smile. “We got a concert coming up.” Said Elide, then grabbed a notebook and scribbled something down “this is my number. Text me later. We can meet again for the main event.” Aelin took the piece of paper and then the notebook and wrote her number for the woman “Looking forward to.” The two said their goodbyes and Rowan finally pulled Aelin to him and kissed her deeply “I had to restrain myself all afternoon.” “You are a wicked man,” a whisper against his lips “You will pay for the ice cream trick.” But in response his kiss deepened and his tongue repeated some of the motions he did early. “Unless you want me to drag you in a hidden corner and have sex at a festival, you’d better stop it.” He laughed “Yes, Fireheart.” And mirth flashed in his pine green eyes. “Come on, let’s go and have a look at the merchandise. See if we can get you a P&D hoodie.” And he dragged her to the area with all the stalls. “Uh, food stalls.” She pulled on one side. “Later. We just had a massive lunch and ice cream.” “You are no fun.” She complained while following him. He walked with her in tow for a little longer and they finally found all the stall with the merchandise for the bands and the festival in general. “Look,” he said to her pointing at the big stall of the band “Good thing we are here early, we can do all these things now. Later on it will be mobbed.” Aelin got closer to the stall and started having a look at the hoodies. She noticed a green one and gave it a try. She had decided that for some reason green reminded her of Rowan, perhaps for his eyes, but the colour now was a reminder of him. She tried on the hoodie and Rowan turned and stared at her in appreciation. “You look lovely.” “I’ll take it.” As Rowan turned again, apparently interested by what was going on on the big screen and she used the moment to buy a t-shirt for him. His birthday was coming up and this was the second part of her present. She paid for her stuff and quickly placed the t-shirt in her backpack before he would turn again. She embraced him from behind and leaned her head against his back, he turned, “I really, really like it.” And kissed her forehead. They wandered a bit longer until they finally reached one of the smaller stages where the first band they were waiting for was going to play soon. They did manage to squeeze to the front and Aelin felt bad for whoever ended up behind Rowan. He pulled her in front of him and his arms went around her neck “Are you ready to sing?” She nodded. The band was called Skipinnish and one was one of Rowan’s favourite and she agreed that they did some wonderful music. The group started with a slow song and Aelin danced on the spot in Rowan’s arms and she felt like the happiest woman alive. In his arms she was finally happy. As if the last year ceased to exist all of a sudden. That had been his magic. He had slowly taken away all the grief she had felt until only a few months ago. He had given her again the desire to dream. She squeezed his hand and tried to convey somehow all those feeling in that simple gesture. The music suddenly picked up in pace and Rowan turned her to him, one of her hand landed on his chest and the other one in his hand that he held high. He started dancing and she swayed with him, then he lifted her and turned on the spot and put her back. A quick kiss and they kept dancing. His eyes alive with happiness. She giggled and he smiled at that sound. All through their dance, Aelin sang, impressing him by her knowledge. She only refrained from singing the songs in Gaelic, that was still too much of a challenge. They danced for another few hours then they moved to the next stage where Skerryvore, the next band they wanted to see was going to play. This time they ended up at the back, but Rowan had Aelin climb on his back, piggyback style, and that allowed her to see the stage a little better. She could not dance but loved her position. Her chin leaned on his head and her arms went around his neck. She took a sniff of his wonderful scent of pine and snow and kissed the back of his head. One of Aelin’s favourite songs began playing and she sang out loud you and I, we held each other tight. Time will take its toll, but I will never let you go. Your love is like a high, you and I. Our love can never die, together as we grow. I’ll always let you know, you’re my reason why Rowan joined in and she hugged him tighter and her head leaned against his head. “I love you,” she whispered while he was busy singing the chorus. It was past six when the concert finished. Aelin looked at her phone and noticed a text from Elide telling her that she and Lorcan were already at the main stage and they had a spot at the very front. “Let’s go.” Aelin grabbed Rowan’s hand “Elide and Lorcan have spot fro us as well at the front of the stage.” Luckily the main stage area was not busy yet, and they found the couple quite quickly. Rowan had a look and noticed they had found a good spot. “This is perfect.” Rowan commented. “Not our first festival.” Lorcan grinned back. Aelin and Elide were huddled together talking and being all excited for the grand event. Aelin paraded her hoodie and Elide showed her the t-shirt and the hoodie she had bought as well. Rowan really thought he had created a monster. With the passing of time the area started to fill and Aelin could feel the excitement around them. Half an hour later the show started with a roar. Aelin climbed on Rowan’s shoulders again and she noticed that Lorcan offered the same to Elide. Aelin roared as well and shouted as soon as she recognised the notes of the first song Stornoway of course. She sang with all of her voice and waved her hands in the air. She and Elide grabbed their hands and sang and waved together. Then they moved to Western Isles and the crowd went wild. Rowan laughed at Aelin’s wild excitement and was impressed by the fact that Aelin really had learned all the lyrics. “And that’s the way we do it, the way we do it in the Western Isles” she was singing with a passion and his mind went to that morning when she was cooking breakfast in nothing but a baggy t-shirt while singing and dancing to that song. Rowan moved a bit dancing as much as possible with Aelin on his shoulder but he sang as well and with his hand he beat the rhythm on Aelin’s legs. The band was playing some of their hits and he was having the time of his life. He had never been able to convince Lyria to go to Heb Celt with him. Her music taste was different and she was never interested in that type of music so he had gone alone for a very long time. But now he had Aelin and she was basically perfect. The guys started playing My islands and Aelin let out a savage cheer and then started to sing. She slowly slid off his back and started dancing and jumping in front of him shaking her head at the rhythm of the music Elide at her side being just as wild. She took his hands and danced on the spot as much as the crowd allowed it. Aelin took some photos of her and Rowan and went back dancing. It was quite late when the concert finished. Aelin and Elide were now walking silently hand in hand with their respective men. “I think they finally ran out of fuel.” Joked Rowan, seeing the two women quiet. “It took them a while, but eventually it happened.” Joked Lorcan who had slowly opened up a bit more. “You are both so mean.” Said Elide leaning against Lorcan. “Yes, and you are going to fall asleep soon.” Lorcan crouched down and offered to carry Elide piggyback “Come on, time to get you to bed.” “Are you coming to the ceilidh at An Lanntair tomorrow?” Aelin and Rowan looked at each other “we might,” she said. “Let us know.” Said Lorcan settling Elide properly on his back “Thanks for the day and evening.” And the two slowly walked away. Rowan turned to Aelin and noticed she had a massive grin on her face. Alas, she seemed to have some energy left. “That was awesome.” She took both of his hands “And we need to go to the ceilidh tomorrow. It’s your birthday. We need to celebrate.” “Fine. We can go. But now we are going home. You have to rest and recharge the batteries for the ceilidh.” She leaned forward and kissed him “Thank you so much for this. It was unbelievable.” He pulled her to him and lifted her and pirouetted while kissing her. Finally they started making their way home and when Rowan noticed that Aelin was on the verge of falling asleep on her feet he offered a piggyback ride and she accepted. By the time they got back home she was fully asleep. At home he deposited her on the bed and he started to ponder how to get her out of her current clothes and into a pyjama. He went to get her Cookie Monster pyjama, removed her hoodie and placed it on the chair at the bottom of the room. Next it was the t-shirt and her shorts and he tried to look away. He was about to put the new clothes away when she groaned and woke up briefly. “I am just changing you into your pj.” He told her gently. Still half asleep she let him guide her body into her night clothes. Then he realised she liked to sleep without a bra and he had no idea how to solve that one. “Bra…” she muttered. “I am… you…” he tried to hide his embarrassment “you do that.” She muttered something unintelligible and removed her bra and threw it in his face. Then collapsed on the bed and went back to sleep. Rowan slowly tucked her in then changed in own night clothes and joined her. His arms went around her waist tucked her head in the crook of his neck. Not longer after he was asleep as well.

[letstrywritingmaybe]

Evermore

And I couldn't be sure

I had a feeling so peculiar

This pain wouldn't be for

Evermore

Snow falls over the dreary city on this November evening, coating the town in white when all she sees is grey. The darkness calls out to her, starts as a whisper until the voices become screams, blaming her for their early demise. Their spirits haunt her, July seems like a lifetime ago, back when she had to hide behind a different kind of sorrow. She can see her breath as she takes the long way back, the wind howls fighting her at every step, a harsh winter that’s sure to come. She huddles into her petticoat, not nearly thick enough to keep her warm while the snow continues to fall, she hadn’t intended on staying out for long. It’s always when she least expects, her guard is down, seemingly away from harm until she realizes she’s never been safe.

She stumbles into the empty cabin, her footsteps echoing, the only sign of life while the others are away. Meant to be a getaway, something to remind her of the good times, all it does is force the demons to get angrier. How dare she attempt to go back to a normal life when so many lives were lost, the good ones die so that someone as underserving as her can sit by a nice fireplace and pretend she belongs. She watches the flame burn brighter, occasionally feeding more firewood, stirring the pile. Each flicker and crack sends her to a different memory, flashes of those she’s killed appearing before her, she’s shaking despite the heat.

They find her staring out the open window, unable to hear their calls, too absorbed in her own thoughts. She barely takes notice of another layer of blanket being draped over her shoulder, the sound of the window shutting, the feeling of being wrapped up in a warm embrace. Lost in her grief floating farther and farther away from the rest of the world, she thought she would be able to cope better given all that she’s been through. Loss is not a foreign concept, a feeling she’s all too familiar with since the day she became aware of the evils surrounding her.

Snow continues to fall, even more so now that it’s December. She decided to stay in the log cabin even long after the camping trip concluded, she’s used to the solitude. The past still haunts her, keeping her down with its sharp claws and a heavy weight in her heart. Memories of all the bad times run through her mind, a vicious cycle without an end in sight; she no longer sleeps, but the nightmares appear even in the daylight. She’s just so tired, she needs a break, just a brief moment to pause.

The cold air is almost welcoming, greeting her cheeks and gloveless hands, at least she knows she can still feel something. She doesn’t venture far, ill prepared for the harsh weather, barefoot on the cold stone steps, one false move and she could slip from the ice. The path ends far too quickly for her liking, she entertains the thought of venturing further, go off into the woods and disappear never to be seen again. It would be easy to leave everything behind, join her dead family in the afterlife, the endless waves of grief would finally vanish. There’s no one left on the earth to mourn Miyano Shiho, she would be doing the world a favor.

Shiho

She turns at the sound of her name, but there is no one around. She’s certain it’s his voice, except that doesn’t make sense, he’s never once referred to her as Miyano— let alone Shiho. All at once the floodgates open, memories of their time together flash before her eyes. Every secret they whisper in the night, his easy smile while she’s being cynical, his blue eyes drowning her very soul from their piercing intensity, his promise that he would keep her safe, his warm embrace a month ago in the cabin she still cannot bring herself to leave. A rush of emotions screaming at her to go home, she needs to go back to him. Fight or flight: return to her shelter or enter the woods without an exit plan. Her breathing is getting labored, the longer she stands out here without any protection, the closer to her original goal. She can still hear the angry ghosts inside her mind taunting her, she shuts her eyes, it’s now or never. She takes a step forward.

He’s too late, he can feel it in his bones, he should have insisted on staying with her. She practically shoved him out the door, begging for some alone time, but sometimes quiet is violent. A few days in solitude is enough to drive anyone mad, a few weeks… he doesn’t even want to think about how she’s coping, if at all. He can’t sit here waiting any longer, she was due back hours ago, the fact that she isn’t here… Shaking the bad thoughts away, he heads for the door, if he has to drag her back here himself he’s going to do it. He opens the front door to find her standing there, unsure if she should go inside, he wraps her into his arms. Her tense posture eases melting into his embrace.

“Hi.”

He laughs, “hi, welcome home Shiho.”

The sound of their footsteps echo in the large empty house, a different type of solitude, comforting. The anxiety in his mind quiets now that she is at his side, where she belongs. He makes her favorite tea to help warm her up, she smiles thanking him. The atmosphere turns serious when she sets down her cup, he can see her inner turmoil as she debates whether or not she should even tell him. He won’t push her, if she wants to tell him, then she will. He does not make any advances keeping a small gap between them, the choice is up to her, he simply waits for her decision. She avoids eye contact at first, afraid of his judgment.

“... I almost didn’t come home.”

“... what changed your mind?”

“You.”

She meets his gaze, softening when she admits he saved her life again, even without being physically present. He reaches for her then, intertwining their hands together, placing a light kiss upon her knuckles. In the month since she’s been gone, he’s dreamt of her every night, nightmares plaguing his subconscious. He could not control the impulse to check on her, periodically turning up outside the cabin to make sure she’s still there. Hiding outside in case she catches a glimpse of him, he promised to leave her alone, but knowing her suicidal tendencies made it impossible for him to stay away.

“I guess it’s my turn to make a confession, I may have visited a few times while you were up in the mountains.”

“A few times?”

“Okay, more than a few times.”

“... I never noticed…”

“I didn’t want to set you off, you didn’t want to be disturbed.”

“Thank you for trusting me and giving me space.”

He expected her to be upset, maybe even angry at him for breaking his vow, but if anything she seems relieved. The knowledge that he still has her best interest at heart only further confirms she made the correct decision. She pulls him in for a hug, a noise of content escapes her lips, he smiles.

“I’m not any better… I don’t know if I’ll ever be…”

“I miss them too…”

He squeezes her harder, he doesn’t say the words out loud, but she hears him anyway. He too mourns their fallen allies, but he’s a selfish man, he made the call. The choice to save one person, and though she tried to convince him that it was already too late, he wouldn’t leave her behind. They barely escaped the collapsing building, she was delirious from the loss of blood, hanging on by a thread. He swears his heart stopped when she closed her eyes.

“Kudo?”

“I don’t regret it. If I had to do it all over again, I would still choose you.”

“I’m sorry.”

“You have nothing to apologize for, it’s on me.”

She shakes her head, withdrawing so that they are face to face, she takes both of his hands to examine. Running her thumb across his palms, feeling the callouses from years of playing the violin. She places his hands down gently.

“Your hands are not stained with blood, it just isn’t befitting for someone like you.”

“You shouldn’t have to carry the burden either.”

“Maybe not, but it’s all I have in this world.”

“You have me.”

His hands find hers again, placing it over his beating heart. Proof that as long as he’s still breathing, she has a place to call home. Used to a life of misfortune, is it possible to hope for something more, from the only person left who carries pieces of her shattered soul.

