#untouchable ch21

[myheartrevealedocs]

Untouchable Ch 21: Elephant’s Memory (S3E16)

Warnings: murder, mentions of terrorism, mentions of drugs and addiction

Ch 20 | Ch 22

~ ~ ~

“I’m proud of you,” Spencer said, speaking up for the first time on their drive.

“You’re proud of me?” she asked, startled.

“Yes,” he argued. “Look at you! You’ve got a car now. Twenty-four years old, teaching two college classes and working for the FBI.”

“I’m more proud of you!” she shot back. “A full year sober! I can’t imagine how difficult it has been for you.”

“Thank you for coming with me.” Spencer sunk slightly in the passenger seat.

After the death of Ryan Phillips in front of the two of them, Spencer had been struggling with his cravings again. He hadn’t relapsed, of course, but he was plagued by nightmares and a lack of motivation. When he admitted this to Lydia, she’d suggested he look up some support meetings nearby. Tonight was going to be his first time attending the Beltway Clean Cops group.

“I’m more than happy to come along!”

The two of them sat in the back of the room, listening calmly to different people talk about their situations. Spencer had just gotten the courage to take the stage when Lydia got a text from Hotch.

Briefing in 30. Can’t get ahold of Reid. Please tell him.

Lydia dropped her head into her hands. Could it not wait just a few more moments? He had barely started speaking aloud and Lydia could see him trying to ignore the buzzing phone in his pocket.

“Hi. Uh… My name’s, uh, Spencer, and I’m uh… I don’t really know what I am.”

“Hello Spencer,” the crowd greeted.

“This is my- This is my first meeting,” he sputtered, his eyes locking with Lydia’s every few seconds. “I guess I, uh… I know I had a… a problem with Dilaudid, but… I stopped. My girlfriend helped me to stop about a year ago. I thought it was over, but recently I’ve really been… your literature uses the term ‘craving’. It started about a month ago. A- A suspect was murdered in front of me. A kid. And I thought that I could save that kid, but I couldn’t, and… Sorry.” He pulled out his phone, rejecting another call from their boss.  “I’ve seen a lot of that stuff before, but for some reason that kid’s face is really, uh… stuck in my brain. You know? It’s really- I can’t… And I want to forget… about him. And I just want to escape.”

Once again, he pulled his phone from his pocket and stepped away from the microphone, mumbling his apologies. Lydia got up and ran around to the side door to follow him out.

“I’m sorry,” she said as they met up and started walking to the car. “I didn’t want to interrupt you-”

“It’s fine,” he breezed. “Let’s just… get this over with.”

~ ~ ~

“Sorry we’re late,” Spencer announced as he and Lydia jogged into the conference room..

“Do I want to know what you two were up to?” Morgan teased.

Lydia was quick to cover Spencer’s secret for him. “You sound as if going to the movies is scandalous.”

“Movies, hm?” Rossi  joined. “Tell us what the movie was about.”

“Wouldn’t know. We didn’t get to finish it.”

Both boys gave the couple a look. Spencer started to shrink in his seat, but Lydia kept up her stance, not wanting them to push for anymore answers.

“I know it’s late,” Hotch interrupted. “I know we’re tired, but we’ve got two dead cops.”

“Alright.” JJ opened up the file in front of her and continued briefing the team, pointing to what looked to be a massive house fire displayed on the scene. “The resident, Rod Norris, was DOA. They’re still trying to ID the remains of the second victim, whom they believe is his 16-year-old daughter Jordan. From the condition of the remains, she would have had to have been inside the house, close to the source of the blast.”

“Clearly they used the bombing to set the officers up for an ambush,” Emily noted.

Spencer nodded. “It’s a well-established terrorist tactic. The first wave takes out civilians, the second wave takes out first responders.”

“The locals are thinking terrorism?” Morgan asked. “In West Bune, Texas?”

JJ nodded. “Not exactly a tier-one target, but DHS did issue a terror alert for the border states yesterday, just due to the timing and nature of the attacks.”

As the team argued about the chances of this being an actual terrorist attack, Lydia looked over her file. An explosive went off in Rod Norris’s house, and when two cops arrived on the scene, they were shot. Hotch probably wanted her working on identifying the explosive and seeing if there is any evidence to recover from the house.

Simple enough.

~ ~ ~

“The blast was localized here,” Lydia announced as she walked onto the scene. “The room was sealed off. There’s plastic and duct tape on the doors and windows.”

“Cordite,” Rossi added as he smelled something on the ground. “Gunpowder.”

Reid was looking through his file. “Yeah. They found a dozen canisters, it says.”

Rossi and Prentiss put their heads together, determining where Jordan and Rod were standing when the explosion happened. Lydia ran her fingers over the door frames. Whoever set this up wouldn’t need to clean up their evidence. There was no way she could recover anything out of the pile of ashes that used to be the Norris house.

“They didn’t care about the rest of the house,” Spencer said, more to Lydia than the others. “The whole thing’s designed to focus the blast on whoever came through that door.”

“If that’s true, something had to trigger the blast,” she reasoned.

Emily held up a charred box of cigarettes. “Rod Norris was a smoker.”

Lydia glanced at the floor where all the gunpowder had been set. Drop a hot cigarette on that? Kaboom.

“I’ve been working with you profilers long enough to know that no terrorist is going to watch Rod Norris long enough to know that he was going to enter through this door and be smoking a cigarette at a specific time,” Lydia replied. “This is too personal.”

~ ~ ~

The more they learned, the more the case reeked of personal problems.

Their unsub was a boy named Owen Savage. His father was one of the responding officers on the Norris scene. He’d staged the explosion to kill Jordan Norris’s dad and look like Jordan had died too. Then, when his father showed up, he shot him and his partner. They were pretty sure that Jordan wasn’t a part of the murders and was either a hostage or was completely unaware of the situation. She had been dating Owen for a long time, so it was likely she had agreed to leave with him, without checking in with her father.

Lydia had been talking with Garcia about the teens’ families when she saw Spencer storm away out of the corner of her eye. He had just… left.

Finishing up her conversation, she ran over to Hotch.

“Did you send Spencer away?”

“Have you seen how he’s been acting?” Hotch snapped.

She wasn’t surprised to hear that Spencer was moody. Leaving that meeting so suddenly was hard for him and he was still dealing with Ryan Phillips’s death. Working on another teen-involved case was probably not helping.

“Lydia, you two promised-”

“This isn’t a relationship thing!” she defended before he could say anything else. “He’s dealing with something else. The only reason I’m involved is because he told me about it. Please just…”

“Talk to him,” Hotch ordered. “His passive aggressive attitude is going to get him into trouble. The town’s already pissed we’re here.”

Lydia nodded, switching topics. “I heard that Officer Lett’s wife freaked out on you guys earlier. I’m sorry.”

“The police are under a lot of pressure to find who did this. They don’t need some angsty teen from the FBI telling them they’re stupid as well.”

She blinked. “He called someone stupid?”

“Talk to him,” Hotch repeated, ignoring her question.

“Yes, sir.”

~ ~ ~

“Has she calmed yet?” Lydia asked Emily.

They had been able to get in contact with Jordan Norris and tell her about what Owen had done, convincing her to run away from him and join them in the station, but she still didn’t fully trust them. It’d taken much persuasion and a lot of promises not to hurt Owen for her to give up where he was hiding. And now she was sobbing, half in fear, half in shame, in one of the private rooms in the station.

“No,” Emily replied, bluntly, on her way to get the girl another cup of water. “Did you hear from Hotch?”

Lydia nodded. “Owen wasn’t at the ranch. He left a note, I guess, about returning his mother’s necklace.”

Emily simply shrugged. “He can’t have gotten far. I’m sure the rest of the team will find him.”

She walked back to the grieving girl, who JJ was currently comforting, leaving Lydia alone in the bullpen of the station. That is, until Spencer came rushing in, brushing past her to get to their evidence boards.

“Spencer?” she called, already on his heels. “Why are you back?”

“They think he’s going to his mother’s grave,” he breathed, yanking a photo from the board and then looking around for Jordan.

“Isn’t he?” she demanded, seeing that the picture he had grabbed was the photo of Owen’s mother that he kept on his laptop. She was smiling, pointing to her necklace, which said ‘Hope’.

Hotch had assumed by Owen’s note that Owen was taking that necklace to his mother’s grave, as a way of ‘giving it back’ to her. But when Spencer interrupted Jordan and JJ’s conversation, throwing the photo in the young girl’s face, Lydia understood what he was thinking.

“He was gone when we got to the ranch. I want to save his life, but I need to ask you a question. This necklace-- he gave it to you?”

He spoke so fast, it was hard to differentiate between sentences, but Jordan took a second to process what he had said, then nodded. “I left it at the ranch.”

