#what do you think? is she missing? or back in the future???
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Ooo Love! Ooo Lover Boy!



boyfriend!johnny storm x fem civilian!reader content warnings: none! all fluff! summary: a cute date day with Johnny! wc: 3.1k
masterlist.
The rooftop is loud. Not with music or fireworks, but with press questions and too many bodies pressed together in expensive suits and sequined dresses. The Future Foundation is hosting another one of its “donor appreciation” nights, which really just means Reed stands by a molecular model all night while Johnny tries to escape three women in red dresses and someone’s very pushy aunt.
You’re off to the side, perched at a high table, nursing a ginger ale and watching the whole thing unfold like it’s a soap opera you accidentally got invested in.
Johnny, for his part, is thriving.
He’s grinning wide under the warm rooftop lights, hair perfectly tousled by the wind, laughing like he doesn’t have a single real problem in the world. He lets a kid borrow his sunglasses for a selfie. He lets someone else get a photo of him doing finger guns. He blows a literal heart-shaped flame into the air when someone shouts, “Johnny, show us something hot!”
Sue looks like she’s three seconds from tossing him off the roof.
You can’t help it, you laugh into your drink.
He catches it. Mid-flirt, mid-flame, Johnny’s eyes flick toward you like it’s instinct. His grin changes. Just a little. Softer around the edges. A secret note played under the show tune.
You pretend not to notice, even though your heart skips a beat like it always does when he looks at you like that.
Later, after the crowd starts to thin and the media finally backs off, Johnny finds you standing near the elevator, scrolling through your phone like you weren’t just waiting for him to come find you.
“Hey, stranger,” he murmurs, sliding up behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist like it’s second nature. “Missed you.”
“You were ten feet away,” you deadpan, but you lean back into his chest anyway.
“Yeah,” he says, nose brushing the curve of your jaw, “but that was Human Torch distance. This is boyfriend distance.”
You snort. “Are those different units of measurement?”
“Obviously. Human Torch distance is...PR stunts, bright lights, saying hi to that one lady with the big hair because she gave us half our funding this year.”
“And boyfriend distance?”
“Boyfriend distance is here. With you. Finally.”
He rocks you gently side to side, his warmth soaking through your dress, the press of him solid and grounding.
“You looked really pretty tonight, by the way,” he says, quieter now. “Tried not to be obvious about staring. Think I failed.”
You feel the blush creep up your neck before you can stop it. He rests his chin on your shoulder, humming contentedly like he could stay like this forever.
“You were handsome too,” you murmur, smiling. “You always are.”
He grins against your skin. “I know.”
You elbow him gently in the ribs, but don’t pull away.
Because this is the part the world doesn’t see.
Not the fire. Not the flash. Not the headlines.
Just warmth. Just you and Johnny.
By the time you’re back at your apartment, your shoes are off, your hair’s down, and Johnny is already halfway through making popcorn in your kitchen and pretending he isn’t waiting for you to sit on the couch first so he can immediately flop next to you.
You catch him watching you as you toss your earrings into a dish on the counter.
“What?” you ask, biting back a smile.
He shrugs, leans against the stove, eyes all heavy-lidded and sweet. Too sweet.
“Nothing. Just...you’re so pretty.”
You roll your eyes. “You think I’m pretty when I’ve got mascara smudged under my eyes?”
He crosses the kitchen in three steps, sets the popcorn bowl down, and cups your jaw like he’s holding something sacred.
“I think you’re pretty always,” he murmurs. “But especially when you’re too tired to pretend I’m not your favorite person.”
You swat at him playfully, but your fingers curl around his wrist and keep him close.
You end up curled together on the couch, legs tangled under a too-thin blanket, his chest a living heater against your back. He’s the kind of warm that makes you melt without realizing it. His fingers draw slow, lazy shapes against your arm as the movie plays low in the background—some rom-com you’ve both seen ten times but always return to.
You feel him press a kiss to the back of your shoulder, then hum quietly against your skin.
“Wanna do something tomorrow?”
“Mmm,” you reply sleepily. “What kind of something?”
“Like...date day something. No work. No missions. No having to be 'Human Torch'."
You smile. “You’re due for some romance, huh?”
“I’m due for you in a sundress holding a little iced coffee and pretending not to laugh at my sunglasses tan.”
You twist slightly to look up at him. His face is lit soft by the TV glow, eyes half-lidded, hair flopped messily across his forehead. You reach up and push it back.
“So what do you wanna do?” you ask. “Ice cream? Hide in a used bookstore until someone kicks us out?”
“Yes,” he says. “All of it.”
“You want the full rom-com date montage, huh?”
“Absolutely. I want to carry your bag. I want to kiss you in front of a fountain. I want to sit on a bench and dramatically feed you a bite of my hot dog.”
You snort. “You’re such a dork.”
He grins. “I’m your dork.”
You reach under the blanket and lace your fingers through his, already picturing tomorrow, the soft buzz of summer in the city, the stupid matching sunglasses he’ll insist on, the way he’ll hold your hand like it’s his job.
“Okay,” you whisper. “Date day. Just us.”
“Just us,” he echoes, voice like a promise.
You fall asleep with your head on his chest and his hand curled around yours, warm, steady, and already dreaming of you.
You wake up to warmth.
Not the filtered sunlight slipping in through the curtains. Not the weight of the blanket half-pushed to the foot of the bed. Him. Johnny. Heat radiating from where his arm is slung across your waist, skin hot and golden even under the sheets. His breath fans across the back of your neck, steady and soft. He’s all tangled up in you, legs knotted with yours, hand tucked beneath your shirt like it belongs there.
It does.
He makes a quiet sound when you shift, half-asleep, half-clingy, and pulls you closer like a furnace with feelings.
“Mmm. Five more minutes,” he mumbles into your shoulder.
“It’s already ten.”
“Okay, five more hours.”
You laugh under your breath, which only makes him nuzzle closer, lips brushing your bare skin.
“We have date plans, remember?”
“Mm-hmm. I remember. I’m romancing you,” he says, voice slurred with sleep. “I’m being amazing.”
“You’re currently drooling on me.”
“Love drool. It’s affectionate.”
Eventually, he stretches out like a sun-drunk cat and flops onto his back with a dramatic sigh.
“Okay. Let’s get you ready. You need to look incredible today.”
“Me?” you say, raising an eyebrow. “You’re the one who’ll be recognized.”
“Exactly. And I want them to see you and immediately understand why I’m completely obsessed.”
You shake your head, amused, but let him follow you into your closet anyway.
Johnny takes the job of picking your outfit very seriously. He sits on the edge of your bed like a fashion judge, watching each piece you pull from a hanger like it holds national importance.
“Too serious,” he says at one dress. “Too corporate.” “Too hot. Not hot enough. Wear that one- wait, no, I won’t survive it.”
You finally settle on something flowy and soft, one of his favorites.
“You’re gonna ruin me,” he mutters, watching you twirl in the mirror.
“Already did,” you reply, smug.
He grins, grabs your hand, and kisses your knuckles like he’s your knight instead of your menace of a boyfriend.
You end up at this little breakfast place downtown, handwritten chalkboard sign and flower boxes out front. It’s bustling, cluttered, loud in the best way. Johnny’s a regular, apparently. The guy at the counter daps him up like they’ve been best friends since childhood.
“The usual?” the guy asks, eyeing you with interest. Johnny slings an arm around your shoulder like it’s reflex. “Two of ‘em. She’s my favorite person. Extra strawberries.”
He insists on paying. Tips too much. Picks a booth by the window and slides in beside you, not across from you, because "if I sit over there, I can’t touch you."
The food comes fast—pancakes, eggs, coffee, fresh fruit. He takes a bite of your toast and pretends he didn’t.
“I’m so glad we’re doing this,” he says, halfway through a pancake. “No aliens. No science emergencies. Just you and me and syrup. That’s the dream.”
You rest your chin on your hand and smile at him, messy-haired, glowing, halfway through over-sweet coffee, absolutely beaming at you like you invented joy.
“This is gonna sound cheesy,” he adds, lowering his voice just a little, “but I don’t care if we do anything fancy today. You could drag me through a dollar store and I’d still call it the best date of my life.”
You kick him under the table. He grins wider.
“Ow. Romantic violence. Nice.”
After breakfast, he offers his hand dramatically and walks you out all dramatic. Sunglasses on. Other hand in his pocket. Entirely too proud to be seen holding your hand.
“Next stop,” he announces. “Books. Because you like books. And I like watching you pretend not to fall in love with me all over again while I read dumb poetry out loud.”
“That’s not what happens.” “It absolutely is. You’re obsessed with me.”
You don’t deny it.
Because it’s true.
The bookstore smells like old paper and dust and sunlight.
You find it tucked between a flower shop and a record store, the kind of place with crooked shelves and handwritten recommendation cards. Wind chimes jingle as the door swings open. Johnny ducks slightly as you step inside, like he’s trying to contain his energy, like he doesn’t want to break the spell.
He doesn’t say anything at first, just exhales a soft “whoa,” eyes tracing the mismatched lamps and towers of books and the sleepy cat curled on the counter like it owns the place.
“This is so you,” he says finally, already smiling.
You nudge his shoulder with yours. “You said that about the diner.”
“Yeah, but this time I mean it like...” He gestures vaguely. “You in a bookstore? This is just where you belong.”
He lets you lead the way, trailing a few steps behind with his hands in his jacket pockets, touching nothing, but watching everything. You, mostly. You, skimming the spines, pulling down titles and flipping through pages. You, biting your lip when you find something good. You, holding a book to your chest like it might float away.
He pulls a slim poetry chapbook off a shelf and follows you into a quiet corner near the windows.
“Can I read you one?” he asks, already opening it.
“Johnny…” you say, suspicious. “I can be cultured,” he insists. Then, clearing his throat dramatically, “Love is a fire.” He pauses. “Ooh. This one’s got my name on it already.”
You groan, but let him keep reading.
His voice drops when it’s not a joke anymore. Slows down. Words softer, careful. You watch him in profile, sunlight catching in his lashes, the faintest pink in his cheeks. He finishes the poem and looks up, sheepish.
“That was kinda good, right?”
“Yeah,” you say. “You should read to me more.”
He swells with pride, the way he always does when you compliment something real about him.
He buys the book. Signs the inside cover. "To the prettiest girl I’ve ever read poetry to—JS."
You lose him for a few minutes between aisles.
You’re deep in the nonfiction section, thumbing through a book on obscure cosmic history you’re pretty sure Reed wrote under a pen name, when Johnny reappears with a small stack in his arms and a crooked grin on his face.
“Okay. I took this very seriously,” he says, setting them down on the bench beside you. “Here is my curated selection for the love of my life.”
He presents the first one with a flourish: a graphic novel about time travelers who fall in love through post-it notes.
“Romantic and nerdy. I’m killing this already.”
The next, a battered, clearly well-loved paperback with stars and planets on the cover. You open it—and tucked inside is a faded, pressed flower.
You glance up at him. “Did you—?”
“Nah, found it like that,” he says, quieter now. “Felt like it was waiting for someone. Kinda like you and me.”
Your breath catches a little.
“That was gross, right?” he adds quickly. “Like...disgustingly sweet?”
“No,” you say. “It was perfect.”
He gives you a look like he wants to kiss you right there between fiction and sci-fi, but instead he just nudges your knee with his and leans back.
“Also I picked a cookbook because you said you wanted to try making dumplings from scratch.”
"Johnny.”
“And a mystery novel because I know you like to ry to solve what happens before it's revealed.”
You’re quiet for a moment, holding the stack to your chest.
“You really listen to me, huh?”
“Of course I do,” he says, like it’s the easiest thing in the world. “You’re my favorite voice.”
You feel your heart do another flip as he kisses your cheek.
The two of you end up in the park next, shoes off, blanket spread across the grass, half a baguette in a paper bag between you because Johnny insisted on stopping by a bakery before the park.
The sun is high, warm but breezy. Johnny lies flat on his back, one hand behind his head, the other idly playing with the hem of your skirt where it pools at your knees.
“Look,” he says, pointing lazily at the sky. “That cloud looks like the letter ‘J.’ For ‘Johnny.’ The sky loves me.”
“You’re the most humble person I’ve ever met,” you say, deadpan.
“You know it.”
A quiet falls between you for a while. Comfortable. Unrushed. His fingers eventually find yours in the grass and stay there, thumb brushing gentle circles against your skin.
“I love being with you like this,” he murmurs. “Not just in, like…the big ways. But the small ones. The regular ones. I’d do this every day for the rest of my life if you let me.”
You don’t say anything. You just squeeze his hand.
Later, when the sun starts to drift lower in the sky, you find yourselves near the ice cream truck Johnny insisted you walk past because “I swear this guy’s got the best strawberry swirl in the city.”
He orders for both of you, then adds a third cone at the last second for a kid in line who drops their cone.
“What a hero,” you say.
“My girlfriend thinks I’m cool. That’s all I need.”
You sit on the curb while you eat, your knees knocking together, your cone starting to drip. Johnny leans over and steals a bite without asking, then grins like he just won something.
“Hey!”
“What? I was saving your dress from getting icecream on it!”
You wipe a smudge of ice cream off his chin with your thumb. He catches your wrist and kisses the inside of it, like it’s the easiest thing in the world.
“You taste like sugar,” he murmurs, voice suddenly low. “No wonder I’m addicted.”
The city starts to shift as the sky turns gold.
Shadows stretch longer. Streetlights flicker to life one by one. Somewhere nearby, a jazz band warms up, their chords floating between buildings like smoke. And you’re still hand in hand with Johnny, wandering with no destination, letting the day stretch out for as long as it’ll give you.
He walks with his sunglasses on top of his head now, sweater sleeves pushed up, a paper bag in one hand filled with books and dumb little trinkets he insisted on getting “because they reminded me of you.” He keeps brushing his knuckles against yours as you walk, even though you’re already holding hands.
“Are you trying to hold my hand hand and my knuckle hand?” you ask, amused.
“I’m trying to hold every version of you,” he says, only half-joking.
Eventually, you stumble into a quiet little plaza tucked between two apartment buildings. It’s the kind of place that doesn’t show up on maps, just a stone path, a few benches, some ivy, and a fountain in the center. You can hear water trickling gently, the hum of traffic a distant hum instead of a roar.
Johnny stops walking.
“Wait,” he says, tugging gently on your hand. “This is it.”
“This is what?”
“The fountain moment. You remember. The romcom-certified romantic one.”
“Oh, right,” you say, playing along. “The one where you kiss me so perfectly I forget my own name.”
“Exactly. Very important. Very canon.”
He steps closer. Both of you smiling, soft around the edges, glowing in the amber light.
“You ready?” he murmurs.
You nod, and he leans in, not rushed, not showy, just…gentle. His forehead rests against yours for a second, breath mixing with yours. His hands cradle your waist like he’s holding something sacred.
“You’re my favorite thing I’ve ever found,” he says.
And then he kisses you.
It’s slow and steady and unselfconscious. The kind of kiss that doesn't need witnesses. The kind you feel hours later, like sunlight on your skin. The water behind you bubbles softly. Somewhere, a breeze picks up and flutters the edge of your jacket.
You pull back first, but only because you’re smiling too hard.
“That was…” you start, breathless.
“Legendary,” he finishes. “Worthy of a rom-com montage.”
“It really was.”
You find a bench nearby and sit with your legs over his lap, his arm around your shoulders, your head resting against the curve of his neck. It’s that hour of the day where everything softens, edges, voices, hearts.
“Can I say something dumb?” he asks after a while.
“Always.”
