#went through a bit of a process with the choice of the metal handcuffs on this one

[thelastunison]

No longer yours to control

[lubdubsworld]

物の哀れ ( ‘the sadness of things’.)

Characters : Alpha! Jungkook x Omega ! OC.

ABO Dynamics.

Genre : Arranged Marriage / Temporary contractual Marriage.

Warnings : Non- Con/ Extremely Dubious Consent . High functioning alcoholism. Genre related consent issues. Implied suicidal thoughts. 

Summary : A recently widowed Jungkook agrees to a contract marriage to keep his company afloat. His grief overwhelms him and it is hard to look at his new wife as anything other than an intruder .

[  Author’s Note :  物の哀れ ~ Mono no aware can be translated as ‘the sadness of things’. It comes from the words 物 (mono – thing) and 哀れ (aware – poignancy or pathos). The ‘sadness’ in question comes from an awareness of the transience of things, as taught by Zen Buddhism. When we view something exceptionally beautiful, we might feel sad because we know it won’t stay so beautiful forever – but appreciation only heightens the pleasure we take in the beautiful thing in that moment. ]

Chapter 1

 Chapter 2

I wrapped the white wool shawl tighter around my shoulders. The night was still chilly and the and smelt faintly of impending rain. Why they would plan a party outside while it rained, was beyond me.

After my little skirmish with Jungkook, I had found Namjoon quickly only to be told that we couldn’t leave for another hour at least because there was a  certain investor who wanted to meet Namjoon . The guy was running late and he had to wait for him. So here I stood, shivering lightly, all while keeping an eye on my husband as he got progressively drunk.

Namjoon’s words made me sigh a little.

“You can’t decide what someone else’s normal is, Namjoon. Especially when it comes to grief.  But the drinking is an issue. And you’re right about the therapist. I know she’s doing her best but I’m not sure if she has the right answers for him. Or even the right tools to help him.”

“I’ve been searching up on therapists who specialize with alphas. There’s one in Itaewon , his name is Kim Taehyung. I really think he could help. He’s an alpha himself.”

“That sounds good. Betas may not fully understand alpha mating bonds or what it’s like when one of them dies. Taehyung may have a better understanding of what Jungkook’s going through.” I nodded, a little hopeful. 

Therapy with the beta lady the hospital had recommended wasn’t really helping Jungkook the way it ought to.

Namjoon hesitated.

“Would you be willing to go with him? Taehyung insists a family member stay in the waiting room just in case...” he asked gently. I turned back to look at my husband, leaning on the mahogany countertop of the bar, fingers curled around a glass of whiskey.

“And I’m the one you want to consider for that? That’s ridiculous. Jungkook hates me.” Did I really have remind him of this salient fact? 

“I’ve offered to, before.  He doesn’t want me there." I sighed as Jungkook threw the drink back with ease.

“That was three months ago though. Things have changed now right?” Namjoon prodded.

I laughed, shaking my head.

“Not between us they haven’t. He’s spending more time with Mina and he isn’t throwing stuff around but he still loathes me.”

“He loathes what you represent: his own shortcomings and failures. Your father wasn’t kind in his approach and you are a reminder of all the things he can’t control.”

How fucking unfair,  I thought playing with the tiny  ring on my finger ( or should i say handcuff really? ), my wedding ring , the platinum band engraved with my husband’s name, a drop of his blood embossed into the metal. 

An archaic tradition, that carried no meaning in modern Seoul but the idea of it was still alive and well. The idea that what we had was a blood bond, imbued in our veins now.  An alpha’s connection with a beta or an alpha mate was usually quite fragile. But an alpha and omega mate bond. That was supposed to be powerful. 

Unless the alpha was still phantom bonded to a dead wife , that is. It was odd thing. Mate bonds had to be mutual to work. So there was no bond between Jungkook and I . We didn’t have any feelings for each other of course. But wearing someone’s blood on yourself changed that . it forced a bond that wasn’t there. It was ancient magic and it worked on my kind. Not on his. 

How fucking unfair because it wasn’t like I could control any of this either? 

I grimaced. I had thought of taking the ring off 

“Ouch.” I said with a smile. Namjoon waved off my self pity with an eye roll. 

“You know what I mean. Even for an Alpha, Jungkook has always held on to his pride. Losing his wife and his company all in the same week probably left him feeling incredibly helpless and your father browbeat him into this whole thing. Of course he isn’t going to be eager to share heart to heart talks with you. ”

I held my hand up. 

“I know all that Namjoon. I was there, remember? And I’m not blaming him for any of that. Trauma makes you do shitty things and I understand that . I also understand that if he was in his right mind he wouldn’t behave the way he does now. But that doesn’t change the fact that I can’t change his mind for him. If he doesn’t want to get help, I’m kind of helpless myself, you know?”

Namjoon reached out and squeezed my hand.  

“I’m just asking you this because , he does listen to you at times. I’ve noticed it. He doesn’t outwardly agree with you but he takes your opinions into consideration. And, Heejin you live with him and you’re the one who managed to convince him to start scenting Mina. ”

And God, how exhausting that had been. I had kept at it because Mina was so young and she needed her father’s scent to grow. And while i could be persistent when necessary,  I couldn’t work miracles. 

“Namjoon oppa, “ I said softly, trying to explain myself without sounding like a horrible human, “  I don’t hate Jungkook. Far from it. I want him to get the help he needs and I’m here for him. If you can convince him to go see Taehyung and he’s okay with me coming along, I won’t say no. Mina needs him and there’s nothing I would like more than for him to get better. ” i smiled a little, “ But he’s still going to have to be the one to make that choice. i can’t make it for him.” 

Namjoon nodded.

“ Fair enough. Well,  I’ll talk to him about it. We’ll set something up. Thank you for not refusing Heejinah. I know it can’t be easy for you either. 

I opened my mouth to respond but out of the corner of my eyes I caught a glimpse of someone, staring intently right at me.

 I turned sharply, eyes locking with those of Kim Yugyeom and I stiffened, stepping closer to Namjoon on instinct.  Yugyeom smirked, winking at me. 

I shuddered in disgust. 

Creep.

Namjoon followed my line of vision and swore.

“This motherfucker.” He made to move towards him. and I grabbed his arm, fingers digging into his forearm. The last thing i wanted to witness was an alpha alpha showdown in the middle of a party with me in the middle. 

“Please, no. Don’t make a scene. It’s what he wants.”

“Jungkook has the shittiest friends on the planet.” Namjoon shook his head and I couldn’t agree more. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Mina’s appointment with the doctor went about as expected. She was right on time with her milestones and I sat in the waiting office for a mere twenty minutes before being called in. The doctor, an alpha named Min Yoongi gave me a small smile of recognition before flipping through the pages of her file.

“ Jungkook didn’t come along?” He asked casually, grabbing a pen and making a note of her weight and length before plotting it on the small graph. She was a little on the smaller side but she was growing well. 

“He’s busy...” i said with a shrug, “ So I still keep giving her the polyvisol supplements?” 

Yoongi nodded, “ The nurse will fill in the prescription for you. Are you sure he’s busy? He called me last night and told me he wanted to come see me?” 

I blinked. 

“He did ? “ I couldn’t quite process this. 

“He wanted to talk about how she’s doing and I told him he could come in for her appointment today.”

I imagined a world where Jungkook actually spoke to me, instead of forcing  me to navigate stormy waters on rotten plywood. Nine more months, i told myself firmly, already digging for my phone. Nine more months and I would be out of this living hell I’d gotten trapped in. 

“Can I try calling him? He’s probably forgotten. I think he might regret missing out.” I begged and Yoongi gave me a small smile, waving me off. 

“Of course you can Heejin-ah and tell him that if he wants I can drop by at the office and talk to him as well.” 

I nodded quickly , moving out to the waiting area while the nurses held Mina, soothing her before getting her ready for her shots. I tried calling him and not surprisingly he didn’t pick up. I called his office next and Jungkook’s secretary picked up the phone .

The woman hated me. 

“He’s busy.” She said curtly.” He’s specifically asked me not to bother him with stuff that isn’t important.” 

Her whiny voice grated on my ears and i bit my lips to keep the irritation in. 

“Since when does his daughter make that list, Ms Lee?” I said calmly and she hesitated. 

“He’s in a meeting right now and-”

“I’m in the hospital with his daughter. I hope you’re willing to take the heat when he finds out that you wouldn’t let me get through to him. “ I said casually. 

It was a twisted version of the truth for sure. Meant to imply that Mina was hurt in some way. But I couldn’t bring myself to regret it much. I had enough on my plate without dealing with twenty year old secretaries who fancied themselves in love with their hot boss. 

 “I... just a moment, Mrs. Jeon.” 

I loathed the name. It wasn’t mine. It was hers and I felt like a thief every time someone addressed me that way.

After two minutes, Jungkook’s  familiarly low and perpetually exhausted voice came out ,

“Hello? Heejin?” He sounded listless and his voice just a little slurred and i groaned. 

“Please tell me you aren’t drunk.” I whispered. 

“I’m not. “ He said shortly. “ What’s wrong? What happened? Is Mina alright? ”

“Did you tell Yoongi that you were going to meet him today?” 

He was quiet for a second. 

“i’ll talk to him.”

He hung up and I stared at the phone. I realized that I shouldn’t have called him in the first place. Should have asked Yoongi to call him himself. What was wrong with me? Even a few syllables exchanged with Jungkook felt like staring into an abyss . 

I moved back to the clinic , just as Mina plaintive wail filled the room. The shots were done. It took us another thirty five minutes to finish filling her prescriptions and for Yoongi to finish examining her. She was already dozing off and I wasn’t supposed to feed her for another thirty minutes so perhaps the nap would do her good.  I had just finished settling her into her Bjorn carrier  when Jungkook’s voice came from the entryway. 

“Is this the way to Dr. Min’s office?” 

I glanced back to watch him . He looked ridiculously handsome in a three piece suit, jacket thrown over his arm and hair lightly damp from the misty drizzle outside. I saw the secretary’s mouth actually drop open and stay agape as she tried to process his questions. i could see the way his beauty had rendered her entirely witless and as someone who had experienced it first hand , i could sympathize, 

But Jungkook was beginning to look annoyed from the lack of response and i decided to give the poor girl a break. 

“He’s waiting for you.” I called out and Jungkook startled. He glanced up at me and for some reason he looked surprised. He always looked surprised when he saw me. As if i was just some monster out of his worst nightmares turning up in odd places . As if he couldn’t quite believe that i did exist in his life now. Unwelcome but impossible to avoid. 

“You’re here.” He said blankly. 

I resisted the urge to roll my eyes. 

“Yes, i am. I’ve been here for three months now. “ i said shortly, before i could stop myself, “ Mina’s fine.  She just had her shots. I’m going to drive home and put her down for a nap. Do you want me to come with you ?” I pointed at the clinic. 

He hesitated before shaking his head. 

It was all according to script then. Jungkook would never include me in a single thing. Even if i was smack damn in the middle of the room with nowhere else to go. 

“Alright. i’ll see you after work.” 

“We’ll have guests for dinner today. ” He said suddenly. 

I stared at him, confused.

“For dinner??”

“ Sooah’s parents.” 

Oh, God. 

Wary of the extra nurses suddenly filling the room, the little whispers and the curious glances, i kept my smile even. 

“Of course. ” I bowed a little before turning on my heel and walking away. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Sooah’s parents were, for lack of a better word, selfish . 

They had lost a daughter, so of course i could understand with their need to keep their daughter’s memory alive. But the way they chose to do it was unhealthy and borderline vindictive. 

" She’s growing well.” Mrs. Kim had the same statuesque figure as her model daughter and she held her grandchild with a slightly unsure grip and Mina felt the uncertainty in her grip, breaking out into cries at once. I stayed still, my throat dry from disuse. I hadn’t said a word since they came in. 

We were seated at the table, dinner was done. 

Jungkook sat next to me, staring straight ahead while his father in law tried to engage him in conversation. 

With Jungkook, the grief came in waves. Some days, the waves were small and gentle, like the ones that lapped at your feet on the shore of a tranquil lake. on those days e went about his day as usual, spoke to his friends and signed deals.  And somedays they were big, behemoths carrying guilt and accusation, crashing over his head with a vengeance. 

On those days , he looked like he’d been run over by a two ton truck. 

Today was just one of those days and i could sense it.

The man was going on an on about some charity that Sooah had been involved in as a young girl... Could Jungkook make a contribution in her name?. Could Jungkook pay for a concert of her favorite singer in her hometown..?  Could Jungkook possibly consider contributing to opening a foundation in her name? 

I could feel the urge to scream, grow by the minute.

 Each syllable that spilled out of her father’s mouth was aggravating, the sentences began and ended with her name, over and over over again and It felt terribly like she was standing right next to me, ice cold and dead but real and relentless at the same time. He spoke of her like she was still alive and i couldn’t fathom how that was healthy. How that was going to help Jungkook move on.

 If anything it made it harder for him to move on. 

And in a moment of chilling clarity, i realized  that this is what they wanted. 

They didn’t want Jungkook to move on from her. They wanted him to be consumed by her. In the wake of that realization , i felt anger surge. 

There was just enough hurt and heartbreak and pain and grief in this room without these idiots adding to it. 

“Jungkook is tired tonight, uncle.. Perhaps we can discuss this later.” I said finally, unable to bear it any more.

The man gave me a glare.

“I wasn’t talking to you girl.” He said sharply. I frowned. 

“We’re trying to help Jungkook. “ The woman said sharply. “ Unlike you and your father we do not prey on the weak. “ 

Jungkook shifted at the phrase and I glared at her.

“He isn’t weak. “ I snapped, resisting the urge to add on a you bitch , “He’s grieving . And what he needs is space to process his grief. Not you people trying to shove your daughter into his throat with every sentence. “

“Don’t you dare talk about our daughter!” Mrs. Kim snarled and i felt a headache come on.

“I thought that was why you were here? To talk about her? Or should I say use her as an excuse to get money out of him??  What you’re doing is unfair and awful!! . Jungkook isn’t ready to talk about this and one look at his face should tell you that, if you even bothered looking at anything except his wallet.” I shouted. 

“Heejin, that’s enough.” Jungkook said hoarsely and i bit my lips. 

Of course he wasn’t going to support me even if we were on the same side. Defending him, protecting him was exhausting and it was such a thankless job. i wanted it to end. 

“I think we should call this a night. please, just leave” I said sharply, standing up and reaching for Mina. She glared at me but handed the baby over. 

“You don’t get to make that decision. My son in law is who I’m here to see. You’re just the parasite that’s attached herself to him. You sit there in my daughter’s place and you dare disrespect me this way. ” The woman snapped.

“Its still my house. “ I gritted out. “ I’m married to Jungkook whether you like it or not and so i have the right to ask you to get out of my house.” 

“Heejin, stop.” Jungkook’s voice only made me angrier. He sounded drained and empty and still these leeches wanted to suck him dry. And he was too  blind to see it. 

“I’m done with this” I stood up moving to the small pack and play that sat in the corner of the living room. i placed Mina in and watcher her eyes flutter shut gently. 

i turned back to stare at Mrs. Kim.

“i want the pair of you to leave. Get out before I call security.” 

She gaped at me. 

“you had a wedding... that doesn’t make it a fucking marriage. “ she sneered. “ Its probably not even legal until you consummate it. So go ahead, call the cops right now. You think i wouldn’t take you to court. ??!! ” 

She was spouting absolute nonsense, probably driven by her own grief  but i wasn’t feeling particularly charitable tonight. 

“Why don’t you ask your son in law that? Ask him if the marriage was consummated or not...” I smirked. 

She faltered, eyes wide and disbelieving.

“No. You’re lying ...he wouldn’t.” She turned to Jungkook who looked at me with fury in his eyes. 

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” He said sharply and I scoffed.

“With me? What the fuck is wrong with me? What the fuck is wrong with these idiots that they think they can come here and ask you to sign a fucking cheque when you’re still out here grieving for their daughter?!”

“You don’t know shit about them or her...” 

“I don’t have to. I don’t have to and i don’t care to either. All I know is that i married you and you’re my husband and whether you meant those vows or not, i did. I swore in front of my God and my family and I’m going to keep those promises. I’m going to protect you because I love your daughter . I’m going to protect you because you need to fucking live to be able to care for her. “ 

i turned to stare at his in-laws. They were staring at me, some of the fire dying out and in the span of a few minutes they somehow looked older . 

“You don’t deserve to be here.” Mr. Kim said finally, voice cracking and i exhaled. 

“And yet, here I am. And I’m not leaving. you are.” I said calmly. 

They stared at me for one more second before standing up and moving out of the dining space and into the hallways leading out. 

“We’ll call you later Jungkook-ah...” The man said before walking out of the door and slamming it shut behind him. 

The silence between us grew heavier as the seconds ticked. 

“We can’t decide how people grieve.” Jungkook said softly. 

I stared at him in disbelief. 

“You’re telling  me  that , Jungkook? Or did you forget all the times I indulged you when the only way you could grieve was apparently  by forcing yourself on me.” i snapped. 

His eyes widened , just a fraction before going blank again. 

He took a deep breath and went on. 

“They lost their daughter and they’re hurting. We can’t tell them they aren’t allowed to honor her memory...They’re clearly in pain...”

“Not more than you!” i snapped. “ You’re the one in pain here Jungkook. Your pain is so much more than theirs ..... Or may be it isn’t i don’t know.. But i do know that I can’t sit here and watch them bleed all over you when you’re cut just as deep as them.” 

“You don’t know shit about e!” He roared. “ Don’t you fucking dare talk about my grief like you can understand it...like you actually know what its like to lose the woman who had your fucking heart, because if you did you wouldn’t have agreed to this fucking marriage...you wouldn’t be here in this room with me, intruding on my grief and my pain... “

The sound of his voice made my entire body freeze in fear. I stayed perfectly still, jumping when he crossed the distance between us and grabbed my face, fingers curling around my jaw. 

“ You want to know how i wanted to grieve? I wanted to grieve in solitude!!! I wanted to grieve without some fucking stranger hovering over my shoulder like a fucking plague!”

I exhaled shakily, fingers trembling as i reached up to hold his wrist, my entire jaw throbbing with how hard his grip was. 

“It’s the price you pay for getting your company back. Jeon Jungkook. “ I choked out.” Or did you forget that marrying me is the reason you aren’t homeless on the streets “

He laughed a little yanking me closer and wrapping an arm around my waist.

“You’ve learned to talk back these days...” He muttered , “ I think I preferred the girl who hid in the nursery for the first three weeks of our wedding.” 

“I wasn’t hiding . I was avoiding you. Because your misery was contagious and i didn’t want any of it on me.” I snapped and his hold on my waist tightened. 

“Are you trying to make me angry? ” He snapped, fingers curling on my waist and I swallowed the whimper of pain that threatened. 

“Maybe i am... Maybe anything is better than watching you walk around this house like a corpse. You’re alive so I don’t see why you act like you died with her.” 

He growled at that, eyes blazing as he stepped back enough to stare into my face. 

“You’re right... I didn’t die with her. Although i wanted to...Maybe if i wasn’t such a fucking coward, i would have gone through with it.  .” He laughed and I felt my heart go ice cold at the very thought of it. 

“You didn’t die... So why don’t you get some help. There’s no shame in getting help... Taehyung...”

“I don’t need help. i need to be alone.” He snarled. “ I need to be allowed to cry and mourn my wife the way I want to but you and your father made sure that i couldn’t.”

I sighed, looking away in defeat. 

“Fucking look at me!” He snarled, hands grabbing both my arms and yanking me forward. “ Why won’t you look at me huh?  is the guilt finally catching up?” 

“No. No guilt. Just loathing and resentment.” I snapped back and he laughed again.

“Well too bad. Because you know what? You’re right. I paid for my company with my right to grieve and you...you paid for my name with your right to say no . “ 

I swallowed as he yanked me away from the table, dragging me to the couch in the side. 

“ I never refused you a thing.” I choked out, breathing ragged as he shoved me into the soft leather surface, crawling on top of me at once. “ I only said no when you were drunk out of your mind. When you thought it was okay to fuck me and call me by her name.” 

He made swift work of the buttons of my blouse and I stayed still, arms lying by my side. 

“ Are you telling me you want this ? You expect me to believe you want my hands on your body?” He sneered, fingers moving up to grip my hair. “You don’t want this and you don’t want me....Just like i don’t want you either. i’ll never want you. ” 

“You don’t want me.??.. You have a funny way of showing it..”  I scoffed , staring right into his eyes rolling my hips up into his  , greeted by the hard press of his length against my thigh.   “ And to be honest i don’t give a damn if you’re still in love with her , all I want is my name on your lips if you want to get off with me. Because I’m not just a toy you can use to replace your dead wife. I have  a name and you should remember it.  "

He growled again, fingers squeezing hard against the back of my head till my scalp felt like it was on fire.

“I hate you. “ He said clearly. “ I hate you and everything you’ve done to me.” 

“Everything I’ve done to you? Oh you mean save your life? Taek care of your baby girl like she was my own? Give you the chance to rebuild your entire career.? Turn you into multi millionaire again?  Good. Hate me. The feelings mutual. “ I snapped. “Now if you hate me so much why are you still here? Get off me.” 

“I’m not going anywhere, wife.” He sneered. “ Because like you said, I’ve paid for this.” He drawled, reaching down and squeezing between my legs. “And I’d be a pretty bad businessman if i don’t collect from my investments.” 

Before I could retort, he pulled back, just enough to grab me by the waist and flip me over on my front. I flinched when he grabbed my arms, yanking them back and trapping my wrists together in his fist at the base of my spine. My cheeks pressed into the leather couch, sticky and uncomfortable. 

i heard the sound of his zipper, the clink of his belt buckle. 

Coward. 

I shivered when he pushed my skirt up.

“Don’t enjoy this too much, yeah?” I snapped, “ You hate me remember?” 

“Easy enough to forget its you when I don’t have to look at you.” he retorted. 

He slipped one arm under my waist, lifting me up just enough for him to yank my panties down. 

“Just remember , you don’t get to blame the alcohol for this .” I sneered. “ You’re sober and clear headed and you’re hard for me. “ 

Somehow that seemed to bother him.

He stopped . 

I could feel the hesitation in his limbs. 

It made me laugh. 

“You know Jungkook, i took you for lot of things but a coward wasn’t one of them.”

“What the fuck does that mean huh? I should put you in your fucking place for how insolent you are with me... ” he pressed down on me and i gasped when I felt his chest pressing into my back, his face inches from my own. I flinched when he sank his teeth into the mating mark on my neck. 

“it means that if you’re going to do this, if you’re going to talk big about putting me in my place like the big bad alpha that you are, at least own up to the fact that you’re attracted to me. ” 

“ You forget your fucking place, omega.”  he hissed, voice sharp and furious against my ear. “ Another word out of that mouth and i won’t be responsible for what i do.” I gritted my teeth when he curled his fingers around the inside of my thigh, parting my legs and settling in between. 

He pushed into me in one strong thrust and my eyes flew open in shock. 

“Fuck.... why are you so fucking tight...” He groaned and my shoulders began to throb as he fucked into me, setting a punishing speed that left both of us panting . We were too fucking would up for it to last any longer than a few minutes and yet, i could feel pleasure swell inside me, wetness seeping out of me and onto the leather couch beneath us. 

I wondered just how fucked up this whole thing was. Just how much damage were we doing to each other?? But it was hard to care too much about it, because even if though it was a terrible way to talk things out at least he had talked. It was nothing new....nothing earth shatteringly enlightening but he had said it all out loud and that made a difference. 

“You think you can come into my life and dictate how i fucking live.” He grunted against my ear, fingers tightening on my hair. “ it pisses me off.” 