“The pain will pass, all you have to do is take my hand. I promised to protect you, forever if you’ll let me.”

“Forever’s a long time, are you sure you can handle it?”

“When have you ever seen me back down from a challenge?”

“So being with me is a challenge?”

“... that’s not what I meant!”

She laughs at his childish outburst, a glimpse of her past self. This is progress, he just needs to keep reminding her she deserves to be happy. Even if she doesn’t believe it.

Also available on ao3 <3

[watermelons-pomegranates]

Sirius and the Potters

-Sirius first met the Potters right before Winter Hols started in first year, when the Marauders got off the train and James rushed to introduce his new best friend to his parents (he also knew Sirius wanted to stall going home so thought it’d be a good idea). Sirius was nervous but excited, because he had heard James talk about them and they seemed to be the polar opposites of Walburga and Orion. Their conversations went something like this:

“Hello I’m Siri-”

“Sirius Black! Yes we’ve heard ALL about you, dear Jamesie talks of you so much in his letters to home.”

“Mum! Stop it!”

and the conversation continued and Sirius felt so accepted and welcomed for the second time in his life (the first being with James) and he wished he could stay with them forever

-the second encounter happened over the summer before second year, when Sirius flooed into the Potters home, shaking and crying and bleeding, calling out James’ name, albeit quite weakly. He eventually collapsed onto the floor - right before Mr. Potter came into the living room wondering what the fuss was about. He took one look at the boy and called his wife down, and the elderly couple woke him up, healed him in a few seconds, settled him onto the sofa letting him sleep, and were quietly discussing what could have possibly happened. They decided they’d talk with him in the morning, and when they came down at dawn, they found James huddled up next to Sirius, the two gangly boys sprawled against each other, hugging each other tightly, and both Euphemia and Fleamont thought they look like they should be brothers.

-That morning, Sirius explained how his parents were extremely angry with him for getting sorted into Gryffindor and had decided to “teach him a lesson”, several “lessons” actually. The Potters were horrified, they knew that the Black family was sick and messed up but couldn’t possibly believe two parents could treat such a wonderful boy so awfully. They made sure to tell Sirius he was welcome whenever he wanted, and anytime he did visit, Euphemia and Fleamont were very careful and made sure to be especially kind and comforting (even more so than they already were) to their son’s best friend.

-Sirius visited the Potters frequently after that incident over the years, whenever he wanted to spend time with James (which happened to be all the time). By fifth year, Sirius basically felt like the Potters were his real parents, but he never dared calling them mum or dad, in fear that they would be taken aback and never look after him again. This changed when the four of them visited Diagon Alley the summer before fifth year, when a childhood friend of Euphemia saw them and asked her:

“And are these your sons?”

Sirius looked at his feet and shuffled them awkwardly, while James looked over at Sirius with a confused face, wondering why he was being so nervous for a question with a simple answer. 

“Yes, yes they are.”

-Sirius was exceptionally happy that year, and his bond with James (and the other marauders) grew even stronger now that they had become animagi together and were helping Remus. He also began to send letters to his mum and dad (no, not Orion and Walburga), talking about what he did in classes and how he was feeling. He especially loved to gossip about James to Euphemia, and the two of them exchanged many lines about James’ pranks, grades, and recent crush on the Evans girl. Of course fifth year didn’t end too well with the Snape incident, but Lily forgave both of them once they had realized they were in the wrong and went to her and apologized sincerely, promising to leave Snape alone from now on. In reality, Sirius didn’t care much for Evans or Snivellous, but it was important to James to be on her good side so it was important to him. 

-the summer before sixth year was when he ran away. The last week of July, at the dinner table when his parents were discussing the opportunities Voldemort was bringing and how much they agreed with his values, with Regulus nodding along meekly, he had decided he had enough. He threw his fork down and went into a tirade about the absolute stupidity of blood purity and how muggleborns shouldn’t be looked down upon, but he was cut short by a blast of pain. Apparently, his parents had had enough as well. They used the Cruciatus curse relentlessly, until he was howling with pain, and Regulus looked on frightened for his brother, but unable to do anything. Orion and Walburga eventually let him go, banishing him to his room. He decided quickly that he was done. They weren’t his parents, they were never his parents. His body hurt, he was dizzy, and there was blood everywhere, but he managed to stuff his clothes and books into a trunk, got onto his broom, and flew to his home - Potter Manor. 

-When he got there, he was surprised to see James at the table, writing on parchment with a smile on his face (he’d later learn was a response to a letter from Lily), but his surprise didn’t last long seeing as he collapsed within seconds of arriving. He woke up in a bed, with James snoring quietly next to him, and Fleamont sitting over them, watching. 

“I’m sorry I came in here dad but they’re such idiots with their blood purity and I spoke up and they hurt me, I couldn’t take it anymore...”

“I know son, don’t you worry. You’ll never have to see them again if I can help it.”

-Living with the Potters was the best thing Sirius could have asked for. He and James were brothers in everything but blood (actually, they did share a bit of blood since James’ grandma was his great Aunt) and Fleamont and Euphemia loved him just as much as they loved James.

-the Potters passed a few months after Hogwarts graduation, it broke James and Sirius completely and they wouldn’t speak to anyone but each other. Their conversations were small and broken, and they usually ended up crying onto each others shoulders. One day they had an exchange that Sirius would remember forever, he’d remember it when he found his best friend dead in his own home, he’d remember it every day in Azkaban, he’d remember it the moment he fell through the veil:

“Sirius, they may not be here anymore, but we still have each other. We’ll always have each other. We’re brothers till the end mate.”

“Brothers?”

“Brothers.”

[thekadster]

december (newsies canon-divergence angst)

Fandom: Newsies (All Media Types)

Word Count: 1,953

Trigger Warnings: None!

Author’s Notes: Special thanks to @newsies-hit-da-streets for beta reading this!

❝ It was an early December morning, but Crutchie's mind was still stuck in that fateful summer day. The day before the strike, the rally, and before everything changed. ❞

also read it on ao3!

Tonight, it was cold.

No, it was freezing.

It was an early December morning, but Crutchie's mind was still stuck in that fateful summer day. The day before the strike, the rally, and before everything changed.

He leaned forward on the railing of the fire escape. He didn’t pay any mind to the goosebumps all over his arms or the chattering of his teeth. He silently stared into the distant city, which gained a serene, heavenly glow in the winter haze. He had seen this view thousands of times before and all its same towering buildings when he still lived up here.

“Crutch!” a voice called from below, followed by the sound of rapid footsteps.

Crutchie snapped back to reality. He managed to tug his lips into a faint smile. “Oh, hiya, Specs.”

“What the hell are ya doin’ up here?” Specs climbed the last few steps. “It’s freezin’!”

For a moment, Crutchie didn’t respond. What was he doing up here, especially in this kind of weather? The morning bell probably wouldn’t ring for another hour or so. Why was he even awake this early?

“I dunno,” he mumbled.

Specs looked at him. “Whaddya mean you don’t know?”

Crutchie exhaled, his breath a cloud of mist. He shivered and shrugged. “Well, I-I thought the view’d be nice tonight, so-”

Specs put a hand on the boy’s shoulder. “Why dontcha tell me inside?”

His hand gently moved down to his wrist, but Crutchie quickly recoiled. He couldn’t bring himself to look at Specs, whose eyes widened in surprise.

“I can’t,” he blurted out, shoving his hands into his coat.

Specs could only stare, beginning to grow worried. He had never seen his friend this desperate.

“Look, I-” Crutchie scrambled for words. “I appreciate ya bein’ up here an’ all, but…”

“Was it somethin’ I said?”

“No, no, you’s is fine! I just- I can’t go down.”

“Why not?”

They were quiet for a moment as the howling wind whipped past. Crutchie hesitated; he thought his reason for being up here was rather stupid.

“Crutch.”

He turned to look at Specs' outstretched hand. “I don’t wantcha turnin’ into ice up here.”

Specs didn’t care what reason he had, or how stupid it was. He wasn’t going to let his friend freeze to death.

He led Crutchie down the metal rails, slowing down his pace and being careful not to slip in the dark. They both climbed in through a window and sat on a bed. Around them, the room was filled with countless kids on bunk beds trying to sleep through the cold.

“Ya wanna talk about it?” softly began Specs, wiping his glasses. “I mean, it’s okay if ya don’t or you wanna save it for the mornin’ or-”

“No, no, it’s fine,” Crutchie shook his head. He shrugged the remaining snow off of his coat and leaned against the frame of the bunk bed. “I was just...lookin’ out into the city.”

The other boy looked up at him, noticing his long silence. “And?”

Crutchie’s brows furrowed, before he gave up and sighed. “I can’t stop thinkin’ about July,” he mumbled.

Specs was quiet. He knew the July that he was talking about; the July.

The summer of 1899 was the summer that changed the newsies forever. After Pulitzer and Hearst raised the price of newspapers, they all decided to go on strike. It was dangerous, something that none of them had ever done before. But through their efforts, they won the battle, and shed light on the importance of the rights of New York’s working kids. It was amazing that they, as an army kids without so much as a nickel to their name, changed the course of history. But that wasn’t the reason why it was still on Crutchie’s mind.

“‘S about Jack, huh?” he asked, finding his voice. Crutchie weakly nodded.

Every newsie in New York knew about Jack Kelly, Manhattan’s charismatic leader. He was a good fighter, a great newsie, and protected his own more than anything. Lots of kids, the two of them included, would look to him for help and guidance. He was also the face of the strike, making a statement that they weren’t gonna be pushed around anymore. For the longest time, he was known as this brave, selfless seventeen-year-old that the newsies could rely on.

Well, until he wasn’t.

Crutchie wasn’t there when it happened, but all of his friends told the same story. Jack showed up to a rally and made a speech about disbanding the union after speaking to Pulitzer. Of course, this didn’t sit well with the newsies, and especially Spot Conlon. Confused and frustrated shouts filled the air, but it wasn’t nearly as bad when everyone saw him take money from a man in a fancy suit.

After that, no one could convince him to stay, not even Katherine. She was the last person to give up on him - and bless her heart - but he was already bound for Santa Fe.

“He scabbed,” were the words that replayed and replayed in Crutchie’s mind. 

He scabbed.

“I just wanna know why he did it,” he whispered, rubbing his eyes.

Specs’ heart dropped, seeing the pain in his eyes. “I know ya do.”

Crutchie’s gaze was distant, vacant. “I don’t get it. He...he said he’d take me with him.”

“Yeah,” said Specs. “Always talked about it, too.”

“We used’ta talk about it all the time, up on the fire escape,” added Crutchie. The beginnings of a smile tugged at his lips. “He’d blabber about Santa Fe every night; said it was clean an’ green an’ pretty. They’s got palominos there, too. And, he even said that the air could fix my leg, give or take a few months.”

Specs softly chuckled, remembering the dime-novel cowboy that Jack so badly wanted to be. “Cowboy really wanted to head out west, huh?”

Crutchie exhaled, almost bitterly laughing. “Guess he finally got his dream.”

Specs shifted slightly in his place. His eyes caught the soft glow of the city through one of the frost-covered windows. He gulped, the correct words forming together in his mind. “Do ya hate ‘im?”

“Huh?”

“Do ya hate ‘im? For leavin’?”

Truth be told, Crutchie was just one of the many kids who wanted to scream in Jack’s face. He wanted to know why he did what he did, if it was all worth it, if it was worth knowing that they had to win the fight without him. He wanted him to know how hurt they all were, and how things had never been the same after he up and left. He wanted to pour out every single stab and sting that he’d been carrying inside his chest for the past year.

He absentmindedly picked at the sleeve of his coat. After learning the truth about Jack, he felt so many things at once; confusion, rage, denial, misery, betrayal. The boy that he had known for so many years was suddenly gone, and never even bothered to write back. The kid who abandoned the strike wasn’t the same kid who dreamed with him every night, the kid who said that they were a family. 

“No,” whispered Crutchie.

Specs looked at him. “Ya don’t?”

He repeated that one, small word. Specs raised an eyebrow. “Why not?”

“I- I dunno,” Crutchie said, running a hand through his hair. “I mean, I can’t really blame ‘im for leavin’ when he got the chance.”

“But he ditched us! Ain’tcha mad?”

“‘Course I’m mad! I’m furious!” he explained, his voice a bit louder than he intended it to be. “It’s just...I can’t hate ‘im. Part a’ me still wants to believe he’s a good kid. As much as I wanna, I just- can’t.”

His vision began to blur and his voice grew softer. “Everythin’ we been through, I wanna think it was worth somethin’. When he said that we’s family, I think he meant it.”

Specs paused and stared at him. Crutchie was undoubtedly one of the happiest kids in the Lodging House, probably even in all New York. Even with his gimp leg, his positivity remained relentlessly infectious. The glimmer in his eyes could light up the whole city. His sunshine smile would beam whenever he would laugh or charm strangers to buy a pape. And when he was with Jack, it couldn’t be brighter - whether they were excitedly chattering, giggling, or simply enjoying each other’s presence.

Specs moved closer. “He did,” the boy spoke. “And it was worth somethin’. Jack meant a lot to all of us, ‘specially you. And it’s hard, ‘cause it’s like he ain’t the guy we knew he was no more. But I guess, the Jack that we knew was real, even now.”

They were quiet for a while, listening to the snow beat against the window. Crutchie let himself lean on Specs’ side and he pulled his coat closer to his body. Specs wrapped an arm around him, and he stayed very still when he felt damp patches on his shirt. He realized he was very quietly crying.

Crutchie pulled away, removing his friend’s arm. “Sorry.”

“No, Crutch, it’s okay,” Specs quickly interjected. “Cryin’s okay sometimes.”

“Really?”

“Yeah.” He gave him a soft smile. “My Ma used ta tell me; when you’s feelin’ bad, sometimes you gotta cry to let out the things makin’ ya feel that way.”

“So, I gotta cry all the time?”

“Nah, cryin’ ain’t so good when ya do it everyday,” Specs laughed. “It’s better for when you’re feelin’ really bad.” 

Crutchie paused. “Like now?”

“Yeah.”

At those words, a few more silent tears slipped from his eyes. Specs pulled him into an embrace. In reality, they knew that they should’ve been asleep by now. In a few hours, they would be out on the streets once again, trying their best to make a living. As soon as the winter rolled around, their job only got harder. But at that moment, the freezing cold and the copper coins didn’t seem to matter. They didn’t care who would chance upon them or how strange the sight of them would seem; right now, they needed each other, and that mattered more than anything.