“He’s coming here,” Spencer said, already on his way out of the station.

Lydia jumped in front of him, already holding up a hand to stop him. “He’s going to do everything he can to get to Jordan.”

“I can’t let him do this, Lydia,” he hissed, trying to push past her. “It’s a suicide mission. I won’t let him die.”

“I know this is hard for you,” she told him, still maintaining eye contact to keep him in place. “But I can’t let you do this alone. Tell me the plan, and we walk out together.”

He glanced at the door, clearly anxious to leave before Owen got there. But his eyes were somewhat relieved to tell her what he was going to do. “Leave your gun. He wants to go down shooting. If we don’t have weapons, he has no reason to kill us. The only thing he wants more than death, is to apologize to Jordan so… I have to make it clear that that’s still an option.”

Lydia was already pulling her gun from its holster, setting it down on the desk beside her. “Okay. Let’s do this.”

He nodded, sternly, and unarmed, the two of them walked out of the station, side by side.

The sun was unbearable outside. The two of them could barely see Owen’s dark figure approaching down the block, but the shotgun across his chest was hard to miss. Lydia’s hands were already up, her palms facing outwards. Spencer followed suit as the boy saw them approaching and aimed his weapon in their direction.

“Reid!” Prentiss screamed, leaving the station just in time to watch them walk into danger. “Ambers!”

The two of them ignored her, Spencer stepping forward to speak. “Owen, we don’t have guns on us. My name is Spencer, this is Lydia, we’re with the FBI, and we’re here to help you.”

“Yeah?” he cried. “I need you to stay back.”

There were tires squealing behind them and Lydia finally glanced behind her to see a black SUV with Rossi, Morgan, and Hotch inside pull up behind them. As Spencer continued, they threw open the doors and positioned themselves behind them, guns at the ready.

“I know the only reason you joined the wrestling team was for your father. I know that he blamed you for what happened-”

“Stay back! Right where you are!”

“-I also know the only reason you killed Rod Norris and Kyle Borden was to protect Jordan. I know the harder you tried, the worse it got, and it felt like everyone just stood there watching you suffer, and not a single person even tried to help.”

“They didn’t,” Owen sobbed. “They didn’t.”

“I know you want to escape… and forget. Believe me when I say I know… I know exactly how that feels.”

Lydia, listened to him speak. This case with Owen was really hard for him. She knew that he was dealing with cravings, but the way he spoke to Owen made her think it was something more. She’d never imagined that highschool was easy for Spencer. He was only 12 at the time. But there was clearly something specific on his mind.

Lydia kept glancing back so that she could position herself between Owen and the rest of the team. Hotch was going to kill her later. She was certain of it. But she was convinced that they were more likely to shoot Owen than Owen was likely to shoot her or Spencer. And for Spencer’s sake, she’d do anything to keep Owen from dying.

“Owen, there’s so much more for you out there,” Lydia finally spoke up.

“No. No, I’m already dead.”

“You aren’t dead,” she promised. “If you die, you’re going to leave Jordan. And right now, she’s in the station begging us not to hurt you.”

“You don’t want to leave her like your mother left you,” Spencer agreed.

“Ok.” Owen’s head shook wildly, trying to keep the upper hand on the situation. “Bring her to me. Bring her outside.”

“I can’t bring her outside,” Spencer quickly told him. “But, if you put the gun down, I swear to god, I’ll take you to her. I promise, nobody will hurt you. You’ll say goodbye to her, and you’ll give her the necklace. Alright? So what do you say? Let’s put the gun down. Let’s go inside.”

Lydia could see the battle in Owen’s mind, so she added, “Owen, Jordan loves you so much. If not for your sake, come in peacefully for hers. She’s been through so much, don’t let her live with this on her conscience as well.”

Finally, he nodded, reaching underneath his overcoat and taking the strap of the shotgun off his shoulder. Pointing it away, he stepped forward and put the weapon softly on the ground.

Now that he was unarmed, Lydia stepped to the side and let the team see Owen, his arms already above his head.

“They have to cuff you now, Owen,” Lydia told him calmly, trying to maintain eye contact with him so he didn’t see all the FBI agents running towards him and freak out. Spencer moved the gun aside and stepped up next to her. “You did so good, Owen. I know this is scary, but just stay calm. I promise we’re taking you to Jordan right now.”

“You two okay?” Morgan asked as he grabbed Owen's arms and locked them behind his back.

Spencer nodded, patting the boy down and pulling a knife from his belt as well as his mother’s necklace. “We’re fine.”

Lydia turned and finally made eye contact with Hotch. A very, very pissed off Hotch.

~ ~ ~

The night had hit fast and the whole plane was quiet. Lydia leaned into Spencer’s shoulder, her mind drifting with everything that had happened on the case. As much as she had to be worried about, her mind kept coming back to the same point: despite how stressed he was, Spencer told her the plan. He let her come with him. And that said volumes about the trust between the two of them. She knew that. She could see it so clearly now.

The strong connection she felt to him in the moment, couldn’t even be broken when Hotch sat down across from the two of them, his face a state of unwavering seriousness.

“You two knowingly jeopardize your lives and the lives of others. I should fire you both.”

Reid bit down on his lip nervously. “You have to understand that this was entirely my idea, sir.”

“Ambers?” Hotch addressed. “Do you believe Reid deserves the blame for this?”

“No, sir.”

Despite his clear anger, Lydia knew that Hotch wasn’t going to fire them. In fact, she doubted they’d get much punishment at all. He was good at understanding the intentions of his team.

He looked at Spencer again. “You’re the smartest kid in the room, but you’re not the only one in that room. You pull something like this again, don’t expect lenience from me. The same goes for you, Lydia. Am I clear?”

Spencer nodded immediately, “Yes, sir,” with Lydia following suit.

“It won’t happen again.”

“Thank you,” Spencer added.

“What were you thinking?”

Lydia dropped her hand over her boyfriend’s and waited patiently for him to answer. She may have followed him into the line of fire, but in the end, it was his decision, which would have happened with or without her.

“I was thinking that that would have been the second time a kid died in front of me.”

“You’re keeping score.” Hotch shook his head in warning. “Just like Owen.”

“It was my turn to save one,” Spencer joked, without much of the humor.

“It doesn’t work like that.”

“It should.”

Lydia listened intently to their conversation. This was obviously a talk the Spence needed to have with his boss on his own. They both needed to address the death of Ryan Phillips.

“I know it’s painful when the person you identify with is the bad guy,” Hotch told him and Spencer’s eyes fell to his intertwined fingers with Lydia.

“What does that make me?”

“Good at the job.” For the first time that night, there seemed to be a hint of a smile on his face.

Lydia leaned back onto her boyfriend’s shoulder as the unit chief stood up, but he continued to speak to them as he stepped into the walkway of the jet.

“I know it’s none of my business, but when we land, I think you should go and catch the rest of that movie.”

Lydia almost stupidly asked him what he was referring to, forgetting all about the cover she had set up for them at the beginning of the case to excuse their tardiness.

“He has to know that was a lie,” Spencer mumbled into her hair.

“No doubt,” she agreed. “But I think he knows that whatever it was was important to the two of us. That’s all that really matters, right?”

“Right,” he whispered, tiredly drifting off against her side.

Tags: @kris-stuff, @wooya1224, @arthurmorrgans, @anotherr-fine-mess, @eddysocs

[geminigirl0298]

Masterlist

All of these contain smut, cursing and are NSFW. DNI if you are under 18.

Link to my Ao3

All The Kings' Men (Dark!Bucky x Reader, King!Loki x Reader) (in progress)

Summary: The Odinson Kings take over Midgard, appointing commanders to help them colonize the entire surface of earth. Commander Barnes finds you during a raid of lands left untouched and claims you as his own. You endure months of torture and abuse at the metal hand of the cruel man and are set to suffer even more when he sends you to King Loki to break you further. Upon meeting the feared man, you find that looks can be deceiving, and rumors are not always what they seem.

Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7 Ch8 Ch9 Ch10 Ch11

Ch12 Ch13 Ch14 Ch15 Ch16

The Course Of True Love (Lokix OFC) (complete)

Facecast

Summary: Loki Odinson never expected to see his mother hurrying down a hall with a smart-mouthed, soot-covered figure who was supposedly the princess of Vanaheim. He never expected her to stay more than a week, much less an entire century, and he surely did not expect their initial animosity to morph into the fluttering, tickling feeling he got in his stomach every time she was near.

Ch1 Ch2 Ch3 Ch4 Ch5 Ch6 Ch7 Ch8 Ch9 Ch10 Ch11 Ch12 Ch13 Ch14 Ch15 Ch16 Ch17 Ch18 Ch19 Ch20 Ch21 Ch22 Ch23 Ch24 Ch25 Ch26

One Shots & Short Series:

Birthday Tricks (Soft Dom!Loki x Reader)

Summary: Teasing the God Of Mischief is all fun and games until he decides to make you suffer the consequences.