“I know we’ve only been dating for a few months...” he says, gesturing vaguely with one hand, “but I think I’d be good at loving you for a long time.”
You glance up at him. His eyes are on the sky. He doesn’t say it like he’s trying to charm you—he says it like a quiet truth he’s been carrying all day.
“Like, I know it’s cheesy,” he continues, “but when I think about the future, it’s just…you. Not the superhero stuff. Not the press. Just mornings and bookstores and dumb fountain kisses. That’s what I want.”
You rest your hand on his chest, right over his heart. It’s beating fast. Yours is too.
“That’s not dumb,” you say softly. “That’s perfect.”
He turns his head toward you, eyes wide and warm and a little bit vulnerable.
“Yeah?”
“Yeah.”
He kisses your forehead like a promise.
“Good. Because I think I’m already all in.”
#isa’s thoughts#johnny storm fluff#johnny storm x reader#johnny storm#human torch x reader#human torch#fantastic four x reader#fantastic four#joseph quinn
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It was actually kind of nice once he got over the initial shock(and disappointment) of switching. He couldn't hear nearly as well as usual. He was pretty sure he even dosed off for a bit in his little hidey-hole. Plus, this soul mate has some serious muscles. He'd probably be checking himself out in the mirror if all hell wasn't braking loose in front of him. His vision was perfect. He wasn't aching everywhere. But there was one thing keeping him from enjoying any of it. He knew his soul mate was suffering in his body back home.
Also, the spoiled ecto was total wack.
All the Bats seemed to be running around aimlessly (never meet your heroes🙄) except one, Batgirl. She stood close and watched him as her family... threw things at each other? What's that supposed to do? Anyway, Danny watched her get closer and closer until she finally stopped when he hissed at her. She slowly removed her patchwork mask and revealed her face. Cassandra Caine, 17. Sam's a big fan. Apparently, she's creepy, which is hot. She once kicked a tabloid reporter in the nose, which is hot. And she dresses like every day is a day for a funeral, Sam would be ready to propose if they weren't woefully 15 years old.
"Cass." She pointed at herself.
"Cassandra Cain, I know. Only daughter of Bruce Wayne, quiet and, according to tabloids, creepy. Not that those can be trusted or anything, 'specially when the actual news can't even be trusted. I would know."
Did he maybe reveal a bit more than he meant to? Yes, but he'd be more damned if he didn't take every opportunity to lash at the media.
"Training done. Eat." Well, Sam did way she was a woman of few words. He just didn't think she meant that so literally.
● ● ●
Danny sat at a huge dining table staring at a feast. On his right sat Batgirl, now dressed in normal attire, a giant unkown man with red hair and Duke Thomas. On his left, at the head of the table, was Bruce Wayne. Across was Dick Grayson, and next to him were Tim Drake and Stephanie Brown. At the other head of the table was a, starfish? In a onesie and a highchair? All of them, except the starfish, stared at him like he was an alien. A refreshing change from being looked at like a ghost.
"Danny," Bruce addressed. "Are you hungry?"
Danny snapped back to looking at him. "I, uh," he was eating before he switched, now he had to eat again? "Sorry, I'll eat." He quickly grabbed whatever was closest, a big helping of rosted sweet potatoes (Don't mind if he does) and stuffed a forkful into his mouth. Or at least he tried. He missed entirely. Missed the platter, missed the plate, and missed his mouth. It was pretty embarrassing.
"Something the matter?"
"No~ just, mm, not used to having full depth perception... or this much muscle." Definitely going to check himself out in the mirror later.
An older man appeared behind him and placed a fuller portion on Danny's plate. "For future reference, master Danny, we don't wear the suits at the table."
"Sorry," Yeah, no way was Danny about to change clothes in someone else's body. "I'll make sure to dress normal when I visit."
That earned a few snickers from Dick, Steph, and the bulky guy.
"Are you planning to visit?" Bat Bruce asked sternly.
"I mean, isn't that how it's supposed to go?" Danny tried a few times to stab the same cube on his plate. "You switch, find things out about your soul mate so you can find each other, and then happily ever after. More or less." Danny finally put his fork down and picked the food up with his hand. "Wow, you can really taste the lack of firearms used on this." He said, shoving a handful into his mouth.
"You shoot vegetables back home?" Dick questioned.
"I don't. Vegetables usually aren't an option back home, but my parents have a way of making things violent."
"Danny, do your parents hit you?" The big one sounded personally offended.
"No, but their aim is getting better." Danny was the only one who laughed.
________
"We should leave now." Sam said, tearing her hand of their frozen table.
Tucker shoved what he could pry out of the ice into his backpack and dragged Damian out of the restaurant. On the way out, Damian spotted Sam bribing an employee.
"What was that?" His voice usually didn't shake like that, but he was also usually in control of his own facilities.
"We'll explain more in depth once we're clear."
Damian heard sirens and clutched his headphones tighter.
"Dan- Damian, can you tell if it's police or military?"
Military? Why would the military be here? "Cop, th- three cop cars." He writhed.
They pulled him into an alley. He kept following their lead. Soon, he noticed things were getting quieter. The sirens were all but gone. He could only hear 6 or so voices talking over each other. The sound of birds chirping and leaves drifting in the wind was so much gentler than the noise of the city. "Where-?"
"The exact middle of the park. Quietest place in Amity Park... without being, you know, underground or something." Tucker explained.
Damian straightened up. It was quiet here. Compared to everywhere else. There was still plenty of distracting noise. A water pipe below the ground, the sizzling water at a hotdog kart, squirrels. But he could think. "Explain." Damian removed his hands from his headphones and looked at Sam and Tucker
"Right, so, Danny, or you at the moment, has super hearing."
Please don't be Kryptonian. Please don't be Kryptonian.
"As well as a lot of other abilities." Sam continued.
Crap.
"Freezing things, flying, lasers -" Tucker listed.
Crap, crap, crap, his soulmate is an alien. Damian scowled.
"We actually thought the switch wouldn't even happen to him."
"Yeah, people always say "at some point in your lifetime," and since Danny is a ghost, we thought it wouldn't apply."
"Wait, ghost?"
"Oh, right, yeah. Danny has powers because he's a ghost."
________
"No."
"We just want to help."
"No."
"If you're scared of getting hurt, we can protect you."
"No."
"Is someone else in danger, too? If you tell us, we can find and protect them too."
"You know what?" Danny slips off the table he was sat on. "I think it's time for bed, or school, or whatever. Gotham's in a weird time zone or something, right?" Danny tried to walk away, but someone grabbed onto his cape. He let his head fall back to address them. "Urgh. How long does this last? You're old as dust. You must have been switched already, or at least know someone who has. What's the time range?"
Bruce didn't acknowledge the comment and answered. "I switched when I was 17. I was in arkham at the time, so she went out of her way to change her identity when we switched back. It lasted about 4 hours."
Tim let go of Danny's cape. "I was 16. I spent 2 hours in a vat being looked at by scientists."
Danny nodded, still leaning over backwards as though it were a perfectly normal position. "You look like you have something to say."
The big guy looked a little sad? Was that the facial expression for sadness? It was much harder to tell without ghost empathy or whatever it was. "If someone is hurting you back home you should tell us."
Danny straightened back up and turned around. "Look, Damian is, ugh, Robin, apparently, right? And for the moment, he's me. So, if something were seriously wrong, he would handle it, right? Or call you if needed?" Heh, good luck calling for help when you electrocute any technology you touch. "Have you received any strange calls yet?"
The Waynes looked at each other. It kind of looked like they were having a psychic conversation. Tim broke from the group and out of the room. Were they having a psychic conversation? Were the Bats psychic? Was Danny psychic while he was in this body? Wait, how could they all have the same power if they weren't actually related?
Danny watched as Tim scurried away like a malnourished raccoon. "You guys are freaks, you know that? And I know freaks."
Through your eyes
One moment Danny was sitting with Sam and Tucker at the Nasty Burger, and the next he found himself being knocked to the ground. Landing hard on his back, which only added to the disorientated feeling.
Despite his head being shaken he knew what this was. A soulmate body switch. It was something that happened randomly in a person's life—some never even get it at all—with no warning, and lasted for a couple hours. The only visible change that anything is even happening is the fact that the eyes will turn a vibrant white while the two are in each other's bodies.
With his eyes closed Danny tried to take a moment to get his bearings. It was hard to do though when a worried voice suddenly yelled out, "Damian!"
It seems his soulmate's name is Damian, Danny thinks as a thud sounds out next to him, and hands appear on his face and shoulder. Finally opening his eyes he sees a, surprisingly, familiar face. The face of no one other than Dick Grayson. Which is the last person he expected to see.
Wait. Damian? As in Damian Wayne?
Dick, who looked as shocked as Danny feels right now, makes a move that looks like he's going to cover Danny's eyes. Before he can though Danny is breaking free from his grip rolling away from Dick to finally take in the area around him.
Which is a cave. Why is he in a cave? A cave with a frankly massive looking computer? A cave with at least one Batman symbol in every direction he looks? The Batcave? The Batcave.
Oh no.
Looking at Dick, Nightwing his thoughts whisper, looking at him with a strange mix of panic and acceptance. Knowing that there is nothing he can do right now to stop Danny from putting the pieces together.
"So…What's your name?" Dick asks him. Despite the tone being friendly Danny can tell that an interrogation of a lifetime is about to start.
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GREENLIGHT
summary: after your death, paige isn’t sure how to move on, even after everyone says she needs to.
warning(s): character death, badly written angst.
a/n: listen i know i haven’t been posting a lot, but life is kind of busy and it’s lowkey takin me out so enjoy this lil blurb. loosely based off of greenlight by tate mcrae.
masterlist / dallas locker room
maybe it’s a green light, but, i can’t go.
paige stood at the podium, a black dress shirt laid classily against her skin. her face was nothing short of emotionless. she can still feel the way you rubbed her hand for the last time in that sterile white hospital room.
the way you still tried to make her smile even if you felt ill from all the treatments you went through. she remembers the reassuring words you whispered in quiet spaces and the harsh goodbye you gave once you knew your time was up. the words echoed in her mind when she felt your hand go limp against hers. like she could feel the warmth drain from your body—like she could see your soul floating off into peace.
but what hurt most was when you told her you were ready. how could you be ready when she wasn’t? how was she supposed to navigate her career without her biggest supporter? the one who made her feel calm through all the noise?
maybe it’s a green light, but, i can’t go.
paige looked into the crowd of your family members and friends of both of you. she scans over her teammates who came to pay their respects to you. paige even makes eye contact with coach geno auriemma who attended your funeral. she remembers when she first introduced you to her coach in sophomore year at uconn.
you two had freshly started dating and you came to watch her practice while doing a bit of homework. you two had a pretty passive relationship, nothing special but you weren’t strangers or on bad terms. you respected each other and it was all paige asked for.
paige took a deep breath. this felt more nerve racking than free throws to create gaps in close games. she wanted to this to be a special speech—she wanted people to know what you meant to her.
“hi, good morning.” she leaned into the microphone the funeral house provided. paige didn’t get a response but continued anyways.
“thank you for coming. it would have meant a lot to her to see all of you. [name] was a loved daughter, friend, student, and most importantly, she was the love of my life.” paige lets out a shaky breath. “you might be thinking, ‘paige, how could you know she was the love of your life? you’re only 23 years old.’ and it’s true, we are young. but sometimes when you know, you’ll know.”
paige looks your mom who takes a handkerchief and blots the corners of her eyes, drying them of tears. “she made me feel special when i ever felt ordinary, she made me feel loved when i couldn’t love myself. [name] always made sure i knew who i was. she always made sure she knew that i was paige bueckers. not the star or the rookie who is changing the league—the national champion, no. she would hold my face and talk sense into me.”
“she would say, ‘you’re paige bueckers. yes you’re pretty awesome, but you’re still the little girl who had dreams back in minnesota. it doesn’t matter how loud life can get, you remember who you are. who you do this for.’” paige chuckles quietly at the memory.
“now, i don’t know everything and i’m sure i don’t know what we’ll do without her smile and the light she brought into our lives. i know i don’t know what i’ll do now that she’s gone, but she wouldn’t want us to focus on her absence. she’d probably say something like ‘don’t focus on the past, or you’ll miss the future.’” a few chuckles could be heard in the crowd.
paige looks at azzi who gives her a nod. “so let us toast to her peace and support each other where we can. she knows she was loved, she knows she was ready, and she’ll always be in our hearts. thank you.” paige walks away from the microphone, heading down back to her seat.
maybe it’s a green light, but, i can’t go.
paige lets her head hang low as dallas racks up another loss.
it’s been tough trying to adjust to living in dallas—to the league and to a new coach. it’s been chaotic and messy but she’s still afloat. dijonai slaps a hand on her back as they stand up for the handshake line.
even in the locker room as chris wraps up another bullshit speech, paige has the same emotionless expression she had at your funeral. she’s done nothing but lose this season and it’s been rough not being able to come home to your loving arms—not being able to wind down and take her mind off of the bad.
“i know you’re still thinking about her but paige, maybe you should start to move on. it’s starting to affect your game.” chris announces to the entire locker room.
paige looks up at him with an upset expression. “of course i think about her, you would think about someone you miss and you’ll never get back.” paige snaps. li and jj stand by her and attempt to cool her down before she gets on chris’ bad side.
paige grabs her bag and rushes out of the locker room. she throws her belongings into her car and just drives for a while. her head was filled with various topics. but it all circled back to you. she felt like she was drowning without your guidance and she can’t tread anymore.
paige mindlessly pulls into a secluded dive bar and heads inside. it was rather dark but it was also pretty empty. she waves the bartender over and she orders something pretty strong. the bartender gives her a quiet look, like he understood why she was there.
she pulls out her phone. she’s read the articles that people have written. they talk about her game and how she’s “failing as a star”. they talk about you, how even after your passing you’re dragging her down. it irks her at the headlines about how she’s expected to just move on and bounce back like you meant nothing.
he looked at her like he knew she needed quiet after being surrounded by voices for too long. he was hesitant but decided to speak up anyways.
“what’s on your mind kid?” he asks, wiping a glass down.
paige is quiet for a minute and takes a sip of her drink before answering. “a lot.”
“you don’t have to tell me but it might feel better to get it off of your chest. even better if you share it with someone you’ll never see again.” he puts the glass back on the shelf.
paige slumps her body, toying with the glass in her hand. “my girlfriend died a few months back. i don’t know what to do without her, being me is suddenly feeling too difficult.” she lets a tear roll down her cheek. “everyone keeps telling me i need to let her go, and i know she’s at peace now but i just don’t know where to start.”
“maybe you don’t want to let go. deep down you’re scared that if you let go, you’ll be letting her go forever like she never existed first.” his eyes crinkled at the corners from age.
“i don’t know. guess i never healed right, maybe it’s a green light, but, i can’t go.” she fiddles with the little napkin that was rested under her glass.
i can’t go, i can’t let go.
maybe it’s a green light, but, i can’t go.
@spideygoop @numberonepartyanth3m @phoenix32711 @we2222 @sevikasleftbicep @em-nems @addymmt @swiftie4evr @fandoms-bythedozen @pathecat14 @fiction67 @ctkvi @toad-stool
#wbb#wnba#wnba x reader#wnba x oc#wlw#gxg#girl kisser#paige bueckers x reader#paige bueckers#paige x reader#dallas basketball#dalls wings#wnba dallas wings#。゚•┈୨ mainstreamangelfics ୧┈• 。゚
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I LOVE YOU, IM SORRY 013
Chapter thirteen: Lacy.
warning: fluff, angst, sexual content, and more that I don't condone.
Y/N: FIVE WEEKS LATER
It started small, like most things that break your heart do.