A bittersweet smile crept up on Crutchie’s face. “I hope he got the life he wanted,” he whispered.

“Me too,” mumbled Specs. It was true, he thought. The Manhattan newsies didn’t take kindly to scabs, but Jack wasn’t just another scab. He was a leader, a friend, a brother. He spent so much of his life giving that he rarely got the chance to take for himself, and then the day came that he finally did. Admittedly, it didn’t have the best timing, but even with the gigantic mess it left behind, the two of them understood.

When he was ready, Crutchie pulled away and dried his eyes with his sleeve. “Sorry I kept ya, it’s late.”

“It’s fine, really, I don’t mind,” replied Specs. “‘S a good thing I saw you was gone, or else you woulda froze.”

Crutchie chuckled. “Gotta admit, though; the view’s killer.”

“Yeah,” Specs grinned. “But try ta wait ‘til spring, will ya?”

The two softly laughed. They hoped they hadn’t woken anyone up with their conversation. Specs climbed up to the top bunk and Crutchie got under his blanket. As he leaned on his side, the noise in his head seemed to die down a little. Of course, he’d rather have it that Jack stayed behind for a little while longer, but he knew that nothing could bring him back now. Instead, he could only wonder how things were like out west, and hope that Santa Fe was everything Jack dreamed it would be.

[arigatouiris]

daughter of artemis || p.p — [00]

p r o l o g u e 

Pairing: Peter Parker x Demigod! Reader

Warnings: swearing; angst [a lot of it]; greek mythology rewritten [completely my interpretation of it, oops]; slightly based off the games god of war and assassin’s creed odyssey; hurt/comfort; cliche; fluff [on later chapters sometimes]; mentions of sex and gore; slight alternate universe

Follows events after Endgame, but Tony, Natasha, Steve, Loki are alive in this universe. 

Author’s Note: Heyyy guys~ Alright, so what inspired me to write this is simple—God of War, the game. I mean, if Asgardian gods exist, why not Midgardian gods? Like, a comparison sounded cool in my head and I love Peter Parker so why not? Do let me know what you think, it’s a bit slow initially as to bring up the pace, but it does get moving, you can trust me on that! 

If you want to be on the taglist for this series, do drop a note or message and I’ll include you! 

Word count: 1799

main masterlist || series masterlist 

00 - 01

00 // γένεση genesis

❅

It is said that when the Gods were angry, they brought this wrath upon mankind. Zeus was not forgiving, neither were any of his siblings—there was no one to stop their mighty anger on helpless human beings, until and only until another God or Goddess made it a point to intervene. Intervening, often, when taken in the right direction brought fortune and goodness to the one who put a stop to the destruction. However, sometimes, it did not go so well.

When it poured upon the earth, it is said that Zeus could see and hear everything that the rain touched; the rain acted as his little spy, expanding over a considerable amount of land and sea alike, and yet remaining small. Zeus controlled the sky, therefore, he controlled the rain, the winds, thunder and lightning, however, restricted to Midgard, he often lacked the command he needed as the King of Midgardian Gods. Command meant the world to Zeus, having come from nowhere, and being raised as a King. And this was slowly being ripped from his hands, prophecy after prophecy. When the Oracle delivered the news that there would come another, who would end his reign, destroy his henchman he had made using blood and stone, Zeus chased after this prophecy like a needle in a haystack.

Up until the Ides of July, Zeus had no answer.

❅

It smelt like blood, sweat and bear fur. Hidden deep inside a cave in Phokis, (y/n) breathed erratically, her vision blurry from all the blood loss. Tears had dried on her cheeks, her sorrow long gone, her mind without thought. She had one agenda—to leave Olympus, and to leave it alive. When she swallowed, she was no longer sure if she was swallowing her saliva or blood, her throat felt like it was on fire, her right hand etched itself to the wound on her left hip. Shifting position, she waited until the rain stopped inside a cave her mother once showed her when they were out hunting. While bears normally didn’t like strange animals appear in their homes, this bear was familiar.

Her breathing slowed, and as the rain fizzled to a soft halt, she was readying herself to run once more. Her clothes were filthy, the ceremonial gown she wore were rags now—but all that didn’t matter. She was to leave, and she would. But, she didn’t know how.

Please, she prayed, knowing this was all that could help her. If she was smart, she could direct these prayers to the only God that didn’t want her dead. It wasn’t as if this God adored her, no, this was her playing on neutral ground. The only God that didn’t want her dead, didn’t care if she lived.

The moment the rain stopped, she ran. Breathing a lung full of air, (y/n) howled, bringing the wolves attention. With the beasts on her side, it might be easier to get into the city. And once she was in the city, she could look for ways out. Turning to her right, she noticed a large white wolf run by her side, its glowing yellow eyes shone even in the darkness. She knew she was running out of the forest in Phokis, and the only place of shelter was her mother’s temple at the forest’s clearing. The wolves led her there, each howling in unison after her call.

The temple was massive, and yet, it wasn’t as extravagant as the other Olympian temples. Artemis never liked temples, she was more of a wild spirit, the forest was her temple as were the animals living there. Looking up to the sky, (y/n) saw a dark patch of blue, and stars sprinkled across it, and no other source of light. This left her feeling alone; even with her mother gone, she often found solace in the moon. But, there was no moon that night.

Her movements slowed, and her eyes sharp. Her wound in her left hip was causing drowsiness to shield her sight, but she kept on. However, after taking three steps near the temple’s back gate, she knew she was not alone.

    “Please,” she whispered, collapsing to her knees, “don’t—”

A hand grabbed her throat, and brought her to the air. She often wondered on rainy days that if she were completely human, could some things kill her that couldn’t now? Like when Apollo was choking her at that second, would she have died if she were human?

Her eyes met her uncle’s bloodshot ones, as he held her in the air.

    “Uncle—”

    “Don’t call me that.”

His voice broke. (y/n) could tell he was fighting with himself at the moment, fighting with himself as he had for several years in silent torment. Handsome, gorgeous Apollo loved none but his sister, whose death had torn his heart into pieces. Tears pooled at the corners of his eyes as he lowered his grip around her neck. Just as (y/n) fell to her knees, breathing heavily, her wound coming close to having her pass out, Apollo spoke a few words that made her believe she was still loved.

    “(y/n), run away. I can’t. I can’t let them kill you.”

And even if Apollo never loved (y/n) for being born, he loved her enough to not let her die.

❅

When she woke, she could smell potato stew. There was only one person apart from her mother who could make something that smelled like this, but that one person swore to never help her. Bolting upright on the makeshift bed, she felt her left hip sting uncharacteristically, bringing out an involuntary yelp from her end.

    “Don’t move so fast,” Apollo’s voice was low, as he stirred the stew. “Your wound will not heal with haste.”

He sat on a chair as he stirred the stew. It was dawn, she could tell that much from the surroundings. They were in a wooden hut, somewhere in the middle of the forest, she deduced; she was lying on a straw bed, and a large cast iron pot was cooking with her meal. (y/n)’s eyes were weary, she didn’t trust her uncle because of his own hostility, though he was the reason she was alive.

    “The sooner you heal, the sooner you can leave my sight. Trust me, I don’t want to babysit you more.” Apollo was one of the most handsome men she had ever seen before. His brown hair was bushy and vibrant, his skin was soft and glassy against the light—he looked like the sun as a human being, which could be accurate considering he was the God of the sun and light.

But never had she seen Apollo with such sorrow and angst in his eyes. Never had she ever seen him fight against himself for an act, which was most definitely treason.

    “This is treason.” (y/n) said, staring at him.

He poured two spoonfuls of stew and handed it to her, “I know.”

    “If grandfather finds out—”

    “He may be the King of Gods, but he cannot kill me. He cannot imprison the sun.”

Perhaps, it was this confidence that made her believe that her uncle had always been unapproachable. He had his walls up so high and they grew higher and higher ever since her mother had died mysteriously.

    “Do you know where to go?”

(y/n) blinked at him, confused at his choice of words. Apollo raised an eyebrow at her, “Since you ran away before, do you know where to go?”

She shook her head. Being thirteen years old and alone at a time when she needed a guardian the most, (y/n) acted merely on instinct. Though, she knew one fact about her father that her mother had left behind. It might not even lead her to her father, it might not even be close, but it was from that side of her life; this, she was sure of.

    “Then what was all that running?”

    “Pepper,” Apollo looked at her, startled. “Pepper.”

    “You want more pepper in your food?” Apollo scrunched his eyes at his meal.

    “Name of her friend.”

    “And where does this friend stay?”

    “America.”

    “And you were planning to run to America?” Apollo scoffed.

    “No! No. I mean… I don’t know. I don’t even know what she looks like, but I once…” (y/n) found it hard to talk about anything that reminded her of her mother. But, she was speaking to someone who loved her mother equally.

    “Mom used to talk about her sometimes. To the trees and the air around the forests. She’d ask about how Pepper was doing, and smile in response.” (y/n) remembered those moments like it was yesterday, a faint nostalgia as she watched her mother breathed, lived, moved.

    “I cannot help you once you get there,” Apollo said, as if it were a promise. “But I can help you get there. Live a life. Forget Olympus. Forget your prophecy. If you can promise me you will never return, then I can help you.” Apollo said, his tone serious.

It took her no hesitation. Everything about Greece reminded her of her mother. Artemis’ soul still breathed here, and every step she took burned the ones (y/n) had to take. Greece was only home as long as Artemis lived, but with her mother gone, the land was as sinful as the birth of a demigod.

    “Find your father, find this “Pepper”, and never return.” Apollo whispered now, placing his hands on (y/n)’s shoulders.

And just as (y/n) closed her eyes, she felt a rush hit her. She was not completely healed, so there was pain in places she didn’t know could hurt. She felt as if she were on a giant superfast roller coaster, the ones her mother would talk about to her when she was much younger, she felt like she was moving but her legs were stationary. Her eyes were closed and she couldn’t see, but yet, her mind displayed images of people and places she had never seen before; smells she had never smelled before; sounds she had never heard.

She saw a man, dark spiky hair, a beard and a grin that hung on his lips that made everything else seem insignificant around him. She saw a woman, bright blonde hair and a soft smile that made everything else seem alright; she saw another woman, red hair this time, reminded her of her mother’s feisty spirit; but the last thing she saw before she knew she could open her eyes were the eyes of a boy, staring into her own, making her forget everything else. For some reason, those eyes, kept begging her not to go.

Not go where?

She didn’t know.

❅

series taglist: 

The ones who I could not tag, I’ve put their links down here instead.

@maddie-laufeyson, @mscoloneldanvers, @dancing-flame, @daughter-of-stark, @spider-mendes, @nerdyandproudofitsstuff, @someonekeepstakingmyusernames, @alina-margaret, @yourwonderbelle, @viarogers​, @https://huangsushii.tumblr.com, @eridanuswave

❅

[darylandbethfanforever9]

Downfall Of Us All: Chapter 12

Downfall Of Us All

Chapter 12

AN: I’m going through a rough time right now, emotionally and I’m sorry that I won’t be posting a chapter every day. Thank you to @jtargaryen18​ for writing this story with me.

"If Foster's assistant hadn't been snooping for information, on Project Genesis then Foster wouldn't be in this mess." Rumlow said bluntly, eying Pepper hungrily. She wasn't bad looking, and she had wonderful breasts as he pulled out the metal handcuffs. He restrained her hands, and Laura smirked in amusement. This would be fun.

Rumlow could tell help but feel aroused by the sight of Pepper Potts handcuffed to the bed, and he cupped her right breast tightly. He heard her moan, and smirked.

One of the HYDRA female scientists strapped her legs down to begin the process, he was going to enjoy this. He saw her wake up and grinned malevolently at her. "Hello Virginia, you're gonna be part of our experiment." He said amused, as he began cutting at her hospital gown with his knife.

Pepper's eyes widened, she jerked in the restraints as the knife sliced the gown up, over her stomach. "W-what experiment?" Pepper looked groggy, but she did understand that she was in very real danger. "Where am I?" "Don't worry about where you are," Rumlow told her as she slid the knife through the gown to just under her chin, grinning as he let the gown gap open down her body. "The experiment, well, let's just say it's not totally unfamiliar to you personally." Pepper's gaze bounced from Laura and back to him. Pepper squinted at her, did a double take. "Laura?" she rasped. "Right? You're Clint's wife." Laura shrugged nonchalantly. "Was." "What? Why are you here? Where's Clint?" Pepper's panic was a living thing around them, her fear nearly tangible. For Rumlow, the fear satisfied a craving. It was all he could do to contain the feeling of triumph as he watched the famous Pepper Potts, posed wife of Tony Stark, crumble before him. "Clint will meet the same fate as his children soon enough," Laura said coolly. "Not your problem though." One of the scientists reached the table next to the bed, opening a case he placed on the table. He opened it to reveal a set of injections of something that looked terrifying familiar. "Is that…?" The scientist, a small bald man, didn't even make eye contact with her. "Extremis?" Rumlow asked. "Why, yes, it is. I'm pleased you remember." Pepper shook her head frantically in denial. "You can't… Why would you… Why are you doing this?" Rumlow shrugged a shoulder. "I'm doing this because that's why HYDRA wants. Specifically, to you because you once had Extremis and you did remarkably well. You'll be our star pupil." "I need your help now," the scientist said, injection at the ready. Pepper fought as she watched the huge man walk around the bed to the other side. His grip on her arm was like a vice. He kept her arm flat against the metal bar, so she couldn't move it, smiling at her the entire while. "Just a few pricks," he told her, making it sound like she was overreacting. "Then a bigger one once he's done. Me and you will have a little fun." Pepper's mouth dropped open as the needle slid into her arm. She screamed as it burned its way along her arm, through her body.

"T-Tony will come for me," she warned them. "I wouldn't be so sure about that," Rumlow said with a chuckle. "That was a pretty bad fight. The slap across the face was a nice touch. I'm not so sure I'd come after you. I mean, you have a guy, a do-gooder granted, working hard to make the world a safe place for everyone, including you, and you're just a complete bitch to him. It's a level of selfishness that's just impressive really." Pepper gasped, feeling the virus burn its way into her body. "That's why I'm not going to feel too bad about what we do after these injections." Laura laughed on the other side. "You going to stay and watch again," Rumlow asked her. Her nod was the last thing Pepper saw as everything started to fade in and out. It felt like she was burning alive, from the inside out. The pain was intense and then he planned to rape her? With any luck, this time, the Extremis would kill her.