Leather-Bound (Dom!Loki x Sub!Reader, Switch!Loki)

Summary: The Prince of Lies catches you touching yourself on his bed and decides to punish you.

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5

Safe (Dom!Reader x Sub!Loki x Sub!Bucky)

Summary: The Avengers are giving the newly reformed Loki a hard time, so you and Bucky decide to take him under your wing. Sexually.

Part 1 Part 2

Special Education (Loki x Virgin!Reader)

Summary: You grew up on a tiny island that taught you nothing about sex and its derivatives. When you come across it in a steamy erotica book , you ask the God of Mischief to teach you everything he knows.

Take Care Of You (Sub!Loki x Reader, Switch!Loki x Reader).

Summary: You give a massage to the touch starved God Of Mischief and soon realize that under his dominating exterior lies a prince just wanting to be taken care of.

Part 1 Part 2

Yellow (Loki x Virgin!Reader)

Summary: The accidental ingestion of a sex potion leads you to the bedroom of the God of Mischief

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3

[crazy-little-cool-cat]

Hand in Glove - Chapter 20 | Ben Hardy x OFC

A/N: Wow, it’s been a while! Life is just so insane. I’m so sorry. However, here’s a sweet little chapter. Get ready for some fun! I don’t know when ch21 will be out because my schedule is all kinds of wonky but just know that HiG is supposed to have 30 parts, total, so we still have a bit more to go! Be patient with me and love me! 

Word Count: ~1.8K

Warnings: Domestic bliss, implied smut, drunk Joe, Shitstorm Annie.

Chapter 1, Chapter 2,  Chapter 3,  Chapter 4,  Chapter 5,  Chapter 6,  Chapter 7,  Chapter 8,  Chapter 9,  Chapter 10,  Chapter 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14 , Chapter 15 , Chapter 16 , Chapter 17 , Chapter 18 , Chapter 19

"So they're not going to do anything about it?!"

To say Ben was livid would have been an understatement. Although he knew nothing had actually happened to Annie - thanks to Jamie's volatile temper - he at least expected the network execs to do something about the events for that one horrible night.

"He's a line producer, most of his work is pre-production related." Annie shrugged as she folded Rory's tiny clothes. "I didn't file a police report. Can't put a man in jail for being a tool, Benny."

"How are you so calm about this?"

"Ben, this is my job. It's one last, final season. I just want to get through it and move on."

"I can't just leave you here with this bloody predator skulking around -"

"Stop overreacting, please."

"If he ever so much as looks at you..." Ben's nostrils flared as he worked himself up with the mere thought of someone doing anything to Annie. He stood there, looking like an angry bull ready to fight his matador. "I'll fucking kill him."

"I know."

"Bastard," Ben muttered while Annie wrapped her arms around his waist and pulled the both of them flush up against each other, craning her neck back to look at him. "What?"

"Nothing." She shrugged and pursed her lips, pushing a bubbling giggle back down.

Ben looked down at her and felt the anger subside with every flutter of her eyelashes. All of the tension on his face had all but dissipated. Leaning down, he pressed his lips to hers and wrapped his arms around her shoulders, completely engulfing her.

###

Annie looked at the suitcases, placed in the middle of the bedroom. She almost felt as if an actual demon would pop out of them and attack her. Her upper lip curled up in a small, menacing snarl. Although they still have two more months before Ben had to leave, the luggage was there as a sore reminder. Taunting her.

Rory crawled over to the middle of the bedroom. Her little hands slapped against the hardwood floor as she went, babbling and cooing. Frankie, as always, walked right next to Rory. It seemed that Frankie had taken on the role of her personal bodyguard and vacuum cleaner.

The first time Annie found Frankie gobbling up Rory's spit-up, she almost hurled. No matter how hard she tried to stop it from happening, Rory would spit-up, stealthy as a ninja, and Frankie would be right behind her, lapping it up as if it was a delicacy.

It was disgusting, truly.

Annie watched silently as Rory smacked one of the suitcases and laughed at Rory's frustration when the suitcase rolled away from her on its' wheels. When one of them almost toppled over right on top of Rory, Annie sprung into action and picked her up. She gave Rory's little belly a gentle tickle and pressed a kiss to her soft, blonde mop of hair.  

"We should hide daddy's luggage so he'll never go away!" Annie cooed at her baby, tapping the tip of her nose playfully. "Don't snitch!"

"She won't have to." Ben's voice startled Annie, causing her to jump.

"Jesus Ben, don't sneak up on me!"

"I didn't!" Ben chuckled and bit the tip of his tongue. "I will not tolerate collusion, you know."

"No?"

"Nope." Ben swaggered over to his girlfriend and his daughter and wrapped them both in a tight hug. "I'm starting to feel a bit outnumbered."

"Oh?" Annie giggled.

"Yeah." Ben's voice dropped an octave. "Think we should drop Rory off at my parents' and try to even the scores, y'know?"

Ben could see the colour drain from Annie's face. Smirking, he bent his knees and nibbled on her ear, feeling her breath hitch.

"You can't..." Annie stuttered. "You don't actually -"

"Nah, just messing with you." Ben squeezed her bum and smacked playfully. "But I won't mind a little bit of practice. For when the time comes, you know."

"You cheeky little -"

"Nuh uh uh," Ben pressed a finger to Annie's lips, "she's getting older. Mind your tongue."

Annie squinted and grinned against his finger. Opening her mouth ever so slightly, she poked her tongue out and licked Ben's fingertip.  Ben's pupils dilated when Annie's lips wrapped snugly around his finger. Looking down, Annie recognised a familiar stirring in Ben's favourite grey sweatpants.

"Everything okay?" Annie smiled slyly.

"Once this little one knocks out, Annabelle Lee," Ben's hand worked its' way down her back and to her bum, "you'll pay for this."

###

“And cut!”

Annie leaped backwards, panting. She planted her hands on her crimson bodice-clad hips, panting and looking at the floor, examining the lines in the hardwood and the hemline of her floor-length dress, flouncy, Renaissance era dress. A blush appeared on her cheeks.

“You alright?” Jamie wiped at his bottom lip with his thumb, covering up his shit-eating grin. “Seem a little out of breath.”

“If you value your life,” Annie muttered, holding a finger up, eyes still locked on the floor of the set, “you will shut your fucking gob.”

“Trouble in paradise?”

“You wish, Jamie.”

“Eh.” Jamie shrugged and let the hair and makeup crew work their magic, preparing him for the next take. “Seeing you with a baby kind of killed it for me.”

“You’re so full of it.”

“Seems like you’re not full of anything…”

“Excuse you!” Annie’s eyes snapped up and locked in on Jamie’s.

“I’m just saying, you look a bit…” Jamie winced theatrically, tilting his head to the side.

“Annoyed?”

“Flustered.” He smirked.

“Oh, fuck you!”

“Seems like you just might need to, yeah.”

Annie scoffed and turned her head, closing her eyes. Her tongue darted out to lick at her cupid’s bow, careful not to smear her lipstick around.

###

“Well, well,” Gwilym leaned back in his chair and crossed his arms over his chest, “is Shitstorm Annie finally about to show herself again?”

Ben looked at Annie in absolute admiration as she knocked back yet another drink. He knew this was just her way to cope with his eminent departure, but it still astounded him.

“Having fun?” He leaned close to her ear, his gravelly voice and breath fanning on her ear sending shivers down her spine. “Need another one?”

“You tryin’ to get me drunk?” Annie giggled and placed her hand on his thigh, giving it a squeeze.

“I would never. Nor will I need to.” He toyed with a lock of her hair and pushed the empty shot glasses away. “This is all you.”

Annie looked up at her boyfriend, doe-eyed. Her hand started travelling up his thigh under the table, brushing against his jeans, squeezing sporadically. As if she tried to send him a ‘fuck me’ signal telepathically. Ben smacked his thighs shut and scratched at his temple, clearing his throat. His sudden movement focused everyone else’s attention right on him, his cheeks growing redder by the second.

“Oh, good God, Banana!” Clara’s face twisted in mock disgust before she buried it in the crook of Gwilym’s neck.

Annie turned to look at her best friend and smiled wickedly.

“Yeah, that’s Shitstorm Annie, alright.” Gwilym quipped. “Hello again, old friend.”

“Lo!” Annie tipped an imaginary hat at her cousin. “Missed me?”

“Can’t say that I have, no.” Gwil shrugged.

“Well, I sure have!” Joe pulled Annie in for a drunk, lazy hug. “I knew you were in there somewhere!”  