“Everyone dies, Jungkook. People die and they leave loved ones behind but Life goes on. It has to go on. You can’t just pause life to grieve. Mina needs you.” I felt my eyes begin to sting with tears, the adrenaline from the argument fading and my body threatening to go limp as he drove into me at the same punishing pace. 

He didn’t respond, fingers closing around my throat and squeezing lightly instead.

“Save your platitudes before i decide that the warmth of your body isn’t worth the grate of your voice on my ear.” He snapped and I whimpered when he stilled, spilling into me. 

He stayed pressed up against me. breathing harshly against my ear and i waited till both our breaths evened out. 

“It’s not selfish to move on Jungkook. You aren’t insulting your wife’s memory by wanting to move on.  “ I said softly. ” Someday your heart and mind will agree with me. Whether you like it or not. That’s just how pain works, Jungkook. One day it’ll pack itself up and walk out of your heart in the middle of the night. You just have to hold on till then.” 

He didn’t reply, merely drawing himself up and off me. 

Once i heard the door to his bedroom slam shut i dragged myself up , thighs shaking and sticky. I grimaced at the mess on the couch. I stared at the packet of baby wipes on the table nearby and shuddered. That just felt wrong. 

I’d just have to go grab a washcloth from the bathroom. 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

On that weekend, we had another dinner to attend, this time with a few investors from out of the country or so Namjoon told me. 

Although we didn’t talk about what happened and he didn’t try to touch me again, things were subtly different. 

Something had changed in the way Jungkook behaved with me. There was a little less of the usual zombie like indifference and he actually seemed to be avoiding alcohol actively. It was a welcome change. But to make up for it, Mina went into a growth spurt. Which meant ten minute naps every hours or so with wailing sobs in between. 

i was exhausted. 

So much so that Jungkook told me that he didn’t want to pick Mina up from Seokjin’s place till the next day. 

It was a little past one in the morning when I finally trudged into the apartment. Jungkook wasn’t black out drunk but he was definitely a little loose limbed, eyes just a shade more glassy than usual.

“Tonight went well. I’m thinking the guy from Macau is definitely going to consider investing.” He muttered, gripping the door frame and taking off his shoes.

I toed my own heels off, feeling upset and bereft.

“Why would you tell Jin oppa that we’ll get Mina in the morning? She’s not used to being away the whole night.” I complained, feeling jittery and nervous because the house felt so empty and strange .

I didn’t like the idea of being alone with Jungkook without the buffer of his daughter between us. The house felt foreign, the walls seemingly closer together , the space to cramped.

Jungkook dropped his keys in the bowl and tugged on his tie, watching me carefully.

“It’s too late and Jin hyung said she was already asleep. He’ll drop her off in the morning. Just relax. Would you like a drink?”

I stared at him. 

What now? 

He looked nervous and a tad worried.

 Swallowing , I shook my head, turning on my heel.  

“I’m going to bed.” I was almost at the door to the nursery when he grabbed my arm, seemingly moving faster than I could breathe.

“Wait, Heejin… “ He stopped, worrying his lip between his teeth before sighing, “I… I need to say something..” He finished and I exhaled sharply.

I tugged on my arm but he wouldn’t let go.

“Jungkook , let me go.” I said sharply. “ I’m not in the mood tonight . You aren’t drunk now and I’m running out of reasons to excuse your actions.”

His hold on my arm relaxed but he didn’t let go.

“Namjoon hyung told me about that new therapist.... Kim Taehyung?? . I don’t think it’s a good idea.” He said roughly.  

I sighed, defeated. It was expected and yet it stung. I wondered if perhaps I was just beating a dead horse at this point. But Mina deserved to have a father who loved her with all his heart and Jungkook’s heart was so filled with grief it had no place for his daughter. If there was any chance I could help change that, I would take it.

I tugged my arm away again and this time he let go.

I tried to smile encouragingly. it was hard because i was all out of comfort, my own exhaustion too overwhelming at the moment.

So I took a deep breath and reached out to lightly touch his arm. 

“Listen, no one’s asking you to make a decision tonight, Jungkook.” I tried to smile a bit more widely but it probably came out as a grimace, “ Just sleep on it and think about why you think it isn’t a good idea. Taehyung’s an alpha and he may understand you better. Think about it and you can let Namjoon know later.”

He didn’t reply, merely staring at me till I began to feel a little hot around the collar.

“Well, Good night then.” I made to turn away but he grabbed me again, this time by my wrist.

“Wait.”

Patience wearing just a little thin, I stared at him, waiting as he requested.

“I’m sorry about what I said that night. At the party last week. About you not being her mother.   I shouldn’t have said that.”

It was the first time he had apologized for anything.

It took me a second to even remember what he was talking about. 

“Alright. I’m not mad. And I understand why you said it. Its fine. And you’re right. I’m not her mother and I should be more careful. ”

He nodded and then stepped back.

“ I’m sorry. For a lot of things. ”  He bowed awkwardly and I could only stare at him, shaking my head. The apologies were somehow both welcome and abhorrent to me. 

They were the kind of apology you would offer a stranger. And that made them insincere because I wasn’t a stranger. I’d been through too much these past few months, to be treated that way. 

For now I could only accept them at face value. 

“ Its alright. Just go to bed Jungkook. And listen to Namjoon oppa . I know you don’t trust me but you should trust him. He only wants what’s best for you. ”

I sounded twenty years older than I actually was and grimaced.

"There’s one more thing. Can I... I need... “ He stopped and stared at the floor. 

I felt a huge sense of foreboding rise up at that. 

“Are you going to pull the i paid for your body card? “ I said bitterly. “ You made it very clear that i can’t say no. I don’t see why you’re bothering to-”

“You can say no.” He said softly. “ You can say no.” 

And then he looked up at with limpid doe eyes, shining with all the stars in the galaxy and I wanted to sob at the unfairness of it all. 

“ And if I say no, where will you go? To a brothel? you’ll come back smelling like another beta or omega and you can’t come near your daughter till it fades. Which is what? A week? “ 

Jungkook didn’t say anything and I felt helpless. 

“Is that why you sent her away tonight?” I demanded and he looked genuinely surprised. 

“What? No. Of course not . i just...You looked exhausted. I thought you’d like a night off. And just... I don’t want to have sex. Can you just sleep with me. I just... I don’t want to be alone tonight.” 

“What’s so special about tonight?” i rolled my eyes already moving to his bedroom instead of the nursery. 

He stared at me for a few seconds, eyes empty in the dark of the hallway. 

I waited a whole minute before sighing. This was excruciating and my heels hurt from wearing heels all evening. i wanted to curl into the air mattress on the floor of the nursery , possibly lie sleepless till dawn and then drive down to pick Mina up from Jin’s place. 

“Jungkook , let’s just go to bed and forget-” 

“Its her birthday.” 

I barely heard him, his lips barely moved and his voice was so low. 

I stared at him. Not sure if I’d misheard. 

“What?”

“Its her birthday. “ He repeated. 

“You can say her name.” i said calmly. “ You’re not betraying her by saying her name out loud in front of me.” 

He went a little stiff at that and i wanted to kick myself for the remark. What a hypocrite I was. I’d reprimanded Namjoon for trying to dictate Jungkook’s grief and here I was , doing the exact same thing. 

“I’m sorry. God, Jungkook... I’m sorry. i shouldn’t have said that.  i didn’t know. Why didn’t you tell me.. I... of course you don’t have to be alone. Should i call Namjoon oppa? Or Jimin?” I asked gently. 

“It’s Sooah’s birthday.” He was still staring at the floor, apparently he hadn’t heard a word I’d said. 

I had a sudden flash of memory, remembering that Jungkook used to sing. He had sung at his wedding seven years ago. Serenaded his wife as she walked down the aisle. I had been young then but i remembered thinking how evident his love was in every syllable sung .

Something i could hear even now, in the way he said her name. 

“Okay. What would you like to do? I... I can make seaweed soup.” I said softly. “ We can go see her if you like?” 

He stared at me. 

“I want to go alone.” He said finally. 

I hesitated. 

“I’ll drive you. i’ll stay in the car. You can’t drive.” I reminded him. 

Jungkook’s driver’s license had been suspended after one too many traffic violations. I drove him around often . 

He didn’t reply, staring out of the huge bay windows and i sighed. 

“Alright... Why don’t you go change  into something more comfortable yeah? i’ll get the soup going and we, “ i bit my lips, “ , I’m sorry, And you can go see her.  “ I smiled, before moving to the kitchen and grabbing the dried seaweed. I soaked it in cold water, before getting the beef, garlic, soy sauce, salt and pepper and the sesame oil from the cupboards. 

Ten minutes later, the soup was boiling away and I peered out at the door leading to his bedroom. I was still wearing the cocktail gown and my head was beginning to throb. I oved to the nursery and stripped quickly, slipping on my white t shirt and a pair of pink corduroy shorts. 

I would be in the car anyway.  By the time i finished taking off all my make up, the soup was done and Jungkook was slumped over the counter. He looked drained, more so than usual . In fact he looked notably worse than how he was ten minutes ago. 

Torn between the urge to draw him into my arms and the helpless knowledge that he would absolutely hate me touching him , i merely hovered near the stove, pouring the stove into a small airtight container. 

On a whim I moved to the cupboard  in the corner that housed all the crockery and threw it open. 

“What was her favorite bowl?” I said casually, staring at him. 

He blinked, staring at me like i was speaking a foreign tongue. 

“Her favorite bowl , Jungkook The one she always drank or ate from?” 

He swallowed but leaned his palms down on the granite countertop, levering himself off the tall stool of the kitchen island and making his way over to me. I stepped back, giving him space to peer into the depths of the black marble shelves. 

He finally stuck a hand in and drew out a pale yellow and mauve bowl , a little worn but intact. 

He held it carefully, running his fingers gently over the bowl, savoring the surface his wife had once caressed with her own fingers. I watched as his lips curved, a pale pale imitation of a smile but a smile nonetheless and I felt my breath catch in my throat. 

This was probably the first time he’d smiled in the three months i’d known him. 

My heart began to pound, a steady staccato that began rising in volume and i willed myself to stay calm. 

“I..uh.. I can wash it for you.” I said softly .

The smile disappeared as quickly as it had come and he stared at my outstretched hand like it was a snake . 

Face almost eerily blank he cleared his throat. 

“I’ll do it.” 

i watched as he moved to wash the bowl under the spray from the faucet and finished clearing up the kitchen. i grabbed a small bag to keep the sea wood soup in and held the bag open when Jungkook finished washing the bowls. He grabbed a fresh kitchen towel and carefully wiped down the moisture before wrapping the bowl in the towel and keeping it inside the bag, carefully. 

I smiled and zipped the bag shut. 

“Lets go shall we?”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

I sat waiting in the car, staring out into the darkness of the parking lot, while the rain poured torrents outside the glass windows of the car. I felt unaccountably alone, like I was the only human being left on the planet. 

It had been a little past an hour since Jungkook had disappeared into the building that held his wife’s ashes. I wasn’t sure if i should give him a call. Had he fallen asleep in there. 

I told myself I would wait another hour and if he didn’t come out, I would go check on him. 

I dozed lightly against the window, exhaustion beginning to creep in. I wanted to sob at how tired i was. I could have gotten a full nights sleep, something i hadn’t had since the day I took Mina into my arms. 

But then, i remembered the tiny smile that had sprung up on his face and i grinned despite myself. That was progress wasn’t it? It definitely was. I was sure that if only Jungkook could be convinced to go meet Taehyung , the alpha therapist, things could get so much better for him. I wanted to have him at least halfway to being ..... capable of handling his own daughter, before i left him. if not the worry alone would eat me alive. 

I was just getting ready to perhaps climb over the console and nap in the backseat when my phone rang. 

I glanced at the dashboard, frowning. it was two thirty in the morning. 

Who?

I grabbed my phone from the bag and my heart leapt to my throat. 

“Jin? What’s wrong? What happened to her?” I could feel my heart threatening to give out, any number of terrible possibilities running through my head in a vicious loop.

“nothing happened, Heejin , take a deep breath... She’s just running a fever. it was quite low earlier but its hitting 101  now and I’m getting a little worried. I’ve given her cold baths and kept a wet towel on her but it doesn’t seem to be coming down.” 

“We’ll be there in ten minutes! “ i said quickly.

“I’m sorry, Heejinah, i don’t have any experience with babies and-”

“it’s alright...thank you for calling me oppa!” i hung up , already fumbling with the door and stepping out into the rain. i was soaked through in three second flat. What a day to wear a white t shirt. 

I ran quickly, stumbling a little on the gravel pathway and hoping to God i was going the right way. I ran into the foyer, the poor security guard falling asleep over his desk glancing up at me in sympathy. 

“there was a man here earlier?”

“Second floor third room.” He said casually.

I nodded, already rushing for the steps. I climbed the four flights of stair in two minutes, my heart threatening to give out. I found Jungkook in the room , kneeling on the floor and he looked at me in shock that swiftly turned to anger.

“Jungkook-” i gasped because the run up had robbed me of my breath. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” He moved so quickly I could barely blink before he was right up in front of me. 

“Jungkook, I... We need...” I tried to draw a breath in but before I could form the words he grabbed my arm, so hard that I whimpered in pain. 

“I told you i wanted to be alone, what the fuck is your fucking problem?!” He snarled.

“Jungkook-” Before i could finish, he yanked me just a bit closer to him before shoving me out of the room with his wife’s portraits and the small ornate vase that held her ashes. 

it wasn’t that hard. 

He didn’t push me in a very brutal way. 

In fact it was probably with lesser force than what anyone slamming a door would use. 

But,

Jungkook was six feet two. He weighed a 170 pounds. 

I was a hundred pounds wet and barely came up to his shoulders. 

And it was just my luck that the wall opposite to the door had a large concrete and granite horse figurine placed right in front of it.  

I crashed into the torso of the equine, my bones rattling inside me and I whimpered when my wrist made contact with the hard surface, bending a bit out of place. 

I slid to the floor in a wet lump, trying to catch my breath and process what had just happened.

Jungkook stood frozen by the door horrified as he stared at his hands, as thought he couldn’t quite fathom what he had just done. 

A sharp burning pain began in my sides and I gasped out.

“Oh, fuck.” I swore. 

Jungkook moved to help me up but i was already crawling away from him, scrambling to my feet, ignoring the ache in my side.

“I’m sorry.” I said softly, holding both my hands up. “ It’s Mina...she’s running a fever. We need to go get her.” 

“Heejin-ah, I’m...”

One more apology and i would officially lose it, i thought slightly hysterically. 

“its my fault.” I said sharply, “  I should have probably tried calling you from the car instead of barging in like this but Jin called and i got worried...I wasn’t thinking straight so I’m sorry about that... I think we should go get her as soon as we can.” 

“Did i hurt you?” He demanded , reaching out for me again and I nearly fell again trying to move away from his touch. 

“No.. No I’m fine.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Are you sure, we don’t have to go the doctor.?  “ He asked nervously, watching me carefully wipe down her body with the slightly damp wet cloth. I nodded, carefully squeezing the water out before dipping the towel in water again. 

“She’ll be fine. Her fever’s come down and with babies this young, its safer to care for them at home than to take them to a hospital.” I said casually, 

 “I wasn’t talking about her.” He said stiltedly. 

I blinked, staring up at him in surprise. 

“What?”

“I think we should go to the doctor. You fell hard. ”

“Jungkook what are you even on about?” I said crossly, steadfastly ignoring the pain in my sides. It was sharp and unbearable with every breath I took in but I was too terrified to go to the hospital and have them tell me I’d cracked my rib or something. 

Partly because that would be so inconvenient. 

Partly because Jungkook would probably go back to being a guilt ridden shadow of himself if that happened. 

“I’m going to call Yoongi hyung.” 

Before I could protests some more he was already on his feet, moving to the living room.

Yoongi arrived thirty minutes later , annoyed and sleepy, dressed in a soft white t shirt and stone wash jeans. 

“It’s four thirty in the morning , she better be dying Jungkook..” He rasped out near the front door and i flinched at the murderous tone to his voice. 

Suddenly , i hoped desperately that my ribs had cracked. 

Yoongi stepped in , staring at me . He took in the mess of quilts i sat on and sighed. 

“Come here and take your shirt off.” He said gruffly. 

I blinked, feeling blood rush to my face. Was he always this handsome? Hating the very unwelcome flutter of nerves, I moved to stand in front of him, grabbing the hem of my t shirt .

But the movement jolted my rib and pain sharp and lancing shot through my side. I yelped and dropped my hand again breathing harshly which only seemed to make things worse. 

I swallowed and Yoongi blinked, reaching out to gently grip my elbows. 

“Hey...relax ... “ He said gently. 

I felt the press of a warm chest at my back.

“Let me help hyung.” Jungkook’s voice rumbled through my body, his chin brushing the top of my head and he bent over me from the back, fingers gripping the hem of my shirt and carefully lifting it up to just above the curve of my breasts. 

Yoongi was staring at Jungkook over my shoulders expression unreadable. 

“So you do know how to act after all.” He commented drily and I heard Jungkook inhale sharply behind me. 

“Hyung...” He said sharply, and Yoongi merely rolled his eyes. 

“How did this happen?” He ran slender fingers all over my skin, feeling each dent and dip carefully. 

“I ..uh.. I sort of fell into a statue? It was made of concrete and quite heavy.” 

His face shifted into a frown. 

“Jungkook , tell me you didn’t push her.” He said sharply and I jumped a bit.

“No...he didn’t.” i said sharply and Yoongi ignored me , staring right at the alpha behind me. 

“I didn’t mean to.” He said finally.

“You broke her rib, kid.” 

I groaned in defeat. Behind me Jungkook stiffened.

“It was an accident.” I said sharply and Yoongi gave me an unimpressed look.

“If i had a won for every wife that told me that.” 

“It was my fault and-” I shut my mouth. I did sound like the poster child for abused wife in denial. 

“Relax... I’m not going to send your handsome husband to prison.” He chuckled. “ This time.” He added, giving Jungkook another glare. 

“It won’t happen again. ever. “ Jungkook’s voice shook a little. 

I sighed, already imagining the self flagellation that was probably going on inside the alpha’s head.

Yoongi’s voice drew me out of my head. 

 “Its not a break. It looks like a crack which is easier to heal. But i still want you to come in tomorrow. We’ll get it x rayed. Its going to take a couple of months to heal.” 

I gaped.

“Months?” 

“As long as you take it easy you’ll be fine. Now where’s the little one?” 

Yoongi dropped off a small bottle of pediatric paracetamol and told me to keep an eye on her temperature before bidding us goodbye. 

Once the door closed behind him, Jungkook turned to me , eyes wide and lips parted. 

“If you apologize , I’m going to throw this  at your face.” i said calmly, fingers closing over the neck of the ceramic vase on the table. 

Jungkook blinked. 

“I’m sorry. “ He said nonetheless and I sighed, pulling my hands away. 

How fitting. Neither of us could act out of character. 

Jungkook couldn’t stop blaming himself for everything under the sun. 

I just couldn’t bring myself to hurt him in any way. 

“Just go to bed , Jungkook. I’ll be fine.” 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Author’s Note : As always the pain is here and probably going to get worse. But Jungkook seems to be turning mildly human so let’s see if he can keep that up. Also handsome pediatric doctor Yoongi as second lead because i like to torture myself. 

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[authoressofdarkness]

Fill: Accidental Stimulation

I had way too much fun with this one. Lowkey inspired by the scene in The Demon King where the two characters finally meet. Threats and a little blood but nothing gory or explicit here. Might continue this? Let me know what you think/if you want to see more!

Tag list: @snowstark @buckettbarnes

~

He should not be turned on by this.

Fantasies are all well and good, but God, this is a whole other level, and he’d never expected to actually be turned on in this situation.

But the boy is cute. He can’t help himself — that’s his first thought. He’s maybe a year or two older than him, but not by much. It’s hard to believe he’s a criminal.

Well, he has a knife to his throat, so maybe not that hard to believe.

This was not how this morning was supposed to go.

It wasn’t supposed to be dangerous or related to Ben’s work in any way. They were literally just supposed to be going to breakfast. Ben had asked to make a quick stop to drop something off and check in with a local minister for something or the other related to a case — he hadn’t been listening, really, it was all normal and he just didn’t care that much.

Maybe he should have. Because had he been paying a little more attention, he might have a clue who the attractive older boy with a knife to his throat actually was. Or at least what he’d done that Ben had been hunting him.

But he hadn’t. So now all he knows is that the boy burst into the minister’s office while they were in there and he and Ben had recognized each other and Ben didn’t have his gun because he was off duty trying to go to breakfast with his nephew goddamnit and the boy had grabbed him and now—

Cold, sharp metal presses against his Addam’s apple. He swallows hard, feels the bite of it, the way the movement of his throat causes just a hair too much pressure and a tiny trickle of blood runs down his neck and into the collar of his shirt. He lets out a slow breath.

The boy’s hand trembles against his throat. He can feel the knife moving just slightly, so slight there’s no way the other two could see it.

Ben’s putting his hands up, now, slowly, so he doesn’t spook him. “Look, kid, I’ve got nothing. No weapons, nothing — I wasn’t looking for you, alright? Just let him go and—“

“And what? Run, so you can chase me down? I don’t think so. It’s not your fault, Parker, but you’re wrong, and I’m not going to prison for a crime I didn’t commit.”

Peter should be focusing on the conversation. He knows he should. It would be wise to know what the boy had been accused of, what he’s so afraid of going to jail for, what kind of monster it is exactly that holds him—

But instead all he can focus on is the feel of the knife at his throat, cold against his heated skin; the press of the boy’s chest against his back, warm and firm; the steady thump of his heart thundering even through the layers of their clothes; the calluses on his hands and the roughness of his open palm as it grips Peter’s shoulder; his arm tight and strong across his chest, holding him firmly in place.

And he just can’t help it. His mind wanders, and he wonders, what, exactly, the boy’s hands would feel like— what the knife would feel like caressing other parts of his skin, cool and with just a hint of danger—

What filthy thoughts to have in a church. What filthy thoughts to have in this situation in general. Is he crazy? Maybe. But it’s a lot of fantasies rolled into one for him, sick as it may be, and he just can’t… not be attracted to him, can’t stop himself from being turned on.

And fuck it all, but he is turned on. He’s got an undeniable hard on right now and by God does he hope everyone is too distracted to notice.

And then—

“Keys, both of you,” the boy says, and the words jolt Peter back to reality.

“Anthony, you don’t want to—“

The knife presses harder against his throat. He feels a new trickle of blood and realizes suddenly that the last had dried. They’d been here a few minutes, now. “I said keys.” His voice is sharp now, gaining a new edge that it didn’t have before. Peter feels a chill run through him, going a bit weak at the knees. It probably looks like a fear response to the other two, but really, it isn’t. He knows he should be afraid and that if that means what he thinks it means this situation is about to get very, very real. But all he can think is — oh my God why is that so hot?

“Hand them to boy-toy, here, and we’ll be on our way.” Then, as a barely-there hot exhale of breath next to his ear, “Just put your hands out and take them. Trust me.”

Trust me. Why on earth would he trust him? Even as weirdly fucking turned on as he is, he knows that’s a bad idea. But what choice does he have?

Ben lowers his hands slowly to take his key ring out of his pocket, then takes the office key from the minister, but hesitates. “Anthony, if you do this — if you’re really innocent, you won’t be, anymore. Just drop him and run. We’ll pretend this never happened. This doesn’t have to escalate any further.”

“I wish you were right,” Anthony says quietly. “But I can’t afford to believe you. Now give him the keys.”

Ben lets out a heavy sigh and drops the keys in Peter’s open hand. He grips Peter’s wrist for just a second, giving it a gentle squeeze, as if thinking of pulling—

Anthony jerks him back, starting to drag him towards the door. His hand slips free from Ben’s grasp, and the next thing he knows, the door is shutting between them. “Lock it,” the older boy orders. “Now. Quick. We gotta go.”