She could feel the burning sensation, despite needles being injected into her bloodstream. She could feel the fire burning through her veins, and cried out in pain. This could be happening to her again, it couldn't be. She felt tears stream down her face, she didn't regret how she'd spoken to Tony. If Tony hadn't gotten back into being Iron Man, then none of this would have happened.

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The team refused to give up on finding Pepper, Darcy and Jane. The team had reluctant help from S.H.I.E.L.D grudgingly and were searching abandoned HYDRA bases in America. Clint and Grace both surveyed the abandoned HYDRA base located in Wyoming, it looked deserted. They cautiously entered the base, and Grace looked around quietly. It was like people had left in a hurry, there was hardly any equipment around the place. Clint cautiously checked the room and found nothing. He joined Grace and they both began searching the other rooms, when they came across a file. Half of it was written in Romanian, and Ukrainian. Clint couldn't make out most of it, but Grace helped him translate some of the words. He felt his stomach drop, as he saw Grace's face pale. Project Genesis. The project had been formed by Dr List and Dr Wolfgang Strucker, in 2014. The project's aim was to use Enhanced, Inhuman and Gifted women as breeding mares for HYDRA agents who had been part of Project Centipede. The file went on to file how many of the women had died from complications, caused by being impregnated by the HYDRA agents. Many of the women had died along with the baby, and there had been only one survivor. Grace Melnychenko Drăgoi had survived the procedure, she'd been captured in early July. Unlike the other women who had failed to carry the pregnancies to term, Grace had thrived, and it was believed her DNA had protected her. 'Test Subject 24 shows no signs of illness, or stress. The father of the child had been informed.' HYDRA also expressed interest in using Peter Parker, Natasha, Sophie and Bucky but dismissed Peter due to his young age. Clint saw that Grace was shaking slightly and gave her hand a tight squeeze. She gave him a grateful smile, and they put the file away as they continued to search. The wind howled around the base, and Clint pulled out his bow when he saw a blood trail leading down the hallway. He cautiously followed it, Grace behind him. And lying on a medical table, was the dead body of a young woman. Her stomach had been cut open, and her skin was waxy looking. She'd been dead for a few days.

"My God, Clint," Grace said with tears in her voice. "How many women have they done this to? How are we going to stop them?" Clint steered her out of the room. "Grace, we don't have to know right now how we're going to stop them. We only have to know that we will." Her beautiful face was drained of colour. "Clint, I'm scared." "I know," he told her, getting his comm ready to bring the team in for the body. "But I'm not going to let anything happen to you. The team will keep you and your sister safe. I can promise you that." "And Bucky?" Clint snorted. "Steve damn near tore the Avengers apart before for Bucky. I would expect no less now. Besides, I think he likes your sister." Grace smiled at that, one small happy thought in all this darkness. "Need a team up here," Clint said into the comm. "We've got another body. If we can spare a couple of agents, let's sweep the grounds. You'll probably find the body of a child buried somewhere on the grounds." Grace's chin trembled. Clint wrapped an arm around her, trying to steady her. She was clutching the file so tightly in her hand that her knuckles were white. "Let's get you out of here," Clint said. "Okay?"

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Tony sat behind his desk when Clint walked in, Steve and Bruce waiting with him. "What did you find?" Tony asked. "Why the specificity on who was here?" Clint held the file, placing it down on Tony's desk. "Information Grace and I found on in Wyoming," he explained. "Most of it is in languages I can't read. The gist of it? Project Genesis."

That got Tony's attention. "Did you say Project Genesis?" "Yeah, reasonably sure I did," Clint told him. "Do you know what it is?" Tony asked curiously. "A breeding program to create super-soldiers," Clint told him. "The only one the Erskine serum ever really worked on was Cap here. Since they can't replicate his formula, they are taking enhanced and inhuman women, raping them, and forcing them to carry pregnancies that they hope will be a new race." Steve's expression was grim. "That's disgusting." "I asked for the specific people now because I don't want people's emotions to compromise them as we deal with this," Clint explained. "Compromised?" Steve asked concerned. "I even hesitated to have you here," Clint told him. "This concerns Bucky too." That got Steve's attention. "What about Bucky?" Clint calmly explained what they found. Aside from the body being autopsied at the moment in their lab, he explained the contents of the file. "Basically, only one woman has survived this procedure to produce a viable child," Clint finished. "Grace," Tony said out loud. Clint nodded grimly. "They will want her back," Clint told them. "And I don't mind saying that I'm emotionally invested because I'll die before I let that son-of-a-bitch Rumlow lay another hand on her." "They also had Sophie, Bucky, and Parker as viable candidates," Clint went on. "Peter?" Tony's face darkened in anger. "They ruled him out because of his age," Clint explained. "Bucky?" Steve didn't like that. "He's been through enough." "Agreed," Clint told him. "That wasn't why I didn't request him here. With Sophie being a target? I don't want him going off the deep end if they target her." Steve understood, but shook his head. "I think it will give him… focus." "I'll defer to whatever you think, Cap," Clint told him. "But I'm going to make my intentions very clear here. Rumlow? Is mine. Laura? She's mine. I don't want to fight any of you for the privilege of killing either one of them, but I will if I have to." "It's okay, Legolas," Tony told him, his expression serious where his words weren't. "I understand. For my part, I'll stay out of your way." "But parts of our team are targeted," Steve wanted them to understand. "That means we're going to have to handle things carefully. And Ross…" "Ross knew," Tony said, rising from his chair. "Son-of-a-bitch, you're right. He knew the girls were targets and that's why he put them on the Avengers Initiative. Bucky, he was theirs to play with for years. No offense, Cap, but that was a given. And Peter?" Clint knew that pissed Tony off. He thought of the kid as a son. "I want Peter looked after," Tony told them. Steve nodded his agreement.

"We won't let anything happen to Peter, Tony. Grace, and Sophie love Peter like he's their baby brother, and Lilia might actually blow up someone if they hurt her assistant." Clint reassured, Tony looked relieved and reassured. "We better tell his aunt, and put her into protective custody. Not to mention his friends, their parents never came back after we killed Thanos," Tony said quietly, sighing bitterly. Even though Thanos was dead, people had still died because of him snapping his fingers. It was something he still hadn't forgiven Peter Quill for, and why none of the team left them alone. Steve squeezed his shoulder in a sign of comfort, and they both decided to get the others.

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Lilia had been busy looking through Darcy Lewis and Jane Foster's laptops, that SHIELD had given to her. Whoever had been on them, had not left any clues. She frowned when she saw that Darcy had been hacking into the old Soviet Union government files, she managed to download the files onto a backup USB stick. 'Project Genesis Candidates.' 'Natalia Alianovna Romanoff: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having been in the Red Room Program.' 'Sophie Anastasia Melnychenko Drăgoi: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having been burn from the successful Widow Project.' 'Grace Alexandra Melnychenko Drăgoi: Deemed suitable, after successfully carrying a child conceived from a HYDRA agent who was a member of Project Centipede.' 'Peter Benjamin Parker: Not a suitable candidate, due to his young age.' 'James Buchanan Barnes: Deemed a suitable candidate, due to having the super soldier serum. Will be recaptured in time, along with the two sisters, and Black Widow.' The file went on to express interest in using an Enhanced individual known as Quicksilver, Lilia had no idea who that was. But HYDRA did want Wanda Maximoff, who was the only surviving female from Project Psyche. Lilia felt sick, as she saw Tony's name had been added onto the list, due to his genius intellect. It was hoped by using Steve, Bucky, and Quicksilver, and a man named Ronin that they could build an army. Hands shaking, she printed the files quickly and told her AI D.A.V.I.D to make sure no one hacked into the laptop. David assured her they wouldn’t and locked the laptop.

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Sophie and Grace had been in the training room all afternoon but neither minded, Grace had told Sophie what she and Clint had found in abandoned HYDRA base. It made her feel sick and horrified at what these people did to those poor women. Had they done this to their mother, when she'd been used by them.

She took off the boxing gloves, and took a sip from her bottle of water, wiping the sweat from her forehead. She saw Bucky entering the room, and he looked at her quietly. "Tony and Steve are calling an emergency meeting, everyone needs to be there in an hour," he explained quietly, and Sophie could tell that he was worried. "Has something happened?" Sophie asked concerned, Bucky bit his lip and squeezed her hand. He didn't want to scare her or Grace, as Peter came over. "Lilia's found out something on Darcy's laptop, and it's not good." He said finally, his voice from. Sophie felt her hair stand on end.

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They'd all gathered into the larger conference room at the compound for the meeting, Steve and Tony waiting for everyone to arrive and take a seat before getting started. Grace caught the concerned glance between Nat and Steve when she walked in with Sophie and it did nothing to bring down her already elevated anxiety level. Clint motioned her over, having saved her a seat. Joining him she sat down as Tony looked ready to get started. "Hey guys," Tony started. "So, thanks to ah, my –" "Lilia," she offered with a smile. "Her," Tony pointed to her, "we have some critical new data that we need to review as a team." "Starting without me?" Nicky Fury walked into the room to loom over them ominously, Maria Hill right behind me. "Just started," Tony told him, trying to reach his usual snarky level but missing it by a mile. Whatever it was, it had Tony rattled. That wasn't a good sign. "Lilia, why don't you…." Tony motioned her to the front. "Okay," Lilia told him, coming to stand next to him. "I was able to retrieve data from S.H.I.E.L.D from laptops belonging to Jane Foster and Darcy Lewis. Unfortunately, it appears they were targeted because of their hacking efforts into old Soviet files. From what I can tell Ms. Lewis was able to retrieve files and download them onto a thumb drive. No clues were left as to who accessed the systems after they were captured. Whoever they were, they really knew what they were doing." Steve's expression was grim as he looked to Thor, knowing his friend's feelings for Jane were still raw and painful. "They are calling this program Project Genesis and it's a breeding program. They need to generate an army of enhanced, superior individuals," Lilia explained. "Which doesn't do them any good for what – twenty years?" Nick offered. "Well," Lilia continued, "you would think that but…" "But what?" Sophie prompted, knowing the other woman was struggling with whatever she needed to say. "Okay, look," Lilia explained, "HYDRA has been secretly working on some very interesting biological experimentation in the last few decades. None of this is really new, it just existed without our awareness. They are working with Extremis, which I know most of you have heard of, and is likely why Pepper Potts was taken. She's been the most successful project with the virus to date." Tony's face showed his shock. "I'm sorry," Lilia told him. "The one project they haven't had any luck on – so far – is age acceleration. The minute they figure out how to do that, their army goes from being a threat down the road to an immediate emergency." "So, we need to locate facilities where this is being developed and shut them down?" Steve asked. Lilia nodded. "Apparently Darcy was able to locate certain data files, including lists of possible candidates for the project. They include Natasha ---"

"I can't have children," Nat pointed out. Lilia took a deep breath. "Another part of their biological developments is the reversal of sterilizations. Even on females. Their plan for you is to reverse that and then breed you." The look on Natasha's face made Lilia's heart drop. To think they sterilized her to make her a weapon, taking away her ability to have children if she ever wished. Then wanting to reinstate it to cruelly use her for a broodmare. "They have also identified Sophie and Grace as potential candidates," Lilia went on, "particularly since Grace is the only experiment case to produce a live birth and thrive with the child." "Live birth?" Grace's eyes stung with tears. "He's my son." "I know," Lilia said gently. "I mean you no offense. Sophie was the result of an experiment, same as you, and they think she's viable along with Bucky who they plan to take back and Wanda who is the only living experiment from Project Psyche." Bucky's expression was closed while the sisters gazed at each other fearfully. "They eliminated Peter Parker as a possible candidate, for now, due to his age," Lilia went on. "But the minute they can age him…?" Tony threw in. "They'll likely re-add him to the list," Lilia said. "This is barbaric," Natasha grumbled. "Forcing people to breed. How is that scientific?" "It greatly increases the chances of a viable pregnancy," Lilia told them. "They are using their agents as fathers for the female patients. Many have been a man named Brock Rumlow who is working with a female accomplice, someone you all knew as someone named Laura."

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Tagging list: @jtargaryen18​, @marvelfansworld​, @sapphirescrolls​, @queenoftheunderdark​, @nomadicpixel​, @sweater-daddiesdumbdork​, and @my-favourite-fics​

[razorblade180]

Shiva ever encountered your mother's other self, Bleiss?

Summer:She’s already gone but ummmm .........

[flashbacking to age 13]

Summer’s consciousness lays down on the practically nonexistent floor inside her own mind. She stares at the ice ceiling almost mesmerized as her body slowly gets covered in frost. Despite her efforts, she can’t move or really even talk too well at this point. Everything is really cold.

Summer:S.....so....one. Some.....one...*crying*

Summer:Someone....help....please.......

[Atlas tundra]

Shiva:Well this a surprise! Aw, was dear old normal mommy too scared to confront me? She had to bring out the big guns?

Bleiss:Can’t afford for maternal feelings to get in the way and make her pull her punches. I’ll say this once to you. Let. My. Daughter. Go.

Shiva:You wouldn’t have gotten all dressed for me if it was that eas-

A massive glyph appears in front of her and with it an arma gigas hand that grabs her tightly. Slowly the rest is formed and starts to squeeze.

Shiva:I sense someone is upset. But not too upset to immediately thrash me. Are you afraid of doing of breaking me? Hahaha! It would be pretty horrific for Summer to gain control of a body that couldn’t walk anymore! *swinging her legs*

Bleiss:This isn’t a game damnit! *makes a fire glyph*

Shiva:Sigh....god you’re boring. I know you’re not exactly like me but I was expecting more. I guess weak and disappointing runs is hereditary.

Bleiss:Go to hell...*shoots fireball*

Shiva:I’d freeze it over. *inhales*

Scars on Shiva’s body glow faintly and pristine ice spikes shoot out of them to cut off the Giga’s fingers. The fireball misses as she falls to the gently and blows the knight away with a breath strong enough to be the wind itself.

Before she could taunt Bleiss again she was already interrupted by her sharp blade slashing across hey stomach. Quick thrusts and a barrage kicks from the disarmed gigas was followed immediately after until Shiva grabbed Bleiss by the face and shot her away with a blast of extremely cold air. It wasn’t enough to keep her down but the obvious red shine left on her opponents face told her the attack did indeed hurt.