A missed call here. A late reply there. The way Matt started turning his head instead of turning toward me. How he’d stay behind after filming or say he was too tired to come over, even though he used to fall asleep with his face buried in my neck like I was the only place he could actually rest.
I didn’t say anything at first.
Not when he forgot to text me goodnight.
Not when he stopped posting me.
Not even when he bailed on helping me pick out my tattoo design, something we used to talk about like it was a future we both believed in.
So, I got it without him.
It’s small. Under my rib. Quiet and sharp and mine.
The artist asked me if I was okay when I flinched. I smiled and said, “Yeah. Just tired.”
I’ve been saying that a lot lately. It’s easier than saying I’m unraveling.
I thought he was forever.
But now?
Now I’m not even sure he knows what my laugh sounds like when it’s real. When I’m not performing happy just to avoid scaring him off.
There’s a kind of silence that doesn’t feel peaceful.
It’s loud. It echoes. It scratches against your ribs and asks, What did I do wrong?
That’s what it became between us.
He still kissed me. Still texted “miss u” with a little heart.
But it felt like muscle memory. Like someone remembering how to love you instead of actually loving you.
I started pulling back, too. Not because I stopped caring, but because it was starting to feel like I was begging someone to choose me. Like I was holding onto a version of him that didn’t even live in him anymore.
And the worst part?
I still loved him through it.
Nick and Chris… they noticed.
Nick texted me a few nights ago:
NICK 🧸: u been quiet
NICK 🧸: did my brother piss u off lol bc i’ll fight him rn
NICK 🧸: (but also ily so say smth)
And then Chris, out of nowhere. He barely texts me, or anyone really.
CHRIS🕺: i saw the tat
CHRIS🕺: looks good
CHRIS🕺: matt’s stupid if he doesn’t see how lucky he is
CHRIS: u ok?
I stared at that one for a while.
Felt something sharp twist in my chest.
All I typed back was:
yeah. just tired.
Because it’s easier than saying:
“I miss him and he’s still mine, but I feel more alone than I ever have.”
“I threw him a party he doesn’t even remember.”
“And I think I’m starting to realize… maybe we’re already over. He just hasn’t said it out loud yet.”
MATT:
I didn’t mean to go looking.
I was just scrolling. Late. Couldn’t sleep. The house was too quiet, my room too still, and I kept checking my phone like something would change. Like she’d text me first. Like things would magically go back to how they used to be.
They didn’t.
And there she was.
Not a full picture. Not even her face. Just… skin. Her skin.
A sliver of her ribcage, the softest curve of her waist, and that tattoo. Black, delicate, new.
I felt it immediately, that punch to the chest.
Because I knew exactly what it was.
She’d talked about it for months. If it would hurt. If I’d come with her.
If I’d kiss it when it healed.
I said yeah. Said she’d look hot no matter what. But I didn’t follow through. I didn’t ask when she booked the appointment. I didn’t show up.
And now she had it.
She did it without me.
For herself.
I didn’t even know she went. Didn’t even know it happened until the rest of the world did.
And the worst part?
She looked good.
She looked like she wasn’t waiting on me anymore.
That’s when it hit me: she’s slipping.
And I’m the reason.
I stared at that photo for a long time. Longer than I should’ve.
My chest felt tight, like I’d swallowed something sharp.
There was a time when I knew everything about her, what time she fell asleep, which hoodie she’d steal next, the stupid way she danced when no one was watching.
And now I was learning about her from Instagram stories.
Like everyone else.
⸻
The DM came the next morning.
I was brushing my teeth, barely awake, when my phone buzzed. I glanced over, expecting a group chat or a mention.
Her name hit me like a punch.
The girl from the party.
I just stared for a second. My stomach dropped before I even opened it.
Hey matt, not sure if you remember me but I think we should talk.
My mouth went dry.
The toothbrush fell into the sink.
My brain went completely blank.
I read it again and again, but it didn’t help.
I couldn’t breathe.
Couldn’t think.
Couldn’t move.
And the only thing going through my head, louder than the panic, louder than the guilt, was this:
Y/N is going to hate me.
And I don’t blame her.
Y/N:
I always thought my ending would be Matt and me.
Not perfect, but permanent.
I thought we’d be each other’s home.
So when he asked, “Can we talk?” I knew.
He didn’t say it with fear. He said it with finality. Like he already knew what he was about to do would wreck me. Like it was the only option left.
My chest tightened instantly. I nodded, but the panic inside me screamed to run, to escape, to pretend none of this was real.
I followed him upstairs, each step feeling heavier than the last. The house around us was silent, but inside my head, the noise was deafening.
When he closed the door behind us, the world shrank to that room. His eyes avoided mine like they couldn’t face the damage he was about to do.
“I have to tell you something,” he said, voice breaking.
My heart slammed against my ribs so hard I thought it might stop.
Then he said the words that shattered everything.
“I love you. I’m sorry but I- .”
Those words landed like a knife twisting deep in my chest.
Before I could catch my breath, he looked at me, raw, broken, and said it.
“I cheated on you.”
The word hung between us, heavy and unforgiving.
“I had sex with a girl at the-,” he whispered, voice cracked with shame.
“At the party…”
The pain exploded inside me, sharp and cold and fierce.
My chest felt like it was splitting open, like something inside me was ripping apart and no part of me could breathe.
That party, the one I spent weeks planning, every detail picked for him.
The music we danced to, the cake I ordered just right, the people I invited to celebrate him and his brothers.
And he was somewhere else, with someone else.
“Why?” I managed to choke out.
“Why did you do it? Was I not enough? Did you not love me enough after these years?”
He swallowed, voice barely a whisper.
“I was drunk. It didn’t mean anything.”
But it did.
God, it did.
“It means everything to me,” I screamed, tears burning hot down my cheeks.
“It means something, to me.”
My whole body trembled with rage and heartbreak.
It felt like my chest was collapsing inward, squeezing the air from my lungs.
Every breath was sharp, every heartbeat a stab.
“I don’t deserve this,” I said, voice breaking.
“I deserve someone who loves me, who looks at me like I’m the only thing that matters.”
I needed to know. To understand the part of him I didn’t know existed.
“What is she like?” I demanded, voice trembling but fierce.
“Is she younger? Prettier? Skinnier? Smarter? Tell me.”
“FUCKING TELL ME.”
His eyes dropped to the floor.
“You guys kinda look alike,” he muttered.
My heart shattered all over again.
“Then why?” I whispered, voice raw and cracked.
“Why couldn’t it just be me?”
He said nothing.
I wanted to throw up.
“Did she laugh like I do?
Did she make you feel like I did?
Did she look at you the way I thought only I could?”
I was shaking so badly I could barely stand.
I turned to leave, desperate to escape the burning ache.
But just before I reached the door, he said it.
“She’s pregnant.”
Time stopped.
The room tilted.
My breath caught in my throat, heavy and broken.
I turned slowly, eyes wide and uncomprehending.
“What?”
“She messaged me,” he said, voice barely there.
“It’s been five weeks. She thinks she’s pregnant.”
The air became thick and heavy, pressing down on my chest until I felt like I couldn’t move.
The sharp pain inside my ribs spread, hot and dull all at once, like my heart was bruised and broken.
“no.. no, I- ,” I whispered, voice cracked.
He stepped forward, but I recoiled, afraid to let him touch the pieces of me he already shattered.
“Don’t,” I said, trembling. “Don’t try to make this better.”
“I didn’t mean to—”
“You never do,” I cut him off, tears streaming down my face.
“You say sorry, but your actions say otherwise.
You gave yourself to someone else, while I was right here, loving you with everything I fucking had.”
He opened his mouth, like he wanted to say something else, but the words caught in his throat.
I felt myself breaking, sobs wracking my body, deep and raw and ugly.
“I thought I you truly loved me.”
He looked so broken. So lost.
But it was too late.
I swallowed the last of my pain and said, cold and bitter:
“Congratulations on your baby.”
And then I left.
I didn’t remember walking out the door.
I didn’t remember picking up my keys.
Or sliding my shoes on.
Or saying goodbye to the life I thought I had.
But somehow I was in the car.
Somehow the engine was running.
And the streetlights were flickering past the windows like I wasn’t even real anymore.
My hands were gripping the steering wheel so tight my knuckles ached.
I didn’t know where I was going.
I just knew I couldn’t stay.
Not after that.
Not after the words that split my ribs open like they were made of paper.
“She’s pregnant.”
I blinked.
Hard.
But it didn’t help.
The tears were still coming, hot and quiet, sliding down my cheeks with nowhere to go. I didn’t sob. I didn’t scream. I didn’t even breathe right.
I just cried the kind of tears that come from deep inside, where the love used to live.
My phone lit up beside me.
Nick 🧸: IMessage 💬
Chris 🕺: IMessage 💬
I didn’t open them.
I couldn’t.
Not yet.
I turned onto the street with the long trees that used to look pretty in the fall. They were blurred now. Like everything else.
And I kept hearing my own voice, back in that room, trembling:
“I deserve someone who loves me, who looks at me like I’m the only thing that matters.”
I meant it when I said that.
Every word.
Because that wasn’t just a party. It was love. It was my heart on display. It was balloons and stupid matching cake toppers and a playlist full of songs I knew he liked even if he never said it. It was home.
And he burned it.
He burned it while I was laughing and dancing and loving him with everything I had.
I always thought it would be us.
Matt and me.
And a little version of us, with his eyes and my nose.
A white dress with a long train. A quiet home. A messy kitchen. A yard full of sunflowers.
Cats. Dogs.
A life.
We’d get old.
We’d be buried next to each other.
I thought that was love.
I thought he was love.
But now?
Now he’s just a scar I’m going to have to carry for the rest of my life.
And the worst part?
I still love him.
I still fucking love him. Even though I know he never really loved me right. Even though he let someone else touch him. Even though he made a baby with a stranger while I was planning forever.
I pressed harder on the gas.
The road blurred.
The world blurred.
And I kept driving.
Because I didn’t know what else to do.
Because going back would kill me.
And maybe driving away is the only way I’ll ever survive this.
⸻
I didn’t even lock the door behind me.
I just walked in.
And stood there.
Still.
Numb.
My fingers twitching at my sides like they didn’t belong to me.
My apartment smelled like lavender and vanilla. Like comfort. Like peace. Like him.
His cologne still clung to the sweater he left on the hook.
His name still sat in my phone like it meant something.
And his face…
His face was everywhere.
I stared at the first photo.
The one by the mirror.
It was us, smiling.
Me in his hoodie. Him in my arms. That night we danced in the kitchen, barefoot and half-drunk on laughter.
I remember thinking, this is it.
I remember whispering to myself, you’re safe now.
I didn’t think.
I just ripped it down.
The frame cracked against the floor.
My breathing turned sharp, wild.
Like I was drowning in the air.
Another photo came down. Then another.
The one in the hallway.
The polaroid on the fridge.
The ticket stub in the shadowbox frame he made me on our first anniversary.
I tore them down like they’d betrayed me.
Because maybe they had.
The dried flowers on the wall, baby’s breath, roses, yellow sunflowers he picked from a gas station once, I yanked them out by the twine.
I crushed them in my hands.
Petals flaked to the ground like ash.
The glass vase.
The one he brought me after I got my internship.
It was cracked already. From a drop months ago.
But this time I threw it.
It shattered into a hundred little pieces across the kitchen floor.
Then came the stuffed animals.
The bear he won me at the boardwalk.
The dinosaur I held when he was gone.
They all went flying.
Like they didn’t mean a damn thing.
Like he didn’t mean a damn thing.
And I dropped to my knees in the middle of it all.
A mess of glass and fabric and dust and memories.
And I screamed.
I screamed so hard my throat tore.
I screamed like the sound could reach him.
Like it could hurt the way he hurt me.
Then I cried.
Not soft. Not gentle.
I cried like my ribs couldn’t hold the pain inside.
I cried like my heart had finally figured out it was broken.
Like the love I gave him was leaking out of me with every tear and I couldn’t stop it no matter how hard I tried.
“I didn’t deserve this,” I whispered through the sobs.
“I gave you everything.”
“I loved you.”
“Why wasn’t that enough?”
I curled up in the wreckage.
Cold. Shaking.
And alone.
And I stayed there.
Because I didn’t know what to do next.
Because no one teaches you what to do when your forever becomes someone else’s mistake.
sorry to drop the bomb like that on you guys… I’ll definitely do a bit more chapter before this comes to an end.. I want to get more into the angst on the heartbreak.
𝘁𝗮𝗴𝗹𝗶𝘀𝘁ੈ❀
@izzylovesmatt @riggysworld @amiraisafreakokaysorry @ansteeze @pair-of-pantaloons @kitty-meow-meow44 @sturnslux3
@kalel2005 @sarahsturnn
@teheabrams @prettypriscilla
@my-world-is-poetry @sturniszn
@slutforchrissturniolo2
@alinagrace11 @beardedbernard
@matthewswifeyy @blindedheartp
@chrissfavoritecherry
@jaybirdie34
@courta13 @chriss-slutt
@chrissturniolobendmeovernow
@norahsturns. @chrattstromboli
@iluvchr1s @japblogs @akalizzygrantxo @sturniolobananas1 @franficc @oopsiedaisydeer @wesj11
#sturniolo smut#sturniolo x reader#nick sturniolo#christopher sturniolo#sturniolo triplets#matt sturniolo#sturniolotriplets#chris sturniolo#christoper sturniolo#chris sturniolo fanfic#sturniolo#matthew sturniolo#chris sturniolo texts#nicolas sturniolo#sturniolo fanfic#chris sturiolo fanfic#matt stuniolo fanfic#matt sturiolo fanfic#fanfic#chris stuniolo x reader#matt x reader#x reader#angst#heartbreak#lovers#gigiiilsblog
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When Empires Fall - Prologue
Max Verstappen x Dr Evelyn Horner (OFC)
Summary:
Dr Evelyn Horner is a textbook genius.
Max Verstappen is a four-time World Champion.
He’s also her partner of nearly 10 years.
And when rumours of Max Verstappen moving to Mercedes start, sparks fly.
a/n: feedback is always appreciated and i love answering all questions :) this is my first time posting writing on tumblr and my first time posting my writing anywhere in a while
Dr Evelyn Horner wasn’t normal.
At least that’s what her personal assistant, Sydney, thought. Evelyn Horner was your stereotypical genius. Disgustingly overqualified. All A*s at A-Level, two Cambridge degrees and a PhD with a name that would give most people an aneurysm. And somehow she was probably still the nicest person at Mercedes-AMG Petronas F1 Team, Brackley.
Evelyn Horner wasn’t nice in a loud way. She didn’t give unnecessarily expensive birthday presents, or engage in hour-long conversations about people’s personal lives. She was critical, sarcastic, and unafraid of correcting senior engineers. But she never made anyone feel stupid for asking questions or not knowing something.
And quietly, over time, she earned the respect of many of the senior engineers at Brackley and at the age of 23, she was appointed Technical Director of the Mercedes Formula 1 team.
Evelyn didn’t care what people thought about her. Not really. Her uni professors joked that she cared more about what the CFD simulation thought of her. And they weren’t entirely wrong.
Through watching her parents marriage fall apart, her father becoming more and more distant, and her own life changing faster than she could process, the only true constant in Evelyn’s life was her work.
Once upon a time, she had been the pride and joy of the Red Bull Team Principal, Christian Horner. His prodigy eldest child who spent her time between a private school in England and the Red Bull Racing garage. But between Evelyn’s increasingly intense studies and Christian’s growing obsession with his newly successful Formula 1 team, their relationship became strained.