Peter fumbles to get the key and get it in the lock. It takes a second — his hands are shaking now, too, though from delayed fear response or adrenaline or something else, he isn’t sure.

He’s barely heard the click when Anthony grabs his wrist, hauling him outside. He doesn’t resist, mind spinning too much to even think about it. He should resist. He should try to run. This kid clearly just wants away from here, and he probably wouldn’t chase him.

But the grip the other boy has on his wrist is firm, and when he tugs against him, feeble as it is, he gets a warning look in response that stops him in his tracks. Scary and hot. Fuck.

Anthony must see the expression that flashes across his face, and he sighs. “Look, I don’t want to have to hurt you so just— cooperate, would you?” He tugs him forward, looking around. “Which car is yours?”

Don’t want to have to. It’s not an I won’t, but it’s not as scary as he’d expected, with the way Ben reacted. He’s clearly not afraid to do something illegal, per se, but he’s not inclined to violence, either.

Well, that’s good to know, since he’s apparently getting in the car with him.

“That one.”

“Good. C’mon.” He drags him over to it.

Ben’s car is old, small and blue but perfect for their little family and the few outings they make. He’s not in the shop car today — again, because he was off-duty and thus the car was parked in the garage where it belongs. But, if he knows Ben…

Anthony seems to be having the same thought. He pushes Peter into the passenger seat and leans over him, opening up the center compartment. He pulls out Ben’s second handgun — his personal one, which of course he has a conceal and carry permit for — and a pair of spare handcuffs.

“Cops are always prepared, aren’t they?” he muses. He still has a firm grip on Peter’s wrist, and he jerks it up, locking it in one side of the handcuffs and bringing the other side through the grip on the doorframe before locking his other wrist into it. “Well, I guess not always.”

“Is this really necessary?” Peter asks, frowning as Anthony closes the door and goes around the other side, getting in and adjusting his uncle’s seat.

“Sorry, kid. Can’t have you doing anything stupid while I’m driving.”

“I’m as much a kid as you are.” He scowls, leaning back in the seat and trying to get as comfortable as he can with his hands cuffed to a car door and a persistently aching erection that just won’t go away. “Why did you even drag me along? You could have left me outside and taken the car.”

“So you could run back in and call the cops? Tell them exactly what car I’m driving and which way I went? I don’t think so. I need some serious distance between them and me. I don’t know how long it’ll take for someone to find them, but leaving you there would have significantly sped up the process. We need to be in a new car and preferably a new state by then.”

Peter sighs. The logic is solid, he supposes. Even if he doesn’t know how he feels about where that leaves him. “Okay. So what are you going to do with me, then?”

Anthony pauses. He checks his rear view mirror and changes lanes before answering. “I don’t— I don’t know, okay? Probably leave you with the car when I find a new one. Can you just— stop asking questions for a few minutes and try to relax? Sleep or something. I’m not going to hurt you. I’m obviously otherwise occupied right now.”

Sleep or something. Yeah right. So he can have wet dreams about the pretty boy that kidnapped him? No thanks.

But there’s not much else to do right now. Anthony eventually turns on the radio. He finds some hard rock station and turns it up to dispel the silence. But it doesn’t change the situation.

Anthony drives. Peter rides in the passenger seat. They’re both quiet, allowing the sounds of AC/DC and Metallica and whatever else comes on the radio to fill the silence.

It’s going to be a long fucking day.

[notspazztrapavacado]

'Flu-shot Fiasco'

Dr. Clef x they/them! scp! reader

(This AU belongs to supercasey, I'm hoping I'm understanding it right)

It had been nearly twenty-two years they'd been stuck in this place, saved from the streets as a young teen the first time they had died. Nothing was really special about them save for the fact they regenerated at a supernatural rate and was not stopped from it by death, but it was worth noting that every time they'd been put with a family, the general lack of self preservation made them too weak stomache to keep them and gave them back. 

It's not all bad, though, this place was kind to them. It was like an animal rescue center and a hospital and an orphanage had some kind of weird hybrid child center. Simply put: It was home. 

Right now, however, they were clinging to the ceiling fan in their basic human enclosure for dear life, dread pooling in the pit of their stomach as the small team of researchers beneath them looked on.

"(Y/N) it's time for your flu shot." Kondraki was not having this at all, not today. 

"No! Do what you with me, put me through a meat grinder, dip me in acid, but do not come anywhere NEAR me with a needle!" They shouted down at them and he sighed, facepalming as he heard the answer he'd gotten every year.

"I expected better of you." Gears sighed and Iceberg crossed his arms.

"You're 34, can't you act like it once?" Iceberg huffed his point in this.

"Technically, I'm 25." They noted the age they stopped at, regeneration covering the loss of cells and giving them the look of a much younger individual. 

"Still an adult. Now get down." Iceberg argued. (Y/n) only scrunched up their nose at him and stuck their tongue out.

"Bright. You're up." Kondraki motioned to Dr. Bright, who looked very pleased he got the chance to do what he wanted here.

"Haha, watch this." He strode over to the doorway and flipped one of the two switches next to it, powering the fan on with success. 

(Y/n) remained attached to it, spinning at an increasingly rapid pace until the motion leveled out. They looked on with a mix of amusement and utter disappointment.

"Have you practiced this??" Gears squinted, baffled, but not surprised.

"Only every day of my life!" they cackle maniacally. This was the year they finally won. No shots for (Y/n)!!

"I didn't want to have to do this." Kondraki picked up his walkie-talkie, and Bright flipped the switch for the fan, watching it come to a stop with a certain amount of respect for the art of chaos.

"You won't be reasoned with, you won't be bested, we must resort to cheating." Dr. Bright gave his speech, lips pressed into a firm line in standing his ground. 

"You're not my dad!" They shouted at him.

"I'm old enough to be!" he shouted back.

"Clef, (Y/n) is stuck to the ceiling this year." Kondraki spoke into the small, boxy device. It gave a distorted, sharp sound.

"Got tired of the kitchen table gambit?" Clef's voice came through almost clearly.

"We took the handcuffs away last week to prepare for that. I don't think we should have." He was more than tired.

"I'm already on my way." Clef replied.

"He can't do shit! Watch this!" (Y/n) had managed to get their leg securely over one of the blades, swinging their torso up and successfully laying over two of the five.

"You're lucky we make those out of steel." Iceberg was further unimpressed. 

"You're lucky I'm not as bad as Kain with his shots." They argued back.

"We can sedate Kain, you're just awful!" Iceberg exclaimed loudly.

"Have no fear, Clef is here!" The ukulele man strummed a couple notes before tossing the instrument onto their couch and cracking his knuckles.

"Good. I'm going to go get coffee. When you get them down, the shot is on their kitchen counter." Kondraki left with Bright tagging along to bother him.

"I will be back shortly to help with the shot. I promised to walk Iceberg home." Gears had his arm looped with Iceberg's, who looked happy with the arrangement.

"Just you'n me, sweetheart." he looked up at his partner in crime, feeling cocky.

"I'm gonna raid your fridge." He immediately turned and went right into the kitchen, earning a great bit of objection.

"What? No! Get outta there!" they shouted.

"Come stop me." He stuck his tongue out at them, matching their childish game.

"No way!" They stayed stubborn.

"Then the price of redemption for your crimes is your fruit snacks." He stated.

"Haha! Ate them this morning." (Y/n) felt triumphant and Clef pouted.

"Damn. I didn't think you're impulse control had gotten that out of whack." he said.

"You'd be surprised how bad my impulse control can be." They boasted.

"You leave me no choice." He grabbed a kitchen chair and walked into the living area with it, earning a smug grin.

"What're you gonna do with that, shorty? Reach the top shelf?" They mocked.

"Imma fucking get you 's what imma do." He grumbled, irritated at the nickname, and clambered on top of the wooden chair.

"You'll never reach me." they mused.

"Watch this." He eyed the fan like a cat, his parkor legacy would begin here, he's the greatest jumper to walk the face of the earth, he's-

His internal monologue of a pep talk was cut short when he wobbled.

"Yep. Not doing that." he climbed off, instead grabbing the multi step stool they had in the closet beside the door.

"I hate this thing." He set it out with more effort than one should ever have to use, the stool old and rusted at the ends.

Less than gracefully, he started to ascend, making it most of the way up.

"I feel so bad for you right now. I jumped up here." They chuckled spitefully.

"Not everyone was born with fabulous legs and the ability to gain superpowers once a year at flu season." he grabbed the fan, finally, and they applauded him.

"Great. You're mostly here." they snickered mischievously as he attempted a pull up. 

He failed that pull up terribly. 

Nearly sent plummeting, he knocked over the stool and yelped when he was left to dangle from the metal blade.

"I didn't wanna go out like this!" he yelled.

"I don't want the shot." They retorted. 

"You win! You win! Help me, please!" He conceded defeat and, in seconds, he was grabbed by his shirt and hoisted up and over the side of the fan to lay over it and catch his breath.

"(Y/n), you fool." He grinned a sharp toothed, wicked grin. 

"Oh no…" They shrunk back.

"You've trapped yourself!" he exclaimed, drawing the syringe from his pocket.

(Y/n) screeched with horror, scrambling back and falling off the fan thoughtlessly.

"No you DON'T!!!" He threw himself down to them, landing with a loud Thump! on his knees and immediately screaming. 

"Fuck, shit, goddamn, fuckfuckfuckfuck-" his kneecaps were taking their time recovering, his regeneration a much more painful process than theirs.

"You've betrayed me! You deserve your broken knees!" they tried to dislodge themself from his hold.

"I will put this through your eye!" He held the syringe menacingly and they froze.

"..." He was regretting that. 

"You know I'm a liar, why do you even humor the thought I'd do that?" He stuck them in the arm and they whimpered.

"See, not so bad?" he finally removed his thighs from either side of their torso, standing. They only remained rigid.

"It was a joke." he nudged them with his shoe and sighed. 

"It's over now, you want ice cream?" he offered. "Hello?" he waved a hand in front of them, and finally got a response. 

"Aghuuubfvbbfy!!" their whole body convulsed and shuddered a moment before they sat up, looking at him with more pain than he'd ever seen on them.

"I am never going to let you near me with a syringe again." They stated, horrified.

"I still have it. It'd be cruel of me to stick you for fun." he rolled it in his palm.

"But I am rather cruel." He made a sharp noise and elicited another screech from them as they backed into the wall.

"Another joke, jesus christ, calm down." he tossed the used plastic syringe behind him, just letting it land wherever.

"You calm down, I'm gonna be scared from this!" They exclaimed.

"That's what you get for acting like a child." He crossed his arms and nodded.

"If childishness attracts karma, you're really in for it." They argued right back.

[the-lady-writes-what]

Gilded Cage, Part One

Summary:

Keigo Takami, AKA Hawks, has turned villain and you don't know why. After a run-in with the League of Villains, you give chase after the former hero. When you end up taking a bullet to the knee, you're surprised that Keigo not only left you alive, but has taken you to his secret lair. He's built a special cage for you. He says it's to keep the League from coming after you, but you can't help but wonder if it's true or if he just wants you for himself.

Content: Kidnapping Sorry. No smut this time, but it'll be in the next one. Stay tuned

Villain!Hawks x Hero!Reader

(You're a pro-hero whose quirk is basically bending metal. Think Toph Beifong from Avatar: The Last Airbender)

PART 1 / PART 2 / PART 3

This part does not contain smut (See above mentioned note). For smut, please follow the links for Parts 2 and 3

                                                       ---080---

It was hard to walk down the halls of Endeavor’s agency these days. The news of Keigo Takami’s, also known as Hawks, betrayal hit Japan’s hero world like a tsunami. It turned into a question of who the next hero will be to go against their moral code and become a villain. Your workload had increased in the drama and paranoia that followed after Keigo’s sudden villainous change. Endeavor worked you down to the bone, but that was because he must have seen you as useful. Your hero name? Iron Maiden on account of your ability to bend metal, such as iron, steel, and copper. Netting bad guys was a whole lot easier when you could wrap them in a fence or trap them with a lamppost.

You finished the afternoon’s paperwork before heading to the breakroom for some lukewarm coffee. You half-expected Keigo to be sitting on the counter where you used to find him. He used to be a fan of Endeavor’s, so he frequented the agency whenever he felt like it. Of all the time you got to see him, it became evident that he wasn’t there to goof around Endeavor’s office. You should have known better than to encourage his casual flirting, but you couldn’t help yourself. Keigo was the first guy who turned your way after a dry spell in the romance department. It had been months since you last had a date, and even if Keigo was joking, it was nice to have a conversation with someone that didn’t involve hero work.

If only you knew back then that his over-confident smile belied an insidious plan to turn to the other side.

Keigo didn’t hurt people. Much. It wasn’t a great comfort to know that he at least didn’t go around murdering people as soon as he became a villain. That didn’t change the fact that he had become one of them. He robbed banks, caused collateral damage to the cityscape, and set the hero society into panic mode. Nobody knew who would switch sides. Heroes and civilians were starting to look at each other with suspicious eyes ever since.

You fixed yourself a cup of coffee when the cellphone on your hip went off. You immediately stopped what you were doing to pick it up. Shocked, you found your boss’s name and number on the screen. You didn’t hesitate to hit ‘receive.’

Endeavor’s voice came loud and clear, even over the sounds of fighting.

“We need you over by Central Park. Takami’s new crew showed up, and we need your quirk to help round them up!”

“On my way, sir.”

Central Park was at least ten miles from your location. Even if you speed, you won’t make it there on time by car. Not this close to rush hour. Of course, you had other methods of getting to where you needed to go. You pried open the nearest window and lept threw it. Part of your hero costume involved strips of steel wire you could sling around with like that American comic book character. Sailing over the city and swinging in between buildings was much faster than any car. You arrived at the scene with the villains terrorizing civilians trying to enjoy their day at the park. You spotted three of them charging at you as soon as you hit the ground. They were nothing but mooks. Clustered together, it was quick work wrapping them in a bundle of wire. You spotted others and repeated the process. Keigo was nowhere in sight. You heard the sound of flames engulfing the trees. Pillars of red and blue flames shot up in the distance. You found heroes to take care of the villains you’d already captured before heading towards what should have been the epicenter of the fighting. Endeavor was busy with Dabi, and there seemed to be no other villains in sight. Still no sign of Keigo anywhere.

“Endeavor!”

You dodged a blue fireball just in time. You hoped that Endeavor would order you to go elsewhere. Five more minutes, and you’d be cooking in your costume.

“Takami headed west. I leave it to you to apprehend him!” Endeavor was so focused on his opponent that he didn’t turn towards you when he gave the order.

You had to dodge more flames, both Dabi’s and Endeavor’s, to head towards Keigo’s last known whereabouts. Away from the smoke and flames, you found a trail of red feathers. There was a moment where you stopped to wonder if Keigo had been injured and left behind some feathers by mistake or if he was deliberately mocking you. However, you didn’t have a moment to linger on that. You followed the trail of feathers regardless if it was a plot.

Keigo made it easy for you to follow. That should have been your first red flag. You were so focused on getting him in handcuffs that the apparent beeline to him was so fucking clear as day. You picked up the feathers as you went. You had a fistful in each hand by the time you reached the end of the park. Your trail went ice cold.

That is until you spotted the shadow of bird wings graze above you. Your head whipped to the sky. Hawks swooped down, nearly knocking you down to the ground. His wings grazed you. He perched himself on a branch far above you.

His appearance was vastly different from the last time you saw him. He wore an all-black suit with a red and gold tie. Pewter rings were on his fingers. He looked like he hadn’t slept in days, but his smile was the most unnerving thing about him. You lashed outwards with your arms, the metal from your gauntlets catching him by the ankles.

“Keigo Takami, you’re under arrest. You have the right to—”

Keigo didn’t let the mild impairment weigh him down. His wings couldn’t be easily held down by you. He flew straight towards you. His height never hid the fact that he was powerful. He plowed you into the ground. The wires unwhirled around his feet and let him soar above you.

“Get back down here, bird brain!” You lashed out your wires again in hopes of pulling him back down to earth.

Each time Keigo moves just a little bit out of reach. You already spent so much on capturing those D-level cronies that you didn’t stop to think of conserving your limited amount of iron wire. Keigo’s wings took him high above to where your weapon couldn’t reach him. He smirked down at you before taking off.

You ran after him, going so far as to hopping over the chain-link fence and following on foot. Your wires came in handy twice today as you soared from lamppost to lamppost, tracking Keigo’s aerial movements. Citizens yelled words of encouragement as you chased after Japan’s new most wanted criminal. The air stung your cheeks, and you could feel your eyes watering as you sped faster between rooftops.

Keigo made the mistake of flying to close to the building whose roof you just scaled. There was a split-second decision. You could stop and let him get away, or you could take the chance. You lunged for him, limbs scrambling through the air to find purchase. Your hands grabbed his suit jacket. Hauling yourself upon his back, you managed to secure your legs around him and put his neck in a headlock.

“As I said before, you’re under arrest!” You screamed as the wind busted your eardrums.

Keigo merely looked over his shoulder at you. His smile was cheeky as ever.

“Really, Princess? The way I see it…you’re the one at my mercy. Unless you got a plan to get us both safely on the ground without bashing our brains on the concrete.”

You growled as Keigo caught you. You didn’t think this far ahead.

You screamed as Keigo flew up towards the sun at lightning speed. Light burning your eyes, you had no choice but to shield them. Keigo used your distraction as the opportunity to shift your weight off his back. All too late, you felt your legs and arms loosen around him. Soon you were plummeting back to the ground. With any luck, your wires would find purchase on something and save you from falling to your death at the last minute. At the rate you were falling, good luck.

You were ten feet from meeting a concrete rooftop when Keigo reappeared. He wrapped you in his arms almost in a possessive manner.

“You’re way too pretty to let splatter. Come on. I’ve got a much better place to finish this!”

His clever hands worked your phone from your belt. Keigo dropped it on the ground, where it shattered several feet below you. Your only chance of survival was to let him take you where he wanted and not get your brains to plaster the sidewalk. His wings soared over the city. You once imagined being in his arms like this. It only made your stomach churn with the thought of what he was going to do to you once you were where he wanted you.

Keigo dropped down in the industrial district. Factories surrounded you. The smell of iron and diesel filled your lungs. But of all the places he picked, why did Keigo go where you had the most advantage? Didn’t he realize that with all of this metal, you were the one with the home-field edge? You didn’t have the time to ask or react when he pulled out the gun from his jacket.

In a flash, your life flashed in your mind. You didn’t stand there waiting to die. At least, you were going to make sure they say you died fighting to your last breath. You charged for Keigo, metal whips whirring to life.

BANG!

It was over. Except instead of sweet oblivion that came with death, you found yourself bleeding on the ground. Your blood pooled around your knee, where he shot you. The pain was exquisite as the bullet lodged itself in your knee cap. You weren’t going to be standing on that leg for a very long time; you could forget about fighting. Keigo’s black shoes came into your line of vision. From shock, you got onto your elbows to look at the bastard.

“What…the hell?” You ground your teeth. “I didn’t picture…you to be the sadist. Going to kill…me…slowly? Is that how you roll now?”

Keigo put his gun away. Then, he reached into the other side of his jacket. When his hand came away this time, he held a syringe.

“That was just to keep you from fighting me. I’m going to get you patched up real quick. Just as soon as I give you your medicine.”

Keigo was faster than you. Your hand shot up to grab him, but the needle was already in your neck. He squeezed the trigger and pumped you full of the drug. It took a few minutes for it to kick in. By the time he had you in his arms again, your head was spinning. A moment later, you finally found that oblivion you were looking for earlier. This time, you were reasonably sure you’d wake up this time, and you weren’t going to know where he was taking you. And that was the scariest thought you had before passing out in the former hero’s arms.

When you woke up, you noticed the stiffness in your leg. Your favorite color draped the bed you laid in. Your hero’s costume was gone and replaced with a negligee you wouldn’t own even if you had a boyfriend. It, too, was in your favorite color. The lace hem barely touched your upper thigh.

Further down, your right leg was held in a cast. Your foot rested on a pillow. As your vision cleared, you got a better picture of where you were.

It could have been described as a room if only it had more than one wall. Where plaster walls should have been, stood solid gold bars. The floors were marble tiles. There was a dresser, a desk, a lavish set up on a vanity, and a familiar coffee table on which sat a widescreen T.V. Every item in your cell was made of either wood, fiber, plastic, or metal you couldn’t bend, including the bars. Squeezed between the actual wall and the cell bars stood a small room. With its door closed, so you couldn’t discern its purpose yet. Footsteps came down the hallway. They rounded the corner. Keigo smiled at you like you were a pretty bird in his cage.

“You’ve been asleep for a while now. Doc had to give you an extra shot so you wouldn’t wake up in the middle of your surgery. Sorry I had to bust your knee cap. You can be so stubborn sometimes.”

“Why am I in a cage? Why am I dressed like this? Just what the hell are you on?” You started to get up from the bed, but it was difficult to swing your leg over the bed when it was in a cast.

“In reverse order,” said Keigo, “I’m not on any drugs. I thought you would look cute in that negligee, and it’s in your favorite color. I put you here for your protection, and honestly, you look damn good in it.”

“Why? Why the hell did you do any of this?” You still struggled to move your damn leg.

“I wouldn’t do that if I were you. I’d hate to come in there and show you why.”

His eyes held a glimmer of that charm you once fell for, but there was a predatory light that eclipsed it. Keigo leaned against the bars, stroking the beams.

“Solid gold. It took me a long time to find enough money and resources to build this thing. A pretty little cage for my pretty little bird.”

“Just how long have you been saving?” You wanted to know how long he had wanted to put you in here, yet you still dreaded his answer.

“A couple of years. My original idea was to take us on a cruise. It probably would have been much more romantic, but things come up. You change your plans. Ideals become tainted, and you have to find new ones.”

“What happened to you? You were the number two hero! Some so many people looked up to you. There are still people who believe that this is just a rouse to capture the League of Villains. How could you do that? How could you betray everyone’s trust?”

Keigo didn’t say anything. He held his head down as if lost in the thought. He braced his forearm against the bars as he leaned his head against his arm. Inhaling a long breath,

Keigo let out an aggravated sigh. When he looked up at you, you saw a different man. “Let me ask you this, Princess. How could somebody’s parents sell their kid to the government? How could anyone take a small kid and turn them into a child soldier? For what? So they can pat themselves on the back and say that they’re morally superior to the villains. They take kids from their parents and steal their childhood. And when those kids grow into adults and realize what a shitty system they were raised in, they stare up at you surprised that you had enough of their bullshit.”

“T-Takami…”

“I realized too late that everything that was supposed to be mine was taken from me. My family. My name. My childhood. For what? So I can be number two behind a man like Endeavor. Have you spent time with the bastard? I never noticed it before, but all of a sudden, it becomes clear that society cares less about a hero’s moral code and more about their ability to beat down the nail that sticks out. Ever wonder how his youngest got that scar?”

You nodded. You vaguely remember hearing Endeavor talk about his youngest son.

“It turns out Endeavor pushed his wife around so much that she went mental. She burned the side of Shoto’s face because it reminded her of the man who knocked her around and forced to have his four kids. Does that sound like hero material to you?”

Blood drained from your face. It made sense…in a way. You never met Endeavor’s youngest, so you couldn’t verify the truth or not. For all you knew, Keigo was pulling it out of his ass to make you sympathize with him.

“Why didn’t you go to the authorities? There must have been someone who would have investigated it.”

“By the time I found out, nobody would have believed me at any rate. Endeavor might be a bastard, but he’s still the number one hero. I’m just the rejected garbage the Safety Commission doesn’t want to clean up.” Keigo unlocked the door to your cage.