Shiva:Looks like I just gave the Ice Queen a little frostbite. Now to deal with your annoying friend!

In her hands, she creates four snowflakes that grow to the size of dinner plates; each edge of them razor sharp and spinning like a buzz saw. Two fly toward the knight while the other two go for Bleiss’.

Shiva:Let’s find out just how graceful you are!

Gigas:*shatters them with a stomp*

Bleiss:You’re gonna have to try a little harder than- *can’t move* huh?

Ice had crept under the snow and frozen her feet in place. She made a glyph instantly to take the hit but it got sliced right through. Another one was made with fire added into the mix but the results were the same; she was losing time and the attack was gaining speed. Bleiss bit the bullet and summoned the gigas right in front of her.

The last stitch effort shattered both the gigas and the projectiles. As her knight faded away the particles it dispersed into hid Shiva long enough to get close and grab Bleiss’s throat. Her fingers felt like pure fire against it . Slowly Shiva removes Bleiss’s black wig and contacts.

Shiva:You know you said you put all this on to really go all out. That was a pretty weak lie; striking me with full force just isn’t something you can bring yourself to do is it?

Weiss:cough Please......stop this?Sum-

Shiva:Not my name *tightens grip* why is that so hard for people to remember? I guess I just gotta do something that people will remember?! *let’s go* I’m getting tire of explaining that to Nick, your dear husband, and your no good daugh-

Weiss:*punches her face*

Shiva:........

Weiss:The only no good thing.......is you *wheezing* Don’t ever...*tears up* call my daughter a good for nothing. SHE’S BETTER THAN YOU’LL EVER BE!

Her outcry cut deep, far more than any damage she’d previously done. However, it was a button that shouldn’t have been pushed lightly. Shiva immediately let’s go of her and punts Weiss across the field of snow; she doesn’t get up. Instead she just lays there as she can barely breath and watches this twisted image of her little girl build up some kind of weird blue power in the palms of her hand. It’s the same kind of dust from the lake incident and it’s growing bigger by the second.

Shiva:In my hands is basically winter itself. Ice, snow, slush, all of it perfectly concentrated and cold enough that it’s freeze you to your bones. No more Weiss Schnee, say goodbye to Summer Schnee, and soon the rest of your loved ones as well. Nothing personal, but I don’t like the idea of anyone hunting me down and trying to bring your precious little snowflake back.

Weiss:*struggling to move* (Come on Weiss, get the hell up and do something. Forget the pain and just......move!) *falls down*

Shiva:If it’s worth anything, Summer’s been crying out for your name this whole time. She keeps trying to get me to stop but you know how these things go. Only the strong survive.

With that final statement she fired the attack right at her, creating an eruption of ice and snow that went flying in every direction. There wasn’t any scream, no painful grunts, no sound from Weiss at all. Just the wind howling and Shiva’s own quiet chucking. That was until it drowned out by the sound of gun reloading. Before she could question it, a red flare came out of the eruption and got her right in the face.

For a moment she stumbled from the surprise attack until a bright light could be see from where Weiss had fallen. Not just a bright light but heat itself; the freshly fallen snow was rapidly melting and the temperature started rise bit by bit. Only one thing could cause such a shift in environment like that and it shook Shiva to the core when the snow around the blast finally cleared up to confirm her uneasiness. Not only that, but Weiss in their arms still alive.

Shiva:Yang Xiao Long......a little far away from home aren’t you? *stepping back*

Yang:You see, that’s the craziest thing. I came all the way to Atlas for some new arm parts and a cute little present for my daughter back home and as I’m just cruising by, I see a random fireball shoot out and into the sky. I thought maybe a flock of manticore might’ve been attacking someone. Instead I have my best friend beaten up in my arms. Do you care to tell me why that is? *eyes turn red*

Weiss:Don’t......let her.....touch you.

Yang:Hmph, touch me? I’m so angry right now she won’t want to come near me!*walks slowly*

Shiva:Keep away from me!!!!

Ice spears start appearing around her and hurl themselves at Yang. Each one evaporates as soon as they get into arms reach. Beads of sweat start to run down Shiva’s forehead as the temperature keeps rising. Arms and legs start to fail her moments later as she trips and falls on her butt; unable to gather enough strength. Any energy left is used to grip the ground in frustration and rage. Everything was going so perfect, but now there’s no escape.

Shiva:Damn it all....

Yang:What’s wrong? Am I too hot for you to handle? I haven’t even laid a finger on you but it looks like you’re near the limit of how much heat you can take. All that bravado, melting away like a snow cone in July.

Shiva:SHUT UP!!! *grabbing her head* Agh! My head, my head!!!! I was so close this time! *eyes flickering*

Weiss:It’s over...

Shiva closes her eyes and finds her mind drifting back into that odd, cold headspace she shares with Summer. The color of the space now is a warm shade of red and the ice ceiling is trying to thaw. Her knees buckle until they hit the void like floor. Against her better judgment she turns around to see Summer completely free from the ice and standing over her with a look as cold as her own. It might be the first time their eyes met with the same amount of utter hatred and vile for one another.

Shiva:You don’t understand how lucky you are right now. *fading in and out*

Summer:Oh I fully understand how lucky I am. *grabs Shiva by the collar* Next time though it won’t be luck. I’ll get rid of you with my own two hands for good. I don’t care how strong you are. It will be my life’s goal to make sure you never touch my family ever again.

Shiva:Bold words don’t scare me little girl. Better get strong as fast as you can Summer. One of these days you just might wake up in this place alone; watching me cover your hands in blood AS I SLAUGHTER YOUR- *fades away*

Summer’s hands shake violently. She’s not sure if it was the cold, adrenaline, anger, or absolute terror she felt run through her. All she knew was the place around her seemed to fade away and suddenly she was opening her eyes to see her mother holding her tight. Loud sobbing and the tightening of the embrace told her that Weiss was still full of life; she was still full of life. For today at least.

Weiss:You’re still here *sniffling* my daughter is still here.

Summer:*crying* So are you. Yang I can’t tha-

Yang:Never mention it. I would do it again in a heartbeat.

Summer:(One day I swear....I swear I’ll do this on my own.)

[Back to the present]

Summer:The two have met before. I pray they don’t meet again. Next time might get even uglier......

[highlyspecificsigns]

the signs as bad sex in fiction award nominees

from the annual contest run by the Literary Review -- technically 2018′s nominees came (fine, pun intended) yesterday, but that’s a Friday and for obvious reasons this is NSFW.

ARIES: Giles Coren, Winkler, 2005: “And he came hard in her mouth and his dick jumped around and rattled on her teeth and he blacked out and she took his dick out of her mouth and lifted herself from his face and whipped the pillow away and he gasped and glugged at the air, and he came again so hard that his dick wrenched out of her hand and a shot of it hit him straight in the eye and stung like nothing he’d ever had in there, and he yelled with the pain, but the yell could have been anything, and as she grabbed at his dick, which was leaping around like a shower dropped in an empty bath, she scratched his back deeply with the nails of both hands and he shot three more times, in thick stripes on her chest. Like Zorro.”

TAURUS: Jonathan Grimwood, The Last Banquet, 2013: “Reaching behind me, I found the Brie and broke off a fragment, sucking her nipple through it. She tasted almost as she had the day I took the drop of milk on my finger. 

Manon smiled when she realised what I was doing. 

You know the peasant saying? If you can't imagine how neighbouring vineyards can produce such different wines put one finger in your woman's quim and another up her arse, then taste both and stop asking stupid questions… My fingers found both vineyards. At the front, she tasted salt as anchovy and as delicious. At the rear, bitter like chocolate and smelling strangely of tobacco.”

GEMINI: Tarun J Tejpal, The Alchemy of Desire, 2005: “We began to climb peaks and fall off them. We did old things in new ways. And new things in old ways. At times like these we were the work of surrealist masters. Any body part could be joined to any body part. And it would result in a masterpiece. Toe and tongue. Nipple and penis. Finger and the bud. Armpit and mouth. Nose and clitoris. Clavicle and gluteus maximus. Mons venera and phallus indica.

The Last Tango of Labia Minora. Circa 1987.”

CANCER: Christopher Rush, Will, 2007: “O glorious pubes! The ultimate triangle, whose angles delve to hell but point to paradise. Let me sing the black banner, the blackbird's wing, the chink, the cleft, the keyhole in the door. The fig, the fanny, the cranny, the quim - I'd come close to it now, this sudden blush, this ancient avenue, the end of all odysseys and epic aim of life, pulling at my prick now, pulling like a lodestone. ...

All around us nature joined in ... Streamers of heat lashed my back and shoulders and far beneath me now the body of Anne Hathaway began to rage and founder in the rising foam as I clung like a mariner to her heaving haunches, the deep keel of her backbone dipping and lifting through July, through the green surge of growth, till at last the moment came when some colossal wave flung her up high, and I held on for my life, and she screamed loud and long Then O! then O! then O! my true love said and I felt death go through her. Our vessel ran shuddering onto the rocks, a wave of wetness ran through us, the air was rent with screams and I became aware that the bank on which we lay drenched and grounded was journey's end, love's end, the very sea-mark of our utmost sail..”

LEO: James Frey, Katerina, 2018: “Cum inside me. Cum inside me. Cum inside me. Blinding breathless shaking overwhelming exploding white God I cum inside her my cock throbbing we’re both moaning eyes hearts souls bodies one. 

One.

White. 

God. 

Cum. 

Cum. 

Cum.”

VIRGO: Matthew Reynolds, The World Was All Before Them, 2013: “In the dappled shadows the bodies cling and thrust and arc and stretch. Toes splay. Arms prop shoulders from which a torso slopes. Two legs spring into the air. A head flaps from side to side. Fingers tense, hips grip and ankles twine. Forehead bows to forehead and hair touches in the air as eyes look longingly into eyes, thighs vie, lip lips lip and… But, damn, dammit! – what was this? Anxiously he began to get the impression that his vas deferens was initiating its rhythmic squeezing too soon, too soon … But phew she too seemed to be surfing the waves of neuromuscular euphoria, so that as, sweating, panting, he bowed his forehead to her chest, she gripped him tight, her sharp nails stabbing; and then they were grinning and kissing each other's noses, cheeks; and then they lay entangled for a moment, breathing; and then they rose, one after another, went for a piss, came back and settled into bed again.“

LIBRA: Joshua Cohen, Numbers, 2015: “Her mouth was intensely ovoid, an almond mouth, of citrus crescents. And under that sling, her breasts were like young fawns, sheep frolicking in hyssop – Psalms were about to pour out of me. 

“Vous?” 

“Josh,” I said. 

“Vous habillé.” 

“Je vais me undressed, clothes off, unhabillé, déshab.”

SCORPIO: Major Victor Cornwall and Major Arthur St John Trevelyan, Scoundrels: The Hunt for Hansclapp, 2018: “Empty my tanks,” I’d begged breathlessly, as once more she began drawing me deep inside her pleasure cave. Her vaginal ratchet moved in concertina-like waves, slowly chugging my organ as a boa constrictor swallows its prey. Soon I was locked in, balls deep, ready to be ground down by the enamelled pepper mill within her.”

SAGITTARIUS: David Mitchell, Black Swan Green, 2006: “Now her grubby soles met like they were praying. Now his skin was glazed in roast pork sweat. Now she made a noise like a tortured Moomintroll. Now Tom Yew's body jerkjerked judderily jackknifed and a noise like a ripping cable tore out of him. Once more, like he'd been booted in the balls. Her fingernails'd sunk salmony welts into his arse. Debby Crombie's mouth made a perfect O.”

CAPRICORN: David Guterson, Ed King, 2011: “In the shower, Ed stood with his hands at the back of his head, like someone just arrested, while she abused him with a bar of soap. After a while he shut his eyes, and Diane, wielding her fingernails now and starting at his face, helped him out with two practiced hands, one squeezing the family jewels, the other vigorous with the soap-and-warm-water treatment. It didn’t take long for the beautiful and perfect Ed King to ejaculate for the fifth time in twelve hours, while looking like Roman public-bath statuary. Then they rinsed, dried, dressed, and went to an expensive restaurant for lunch .”

AQUARIUS: Morrissey, List of the Lost, 2015: “At this, Eliza and Ezra rolled together into the one giggling snowball of full-figured copulation, screaming and shouting as they playfully bit and pulled at each other in a dangerous and clamorous rollercoaster coil of sexually violent rotation with Eliza’s breasts barrel-rolled across Ezra’s howling mouth and the pained frenzy of his bulbous salutation extenuating his excitement as it whacked and smacked its way into every muscle of Eliza’s body except for the otherwise central zone.”

PISCES: Sam Mills, The Quiddity of Will Self, 2012: “ … oh, yes, oh, yes, oh, Will, oh, yes, oh, semen-bedizened blood-pusillanimous bed onanistic quiddity fulcrating pelvic thrusts smoke thick typewriter’s click-clack-click Will Our Cock is Spent screaming loving Will is pleased Will is Saved I have done it I have done I am the Chosen One I am his Chosen One oh Will for ever I am yours for ever I am yours for ever I am.”

[javistg]

One Victor. CH 17. Sneak Peek.

July is almost here! This year I won’t be completely free, but I won’t be teaching as many classes either. This means that I’ll be able to devote some time to my WIPs. 

I already joined camp NaNo --to keep me accountable-- and I’ll be posting reminders for writing sprints so that we can all share our progress and inspire one another. Let me know if you want me to add you to those 😊

To celebrate all these wonderful news, I’d like to share a little teaser from the next instalment of One Victor. I already posted another one from this same chapter a few months’s back. You can find it HERE.

Anyway, hope you enjoy!

One Victor. Chapter 17. Part 2. 

Mr. Mellark was in the small office where he went over the bakery’s monthly purchase orders when Peeta knocked on the door. 

The baker looked up from his ledger and found his youngest son standing at the threshold. “All done, son?”

“Yup.” Peeta tilted his head towards the kitchen. “The cakes are ready. I already placed them in their boxes and left them in the fridge.”

Mr. Mellark smiled fondly at his son. Even as a young boy, Peeta had always been a patient and dedicated worker –probably why he was so good at frosting the most delicate designs. He was glad to see that becoming a victor hadn’t changed his work ethic. “Are you heading out?”

“Yeah, I’m going over to Kipling's, and then I’ll head home.”