Now, estranged from her father and working for his rival team, Mercedes, Evelyn Horner has never been happier.
Well, that’s not entirely why. Somewhere between doing a placement at Toro Rosso and avoiding her father like the plague, Evelyn Horner met and fell in love with 17-year-old Max Verstappen. And Max had become absolutely smitten with his future boss’s daughter.
Monday 13th January 2025
Texts between Dr Evelyn Horner and Max Verstappen
Max: Vivi
when are you coming home?
the cats miss you
Evelyn: just the cats?
Max: maybe me too...
Evelyn: my flight’s on the 26th
Max: but that’s so long, schatje
Evelyn: i know
but we’re really busy with the 2026 regulations
and i can’t exactly just drop off the grid until testing
Max: but then we’d be together :(
Evelyn: i know. i’m sorry.
Max: i can’t believe this
my favourite nerd is neglecting me
Max: i love you, schatje
Evelyn: love you too, Maxie
i’ll be back soon
Tuesday 21st January 2025
Text between Dr Evelyn Horner and Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington
Evelyn: Bono.
have you talked to Kimi about testing yet?
Bono: you have such little faith in me, Ev
of course I have
Evelyn: good.
do try not to destroy everything while i’m away
Bono: you mean while you’re off being sappy with Max?
Evelyn: why the fuck do i still talk to you
Bono: because i’m secretly your favourite person on the team
also Toto keeps asking me why you’re taking basically a whole month off. what do you want me to tell him?
Evelyn: not really a secret
tell him to come talk to me himself
i need time to think of some bullshit excuse
Bono: you could always pull the ‘i’m trying to escape my emotionally neglectful dad’ card
Evelyn: …
Wednesday 22nd January 2025
Emails between Dr Evelyn Horner, Toto Wolff, and Peter ‘Bono’ Bonnington
To: Toto Wolff <[email protected]>, Peter Bonnington <pbonnington@mercedesamgf1>
From: Evelyn Horner <[email protected]>
Subject: Time Off 27/01/25 - 19/02/25
Toto and Bono,
With regards to my time off before pre-season testing in Bahrain, I have put together a spreadsheet of what needs to be done during said time. There shouldn’t be any technical difficulties as all engineers have been briefed, and both the Aero and Power Unit departments are ahead of schedule. If by some chance you manage to set Brackley on fire or cause some other issue, I will be contactable, but please limit it to emergencies only.
Bono - Please forward any new sim data from Kimi to me and make sure you’re actually prepared for testing. He isn’t Lewis so don’t be too hard on him, but don’t forget your job is to help him, not babysit him.
If you have any further questions please address them during Friday’s debrief, but if not do feel free to leave me alone and let me do my job in peace.
Sent from my last nerve,
Evelyn
Dr E. Horner
Technical Director
Mercedes AMG Petronas F1 team
Thursday 23rd January 2025
Voice call between Dr Evelyn Horner and Geri Halliwell-Horner
[transcript]
Evelyn: Hey Geri. Uh I have a flight to Monaco on Saturday… I wanted to see Max before testing but um please don’t tell dad
Geri: Of course not, sweetheart. Let me know if you need any help with packing or anything, alright? [pause] Everyone misses you, you know? Montague keeps asking when you’re coming home and Livvy claims she’ll be ‘absolutely useless’ while you’re gone
Evelyn: [laughs a little] Tell Olivia she’s an independent young lady and I know she’ll be absolutely fine by herself.
Geri: [amused] I’m not sure she’ll believe me. [chuckles] Let me know when your flight is, okay? I’ll text you the usual reminders before you leave
Evelyn: Thanks… I’ve got everything that I need written down but I still haven’t started packing. With everything that’s going on with the 2026 regs I keep forgetting
Geri: Don’t worry too much about the regulations, sweetheart. I know you - you’ll do everything brilliantly and make it look easy
Evelyn: Geri… thank you. Seriously - it means a lot
Geri: Just the truth, my love
Friday 24th January 2025
texts between Dr Evelyn Horner and Geri Halliwell-Horner
Evelyn: hey Geri
i know it’s late but would you mind coming over? i still haven’t started packing and i don’t know where to start
Geri: sure, sweetheart :)
i’ll be there as soon as i can xx
i know a month is a long time to pack for but you’re going to see Max. you know he’ll have a million different spare things for you
Evelyn: i know… most of my stuff is at the Monaco penthouse already. I just feel like i’m going to forget something important
Geri: that’s okay. I’ll bring the list and Livvy for backup
Saturday 25th January 2025
texts between Dr Evelyn Horner and Max Verstappen
Max: remembered to pack everything, Vivi?
Evelyn: i hope so. Geri double checked for me
Max: then you’ll be fine.
have a safe flight, mijn schat
Evelyn: <3
i can’t wait to see you
Max: neither can i
text me when you land so i can come pick you up
love you, schatje
Evelyn: i love you more, Maxie
Max: not possible
#formula 1#f1#f1 fanfic#max verstappen#max verstappen x female oc#max verstappen imagine#f1 imagine#f1 au#f1 2025
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Written for @corrodedcoffinfest.
only a moment away
Prompt #31 - Closing Time | Word Count: 1000 | Rating: T | CW: References to Past Character Death/Loss of a Child, Terminal Illness | POV: Gareth | Pairing: None | Tags: AU, Future Fic, Time Marches On, And Death Comes For Us All, But Love and Found Family Remain
Set within Wildflowers, Gareth's continued story from my Tuesday's universe.
oh, the mother and child reunion, is only a moment away Paul Simon, Mother and Child Reunion
"Goodie?"
Lana's voice is quiet, softer than Gareth ever remembers it being. There's a nurse that Gareth's seen a few times over the past few weeks, and Sam's still sitting in a chair nearby. Gareth's pretty sure he never moves. Sitting vigil next to his wife.
Gareth would do the same. He gets it.
Goodie always looked like his dad, and as the years have passed by that resemblance has become less apparent. Gareth can't help but wonder if this is what Goodie would have looked like older.
They've gotten old. He knew that. He did. He just doesn't feel like it's been that long since he's seen them, but he turned his back for a minute, and they've aged years.
Not that he hasn't gotten old, too. He has. He accepts it. The wrinkles and the strands of gray in his hair, all of it. He's thankful for it. He hasn't rushed to do the celebrity thing and get work done. He's fine looking his age. He rode hard, and if he looks like he's been put away a little wet, well. So be it.
Seeing the age on himself, on Eddie, has been a victory. They survived. In more ways than one. When they couldn't walk, they crawled. They were kept afloat until they could tread water on their own.
They were helped out.
Out of addiction.
Out of that plane crash.
They made it to thirty. They made it to forty. They made it to fifty.
They lived.
And well, Goodie and Jeff, they never got that luxury. They got twenty-seven years. They joined that awful club, and Gareth's never sure if he hates it when they're included in those lists among Kurt, Janis and Jimi, or if it hurts worse when they are forgotten. Like they aren't important enough to make the cut, as new names, new stars, suffer the same tragic fate.
Dying at twenty-seven.
It's so young.
"Goodie?" she asks again.
Gareth pauses in the living room next to the hospital bed they've moved in, unsure how to answer. He's not Goodie.
"I'm here," he settles on. He is here, so it's not a full lie.
It still feels wrong, and he can't give her false hope, so he adds, "It's Gareth."
"Gareth," she says, "I thought you looked a little puny."
He laughs, leaning down. Carefully gripping her shoulders, kissing her on the cheek, "You're awful. I love you."
"I think he was here."
Gareth doesn't know what to say to that. He doesn't believe it, but knows she does. It doesn't hurt anyone to believe it for her. Not when she lost her only child. No parent should outlive their child, and she's spent so many years without her baby. The fear of that, of losing his girls, keeps Gareth up at night more than anything else.
If Goodie is out there somewhere, anywhere, he's waiting for his mother. Gareth knows that. Believes it.
The mother and child reunion is only a moment away.
Paul Simon.
Gareth thinks in song, can't help it, it's just hardwired into him, and that's the song playing in his head on this strange and mournful day.
"It's the pain meds, she knows who you are," Sam says, putting his hand on Gareth's shoulder. Gareth hadn't even realized he'd gotten up out of his chair.
"Hey," Gareth says, and he hugs Sam. Presses his forehead to Sam's shoulder, and for a second, just one, he pretends it's Goodie.
He misses him.
"I thought I heard your voice," Gloria says, coming out of the kitchen, and Gareth smiles. Of course she's here. Where else would she be? He's sure Mama Jones has been making visits as well.
He misses Jeff, too.
Gloria pushes a glass of tea into his hand, and if Sam reminds him of Goodie, Gloria reminds him of Jeff. Always taking care of everyone, always the one to smooth the edges. The hurt.
Goodie got his humor from Lana, and Jeff got his kindness from Gloria. Gareth's seen pictures, and Eddie got his mom's looks. It makes Gareth wonder what he got from his mama. He's too close to see it.
The Corroded Coffin extended family runs deep, deeper than anything he's ever experienced. He hears bands use that canned line we're a family and he always thinks, not like us.
They all take chairs around the bed, making small talk. There's not a lot to say. It's just a waiting game.
"Sorry, I'm late," Eddie says, breezing in, like he's younger than he looks.
"Eddie," Lana says, voice full of affection, and Gareth doesn't know if he should be offended that Lana seems to recognize Eddie better than she does him. She doesn't think Eddie is Goodie.
"How's the prettiest lady I know?" Eddie asks, as Eddie dotes on her. Gareth knows how brave Eddie is being right now. How much he'd rather be anywhere else, head buried in the sand. Eddie doesn't do death and dying, never has, and that certainly hasn't improved with age.
But he's here, where he's needed.
Gareth wipes at his eyes, and Eddie moves to stand behind him, squeezing his shoulders.
They've had a lot of transitions in their lives, and this is just another one. The course of a lifetime runs, over and over again. It's a circle, he's realized, and they are gonna hit these same beats over and over in different ways, with different people.
It's the rhythm of life, of loss. It's the steady constant, the backbeat, that fuels the song of still being among the living.
"I'm ready to see Goodie," she says, and Gareth watches Sam squeeze her hand.
"You will," Sam reassures.
Maybe she will.
Maybe she won't.
Eddie leans down, arms folding around Gareth, restricting his shoulders as Eddie presses his cheek to Gareth's neck. Gareth reaches up, grasping Eddie's forearms, the only way he can move, being held like this.
Gareth rests his head against Eddie's, and they wait.
If you want to write your own, or see more entries for this challenge, pop on over to @corrodedcoffinfest and follow along with the fun! 🦇
Notes: One day I heard Mother and Child Reunion by Paul Simon and just went oh. I've heard it a thousand times, but that day I must have been thinking about Tuesday's Goodie, and well, here we are.
#corrodedcoffinfest#prompt: closing time#gareth stranger things#eddie munson#jeff stranger things#freak stranger things#corroded coffin fic#thisapplepielife: corrodedcoffinfest#thisapplepielife: short fic#corroded coffin#stranger things fic#corrodedcoffinfest: year two#corroded coffin boys#stranger things#cw: death
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Okay this feels different but imma leave my thoughts and spiralling feelings here till ao3 loves me again
"If you’re confused, just come find the me that’s with you now, and he’ll show you."
He is so adorable i missed them. They'll be so back
"Son of a bitch, I hope there’s a me with you. Lucky asshole. He loves you too, so you know. He’s me, and he’s not gonna say it out loud very well, but he loves you. I love you. Always love you. All the way down."
DO IT SAY IT, i say as if they can hear me
"I guess it doesn’t hurt for future me. If he gave these to you, that means he got you back. Douchebag. Probably gets to kiss you too. I’ve kissed you. Six times. I’ll do it more, if you let me. I’d do whatever you let me do. Nothing means more than you, baby, you gotta know that. If future me is being an asshole and hasn’t told you that, I’m telling you now. Everything he does is for you. That’s how much he fucking loves you."
Not him trying to talk to himself while writing a letter to Princess, also don't worry dean future you would also be just whipped as current/past you is. Kiss count mentioned!!!
"Fuck, there probably isn’t a thing you could do that he wouldn’t let you get away with."
Hmm mixed feelings.. I agree but also.. we know what princess and cas are gonna do, dean(future or not) doesn't. Am I too fixated on it?
"He’s been a goner for years. Punch him in the balls for me, if he hasn’t told you. Then you can show me this, so I know I told you to do that. But don’t do it too hard. He still wants a future with you, and probably values his balls more than I do."
Whiplash, he thinks a lot. He's baby. And before she comes anywhere near his balls she'd become a flustered mess
"I’ve been having these new dreams, about you. Have I mentioned that I dream about you? I do. They stopped for a while, but they’re back now. Different from before, but back. In one of them, we were just one of those normal couples. We worked and had a house, visited your dad on weekends, had a dog and a cat."
THEA I SEE YOU. I SEE WHAT YOU'RE DOING. is it one of the secret? One 🤍 if no two 🤍🤍 if yes. It's fine no one will know you're barely skirting the nda
Not him being like we'll get a cat but it's not sleeping in OUR bed. I'm putting my foot down and then she does the flutter thing and he's gone dumb
"Dean had let the demons rip into him. There wasn’t any reason not to. The plan had failed anyway."
Honey that shadows the sh thing. I don't like this.
"Maybe She was out. Maybe whatever got Sam grabbed Her too, but Cas couldn’t find her because of the Bride thing"
go on dean keep thinking you are a genius you just need a clear head free of pain and it won't get better until she's back but oh my god you'll get her only with a clear head.
“Awesome.” He dropped his head back down. “See you next time you decide I’m injured enough to check in on.” Cas sighed. “You know I am busy, Dean, I do not enjoy not talking to you-“ “But you only do it when I’m bleeding out.” “You bleed out quite often, lately.” Cas muttered, and Dean rolled his eyes, pushing his words through his teeth.”
why is 2/3 couple in the throuple angsty WHY😭
"might bring a light back to Bobby’s eyes,"
how's Bobby I miss my father
“You actually siding with freakin’ Crowley here?” Dean glared at Cas under his eyelids. “He sent a bunch of demon goons to kick the shit out of me-“
can I be honest? Is it a safe zone? I don't like it, i don't like cas right now. I don't want this can I return this aspect of the update? WHY IS CAS LETTING CROWLEY SIC DEMONS ON DEAN. WHY DONT THEY COMMUNICATE. 😭😭😭😭😭😭😭
“I miss her as well,” Cas muttered, scanning over Dean’s face carefully. “Things are… Far worse. When she is not here. There is a sense, wherever I go, that something is missing. It is…” Cas trailed off, frowning at the air. “As if my wings have been cut off, though they are very much still there.” “Human’s call that grief,” Dean said under his breath, dropping his gaze to his own knees. “That’s what’s you’re feelin’, Cas. But she’s not dead-“ “She is not with us.” Cas murmured. “And if my wings feel as if they are missing, I can only imagine what you are experiencing.”
okay i take back what I said. I am never doubting you again. Yeah this, we like. Bonding even though sad as shit, but they're talking.
“Crowley.” Not Her. “He will not touch you like that again, and I will work to try and make him…” Cas sighed. “Calm down. But I cannot handle Crowley, Raphael, and you making stupid, unmeasured choices.”
i apologise to cas too. I feel like a feral cat realising the human was just trying to feed it and it didn't need to attack them
“If you die,” Cas muttered Her name. “She will break out of the cage, just to kill me. And,” he shot Dean a glare. “That is not a suggestion. You will have to be careful, Dean-“
he's not wrong.. but she won't kill cas, she'll kill the whole world with her grief? Cuz she's more powerful by the second.
"Or She’d be pissed at him, for not helping Cas. She’d help Cas. Shit, if She was here, Cas might have already won the war in Heaven."