“Why are you telling me this then?”

Keigo crossed the “room” and picked you up from the bed. You couldn’t move your leg without feeling a jolt of pain go up to your thigh. There was no way for you to struggle. “Because I made a deal with the League. As long as I keep you by my side and you don’t go anywhere, they won’t touch you or your family. I’m afraid you won’t be seeing much of the outside world for a while. At least until Shigaraki accomplishes his goals.”

“You know he’s crazy, right?” You sneered.

“Yeah. Little bit. He’s also the first person who made any damn sense when I realized how badly they screwed me over,” said Keigo as he carried you down the hall.

There were a few rooms that he walked past, but he stopped at the end of the hall. He kicked it open. Your heart fluttered like you were his bride; he carried over the threshold. Your stomach churned with guilt rotting inside it. You shouldn’t be having those kinds of thoughts for the man who turned into a villain and kidnapped you. He confessed to planning to keep you as a prisoner for however long it took for that maniac Shigaraki to complete his mission.

Keigo brought you to an actual bedroom. It was a little more sparse than the cage he planned to keep you in. He must have spent more on you than himself. Looking around, the bedroom contained a giant bed and little else. He had you sit on the bed for a moment. Keigo pulled back the covers and fluffed the pillows before gently grabbing you and laying you out. There was a contraption hanging from the ceiling that he pulled down using a thick cord. He slipped your leg into a sling and adjusted it to your comfort before Keigo left you to pull clothes from the dresser. He disappeared into the adjacent bathroom didn’t return until he was half-dressed in a pair of black sweatpants.

Small scars littered his chest and shoulders. From what, you dared not ask. You remembered his words about a stolen childhood to be raised as a soldier. You wondered if they were true. Your mind was plunged headfirst back into the present when Keigo crawled under the sheets with you. Your face went red.

“Relax, Princess. I’m not going to do anything,” he mumbled. He turned off the lights.

“Then why am I dressed like this?” You asked in the dark.

You felt Keigo’s weight make the bed dip. He settled on his side so he could snake his arm around your waist. He snuggled uncomfortably close, but he kept his hands mostly to himself or above the blanket.

“Because you look damn cute in (fave color). I like looking at you.”

His breath against your skin created goosebumps in its wake. Your eyes eventually closed to sleep. As you drifted off, you asked yourself: How long could you live like this?

                                                       ---080---

[blushingonmyknees]

The Terms of My Surrender

(Content Warning: This post contains a fantasy including elements of the stripping of legal personhood, objectification and captivity.)

This all started about three months ago, when I was especially eager, floaty and craving subjugation. I asked my Domme if she could legally own me as property, would she have already done so?

She told me when we met back in February, if it was legal to do so, she would have already captured and kept me**. I confessed that talking about this always makes me float into subspace. She didn’t seem too surprised by it and actually seemed to enjoy knowing this.

Last night, my phone rang. I had no idea how much my life was going to change forever.

It was my Domme.

“So do you truly want to do this?” she asked. I asked what she was talking about. “Become my property,” she responded.

I dropped my phone and it crashed to the floor. There was a different tone in her voice. It sounded like her Domme voice, but the most serious and straight-forward I have ever heard her talk.

“Hello? Are you there?” she questioned. I slowly picked up my phone, “Sorry, I accidentally dropped my phone, owner,” I responded. “Aww, you must be overwhelmed. I can help you feel more comfortable while you consider your answer.” 

“Now,” she said very sternly “get on your knees”.

I immediately dropped down into a bow.

“I have been reaching out to some of my connections and found out we can make you mine forever,” she said. “A lawyer found a couple documents and wrote up some paperwork to help this process. All we need now is your signature and a video testimony, saying you are entering this type of dynamic willingly.”

I could not help but whimper. It was hard to think. Could my dreams really be my reality?

“I have purchased you a one-way ticket to my location,” she said. “Once you arrive here, I will meet you at the airport, you will be handcuffed and led to the paperwork, pet. By boarding the plane, it will be the last decision you will ever make on your own.”

I got barely any sleep that night. My heart felt like it was skipping beats. I sweated a bit, from fear or nerves or anticipation I couldn’t tell. I kept replaying memories of what it was like to be in her presence. I finally dozed off around 4:30 a.m. and then my alarm woke me up at 5 a.m., letting me know it was time to head to the airport.

I didn’t even pack a bag, knowing it was a one-way ticket and that she would dress me however she preferred when I arrived. I quickly headed to the airport. I do not even remember boarding the plane because my mind was such a daze. I daydreamed most of the flight, which was especially apparent when a flight attendant asked me if I would like a drink. “Permission for a drink,” I asked.

Then I realized I wasn’t talking to my Domme yet. I blushed with embarrassment. “Yes, you may have a drink,” the flight attendant said with a chuckle. “What would you like?” she asked.

“Water, please, Ma’am,” I said while blushing. The flight attendant seemed to enjoy me flustered. “Here you go, boy,” the flight attendant said when handing me my water. I blushed once again.

Before I knew it, the flight was over. I was near the back of the plane, so had to let almost everyone in front of me deplane first. The flight attendant kept grinning at me the whole time. I smiled and when I was about three rows away from her, she said, “And you have my permission to have a great trip here. Please come again soon!”

I am still not sure what happened, but my wrists instinctively went behind my back as I passed the aisle she was standing in. I am still not sure if it happened as a tease or to help her out of the aisle, but her hands went around my wrists very briefly and she said, “Excellent, boy.”

Was it my destiny to wind up in handcuffs today, I wondered? I finally deplaned and was very blushy and a little nervous. My Domme met me at the gate. She grabbed my hand and led me to a quieter place in the airport.

I held out my wrists in front of me, assuming it was time to be handcuffed. “Do you understand there is no turning back, pet?” she asked. “You had a moment of choice when you boarded the plane, you have a moment of choice right now, and your final moment of choice will be when you put ink on the legal documents. After that you are mine forever.” “Yes, Ma’am,” I confirmed. “Excellent.”

She then grabbed my wrist and guided it behind my back. “Hands behind your back, toy,” she commanded. I very quickly complied, and both my wrists met at the small of my back.

Being handcuffed with metal handcuffs has been one of my top desires for what seems like forever. My heart felt like it was going to pound out of my chest, just anticipating it. My Domme knew these desires and let me savor the feeling of her metal cuffs going around my wrists and slowly clicking shut. She grinned as she watched my whole body shudder as the last cuff clicked shut.

As she double-locked the cuffs, I instinctively began sinking to my knees. She pulled me back up with the cuffs. “Not yet, pet!”

She threw a jacket over my wrists and led me through the airport that way. I was then placed in the passenger seat of her car and buckled in.

“Close your eyes, pet,” she ordered. I did so immediately and smiled, knowing I would have no reason to not consent to the blindfold this time, since it wasn’t a blizzard outside like the last time we met.

As we drove, I told her about the flight attendant and how I hoped someday she would meet her. I truly wanted the flight attendant to see who I belonged to. My Domme told me she was very happy I was teased on the way to her, to help get me in the proper mindset.

Once we arrived at our destination, I felt something go around my neck and realized I was being buckled in a new collar. It smelled like leather, which I quite enjoyed and helped get me even deeper into subspace.

My Domme is a fan of artisan leatherwork and told me that once I became her permanent property, she would take me to a BDSM craft fair to have a custom collar made to her specifications and so everyone there could enjoy seeing me in my proper place.

I then felt something attach to my collar and realized it was a leash.

I am guessing no one was around, because my Domme then unbuckled me, helped me out of the car and directed me to the ground with the leash. “Good boy!” she said, after I realized what she wanted and dropped to all fours. She then started walking and I crawled behind her. I can only assume we were heading to an airBNB.

Once we were inside, she ordered me to stand. I did as I was told, but immediately wanted to be back on my knees. I whimpered aloud and my Domme could see from my face that I wanted to be on the ground at her feet.

She raised her foot up, and placed it as against the leash hanging in air between us. She stepped down against the leash and the force dragged me back to the ground. I was quickly back on my knees, with my lips resting on the top of her boot.

I could tell this pleased her. She told me she had always wanted to try that trick and that it had worked exactly as she hoped. It would remove my guesswork out of the equation of when to kneel. I loved how she was going to train me to her preferences.

She released the leash and allowed me to kneel up for a bit. I couldn’t speak because I was so overwhelmed by getting to live this reality but I had been silent too long “Thank me for subjugating you and putting you in the place you were made for.” she commanded. A hard slap went across my face.

I dropped back down into a bow immediately and kissed her boots repeatedly. I kept thanking her for every gift she was giving me in allowing me to live out my purpose as her owned boy.

It was almost time for my dreams to become my reality. I was nervous but trusted her. I knew that she would hurt me but that she would not harm me. She would change me and shape me into her ideal but I was ready to release the person I had made myself into and become the person she made me into instead.

My mind was full of memories of the nights I had begged for her to make me her total and complete property. I wanted her needs, wants, whims and desires to always be paramount and taken care of. I already lived my life in pursuit of that goal. Signing myself into her legal authority was the last piece of power I had to surrender.

I was helped to my feet and led to another room at this point. She directed me to a chair and then I felt metal go around my right wrist. Was this another handcuff?

The clicking noise confirmed it was and then my right wrist was handcuffed to the right armrest of the chair and double-locked. She began un-cuffing my right wrist from the original handcuff and cuffed that one to the left armrest. With my arms now beside me, I could sit down.

I waited for permission and was ordered to sit on the chair. Then I felt some different material going around my left ankle and around my right. They were tied together and then attached to a bar underneath the chair. I later found out they were tied with a silk belt, which felt amazing against my skin and quite the contrast to the handcuffs around my wrists.

She then told me to beg to be her property. I begged as best as I could and begged for around five minutes. I worked up a sweat, was very whimpery and breathless and was finally told that my begging was satisfactory.

I was then ordered to repeat two of my mantras to get me in the proper headspace for signing the papers. “I am your property, and I belong to you,” and “I surrender myself to you, Ma’am. I offer my service. I offer my loyalty. Please use me as you will.”

She had me repeat these phrases for about 10 minutes before she offered me respite and held up water to my lips for me to drink. I was a very obedient, submissive pet at this point and the mantras kept repeating in my head. I couldn’t think of anything else.

My Domme told me it was time to sign and then wheeled over a table close to my right hand. She said that I was about to be on video and to look at the camera and repeat how I truly felt as I signed.

The papers read:

I, BlushingOnMyKnees, hereinafter referred to as Property, surrender myself fully and without reservation as the permanent possession of my Dominant, hereinafter referred to as Owner.

Property acknowledges that Owner assumes all legal and physical authority and responsibility over Property including maintenance, protection, providence, correction, training, and usage. Usage refers to but is not limited to domestic service, entertainment, monetization of skills, and intimate service.

Property surrenders the right to make autonomous decisions regarding:

- Physical agency

Dress, grooming, public or private appearance

Marking in visible or covered locations

Receipt of pain or pleasure will solely be at Owner’s discretion

Medical decisions – this document will be reinforced with a separate medical power of attorney

- Mental/Emotional/Spiritual agency

Compliance with assigned tasks to promote desired mental/emotional/spiritual formation

Surrender of privacy regarding mental/emotional/spiritual states

Beginning or ending of romantic relationships engaged in by Property and any non-Owner persons is only permissible at Owner’s direction

Choosing mental health professionals for Property’s care

- Occupation

- City of residence

- Finances

Any income earned by Property or assets held by Property will be controlled in entirety by Owner

Property’s access to Property’s earned income will be solely at Owner’s discretion

Basic necessities and resources for Property’s wellbeing will be provided by Owner and not withheld in any manner that causes acute or chronic harm to Property

- Responsibilities

Domestic tasks - Property will complete any tasks or chores assigned by Owner - Property will be responsible for remaining alert to identify and implement ways to improve the home environment for Owner and guests without specific direction

Community presence - Property will support Owner’s public goals and ambitions and will use their skills to further Owner’s accomplishments - Property will behave in a manner consistent with Owner’s public reputation and not undermine Owner’s desired impact in personal or public spheres

Usage - Property will be used for Owner’s pleasure and at Owner’s sole discretion - Attempts by Property to center their own pleasure will be severely corrected

Property’s signature on this document acknowledges the surrender of all legal rights regarding personal agency, autonomy, and independence in relation to the person of Owner.  

Furthermore, Property will demonstrate enthusiasm and excellence in service. Property will dedicate themselves to their subjugation and take an active role in identifying ways to increase the depth of their mental, emotional, and physical submission and make their Owner aware of these possibilities – striving to place themselves further in their Owner’s power.

At the bottom of this document were the lines for my signature, my Domme’s signature, and the lawyer as witness.

She removed the blindfold but had everything on the document covered up except for the signature line. She placed the pen in my hand and pushed the paper close enough for me to sign. As I signed, I looked up at the camera and said, “I am your property and I belong to you. I surrender myself to you, Ma’am. I offer my service. I offer my loyalty. Please use me as you will.”

My head then dropped in submission, but was quickly lifted up by my Domme when she grabbed a fistful of my hair and used it as a handle to make me look up at her. Her fingers immediately went toward my mouth and then was filled with fingers. “Suck!” she commanded, before turning off the camera.

I later learned I would spend the night and a part of the next day restrained to this chair. My Domme was not going to let me out until the lawyer signed and approved the paperwork. I truly was her property.

 **With the caveat that it is clearly understood why having a legal mechanism for ownership of humans is a terrible, terrible idea

[patchwork-panda]

If A Moment Is All We Are (6/?)

As usual, story text below and AO3 link: Here

“Ring, ring! Guten morgen, Kusunoki-san!”

I groaned and brought my hand over my face, trying to block out the sunlight filtering through the blinds so I could go back to sleep.

“Dazai-san? It’s too early in the morning for this. What do you want?”

“What do I want?” Dazai sounded uncharacteristically surprised. “It’s one in the afternoon, Kusunoki-san! You completely missed your Entrance Exam!”

“I WHAT?!”

I sat up immediately and threw the futon covers off. As promised, Kunikida called me yesterday morning after I left the Agency offices, to check up on me and see how I was doing in my new place. However, when I asked about the exam, the only thing he said was to “be ready at ten the next morning.” Without any idea of what the Entrance Exam was actually going to consist of (although Kunikida was insisting on secrecy, I knew better than to try asking Dazai), I’d gone online to look for study guides for police academy recruits and detective school hopefuls. Then, at some point in time, my old high school strategy of studying like a maniac the night before kicked in... Without meaning to, I ended up staying up until four in the morning.

I’d set multiple alarms to keep myself from oversleeping but there must have been a power outage in the middle of the night. Or, maybe the alarms hadn’t worked. Or worse, I’d somehow managed to sleep through all of them.

“Yeah, everyone’s wondering where you went,” Dazai continued, ignoring the unintelligible, frantic noises coming out of my mouth, “I was thinking of coming by your apartment to check on you but it sounds like you’re okay and the Port Mafia didn’t come and try to kidnap you again...”

“I’m fine!” I exclaimed. “Tell everyone I’m fine and I’m ready for the exam and I can be there in thirty—no, twenty minutes!”

Clothes, clean and dirty, flew through the air as I desperately searched for something that didn’t look like glorified pajamas.

“Dazai-san, you’re close to the President, right? Could you please tell him to give me a second chance?”

“Hmm, I dunno...”

Dazai’s voice sounded far away. I thought I heard the crackling of a bad connection from his end of the line and my heart nearly stopped.

“Please, Dazai-san!! I’m begging you!”

And at the worst possible moment, I stepped on a T-shirt I’d thrown aside and slipped. As I hit the ground, my cell phone went flying out of my hand. It bounced on the tatami-covered floor until it settled against the pajamas I’d just discarded, several feet away, disconnecting my call and nearly shattering the screen in the process. Racked with nerves, I crawled forward on bruised hands and knees and reached out to pick it up... The first thing I saw when I flipped open my device was the time. The actual time.

The phone rang again and I answered.

“Dazai-san.”

“...Kusunoki-san?”

“It’s only eight-thirty in the morning.”

***

“Kusunoki-san! Over here!”

As I watched Dazai waving cheerfully at me from across the street, looking very well-rested, even happy, I suddenly understood why Kunikida was always choking him. I didn’t consider myself a violent person but after everything that’s happened, being in Dazai’s presence was starting to bring out the worst in me... I could feel thoughts of revenge brewing inside my head the moment I laid eyes on him and that shit-eating grin.

“So?” he asked brightly, “How did you sleep last night?”

“Poorly,” I snapped, wishing I could make his head explode just by glaring at him. “I might’ve gotten a little more rest if you hadn’t woken me up so early.”

“But Kusunoki-san...”

Dazai blinked innocently at me.

“I was afraid you might miss the exam and oversleep so I thought I’d give you a wake-up call.”

“How thoughtful of you...”

I took a long swig of the coffee I’d filled my thermos with. Even after the shock of possibly missing the exam had worn off, I was too wired to go back to sleep. So, I’d brewed myself the strongest batch of coffee I could possibly make, downed half of it and taken the rest to go. I was so cranky and irritable that I’d spilled coffee on my best shirt, ripped a hole in the only professional skirt I owned and somehow bruised both shins on the way to the door. I had to settle for a plain white T-shirt and jeans, and after the incident with Akutagawa, I barely had enough hair to put into a ponytail. Combined with the bags under my eyes, I probably looked like a serial killer; I noticed people went out of their way to avoid me on the bus on my way here, which honestly suited me just fine. Unfortunately, as I stood before Dazai, who was wearing the same nice work clothes as usual, I felt severely under-dressed. At least, if anyone asked, I could honestly tell them this was Dazai’s fault.

“Do you give all your coworkers wake-up calls?”

“Only when it’s important,” Dazai chirped, rubbing his chin thoughtfully. “But maybe I should do it more often. I gotta say...”

He grinned wickedly at me.

“I kinda liked hearing you beg.”

At once, I felt the blood rushing to my face.

“You—! You pervert—!”

“Anyway,” Dazai said, effortlessly catching the thermos I threw at his face, “Shall we go to the test site?”

Seething, my face as red as the brick building that housed the Armed Detective Agency, I seriously considered not following him inside, but the lure of passing the test and finally being able to control my powers was too strong. Muttering angrily under my breath, I walked through the front door and into the elevator, where Dazai was waiting for me.

“We’ll be going to the main office,” he said, pushing the button for the fourth floor once I was inside, “where you’ll have two hours to complete a written, multiple-choice exam. The exam is typically conducted in secrecy, so the President has asked the Agency staff to come in after lunch today. That way, nobody will come and bother you while you’re taking your test. We’ll have the whole place to ourselves.”

I raised an eyebrow. Seeing the suspicious look on my face, Dazai chuckled.

“Something on your mind, Kusunoki-san?”

Yeah, if they wanted to make sure nobody ‘bothered’ me during the exam, why did they send the most bothersome guy they had?

“Just wondering why you’re here when everyone else was asked to stay home.”

Dazai grinned.

“Because.”

There was a soft “ding” and the doors slid open.

“Because...?” I prompted him as we proceeded down the darkened hallway.

But Dazai didn’t speak again until we’d stopped at the door at the very end of the corridor. There was a placard on the center of the glass bearing the words “Armed Detective Agency.”

Dazai put his hand on the knob and his cheerful smile changed into a smirk.

“Because I’ll be your exam proctor.”

The door swung open and without knowing why, I braced myself.

I wasn’t actually sure what I was expecting, but to my relief, it was just an ordinary office. A spacious, well-decorated office, but an ordinary office nonetheless. Dazai sounded every bit as amused as he looked.

“What were you expecting? A police interrogation room?”

“Not at all, I just wasn’t expecting anything nearly this nice.”

It was the truth. The office, a sizable, well-lit space, made for a pleasant exam room, with its high ceilings, large windows and pretty green-tiled floor. Everything in the room had clearly been color-coordinated by a professional and as I stepped into the room, I thought I could smell flowers. The detectives’ office had been divided into two sections by a pair of lush, well-kept hedgerows and I stared at the colored glass panels of the client booth as we walked past.

The main chamber was an open office space where most of the desks had been lined up into two long rows on either side of the room. One desk was set apart from the others and had been placed at the head of the room, just a couple of yards away from the far wall. Unlike the other work stations, this desk’s surface was completely bare and as we approached, we passed a row of old-fashioned latched windows, all of which had been left unshuttered, filling the room with bright, natural light.

“This is a beautiful office,” I marveled as Dazai pulled up a couple of chairs.

“Isn’t it?”

Dazai sighed.

“If only we were a little higher up. Then I could have a better view of the city next time I throw myself off the roof.”

When I looked at him, he just smiled blithely and placed several sheets of paper, stapled together to form a packet, face-down on the table.

“Alright, here’s your test. You can start whenever you’re ready.”

He snapped his fingers.

“Oh and before I forget...”

He started fishing around inside his pockets for something, probably a pen. Curious, and slightly unnerved by the strange metallic clinking noises I was hearing, I watched as he shook out his trench coat and mumbled to himself. I was about to ask just how many pens he had in there when he produced a pair of handcuffs from somewhere inside his clothes.

“I’ve got something for you, Ku-su-no-ki-saaan.”

His cheerfulness was downright unnerving when paired with the handcuffs in his grasp. I took a step back as his grin stretched wide.

“I don’t want them.”

“What are you so nervous about, Kusunoki-san?” he asked sweetly.

The handcuffs glinted in his half-bandaged hands as he advanced on me.

“These are an important part of your Entrance Exam.”

“I really don’t see how handcuffs would be part of a written exam,” I stammered, backing away.

“Well, if you could just give me your hand—”

And before I could make a run for it, he seized my left wrist.

“—I’ll explain.”

I was yanked forward. There was a flash of silver and hollow click and I looked down at my arm to see that one of the cuffs had closed around my left wrist.

“What are you doing?!” I yelped, simultaneously trying to yank my left arm back and hide my right arm at the same time. I probably looked every bit as ridiculous as I felt but I had to stop him before he could finish placing the other end of the cuffs on me...!

“I’m getting you ready for your exam,” Dazai replied nonchalantly, grabbing my left wrist back with ease. “I said I would explain, didn’t I? Now hold still...!”

There was another click and suddenly, I was hand-cuffed to my least favorite detective in the Agency. Out of pure shock, I stopped trying to fight him.

“Alright, let’s see...” he said.

He raised his right hand, now cuffed to my left, up a little and gave it a shake. My left hand followed and shook along with his. Then he raised his right arm all the way up in the air until my left arm was forced to go along with. When he moved it back to his face so he could scratch his cheek, I abruptly pulled my arm back and gave him the dirtiest look I could manage.

“Dazai-san.”

“Hm?”

“Why am I handcuffed to you? How am I supposed to take a written test like this?” I said, shaking my own cuffed wrist meaningfully as Dazai’s wrist jangled and bounced along in its metal prison along with mine.

“Well, your right hand is still free isn’t it?” Dazai pointed out. “You know, the one you keep using to throw things at me? But seriously, though. We need a way to make sure you don’t cheat. Do you remember what my Ability is?”

I remembered.

“No Longer Human. It lets you nullify any other Ability User’s powers.”

Dazai clapped his hands together jubilantly and I was jerked forward again.

“That’s right! In other words, I’m here to make sure you don’t somehow activate your Ability during the test. We can’t have you looking into the future and getting the right answers that way, now can we? No, the test isn’t meant to test your Ability. The test is meant to help us see what you’re really made of... Now then, the rules! Rule number one: no using your special Ability. If you cheat...”

He pointed jovially to our wrists, shaking the cuffs again for emphasis.

“I’ll know. And I’ll fail you. You with me so far?”

I swallowed and nodded.

“Good. Rule number two: you and I have to stay handcuffed together at all times. If you undo the handcuffs at any point during the exam or if you force me to undo the handcuffs for any reason, you also fail. Understand?”