“Make sure to keep warm.” Mr. Mellark glanced out the window. The blizzard was over, but a thick blanket of snow still covered the town.  “It’s cold out there.”

“I will, Pop.” Turning to reach for his coat, Peeta added, “I’ll see you next week.”

Peeta stepped out onto the cold street. He slipped his hands into his coat pockets, ducked his face into his scarf, and began walking. The chilly air stung his cheeks but, after two days of being stuck indoors with nothing but the sound of the howling winds outside his walls to keep him company, he was glad to be out for a while.  

Keeping to the narrow backstreets of the merchant quarter, he reached the general store and slipped in through the back door. 

Mrs. Kipling sat on a small stool while she sorted out the canned goods she had received before the blizzard hit. The creaking of the old door opening caught her attention, but she wasn’t surprised by the victor’s intrusion. “Morning, Peeta. What can I do for you today?”

“Good morning, Mrs. K., I was hoping to get a few supplies. I used up everything I had during the storm.”

“Sure thing.” Mrs. Kipling stood up and stretched her back. She wasn’t a girl anymore, and the humidity of the last few days wasn’t helping her aching joints. “Come with me, I’ll get you sorted in no time.”

With her usual efficiency, the shopkeeper took care of her customer and, before long, Peeta was back out on the street. His messenger bag, heavy with cans and food, hung from his shoulder across his chest. 

Treading carefully on the icy cobblestones, Peeta reached the main square and stopped short. 

His mouth dropped open in shock. In the few hours it had taken him to decorate a couple of cakes, the whole square had been swept clean. 

Pressing his back against the nearest wall, he took stock of the scene before him. 

An entire company of Peacekeepers, aligned in perfect formation, marched along the square. Their pristine white uniforms gleamed under the bright winter sun. 

Looking up, Peeta discovered a few others along the rooftops occupying nests of machine guns which they kept trained on the street below.

A huge banner with the seal of Panem hung off the roof of the Justice Building. The heavy-handed reminder of President Snow’s presence made Peeta's stomach turn, but the thing which unnerved him the most was the line of new constructions set up in the center of the square. 

Bitter tasting bile climbed up his throat as he considered what the whipping post, stockades, and gallows were going to be used for. 

Some streets away from the square, a blaze flared up. The long plume of smoke reaching for the sky could only come from one place. The Hob.

Peeta pushed himself away from the wall. For an instant, he considered rushing towards the old building to make sure there were no casualties, but the sudden appearance of a white uniform by his side made him change his mind. 

Peeta stood dead-still. Out of the corner of his eye, he examined the peacekeeper. His uniform was clean and pressed but, judging by the creases along the elbows and neckline, it had seen better days. 

Not one of Thread’s men, then. 

Peeta still hadn’t decided whether he should address the officer or not when the peacekeeper leaned in and whispered, “I checked it this morning." Tilting his head towards the burning market, he added, "Made sure it was empty before they lit it up.”

Peeta nodded. He was about to thank the man for the information when a whistle rang in the distance. 

The peacekeeper straightened up. “Better get going,” he said before turning and swiftly walking away.  

Peeta watched as the officer joined the rest of his battalion. The tuft of red hair escaping his battered helmet was the only thing setting him apart in the crowd.

XXXXX

Before anyone else could notice his presence, Peeta began walking again. 

His heart raced in his chest --thrilled and terrified all at once. Somewhere out in Panem something big was happening, President Snow wouldn’t have felt the need to show this much force otherwise. 

Too restless to go back to Victors’ Village, Peeta let his feet wander down the familiar paths of the Merchant Quarter. Before long, he had reached the school.

The low-rise building was as a sad sight. Chipped paint. Cracked walls. Broken windows. The school was just another example of the poverty and neglect that touched everything in Twelve. 

As a cool winter breeze blew the remnants of the snow storm away, Peeta’s mind flew back to the days he’d spent in the draughty classrooms where he had frozen every winter, and the stuffy gymnasium where he had suffocated in summertime. 

His childhood had been a mix of excitement and boredom; apathy and hard work sprinkled with brief moments of joy. Long hours of tedious classes taught by frustrated teachers who had no patience and no interest in their students; exhausting shifts working at the bakery under his mother’s stern eye; happy moments of triumph he had shared with his brothers and the rest of the wrestling team. 

Life hadn’t been perfect –he had known bitterness and pain-- but he had been foolish enough to think he was safe. Things were different now. As a victor, he saw the world for what it really was: a dark, cold, frightening place.

Lost in his thoughts, he almost missed the loud screech of the front gate opening. A steady trickle of students, wrapped in their warmest winter clothes, spilled out of the building and onto the empty street. 

Peeta buried his face in his scarf and waited. 

“Peeta?” Madge called out. In a few quick steps, she reached his side. “What are you doing here?”

Peeta shrugged. “I was in the neighborhood, thought I’d stop by.”

Wrapping her arms around herself, Madge stepped in closer. “Have you been by the square?”

Peeta nodded. 

“How does it look?”

Like a prison’s courtyard, Peeta thought. Instead, he said, “It’s been wiped clean.” Looking back towards the school to make sure no one was paying attention to them, he added, “The Hob’s on fire.”

Madge’s eyes widened. “Already?”

Peeta pulled back. “What do you—,”

Grabbing her cousin by the elbow, Madge pulled him closer. “The new Head Peacekeeper stopped by my house last night.” 

The thought of the stern man with cold blue eyes made Madge shiver. He had been polite enough, but the way he had spoken to her father —his words dripping with thinly veiled disdain— made her skin crawl. 

Ignoring the discomfort settling in her bones, Madge pressed on, “My dad took him into his office, but I overheard a bit of their conversation.” Glancing behind her back to make sure no one was listening, she whispered, “There are almost 300 new peacekeepers in town —some of them have worked under the new Head’s command for years. He said they’re here to reinforce their installations in the district, and to put a stop to all irregular activities.” Letting go of Peeta, Madge straightened up. “No wonder they started with the Hob,” she muttered. 

Peeta nodded, eagerly processing Madge’s report. Her words confirmed everything he’d heard in the last few days, and everything pointed in the same direction. President Snow’s problems weren’t contained to District 8 anymore. 

As far as he knew, there hadn’t been any open acts of rebellion in Twelve but, could it be that President Snow’s agents had detected some activity and that Thread’s presence was more than a mere warning?

Bursting with questions, he leaned back into Madge’s side but, before he could ask anything more, he saw Katniss and Prim walking towards them.   

“Hi, Peeta!” Prim exclaimed waiving a mittened hand in the frosty air. 

Straightening up, Peeta nodded in Prim’s direction. “Hey, Prim!” Facing Katniss, he repeated the gesture. “Katniss.”

Before Katniss could say anything, Prim asked, “Were you helping out at the bakery today?”

Peeta nodded. “I just finished, and I thought maybe I could walk back with you?”

Prim’s face broke in a brilliant smile. “Sure!”

“So, what are we waiting for?” Madge reached for Prim’s hand. “ Let’s get going! I’m freezing out here!”

Without missing a beat, Prim slipped her hand in Madge’s and they both began to walk. Katniss and Peeta fell into pace, trailing a couple of steps behind.  

“So,” Peeta said, softly bumping his arm against Katniss’s as they walked, “you OK?”

Turning to look at him, Katniss shrugged. The last couple of days hadn’t been great. She had spent far too many hours trapped indoors as she waited for the blizzard to pass through. Luckily, her pantry had been well stocked and her family hadn’t gone hungry but, with nothing else to do, her mind had kept spinning around in circles —thinking about the new Peacekeepers and what their presence in the district might mean to her and her business. 

As if he could read her thoughts, Peeta whispered, “Too much time indoors?”

Katniss smiled. “Yeah.” She took a deep breath, greedily filling her lungs with crisp snowy air and exhaled. “This is better.”

They were about to turn the corner to the square when Peeta stopped short. In one swift motion, he reached out and grabbed Katniss’s arm to halt her movements. 

Startled by the abrupt change in pace, Katniss pivoted round. Her arm bumped against Peeta’s chest and he leaned forward, placing his free hand on her shoulder to keep her huddled next to him.  

“Katniss, look at me,” he whispered.

Wide-eyed Katniss did as she was told. Peeta’s face was so close that she could read the silent apology in his eyes, feel his warm breath against her cheek.

In an urgent whisper, Peeta explained, “Listen. The Hob is on fire.”

Katniss’s mouth dropped. Uncomprehending, she shook her head. “What?”

“Listen to me.” Peeta tightened his hold on her. “The new Peacekeepers are cleaning up the district, they’re trying to get rid of all irregular activities and they started with the Hob.”

Irregular activities. Two words as dangerous as a bolt of lightning coursing through her spine,  scorching every last shred of hope on their path. 

Dread sunk in. Every muscle in her body pulled back until she was as tight as a bow string. Irregular activities , her mind repeated. That meant her!

Panicked, Katniss tried to twist out of Peeta’s grasp and run. Maybe she could go to the burning market or the woods or… But it was no use. Peeta’s firm grip on her arm and shoulder kept her rooted in place. 

 “Wait! Don’t go!” Peeta whispered. “Please.”  

Soothed by the sound of Peeta’s voice, Katniss stopped fighting. Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed Madge and Prim had stopped a few steps ahead of them. 

The mayor’s daughter had wrapped an arm over Prim’s shoulders and was leaning down to whisper something in her ear. Prim’s red woollen hat bobbed up and down as she nodded in response to whatever Madge was saying. 

“They’re all fine,”Peeta assured her as soon as she turned her attention back to him. “No one was hurt.” 

Katniss reached for the lapel of Peeta’s coat and clutched it in her fists. “How do you know?” 

Letting go of her arms, Peeta covered Katniss’s hands with his. “One of the peacekeepers told me. He said he had checked and that the building was empty, that everyone was safe.”

Katniss narrowed her eyes. “A Peacekeeper? Who?”

Peeta shrugged. “I hardly saw him, but I could tell from his uniform that he’s one of Cray’s men. He seemed very young –probably early twenties.”

Katniss tilted her head to the side. A glimmer of hope shone in her eyes. “Red hair?”

Peeta nodded. “Does that—,”

“Sounds like Darius,” Katniss muttered.

“Darius,” Peeta repeated committing the name to memory. “You know him?”

Katniss nodded. “He eats at the Hob. We trade with him sometimes.”

Peeta looked down at their clasped hands. As much as he liked being this close to Katniss, he knew this wasn’t the right place or time. They had to get going. “What will you do? If I let go?”

In spite of herself, Katniss smiled. “Nothing. I just want to go home.”

With a sigh, Peeta let go of her hands and watched as she slowly opened her fists and ran her hands down his chest until they dropped to her sides.  “Can I walk with you?” he asked.

A shy smile turned her lips. “Of course! Let’s go.”

[stories-in-the-stars]

The Best Laid Plans

Julie told me her ideas for this AU and like a certified dumbass I managed to forget every single thing she told me, so I guess this is my genuine take on what I see in her art.

Make sure to check the reblogs for the art that inspired this!

~*~

“You ready?”

Keith looked apprehensive, but took a deep, steadying breath. Lance waited patiently all the while.

“Ready as I’ll ever be, I guess.”

“Then let’s go.”

They’d had a whole month to prepare. Lance had done this dozens of times already with other young werewolves, but Keith wasn’t just another young werewolf. Even when the moon was new he still presented unmistakably wolfish traits, like the furry ears protruding out of his mess of hair that were twitching nervously. Lance was anxious about what might happen. What if Keith transformed and couldn’t turn back?

(Such was his worry that he’d gotten a wolfsbane charm, an amulet to reverse a werewolf’s transformation. It was harmless so long as it wasn’t worn for longer than a single night. He hoped he wouldn’t have to use it.)

When the raven had returned with a letter from Allura, Lance and Keith had both been eager to see what she had to say about Keith’s state. Unfortunately, for all her years, she had never heard of anything like this. She did promise them that she would look around for some answers, as she had access to far more resources than Lance did, but they had not heard back from her yet, and the full moon was that night. Lance had prepared Keith as best as he could, treating him as he would any other newly turned werewolf. 

He could only hope it would be enough.

Lance kept his head turned down under his wide brimmed hat. The last of the sun’s rays were still shining brightly, and it was just before sunset that was hardest for Lance. The sunlight was always somehow more intense as it dipped below the horizon, not entirely unlike water being forced through a narrowing opening. Still, Keith had to get to the forest before moonrise, and damnit Lance was going to be there for him. He wouldn’t admit it, but it was all too easy to tell that Keith was nervous.

The last of the sun was just disappearing once they reached the edge of the forest. Keith looked paler than usual, but that was pretty normal for a first transformation. Lance reached into his pocket to make sure that the wolfsbane charm was still there.

“So, uh,” Keith started, uneasy. “This is the part where I strip, right?”

Lance sputtered. “Right, right, just, step behind a tree or something, I’ll be right behind you if you need me. Remember, just relax and let it happen and--”

“Don’t try to fight it. Got it.”

Keith ducked behind a tree and set to preparing himself. In the distance, Lance saw a few other werewolves striding towards the woodline. Some of them waved at him; he waved back. He wondered briefly if maybe he should’ve gotten one of his werewolf buddies to come and reassure Keith. Come to think of it, why didn’t he have a werewolf stay at his home full time? It was too easy to reassure new vampires, given that Lance had personal experience with that change (not that that happened often anymore. He was the only vampire for miles and often discouraged others from turning humans to vampires). But new werewolves were understandably wary of a vampire’s advice on how best to handle the transition, and there wasn’t much he could say to settle their nerves.

Something to consider in the future, he decided.

“Lance?” he heard Keith call from around the tree.

“Yeah?”

“Nothing…”

Lance suppressed a slight chuckle. “Don’t worry, I’m not going anywhere. I’ll be with you all night.”

“What if I hurt you? Didn’t you say new werewolves are a little unpredictable?”

“I trust you not to hurt me,” Lance assured him. “But even if your wolf mind decides I’m a threat, there’s nothing you can do that I haven’t dealt with before. I’ve been doing this for a while, you know.”

“So you’ve said.”