“What’s the plan here, Ben?” Gwilym asked.

“She just needs to get toilet-hugging drunk once,” Ben held up his finger, “right to the point that her body almost shuts down on itself.”

“Ah, the old ‘I’m-Never-Drinking-Again’ move!” Clara gestured at Ben with her drink, “clever!”

“Please keep an eye on her while I’m away?”

“What?!” Joe squealed and held a hand to his chest, pushing his chair back, making everyone stare at him in confusion. “Annabelle! No!”

“I’m just saying, it could be funny!”

“What could be funny, love?” Ben intervened.

“She wants to let Rory drink her boozed-up breast milk to see if it has any actual effect!” Joe’s volume was much too high, causing the entire pub to stare at their table in silence. “This is just… How do you even think of… Annie, what the fuck?!”

After seconds of tense silence, Annie snorted and chortled. Joe looked at his friends apprehensively, gauging their reactions. When they all started chuckling and laughing, he let out a nervous giggle and scooted his chair back closer to the table.

“Annie, you know better than taking the piss on a drunk Joe.” Gwilym scolded his cousin.

“It was just such perfect timing, though!” Annie whined between fits of laughter and cackling.

“You fucking troll!” Joe pouted.

###

“All done?” Ben spoke in a hushed voice as he walked in to his and Annie’s bedroom.

“Pumped and dumped!” Annie sneered and held her thumbs up. “Talked to your mum?”

“Yes, yes. Rory’s having a great time.” Ben pulled his shirt off over his head as he filled Annie in on the details. “She’s now sleeping like an angel.”

“Did you let Frankie out?” Annie put her breast-milk pump back in its’ box and closed the lid. “Are we all set?”

After making quick work of ridding himself of his jeans, Ben took an opportunity as it presented itself. Annie had her exposed back turned to him as she gently pushed the box away with her foot. She felt the bed dip behind her, indicating that Ben was right there. When his breath fanned over the back of her neck and her shoulders, she involuntarily leaned back into him.

His hands hands worked their way up her torso, starting from her waist. Alternating feather-light touches and rough grasps, Ben’s fingers made sure not to leave a sliver of Annie’s skin untouched. Carefully, he massaged Annie’s breasts, knowing how sensitive they were due to breastfeeding.

“You…” His warm breath washed over her ear. He rolled one of her nipples between his fingers as his other hand snaked its’ way further up, barely grasping at the column of her neck. “You are just…”

With a devilish smile, Annie turned her head and tipped it back, granting Ben easier access to her lips. Ben’s eyes darted from her lips to her eyes and back again. When Annie’s tongue darted out to lick her lips, Ben grunted and crashed his plush lips onto hers.

Nibbling and sucking at each other’s lips, moaning into each other’s mouths, Ben and Annie intertwined into each other’s arms. Turning around between kisses, Annie straddled Ben’s legs, perched on his thighs, both wearing nothing but underwear. Wrapping their arms around one another, they pulled each other impossibly tighter. They started grounding their hips to one another, desperate for friction.

“I need…” Annie started murmuring against Ben’s lips, causing him to grin and squeeze her bum.

“I know.” Ben chuckled when Annie went right for his neck, biting and sucking on the one spot she knew would drive him crazy. “But we’ve got plenty of time for that.”

“You’re such a tease.”

“Says the one who tried to give me a handy under the table down at the pub.”

###

TAGLIST: @ramibaby @xgoingdownx @qweenly @violetpond @sweeterthancheese @drummerqueenrmt @westansstuff @justgivemethekeys  @blondecarfucker @cheeseedreams47 @rogerspoison @deacy-dearest @pinkmarvel @onceuponadetectivedemigod 

[themostcleverandwittyname]

Curiosity Saved the Cat

CH1 CH2 CH3 CH4 CH5 CH6 CH7 CH8 CH9 CH10 CH11 CH12 CH13 CH14 CH15 CH16 CH17 CH18 CH19 CH20 CH21 CH22 CH23 CH24 CH25 CH26

(Jumin x MC)(Saeran x MC)

Summary:

MC is fairly happy after Jumin proposes to her, however, her curiosity leads her to contact the hacker that started it all.

Chapter 3: Coffee and Cookies

Chapter 3 on AO3

Multitasking was a skill that Myung had considered one of her best. She was currently holding two cups of coffee and a bag of treats, balancing her phone between her ear and shoulder, and attempting to punch in the key code for the apartment door. Nearly letting her phone slip, she used her elbow to open and push the door open. Everything was so perfectly balanced and held secure in her arms that she was certain she wouldn’t drop anything. She had gotten there early so that she wouldn’t be taken by surprise and perhaps organize her thoughts before she began to hire the hacker.

Of course, nothing ever goes as planned and the brunette leaped from her skin when she turned to see something sitting at the dining room table. A squeak escaped her throat and her phone and the take out bag hit the floor.

“Fuckin’...ass” She muttered to herself, truly the pinnacle of her eloquent speech. The best first impression she could have hoped for. She bent down to pick up her device and the bag, painfully aware that the figure was staring at her. She held her phone in her hand and set everything down onto the mahogany table, trying to avoid looking at the person who sat silently.

“Oh, I just left the cafe. I’ll let you go now. Have a good day at work and I’ll see you later.” Myung stated quickly to her fiance, now freely holding the phone to her ear, “ Love ya, bye” She hung up quickly hoping to avoid arousing Jumin’s suspicions that she was hiding something from him. It probably wasn’t the best idea to abruptly hang up like that.

She now allowed herself to fully take in the appearance of the mysterious hacker. Dyed curly pink and white hair framed the man’s face. Misty green eyes peeked from behind a black mask that concealed the lower half of his face. His attire gave off a dangerous vibe, leather jacket falling off one shoulder to reveal a tattoo with a simplistic design. It reminded her of tribal tattoos that she had researched in art school. He had a bold red tank top and a humorously large spiked leather cuff on his arm. She would have been amused if the situation was different and if she wasn’t really frightened and nervous. He had a threatening aura that made her feel extremely vulnerable. His eyes never left her and he waited patiently for her to begin talking to him. He seemed to be rather relaxed as his slouched posture indicated.

Myung eased down into the chair never taking her eyes off of the man before her, anticipating some kind of malicious action if she looked away. After taking a seat and staring at him like a deer caught in headlights, she cleared her throat trying to organize herself.

“I brought you coffee.” she spoke finally, breaking the silence and attempting to alleviate the tension, “The one that has a blue marker on the top is yours and the one with the red marker is mine.” she tried not to let her voice show that she was terrified. She had to act bold and confident to show him that she could handle the situation. She couldn’t allow him to think she was vulnerable.

His gaze shifted down and he studied the two cups of coffee on the table, small wafts of steam steadily rising up and dissipating into the air. The scent of the coffee only slightly overpowered the musty smell of the unused apartment.

“What if I want the one with the red lid? Would you give it to me?” Instant goosebumps. The voice modulator that she assumed he was wearing in his mask caught her off guard. She tried to register what he had said through the altered voice. It resembled nails on a chalkboard and the screams of a hundred burning orphans. Maybe it wasn’t that bad, but Myung did not like it. The man asked this, she realized, because he thought that she was trying to trick him into drinking something harmful. She, in fact, was doing this to prevent any slight of hand drugs being put into her drink.

“Um...It doesn’t matter what color really. They’re just there for cautionary measures. I’ve watched too many movies to be unwise about drinks.” She nervously laughed to herself. He reached his arm out to grab the coffee. He pulled it to him and studied the red lid before as if he had never had coffee.

“Oh, and if you don’t mind me asking,” she began, “...could you maybe take that mask off? I would rather see my new client’s face.” the brunette made herself smile. “Before I forget, I also have cookies here to eat with your coffee.” Myung gestured to the take-out bag. The man laughed through the mask, the sound not doing anything to help her nerves. What was funny? The hacker leaned forward out of his relaxed position and he now felt twice as threatening. His long fingers reached up to remove the fabric from his face, pulling it down around his neck. His lips were curled into a grin creating small dimples on his cheeks. He was familiar in a strange way. Like deja vu, she felt as though she had seen him before.

“Does the mask really scare you? Or were you really excited to see my face?” He asked in his natural voice, punctuating his sentence in a chuckle. Was he flirting or just further trying to make her uncomfortable. She went with the latter.

“Ha, um, you just can’t drink coffee with that mask on.” she noticed the untouched coffee and tried to mess with him just as he was with her. She wasn’t going to let him make her even more nervous. “God, don’t let it get cold. I nearly fell trying not to drop that in the hallway.” The man hesitantly took a sip of the coffee. She hoped he liked the caramel in the bottom of the cup because it cost her extra.