You don't say... The reveal is going to gut us all
“Something about hunting?” Jody cut him off, Her voice shockingly firm. “Or something about feelings and good choices. Cause if it’s the latter, I don’t think it’s a good for you and Bobby to be bouncing any ideas off of each other.”
MOM HIIIIIII AND TRUE THEY'RE IDJITS RIGHT NOW EVEN BOBBY
“And expecting a different result, Dean. That’s important. All you do is drink and torture yourself while trying to get her out, you’ll go insane. And you think you’re of better use to her insane, or with a brain that’s actually working?”
I love the women of supernatural. Eric kripe you suck you threw the wayward sisters idea.
"This was just soft. It made Dean feel sort of small, but not like he could be stepped on, or was weak. Like the sky was falling, but there was still going to be something to cover him, and keep him safe."
HE EXPERIENCED HAVING A GENTLE PARENT FOT THE FIRST TIME 😭
"She wrapped Her arms around his neck, as he set Her down, and Dean crashed his lips into Her’s. She tasted like Her apples, and a little bit of cherry and soda. When he reached down for Her thigh, She let him grab it and hook it around his waist. Moaned into Dean’s mouth like a song, when he angled his mouth over Her’s to deepen the kiss."
DREAM SEX LETS GO. You know what I'll take it, it's phantom kissing but they kissed
"He pulled back to frown at Her. “You don’t like Dr. Sexy?” "She shrugged. “I like you.”
DR SEXY MENTIONED ITS CANON THEY WATCH IT TOGETHER. more like dean gets bi panic and she watches him have that
"That wasn’t helping his dream boner."
Yeah see? It's sorta real. Like a more elaborate hologram but like you can almost touch it? Do I make sense? I'm not talking about Dean's.. i mean their dreams that they share
"It was always so goddamn bright into morning, it was like the sky was angling the freakin’ sun right into his eyes."
Chuck your jealousy is showing seriously? Pathetic
THE BANTER BETWEEN SAM AND DEAN> honestly soulblocked sam is finally paying back for all the times he had to go through princedean's pining. Speak your truth King
I'll try to guess your favourite dialogues for dean and princess but my favourite? All of Sam's lines BANGERS. I LOVE IT.
“Can I get a demon, please?” is it this for dean? It's one of the guesses?
"Dean used the drive to practice his ignoring skills. When he took a sharp turn and Sam let out a bitch sigh, Dean ignored it. When he turned up the volume and Sam made a sour face, Dean made it a point to keep his gaze fixed out the window shield. It didn’t how many times Sam grumbled about wrong turns and Dean being dramatic, he wasn’t going to react."
Not the bitch sigh. I love the entirety of how it's written. Thankyou🤍
"And maybe Dean was losing his goddamn mind, but he could swear he was smelling it."
ITS THEM FINIDING HER AND JO PHENOMENON 2.0
"When he walked out of the bathroom, there was an apple on the sink."
TREASURE HUNT LETS GO
"Sammy’s potion tasted like ass. He asked me to drink it, and I couldn’t say no. He would’ve cried, Princess, and you’ve never seen Sammy about to cry. It’s like a whining puppy. So I drank his potion, and then I started throwing up for like a week."
Okay fair there's nothing i wouldn't do for baby sam either
"Dad was pretty pissed, thought I ordered them food, and it could have gotten Sammy poisoned too. Turned out the kid just put a bug in the potion. He liked bugs. Bobby says you liked bugs, too."
John Winchester you deserve herpes you probably had it. I hate him so much. He doesn't care about raising sam and doesn't even see dean as a human ITS FUCKING UNBELIEVABLE.
"What I’m trying to tell you is that I think I love you every time. I think if you were an actual Princess, I’d keep loving you from afar, like if you were Sammy’s bug friend and I was just his stupid older brother. And if you looked at me one day and asked me to do something for you, I’d make the moon move backwards. If you loved me back (because I love you. Just in case you frogot forgot) I’d figure out a way for us to be together. If you wanted me."
AYEEEEEEEEE WE TALKED ABOUT THIS. I LOVE YOU. SAMMY AND PRINCESS'S BUGS/STONES BUSINESS AND Bestfriend's brother au
And I love the PrincessXKnight au. It's holy to me
“It looked like a garden vomited on my pillow, Sam.” this is another guess for your favourite Dean line. At this point I'm suspecting? Let me know what's actually your favourite?
“Someone gave you a free apple.” Sam gave him a flat look. “And you got blackout drunk, picked flowers for your girlfriend, then started crying when you realized she was stuck in hell. That’s not weird shit, Dean, that’s you needing a therapist.”
sam isn't missing on this chapter. BANGER.
“Purple cow?” Dean stared at her. Maybe it was a code. Christ, he was too tired for code. “Blue chicken.”
That was so random I wanna join the game. PINK GOAT. I love him so much
“Ah- Nothin’ for you to worry about, sweetheart.” She rose up, moving back into her tiny kitchen. “Y’all want some mac and cheese?”
wait what the fuck? Is she invisible? It's all HER favourite stuff
"He passed a stoop, and there was a knife taped to the door. And a knife on the sink, when he went to the bathroom."
YEP SHE'S NEAR, if Dean's not the sole thing to summon her knives will, so relatable
"I guess everything was designed for you. That’s the Bride of God thing. You’re the universe, and I’m just some asshole you watch TV with." Also nominated for your favourite Dean line
"Right where Sam’s massive fucking head had been blocking, was a huge Indiana Jones poster."
Who is doing that, is this a trap for her or is she just spiralling out of control using her silver?
“If you’re planning on do somethin’ to me.” He muttered, and the Alpha frowned at him. “Can it happen now, before I bleed all over your fancy freakin’ carpets?” I'm asking blinding at this point. If this is your favourite Dean line
"Jonas’ word died in a gurgle of blood, his throat slit clean open with a bubbling wound that spread, before his head fell clean from his shoulders."
WAY TO MAKR AN ENTRACE LETS GO BAD BITCH
"Lie. That was a lie. Dean didn’t know why, but that was a freaking lie, and he was too fucking tired to understand it."
no🥰 we're not doing this, please
"And it was boiling in the cavity of his chest. She ran again, when She swore she wouldn’t."
Yep. And I feel like the only way it would resolve for me if they fight if dean actually pushes her for once to answer and she would ofcourse it's already uncomfortable lying to him and then it'll be fine.
"Pressed Her lips against Dean’s, as his hand glided up Her back, and made a soft, blissful sound as he kissed Her with a little more than he’d ever had before. Then She kissed him back—wrapping Her legs carefully around his torso and crashing so deep into him he couldn’t really think past Her apple on his tongue and warmth in his arms—and it was like breathing."
Kiss counter add +1.. ITS SEVEN!!
"Her light had never been pure white enough for it to just stop shining. It was made with a little bit of darkness. Made of silver. "
Oh waitt ohhh this makes sense. The white got bigger but the darkness was still a part of her. The god of bride powers and Magdalene powers mixed is silver. YOU'RE A GENIUS
I SWEAR IF SHE RUNS AGAIN. I'LL BE RAGING AND CRYING ON DEAN'S BEHALF.
Also I think your favourite princess line is probably “You know.” She drawled, nudging his body with her foot. “I’ve wanted to be the girl.”
Or “Hi. Do you like my trick? I-“
I thinkkk.. anyways I loved this and I love you 🤍
And sorry for being late to the party
So yeah...
Chapter 31 - It All Comes Around
Series Masterlist - Main Masterlist
Author's Note: Okay you guys know I hate saying something is my favorite in case you hate it, but this chapter has two of my favorite lines of dialogue so far. One for Dean, one for our girl. If you guess one, you can... idk do the bonus chapter thing again. Enjoy!
Chapter Title from The Unknown by Imagine Dragons
Word Count: 19.9k
Chapter Summary/Warnings: Dean has a weird week. Usual Warnings.
Tags: Dean Winchester/Female Reader, enemies to friends to lovers, canon divergence, slow burn, angst, fluff, pining, action
Chapter 30 - Chapter 32
Read on A03!
Dec. 17th - 2010
Princess,
You’d be pissed at me right now. That was the kind of thing you’d be pissed at me about. Knew that going it. Kinda always know it, if i’m telling you the truth. I hate it when you cry or get mad, but sometimes there’s a middle where you’re just glaring at me, and it’s adorable. You don’t get that wrinkle in your brow, but your nose scrunches and you say Dean like
Guess I can’t do an impression of it on the paper. Imagine you can hear me saying Dean, but it’s in my voice, pretending to be you. If you’re confused, just come find the me that’s with you now, and he’ll show you.
Son of a bitch, I hope there’s a me with you. Lucky asshole. He loves you too, so you know. He’s me, and he’s not gonna say it out loud very well, but he loves you. I love you. Always love you. All the way down.
That’s why I did the stupid thing. I’m not gonna write it down, cause if I do, you’ll stop reading and go beat up future me. But he did it for the same reason I did. So don’t be too pissed at him. Me.
Forgive me. That’s why I’m trying to get out here. Please fucking forgive me, for everything. The stupid thing. Everything I did while you were gone. Letting you fall in the cage. I’m so fucking sorry, Princess, but you gotta forgive me. But you were gone, and it hurt. Still hurts, right now.
I guess it doesn’t hurt for future me. If he gave these to you, that means he got you back. Douchebag. Probably gets to kiss you too. I’ve kissed you. Six times. I’ll do it more, if you let me. I’d do whatever you let me do. Nothing means more than you, baby, you gotta know that. If future me is being an asshole and hasn’t told you that, I’m telling you now. Everything he does is for you. That’s how much he fucking loves you.
Fuck, there probably isn’t a thing you could do that he wouldn’t let you get away with. He’s been a goner for years. Punch him in the balls for me, if he hasn’t told you. Then you can show me this, so I know I told you to do that. But don’t do it too hard. He still wants a future with you, and probably values his balls more than I do.
He probably values a hell of a lot more than me, if he’s got you back.
And it’s not your fault, baby. I know you, I know you’re gonna read this and start thinking that you messed something up. Maybe go sit next to future me, so he can calm you down if you start freaking out. You don’t have to do anything to make me feel better, ever. If I’ve got you, I know everything is good. Just let him take care of you. It’s all he’s ever wanted to do.
It’s been you from the start, sweetheart. And I did something stupid, but you need to forgive me because it’s getting dark out here. I miss you, and I need you to tell me what the hell to do. How I’m supposed to get you back without doing something stupid. Whatever got Sammy out isn’t doing an encore, Cas still won’t pick up the damn phone, and Bobby’s a little better, but he ain’t good. None of us are good without you.
I’ve been having these new dreams, about you. Have I mentioned that I dream about you? I do. They stopped for a while, but they’re back now. Different from before, but back. In one of them, we were just one of those normal couples. We worked and had a house, visited your dad on weekends, had a dog and a cat.
I’ll let you get that cat, if you come home soon. The one Cas never got to give you. Shit, I’ll help him pick it out. We’ll get you a cute one, I’ll get those allergy meds you mentioned, and it can stay at Bobby’s. But it can’t sleep on the bed. I’m not fighting for your attention with a fucking cat, sweetheart.
Sam says I’m bargaining. But he’s also an asshole still, cause of the soul blocker thing. He doesn’t know what the hell he’s talking about, just because he took one psych class at Stanford. And even if I am bargaining, nothing wrong with that. Whatever the hell gets you back, right?
You need to come back, baby. I can get a whole lot stupider.
Yours,
DAW
——————
Dean dropped his head against the table—squeezing his eyes shut as he gritted his teeth—and took a long, deep breath.
He finished the letter. That’s what was important.
There wasn’t even a single bloodstain on it, because he’d washed his freaking hands.
There was blood leaking through his shirt, though.
He should probably deal with that, before he lost all of it and had to deal with another lecture from Sam about this behavior not being useful, Dean.
Easy for Sam to say. He hadn’t lost anything. And anything that he should’ve lost, he didn’t give a shit about anymore. His soul. All their goddamn peace.
Her.
Sam still didn’t seem to give a shit that they’d lost Her.
And Dean was trying real damn hard not to be pissed about that. Sam didn’t know how things like emotions worked anymore. Just couldn’t grasp that the most important person in both of their lives—the woman who had believed in him through the whole demon blood thing, and kept them from fighting countless times—was stuck in hell. That they needed to get her out, because otherwise Dean was going to start doing some pretty fucking dumb things.
Dumber things.
He’d already done something pretty fuck dumb.
And it hadn’t even had the nerve to goddamn work.
Dean folded the letter into a neat square, and left it on the table as he pushed to his feet with a groan. This was going to suck. This was going to suck so goddamn much, but he couldn’t call Sam back from his hookup just to give him stitches. Sam would have questions like are you an idiot, Dean—yes—and how they hell did you get your stomach ripped open. It looks like you didn’t even fight back.
He hadn’t.
Dean had let the demons rip into him. There wasn’t any reason not to. The plan had failed anyway.
And this was why he needed Her. This was Her type of plan—the insane ones, that nearly gave Dean a heart attack whenever She looked at him with bright eyes and said I’ve got something—and Her ability to calculate the risks and danger to herself might be horrible, but she got results.
Dean had just got the shit beaten out of him, and nothing else. She wasn’t home. He wasn’t closer to getting Her home. He just had a goddamn pit in the cavity of his chest, splitting him open, and a gash in his side.
He made it to the bed. Sam’s bed. Bitch wasn’t using it anyway, he’d deal with the blood stains.
And there was a whole lot of blood. Maybe the shallow breathing was from the way he was bleeding out, or just how he was thinking about Hell. The rivers of blood, and all of it on his hands.
Her, drowning in that blood. Stuck in the place that had turned Dean into more of a monster than he’d already been. Or just somewhere worse, if the damage to Sam’s soul said anything.
Maybe She was out. Maybe whatever got Sam grabbed Her too, but Cas couldn’t find her because of the Bride thing, and now She was curled up and shivering and alone. Waiting for Dean to come save Her, while he ran around like a fucking asshole. Trying plans that didn’t work, touching women he didn’t love just to feel something, drinking and drinking until he was numb enough to breathe.
He wasn’t numb now.
Son of a bitch, between the way the pit was swallowing him whole and the sting of the rubbing alcohol on his wound, there wasn’t enough booze in the world to make him feel nothing.
He needed to lie down. Half for the stitches, half because if he didn’t, he was pretty damn sure he’d fall over and start sobbing like a pussy.
Dean clenched his jaw, lay flat on his back, and got to work. His hands weren’t steady, but he could patch himself up. Enough for it to look like a normal hunting accident, at least.
Enough that nobody would try and ask questions, and lecture him about self-destructive behaviors.
He tried to hum to himself, to calm down. Ramble On, then Hey Jude, the just fucking anything to fill the silence when he couldn’t carry either of the tunes. If he closed his eyes tight enough, he could pretend She was there with him. That these were Her hands, and the static sound of the heater was Her siren-like voice. Telling Dean it would be okay. That She was here, and everything was going to be okay.
He could almost believe it. When he really goddamn focused, the smell of blood and dirt faded, and he could smell Her apples. Her voice on the wind was less of a phantom, and more of an echo. A little far away, and not really Her, but closer. Had been Her before. Would be Her again. And he could pretend that when he wiped the sweat from his brow, it was a gentle hand brushing through his hair. That the warm feeling in his chest wasn’t more than a reflection of what had been there before. That he wasn’t using smoke and mirrors to pretend the pit was flooding with silvery light, and when he turned his head into the mattress and took a deep breath, he wasn’t just lying to his own mind that he was breathing against Her skin.