A distant howl echoed in the distance. Lance heard Keith suck in a breath. He wanted to reassure him, remind him that it was normal for those newly turned to not immediately transform as the moon came up, but he held his tongue. By now he knew better than to chide overmuch; apparently it made Keith feel as though Lance thought he couldn’t handle this, when in reality Lance was just worried. Worried that something might go wrong, worried that he hadn’t done everything he could to prepare Keith, worried that Keith might end up hurt because of a lack of preparation--

Behind the tree, he heard a telltale grunt of pain. A sharp hiss, an attempt to breathe normally. Lance wanted to be closer, to help Keith through this. First transformations were always hard, no matter how much he tried to prepare young wolves for them.

Soon enough the grunting and gasping turned to yips and whines, and Lance finally allowed himself to take a peek. If he were still able to breathe, he might’ve gasped aloud at what he saw.

Normally, werewolves weren’t much bigger in their wolf forms than their human ones. Maybe an inch or two in height and some added muscle, but nothing too terribly drastic. This, however, was closer to the monsters that featured in so many human fairy tales.

Keith was at least a foot taller, massive and looming even while still hunched over. His fur was as wild and unruly as his human hair was, and if Lance wasn’t so alarmed he might be tempted to pet it. It was no wonder that Keith was still whimpering in what was clearly pain--such a transformation was no doubt taxing. Lance reached in his pocket for the wolfsbane charm, but didn’t yet pull it out.

It didn’t take long for Keith to notice that Lance was there. He turned slowly towards Lance, keening slightly. He was still up on his hind legs and still hunched over. His deep violet eyes wavered, but looked directly at Lance, almost pleading.

“Are you… okay?” Lance asked.

Slowly, Keith shook his large, furry head. So he was still coherent. That was definitely not normal. Then, Keith whined and shook his head again.

“Keith?”

Here, Keith finally dropped down on all fours and approached Lance, nosing at the hand that was still in his pocket. He began pawing at it insistently, his whining very nearly piercing. It wouldn’t be long before other werewolves came to investigate. Being pack creatures, werewolves were quite eager to aid any of their own that was ailing. Unfortunately, if they saw Lance near a werewolf that was very clearly in pain, they might get the wrong idea.

He pulled out the wolfsbane charm.

“It’ll reverse your transformation,” Lance explained, gingerly patting Keith on the head. “Do you want to use it?”

Keith nodded, quite eagerly at that, and stood back on his hind legs, which were still somewhere in between human and wolf. His head was bent low for Lance. He wasted no time in looping the charm over Keith’s head. It took only a moment for the charm to do it’s work. Fur receded back into human skin, most wolf features faded in favor of human ones, and Keith shrank back to his normal height. When it was finally and fully reversed, his ears were still wolfish and his claws still present. He hugged himself tightly, a stranger in his own skin. Lance wasted no time in retrieving his clothes.

He said not a word as he dressed himself, and Lance let him have his silence. As he’d expected, a few werewolves had come to investigate. A few of them sniffed at Keith, whimpering slightly in sympathy. To them he was just a pup who’d had a rough time transforming. Keith turned away from them, especially as one went to sniff the charm against his chest. He hugged himself again.

“Keith,” Lance started gently.

“I can’t do this Lance,” Keith said abruptly. “I just can’t. Don’t tell me I can, or that I should.”

“I wasn’t. I won’t make you transform if you really don’t want to. There are some that don’t, and wear a wolfsbane charm every full moon. We can do that too, if you’d prefer.”

Keith wheeled on him suddenly, his expression vicious and more like that of a typical, newly turned werewolf.

“Why didn’t we just do that in the first place?!” he demanded.

Lance backed away, in case the charm somehow didn’t hold. “It’s healthier to have your cycle regularly! Most warlocks recommend that for every three months you skip you have one transformation--”

“I don’t care!” Keith shouted. “I can’t do that! I won’t do that, ever again! That was-- I hated that.”

“Okay, okay! But at least we know now, right?”

Keith huffed, turning away again. “Let’s just go.”

Lance frowned. Logically, he knew it wasn’t his fault that it had been such a painful experience for Keith. This was a new experience for everyone involved, after all. Still, Lance wished that there had been something he could’ve done to be more ready. He followed after Keith, feeling for the first time in decades as though he had well and truly failed someone who had been depending on him. It was lucky that he’d thought to have to charm on hand, but now Keith was angry with him.

But really, what else could he have possibly done to be ready for this?

[coffethoughts]

Ghosts

My name is Garrison Dowe, I am 5'11", dusty brown hair, greyish blue eyes and a crooked smile. This isn't my story. This takes place years and years before my fathers father was even an idea between him and my grandmother.

This is about Calvin.

Calvin was 49 with thick horn rimmed glasses with the brownest eyes sitting behind them. He was wearing a brown plaid button up shirt with a navy blue bow tie, his golden brown hair parted to the side and loafers.  I think it's because that's what he died in, but I also think it was his favorite outfit. Although if you've worn it for how long he has, it might become yours too.    We are going back to September 3rd, 2869. Where young Calvin was about to enter the world. Little did he know there was more than one world to enjoy. 

***********************************************************************************

It wasn't your normal July afternoon

It was cold, the cold you can feel in your bones. The kind of cold that you can't cover with blankets or sweaters.

 The kind of cold that follows death. 

It was the day Calvin died.

But lets start from the beginning. Calvin had a pretty normal childhood. for example; food in his belly, clothes on his back, both parents and a modest home. He himself was the oddball out though. He never stopped dreaming, awake or asleep. He never came back down to earth once he zoned out, and he NEVER let anyone touch his brown notebook.  

Growing up and going into his first year of high school Calvin had average grades. Not because he was dumb, he was actually very intelligent but his attention level was awful. He was constantly zoned out.

Now Calvin had friends, he was the good popular. The one that everyone knew and liked, not the kind of popular that only associated with other popular kids. He always got invited to the parties and events and outings, even though his best friend was a notebook. He usually made a point to go out to these events,

Calvin was seventeen and in his last year at Mulove High school, He wasn't the most popular student, but he was loved by all because he made an effort to include everyone, he was also very funny. Sorry, he IS still very funny. (fact check, he was basically in every photo in the very full signed yearbook he showed me.) On the first day of his last year in high school, Calvin flew into the parking lot on his new Hover Bike he got for his birthday a few days earlier (new driver) and parked. When he got off his bike, he had a weird pain in his stomach, but it passed after a minute and he never gave it a second thought.

He walked in the school, book bag on both shoulders, a brown notebook and pen pinched between his ribs and arm while his left hand was in his pocket with his cellphone in his other scrolling through a list of songs that he could jam to as he headed to his first class. Calvin's mind was full of adventure, stories, funny quips, ideas and thoughts you couldn't possibly imagine. (I've seen the brown notebook) He never showed anyone, not because he was embarrassed, or he didn't think he was good enough. One of the reasons is because they were his, the things he wrote in the notebook were scary, incredible, frightening, funny, loving, envious, sad, heartbreaking, hilarious and feelings you never felt before. He had little quotes in his note book from eaves dropping on conversations, he has doodles when he was bored and procrastinating, he has diagrams of inventions for extravagant things, things you and me could never even fathom.

He found himself walking while listening to the music. He paused in front of his locker. Not sure how he ended up there as he was not thinking of his route at all. But after four years, of the same path in the same school, with the same people and same hallways, his body just new where to go and when. Calvin likes to zone out, move on to different worlds for a while, until it gets dark there and he returns to his "normal" state. (not much about Calvin is normal) He's ok with that.

(More to come later)

(later is now)

Calvin twists and turns his lock to enter his combination, he opened his locker and found a little note folded that looked like it had been pushed through the slots in the locker door. He was just about to open the note when the first bell rang for class, and he thought "shit, I'm late again"Â&#157;. He shoved the note in his pocket, shut his locker, ran to class and forgot about the note as his mind is always in other places.

In his first period class Calvin caught himself day dreaming of the new worlds that were all over the internet and news with headlines like "WE ARE SO CLOSE!" "WE WILL BE ON MARS SOON" and so on. With nothing to go on, no pictures or videos, just speculation at this point, your imagination. Calvin wrote all his thoughts in his brown notebook, he drew sketches and jotted down ideas, all about new types of life with gorgeous, wild, undiscovered flowers, insects, animals and even "humans". Because whose to say someone on mars or another galaxy isn't a human of their planet. Calvin dreamed that he would eventually get to these planets. Later on he would learn his imagination did not disappoint.

His entire life born on this planet was based on him off it.

"CALVIN? CALVIN?!? CALVVVIIINNN?!?!?"

"Oh, uh yes, Mrs. Bonnaveve?"

"Were you just day dreaming again? We have talked about this a million times, you need to learn the String Theory, it's essential"

“I was not daydreaming Mrs. Bonnaveve, I am doing research for when we can start travelling to other places"

"We can travel now Calvin?"

"Not to Zone 37 or Area 913, I'm talking about Mars, the forgotten planet Pluto, or the Catcus Galaxy that everyone thinks might be a hoax, but I know in my gut it's real"

When he was done talking, there was a very long silent pause. Followed by everyone including the teacher, the other classrooms that could hear him through the vent and their Mothers Mothers started howling so hard that one kid fell over and broke his arm. When that was over he turned up the volume on his phone, tuned into his favorite song and continued to day dream, the teacher left him alone at that point. This didn't affect his "popularity"&#157; like it would when you were growing up. Kids never forget. No not in the year 2886.These days were different. Winter formal came and gone along with parties, movies, dates homework, exams and winter break. Calvin always showed face even though his actual face was buried in his brown notebook and his mind was on another planet. This first semester we’re nt by quickly for Calvin as he was use to day dreaming since his first day in kindergarten and didn't plan to change this year. He was happy winter break was over and he could get back to class, not that he loved school, but he loved being around people to eves drop, learn how people think, act, are for new inspiration to jot down in.

The following semester wasn't so easy. Nothing had changed at home, with his friends or at school. It's been the same day after day for Calvin. Waking up from dreams about adventure to day dreaming at school about all the things his mind thought up, and going to bed with the same dreams. None of that chanted either. The one thing that did was the headlines. Instead of reading “WE’RE ALMOST THERE” they read “WE DID IT” “SPACE TRAVEL IS HERE!!”. Calvin couldn’t contain his excitement. He has been saving every birthday dollar, every lawn mowing fee, every quarter, dime, nickle and penny to travel to space once they figured out how to, and now they have!

It was so hard for Calvin to stay in his seat, to show up to class, to focus on tests and assignments, he barley made it out of high school with a diploma. Which made it hard for him to apply for college, as he just wanted to take a year off and travel. His parents weren't on board and haven't been since it started effecting his grades more and more. They said that if he wanted to stay here for the year he would have to work with his father or head off to college. Working in city hall just didn't seem to call his name especially since his father hasn't taken a vacation in several years.  which would hurt his travelling chances.

Calvin weighed his options to stay here and save even more but push back college a year and then that would mean pushing back traveling, or he could go into college for something that would let him travel and get paid? The laptop was pulled out of his back pack once he got home and began to research schools, and programs that would let him travel while getting paid after college, or even during college as a coop assignment.

[thenerdytomboynewb96]

Samantha Allan Park Ch. 47

Any references to TMNT or anything from popular media and culture is NOT MINE. I only own my OC's. Any references to “TMNT Out of the Shadows” DO NOT BELONG TO ME. Only my additions that I came up with myself belong to me. Anything from the films or other series ARE NOT MINE, only my OC’s and my ideas that I have added onto the story FOR FUN. Thank you.

Chapter #47

Saturday July 11th, 2015. 3a.m. at the lair-or so we think Theme: All Time Low-Nightmares

“Why…Why can’t you just learn to shut up and listen?!” Sam shouted, still standing in place where she was now a few steps away from Raph. “Do you honestly think I wanted this? You think that I openly joined that shitty clan? I’d rather die than loyally join them! But you wouldn’t know that because you can’t keep your mouth shut!” Sam now slowly started walking forward towards Raph, whose shell was still stuck in the wall after she had kicked him in her rage. “Sam, wait-” “SHUT UP!” As Sam screamed out, forceful wind gusts flew out to the sides of her body. “You don’t know anything, god there’s still so much that you don’t yet know and understand. But hey, months of getting to know someone obviously doesn’t mean shit to you. Someone telling you about the most terrifying and scarring parts of their life obviously DOESN’T MEAN SHIT to you. Watching someone breakdown in front of you, open their heart to you, you saw all of that first hand, and how do you react? You degrade that person’s family and call them a liar! This is why I didn’t come to you guys in the first place, I knew you would react this way, ESPECIALLY YOU! I knew I made the right decision when I did and you’ve given me all the proof I need that I never should have trusted you EVER. You know how trapped you feel right now, that fear of not being able to control a damn thing that’s about to happen to you? I’ve been living that way since Thursday night. Wrong, I’ve been living that way my entire life! You’re right, my life is so fucked up that I am broken, and now you’re going to know what it’s like to be broken to.”

Sam paused…where were the others? This was when Mikey was supposed to link arms with her and pull her back, when Leo was supposed to shove her away and then Donnie pin her neck against the wall with his bo. This was when the three prevented her from killing her brother by punching his face to mush, so where were they? “They’re not coming” Raph mumbled. Sam looked up in horror as she saw Raph was now missing an eye, as if it had literally just been ripped from his face. Sam just stood there, covering her mouth since she sensed she was about to throw up. “Isn’t this what you wanted?” Raph asked, as small drips of blood escaped from his lips as he spoke. “This is what you wanted. You knew that if you let me make you mad that this would happen.” “No-” she choked out, only to continue to be cut off by the turtle in front of her who continued to look worse and worse every time she had the guts to somehow look back at him. “Yes, you knew Shredder was experimenting on you and yet you still took those pills to help you get out of those restraints. And then you got into an argument with me, knowing you would turn into a monster and would kill me-” “I NEVER MEANT TO KILL YOU!!!” Sam shrieked as she looked back at Raph as the tears were pouring from her eyes. More and more tears poured from her sockets as she saw that Raph’s face was now black and blue. His face had changed color so drastically that only the green from the rest of his skin proved that his face had ever been green at all. “And yet you were going to. That punch, if you were lucky enough to calm yourself to only throw one, would have crushed my skull. My brain wouldn’t exist anymore. You wanted to murder me.” As Raph spoke his voice slowly became louder and louder. “I never wanted-” “But you were going to! You had no self-control and my life meant that little to you!” “It wasn’t me, I needed to get away so I injected some mutagen-” “Knowing it would give you strength! Strength so that you could KILL ME!” “No! I-” “YOU’RE A MURDERER! YOU WANTED TO KILL AND YOU WERE GOING TO! If my brothers hadn’t shown up then what do you think you were going to do Sam?!” At this point Raph had somehow gained the strength to remove himself from the wall and he was now walking towards Sam. “Raph, please-” “WERE WE GONNA HUG IT OUT?! I DON’T THINK SO! I knew what you wanted and you were a second away from stealing my life, the life of one of your best friends, of one of your brothers! WHAT SISTER TRIES TO KILL HER OWN FAMILY?!?!” Raph bellowed as his voice echoed off the walls of the dojo. That’s when he marched right up to her and grabbed her by the neck. He pulled her so that her ear from her shaking head was right in front of his mouth. “Well, since you intended to kill me, I guess I’ll have to fight back in self-defense” he whispered, and once the words escaped his bleeding lips, he slammed her face first into the ground. Sam was too shocked to speak as he pulled her back up, his hand still gripped onto her neck. Sam could feel that her nose was broken and she could taste the blood in her mouth from all different types of cuts. She was amazed that she could feel or taste anything as the air was being prevented from entering her body to allow her to breathe because of the grip around her neck. “How does it feel Sam? To die from having your face bashed in again and again?” Raph snarled as he repeatedly slammed Sam’s face against the concrete beneath them. Sam then began to howl in pain. She happened to look into a piece of broken glass that just happened to be on the ground nearby and saw that her face now resembled his: her nose had been crushed, where his eye was gone that eye of hers was completely bloodshot red, there were cuts and small chunks taken from her ear lobes (matching the patches of skin scratched off along the sides of his head), her lips were cut and bloodied, and her cheeks were black, blue, and purple, besides for the rest of the red blood that coated her face. She knew that this was a symbol of what Raph would have looked like if she had succeeded in punching the shit out of him that night if she hadn’t been stopped by the others.