“I have to give it to you, you’re a clever girl for color coding the lids. You don’t trust me, do you?” Myung shrugged in response to this. He raised his eyebrows and then asked, “Why did you think you can hire me if you don’t trust me?” Fair point. She may as well have just told him that she was desperate and he was the only other chance she had, but her response was not very specific. She wanted to see how he responded in order to gauge how much to offer him and if he would help her like she hoped.

“Ya know, people will do anything for money.” she said nonchalantly. He took another sip of the coffee and eyed the cookie bag.

“What exactly are you wanting to hire me for? Are you done with the lies of the RFA?” His dull eyes pierced hers, bitterness seeping into his tone. He had guessed it.

“Yes… well, not exactly the RFA as a whole. I want to know what two of the members are hiding from the rest and I thought that you would be perfect for helping me uncover it.” she slid him the bag of cookies and gave a sarcastic smile “What do ya say? I can offer you any amount.” Again, he burst out into a fit of laughs. Bitter, knowing laughs as if he knew something she didn’t. As if he was expecting this.

“Let me guess the members? Luciel and that dreaded V?” Bingo! She was surprised that he knew who she was talking about. She slowly nodded and he gave her a proud smile. “What if I told you that I don’t want money to help you?” he drew out his words, adding emphasis. What did he mean? So all of this is over a grudge?

“If you don’t want money, then what do you want?” she asked cautiously, fearing the answer. She took a sip of her coffee to calm her nerves. He leaned forward over the table, lifting from his seat slightly and balancing on his arms. His serious expression and his focus had trained on her and it made her want to shrink back.

“What I want is way more precious than money. I want enlightenment for everyone, for you. You’re too nice and clever a girl to be among liars like the RFA. If you come with me, I’ll tell you all that you need to know and you’ll be free of the RFA and finally be happy.” He gave a toothy grin and tilted his head slightly. This was wrong. Did he think she was completely against the RFA?

“I...I actually don’t want to leave the RFA. I want to know these things to make the RFA better. Besides, Jumin is in the RFA and I don’t want to disappoint him with leaving. It’ll be kinda hard to do that anyways.” she stated, trying to get the facts straight before he started getting the wrong idea. He narrowed his eyes and his grin vanished sending chills up her back.

“What I want to give you is better than the RFA. I want to take you to the Magenta. Don’t you get it?” He almost growled, obviously angry with her previous answer. The Magenta? Was it some sort of amusement park?

“Why not just tell me what you know? That would be better for me.” she offered, smiling awkwardly. “I’m not going with you anywhere. I don’t trust you.” She was honest and noticed a flash of anger in his misty eyes.

“It’s sad to hear that. I want you to trust me, I really do. What choice do I have?” he asked a mock question, standing up. He offered his hand over the table and his other hand was in his jacket pocket.

“I’ll tell you what I know anyways. Deal?” He smiled, his eyes crinkling up. Finally, he gets it. This may not be so bad after all. She stood and moved the chair back slightly.

“Ah, I’m glad you’re helping me anyways. Thank you,” She beamed, happy for the agreement. She shook his hand firmly, however, his grip was way more tight than her own.

Before she had realized the mistake she had made, he yanked her arm forcefully. The force of the pull lurched her over the small table and closer to him. In the chaos, she had not even felt the needle pierce her skin and she only registered what had occurred when she saw the hand that had been in his jacket pocket holding an empty syringe. She was completely appalled and was at a loss on how to react to what had unfolded.

He released the grip on her hand and she stumbled back speechless, her hand finding its way to her neck. They both focused on each other, waiting for the other to act. They both stayed like that until a familiar ringtone sounded in the breathy silence. She felt her heart start to beat again and her muscles began to grow numb. Stay calm, this was her chance. Don’t pass out. She quickly grabbed the phone and had milliseconds to read the caller ID before the deranged man snatched phone away. He threw it across the living room and it landed with a thud but wasn’t silenced. With her only means of contact gone and her time running out before whatever was in that syringe began to work, Myung panicked.

She froze. She froze in shock, fright, anger; she didn’t really know or understand. All she could understand was that her breathing became labored and she felt as if she was falling.

She was falling.

The man caught her in her fall, jerking her wrist painfully to keep her from hitting the ground. Her mind slowed and her thoughts blurred. She felt as though the world around her was fizzing as if the air was static on a radio station. Her senses faded as the last thing she felt was arms lifting her.

“Rest well. You’ll be in paradise when you wake up.”

The last thing that she felt before everything went away was regret. Regret that she will have left Jumin to wonder what happened. To wonder if she had left him and why...

Why she had not answered his phone call.

CH1 CH2 CH3 CH4 CH5 CH6 CH7 CH8 CH9 CH10 CH11 CH12 CH13 CH14 CH15 CH16 CH17 CH18 CH19 CH20 CH21 CH22 CH23 CH24 CH25 CH26

[pcyheartgirlx]

In The Bleak Midwinter [CH23]

Genre ;; Angst/Smut/Fluff/Romance

Pairing ;; Chanyeol x Reader x Seokjin

Word Count ;; 5.9k

Summary ;; We’re all whores, we just sell different parts of ourselves.

You own a multi-billion dollar company, servicing the biggest names in kpop, in more ways than one. Under the name “Starlight Catering”, you, your best friends, Damon and Maya, and your hundreds of workers provide stress relief for idols.

You have partially retired, not because you didn’t want to, but because Chanyeol was your muse. He was all that you had time for and all you needed. Until Jin came along.

So what happens when you mix fire and ice?

You get smoke and all the lines are blurred.

A/N ;; Last one for now! Currently working on the next one right after I post this!

[PLAYLIST] [BACKSTORY] [PROLOGUE] [CH1] [CH2] [CH3] [CH4] [CH5] [CH6] [CH7] [CH8] [CH9] [CH10] [CH11] [CH12] [CH13] [CH14] [CH15] [CH16] [CH17] [CH18] [CH19] [CH20] [CH21] [CH22] [CH23]

Everything was crashing down now. Your empire, your relationships, your business. They say when bad things happen, say death, it comes in three. The death of a close friend, the death of your business...all you were waiting for was your own death. But right now you had to deal with the 4 people that stared at you while your trembling hands held Maya’s phone up.

Jiyong’s words were at your throat. You couldn’t say anything. All you did was look at Jin, Chanyeol, Damon and Maya with soulless eyes before Damon said something to break the silence.

“(Y/N)...wha--” You pushed through him like you were pushing through his words. You dropped the phone into Maya’s hands and walked passed them all, heading toward the front door and toward Damon’s car.

“Jagi! Where are you going?” Jin’s question remained unanswered as he called out to you from the front door. It was like clockwork actually, Chanyeol and Jin’s phone started to go off simultaneously. But as you opened the trunk, you grabbed the rifle that was hidden under some rubbish in the back and ran back inside, passing through Jin who was trying to call your attention. The ringing of everyone’s phone now was muffled just as Chanyeol and Jin’s voice were. They were calling out to you and trying to take you out of the haze you were in but it was over. Impossible even. Instead, you grabbed the bag off the floor that kept all your ammunition , along with some basketball shorts that laid there thrown messily, put them on and ran out the back door.

“(Y/N)! Put that rifle down and talk to us!” Jin tried again as he followed you through the patio doors and toward the back yard. Still ignoring them, you dragged a garbage can full of Damon’s empty beer cans and bottled and started to line them up on the table that was placed conveniently in the middle of the back yard.

“So you’re just going to--”

“Jin...she’s gone,” Chanyeol muttered to the other man as he leaned against the doorway. Jin, who was standing at the top of the patio stairs, turned around and drilled holes into Chanyeol with his gaze.

“Just because you don’t want to try too--YAH! AHH! SHIBAL!” a loud shot rang out causing Jin to shake and tremble. “Is she insane?! Chanyeol remained unbothered as he watched Jin trying to regain himself. As another shot rang out, Jin shook again. Chanyeol just motioned for him to come toward him but Jin just rubbed his arms and shook his head. “You need to stop her.” Chanyeol raised his eyebrows and shook his head.

“Yea…” Chanyeol bit his lip and cocked his head to the side while he watched you. “Her world is falling apart. She needs to blow off steam. I know too well what the price is if you stop her,” Chanyeol chuckled as he watched Jin cling onto the patio door with terror in his eyes.

“The price? You act like she would actually shoot at someone intentionally,” Jin scoffed as he straightened himself up, noting that Chanyeol was unfazed by your antics, he tried to mirror the taller man’s actions.

“Pft...you have a lot to learn about her then,” Chanyeol scoffed, giving Jin a side glance. “And you claim that you love her...watch this,” Chanyeol took a single step in your direction and cleared his throat. “Princess!!!” You turned around, still aiming your rifle at him and shot right above his head hitting the bird house that hung above him. Your aim was spot on and Chanyeol barely flinched while Jin fell to the floor yet again. “That was pretty fucking intentional if you ask me,” He looked down at the man who was scrambling to get up, shaking himself off as he regained his balance.