I nodded. It was a strange rule and to be honest, this whole setup smelled like bullshit but if keeping me from using my Ability was that important, I could go along with it. I just had to last the two hours and pass this test and then I would finally learn the secret to controlling “The Story of Your Life.” It was just too bad the one person who could keep my Ability from randomly activating happened to be Dazai. But first...

“Uh, Dazai-san? Before we start the test...”

“Yes?”

“...Can I go to the bathroom?”

***

Who the fuck wrote this test?!

My short bathroom reprieve (sans handcuffs) had lulled me into a false sense of security. Perhaps there was no test at all and this was just another one of Dazai’s pranks. I don’t know how he’d managed to convince the others to let him pull this off but he’d done it and now I was sitting here looking at the poorest excuse for an examination known to mankind.

It looked like a normal test at first, having the kind of formatting I’d seen back when I was still in school, including a space in the top left corner for my name and today’s date. However, the entirety of the first page looked like it was ripped straight from an online personality quiz, half of the second page was full of high-school level math questions and although Dazai had said I’d be taking a multiple choice quiz, right there on the third page was a short answer essay type question. When I looked at my “exam proctor” for an explanation, he just flashed me his most charming smile and informed me I still had ninety minutes left to take my test.

Then, when there was one hour left on the clock, Dazai’s phone rang. The sound echoed loudly in the unnatural stillness of the empty office and I watched with vengeful glee as Dazai struggled to find a way to reach into his right coat pocket with his free hand without taking me with him.

“What happened to turning off your phone during exams?” I quipped when he finally pulled out his device. “You know, to not distract me?”

“Oh? Do you find me distracting, Kusunoki-san?”

He winked.

“Don’t worry, this won’t take long.”

Scoffing, I turned my attention away from him and back to my ridiculous “test.” As much as I hated to admit it, the soft light of the mid-morning sun was very flattering right now. All that light coming from those big, open windows had turned the room into something akin to a photographer’s studio, smoothing out Dazai’s complexion and lending his eyes a warm, amber glow. Unfortunately, with that personality, those good looks were all but wasted on him. I watched him put his phone up to his ear and was surprised to find his expression had turned serious.

“Seriously?” he whispered, over what sounded like panicked shouting on the other end of the line. “Now?”

Feeling my eyes on him, he glanced at me, tried to make a subtle shooing gesture with his right hand, abruptly remembered he was still handcuffed to me and settled for turning as far away from me as possible to hide his phone. I continued to stare at him as he spoke in hushed tones into the receiver.

“But we still have an hour left—Yes, yes, I understand. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of it.”

He hung up and turned his head to see that I was still watching him. At once, he purposefully angled himself so that I couldn’t see the caller ID on his cell and stuffed it back in his coat.

“Something you want to ask me, Kusunoki-san?” he inquired innocently, “A question for your handsome proctor, perhaps?”

“Please don’t put words in my mouth.”

I frowned.

“What was that call about?”

“Oh, nothing important,” he said dismissively. “You just focus on finishing your test.”

“Are you sure?” I asked nervously, “It sounded pretty serious to me.”

But no matter how I tried to ask, he wouldn’t give me a straight answer. After a few rounds of this, he suddenly sat up and laughed maniacally.

“Okay, it sounds like you’re almost done with your test! In that case, you have five more minutes before I collect your paper!”

“Wait,” I yelped, the blood draining out of my face, “I’m not done!”

“Four minutes and fifty-five seconds!” Dazai sang and I rushed to look through the questions I’d marked for checking.

The room was getting warmer. I could feel myself sweating as the five minutes wore down to almost zero. Dazai really wasn’t kidding. When I tried to argue for more time, he just pointed at the clock on the wall and started making ticking noises in the most annoying way possible. I was at the very last question left unanswered (“At 10 am, Train A leaves Yokohama, headed for Tokyo at approximately 55 km/h. On a parallel track, Train B leaves Tokyo for Yokohama...) when all of a sudden, I felt the odd sensation that we were being watched by something.

Something inhuman...

I looked up.

There, outside the window, standing directly in front of my desk, was a petite girl in a brilliant red and yellow kimono, seemingly hovering in mid-air. Her long black pigtails and elegant clothes fluttered eerily in the wind and as her sharp blue eyes focused on me, I was suddenly chilled to the bone. And then, before my eyes, an enormous, glowing apparition in the shape of a pale kimono-clad woman slowly materialized behind the girl. It stretched out its snow-white fingers and pulled out a long, thin sword, a Japanese style katana, and turned horrible pupil-less yellow eyes to the windows—towards us.

“Dazai-san.”

Slowly reaching out with my cuffed hand, I carefully touched my fingers to Dazai’s. I felt him shift next to me and I knew that he could see the girl too. His shoulders looked stiff and for once, he wasn’t smiling...

“This isn’t part of the exam, is it?”

[nouru-vi]

Here’s the WIP first chapter of an Allods fic I started working on today - WIP because it lacks a proper intro that I may or may not add later. The fic will star my characters Istharnax (pictured) and Talsa, and will deal with a custom storyline that tells how these two characters met for the first time, as well as loosely tying into the whole canon dealio with the Architects. SCP-flavoured fantasy Sovietpunk horror ahead (though there are not many specifics in this chapter yet).

"This installation is clearly experiencing major and highly concerning issues. Why have you not informed your superiors immediately?" the woman inclined her head slightly to the side, which reminded the nervous supervisor of a predatory animal. It made him even more nervous, and thus it took him just a bit longer to respond than expected.

"We have ran into some unforeseen difficulties during the experiments, and it took all our manpower to... to identify a solution. These difficulties have also caused disturbances in the Astral around us, so we could not even send messages. I was going to file a report as soon as the situation was sta- dealt with! There was no need to send an inspector after us immediately." He managed to work himself up into sounding proper indignant, and he emphasized the word inspector with perceptible distaste. One of the guards standing behind the Arisen woman made a face, shifting his gaze to the side. His expression said, "You're in for it now, buddy." The supervisor caught it, and at long last and way too late, began slowly questioning his life choices.

Istharnax's head returned slowly to its default position from its little incline. There was silence for several seconds as the piercing green points of her gaze tracked the beads of sweat beginning to run down the supervisor's forehead. When she spoke next, it wasn't in her usual way – the words entered the man's brain directly instead.

Her mental voice was in very deep contrast to the reverberating, metallic tone of her vocabulator. It was a voice that, under other circumstances, would have turned this man's legs to jelly. It was a voice that, by sheer virtue of its pitch and timbre, promised to give one the time of their life and then some, making the hearer promptly forget any and all potential concerns about this voice belonging, in fact, to a six foot tall cybernetic undead. However, what this voice now actually said only achieved the effect of burning shame and pants-wetting terror on the supervisor.

"Listen here, you pompous, insolent halfwit. I am an Occultist. I am tuned into the emotions and thoughts of those around me at all times. The amount of raw terror billowing through this installation and unceasingly echoing off the walls is making my skin crawl. I know that something horrendous has transpired, and I know that the personnel have been stumbling over themselves to muster any sort of effective response to it, let alone an appropriate one. And you, my friend, have, for some reason, been more terrified of delivering news of this disaster that transpired under your command, than of what the event may have unleashed. I would like to suggest that you relay to me, in your own words, what has been happening, before I wring it out of your monocellular brain myself like one squeezes the juice out of a fresh, ripe orange."

Through her monologue, the supervisor gradually pursed his lips, his eyes going wide as saucers as he stared at her, transfixed. He was growing aware that the faint, fixed smile of Istharnax's mask and the light of the pair of green photoreceptors drilling right into the core of his guilty soul would most definitely haunt his nightmares. Provided he lives long enough to have any, his treacherous brain added. The Arisen had not moved at all while she spoke, but now she crossed her arms and started drumming her fingers – fingers with such sharp and painful-looking claws, the supervisor noticed – on her elbow joint, the metal on metal going clickity-click-click.

The supervisor leaned back, unable to endure Istharnax's gaze any further and shifting his own to the surface of his desk. One of his hands grabbed onto the other in his lap to stop their shaking, as he slowly began to speak. "I... as you have likely been briefed, our task here is to... explore the possibilities presented by a new avenue of magitechnology... exponential mana splicing. We have determined that it has great potential for energy generation, as well as for weaponisation – it makes for a spectacularly powerful operating principle for weapons of mass destruction, in particular. That is... that was the research team's consensus for months. We have been running experiments in order to measure its exact capabilities, to refine the related technologies... it had all gone wonderfully smoothly, as you surely also know from previous reports that I had been sending very diligently." At this, he lifted his eyes again for a moment to meet the inspector's gaze, clearly hoping to see whether she considered this a mitigating circumstance. If she did, she wasn't showing it, silent and motionless again with her arms still crossed. The man sighed and continued.

"Everything was fine until nine days ago. The experiment we ran that day... suddenly reached critical mass. The system was shut down immediately, we did all we could, but... there was no stopping, and no way to prepare for, what would happen. There was a massive implosion, immediately obliterating everything within the experimental chamber. An anomaly was created. Before we could study it or assess the situation, it started slowly expanding. It consumes everything it touches, and within a few minutes, before we could realise the fact that it expands, it extended to the wall of the observation room for the chamber. The researchers present were sucked into the anomaly."

He paused, taking a deep, shuddering breath. To his surprise and utter bewilderment, an impulse entered his mind, which could only have been sent, judging by process of elimination, by Istharnax. It featured no words – instead, it felt like suddenly standing in a patch of warm spring sunlight, reassuring him and calming him down. He gave the inspector an astonished look, but the woman still did not move or say anything. Eventually, he spoke again, pushing the words out with great effort.

"Those it swallowed did not die, or disappear... we saw them again soon, once the growing anomaly had eaten through the walls into a corridor. They did not die, but... they came out broken. Wrong. In the worst sense you can imagine. Actually, imagine the worst thing you can. Got it? Okay, now put that on a factor of 10."

He leaned forward slightly with an expression of wild horror, digging his nails into the edge of his desk. "This... thing, is a hole in reality. A bottomless hole, where even the most essential rules of our world break down. Imagine the effects of that on people. Most matter gets destroyed by this anomaly, but not living things, for some reason. It's not a pretty sight." He was talking fast now, as if to get all of this out of his system as quickly as possible. "And you know what's even worse? These.. things that these people have become... Once they get a hold of a normal living being, can spread this condition to it. They do it purposely. Our only saving grace is that they don't seem to possess much strength or other ability to affect normal space, so they can only roam as far as we let them... until the anomaly eats its way through our walls and defenses, that is."

He went silent, and his face looked so gray that Istharnax prepared to jump out of the way in case he throws up all over the desk. She observed him silently, and eventually spoke again, with her vocabulator, in a quiet, almost kindly tone. "Why did you not send a messenger as soon as possible?"

"I... I don't... I wasn't thinking straight, none of us were. And I was terrified, okay? That this would be blamed on me, all on me... I... I realise saying this will likely get me into even worse trouble, but at this point, what does it matter? So, you know what? It would not be the first time! Not the first time that the City Council has to place blame, so it makes an example of the most readily available hapless sod involved!" He cut off, breathing heavily, and somehow his face managed to turn even more gray from horror at what he had just said, and to whom. Both guards standing across from him gave him looks one would give to a soldier who's just been shot through the lung.

But the inspector, for the first time, stopped looking at him. Her head tilted downwards slightly as her gaze wandered to the desk, and she stayed motionless and silent for at least half a minute. Then she let out a long sigh, a very strange sound coming from someone who does not actually breathe and speaks via vocabulator.

"I... see." Her eyes met the supervisor's again, and, astonishingly, he felt that the faint but ever-present menace was now gone from them. "Guards. Take him into custody, but do not send him back to Nezebgrad until I say so... or until it's your last opportunity to do so." She stood up, unfolding her long metallic limbs in a way that reminded the supervisor of a strange, bipedal, metallic harvestman. "Do not worry," she addressed him again, "I will make sure you are treated fairly. And I don't mean the usual 'fair trial' bullshit." The swearword was so out of left field and so strange to hear from the mouth of this terrifying, looming undead beanpole that the supervisor almost laughed. "You will receive punishment for the grave error of sending no message, but I will not let the Council put the blame on you for all of this. You could not have known this would happen. I have yet to find out if any surviving specialist staff members could have known, but I doubt it."

With that, she turned and strode out of the room, the supervisor still sitting motionless and staring after her even as one of the guards approached to handcuff him. He only snapped out of his bewilderment once the guard started nudging him to make him stand up, and had to shout "T-thank you, Inspector! Thank you!" to make sure the woman can still hear him, the metallic clangs of her footsteps echoing down the hallway.

[thewritingcaptain]

A Simple Plan (Chapter 13)

He still half-expected Tony to say something, anything, to try to convince him not to go through with it. But whether because they're already on the ground or because he was afraid of listening ears or because of something else entirely, it didn't come. Instead, all he got was a quiet warning and a tug on the arm. "Come on. Just keep your head down and whatever they say or do, don't say anything."

The switch happens.

The last few days went by quickly.

Tony tried to talk to Peter several times. Every time, the kid dodged his questions, or gave him half-assed answers, or redirected his attention somewhere else. Tony noticed every time, but there was little he could do. The only constant in their conversations was their avoidance of what was to come, and the fact that Peter continually insisted that they had to go through with it, and that he would be fine, with a tired half-smile that did nothing to hide the fact that he knew he was lying.

It made Tony want to pull his hair out, but his hands were tied. It was a bad situation or a worse situation, and he simply didn't have the time to come up with a better solution in the day and a half they had left than to go through with the switch and follow up to make sure the kid got home safe.

This whole scenario was a fiasco. Definitely high on the list of worst decisions he'd ever made. Goal achieved, yes, but at what cost?

He was about to find out.

Click.

Peter winced, both at the sound, and the discomfort associated with it. He had mostly recovered over the course of the three days - or had recovered enough, at least, for them to decide he was well enough off to do the switch. He was still tender, and powers or no, he wasn't sure how long it would take for the scars on his side to fade, if they ever did. Bruce assured him the pain in his side should fade after a while. He just needed to be careful, and not overexert himself for the next little bit.

Peter had agreed, even though he knew he wouldn't have much choice in what he'd be doing with himself for a while, if ever again. Hydra would have him back in their clutches, and he would have to deal with it. If he survived whatever they had planned - a second round of experimentations, most likely - then he'd likely still just be a test subject. If by some miracle they let him go again, life wouldn't just go on the same way. They'd use him against the Avengers at any chance they could, because he'd been in contact with them. He'd resist, of course, but that didn't always mean much. And on the off chance that that worked, his parents still knew what had happened, or at least they would shortly. Lord only knew what kind of new rules he'd have in place now. Being Spider-Man was likely not going to be feasible any longer, between them and the fact that once Hydra found out what his powers were, surely they'd put two and two together, and then-

"Sorry, Peter." Bruce's voice brought him back to the present, pulling out of the dark spiral of his thoughts. The doctor sounded guilty as he adjusted the handcuffs he'd clicked around the teen's wrists. "I know this has to hurt, and believe me when I say I warned against it, but-"

"But there could be spies for Hydra anywhere," Captain America completed. He offered Peter a small, sad smile. "Sorry, kid. The metal is real, too. We don't know how much they know, which is precisely why we have to keep up appearances."

"It's fine. Honestly. Just slightly uncomfortable," Peter assured, even though it was more than slightly uncomfortable and he was decidedly not fine. But if he gave any of them even the slightest hint of that, they'd never go through with the switch. They wouldn't get Wanda back, or someone would get hurt in the process of getting her back, and it would be his fault. And for what? It wasn't like he was worth much. He certainly couldn't make up for the loss of any of the Avengers in any respect. He was just a stupid kid.

They were only being nice to him because they felt guilty, he reminded himself. Tony's offer - one of likely salvation, but he didn't let himself consider that - was only because he felt guilty, for abducting him and especially for nearly killing him. But Peter didn't blame any of them. He was far less important in the grand scheme of things - and far more expendable.

They were still at the tower, for a minute. They were about to head out to the spot the switch was going to be - the same place, apparently, that Tony had made the drop off. Cap seemed to think that they had chosen that place specifically because it was so far out of the way there was little way for the Avengers to double cross them successfully. Tony thought it was more for spite, since it just so happened to be the same place that they had gotten their asses handed to them not that long before.

As per Hydra's demands, Peter was going to fly over with Tony, and Cap and everyone else would stay in the Quinjet, waiting in the wings to be backup if something were to go wrong. Peter doubted anything would. Hydra wanted him back, and if that meant giving up Wanda to get him, they'd do it. That wasn't to say that they might not come back for her again later, but apparently somebody had decided he was valuable enough to give her up and risk the inconvenience of having to abduct her again if they decided later they wanted her back as well.

They all loaded in the jet. Even the newly recovered Avengers were coming, though they were supposed to stay out of direct combat if at all possible. Nat had gotten rid of her sling, and if Clint was still wearing any of his braces or bandages, it was hidden under his combat gear. Peter was sure neither of them were really completely healed, nor were they probably actually cleared to be there, but who was going to try to make either of them stay behind? Not even Cap or Tony dared to contest them.

The ride there was tense. Conversations were in low whispers, if not completely silent. As all things do when you're dreading them, the plane ride seemed to go incredibly quick. Peter stayed close to Tony, as much because he was bound up as because he was the least awkward one of the Avengers for him to be around. The elder hero's imposing presence at his shoulder calmed him, even if he was the one who had caused all this to begin with. At this point, he trusted Tony more than he trusted his own parents. He didn't know what that meant for his future, nor was it something he really wanted to examine, but it was true.

The Quinjet stopped.

It was deathly quiet for a moment. He could feel the weight of it, the intensity behind all the stares on him. Everyone knew what came next, and no one wanted to break this moment and force him into it.

Peter sat up. "I think it's time." He was careful to keep his voice light but strong. If he showed any fear or hesitation at this point…

Tony sighed heavily. "Yeah, it is. But, Peter…"

"I know, Mr. Stark." He couldn't look at him and keep up the facade he knew he needed to, so he didn't look at him. He studied the bonds on his hands instead. "I know. No one wants to, and no one is going to make me. But I need to."

"But you don't have to. You don't want to, and we don't want you to."

"But I need to," Peter repeated, quietly but firmly.

Tony looked away, clearly pained. Captain America sighed, and Peter couldn't look at him, either, as he spoke. "The kid has made his choice, Tony. We need to honor it."

"He's a kid. He shouldn't be allowed to make a choice like this."

"Well, there's no one objective or actually responsible for him to do it for him, and we both know he's thought this through more than any of us probably have, Tony. If you won't do it, I will."

Cap went to stand, but Tony was between them instantly. "I don't think so." He turned back to Peter with a sigh, still looking pained. He tilted Peter's chin up gently, forcing him to meet his eyes. "You're sure, kid?"

Peter had to swallow hard against the emotion rising in his chest, to make himself pretend that the sincerity and pain in the elder hero's eyes doesn't feel like it's burning him. "I'm sure, Mr. Stark."

"Fine." The faceplate snapped into place, and then Tony's hand touched his arm, giving him a light tug to get him on his feet and within arms reach. "Okay. Keep on the comms. I don't anticipate this going too sour, but be on alert anyway."

"We've got your back, Tony," Cap said simply. He looked over at Peter and gave him a tiny salute. "See you later, Peter."

Peter barely had time to nod, and then Tony's arms were around him and they were free-falling out the door of the Quinjet.

Wait, not free-falling, he reminded himself. He could feel the distinct hum of Tony's repulsors, keeping them from actually free-falling towards certain doom. They were flying.

The feeling might have been more exhilarating if it weren't for the dread coiled in his stomach.

All too soon, they touched down at the mouth of the ruined cave. The signs of the collapse that had severely injured most of the Avengers were still there - dust and rubble floating and scattered about as if it happened hours instead of days ago.

Tony set him on his feet, grabbing him by one of his bound arms and tugging him along. Peter followed him silently, knowing the harshness of the action was just for show. Even if it did hurt his still-tender wounds a little bit.

He still half-expected Tony to say something, anything, to try to convince him not to go through with it. But whether because they're already on the ground or because he was afraid of listening ears or because of something else entirely, it didn't come. Instead, all he got was a quiet warning and a tug on the arm. "Come on. Just keep your head down and whatever they say or do, don't say anything."

Peter just nodded and let himself be pulled along. He doesn't have anything to say, and there's no time for him to even if he had. They barely made it a few steps into the cave when at least a dozen Hydra agents materialized around them, surrounding them.

Tony stopped abruptly, pulling Peter to a stop with him. Peter glanced at him, but there was no way to tell what he was thinking with the faceplate on. "I brought the kid," he called, his voice sounding echoey and metallic from the suit. "Where is she?"

The kid . They were back to that. It made sense, of course - sounding too familiar with him was dangerous - but it still stung. And that was ridiculous, but it was still true.

Peter scanned the faces around them as best as he could, his stomach sinking with every unfamiliar face. It's no surprise, but the confirmation of exactly what he was afraid of made him glad he had only taken a few bites of his breakfast this morning.

His parents were nowhere to be seen. The only two people who might have been able to make a case for his life, if they even had enough power to do so, couldn't even be bothered to show up to the exchange.

The world dimmed for a second as he came to terms with the realization that he was right. He was going back to Hydra, and this time, he was almost certainly a dead man.

A strangled cry snapped him back to reality. Some of the agents parted, and a girl with long red hair was shoved forward between them. Wanda, he knew, from both what they've told him and the glimpse of the video Tony had showed him in his workshop. Oh, how long ago that seemed.

It seemed even longer based on the way she looked. If she'd looked bad in the video, that was nothing compared to the way she looked now. If the Hydra agents hadn't been prodding her forward like cattle, there was no way she would have been walking. She stumbled and limped heavily with every step, dried and new blood alike making the wounds all over her body indistinguishable. Her pretty red hair was streaked with blood, and what he could see of her face around the blindfold looked like she'd taken a fresh beating right before coming out. Peter had a feeling that the only reason she wasn't pale as a ghost was because of the redness from that happening not too long ago.

Tony's grip tightened on his arm as he swore lowly. Tension was clearly pooled in every muscle of his body, even through the suit. The Hydra agents shifted restlessly, as if they could sense it and were readying their weapons for the inevitable double cross.

"Mr. Stark," Peter pleaded quietly. Even he didn't know what he was pleading for, exactly, but he just couldn't help it. He could hear the muttering of the other Avengers talking in Tony's ear. What they were trying to say was lost on him this time, though. They must have been being careful, wary of Hydra possibly listening in.

There's a few minutes of tense silence as they all studied each other. Then Tony let out a little growl, shoving Peter forward so suddenly that he stumbled and fell to his knees a few feet away. "Here. Take him."

The agents facing them exchanged a few looks, and then one of them nodded. Another grabbed Wanda's arm, hauling the blindfolded woman forward into the center of the cave.

Cold metal nudged him in the back. "Get up, kid," Tony ordered.

Peter carefully got to his feet, walking toward the Hydra agent stalking toward him. Was the coldness all part of the facade? he wondered. Or had the kindness been the real facade, only for as long as they needed him to serve his purpose? He didn't know. But then, did it really matter anymore, anyway?

He was barely within arm's reach of the Hydra agent before the man reached out to grab him, his grip like steel and somehow so much colder than that of the suit. He shoved Wanda forward again, throwing her down at Tony's feet. "You have what you came for now," the man said, his accent thick and rough. "Now go."

Peter glanced back over his shoulder toward the elder hero. He hadn't moved from the exact same spot he'd stopped in when all the agents had appeared. As Peter watched, he knelt to carefully scoop up Wanda's broken form, then rose slowly. Peter could swear his eyes were on him the whole time, despite not being able to see them through the helmet.