“Stop it! I never meant for this! I never wanted this!” she wailed as she lost feeling in a majority of her body. “And yet you joined the Foot, joined them on missions, and then had the guts to defend and protect them rather than hiding yourself so that we couldn’t find you! YOU’RE WEAK! YOU’RE AN IDIOT! AND WORST OF ALL, you let yourself get caught! You tried to kill me, so I’m going to make you see what happens when you attack someone with a temper they can’t control.” Sam braced herself as Raph flipped her over and was now positioning himself to slam the back of her head down onto the solid already bloodied concrete for the final time.

Sam jolted awake and was now sitting up in bed. Her breathing was ridiculously fast and she could feel the tears in her eyes and the vomit in her throat. She sprinted to the bathroom down the hall and threw up into the toilet a couple of times and then dry heaved for a couple of minutes before her body finally calmed down and allowed her to realize it was just another nightmare.

Since all her friends knew that Jay was going to be away for two weeks on his honeymoon, a bunch of Sam’s female friends and their older sisters who were friends with Brenda and Jay had invited themselves to come over to the apartment earlier that night and hangout with Sam so that she wouldn’t feel lonely (not realizing she had planned to spend the entire two weeks underground). This meant that she had returned home for the day and had spent the entire day in her house talking, dancing, playing games, and doing all other sorts of things with her friends. This had gone on all the way until 12:45a.m. to which the last females safely took an Uber home since multiple guests had to work the next day. Sam had decided to call it a night and after a quick shower she hopped into bed and decided she would join up with her friends later that day. She never expected that she would have yet another nightmare. She had been having nightmares ever since she lost her siblings, but they had decreased tremendously once she became friends with the turtles…but then they came back and were ten times worse after she had joined the Foot.

She had lost track of how many she had and how they involved everyone. One nightmare involved Raph and Mikey being killed at police headquarters after she had helped the two sneak in. Another nightmare involved the brothers getting hurt when they went to save Sam from Shredder after she joined the Foot and their rescue attempt had failed. One dream involved the older three blaming Sam because Mikey had taken his own life after not being able to handle Sam dying from saving him from being affected by the electronic whip that technically killed her the first time. She also had a dream where she messed up when she tricked Karai into thinking she would hurt the turtles when she froze the electric whip she had aimed at Mikey and in this case had hurt him so badly that he ended up with severe injuries afterwards. She had had a few dreams where she hurt Donnie as he helped her test her limits with her powers and she lost control. She had dreams where she hurt the brothers, and some involved the brothers hurting her. Some dreams involved one or more of the brothers harming her in order to avenge a brother that she had hurt or killed. Tonight she had had a dream about the time where she easily could have killed Raph if no one had come to intervene, and obviously this dream focused on her realizing what could have happened if she had actually killed Raph while also making her receive a taste of her own medicine from the wrath she threw at him that same night.

Once Sam’s body had calmed down she quickly left the bathroom, grabbed her bag with her gear in it, and threw on a hoodie since she had been in her pajamas and hadn’t been wearing a bra underneath. She then adjusted the locks and scanners in her room as he left through the balcony stairway outside her window and then entered the sewers through a manhole in the alley behind her apartment building. This was instantly what she did every time she had one of these nightmares. Whoever was most involved with her in the nightmare was always who she visited instantly. It was as if the only thing that made everything okay was actually seeing the person she thought she had harmed, or who she thought had harmed her, and confirming with them that everything had been a horrible dream and that in reality everyone was safe and okay. Of course, she always did this without telling a soul. There were multiple nights where Jay had contacted the guys in a panic because Sam wasn’t home and he hadn’t known that she had had a nightmare and had gone underground and visited whoever she had the nightmare about. She was also reprimanded by all her brothers since she would go visit that person involved in the nightmare regardless of whether or not it was a safe time to do so. Again, it was a little after 3.a.m. and Sam was now leaving her building and wandering the sewers alone, knowing the Foot and Purple Dragons still existed.

But this was what Sam did, every single time. She was silent (besides for her heavy breathing) as she walked at an incredibly fast pace down the sewer tunnels towards the lair. She had a tablet in her hands that she used to hack into Donnie’s systems so that she could enter the lair without waking anyone. In record time she entered the lair and quickly turned a corner from the living room so that she was now heading towards Raph’s bedroom. She had tossed her tablet onto the couch and was now booking it towards the bedroom. Usually if the door was locked she would just ‘slump’ her body so that it forcefully leaned on the door and made enough noise to awaken whichever brother was in the dream that time. If the door was unlocked then she would ever so slowly open it, and if the brother was sleeping then she would literally carefully climb into the bed with them and within seconds they would know what was going on.

Sam didn’t have a chance for either of these things to happen since she saw that the door was open and that Raph was not in the room once she arrived. This made Sam worry that her dream was more than just a dream and that Raph was actually gone. What if everything else was a dream and she had actually killed Raph? She had no right to be here, but did the brothers even know? What if she had hurt him so much that there wasn’t a body left, did they even know where Raph was? Had she hurt them? Oh god what if she didn’t just unleash her wrath on Raph and she had harmed the other brothers?! What if-”

Suddenly muscular arms wrapped themselves around her. She hadn’t realized her knees were buckling beneath her and that she was about to collapse into a ball on the floor until she felt the arms wrap themselves around her and help keep her standing on her feet. “It’s okay, it’s okay. He’s in my room, that’s where he crashed. I’ll go get him, okay?” Sam recognized Mikey’s voice and she recognized his touch as he was now gently rubbing his hands up and down her arms. The feeling made her feel more relaxed and allowed her to respond with a nod of her head. Mikey then gently scooped her up and carried her over towards his brother’s bed where he sat her down. He kneeled down in front of the girl who had brought her knees up to her chest and had wrapped her arms tightly around her knees. He saw the redness in her eyes and could tell that this had been a really bad nightmare. “I’m gonna go get him, so don’t leave okay? He’s fine I promise. Breathe with me” he said as he put his hands on both of the girl’s cheeks and took slow breaths and continued to do so until her breathing matched his.

Mikey then eased his way out of the room, never taking his eyes off of Sam until he literally couldn’t see her anymore, and seconds later Raph had walked into the room. He quickly made his way over to the bed and threw his arms around the girl who was already beginning to cry again. “Whatever I did or whatever you did, we’re both okay. We’re healthy and we’re safe, no one is hurt or in danger I promise” he reassured her as he kept his arms wrapped around her. He hated to hear her cry, and it broke him even more when he saw her cry, but he knew that when she was like this she needed someone to take care of her. Sam was one of the toughest people he had ever met, but there were still times where she was weak and needed others in order to get by. This was one of those times.

The two just sat there for a few minutes as the girl released her tears as she cried into his shoulder. Raph just sat there and did the regular things that got Sam to calm down: he ran his hand up and down her back, he ran his fingers through her hair. Sam had made it clear to all the brothers that she was a touchy feely person even if not necessarily in a romantic way. Once a few minutes had passed and Sam had calmed down Raph leaned back and looked her in the eye. This was usually the signal that he was ready to listen to whatever it was that had happened. Sam took a long breath, and struggled in doing so, before she finally spoke. “I had the dream where I almost killed you again” she whimpered. Raph sighed and ran his hand down his face. “Man, again? Was it the same as last time where you beat me to a pulp and then faced my brothers afterwards?” he asked in a guilty manner, hating himself for even leading Sam to have these past experiences that now lead her to having these nightmares. “No actually. This one was different” she said as she timidly looked up at him. “This time it was you who ridiculed me. Your face became more and more deformed as you verbally and then physically fought back.” Raph looked as if he had seen a ghost. This was a new nightmare scenario indeed. Usually when Sam had this nightmare she had already killed Raph and she was either tortured with the realization of the monster she almost became, or she faced the emotional and physical fights from his brothers as they avenged their brother by attacking his killer, but this time it was him who had harmed Sam in the nightmare. “Did…did I do something that made the dream change?” he asked as he looked more to his left and down at the bed. Sam rapidly shook her head. “Of course not. I talked to a therapist about this once and he told me that sometimes when similar nightmares change it’s because of alternate scenarios that could have happened. I guess this time my mind wondered how you would have reacted if I had paused. I guess my mind assumed you would have resumed to defending yourself and would have killed me since I had intended to kill you…wait, I mean!-” “I know what you meant Sam. The mutagen kicked in and made you go haywire after I set you off. You never meant to hurt me, you just lost control because of me.” Sam could tell by the look in his eye that he regretted every scene that was replaying itself in his head. Man she wished she could take back everything that had happened that night not even a full year ago.

She gently held onto Raph’s right arm. He looked up at her, the shame in his thoughts displayed on his face. “Hey, we both wish we could go back and fix what happened. But it’s okay now. Just like you said, we’re both healthy and we’re both safe. Everything worked out and everything is back to normal again. Everything was out of context and we both made mistakes, but we’ve grown and learned from them. These nightmares aren’t your fault” she said in a soothing tone. The girl’s words were helpful, but there were still dark thoughts in the turtles mind. “Do you ever wonder what life would be like now? If one of those bad scenarios actually happened?” he asked shyly. Sam sighed and flopped back onto the bed. “All the time. I wonder what would have happened if I had actually killed you. I know I never would forgive myself. I know your brothers would shun me, and I wouldn’t blame them-” “Stop” Raph said rather harshly, although he hadn’t intended to sound that way. Sam paused and pursed her lips together and kept them shut. “Just…I wonder the same thing” Raph mumbled, continuing to look everywhere but at her, but that was before Sam shot up and made him look at her. “What are you talking about?” she asked. Raph sighed. “You could have died if something had gone wrong while you were with the Foot, and I’m the main reason we didn’t help you. I pushed you over your limits because I had to be an ass about not fully trusting you and then what do we learn? You’ve been covering for us the whole damn time.” Sam now realized that as Raph talked through gritted teeth he was also clenching his fists together. She looked up at him with gentle eyes only to see that he had reverted back to looking away from her. Sensing the tension in the air, Sam leaned over and rested her head on the turtles shoulder. “You can’t keep thinking that way. I know I need to stop thinking this way as well. It’s these thoughts that keep making us have these nightmares” she muttered. She felt an arm wrap around her. “I know, but I can’t just ignore how I acted and I can’t just ignore what could have happened if things didn’t turn out as lucky for us as they did.” “Well then don’t forget what happened, but keep thinking about how to make up for it” Sam said as she sat back up and looked him in the eyes. “Next time I act all sketchy, now you know to trust me no matter what. And you also know that no matter what situation I’m in that I’ll always have your back, same for the others.” This finally got Raph to smile. “Yeah, and I know from now on that you’ll never go behind our backs. Unless it’s a prank war that is” he said with a smirk. Sam shrugged. “Everyone is each other’s enemies when the prank wars begin my friend. No one can ever be trusted during those times.” She was happy to see that Raph was feeling better as he chuckled from her comment. Sam rocked herself forward and then stood up in front of him. “So, you ready for the next part of getting past nightmares?” she asked as she held her hand in front of her for him to take.

When Sam went to talk to whichever brother was involved in the nightmare, a new tradition had come about within each pairing. She and Leo would always go meditate and would then discuss the nightmare while drinking tea in his room. Donnie, being the speed demon that he was, loved to run out his emotions with Sam before the two officially found a spot to cool down and talk things out. Mikey and Raph handled things the opposite way. Mikey needed to talk things out and then needed to complete a fun activity with his partner in crime afterwards to prove that everything was okay. Raph also needed to talk things out before he could do anything else, and afterwards, he needed to complete some type of physical activity. Usually the two would work out in the dojo, but sometimes they completed more leisurely activities as well. Tonight Raph was more interested in using the batting cages in the secret hangout that Mikey and Sam had prepared which was now a huge underground fun house.

Raph looked up at Sam before taking her hand. “Before we end this conversation, you know I would never hurt you, right? Putting the past in the past, nothing like that will ever happen again and I’ll never treat you like I did. You know that, right?” he asked cautiously. Sam brought her hand back to her side. “I know that as long as you know I’ll never do anything to betray you guys ever again, and I swear I’ll never hurt any of you guys either. The past is the past, and nothing from the past will ever repeat itself.” Raph nodded with a small smirk. “In that case, race you to the batting cages!” he announced as he quickly lunged forward, scooped Sam up, and tossed her onto his bed as he then ran out the door. “Mikey let’s go!” Raph called, knowing that his youngest brother would still be awake, and this was proven correct as a hyper Michelangelo dashed through the hallways and was now silently tailing his brother. Sam sat up as quick as she could and tried to catch up to the others as fast as she could. The whole time she was laughing and having fun with her brothers she continued to remind herself that she would NEVER let the past repeat itself ever again. Her life was perfect and she would never allow anything to ever change that.