He might be groaning Her name. He didn’t really care anymore.
He just wanted Her to be here.
And She wasn’t.
When Dean pulled the last stitch through, he opened his eyes, and there was nobody at all.
He tipped his head back with a groan. He just needed to lie down, for one second. Then he’d get back to work. Start looking for new ways—maybe ones that didn’t get him beat up, but he didn’t really care—and maybe that cat. Maybe it was what he needed, just an incentive for Her to come back to him. He’d get Her five cats. Ten, and rent a house on a beach. Maybe Cape Cod. Pretty damn far from California, still the beach. They could get all the sugary drinks and snacks She wanted, then lie in bed for a week.
He’d watch whatever movie She wanted. Read a book for Her. Do fucking anything, just as long as She came home-
There was a rustling sound, and Dean let out a heavy breath, opening his eyes to glare at the cracked ceiling. He should’ve known better than thinking he’d get away with that.
“Cas. You gotta knock.”
“You wouldn’t be able to open the door, Dean.” Cas’ voice was low, and filled a tension Dean didn’t appreciate. Cas wasn’t the one who had been dying. “Are you alright?”
“I’ll live.” He muttered, craning his neck to see Cas staring at him from the edge of the bed. “That it?”
“You know it is not-“
“Awesome.” He dropped his head back down. “See you next time you decide I’m injured enough to check in on.”
Cas sighed. “You know I am busy, Dean, I do not enjoy not talking to you-“
“But you only do it when I’m bleeding out.”
“You bleed out quite often, lately.” Cas muttered, and Dean rolled his eyes, pushing his words through his teeth.”
“In case you haven’t noticed, Cas, I don’t got a whole lot going on for me other than bleeding out. So if we could skip the telling me I’m a freakin’ idiot part and cut to what you want-“
“I do not want anything, Dean. And I would not call you an idiot.” Cas said Her name, his voice suddenly soft, and Dean’s hand curled into fists. “She would be angry. That you are doing this for her. I do not think she’d like any plan that gets you hurt like this.”
Dean was going to break his jaw. “Don’t tell me what she’d want-“
“You know I’m right.” Cas’ voice was gentle, and it just made the ache in Dean’s chest worse. “She would not be happy to know that you have been on this path-“
“What path.” Dean rolled his eyes, leaning back down on the mattress. “The one where I get her the hell out of the cage? I’m not apologizing for trying to save her, Cas-“
“Dean,” Cas muttered, but Dean shook his head, and pushed on.
“I won’t give up- No, I can’t give up. She didn’t give up on me, and we didn’t even know about angels or all her magic shit. If Death himself can’t goddamn touch her, that means there’s gotta be something up here that needs her, which means there’s going to be some sort of fucking loophole. Some- Fuck, there has to be some goddamn way-“ His head hurt, and it was spread to his throat. He wouldn’t stop. “Son of a bitch, Cas, there has to be a way-“
He had more to say. About how the world had to need Her, because he’d seen the way it bended for Her. How all colors were vibrant around Her, and the grass seemed to grow under Her feet. He’d seen the gardens She’d make, he knew God himself watched Her and wanted her the same way Dean, so if God needed Her like Dean needed Her, there had to be a way.
And if there wasn’t a way, he’d make one. She said there was always another way, so he’d take whatever gamble he had to, if it might get Her home. If it might fix Sammy, might bring a light back to Bobby’s eyes, might make the house stop being so damn quiet and haunted all the time. The floorboards creaked louder without Her. The night was darker. And nothing was how it should be, without Her there.
But the words died in Dean’s throat. If he said them, the pit would turn into a cavern, and it would be all he was. He’d break apart, and none of Cas’ angel mojo would fix him.
“There may be another way, Dean.” Cas murmured, and Dean pinched the bridge of his nose. “But this is not it. That was reckless, and I believe you know that.”
“Doesn’t matter what I know.” Dean grunted. “I’d call that the right amount of recks for this situation.”
“You tried to open a seal, Dean.”
“Didn’t try. Opened it.”
Cas let out another dramatic sigh. “You do understand how that isn’t comforting. I do not approve of Crowley’s methods to deter you, but-“
“You actually siding with freakin’ Crowley here?” Dean glared at Cas under his eyelids. “He sent a bunch of demon goons to kick the shit out of me-“
“And you are lucky they didn’t kill you, Dean. I know what you are planning, and if you proceed with it, I will have to stop you-“
Dean muttered Her name, and Cas fell silent. “She’s down there, Cas. Down there with Michael and Lucifer, in God’s fuckin’ time out corner.”
“I am aware,” Cas muttered, and Dean snorted.
“I’d think you are, but you’re willing to leave her down there-“
“Dean, you know I’m not-“
“I don’t know!” He roared, ignoring the rush of pain through his head as he shot up. “You can say that, Cas, but you don’t gotta live with it like I do! I’m doing what I have to do, I’m doing the only goddamn way I can think of, because she is down there alone with two archangels, and she needs us to get her out, but I’m the only one who’s goddamn willing to fucking do something.”
Cas stared at him for a second. “She would not want you to open the cage, just for her-“
“Stop saying what she’d want.” Dean hissed. “If she hates it, she can tell me herself. When she’s free.”
“Dean.” Cas gave him a sad look, and Dean’s throat ached. “Crowley will continue to attack you. His position as King only lasts as long as Lucifer remains in the cage-“
“I don’t give a shit about Crowley-“
“I am not worried about Crowley.” Cas snapped, voice raising and narrowing his eyes. “I am worried about him killing you, Dean. And Raphael holding your soul hostage. You cannot help her when you are dead.”
Dean scowled, and a lot of the anger was starts to drain from his body. His muscles felt sore, every inch of his body tired, and he might have fucked up his stitches. It didn’t really damn matter. He’d failed. Again. Gotten the shit kicked out of him, gotten yelled at by Cas, and he wasn’t a single step closer to getting Her back.
He’d dream of Her, tonight. He always dreamt of Her, smiling at him like he’d never done anything wrong at all. Like all the sins he’d committed were nothing more than stumbled steps, like he’d never lied to Her or let Her get hurt. Never hurt Her himself, because everything he touched turned to fucking sand in his hands. And She’d been the most precious thing of them all, made of life and light and dancing in the dead of night, and he’d just let Her slip away.
It didn’t matter how hard he swam against the current, trying to get Her back. She’d never been Dean’s to begin with. And when God pulled Her out and took Her to Heaven, She shouldn’t looked back. Heaven was what She deserved.
But there would be no place for a Shadow.
It would be better that way. He was being fucking selfish, wanting Her all to himself. To touch and love and kiss until She giggled and squirmed in his arms. He’d always known he’d never be worthy of Her. And Christ, he was doing all he could be wrong. But no scale was tipped in his favor. And there’s no world where She looked at Dean—acting without thinking, reeking of booze and lonely sex—and decides that she’d have him over paradise.
But he didn’t know how to do any of this without Her.
He was a selfish son of a bitch.
It didn’t matter if he never got Her back.
Dean’s head bowed, breathing heavy as he tried to keep the pit from opening further, from taking whatever last vital organ was still cruelly keeping him alive, and it didn’t matter.
A choked, low sound left him, and nothing mattered.
Two fingers pressed to his brow, and the splitting headache faded with the stabbing pain in his stomach. The pain in his chest didn’t heal, though.
When he looked up at Cas, standing over him with a soft, almost wounded expression, it only stretched a little further, and made the world a little darker.
“I miss her as well,” Cas muttered, scanning over Dean’s face carefully. “Things are… Far worse. When she is not here. There is a sense, wherever I go, that something is missing. It is…” Cas trailed off, frowning at the air. “As if my wings have been cut off, though they are very much still there.”
“Human’s call that grief,” Dean said under his breath, dropping his gaze to his own knees. “That’s what’s you’re feelin’, Cas. But she’s not dead-“
“She is not with us.” Cas murmured. “And if my wings feel as if they are missing, I can only imagine what you are experiencing.”
Dean didn’t answer. He didn’t have the words for it, not one that would sound right. It wasn’t like a part of him was missing, or as he’d just been cut in half. That would’ve been far too simple, too easy to get past.
It was like he was missing. Like he’d been plunged underwater, dragged away from the entire world, and it was just above the surface but no matter how he clawed to get back to it, he was never able to breach the waves.
And Cas sighed, taking a slight step back. “I do not expect you to give up on her, Dean. But you cannot do that again.”
“I won’t.” He grunted, and if he was stronger, he’d just damn the consequences, damn his own soul, and open the cage to get Her back. Cas said Raphael wanted to start the apocalypse again, Dean could get a sponsorship or something.
But She’d never forgive him, when She got out. She’d curse his name, and Dean would lose Her all the same.
Selfish.
It didn’t matter.
“Thank you. I am handling it, Dean. I promise.”
Dean frowned at him. “It?”
“Crowley.” Not Her. “He will not touch you like that again, and I will work to try and make him…” Cas sighed. “Calm down. But I cannot handle Crowley, Raphael, and you making stupid, unmeasured choices.”
“I said I wouldn’t do it,” Dean grumbled, taking at deep breath as he scanned over Cas’ face.
He looked tired. Worn, will parts of his trench coat stained with things Dean didn’t really want to know about.
“Cas.” He muttered, words still low. “You know we can help, man. If there’s anything with the Heaven shit you need-“
“No, Dean.” Cas shook his head. “I told you, I am handling it. I have support.”
“Support?”
“Other angels. Who have chosen my side.”
Dean frowned. Something about that sounded off. Cas wasn’t blinking at all, but that was normal. His voice was firm and deep, but that was also normal. Cas was pretty hard to read, no matter what. And Dean’s own exhaustion wasn’t helping.
“You got anything for us?” He tried one more time, and the soreness was giving way to tension. “Just- a hunt? Any way we can help you gank Raphael faster?”
Cas shook his head, and Dean took an unsteady breath. He couldn’t keep doing nothing. Looking for another way to get her out and coming up empty handed. Maybe this would help. Maybe just one hunt that amounted to more than broken bones and the smell of gasoline would get him back on track. He’d get all his energy back, find whatever angel thing Cas sent them to take care of, and it would be the way to get Her out.
Or maybe he’d just get the shit beat out of him again.
Either way, he wouldn’t just be waiting for Her to appear in the bathroom doorway, or moaning Her name while he fucked some nameless chick. He’d be doing something.
“Dean-“
“C’mon, man.” Dean gave Cas his best winning grin, ignoring how his face felt sort of swollen from crying. “Give us something. I get you’re a big shot angel now, but there’s gotta be like, an errand me and Sam can run for you. Help in this war with Raphael thing.”
“I do not have any errands. And in your current state, I don’t think involving yourself in my war would prove useful.”
“Cas.” He muttered, letting his voice crack slightly. He couldn’t just sit here, in the pit. He’d fall into it, and not have Her light to guide him back out. “Fuck, I’ve got my foot on the pedal, man. I know that. At least give me somewhere to steer.”
Cas paused, watching Dean so intently he could feel in searing over his skin, and he needed this to work. For Cas to see that he wasn’t just begging like a bitch. He needed this. Otherwise, the place he drove might be off a goddamn cliff.
And whatever Cas saw—as Dean let a little bit of the pit show all over his face—seemed to be enough.
“Fine.” He sighed. “But you have to be careful, Dean. No one in Heaven or Hell is your biggest fan right now-“
“I don’t care about them, Cas, I got you.” Dean grinned, and Cas didn’t return it.
“If you die,” Cas muttered Her name. “She will break out of the cage, just to kill me. And,” he shot Dean a glare. “That is not a suggestion. You will have to be careful, Dean-“
“I will be. What’re we lookin’ at?”
Cas sighed again, frowning at the air as he spoke “I have sources that tell me Crowley is looking for something. Something powerful. I am not sure what, but if you must do something, figuring out what would be helpful.”
“What Crowley’s looking for?”
Cas nodded, and Dean sat up a little taller.
Finding something. He could find something. He’d always smoked Sammy at hide and seek, and he was a pretty awesome snooper. Cas left—with another warning to Dean not to do something stupid, which wasn’t really necessary—and Dean had something to do.
In the morning. When Sam got back, and he could use the next day to actually be useful, instead of a drunken, selfish burden.
But maybe this was selfish as well. Maybe he should be spending time trying to think of the next plan to get Her out, instead of running around doing shit Cas could probably do himself. That might get done faster, with a handful of angels on the case rather than Dean.
Or She’d be pissed at him, for not helping Cas. She’d help Cas. Shit, if She was here, Cas might have already won the war in Heaven.
But She wasn’t. Here.
Wasn’t with Dean.
And he would get Her back. As he took the letter off the table, carefully tucking it into the box—kept at the bottom of his bag, right next to Velma the stuffed cat—Dean had to remember that he kept writing because She would come back. And he’d give Her the letters, and everything would be fine.
Right now it wasn’t. Right now it was like sitting in some sort of stasis, downing the last of the whiskey bottle he’d gotten at the bar, staring at the ceiling and trying to work out how he’d get through the day.
Thinking of Her, probably. Not the pain She might be in, but how the better moments. Her on his chest as they slept, or under Dean’s body as he kissed Her softly.
He didn’t know if he’d ever get to kiss Her again.
The bottle was empty. The motel room was empty, and there wouldn’t be any more company for him tonight. He didn’t see that hallucination of Her anymore, not since late September. It didn’t matter if he was wasted enough he didn’t know his own name—only the pain in his chest and the lack of Her at his side—Dean just couldn’t get Her back.
He couldn’t get Her back.
It would be good to help Cas. Cas had helped him, and Dean had pleaded for it. But the longer Cas was gone—the longer it was just Dean and the rattling sound of the heater—the more he wanted to just fucking damn it. If he couldn’t get the seals and open the cage, he’d find another way. Death wouldn’t help, but maybe another archangel could. Maybe there was some sort of Cage guard, that could slip her out. Maybe another spell he could try, a back entrance he could use.
But Bobby had looked for all of that, and there wasn’t a single damn thing.
He’d find something. And Crowley was looking for something powerful. Maybe he’d been right the first time, and this would help him get on track to free Her.
Or maybe She’d just get out some other way tomorrow, and think that Dean had given up on Her.
He felt sort of sick. He was way too damn tired to be trying to figure this out. His head was spinning, and it felt like his heart was withering in his body. He couldn’t sleep. It didn’t matter how he paced around the room, sat and stared at the laptop screen, or lay on the bathroom floor. The bed was too stiff, too cold, and when he stretched his arms out a new, straining pain—just to the right of his heart—ripped through him at the empty mattress at his side.
He couldn’t sleep with a replacement, though. He hadn’t be able to stomach it, since the dreams of Her had started up. There was something fucking wrong about waking up with a passing body—some woman who had looked like Her in the shadows of the bar, enough for Dean to pretend, but then looked like a faded mockery in the morning light—when he’d just been holding Her in his sleep. When he’d spent the whole night dreaming of kissing Her and dancing in some old west saloon.
It made him feel something, at least. Something like poison, in his veins and eating at his hands.
They shouldn’t be allowed to touch Her, when She returned.
If She even wanted to touch him.
She might, if he went through with helping Cas. He didn’t have a damn clue where to start, though. She would. So maybe he could get Her out first, then help Cas. Or he could keep wading through the mud, letting it drag him further under, and never actually save Her because he just kept wandering in damn circles. Or She’d think Dean wasn’t burning himself to ash to get Her out.
Dean pushed up with a groan, fumbling for his phone. He shouldn’t be trusted to make any choices, or even do any right now. Most of his thoughts just always looped back to Her.
The call rang about six or seven times, before it was picked up.
If She was here, it would’ve been answered in three.