"Fine," Tony said. "I suppose I will." He paused, and Peter was sure, again, that Tony was looking directly at him in that split second. "I'd say goodbye, but I'm sure we'll meet again, so… enjoy the freedom while it lasts."

Enjoy the freedom, Peter thought. Yeah right. If only.

The suit inclined its head toward him, then, without another word, lifted off the ground and blasted out of the cave, flying right over the Hydra agents surrounding them with Wanda cradled in his arms.

The agent holding him twisted his arm almost immediately. Peter grunted in pain, but doesn't resist, letting himself be forced to his knees again.

It's only fitting, he thought, that his last glimpse of the outside world was a sliver of sun and a shadow of his hero flying away from him. It was hard to be upset with that, all things considered.

He'd always known it would end this way, one way or another. Even if it wasn't Hydra, he'd known when he decided to put on the suit that he would likely die at the hands of some unnamed villain. He'd just hoped it would be while doing something good, not being torn apart as an unwilling test subject.

Oh well. He should have known he never really would be able to escape Hydra. This was what he got for that foolish hope.

Still, he watched the suit fly until the dot was so small and far away that even his enhanced eyesight couldn't track it, and he could have sworn he heard the low hum of the Quinjet's engine fade away.

Or maybe it was just the sound of the real world dying in his ears as the Hydra agent stabbed him in the neck and he succumbed to the blackness eating at the edges of his vision. The last thing he sees is the fading light in the mouth of the cave, and then he knows no more.

End of Part 1.

@lyrical-harmony @lovinmarvel3000 @tell-that-to-my-feather @twixen93 @m0ther-of-dragons @dantedeletes

[fictioninmyblood]

Protector of Her Heart

Chapter Four

Note: I am new to writing fanfic (this is my first one). I welcome constructive criticism as well as pointers and tips for bettering my blog. Thank you for reading :) Also, I am sorry I took so long to post this. Thank you for understanding.

Summary: Elinora is an empath’s version of Professor X, only a lot more powerful. She is an enhanced human with the ability to read the world’s emotions. Nick Fury has welcomed her into the fold, but with a fear of herself she has been quite reserved. A forced bonding night with the newly discovered Wakandan royalty brings her out of the shadows of fear and into the light of lust.

Warning: some language, implied smut, 18+

Ingcuka - white wolf

Ndiyazi ukuba uyothuka, kodwa nceda ungahambi. Andiyi kukulimaza. - I know you're scared, but please do not go. I will not hurt you.

umfana wam omncinane - my little warrior

Previous Chapter

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Three days. Three fucking days! If he ever got his hands on her she was definitely going to get a spanking. This woman was driving him up a wall with her antics. For the first day he was beside himself with worry since he could not feel her emotions anymore. Whatever connection they had started to create was gone when he awoke. So he resorted to basically stalking her bedroom door, always checking up on her despite the lack of response when he knocked and the fact that she never came out of the damn room. On the second day, he felt relief at her being alive since Natasha had reassured him that she was just back to avoiding everybody. Now he was just purely frustrated and angry at her for denying him the one thing he craved.

T’Challa found M’Baku pacing in the kitchen with determined strides mumbling to himself.

“I must presume with the way you are still going about that she has not graced us with her presence yet.”

M’Baku stopped pacing momentarily to look at the king and grunt in acknowledgement.

“You know, I understand what you are going through maybe I can help.”

“I will figure this out on my own.”

“Suit yourself.”

James walked in catching the conversation, hesitating slightly in his decision.

“Listen, I probably shouldn’t tell you this since she would most likely see this as a betrayal of trust, but I think I know a way for you to get to her.”

M’Baku perked up at those words, giving James his undivided attention.

“I would greatly appreciate any opportunity to speak with her again.”

T’Challa butt in earning himself a glare that could melt the polar caps, “Are sure ingcuka?”

“Well, I kinda know what she is going through, she doesn’t see herself like we do. She thinks she is cursed and HE is the first person to reach her and really connect. I am not going to ignore that, especially since she needs the love and affection he is offering.”

“But you are probably the only one in your group she even talks to. You would give that up for this stranger?”

“T’Challa, if you do not cease your meddling I will crush you.”

“You can’t just force yourself on the girl, it needs to happen naturally. There is always another way, especially in the face of destroying what little she has in the way of relationships.”

“Is that your offer to put our lives and timetable on hold so that we can allow things to happen naturally?”

At T’Challa’s sigh of defeat, “I thought not.”

In light of his very valid points, James gave him the one secret she had yet to disclose with anyone else, “If you want to see her, tonight would be the best opportunity. For one she is a serious night owl so seeing her during the day is a rarity. And two, she loves the rain, there is a thunderstorm coming and she usually goes out in them.”

“How do you get her to tell you things like this?”

“Well, she didn’t exactly tell me. I have trouble sleeping sometimes too and I found her dancing out in the middle of a storm a couple of weeks ago. After some coercing, she explained that it helps her feel calm and herself. After yesterday’s formal introduction I started to suspect that the storms probably help block off the emotions of everybody although I haven’t verified this with her yet. And the dancing is a telltale of her letting go and just living in the moment.”

T’Challa folded his arms and stroking his beard in thought, “hmph, this girl gets more interesting the longer we stay.”

“She is one of the most interesting people I've ever known and I've come to love her like a sister in the short time she's been here. So since we're basically her family now, if you hurt her M’Baku, I will kill you slowly and in a tortuous way.”

“Do not worry, for I M’Baku, leader of the Jabari tribe, shall protect her with all that I am.”

T’Challa shook his head, “must you always be this dramatic?”

-----------------------

Nora had been antsy for the last few days. Avoiding everyone seemed so hard now that she had connected a little bit more. She now knew they weren't going to get hurt by her, unless she tried to intentionally, which brought about a fierce hunger for affection she was not entirely prepared for. M’Baku made it worse than it needed to be with his presence. He had basically taken up residence at her door whenever they came back after various meetings, press conferences, and whatever else they had going on. The man was resilient and seeing him asleep outside her door each night made it that much harder.

His constant persistence on top of the rising emotions of the world, especially in this country was really weighing on her. So when she woke up to the smell of rain in the air she breathed a sigh of relief and relished in the knowledge that she would soon be able to feel free from the burden of emotions people carelessly projected into the world.

-------------------------------------

Same as the previous nights, she walked out of her room to the sight of M’Baku sleeping in front of her door, or so she thought. She laid a blanket over him to stave off the cold seeping in from the floors and tiptoed around him in order to avoid confrontation. She went outside and walked into the rain relishing the cleansing feeling she got to experience each time, physically, mentally, and emotionally. Twirling around and down into criss-cross applesauce, she started her meditation process, breathing the cleansing air of the storm in and the negative emotions cluttering her spirit out.

M’Baku watched her actions from inside the house, the night sky providing cover in its darkness. Whatever she was doing opened her up to M’Baku for he felt what she did once again. Though the sight and feeling combined was something he had never witnessed before, he knew it was something to behold.

After Nora finished meditating she danced as if she was a child again. Not caring that she was soaked to the bone, she let herself go, crying through each movement over and over until she felt tired enough to go back inside and hopefully sleep.

She passed right by M’Baku not realizing that she was caught until he spoke up. “You will be needing this, you do not want to catch a sickness” he said as he held up a towel for her dry off. Startled, she jumped and just barely held back her scream. “Why are you sneaking up on me?!” Her heart was pounding so hard she wouldn’t have been surprised if he could hear it. “Well, when the love of my life avoids me like the plague, one must revert to hunting tactics. We need to talk Elinora.”

Looking down she mumbled, “I don’t wanna talk to you.” Taking his forefinger and thumb, he grasped her chin gently but firm, tilting her head up until she had no choice but to look him in the eye, “Ndiyazi ukuba uyothuka, ungashiyi. Andiyi kukulimaza..” Nora pulled away from him despite the incessant need to lean in, “I can’t do this, whatever it is, please just leave it alone.” She looked back up and the determination in M’Baku’s eyes both scared and thrilled her, he wasn't going to be giving up anytime soon.

Pulling away, she solidified her decision that they shouldn’t be together, but the big brute was obviously not letting this go and she was not having this conversation with him so she did the only thing she thought she could do in that moment, she ran. Probably not the smartest idea, but she was desperate to not have to deal with this situation. Stunned, it took M’Baku a second to process what was happening, but once he did, he thanked Hanuman for his training. Moving faster than should be possible for someone his size, he caught up in three strides grabbing her by the waist and throwing her over his shoulder. He continued on to his way as if he didn’t just lift her over his shoulder.

“You seem to have an affinity for fleeing and have yet to understand that I will not tolerate you running away from us.” Smacking his back in protest, Nora replied, “Put me down you big brute! Can’t you take a freaking hint! I don’t want to talk to you and I don’t want whatever this is!” M’Baku grunted and smacked her bottom in reply continuing the journey to his room. Stunned at the action and her body’s response Nora stopped her antics since moving at all caused her body to perk up even more and take notice of the power now underneath her.

“I thought we would have a civil conversation, but it seems you want to fight me and us every step of the way.” M’Baku walked into his room and locked the doors. “That is fine, I am just as stubborn and twice as resilient.” Walking to his drawer he pulled out a shirt and handcuffs. Catching the glint of metal made heat pool low in her belly.

M’Baku walked into his closet, closing that door as well before depositing Nora on unsteady legs.

“I am going to turn my back, you are going to strip and put this shirt on. I will not have you catching a cold.” She shivered at his demand. “See? You are already shivering.” Thankful for the scapegoat she said nothing to indicate it was him having an effect on her and not her drenched clothes. After he turned around she moved as quickly as possible, not risking him seeing her in all her naked glory.

Once she was done changing, M’Baku picked her up in the same manner not trusting the little minx after realizing her tendency to run. “I am too heavy for you to constantly be picking me up like this just let me walk.” He gave her another swat eliciting a low moan that did not go unnoticed, “I do no not know who told you such lies, but for me you are the equivalent of a feather.” Easing her onto the bed as gently as possible while trapping her underneath him he looked at her as if he was searching for the secrets of her soul. She looked away, not accustomed to such intense attention focused solely on her. Pushing her hair to the side M’Baku leaned down and whispered in her ear, “give me your hands umfana wam omncinane.” With him staring at her again, it seemed as if she no longer had control over her body because she followed his instruction without question, lost in his gaze.

M’Baku handcuffed her to the bed with her arms above her head. After she was secure he took one finger and traced her body starting from her fingertips, down her arms and sides, to her luscious thighs and finally her toes. Starting back up from her instep, he worked his way back up stopping a few centimeters from where she craved his touch most. Looking up and licking his lips, speaking in a voice deepened by lust and longing, “now that I have your undivided attention…”

Chapter Five

Tags: @skysynclair19 @biglipsandafropicks

[lady-une]

Chapter 10

Well here it is people, the next chapter in Jay and Sarah’s painful love story. I have read this over and over and still feel like an epic bitch for writing this. I wanna thank my beautiful beta @tears-of-orphans for all her comments on this chapter as she read it because it really helped me feel a bit better. As always please leave me some comments or send me an anon ask just letting me know how you felt about this chapter. Aslo please share away. Just an FYI i am going to take a couple of days and just plot out the rest of this story because its at that point these two need to make their final choices before the rest of the story is wrapped up. I hope you all enjoy!

Sarah

Saturday morning came and it was even more hectic than I thought it would be. I arrived at the venue and was rushed into the back area where I was washed, buffed, and waxed. I never imagined they did these kinds of things for a fashion show, I had always figured the people showed up and went into hair and makeup before being thrown into the clothes. I was given the undergarments that would go well with the clothes before they made me try on each outfit making sure there were no last-minute alterations. When they were satisfied that everything fit properly they put us in silk robes and had us do a mock run on the catwalk while they also did the sound check and lighting. All of the girls and guys participating in the show were very friendly and helped me with any questions I had about the process.

When it was getting closer to the show they had us all gather in the back so Ji Soo could give her speech about how much this meant to her and how much she appreciated all of us being here with her. The music started and it was our cue to get in our first set of clothes.

  Jay

When we arrived at the venue we took our time walking down the red carpet stopping for pictures here and there. Some wanted pictures of the AOMG team as Gray, Loco, and Chase had also joined me being that Sarah was in the show and Gray was set to perform at the after party. Other reporters wanted pictures of me with Beam, she of course was also invited and tagged along with me not wanting to miss the opportunity to be captured on film hanging off my arm. This little arrangement I had with her was starting to bore me, when I first started this it was only to help me distance myself from Sarah and rid her from my mind. Baem was only supposed to be a distraction but then I was offered a spot on a show and things just got complicated from there. All I wanted to do was cut my ties with this woman, I hated how she was acting thinking something more would come from this. I knew her goal and like hell would I ever settle down with this woman, her nickname fitted her perfectly because she really was a snake. I was still very much confused with everything going on between Sarah and me, I very much so wanted her every time I saw her but I knew it wasn’t a good idea. Plus there was the issue of Gray, he was infatuated with her and I hated that me pushing her away only pushed her into his arms. I wanted her to be happy but damn it if the sight of those two together didn’t make me extremely jealous.

The flashing lights from the cameras brought me back to the present as Baem tugged on my arm leading me towards the entrance to the venue. We were shown to our seats which were front row giving us the best view possible of the catwalk. The music was playing a mixture of hip hop and some remixes of other pop songs but making them sound a little more edgy then the original version. I sat next to Baem and Gray sat next to me followed by Loco and Chase.

“Jay baby will you buy me some clothes?”


I rolled my eyes, “Don’t you have your own money?”


“I do but it will look and feel better when I know my boyfriend bought them for me.”

“Fine, I will buy you one outfit. Baem don’t be like those other women out there living off their man’s money. My money needs to be spent on more important things then items for you. God this is why I don’t date.”

Baem’s hand started to snake its way up my arm to my neck where she tried to pull my face to hers but I held back. “Don’t say that, I will give you a little reward later tonight.”

I knew she was trying to sound sexy but it only made my skin crawl for some reason. The sex between us these days hasn’t even been enough to keep me entertained, hell my dick isn’t even getting hard thinking about this reward. “Don’t worry about it.”

The lights dimmed down and the music got louder. The catwalk lit up and the models started walking out one by one taking their time to stop for pictures at the end of the catwalk before they turned and walked back down giving the opposite side a chance to also see the garments. When the women started coming out Baem took her phone out and started taking notes of which clothing she liked best.

I felt her lean in and whisper in my ear, “These night club garments are going to be a big hit in the club scene I am sure of it.”

I turned my head to respond to her comment when I heard Gray and Loco making a fuss next to me.

“Who let her wear that? She can’t be in that!”


“What are you talking about Loco, she looks amazing!”

“The hell she does, she is like my baby sister and that is too much, well really it’s too little for her to be wearing.”

I turned my head and there she was walking like she owned the cat walk. She was in a attention grabbing outfit that fit her style perfectly. I started at her feet to see her in a pair of black heeled boots that had the heels made up of metal with spikes sticking out. The heels made her legs look like they went on for days until they met with a black short skirt. It was so short that had she fallen or bent over you would have been able to see everything she attempted to hide. Picturing her bent over my desk in that skirt had me adjusting my position in my chair. I continued up and paused when I saw the handcuffs on the belt. I smiled wondering how those had returned, clearly, she was feeling like the bad ass bouncer she was back home. My view continued it’s way up to the shirt that really wasn’t a shirt but some kind of tube top flimsy thing that hugged her too tight. She wore a vest over the top that barely covered her and again there were spikes prominent on the shoulders. Around her neck was a black leather choker that had little handcuffs in the front. Her eyes were dark and smoky while her hair was tightly pulled back into a bun. Gone was the sweet little princess that Gray had everyone envisioning her, no instead here walked a woman dark and deliciously sinful, she was truly the baby girl of my fantasies. I again shifted in my chair feeling my dick get hard at the thought of her moaning out my name, I tried to make the shift look as normal as possible but Baem noticed.

“Look a little girl is playing dress up. She shouldn’t really be here, this is for grown women and not some little kid. Who even allowed her to do this.”

I nodded my head, not because she shouldn’t be here for that reason but because I didn’t want people to see what I have always seen. Part of me was still very much selfish and was wanting to keep her hidden from the prying eyes of every male in here. I closed my eyes and reminded myself that I can’t act foolishly no matter how much she turned me on. When I opened my eyes, she was just coming back down the cat walk and our eyes connected for a brief second and I wish I saw happiness in them but I didn’t, all I saw was pain. The same thing that I have been seeing since I started to pull away and distance myself from her, more so now since I had my way with her in my office. I hated seeing that look in her eye and hated myself for being the one to put it there. Whenever I saw that look I regretted my choice to distance myself, all I wanted to do was take her in my arms and tell her how sorry I was for everything.

Sarah only came out a few more times in less revealing clothes. Ji Soo was very talented with designing the clothes and I made a note to ask her to design some clothing for the crew. Sarah came out in some every day clothes and in some business attire that made her look even more delicious then first one. She looked like every male’s office fantasy come to life with a tight pencil skirt and long heels. I licked my lips as I watched her walk by making a mental note to ask Ji Soo to gift that particular outfit to Sarah, I would pay Ji Soo any amount she wanted as long as

I got to see that on her body again.....preferably before they lay strewn across my floor. I crossed my arms over my legs and bent forward trying to hide the bulge that would be pretty evident if anyone looked closely. The last outfit of the night was formal wear and Sarah had on a thin black dress that could easily double as lingerie if it was only shorter. It was a classic dress and the accessories were minimal allowing her beauty to shine through.

“I may have to buy that one.”

I heard Gray say to Loco quietly but I easily heard him. I held back the growl and clenched my fists at the thought of Gray watching Sarah up close with that dress on. The music changed after the last model walked into the back and then the lights got brighter as Ji Soo walked out to bow and thank everyone for coming. When she went into the back the lights came on all the way and everyone slowly made their way to where the after party was going to be held. Gray said he would meet up with us later as he ran to the back to get ready for his performance. He was only going to perform a couple of songs and the rest of the music would be handled by a DJ. I again allowed Baem to link her arm with mine and drag me to the next room.

Gray

I walked in the back area and found Ji Soo talking with some models, I looked around for Sarah to talk to her but didn’t see her. I waited for Ji Soo to finish talking before I approached her to congratulate her on an amazing show and of course to put a request in for the black dress she had Sarah in.

“Of course she can have it! I am sure she will put that dress to good use during the award show season.”

“Oh for sure she will. Where is she by the way?”


“She is changing into another dress, I had one made especially for the after party. Why don’t you go get changed, I had some clothes made up for you as well.”

I thanked Ji Soo before I was shown the way to change into my clothes still not being able to see Sarah.

Jay

The DJ was playing some music that I wasn’t paying attention to as I scanned the crowd for my baby girl. I wanted to congratulate her on how amazing she was and how beautiful she looked up there. I saw Ji Soo enter and was swarmed by reports taking pictures of her and asking her questions. I left Baem and the guys back as I walked up to Ji Soo and pulled her into a hug congratulating her and allowing the reports to take some pictures of us together. I asked her where Sarah was and she pointed across the room just as she entered. She was in a dark blue almost black silky dress that had a long slit up the side of her leg. The top of the dress hugged her chest and was held up by some straps that hung off her shoulders. When she turned around to wave at someone I noticed the back of her dress was open fully and went dangerously low to the point that some black lacy material that I assumed were her panties showed with her movement.

“Oh no she forgot the necklace, excuse me.”

Ji Soo ran back to the dressing rooms to fetch the necklace as I stood there watching Sarah walk and talk to some random people. The room was filled with celebrities from both the music and acting industry, hungry male gazes were trained on her as she went from person to person talking to them. When I saw her stopped by the actor Kim Woo Bin I felt something inside me stir to life, I knew this particular actor was one of her favorites and she often fawned over him and his roles in the dramas. I watched her laugh softly at something he said just as he put his hand behind her back and lead her towards the bar. I wanted to break that hand off him for touching what didn’t belong to him. I was about to move when I heard Ji Soo come back from behind.

“Jay can you please help her with this, I need to help one of the models in the back.”

“Sure thing.”

She handed me the necklace before she ran back and I made my way towards Sarah. She was laughing and letting her hand rest on his arm to help stabilize herself. When I got closer I cleared my throat to get their attention.

“Good evening Sarah.” I smiled before looking up at the male sending him a look that told he him to get. “Good evening Mr. Kim.”

He coughed a little saying a reply before he excused himself. I was able to turn my attention to Sarah who didn’t look too happy to be see me.

“Well that was rude, I was talking to him.”


“I saw that, he looked as if he was enjoying himself a little too much with your company. Safe to say you were as well.”


She scoffed and went to turn away but I grabbed her hand stopping her. “Wait Ji Soo wanted me to help you with a necklace you forgot.”


Her hand went up noticing she did in fact forget it. “Oh, I can’t believe I forgot it.”

I walked behind her and moved her hair to the side giving me access to her neck. I brought the necklace around her neck and clasped in the back before my hands came to her hips holding her in place as I whispered in her ear. “You looked absolutely breathtaking up there baby girl. That first outfit was perfect for the sassy little kitten in you. But it was that office outfit that probably had every man in here hard as a rock.” I pushed my bulge into her ass to emphasize my point. “You have no idea how hard it was to not jump up on that stage and take you away over my shoulder. The things I had running through my mind of what I wanted to do to you would make even the dirtiest girl blush.”

I heard her gasp before she spoke, “Jay there are people here you can’t do this.”

“To hell with the people here, I want you so bad right now.”

I could feel her skin prickling with goosebumps as I knew she was being turned on with everything I was saying. “Come away with me baby girl, ditch this stupid party.”

The start of Gray’s music started playing which must have cleared her mind of the seductive haze I had her in. She pulled away and turned to me with a glare in her eyes and shook her head before she walked off. I was left there at the bar with a raging hard on needing my baby girl but she was already making her way towards the dance floor to watch Gray perform.

Sarah

I couldn’t believe he would pull such a stunt where everyone could easily see us. Yeah, he had me turned on but that wasn’t important. I saw him sitting next to the snake as I first came in. I saw the guys all smiling at me but my eyes were drawn to Jay with the suit he was wearing tonight. He looked amazing and I had only wished it was me he was with and not that snake. I noticed her glare at me as I made my way up and down the catwalk. I saw a waiter walking around with glasses of champagne and grabbed one as I made my way to the dance area to watch Gray perform. He looked so handsome in the jack and slacks that Ji Soo had made him, I smiled at him while I drank my drink. My hips were swaying to the beat as he started to jump around the stage hyping up the crowd. I felt him before he spoke, my body was stupid for this man even when my brain was very much against another round of intimacy with him. I felt his hand come around my waste as he came to stand next to me, he pulled me closer to him as I downed my drink.

“Has he even made his move yet on you?”


My head shot to the side to look at Jay pissed at his question, “It’s none of your business.”

“Then he hasn’t.” “If you really need to know, yes and it was mind blowing. He had me screaming his name at the top of my lungs and had me unable to stand with how weak I was in the legs. He was the best I ever had.”

Jay’s grip on me tightened and I knew I hit a nerve, he looked at me with fire in his eyes and a growl in his chest. “Don’t play with me baby girl, I know your lying to me. Even if I haven’t known you your whole life I picked up on some things. Whenever you lie your eye twitches ever so slightly that you could miss it if you aren’t looking for it. So, I know damn well he hasn’t done anything that would make you scream out or weak in the legs.”

Fuck! I didn’t even know he had picked up on that, both of my dads use to laugh whenever I tried to lie to them because they also pointed out that little eye twitch. “We might not have fucked yet he has made a move, he made me feel good and that’s all that matters.” I turned my attention back to Gray and his performance.