“How the fuck are you so calm right now?” Jin furrowed his eyebrows and crossed his arms on his chest. “She nearly fucking blew your head off!”

“She’s got good aim,” Chanyeol shrugged leaned up against the wall, looking at the bird house that was shattered to pieces on the floor. Jin sputtered and ran his fingers through his hair. “You backing out of this life yet? Can’t handle being with such a powerful woman?” Chanyeol condescended. Jin shook his head and scrunched his nose at him in frustration.

“Absolutely not! I’m not worried about her…” he paused as he watched you lining up more cans and bottles to shoot at. “Her wild side…” Chanyeol rolled his eyes at Jin’s words. “I’m just...our careers...they’re over.”

“Hardly,” Chanyeol remarked swiftly. “We’ll be fine. This is just another ‘end of year gossip’ to cause a stir. Plus, if Army is anything like EXO-Ls...they won’t believe him. They treasure us too much to believe something so negative about us.” Jin smiled a bit, not because he had a point but because of the word he used. Treasure...The sound of your voice calling him tesoro rang in his ear, giving him peace of mind.

“I suppose you’re right...but I wouldn’t call it negative.”

“Oh really?” Chanyeol furrowed his eyebrows at him.

“Nah...I met someone who I truly love...someone worth giving it all up for.”

“Hmph….” As much as Chanyeol hated the words that came out of Jin’s mouth, he couldn’t help but smile because it resonated with him. All the times he showed up at your house, blew up your phone during photoshoots and inbetween shows, taking you out to dinner under the guise of a “business meeting”. If only, he though, if only I would have told you then…Chanyeol’s thoughts were interrupted by the sound of Jin clearing his throat.

“Besides, I trust (Y/N)...” Chanyeol continued. “She’ll get herself and us out of this mess.”

“She always does,” Jin commented, scratching the back of his head. “Funny...I never thought I’d be standing here having a conversation with you like this to be honest.”

“Yea well, I can’t say I’m enjoying,” Chanyeol added with a tone full of snark. He glanced to the side and saw Jin’s hand out stretched in his direction with a bitter look plastered on his face. “What’s this?”

“At this point, the last thing she needs is both of us fighting. Temporary truce,” Jin pushed his lips into a thin line and shot him a half smile while he shrugged. Chanyeol sighed with exasperation, rolling his head back for a second before facing Jin.

“Fine. Truce.”

They shook hands for only a second, pulling away from each other as if they both had their hands on a hot stove. Jin rubbed his arm and watched you continue your shooting.

“How long is she going to keep doing this?” he asked Chanyeol.

“Until she runs out of bullets.”

Both men jumped at the sound of Maya’s voice behind them. She stood there with a hand at her hip and Damon at her side.

“By the way, you left your phones on the coffee table...and they’re ringing off the hook,” Damon added. Chanyeol took the hand off his chest and sighed.

“We know,” He said.

“I can imagine,” Jin followed. Maya and Damon stared at them blankly then at each other.

“And you’re not going to pick it up?”

“Nope,” Jin answered.

“Had no intention to as of right now,” Chanyeol shrugged. Maya and Damon furrowed their eyebrows at the men and shook their heads.

“Alright well, we have damage control to do,” Maya commented as she slightly pushed passed the men to get closer to you before shrieking. “(Y/N)!!!! GET YOUR ASS IN THE HOUSE! ALFIE’S ON THE LINE!” The three men put their hands over their ears as the sound of Maya’s voice was shrill and high. You just dropped your rifle and made your way toward the house. Every movement was robotic and tense. Even though you emptied your barrel about 20 or so times, you still had so much you needed to get out.

“Since when did you two become best friends?”

“Shut up.”

“Fuck off, Damon.”

Part of you couldn’t even be bothered with that dialogue. Your mind was running a mile a minute and all you could think of was protecting them. All of them. Your friends, your workers, your boyfriend...s? Boyfriends? Whatever. It didn’t matter. Point is, everything is riding on your back like a backpack with 3 tons of rocks in it and you felt the weight of it...but it wasn’t going to stop you.

The 5 of you gathered in the dining room where Maya’s phone sat in the middle of the table. As soon as everyone took a seat, Maya took the initiative and put her uncle on speaker.

“Alright, we’re all here,” Maya said flatly as you all looked at the phone as if expecting your lawyer to pop out of the cell.

“A’right this is what you’re going to do, all three of you fucking idiots are going to leave everything untouched because I trust you used the pseudonym I provided you with for all your documents and I’m talking to (Y/N) at this point,” Alfie’s voice was stern and agitated, more than usual.

“That is correct,” you said with an equally stern voice even though Alfie definitely intimidated you.

“Right then. Your burner phones? Rubbish. Get rid of them. Get new ones. The NIS will come barging through your door and you 3 have to get back to Seoul as soon as possible. These right fuckers move quicker than a whore in a trucker’s pub.”

“What is he saying?” Jin whispered at Chanyeol, unable to translate everything due to the thickness in Alfie’s accent. Chanyeol just furrowed his eyebrows and shrugged as you turned around to hush them.

“Alfie, I can’t go back…” you uttered softly, fearful of his answer.

“What the fuck do you mean you can’t go back?”

“Well...Dominic is in Korea…”

“You think I didn’t know that. What’s your bloody point?”

“Her point is that we’re going to get shot on sight, Aflie. Are you daft?” Maya interrupted. There was a silence in the room and on the phone. Somehow when the words spilled out her mouth, it tainted the aura in the atmosphere. It started sinking it. This was realer than you though. Jin didn’t understand what was being said, but he understood that last line. He placed a hand on your shoulder and gripped it tightly, gaining a sharp look from Chanyeol who watched with disdain.

“Fucking hell…” Alfie sighed. “There’s only one thing we can do at this point innit?.”

“And that is?” Damon asked, annoyance masked in his tone at Alfie’s vagueness.

“Maya, wire me enough money for 6 plane tickets. I’ll be out there as soon as possible.”

“Six? Why the fuck for?” Maya questioned.

“For the Shelby’s and the Lee’s.”

Fuck, not the Shelby’s.

“Absolutely not!” you cried, startling the two men behind you as you got up swiftly. “I want no Shelby business here.”

“Alright let’s hear your plan then…Well go on….” You had nothing. Literally nothing. The Shelby’s were the most powerful gang family in Europe. Hell, the whole world you thought. They were one of your family’s allies at one point, until the leader, Thomas decided he was too good to continue a “business relationship” with your father. His intention now was to rob your family’s empire...and he could very well do it. “I thought so,” Alfie continued. “I mean really (Y/N), think about what you’re saying, and what the fuck is going on right now. The Shelby’s have coppers on their payroll. Big name coppers. With international pull--”

“You know their history, Alfie. Plus, he’s going to want something in return and--”

“We don’t have a choice, Damon,” Maya interjected, cutting him off just as he cut Alfie off. “We’ll be there first thing in the morning”

“You get your asses back to your apartment and give me a ring when the money is transferred.”

The three of you said your goodbyes and watched the screen fade to black. The aura in the room didn’t change. It was still heavy and full of pure anxiety. Damon stood up and sighed.

“Well, let’s get the fuck out of here.”

“Can you fill us non English speakers in on what the fuck just happened?” Chanyeol asked frustratedly, putting a hand up as if to stop all of you from continuing. You just looked at him with a hint of sadness in your eyes and bit your lip as you glimpse at Jin as well. Both of them mirrored the same look of fear and concern, taking the natural beauty of serenity away from them. It broke you, more than the fact that you were possibly going to be killed did. As Damon and Maya ignored him and started packing things up, you motioned for both of them to follow you.

“I’ll explain later. We have to get to Seoul.”

“(Y/N)...isn’t it dangerous?” Chanyeol pointed out nervously.

“Look, Maya’s uncle is going to bring people here that can help us. If I’m not worried, then you shouldn’t be either. Everything is going to be fine,” you lied. You started to gather a few things up, ignoring Jin’s silent questions to Maya and Damon before speaking up again.

“Ride with us, jagi. Maya said she missed you tons,” Jin said softly.

“I did?” Maya piped up as she started gathering the remaining ammunition from the living room. When Jin narrowed his eyes at her, she shrugged and agreed under her breath. Chanyeol wasn’t buying it.

“You could ride with him, princess. But who would Maya ride with? You wouldn’t let her ride alone now would you, Jin?” Chanyeol hissed as he looked over at Jin. You rolled your eyes and pushed passed them so you could get your things together for your departure. That didn’t stop the two from following you. Something was different about their bickering now. It was like they were trying to be...nice? Cordial? You weren’t sure. It was a small observation and all you were focused on was trying to get all your shit together and get the fuck out of there.