“Hey, Dean, everything alright?”
Dean squeezed his eyes shut again. “Hey Jody. Yeah, uh- Is Bobby there?”
Jody sighed. “Not here, no.”
He paused. “But… his phone is?”
“He left it at the house. I was over to make some food, heard it ringing in the library.”
“Where’d he go, town?”
“No.” Jody’s voice went heavier, and Dean braced himself. “He’s headed up to the waterfall, tending to that girl’s grave, said he’d be back in a few hours.”
A lump was forming in Dean’s throat. “He take the truck?”
“Um,” there was a pause, and Dean heard something shuffle on the other end of the line. “Don’t look like it. Firebird is gone, through.” Dean could hear the frown in her voice. “You boys need something from him? Anything I can help with?”
He shook his head, fighting down the strain in his voice. “Nah, I was just hoping to get his advice on something-“
“Something about hunting?” Jody cut him off, Her voice shockingly firm. “Or something about feelings and good choices. Cause if it’s the latter, I don’t think it’s a good for you and Bobby to be bouncing any ideas off of each other.”
Dean frowned. “It was hunting, sorta- What do you mean, not a good idea?”
“I mean you both lost the same person, Dean. And any calls either of you make, you’re not going to be making them with a clear head.”
“I got a clear head-“
“How much have you had to drink.”
He scowled. “That doesn’t matter.”
Jody barked a laugh. “Alright, kid. Tell what you think Bobby can help you with, and I’ll make the call if he needs to hear it.”
“Just a book.” Dean muttered. “For the library. It’s- I think she’d like it. Wanted to know if we already had it.”
Jody didn’t ask what she Dean was talking about. She’d seemed to pick up pretty quickly that when Dean or Bobby said she like that—a lower tone, with a slight edge to their voice but something smooth and gentle in the word itself—it was only referring to Her. And Dean had found Her a book, so that wasn’t technically a lie. It wasn’t what he’d called about, but it could be.
Jody didn’t seem to believe that, though.
“Dean,” she said, tone sort of stern, and Dean frowned. “I know you don’t like talking about your feelings, and I’m not trying to make you or whatever, but I know you didn’t call Bobby at 1am to talk about a book.”
“I-“ Dean frowned. “Why are you there at 1am?”
“Nice try. What’s wrong.”
Dean sighed, setting the phone to speaker and placing it on his knee. “It’s nothin’ important, Jody. I can talk to Sam about it, or call back in the morning-“
“If you’re calling now, it’s important. And don’t hang up on me, I’ll call you back until you pick up and tell me I’m not about to witness one of those hunter funerals y’all have talked about.”
“I’m not going to kill myself-“
“Dean.”
There was no winning this. And he had called for advice.
Goddamnit.
“Talked to Cas, today.” He muttered, fidgeting with his watch, and Jody just waited for him to continue. “Asked him about the war, going on in Heaven. How we could help. He said Crowley’s after something, and if we have to help, we could look into what.”
He could hear the frown in Jody’s voice. “If you have to help. He not want it or something?”
“I sorta- I asked him. A lot. I’m out of leads, for the cage. Last thing I tried went to shit, and I- Fucking-“ He rubbed his brow, trying to force his words out in a way that didn’t sound pathetic. “It still hurts, Jody. And I feel like I’m just sittin’ in it. And I damn near forced Cas to let me help, but then he’s gone and it’s all-“
He cut himself off, and son of a bitch it was a lot easier to talk about it when it was with Her, in letters. Dean wasn’t even sure there were words to describe it. The way the world was just worse, and the only way out of it was Her coming home. He kept trying, and it never felt like enough.
“You know about my family, Dean?”
He frowned, and grunted an acknowledgment.
Jody let out a slow breath through the speaker. “You know how they died?”
“Jody, if this a lecture about grief or whatever, I’ve gotten enough of them-“
“Well shut up and hear one more.” Jody snapped Her name, and Dean mouth closed. “I don’t know a lot about her, expect that you and Bobby love her. That you’re willing to do anything to get her home. But you know what the definition of madness is?”
Dean paused. He did. She’d told him once, in some diner a few years ago.
He’d poked Her nose with a French fry after, and then she’d almost bit his fingers off.
He loved Her so fucking much.
“Repeating something.” He grunted, and Jody sighed.
“And expecting a different result, Dean. That’s important. All you do is drink and torture yourself while trying to get her out, you’ll go insane. And you think you’re of better use to her insane, or with a brain that’s actually working?”
“Working.”
“Good.” Jody sighed, and Dean slumped. “You get what I’m telling you?”
“Yeah.” He muttered. “Jody?”
She hummed, and he took a heavy breath.
“I can’t stop trying to get her out. If I do- I- I can’t-“
“I know, Dean. I got that a while ago.” Jody said Her name, and the world was sort of blurring. “Doing one thing for your friend isn’t going to keep her in the cage longer. The break might be good of you. Focus on something with a reward at the end.”
Dean nodded, and Jody cleared her throat.
“This helping?”
“Yeah.” He muttered. “Thanks. You think you can mention to Bobby that I called? Tell him we’re looking for something Crowley might want. Maybe to try and find some demons?”
“Course.” Jody’s voice went soft, but not the way Cas’ had been. That had been more in a reflection of Dean’s own pain. Almost pity, mixed with Cas’ own loss.
This was just soft. It made Dean feel sort of small, but not like he could be stepped on, or was weak. Like the sky was falling, but there was still going to be something to cover him, and keep him safe.
“Let me know if you need anything else, Dean. I’m here.”
“Thanks.” He muttered. “Night, Jody.”
The line dropped, and he let out a slow breath.
Something with a reward at the end. They’d find what Crowley was looking for, and—on down time—Dean could keep working on how to get Her home. He wasn’t abandoning Her. He’d never abandon Her.
He wasn’t sure how to do that if he tried.
This place had really high ceilings.
High like a church, but all stone and less light. Almost dead feeling, with how empty and quiet it was. Dean’s steps echoed, as he walked down the hall, hand on his sword.
He had a sword. That was fucking awesome. He had a sword, and a suit of leather and metal armor, and whenever he passed the someone—all them women in long dresses or men in weird, fancy outfits—they bowed their heads in his direction. Like they respected him, enough to see he was there.
This was a pretty great dream. If not just because he got a sword, because he’d had something like it before. And he knew exactly where he was going.
His pace picked up, until he was almost sprinting through the halls. Nobody spared him a glance as he ran, but they were all fading into color anyway.
The only important thing was ahead of him, not behind.
When he skid around the corner and up the steps, he could almost feel it. The way something just to the right of his heart felt like it was glowing, and how time began to slow.
The air smelled liked Eden apples, more and more every second.
And there She was. Standing on a balcony and turning around Dean called Her name, her face splitting into a wide, bright smile.
She looked like She was going to run to him, but Dean was faster. He slammed into Her, lifting Her up into the air and spinning her around with a grin so wide it hurt. When She laughed, he wanted to bottle the sound. Maybe put it on a mixtape, so back out there he could hear it over and over again.
It would ring in his ears when he woke up. Follow him like a hungry stray, begging for Dean give it more attention when he tried to look away. But he’d let it.
He’d do damn near anything, just to keep hearing the sound of Her joy.
She wrapped Her arms around his neck, as he set Her down, and Dean crashed his lips into Her’s. She tasted like Her apples, and a little bit of cherry and soda. When he reached down for Her thigh, She let him grab it and hook it around his waist. Moaned into Dean’s mouth like a song, when he angled his mouth over Her’s to deepen the kiss.
And She was entirely relaxed in Dean’s arms. Letting him move Her however he needed to feel Her a little more, tugging on his hair as She whined a sound like his name, and he felt his pants grow tight.
He had to pull back, with heavy breaths and a high feeling over his head. Still holding Her tight to his chest, because She’d stay there until he was forced to let go.
She let out a soft, breathy laugh, ghosting Her lips back over Dean’s, and he grinned.
“Hey, Princess.” He said, bumping their noses together, and Her eyes shined on his.
A little glossy, but still so fucking bright.
“Dean.” She whispered, and he’d never not lose it over how She said it. Long and sweet and sort of like it was a note in a song. “You shouldn’t be kissing me like that in daylight. Someone could see.”
He snorted, dropped his mouth to Her neck. “Let ‘em. Everyone should know how I worship my girl.”
“But-“ She made a tiny noise as Dean lips latched on Her throat. “Oh- Dean-“
He hummed, and She took a deep breath.
“I- It won’t be good if someone catches us-“ She moaned as he kneaded Her waist, and Dean grinned against Her skin.
“I know, baby.” He kissed along Her collarbone, and Her head tipped further back. “But I think you like it, right. Like people knowing you’re mine-“
She melted into him with another soft sound, and son of a bitch, Dean couldn’t tell if his brain was doing him a favor or not. She looked like something higher than an angel, when he leaned back pressed a sloppy kiss to Her cheek. And he got to hold Her like this in here. Have Her slumped against him with complete trust and control, as if She didn’t understand that Dean would probably rip his heart of out his chest as an offering, if she told him Her’s was hurting.
He got to watch Her blink at him slowly, a dazed and happy smile on Her lips.
But it was only in here.
“You look beautiful,” he murmured Her name, and Her breath hitched, that pretty flush spreading over Her cheeks.
“Thank you, De.”
“Course, baby.” He dropped his brow to Her shoulder, almost clinging to Her body. This dream wouldn’t be ripped away, if he just held on tight enough. “Can I ask you something?”
She hummed, petting Dean’s hair, and a deep breath escaped his chest with ease.
“If- Y’know in all those drama, soapy shows you watch-“
“I watch?”
He sighed. “Fine, I watch. But you watch them with me-“
“Because you’re cute. I don’t actually like them.”
He pulled back to frown at Her. “You don’t like Dr. Sexy?”
She shrugged. “I like you.”
“But-“
“Is that your question? If I like Dr. Sexy?” She gave him a pointed look, resting Her chin on his chest, and he rolled his eyes.
“No.”
“Then ask the real question, Deano-“
He nipped at Her nose, and She wiggled against him with a squeak. That wasn’t helping his dream boner. Neither was the way Her nails dug into his arm, or how She threw Her head back with a tiny moan—eyes fluttering and body going slack—when Dean picked Her up and pinned Her against the wall, his lips returning to Her throat.
“So bossy,” he muttered, and Her mouth fell open with a gasp. “Look at you, so fuckin’ pretty.”
He reached up with one hand, trying to brush the hair out of Her face, and She caught his wrist with a desperate expression.
“Dean,” She whispered, squeezing Her hand three times. “Please. Please, just-“
She rolled Her hips with another tiny sound, and he had to take a slow, long breath.
Not in a dream. Not when it wasn’t even real, and She was still his best friend, trapped in Hell.
“Out there, Princess.” He pressed as soft kiss to Her lips, letting Her chase him to a deeper one when he tried to pull away. “But I know, sweetheart. I know.”
She sighed, shaking Her head as She leaned back to scan over Dean with an unreadable expression.
“What did you want to ask me?”
He swallowed, reaching up to cup Her cheek. She was pressed right against his body, with Her legs hooked around his torso and Her arms resting back over Dean’s shoulders. She was so close, close enough that Dean could feel the rise and fall of Her chest, feel Her heartbeat under his fingers when his hand moved to Her neck. And She didn’t flinch or pull away. She just looked at him with bright eyes, and the air felt too thin.
“In the shows,” he mumbled, playing with the hair near Her neck. “They always got an episode where someone’s gotta choose. The world or-“
“Just one person.” She whispered, and he nodded.
“You know what you’d choose?”
She stared at him, and suddenly, Dean was terrified of Her answer. She was going to tell him that She’d always chose anyone but him. Maybe suddenly morph into Dad, who’d start shouting at him that he was being an idiot, that he shouldn’t even feel any guilt about Her in the cage. That he was free of some woman weighing him down, when Dean was pretty sure the was some sort of iron chair wrapped around his throat, and it only got tighter the longer She was gone.
But She didn’t turn into Dad. Or tell Dean She hated him.
She just gave Dean a sad, small smile, and held his hand against Her face.
“I do. But I wouldn’t let it get to that, De.” Her voice broke slightly, and when Dean’s thumb moved to the bridge of Her nose, she let out a soft sigh. “I wouldn’t.” She mumble, nothing but putty in his arms. “I promise, it’s not gonna get to that-“
“I know, baby.” He muttered. “I know. You know I’d choose you, right. You don’t gotta tell me yours-“
“I’d choose you.” She cut him off with a soft breath, eyes fluttering slightly, and the world did a sort of stutter stop. “All the way down.”
He nodded, and opened his mouth to tell Her again. That it was still all the way down, always all the way down, and he’d love Her until he didn’t have anything left in his body.
But the world was starting to flicker. Wave in and out.
And Dean barely got to crash into one last, desperate kiss before She was gone.
The door slammed, and Dean had a headache again. It was always so goddamn bright into morning, it was like the sky was angling the freakin’ sun right into his eyes. There was birdsong, drifting through the air outside and the smell of coffee somewhere close. His throat was dry, his stomach feeling like it was filled with acid, and Goddamnit he had to get up.
He didn’t want to.
But he was even more useless, just fucking lying here with the covers over his face and the pit gaping in his chest.
“You’re up.” Sam said, not glancing up from his laptop, and Dean grunted.
“How long you been back.”
“Few hours. It’s almost noon.”
Dean’s jaw clenched. “And you didn’t freakin’ wake me up?”
“I’m not your clock, Dean.”
“Yeah, and now we’re running behind-“
“Behind on what?” Sam rolled his eyes. “Your drinking schedule?”
“Sam.” He grunted, rubbing his brow. “I’m not in the goddamn mood-“
“Because you lost your girlfriend. Yeah, I know.”
Dean stared ahead blankly, forcing himself to take long, deep breaths through his nose. He couldn’t beat Sam up. For one, he hadn’t tipped far enough over the edge to not pull punches, and Sam was a fucking fridge without a soul. He’d get his ass kicked. But this wasn’t Sam’s fault. Wasn’t even Sam. And Dean had been on board with the soul blocker plan. It was sort of his fault.
But Sam could sneer at Dean all he goddamn wanted.
She was the line. And Sam was freaking toeing it.
“Dude.” Dean said, forcing his voice to remain even. “What did we talk about.”
“Waking you up-“
Dean snapped Her name, and Sam finally looked up. “What did we talk about, with Her?”
Sam gave him a dry look. “Nothing, Dean. We haven’t talked to her in like, a year.” He frowned. “Are you seeing hallucinations of her?”
“No- I- Not for-“ Dean sputtered, pushing himself to his feet. “Goddamnit, Sam-“
“I don’t care if you are, Dean. Sort of guessed you were. You call her name when you sleep.” Sam shrugged, looking back to the laptop. “But you probably shouldn’t drive, if you are.”
Deep breaths. Dean needed to take deep breaths. “Sam.”
Sam hummed, and Dean’s fist curled.
“Look at me.”
Sam sighed, and gave Dean a dramatic, pointed stare. “What, Dean. I’m trying to get us ready for our next case-“
“Well, don’t. I’ve got what we’re doing, and we still need to talk about her-“
“Oh, for-“ Sam groaned, giving Dean an almost pitying look. “Look. I know you’re like, in love with her. And you miss her, or whatever. But I’ve got an actual case, Dean, and literally everyone has told you that the cage can’t be fucked with-“
“Someone fucked with it for you.” Dean snapped. “Got you out just fine.”
“And I’ve told you, I don’t know who. I’m not wasting time on this-“
“It’s not-“ Deep fucking breaths. Don’t punch the wall. “Sam, I’m not talking about that-“
“You’re always talking about that, Dean. All you do is drink and bitch about how you love her-“
That was enough.