“Don’t try and lie to yourself, yes he might have made you feel good but he won’t be able to make you feel the way I do. His voice and touch won’t ever set your skin a fire like mine does. Your body responds to me so well, I know exactly what you want and need.” He leaned in closer to my ear, “I bet your wet right now just thinking about me taking you in this dress. Just say the word baby girl and I will be the one to make you so weak in the legs that I will need to carry you to bed.”

I bit back a groan and shook from of his grasp turning and making a B line for the nearest exit. The venue was connected to a hotel and I knew there would be places for me to hide away from Jay or even to just catch a cab out of here. I didn’t want to just ditch Ji Soo on a special night so I took the hallway that lead to some other smaller meeting rooms, figuring if anything I could easily dip into one of them and wait for Gray to finish his song. As I was rounding the corner of the deserted hallway I felt my hand being grabbed and spun around to have my back hit the wall.

“Where do you think you are going baby girl.”

I thought I would have been able to hide before he found me but I guess I was wrong, “Away from you.”

“Why would you want to do that?”

“Because we can’t do this Jay, go back to the snake and leave me be. I refuse to play this cat and mouse game with you. I want to be someone’s first choice and priority, I am clearly none of those to you. I deserve that, I don’t need to be confused by you all the fucking time!” My anger was rising every second I was near him. “I won’t play this game with you! I refuse to and you need to get that sick twisted mine of yours straight. So what if I pick Gray over you, you pushed me away Jay! I was fucking happy with what we had going and it was you for some reason who went and started fucking around with that snake of a woman! You were the one being the jack ass towards me who didn’t do a damn thing to warrant such a treatment. So back the fuck up and let me live, let me go find someone who will make me their priority.”

“Even if I let you go to either Gray or some other guy they won’t make you feel the way I do.”

“It’s not always about sex Jay, god! Even if it was who are you to say they won’t have me screaming out in pleasure every night? It’s a two-way street Jay, with every bit of pleasure they give me I will return it tenfold. It will be them who I am on my knees in front of taking their dick in my mouth. It will be them who’s dick is milked by my pussy when it clamps down while I ride out my orgasm on them. It will also be them who gets to taste me whenever they please. It will also be their desk I am bent over, not yours. Think on that Jay, just know it’s all your fault, you only have yourself to blame!”

I pushed him away and went to turn to find a room to sit in and collect myself, I left him there standing in the hallway to ponder on my comments. I found a small room that was unlocked and opened the door to walk in, I didn’t even turn to shut the door instead just pushed it back with my hand. The lack of sound coming from the door closing had me turning around thinking I didn’t push it shut hard enough. Instead Jay stood there with his hand on the door holding it open. He looked pissed, I have never seen him look this angry before and it made me worried but at the same time extremely turned on. He stepped in and shut the door before locking it and turning the main light off while leaving the dimmers on.

“You shouldn’t have said such things to me baby girl, I don’t appreciate those kinds of visuals.”

“Well you better get used to it Jay, I want to be happy and I only need to move on away from you. You are already distancing yourself from me so just keep doing that and we won’t have any problems.” I went to move towards the door but Jay grabbed my hand that went to reach for the door knob.

“You are not leaving here until you take back what you said.”


“No, why should I. You made your choice Jay and now you have to live with it.”

“I was only doing what I thought was best for you!”

“You don’t get to decide what’s best for me, that’s something I need to decide for myself. If I needed any help with that choice then I would ask for it. But again, it’s the choice you made so live with it!”

I went to pull away but his grip on my hand was too tight and he stepped forward which had me backing up until I hit a table. I looked behind me and back to Jay’s face still seeing the anger in his eyes.

“Go back to the snake.”

“Fuck that bitch, she was only a distraction from what I have wanted since the first day I saw you.”

I inhaled sharply at his confession, I wasn’t expecting him to say something like this. “Still doesn’t make up for you acting like a jack ass to me.”

Jay let go of my hand and brought that hand up to my face to cup it while his free hand went around my waist pulling me closer to him. “I know it doesn’t and I hate it. I hate that I pushed you to Gray. I hate that look you get in your eye. Part of me want’s to just take you away and spend days on days making up for how I have treated you but there is still a part of me that knows me distancing myself and not going down the path I want is what’s best. God baby girl you have no idea how much of a daily battle it is whenever I see you.”

“That’s exactly what I don’t need, I don’t need to be next to you while you go through this battle. You need to pick a side and stick to it.”

“Just stay right here next to me please baby, don’t leave me until I make that choice.”

I looked up into his eyes and saw them soften from the anger he had before. Now he looked vulnerable in front of me. I could see the turmoil he was going through and I wished I could help him but this had to be a choice he made on his own.

“Jay I can’t..”

I didn’t get a chance to finish what I was trying to say as Jay took my lips with his silencing my rebuttal with his kiss. His kiss was soft and sweet and I couldn’t help but get lost in the way he felt against me. Jay’s hand that was on my face went to my hip before it went down to wear my slit in the dress was. His hand snuck its way under the fabric moving up and around my ass to reveal what kind of underwear I was wearing. He moaned into the kiss when he felt my skin. I deepened the kiss sticking my tongue in his mouth and used it to explore him, he tasted of mint probably from his tooth paste. My hands went around his neck and grabbed at him trying to pull him as close to me as possible. The hand that was holding my hip came around the front my dress to the slit and went under it pulling the material up around my waste to reveal my underwear. I was already backed up to the desk and decided to just sit on it and put my legs around his waist. I felt the bulge in his pants and tried to grind on it needing some kind of pressure on me.

Jay pulled back to kiss my skin under my wear while he whispered, “All you need to do is tell me what you want baby.”

“Touch me daddy.” I moaned out and felt him bite down on my ear causing a new rush of liquid to form in my panties.

Jay hooked his fingers on the side of my black lacy thong and slowly moved them down and I lifted my hips allowing them to come all the way down. Jay bent taking them and sliding them into his pocket while he smirked up at me, I figured I wouldn’t be seeing them again. While he was down there he pushed the dress out of the way and pulled me to the edge of the table before he stuck his tongue out slowly licking me from the bottom up. My head fell back and I let a low moan escape my lips at the sensation of his soft tongue playing with my lower lips. I felt jay hook both of my legs over his shoulder before he pressed his tongue fully against me and sucking on the top part trying to part my lips. He was going so slowly and I needed to feel him.

“Please daddy don’t tease me, touch me!”

“Such a greedy baby tonight.”

Jay parted my lips and pushed his tongue in swirling it around and spreading my juices before he retracted it only to replace it with two fingers. With the presence of his fingers inside caused me to buck my hips and I tried to push down on them needing them far inside me. Jay held me still with his free hand as he pumped is fingers in and out of me. I was moaning and begging him for more which caused him to take my clit in his mouth sucking on it harshly. His fingers kept passing over that perfect spot and I felt my orgasm building up.

“God yes, just like that please don’t stop.”

Jay sped up his movements and then bit down on my clit causing me to fly off the edge of bliss. I screamed out his name not caring if anyone heard me. Maybe it was the mixture of the emotions from our argument and what he was doing but this orgasm was the most powerful one I have ever had with anyone or on my own. My eyes were squeezed shut and tears were prickling at the edge as I rode out the orgasm. When I was done and coming back from bliss I looked up and saw Jay kiss the inside of my legs before he stood and nestled himself between my legs. He bent down to capture my lips with his allowing me to taste myself on him. I heard his zipper go down and he pulled away to look me in the eyes.

“I don’t have a condom baby girl.”


“It’s fine I trust your clean and I am on birth control.”

“Are you sure?”

I nodded my head and pulled him back down to kiss me as I felt his tip at my entrance and then felt him fill me in one single thrust. I moaned into his lips at the feeling of him being fully inside me. I could never get over how good he felt, I wished we could stay here in this moment all night. He slowly started thrusting in and out of me at a slow pace while he broke away from our kiss to make a wet trail down my neck to my collarbone. I felt him suck and nip at my skin making me clamp down on him earning me a groan from him.

“Fuck baby I love when you do that.”

Jay took a hand and stuck it between our connected bodies trying to play with my clit but I begged him not to as I was still so sensitive from my first orgasm. He apologized and kept thrusting in me. I loved how sweet he was being and how loving his movements were. It made me happy but at the same time I felt my heart break a little at the thought of us going back to where we were just minutes ago. Jay must have sensed my inner pain because he stopped and looked into my eyes. 

“Baby don’t think of anything but us right here, right now. Concentrate on how amazing you feel, don’t over think things.” He came back down to kiss away a tear that had slowly escaped my eye.

I nodded my head and moved my head to capture his lips with mine. Jay began to quicken his pace while he nibbled on my lip making me moan out. Even with how powerful my first orgasm was I felt the pleasure building up again. Jay adjusted his hold on me giving him a better chance to go deeper catching that little nerve bundle with the head of his dick. I broke the kiss and moved my head to the side to moan out.

“Yes baby, just feel that. Concentrate on that feeling, the feeling of my cock sliding in and out of your tight pussy. How good it feels and how warm it is.”

I moaned for him to go faster and he obliged now pistoning his member in and out of me. I felt him get even bigger knowing he was getting close and with a couple of more thrusts I was clamping down on him as I rode out another orgasm that wasn’t as strong as the first. I heard him moan out my name before I felt him twitch inside me as he shot streams of hot cum deep inside me.

“Sorry baby, I didn’t mean to cum inside you. I really wanted to pull out but you were holding onto me so tightly.”

I kissed his lips gently, “Don’t worry about it, but now you need to find something to clean up this mess you made.”

Jay smiled and laughed at me before he pulled out of me and found some tissue using it to wipe both of us up. He helped me stand up and held onto me as I felt myself get a little dizzy.

“You ok baby girl?”

“Yeah I just haven’t eaten much of anything today.”

“Well let’s go get you something to eat.”

“Sounds good, but first can I have my panties back?”

“Not a chance in hell, I want to watch you walk around without these panties on. I want to watch you squirm knowing I have them in my pocket.”

I rolled my eyes and let him lead me out of the room leaving it smelling like sex. We walked back to the ballroom and Ji Soo found us.

“Sarah I was looking all over for you.”

“Sorry, I needed some air.”

“That’s ok, I wanted to introduce you to some people.”

Jay put his arm around my waste, “Sarah needs to eat first Ji Soo, she hasn’t had much to eat all day.”

“Don’t worry Jay I will make sure to feed her. Besides that Baem woman was looking for you, she looked as if she need you urgently.”

Just the mention of the snake brought back all the emotions I was trying to forget. I walked out of Jay’s arm and went with Ji Soo needing to get some space between us. I was upset with myself again that I allowed myself to be pulled back in to this stupid dance we had going on. I just wanted Jay to make up his damn mind on what he wanted. As Ji Soo filled me a small plate I made the choice then to not feed into this mess and to start putting my own distance between us.

NEXT CHAPTER

[kingsofchaos]

What do you think it would be like of the fakes got arrested (probably at different times cause they are better than that) and got psych evaluations. The police would probably get even more of an realization that they are freakin monsters. (If you could somehow maybe put freewood in that would make me very happy, but you don't have to if you don't want) ALSO I LOVE YOUR BLOG!!!!

THANKS FRIEND! That makes me feel way worse for what i’m about to do but apologies i’m not super comfortable playing around with psychological evaluations, sorry to disappoint! In lieu i offer you a bit of a more generic, though infinitely more melodramatic, insight into that one time the cops got their hands on Ryan and Gavin then instantly wished they hadn’t. 

To get the Vagabond and Free in custody, to not only pin them down but catch them without killing them in the process, is more or less a goddamn miracle and everybody knew it. There’s a weird energy amongst the LSPD officers, half smug pride at the triumph, half quiet terror at what comes next.The entire journey back to the station is fraught with tension, the completely legitimate fear that the Fake AH Crew may come for their own keeping everyone on high alert. It doesn’t help that despite the fact that there’s no way it could be possible Free and the Vagabond are acting like getting arrested was their intention, like everything is going according to plan. As relaxed as two handcuffed men surrounded by armed officers can possibly be they’ve ignored all demands to shut their mouths in favour of critiquing how well they think everything has been going so far.Ryan asks for the time any chance he gets, responding to each update with a pleased grin so unsettling that officers begin to refuse to answer. In response Ryan has taken to humming a quiet tick tock tick tock tick tock under his breath while he stares them down.The less said about the transfer between van and station the better. Six officers swarm around the Vagabond while only one moves to escort Free, a choice that leaves Ryan shaking his head in utter disbelief and Gavin smirking away like the cat who caught the canary. He leers all over his increasingly uncomfortable guard while Ryan is yanked roughly to his feet and pushed out of the van, followed moments later by a grunt and a scream as Ryan is tazed without provocation and Gavin’s new friend loses a chunk of his arm to that sharp grin. It’s a traumatising experience across the board.By the time Ryan’s head clears they’ve already dragged him into the station, frogmarching him towards an intake room, with Gavin somewhere behind him making lewd comments about the muzzle he’s apparently been threatened with. Shifting to take his own weight has all the officers around Ryan stiffening, but all he does is ask for the time, chortling to himself at the way it makes them flinch.The weapons pat-down is rough. Even the cops know Gavin’s not really in the hands-on half of the crew, aren’t expecting much more than maybe a knife or two, certainly aren’t expecting the arsenal they uncover. Gavin has knives in his pant pockets and shirt pockets and jacket pockets, he has knives in his belt, tucked into his shoe, sewn into linings. There’s so many knives the officers quickly roll from smug superiority into increasing alarm; it borders on comical, on intentional, and Free’s careless grin only grows.  Ryan though, god. On Ryan they find nothing, not a gun, not a knife, not even wire or nail-file; absolutely nothing. It should be a relief but it isn’t, how can it be when there’s no way the Vagabond is actually unarmed? When history has taught them that they surely must have missed something. Ryan bears the increasingly frustrated search with exaggerated compliancy, lips twitching in amusement as Gavin sniggers beside him, the mercenary entirely unresisting yet still exuding an insufferable degree of cheerful insolence.When one man tries to get a rise out of him by sneering out some less than savoury comments about Gavin and his prison prospects the whole room holds its breath, bracing for a sudden act of unstoppable violence, but it doesn’t come. Instead, after a long tense moment of Ryan staring the man directly in the eye, it’s Gavin who breaks the silence, shaking his head and looking far too pleased as he shrugs and sends chills down spines with a cavalier ‘Well that was rude. I do hope your affairs are in order, this one’s really rather overprotective.’ The extended weapons frisk is declared over rather quickly after that.The pair are placed in cells on opposite ends of the station’s holding bay; with walls and doors between them there is absolutely no way legible sound could possible travel between the two. To the disturbed awe of an increasing crowd of officers watching and listening over the cctv the pair proceeded to have a complete conversation at normal talking volume anyway; speaking and responding as though they can hear one another, with appropriate pauses and logical replies, never acknowledging that anything is out of the ordinary. It’s alarming enough that they are frisked again on their way to separate interrogation rooms but no hidden transmitters are found and no one has any idea how on earth they were doing it.You don’t go into an interrogation room armed, that’s just police policy 101, but particular precautions are certainly made for members of the FAHC. Ryan is just about as chained as he could be, handcuffs locked to the table, leg cuffs chained to the floor, and still, as long as there are detectives in the room with him two heavily armed guards will wait just outside the door for the first sign of trouble. On the flipside Gavin, whose teeth are still stained red, bears only handcuffs and a delighted grin. There are no armed guards, the detectives have no fear about leaning into his space, but after the first few are left shell-shocked with their personal secrets dragged into the light there is a serious discussion about getting the LSPD’s in-house psychologist on standby.For the first half of Ryan’s interrogation he says nothing at all. The detectives, all over the moon about finally nabbing the Vagabond, all desperate to show they’re the one who can crack him, throw just about every interrogation trick in the book at him and Ryan just watches on calm as you please, only moving to look up at the clock on the wall. When at last he does open his mouth the relief is short-lived; carefully meandering around confessions Ryan talks in hypotheticals and television plotlines, discussing supposedly fictional violence in such vivid detail his interviewers start looking a little green. It’s quite a talent, to balance technical innocence with an undercurrent of undeniably remorseless responsibility, all while casually discussing the fascinating sounds humans make when they are pulled apart.  In another room Gavin slouches in his metal chair like it’s a throne, like the worst kind of entitled, like the grown-up version of the trust-fund baby sneering at the principle’s threat of discipline, utterly untouchable and he knows it. All grinning swagger Gavin asks the detectives if they’ve thought this through, if they know what they’re doing, how they think it’s going to end. He asks if they haven’t heard all those terrible rumours people have spread about his family, shares a few of his favourites, the darkest and most deplorable things people have said about the Vagabond. Isn’t it funny? Could you even imagine if the stories were true? If that was the kind of man you’d captured? Can you picture what he would do to you when he got free? And that’s saying nothing of Ramsey, have you heard what they say he’s done for his family? What he’d do for his son? Chilling stuff that, terrifying. Especially for someone like you, with kids at home. Someone who’d just gotten married, who has reliant parents, who’s sister’s about to have that baby. Wouldn’t it be awful huh? Aren’t you glad they’re only stories.It’s late by the time the detectives give up for the night, but there is an undeniable sense of relief in locking those two away again, in washing hands of those horrors for a couple of hours, going home to hug loved ones close and stave off technicolour nightmares. To kick things off at midnight is appallingly cliché, but things kick off a midnight. The station is never empty, particularly not when it’s housing criminals this high profile, but at midnight everything goes quiet. Still. Just long enough for every officer’s well-honed instincts to start blaring in alarm. And then the screaming starts.When the bigwigs try to piece it all together later even frantic reviews of security footage won’t reveal what happened. They see Gavin’s cell suddenly go dark, and when the light returns he’s gone. Changing angles there’s a flash of him wandering down the hall, utterly unhurried and blowing a winking kiss at the camera before it flickers out. When they find him again it’s on the camera outside the Vagabond’s cell, leaning through the bars and chattering away to the Mercenary looming on the other side as calmly as you please, like they’re playing instead of launching an escape.Free’s in no rush, waiting for his crew-mate to grab his collar and yank him into the bars before he laughs and shakes his way free, finally trotting over to unlock the door, unleashing the Vagabond into the hall. As Gavin turns to answer the phone he shouldn’t have the Vagabond looks up, directly at the lens, shaking his head as he points to an imaginary watch before flipping off the camera just before it, too, goes dark.From there the LSPD have only witness accounts to work with, tales from those who survived and those who came in after; the ones who saw the cavalcade of big black cars pulling up in front of the station just before everything went to hell, who didn’t have the chance to raise the alarm before the FAHC were raining bullets down on them. Those who had to clean blood from linoleum, tape up shattered windows, carry bodies to the morgue. Those who can no long bear the sound of clocks ticking, who swear they can still hear the echoes of that monstrous laughter. The ones who witnessed death slinking through the station in a leather jacket and designer jeans, who observed the birth of Los Santos’ newest horrifying rumour firsthand.

[sdkcsb-xlcltk-blog]

Handcuffed to Suga - Part One

/Notes: I used the name Sae and she/her pronouns. Originally it was for a friend and I'd like to keep it in its original form - Admin Ashes/