“Chanyeol, really, I don’t think Maya minds riding alone.”

“Oh no, I think she does. You see I get anxiety riding alone so I might need some company.”

“Damon can ride with you. You want me to ask him for you?”

“Oh no, that’s fine, Jin. Sehun gets possesive so--”

“Hey if you get anxiety riding alone how did you come here?”

“Listen you little--”

“Guys shut up!” you barked at them. They both looked at you wide eyed as you strained to listen to the faint sound coming from outside.It was the sound of moving tires against the gravel and the sound was getting farther away.

“No…” you muttered to yourself. “No, no no noooo!” You cried as you ran out of the room and out the front door.

“You fucking BITCHES!” you screamed as you watched Maya and Damon drive away together in Damon’s car.

“Have fun with your boyfriends!” Damon cackled out the window as they rode away, picking their speed up as you ran after them. After a while, you stopped running and admitted defeat. You were stuck with Jin and Chanyeol in the middle of nowhere and as much as you loved that idea, it would be much better if they weren’t bickering.

“Where did they go?” Chanyeol asked confused, standing on the porch with Jin as you approached them.

“They went back to Seoul,” you replied flatly. Jin and Chanyeol’s eyes widened as they looked at each other.

“Wait so how are we getting back?”

“Well, Jin, the three of us are going to have to pool with Chanyeol,” you seethed through your teeth as you stormed back into the house.

“W-wait, what?” Chanyeol barked back and you heard both their footsteps follow behind you as you walked up the stairs. “Why can’t he just take the rental? They left it here!”

“Because Maya has the key and driving around with a bullet hole in the windshield? Not so smart. So unfortunately we have no choice, Chanyeol,” you picked up the bag on the floor in the master bedroom and handed it to him.

“Can’t we just leave him here?”

“Oh fuck you!” Jin snapped.

“We had a truce!”

“Some fucking truce. You’re talking about leaving me here by myself!”

You couldn’t take it anymore. You dug in your back for your revolver.

“Well, did you really expect me to carpool with my girlfriend and her lover?”

“Your girlfriend? Here we go again. I’m so ove--”

BANG!

Both men flinched and shot their hands up in defense, cowering as you stood there with the barrel of your gun aiming at the roof.

“What the fuck, babe!?” Chanyeol shrieked.

“I’m tired, okay guys? I’m really fucking tired. So the three of us are going to pool, I’m going to take a nap in the backseat and the two of you are going to shut the fuck up. When this is all over, we’re going to sit down and talk about this. As adults.”

You couldn’t make out what they were feeling. It was something in between frustration and fear. Any other time, you would be beating yourself up over this. But there was just too much going on in this instance to give it too much thought. So much that you didn’t even know what you were promising them, you just needed some quiet.

“I’m sorry, jagi…” Jin breathed.

“No…” you sighed and hugged Jin tightly. “I’m sorry. I really am...but we have to go.” When you pulled away, you turned to Chanyeol and gave him a peck on the cheek. “Let’s get going, boys,” you whispered as you started to walk back out for what seemed like the millionth time.

“Her hugs are so sweet…”

“But her kisses are sweeter…”

“She hugged me first.”

“But she kissed me last. A whole kiss.”

“BOYS!”

“We’re coming!” they called in unison, hurrying behind you as you left the cabin for good.

X-x-x

You woke up to the sound of hushed voices laced with anger and conflict. It was like they were trying to be quiet but it was to no avail. Your memory was foggy and you almost didn’t remember how you fell asleep. It was somewhere in between explaining to them the plan and what Aflie had communicated with you and listening to the car radio. Either way, you sat slumped in the backseat trying to make out what they were saying.

“Chanyeol we had a deal. A truce,” Jin whisper screamed. Chanyeol tsked at him and shook his head.

“This has nothing to do with the truce. Plus she’s sleeping. So which way is the dorm?”

“That’s not fair! You expect me to be okay with you being with her alone?! I know you guys fucked right before I got there--”

“Made love, actually.”

“Oh Please.”

“At this point, I’m going to drop you off at any bus stop and you can get home on your own, Jin.”

“Lower your voice, you’re going to wake her up.”

“Too late,” you replied groggily as you stretched your arms out. “You guys suck at whispering by the way.”

“I’m sorry, jagi...did...did you sleep well?” Jin asked, almost as if he was scared of your answer. You cocked your head at him for a second and then it came flooding back all at once. In a matter of a week, you’ve almost shot him at least 3 times. The guilt you suppressed before? It was hitting you in one shot.

“Yes, tesoro...I did. Thank you,” you lied sweetly and reassuringly. He shot you a half smiled before Chanyeol cleared his throat.

“Princess, where is the BigHit dorm so we can drop Jin off before I drop you off,” His voice was stern and unwavering, as if he had already made his mind up. Jin pouted at you and then him slightly.

“Actually, I think it would be better if you drop me off first. There’s so much damage control I have to fix and--”

“A-are you sure?” Chanyeol stuttered. You could sense more than just protest in his voice. He was pissed but he knew that you were right and he didn’t want to put his selfish desires of spending alone time with you before the crisis at hand.

“Yes, darling. I’m sure. Plus the apartment is closer than the BigHit dorm,” you noted. Jin stared at you through the passenger mirror, biting his lip at the thought of being alone in the car with Chanyeol.

“(Y/N) is right. Her apartment is a lot closer,” Jin agreed, taking you off guard. He really didn’t want you to spend any time alone with the other man. Chanyeol gripped at the wheel and sighed.

“Fine,” he submitted and turned the corner, only a few blocks away from your apartment.

When the three of you approached the building and pulled into the parking garage, your stomach started churning and knotting. You didn’t say a word the rest of the time and when you pulled out, you only exchanged a few words with them as you grabbed your bags.

“I love you both. Please be careful and call me if you need me. Whenever and no matter how small you may think it is. I need to keep the both of you safe,” you said to them through the passenger window. They both looked at you with worry.

“I love you too,” they said in unison. They both quickly looked and glared at each other as soon as they said it. You giggled a bit and blew them both a kiss. As you walked away you heard them from a distance.

“God damn that ass,” Chanyeol mumbled.

“Yah, that’s sweet ass,” Jin replied.

“Don’t talk about my girlfriend like that,” Chanyeol snapped as he started driving away.

“Now that she’s not here--”

The last thing you heard was Jin’s loud, angry voice before you started for your hallway.

It was pandemonium when you walked into the apartment. Your cells that you left behind, the phone in your home office, all the laptops, everything was going off. Following the sound of Damon’s voice, you walked through the hallway and into your kitchen.

“Yes I understand...I can assure you we’re taking care of it…alright well listen no need to use that language with me...You know what?!” With that Damon hung his phone up and slammed it against the marble.

“We have a funny way of treating our phones in this household,” you commented, taking the man off guard.

“Fuck, (Y/N). I’m so glad you’re here. We--oh for fuck’s sake. It’s JYP again.”

“Where’s Maya?”

“In your home office, figuring life out. Listen, we have to do something. Everyone keeps calling,” Damon scrambled in his back pocket and threw your old phone at you, which was turned off. “I didn’t dare turn it on.”

“Good call,” you sighed as you sat next to him, turning the phone on. “Moment of truth.”

The minute your phone was fully functional, you didn’t get a chance to even unlock it. It was Lee Sooman calling, the last person you wanted to speak to. You couldn’t hide though. That was your gimmick your whole life. No. You were going to take this, take responsibility for once. Stand up to that piece of shit...even though you had nothing to stand up for.

“Starlight Catering this is--”

“What the fuck is this?! I’ve been calling you, my PR team is going nuts. What are you going to do about this?!” You pulled the phone away from your ear as he screamed into it from the other side of the the line.

“Mr. Sooman, I can assure you this is going to be resolve--”

“You better resolve this! Does your syphilis infested mind know what this will do to us? All of us?” That fucking piece of--

“Yes sir. I understand. We are in the process of filing a lawsuit and making a statement--”

“Make a statement?” He laughed sarcastically, not masking the escalating anger. “You don’t even have an office.Your bullshit will not be the downfall of my business. I will be fine, but your precious Yeol and your friends in EXO. Their image is RUINED. So you better fucking fix this, you hear me?” You wanted to just run over to his office right then and there and put a bullet in between his eyes or break every single bone in his body. But instead, you swallowed your pride and through clenched teeth you responded.

“Understood.”

“Good.”

Click

“I don’t want to do that again, for the love of fucking all that is holy,” you vented as you stuffed the phone back in your pocket, only for it to ring again.