Smiling at Yoongi for a moment, Sae just shrugged nonchalantly and held out her wrist, letting Seokjin secure the handcuffs. It took Yoongi a while before he finally complied, the back of his hand hitting against the palm of her own lazily as his friend cuffed his hand together. Then the mother of the group gave them both the rules that they had to obey. It was mundane stuff, like “You can’t hit each other” “Don’t break the cuffs” or “Don’t find alternate ways to get the cuffs off." That’s when she knew she had made a mistake of playing truth or dare with Bangtan Boys. It seemed like a mistake right now, at least. Once the handcuffs were secured completely, and Jungkook finally stopped dangling the key in front of a quiet and unresponsive Yoongi, Sae let her hand drop to her side, his falling in suit. "You have 24 hours together, starting tonight," Jin started, glancing at Namjoon for the time. The incredibly tall rapper pulled out his phone, both to take a picture of Yoongi and Sae and to check the time. "It's 10:39 right now. They'll be able to take it off at 10:40 tomorrow, rounding up of course." "Then you'll have it taken off, and you know," Continuing on with his previous statement with a little nod at Namjoon, "You'll be free to go your separate ways." Curious, Sae spoke up for the first time, "Do we have to sleep together? And, you know, go to the bathroom together? Because I-" She cut herself off before she finished that, scratching the back of her head with her dominant, handcuffed hand. Yoongi's arm rested on her shoulder, and he was still silent for a little while. "You won't.. See whatever you don't want to see," Yoongi answered very slowly, as if he were thinking about his words as they came out of his mouth, "I'm sure we can find ways to sleep in different beds, as well." Seokjin only smiled his cutest, most adorable smile ever, just as a little way to spite them both like a mother truly would, "Well, we could press two twin beds together to give you both your own beds. All you would need is to keep your hands together." Jimin grinned a bit, his arm snaking around Jin's wide shoulders, "Perhaps they'll find a way to make love to each other and confess their love before-" "Aggressively shaking her arm or something," Yoongi spoke up, flailing his arm up and down just so Sae would have to deal with it. The other guys laughed as Sae just went along with it, wiggling her other hand with the beat. "There's only one problem with this," She told them, completely oblivious, or perhaps just forgetful, of Jimin's previous statement, "This is my dominant hand that Yoongi is attached to. How am I going to eat?" "Ooh~" Taehyung giggled from where he was seated in the living room couch beside her, hitting Sae's arm playfully whilst holding onto his teddy bear as if it was the most precious thing in the entire universe, which, to him, it probably was, "You'll have to feed her, Yoongi." "We'll see about that when that comes up," Yoongi only shrugged a little bit, and Sae didn't really mind it, either. She'd either get Jin to feed her if Yoongi didn't want to or learn how to eat with her other hand. Besides, it'd be a cool party trick to do things she wouldn't normally do with her dominant hand, as long as no one asks how she learned to do stuff with her other hand. "Can we go to bed now?" Suga asked in a low voice, sitting back into his spot on the couch and slumping over a bit. She could tell he was getting tired of everything; his eyes squinted slightly and his lips pressed together as he watched the others. Sae sat beside him on the couch, eyeing the cuffs that hung loosely on her wrist, the cold metal just starting to warm up. J-Hope didn't buy an easily breakable one, either, she noticed as she saw the gleam of the metal. "We'll get started pushing two beds together, just give us time, lovebirds," Jimin told them with a grin. Yoongi let his head loll from the back of the couch, seeming to already be falling asleep. Sae nodded at Jimin, giving him a quick smile before trying to do the same, curling up almost like a cat, fitting completely on just one cushion with only her feet resting against the other one where Taehyung was sitting. He didn't say anything, though, and neither did Yoongi as she rested her head on his leg slightly. She didn't dare to put her head anywhere close to his lap, but just the side of his leg, listening to a small purr of snoring coming from the one she was chained to. Ten or twenty minutes went by blankly like that, and she was just about to fall asleep good when she felt someone shake her shoulder before she was pulled up, being dragged to the bedroom. As they had promised, two beds were pressed together with a thin blanket as a makeshift sheet for it. There were two pillows, one one each bed, but only one blanket. She found it odd, but didn't say anything about it really. Yoongi sat down on the left side, to which she had to follow and sit on the edge of the right. "That's yours, this is mine. Stretch your arm to the edge of her bed, and don't move it during your sleep. I hope you don't mind sleeping on your back," he coughed out the rules of sleeping with him before just laying down, his arm resting tiredly on the side of the bed. Sae had no choice but to follow his lead, resting her head on the pillow with her arm reached over to the side of the bed. She had to work a little bit to get the blanket over her body with her not dominant hand, but it worked out eventually, even if Yoongi mumbled a few times for her to stop moving so he could actually get some rest. She listened to the others still playing truth or dare with out them, and felt like she was missing the fun. Taehyung had been dared to dance the waltz with Jungkook, and the bunny had to admit that he thought of Taehyung as more than just a friend, stopping his explanation briefly to say that he thought of him a best friend, not anything more. Eventually, Sae dosed off into peaceful sleep just like Yoongi had as she listened half-heartedly to Jimin singing an acapella version of Run. She woke up a little while before Yoongi. Of course, she wasn't about to wake him up, so she just laid there, reflecting on most of the stuff that had happened last night. From just admitting she saw something in Yoongi to being handcuffed to him, a lot happened last night. She turned around, trying not to move her arm, even though he had moved both of there's when he turned onto his side late in the night, and basically memorized every indent of Yoongi's back, agreeing to herself silently that he was the most adorable when he was asleep. Curious if she could get away with it, she snuggled up to his back, her forehead pressed in between his shoulder blades with her arm moving around to hold onto his stomach. She felt him tense up when she did that, but she noticed that, if he was awake, he didn't pull away, and stayed like that. Probably because it was cold, she assumed, and he could use the body heat on his back since the blanket can't cover them both all the way. Even though she had just woken up, she felt oddly happy, and fell asleep again. This was actually regular for her since she was incredibly terrible about doing that in the mornings, but it was still a nice time. When she woke up again, though, she was being dragged off of the bed by Yoongi. She was glad the ground was tiled, but it still surprised her as she literally dragged out of the room and down the hall. "Where are you going?" she asked, looking up at him. He didn't turn around, but gave a small grunt of aknowlegdment that he realized she was awake, still not stopping to let her get up. She didn't mind being dragged, since it didn't really hurt. "Gotta go to the bathroom. You should just stay down there and close your eyes," Yoongi replied finally, only after he opened the bathroom door. Sae covered her eyes with her free hand, wailing quietly under her breath in her disapproval and embarrassment. It wasn't long before he was done, though, and soon she was permitted to stand up. Giving him a look that read "turn around before I kick you" she smiled as he understood, turning around so she could use the bathroom as well. When both of them were done, she glanced at herself in the mirror, reaching into the counter to get her brush. It took a little bit of trying, but she knew she couldn't get the knots out of her hair. "Could you, um, brush my hair, please?" she asked, holding out the brush for him if he agreed. Yoongi ran his hand through his own hair, determining it to be good enough as he nodded, taking the brush from her. She thanked him happily, obeying when he told her to turn around. He was surprisingly gentle with her hair, taking the time to start from the bottom and work up. The only thing that got on his nerves was one particularly hard to get out knot, but he still tried to find a gentler way to get rid of it, even if he did practically tear of her ear in the process. She leaned her head back as soon as he mumbled out that he was done, winking a little bit with a giggle as she said thank you again. It was weird, she knew, but that only made her smile a little bit more at his surprised expression. She took her brush back and sat it back into the counter. Staring at her toothbrush, she looked up at him in wonder about what they should do to brush their teeth. "Can you brush your teeth with your other hand?" "It probably wouldn't be that hard.. I can try." Yoongi grabbed both brushes and put toothpaste on them each, sticking his own in his mouth before handing her her own. It was weird, and eventually she had to switch hands because she wasn't sure how to get her top teeth. He rolled his eyes, but nevertheless participated, not putting any strength into his arm as he let her brush her teeth correctly. Since she had gotten a good bit clean with her other hand, she was done withing a few moments, but it was still pretty funny to watch his hand just follow with the motions. They were both done with their morning routines, except one thing. Changing clothes. This would be a bit of a problem. Because she couldn't put her arm through sleeves, she had to settle for a summer dress that had detachable spaghetti string straps as he focused on changing his own shirt. After he realized he really couldn't take his shirt off, he only shrugged and deciding on wearing it for a second day. Changing pants was the most awkward thing about this, though, because everyone knows you need two hands to do this. He took his turn to pull his down and put on a pair of black jeans, having to do the pants dance once he realized they were his skinny jeans. They were back to back, and bumped and rubbed against each other a lot. Sae made sure her hand was away from his own, though, and cooperated with him without arguing. She just settled for a pair of jean shorts, deciding that she didn't need pants if she was wearing a dress. She was sure this was a bad idea, but the dress covered her jeans, so she hoped they wouldn't show off her failed fashion statement (because, lets admit it, high jean shorts do not go well with any dress, and you can't make me agree that they do. High jean shorts that go up to your belly button or just below belong with a white shirt that's tucked in. Something to that effect) and just nodded at herself in the full body mirror in the room. They were both dressed semi well as they walked back to greet the others side by side. The rest of BTS were having lunch, apparently having woken up way before them, and taking photos of how close they were sleeping together. The blood drained out of her face as she saw Yoongi glance her direction with a hard stare. Apparently she hadn't gotten away with cuddling with him. But Jin had been nice enough to fix them both breakfast, and Sae definitely appreciated that. For a time. She realized how everyone except Taehyung, who was never a morning person, was staring at her, as if daring her to try to eat. To make matters worse, Jin was on the other side of the table, and she wasn't going to ask Jungkook, the youngest member, to feed her. Naturally daring to try, she took a fork and tried to take a bite of the fried shrimp that was on her plate. When she got one in her mouth, she was happy, and took a few more fried shrimp. That was the easy part, and now came the part where she tried to eat the noodles on her own. When all that happened was them falling off of her fork and onto her lap, she sat down the fork calmly, and looked up at Yoongi. He glanced at her as soon as he noticed Sae turning to him, "Wait until I eat, and then I'll feed you," he explained gently, slurping down the noodles quickly. When he was finished, pretty much only a few minutes after he heard her stomach growl for probably the fifth time, he turned to her, grabbing her chopsticks because he didn't want to use his own. "You're still hungry, even after you ate the shrimp?" Yoongi asked, piling the noodles onto the chopsticks, "Open." A very simple to follow command, but she had a bit of trouble following it. She wanted to laugh at how stupid this was, but bit her tongue from staying it and just opened her mouth, taking in the noodles and trying her best to keep from snorting with laughter and spitting the noodles out. Sae watched him for a little while as he glanced around the table, glaring for a moment at anyone who snickered at them. He eventually go back on track, and continued to feed her, mumbling the command every time before, even if her mouth was already open. They got done, and a few members clapped in approval. Yoongi sat the chopsticks in her bowl as she mumbled a thank you. He nodded, standing up quickly and excusing himself from the room. She attempted to do the same, but only got about half way done with her sentence before he pulled her out of the room. Is this how today would be? Just being a burden to Yoongi? Sae sighed and just quietly followed, her head down as she went back to their room.  

[imaginetonyandbucky]

Helping Hands

Chapter One | Chapter Two | Chapter Three | Chapter Four | Chapter Five| Chapter Six | Chapter Seven | Chapter Eight | Chapter Nine | Chapter Ten | Chapter Eleven | Chapter Twelve | Chapter Thirteen | Chapter Fourteen | Chapter Fifteen | Chapter Sixteen | Chapter Seventeen | Chapter Eighteen | Chapter Nineteen | Chapter Twenty

A/N: Hi! Did you survive? Good! TW for suggested non-con, sexual abuse. Does not happen, it’s just talked about. Also graphic violence and violent content

Chapter Twenty One: Backhanded

“I just wanted you to know that I have your boyfriend. And his kid. Just that.” Ty hung up the phone and thumbed the ringer off, but Bucky could see Tony’s face flashing on the screen, trying to call back. Ty ignored it and chuckled wickedly.

Bucky was growing to hate that sound. He was sick with worry for Steve; he had no idea what they’d done with him. When he’d woken up, head aching and ears buzzing, he’d been duct-taped into a chair, arms behind his back, legs spread and tape running from his ankles to his knees, holding him to the chair legs.

Tape was… not a good choice, otherwise cops would use it instead of handcuffs or zip ties, but it was good enough, especially when Killian still had a gun trained on him.

“Go ahead and yell,” Ty had said, grinning. “I really, really want an excuse to shoot you.”

Bucky glared up at Ty but didn’t scream. He had no idea where they were; aggravating his captors without any intel seemed a poor choice. “Where’s my son?” He started working his wrists behind his back, small, semi-circles, back and forth, calm, quiet movements.

Ty jerked his chin toward the back of the room. “Out of the way,” he said. “The kid’s just extra weight and to keep you on your best behavior. Killian doesn’t really want to have to hurt him, he’s kinda soft that way. So I’d appreciate it if you wouldn’t make me.” Ty moved closer, his body all lean grace and beauty. Like a serpent, he was dangerous and fascinating. Gorgeous like a Greek statue. When he smiled, Ty looked genuinely happy. Delighted, really. Bucky began to understand what Tony, love-starved and lonely, must have seen in this bastard.

“He’s just a kid, he’s got nothin’ to do with this,” Bucky said. “Please don’t hurt him.”

“I don’t want to,” Ty said. “But I will, if you make me. My primary target, of course, is Tony. But you’ll make do, for the moment.” Ty took a few steps closer and backhanded Bucky across the face. Even knowing it was coming, Bucky flinched. The back of Ty’s hand was hard, brutal across his cheek. Bucky’s neck whipped to one side with the force of the blow, his headache exploding across his temples. The chair rocked dangerously and Bucky scrambled in the minimal few inches he had to get it balanced before he toppled to the floor. He shifted his legs, pushing his legs away from the chair, careful. Very careful.

He tasted copper in his mouth and spat blood onto the floor; he’d bitten the side of his cheek.

“Pretty,” Ty observed. “You’re a stoic type, yeah? Tony would be whining by now, the little baby. He was so much fun. I miss him.”

Bucky clenched his jaw, hate burning through his guts.

Ty hit him again. And a third time.

(Mobile readers, ‘ware the readmore)

Each time, Bucky rolled with it, letting his joints stay loose and ready, relaxing as much as he could. Tensing up made it hurt more. He’d taken a beating before. The fifth time Ty went for his face, Bucky twisted his jaw at the last second, teeth coming down on Ty’s hand. He got a pretty good bite in before Ty hit him in the gut with his free hand, forcing the air out of his lungs.

Bucky laughed, soft, ugly. “Tony’s stronger than you think he is.”

“You fucking bit me,” Ty exclaimed, holding up his bloody hand with astonishment.

“Bet your ass I did,” Bucky said. “Smack me again and see if I don’t bite your damn fingers off.”

“You want me to get the kid, is that it?”

“Look, asshole, we both know this is all a show,” Bucky said. He hitched in a breath and spat more blood. “You’ve marked me up. Take your fucking picture that you’re gonna show Tony and get this fucking game going. I’ve read this script before. I know how this ends.” With me and Steve dead. With Tony a couple million bucks short and left to mourn us.

“Huh,” Ty said. “You’re not as stupid as you look. Too bad for you.” He pulled Bucky’s battered phone out of his pocket. The screen was cracked, but Ty held it up and snapped a photo, then punched up Bucky’s contact list. Bucky heard the ping as the file sent. Christ.

“You want to listen to your lover beg for your life?” Ty asked, conversationally. “I can put it on speakerphone.”

Oh, god, Tony. Bucky shunted his gaze to the side, not answering.

Ty didn’t slap him this time; he’d learned that lesson. He walked slowly around the chair and kicked Bucky’s ankle. Hard.

Bucky grunted. He flexed the metal arm, carefully. His fingers moved, clicking the plates into place. He twisted his wrist.

“You didn’t answer the question, lover boy.” Ty circled him again, kicked him in the knee.

God, that fucking hurt. Bucky clamped down, a guttural moan barely escaping his throat, leaning forward in the chair as far as he could. He twisted his arm at that last moment, too, felt the thin plates on the surface of the metal wrist biting into the tape. Bucky shook his head, then touched his tongue to his lip. “Not really, no,” he said.

Ty grabbed a handful of Bucky’s hair, jerked his head back so far that his throat was fully exposed and vulnerable. “You think you’re so tough, don’t you? Won’t scream, won’t beg, won’t ask for your lover. But I know where you’re weak. So you better give me what I want, or your kid is going to pay for it.”

He should. Bucky knew that he should. Beg, cry, shake. Ty was a monster, and what he fed off of was fear. This was the man who’d tortured Tony – for years – and Bucky was having a really hard time giving him any satisfaction at all. Bucky snarled, “Yeah, well, what do you want?”

That got a smug grin out of Ty and he tugged on Bucky’s hair again. Pain crawled along Bucky’s scalp and he bared his teeth.

“That’s better,” Ty said, “but not quite good enough. I wonder what it would take to make you cry. Wanna find out?”

“Don’t you have something better to do? Like make a ransom demand?” If Bucky and Steve got out of this alive, he was really going to need to have words with Tony about getting better villains in his life. This one talked too much and was too fucking overdramatic. It would have been pathetic if Bucky hadn’t been so god damn terrified. He bent his elbows, shrugged his shoulders.

“More fun to make Tony worry about it,” Ty said. “He knows what I did to him, imagine what he thinks I must be doing to you.”

“You want someone to cry, where’s your little friend, Justin Hammer? He seemed really good at it,” Bucky pointed out.

Ty rolled his eyes in disgust. “You are no fun. Go on, Aldrich, get the kid. Let’s see if we can’t break our boy, here. Would you like that, Daddy? Watching Aldrich hurt your son? Maybe, if you beg real pretty, I might let you suck me off rather than shooting him. Sound like fun to you? Let’s see if we can get you real good at crying. I bet we can.”

“You sick fuck,” Bucky snarled, twisting as much as he could in the chair, the tape pulling at his skin. “Don’t you fucking touch him.” His voice went up, louder, as Killian disappeared down the hallway. “Steve! No, god damnit, you leave him alone!” He yanked at his arms, wrenching at his hands.

“Oh, come on, Daddy,” Ty said, grabbing his hair and practically ripping it out. “I know you can suck dick with the best of ‘em. And you don’t want Aldrich to hurt your son. Just let it happen. You know–”

Bucky threw himself backward in the chair, rocking it back onto two legs. For just a moment, it seemed that Ty would yank him back and it would all be over but the bleeding, but then the front chair leg tagged Ty in the calf and he let go. Bucky wrenched the metal arm, listening to the servos screaming, and tore the tape just before he hit the ground.

Air rushed out of his chest and his lungs were crying for oxygen, but he didn’t have time for breathing. Bucky rolled, hands free.

A quick lunge with his left hand and what was left of the chair exploded into splinters. He took a great gulp of air. Ty brought the gun to bear, but Bucky was already moving. He kicked Ty’s legs out from under him and a shot went off.

Then another, further away, and Bucky’s blood turned to ice-water. “STEVE!”

Ty pushed himself up, scrambled to his knees and brought the gun up. Bucky lunged, got the palm of his left hand flat against the muzzle. He turned his wrist, ripping the gun free from Ty’s hand, breaking Ty’s fingers in the process.

Another twist and Bucky had the gun pressed to Ty’s temple. “Call him off. Do it now.”

Ty closed his eyes, but didn’t say anything.

“I will fucking shoot you, I swear to Christ,” Bucky said. When Ty still didn’t say anything, Bucky wrenched the gun down, pulled the trigger. The pistol was a low caliber, not as explosive as Killian’s monstrosity, but it made a short, flat whap! noise and then Ty started screaming. Blood gushed from the hole in his leg.

“Call. him. Off.” Bucky pressed the hot muzzle of the gun against Ty’s throat.

“Aldrich!” Ty yelled, still whimpering.

Nothing. No screaming, no gun fire, nothing.

Bucky’s heart stopped beating. He couldn’t breathe. He glanced at the gun in his hand. “Steve!”

Slowly, Bucky climbed to his feet. He didn’t want… did not want to see. He’d watched his own goddamn arm get blown off, seen the fingers twitching in the dust as his blood spilled down his side, but he’d never done anything harder than get to his feet, knowing that if he went down that dark hall, he might find his son’s body.

There was silence, broken only by Ty’s agonized whimpers. That man, that man was responsible for all this fear and pain. Bucky turned, very slow, the gun coming up. He pressed the muzzle against Ty’s forehead. Go on, he thought, I really, really want to shoot you.

Ty met his gaze, angry and burning with hostility and fear. His face seemed to dare Bucky to do it, dare him to finish it. To descend all the way to Ty’s level. Go on, do it.

Bucky’s finger tightened on the trigger.

He knew exactly what would happen if he pulled the trigger. The bullet would go straight through Ty’s skull, splatter his brains all over the floor. The body would slump, just so; there wouldn’t even be enough time for Ty to scream before he was dead.

Just like Sarah.

No. He couldn’t. Bucky could not do that to another human being, not and retain any of his own humanity. Life and death was one thing; shooting Ty now? That would be murder, no matter what justification he tried to pin on it.

“Steve,” Bucky said, shaking his head. He twisted the pistol in his hand and walked away from Ty Stone without a look back.

Killian was on his hands and knees in the hall, shivering. The doors to what might have once been a laundry room were open, but the room beyond was empty. Sticky wads of tape stuck to the floor and door.

“Where is he?” Bucky asked, bringing the gun down to point at Killian. “Where is my son?”

“Suit,” Killian muttered, his voice low and indistinct. He looked stunned and dizzy, not a threat.

“What?”

Bucky whirled, a movement in the room behind him dragging his attention away from the wounded man on the floor to a man who was climbing in the window.

Bucky blinked. A fit, middle-aged man, gently balding, wearing a suit and carrying… a taser? Was just getting his footing in the room. The man took off his aviator glasses and grinned. He looked… vaguely familiar. “Mr. Barnes?”

Killian was attempting to rise off the floor and Bucky put his foot down in the middle of the man’s back, forcing him back to the floor, not taking the gun off the newcomer. “What’s it to you?”

“I’m Phil Coulson,” he said, putting the taser gingerly on the ground in front of him. “Mr. Stark is my boss; I’m on security team three. Ten minutes ago, I personally put your son in Mr. Stark’s car, after tasering this idiot who tried to shoot me.” He nodded toward Killian, keeping his hands in sight.

“Tony’s here?”

“Yes, sir, Mr. Barnes,” Coulson said. “Your son used his medical alert necklace almost an hour ago to let us know about your predicament. We’ve been tracking him. We’re um… here to rescue you. Where’s Stone?”

Bucky jerked his chin toward the front room. “He’s wounded, but he might be able to run. Unarmed, though.”

Coulson nodded. “If you’ll let me, I’ll bring backup in through the front.”

“Oh,” Bucky said, glancing at the gun in his hand again. He lowered it halfway, still uncertain and on high alert. “Sorry.”

Coulson touched his ear. “Killian’s down. Mr. Barnes is injured, but functional. Breach the front room. Come on, sir, let’s get you out of here.”

“What about–”

Coulson grinned, recovered his taser from the floor and shot it at Killian, who went down in a drooling heap. “I really, really love getting to use this thing.”

Steve wasn’t always in a cuddly mood; as he’d been getting older, he’d been more resistant to spending long periods of time sitting in Bucky’s lap. Fortunately for Bucky’s state of mind, that wasn’t the case at the moment. As Bucky and Tony sat in Detective Jones’s office and answered questions – carefully controlled by Tony’s exceptionally tall lawyer, Jennifer Walters – Steve was perfectly happy to sit in Bucky’s lap the entire time, leaning against his father’s shoulder and not quite sleeping. He kept jerking himself awake as soon as his eyes drifted shut, glancing up to make sure Bucky was still exactly where Steve had left him, and then drowsing again. Bucky knew exactly how Steve felt. It would be quite a while, he imagined, before he was willing to let his son out of his sight again.

Tony wasn’t much better, honestly. He kept one hand on Bucky’s wrist for the entire interview and when Bucky slung an arm around Tony’s shoulders, he could feel his boyfriend trembling minutely.

The detective didn’t mean to be thoughtless, Bucky decided; she just had a classic case of foot-in-mouth. Or maybe she was trying to make them angry in an attempt to stave off their nervous breakdowns, because he couldn’t imagine many more things that were harder to deal with than two grown men and a boy, all on the verve of various degrees of panic attack.

Bucky gave a statement. Steve said a few things, none of which Bucky wanted to hear. They had tied up a kid with asthma and stuffed him in a laundry room? Bucky almost started having a goddamn asthma attack of his own after hearing that.

“The captain is considering charging you and your security team with vigilantism,” Detective Jones said, crossing her legs. She had black combat boots on and Bucky found himself concentrating on the smashed wad of dirty pink bubblegum between her treads.

Tony gave her a flat look. “You know that’s a mistake,” he said. “You get that up in front of a jury, lady, and I’m a goddamn action hero. You think any American jury is going to convict me for tasering one guy and breaking into an abandoned building? I’ll pay for the damages, but you’re never in a million years going to get anything heavier than trespassing to stick to me. And when I go to the papers – note that I said when, not if – the city will bury you for it.”

Jones spread her hands. “Those decisions aren’t in my wheelhouse,” she said. “Way above my paygrade.”

“What’s the captain want, in this pretend little exchange of favors for not making me pay my lawyers?” Tony leaned back in the chair, calm, cool. Bucky could still feel Tony shaking, the vibrations in the tiny couch were rattling his bones. “Because I’m telling you, I like my lawyers and I don’t mind paying them to make your captain unhappy, if he’s going to make me unhappy.” On Tony’s other side, Ms. Walters smiled a shark’s toothy grin.

“Vigilantism is dangerous, Mr. Stark,” Detective Jones said. “I’m not casting aspersions on your security, obviously; they’re very professional. That being said, if this story gets spread around, citizens who do not have their caliber of training are going to be more likely to try to jump in and that’s going to lead to people getting hurt, and I don’t think any of us wants that. You and Mr. Barnes have both made waves through your recent heroism; we’d like you to use that influence responsibly.”

“I see,” Tony said. “You want me to lie–”

“No,” Jones said. “Just… don’t make a production out of it. Can you do that, Mr. Stark? Stay out of the papers for a while? It’s an election year.”

Tony laughed. “Me? Stay out of the papers? You have got to be kidding me. Do you even know who I am?”

“Try?”

“Sister, I try every goddamn day. I have a whole fucking team of people who try to keep me out of the papers. Jesus Christ,” Tony swore, getting to his feet and pacing around. “Seriously? You’re fucking kidding me?”

Bucky sighed. “Well, now you’ve done it,” he said to the detective. “Your captain’s going to be lucky if the first thing he does after he leaves here isn’t call a damn press conference.” Which Bucky totally didn’t want to do. He wanted to go back to Tony’s penthouse, have a shower to get the stink of Ty Stone off his skin, and then fall asleep on the sofa with his son sprawled out on his chest and hope to Christ that neither of them had any nightmares.

Bucky’d gotten a little bit used to the way people treated Tony like he was a package of explosives wrapped up in eccentric billionaire and quirky genius. Most of them reacted with some sort of exasperation and annoyance or, on the other end of the spectrum, laughing wildly at his bad jokes and sucking up. Jones merely leaned back in her chair with an aura of Job Well Done and winked at Bucky. She fucking winked at him. What the shit did that mean?

“I’m hungry,” Steve said, suddenly. Which Bucky kissed him for, because Tony’s anger melted away and Jones’s smug self-satisfaction was gone in an instant.

“If we’re not being detained,” Tony said, and waited pointedly until the detective nodded. “Then we’ll be on our way. You know where I am, if you need anything else. Aside from ‘stay out of the papers’ because if I can’t fucking manage it for my own privacy, I’m certainly not putting extra effort into it for New York City’s finest.”

“Really, what was that about?” Bucky stopped in the door as Tony led the charge toward the elevator.

Jones slipped him a business card. “This is my sister, Trish Walker. She’s a radio talk show host.”

“Oh, you are an evil, evil woman,” Bucky said, tucking the card in his front pocket.

She winked at him again.

~as always, @tisfan

winteriron tony x bucky tony stark bucky barnes prompts tisfan helping hands AUpoverty tourism kidnapping rescue Jessica Jones is a troll Phil Coulson is a badassBAMF!Bucky