“Welp, it’s not going to stop anytime soon,” Damon pointed out as he ran his fingers through his hair, ignoring his own cell phone as well. Before the both of you could get another word in, a frazzled Maya walked into the kitchen, looking paler than usual.

“Guys...I just got off the phone with my buddy at the NIS,” she said shakily.

“Fuck,” you breathed.

“I’m guessing he didn’t call just to say hello, huh?” Damon added. Maya sighed and slumped in her seat.

“They’re going to be here any minute...take all of our files, electronics, everything. We’re fucked,” she slouched forward and rested her upper body on the marble.

“(Y/N)...wha-what do we do?” Damon pleaded.

You were backed into a corner. Any fucking minute the NIS would be walking through the door, taking statements and reviewing these claims. They didn’t have enough to take you to the station but they had enough to look over your records. Which is fine, you weren’t really worried about it but...your friends, all of them, Sooman was right. You ruined all their careers and the only thing left to do was to make it right.

“I have to make a statement. Quick. Damon get me a tripod and Maya, get your phone connected to VLive. In the living room, asap. Before the feds get here,” You ran into your room and fixed yourself up as best as you could, putting mascara and a decent top at least. As you examined yourself in the mirror, you realized that for the first time you were getting what you deserved. The makeup brush swept over your skin, painting a familiar mask of false perfection. This is who you were used to. The CEO (Y/N), the woman could give two shits about anything except her business. Nothing ever mattered to you except what you could gain out of people. These are the types of people that succeeded. But somewhere along the line, you lost sight of who you were. This fake persona was not who you were. It was what you were trying to get away from. Instead of improving yourself when you left and enjoying the freedom you had, you let it catch up to you. There’s no one you can blame anymore. Not your father, not your brother, not Jiyong. This was all on you and it was time to finally accept responsibility.

“You ready?” Maya asked softly as she poked her head in through the door. You bit your lip and discarded all thoughts from your mental.

“Yea, let’s get this over with.”

The two of you made your way to the living room where Damon was setting up Maya’s phone on the tripod. You sat on the couch and fixed your hair one more time before nodding at Damon. He motioned a countdown at you and on the final count, he pointed at you signalling that you were live.

“Good afternoon, my name is Y/N. I own a party planning company called Starlight Catering. There have been some accusations made against my company that are not only appalling, but completely one hundred percent false. My company is based on a foundation of providing our beloved idols a night of socializing and fine dining. We at Starlight Catering, strongly believe in keeping moral values and respecting our clients as if they were family. Although, I hold no ill will toward the party that made these accusations, I will however, be filing a lawsuit against them for slander and defamation. It is extremely clear that was their intention. The relationship I have with my clients, I hope will remain in good standing. My sincerest apologies to the companies and idols that may have experienced any unnecessary backlash or inconvenience because of this incident. I vow to work diligently with the National Intelligence Service to rectify this situation. Thank you.”

You nodded subtly and with that, Damon ended the VLive.

“How was that?” you asked worriedly.

“It was good,” Damon said softly.

“I think it was said perfectly,” Maya added.

“I hope so because--”

BANG BANG BANG BANG

“You know I’m getting really tired of people banging on my door,” you sighed in exasperation as you got up.

“That’s probably the NIS,” Maya called out after you. You just shrugged and made your way for the door. And she was right.

“Good afternoon Ms. (Y/N). I’m Agent Park and we have a warrant to confiscate your files and--”

“Yea yea yea, you don’t need to do this song and dance with me. Come in take my shit,” you grumbled at the Agent and the many officers he brought with him. Instantly, you felt Maya come up behind you and laugh nervously.

“Agent Park! What my boss means to say is come in and take what you need!” She said in a sweet voice, moving aside for the officers. “Can we get you anything to drink?” Your face contorted at her obviously fake kindness, just as much as Agent Park’s did when you gave him that sassy attitude.

“No, Maya. I think we’re good. Look, (Y/N). Maya already explained everything to me. I highly recommend you file charges against him and...make it look convincing…” he said lowering his voice. You cocked an eyebrow at him with a confused face.

“Convincing? I don’t know what you’re talking about,” you said as sternly as possible. He just chuckled and put a hand on your shoulder.

“You didn’t change any of the files correct? Just like Alfie told you to?”

“Uh, what?  I--uhm…”

“On behalf of the whole Seoul PD, thank you so much for keeping our aliases. Maya has done a wonderful job with uh...distribution…”

“D-d-distribution?”

“Well yes of course!” Agent Park smiled, leaning in closer to whisper even lower than before. “Please tell Ivanna I miss her dearly.”

Ivanna?! He knows...my workers? Oh fuck…

“Look, I don’t know what game you’re playing at--”

“Right,” Agent Park nodded and smiled. “Probably not best to talk about this at the crime scene.” You weren’t even paying attention to him anymore, you were just watching the men behind him take all of your computers and files. Your heart was at your throat.

“When will I get them back?” you asked sternly. Agent Park turned around and sighed.

“Can’t say for sure yet. Also, you may not want to leave town. Not only because your accounts are frozen bu--”

“MY WHAT IS WHAT?!” you shrieked, causing everyone to look in your direction. Maya ran over to you before an armed officer could.

“What’s going o--”

“Maya! Agent Park just told us our ACCOUNTS are FROZEN!”

“These are just the standard precautions that we have to take, Ms. (Y/N).”

“Standards precautions!? How the fuck am I supposed to live?!” The anger started boiling and your voice raised an octave with every syllable. Instead of lunging forward, you felt Maya hold you back a bit and the look of calmness on the Agent’s face contorted.

“Ms. (Y/N). I am losing my patience here and I am the person, you don’t want to piss off...trust me,” he said in a low and warning voice as he narrowed his gaze at you.

“Is that a threat?” you asked just as low and just as menacing, crossing your arms over your chest.

“The both of you, enough. Look Agent Park, let me talk to you alone please? Come...this way…” Maya guided the agent down the hall not before turning around to you and giving you one of the deadliest glares she could muster up. You sighed in frustration and watched them take the rest of your files as Damon crept up at your side.

“Good job yelling at the agent.”

“Fuck off, Damon. I’m so stressed out right now,” you hushed him while putting your arm in the air. Damon scoffed and pushed it back down to your side.

“Listen, I get that. I do. But we have extra cash in the safe they they haven’t touched and I already used that to wire money to Alfie for the tickets. You don’t have to worry but you’re aiming your anger at the wrong people. You know who you need to save it for…” Damon reassured you. You just stood there and glanced over at Maya. It wasn’t clear what she was saying to the Agent but they shook hands and he walked off, nodding at you before coaching the last of the men down the hall. As they all finally poured out, taking all the contents in your home office, Maya shut the door behind them and started making a bee line toward you.

“Are you fucking insane, (Y/N)?!” She barked with her fist balled.

“Me!?” You screeched back. “He’s the one talking about Starlight around everyone and saying nonsense like Thank you on behalf of the police department! Then he named drop YOU as the one who put it all together! Are you going to explain that?!” You got closer to her face as you started to raise your voice just as you had with Agent Park. Her face flushed and her mouth hung open a bit as if she was trying to find the words to say.

“So what!? You let Chanyeol stop paying! We needed income from another place! So...I did what was best for our company!” She defended. You could feel your stomach knotting.

“Best...for our COMPANY!? We are for IDOLS! Now we’re mixed up for law enforcement? Feds?” Your voice boomed throughout the house. You were a hair away from blowing up on Maya and Damon could sense it. Just like he always does, he put you back in your place and reminded you of what he had said earlier.

“Listen y’all. We could stand here and shoot the fade with each other over shit that well...doesn’t matter right now but the clock is tick tocking. We can’t leave town. Dominic is in town. We know nothing about who’s here with him and we aren’t going to know anything until tomorrow when Tommy and Alfie arrive so how about we change our fucking attitudes and do something constructive with our motherfucking time.”

It was like you and Maya both took a step back and evaluated each other. Damon was right. No amount of arguing and yelling was going to fix what had conspired here. You were still extremely angry with her but it wasn’t going to do you any good if the both of you are dead.

“Right…” she whispered. “So...new plan…”

“New plan, good. (Y/N)...any ideas?” Damon said encouragingly as they both looked at you. You placed a finger on your lips and tapped them lightly as you went through all the possible ways you could zero in on Dominic’s location without all of you technology. Then...the most appalling idea came to mien.

“Well...I have an idea,” you sighed, pulling out a your phone from your pocket. “And...I think it’s our only option.” They both watched you as you dialed a number into the dial pad.

“Who are you calling?” Damon asked as you brought the cell up to your face. You paused for a second when you heard the voice on the other ends.

“Jiyong...we need to fucking talk.”

A/N;; 2 more chapters guys...and this story will conclude itself. We are almost there :)