Dean stomped over to the table, grabbed out his pistol from his pillow, and slammed Sam’s laptop down with a scowl. Sam blinked at him, shoulders squaring, and he could beat Dean up all he fucking wanted. He’d get to feel something, and then he’d just get up after and keep going until it either killed him, or he actually got to fucking speak.
“What did we talk about.” He hissed Her name through his teeth. “What did I tell you about her.”
Sam sighed, voice was too neutral for Dean’s liking. “That I should think about what I’m going to say before I say it, three times, and if you wouldn’t say it about her, I should shut the hell up.”
“Right. Good.” Dean pushed back up, tucking the gun away and crossing his arms over his chest. “Pack your shit up, Sammy, we’re heading out.”
Sam frowned at him, not moving. “Out where.”
“To find a demon.”
“A demon?” Sam rolled his eyes. “Dean, if you want a demon, we can you one later-“
“I don’t want- Christ, Sam, we’re interrogating it.”
“Why would we do that.”
Dean sighed. “Because Cas has got something for us to do. Crowley’s looking for something, we need to work out, what,” he made a wide gesture. “Demon.”
Sam just stared at him. “No.”
“Sam, I ain’t asking-“
“Cas can handle that himself, he’s an angel. I have a case for us, the hunters-“
“I don’t care.” Dean grunted, turning towards his bag. They packed a little heavier than before—crashing at Bobby’s less—but it was still quick to gather. He just needed his shoes. “We’re doing the demon thing, not some salt and burn.”
“It’s not some salt and burn, Dean, it’s a pretty massive vamp nest in Cadillac, South Carolina, which isn’t even that far.”
“Cadillac? Like the car?”
“Yeah. If we hit the road in an hour, we’ll be there before sunset-“
“No.” Dean grunted, double checking that he had Velma and the box, and Sam let out a bitch sigh.
“Dude, I think they’ve got, like, an infestation.”
“Other hunters will deal with it.”
“Haven’t we been talking about empathy, Dean?” Sam said, tone smug, and Dean drew back up.
He looked fucking smug, as well. Like he’d just done a freakin’ genius chess move or something.
Dean had never known how to play chess. She’d known how the pieces worked, but Sammy said She was impossible to play against because she just moved the pieces in a way She thought looked cool, and won every time.
He fucking missed Her.
He was also going to kill Sam.
“What the hell is that supposed to mean.”
“Empathy is helping people, right dean?” Sam raised his brows. “This would be helping people. A lot more than all the shit you’ve been doing to get her out.”
Dean took a long, heavy breath. “And?”
“And I told you, Cas can handle Crowley without us. We should be helping people.”
“Hunting the fuckin’ King of Hell will be helping people-“
“It’ll be helping you.” Sam said Her name in a bored tone, and that wasn’t how it should be fucking said. “She’d choose to help people.”
“She’d help you. If this is about gettin’ her out, does it even matter? If you were in the cage alone, Sam, she’d be doing everything to help you. To shut the hell up, and let’s go.” Dean could hear his own voice, dropping to almost a growl, and Sam glanced up with a small frown.
“So?”
Dean stared at him. Not Sammy. That wasn’t Sammy, not his Sammy, because his Sammy would never question helping Her. Normal Sammy would be pissed at the idea of leaving Her in the cage.
He had to try a different approach, before his head exploded.
“Don’t you wanna know what the hell Crowley’s so interested in?”
“Not really, no.”
Dean took a long, slow breath. Maybe he’d just freaking leave Sam here, and they’d split up. They’d done it before, and that had always turned out sorta fine.
“I’m going for a walk.” Dean grunted, and Sam sighed, looking back down.
“Okay. Take your phone, you have a missed call from Bobby.”
“A-“ Dean cut himself off with one, last, slow breath. Not his fault. “Whatever.”
He grabbed his phone off the nightstand, and stomped outside as he dialed Bobby.
“Dean?”
“Hey, Bobby, it’s me-“
“You alright, boy?” Bobby cut Dean off, words tight. “Heard you were callin’ past midnight, yesterday.”
“Yeah, I-“ Dean sighed, tipping his head back to frown at the tree branches. “Rough night. Better now. What’d you call me for?”
“I wanted to make sure you weren’t dead, ya idjit.”
“Well, I’m not, so-“
“Did you seriously try breaking a fuckin’ seal?”
Dean felt the blood drain from his face. “Uh- Who told you about that-“
“Cas.” Bobby grunted. “Think he wants me to keep an eye on you. Said you don’t seem to be doin’ too well.”
Dean scowled. “Bobby, I’m fine-“
“That was a dumb fuckin’ move, Dean. You coulda gotten yourself damn killed-“
“I’ve heard-“
“You have any idea what the hell that would do to her?” Bobby snapped, and Dean’s spine went rigid. “If she got out, came back, then I had to tell ‘er you went and got yourself killed while she was gone? You know what she’d fuckin’ do?”
“Bobby.” Dean muttered. “I don’t-“
“She’d make the apocalypse look like a goddamn tea party, dumbass. I know I don’t got legs to stand on, but if you keep fucking actin’ like she ain’t gonna give a shit whether you live or die, she’s gonna kill you before Crowley gets your sorry ass.”
Dean swallowed, and that sore lump was back in his throat. He was getting pretty fucking sick of it. “I know, Bobby. I’m sorry-“
“Don’t be sorry, Dean. Stop trying to kill yourself.”
“I’m not-“ Dean sighed, running a hand over his face. “Bobby, did Jody pass on my message?”
Bobby grunted. “Yeah, lookin’ for demons. Dean, if you go and die, I’ll drag you up from hell and lock you in your room ‘till she’s home.”
He shouldn’t like that idea. Just waiting in their room, surrounded by reminders that She really did existed, and had really cared about Dean and—at least in a few ways—wanted him, until She got home. And one day She’d just walk through the door, straddle Dean’s lap, and he’d get to hold Her until she understood how goddamn sorry he was. Maybe he’d show Her, with his hands and mouth and-
“Dean.”
“Yeah, I got it.” He grumbled. “Can I get a demon, please?”
There was a moment of silence, then Bobby’s rough voice. “I got wind for you that there’s a lotta them, down in Cadillac.”
Dean froze. “Cadillac? South Carolina?”
“Yep. Why, you heard of it?”
“Yeah, like an hour ago.” Dean glanced back to the motel. This conversation was gonna freakin’ suck. “Thanks, Bobby.”
The call ended, and someone out there had to be goddamn fucking with him. Making everything some kind of big fucking joke, on Dean himself. He didn’t know what the hell he’d done to who, but now he had to go apologize to Sam about a fight he should’ve won, and drive to town called Cadillac.
Cadillacs fucking sucked.
“Sam.” He grunted, pushing back into the room. “Get it the car.”
Sam sighed. “Dean, I’ve told you I’m not doing this goose chase-“
“I’m not either.” He muttered, grabbing his bag. “You win. we’re going to Cadillac.”
It wasn’t until they were on the road, that Sam started to question why Dean was suddenly all in on South Carolina. And he didn’t seem to have enough emotion to care anyway, when Den told him about the demons. Just shrugged, and muttered guess you got lucky, huh.
Dean used the drive to practice his ignoring skills. When he took a sharp turn and Sam let out a bitch sigh, Dean ignored it. When he turned up the volume and Sam made a sour face, Dean made it a point to keep his gaze fixed out the window shield. It didn’t how many times Sam grumbled about wrong turns and Dean being dramatic, he wasn’t going to react. He’d keep getting Her snacks at the gas stations, because not doing that would be another form of giving up on Her, and Dean simply damn refused to. He’d drum all the wheel all he wanted, because it was his fucking car.
He’d even ignore Sam’s look of disbelief, when a pop-punk song popped up on the mixtape.
“Really, Dean? I have never once heard you listen to this song-“
“I don’t listen to it.” He muttered Her name, and his grip tightened on the wheel at Sam’s dramatic sigh. “She likes it.”
“I know that, Dean, but she’s not here-“
“Sam.” Dean gave him a firm, unwavering glare. “You can either be in the car and shut the hell up, or sit of the freakin’ roof.”
“C’mon, man, it’s not a good-“
“What did I say.”
Sam scowled, but muttered, “Don’t talk about her if it’s not something you’d say.”
Dean gave a sharp nod, and looked back to the road. He knew it was pathetic, to play the music just to torture himself with thinking about Her. But he loved Her, and he was past pathetic. Pathetic started with dreaming of someone, and Dean had been doing that for freaking years.
He just missed Her. And as long as shit kept not mattering, he’d keep listening to Her music until it did.
Until She was home, and he could look at his motel bed and know She’d be sleeping on the other side.
Pontiac wasn’t a huge town. Easy to find a cheap motel, and stay within walking distance of a bar. And the place was really freaking green. Sam said it was a wetland, but that just seemed to mean nice looking swamp. Plants and trees and a whole lotta birds, singing in overlapping notes as the sun started to set.
The bugs came out. Dean had barely stepped out of the car, when he got a back. Sam looked at him like he was insane, when he whacked his arm, but Sam wasn’t getting freakin’ eaten alive. Sam didn’t have a bunch of fireflies try and land on his face, when they walked out of the lobby.
And maybe Dean was losing his goddamn mind, but he could swear he was smelling it.
Her.
“We’ll keep an eye out for demons,” Sam said as they unpacked, and Dean felt through his bag for Velma and the box. “But this is a vamp case, Dean. We need to treat it like one.”
Dean nodded. “Whatever. You gonna use the shower, or can I take it.”
Sam stared at him. “It’s Six pm.”
“And?” Dean scowled. “A man isn’t allowed to keep himself clean in freakin’ bug country?”
“A shower will actually attract more bugs.” Sam shrugged. “I’m going to the bar. You can…” Sam gave him an odd look. “Shower.”
Dean waited until the door was closed, and grabbed one of the paper sheets from the motel desk, along with his own pen, and shoved them under his pillow before heading to the bathroom.
He still didn’t look in the mirror. But when he stepped into the shower, he glanced down at his dick between his legs, and let out a heavy sigh.
There were two choices here. Neither of them made him a good man.
He could chase distraction in some girl at the bar, and stray one step further from the holiest thing he’d ever know. Betray Her even more, when it would barely make him feel anything at all.
Or he could take care of himself—with thoughts of Her, as if she wasn’t getting tortured in hell as they spoke—and drink the rest of the pain away.
And just the thought of Her was already doing it. He could smell Her apple through the steam of the shower, and his was making his cock twitch all by itself. All he had to do was close his eyes, and he could almost see him. Smiling at him, with bright eyes and shiny hair, framing every feature so well Dean wasn’t sure how She was human. Touchable, by shadows of men like him.
He was a shadow of a man. Barely even something from the mud, anymore.
Because he wrapped his cock in his hand, and started to pump, letting his brain carry him wherever it wanted to go.
Her. On all fours in front of him, eyes fluttering as She gave him that sweet smile, right before taking Dean in Her mouth. She’d look so fucking perfect like that, lips swollen and drool falling out of Her mouth. She’d blink lazily up at him as he played with Her hair, sliding Her up and down until She was moaning, and he was right on the verge of snapping in half. Ass in the air, tits bouncing. Something sent down from a little above heaven.
Then Her hand would slide between her legs as She sucked Dean’s cock, and he’d pull Her off with a popping sound. Lay Her back down on the bed—he’d have to use a bed, it was what She deserved—and run his fingers between her soaked pussy lips. Wrap his lips around Her clit, or just slide himself inside of Her, and watch Her mouth fall open as he bottomed out, and she squeezed around him.
He came with a grunt, hand slipping slightly against the shower wall.
The air still smelled like apple.
When he walked out of the bathroom, there was an apple on the sink.
“It just appeared?” Sam frowned at him across the table a few hours and several drinks later, turning the apple in his hand. “Are you sure it wasn’t there when you walked into the bathroom.”
“Had to have. I would’ve noticed a random apple on the freakin’ sink.”
“Huh.”
Dean glowered. “Really? Huh?”
“Yeah, Dean, I don’t know what you want me to do about it-“
“I don’t know, something-“
“It’s just an apple, dude.” Sam rolled his eyes, gaze wandering somewhere over Dean’s head. “I’m gonna go to the bar.”
He didn’t wait before he was standing, leaving Dean alone the apple. When Dean glanced over his shoulder, Sam had cozied up with a brunette in about five seconds, and didn’t seem to be all that interested in anything else.
Dean sighed, glancing back to the apple. It was just an apple. Not an Eden apple, a freakin’ Pink Lady or something. But he could still smell Her-
“Hey,” a hand landed on his shoulder, and Dean tensed. “Drinking all alone?”
“No.” Dean grunted, grabbing his bottle and the apple, giving the chick a tight grin. She was pretty, a huge rack that was almost falling out of her top, but not Her. Dean only fucking wanted Her. “I’m heading out. Uh- Good luck.”
He wandered back to the motel in the dark. The streets were long, and the night was longer, and by the time he got back to the room, he wasn’t sure if he was losing his damn mind, or seeing a million fireflies dancing around his body. He had downed three shots and half a bottle of whiskey. Sleep would fix it.
But he had something more important to do, first.
——————
Dec. 18th - 2010
Princess,
Been a long day. Most days are long days, without you. Everyone’s pissed at me, all for different shit, and it’s exhausting. Sam’s still being a dick. I swear to god, baby, you’d stab him for half the stuff coming out of his mouth.
You wouldn’t stab him. It’s Sammy, far as you know. Hell, you might just walk back through the door, and he’ll turn into Sammy. Start talking about some nerd shit and showing you books, like he hasn’t been whoring around in every town we go to.
I’ve been thinking about if we’d known you, before the moroi. Maybe we would’ve met on some other case, or just all had normal lives. Probably just Bobby, introducing us to you as kids. You and Sammy would’ve been best friends, and you wouldn’t have even looked at me. Bobby’s been telling me and Jody (the sheriff lady) about what you were like as a kid. We have to get him drunk, first, but that’s pretty freaking easy lately.
He says you loved books and animals and other girl stuff. But Sammy liked girl stuff, too. Bobby mentioned that you used to mix plants in the yard to make potions, and I remember Sammy doing that.
Only Bobby said one your potions turned a bunch of his cars into pure gold, and the other one attracted all the stray dogs in the neighborhood. Then he said you had a tea party with them, but I’m not sure if he’s making that part up. He was pretty freaking drunk.
Sammy’s potion tasted like ass. He asked me to drink it, and I couldn’t say no. He would’ve cried, Princess, and you’ve never seen Sammy about to cry. It’s like a whining puppy. So I drank his potion, and then I started throwing up for like a week. Dad was pretty pissed, thought I ordered them food, and it could have gotten Sammy poisoned too. Turned out the kid just put a bug in the potion. He liked bugs. Bobby says you liked bugs, too.
Bugs are gross, sweetheart. But if being honest with you, I can see you asking me to hold a bug, and I do it. For you. I’d just be happy you were giving me the time of day, when you’d be spending all your attention on Sammy.
What I’m trying to tell you is that I think I love you every time. I think if you were an actual Princess, I’d keep loving you from afar, like if you were Sammy’s bug friend and I was just his stupid older brother. And if you looked at me one day and asked me to do something for you, I’d make the moon move backwards. If you loved me back (because I love you. Just in case you frogot forgot) I’d figure out a way for us to be together. If you wanted me.
Yours,
DAW
——————
“What the hell is up with this place?” Dean muttered, frowning at his pancake. “First I wake up with a bunch of flowers on my pillow, then they give me one fucking pancake? Do they hate me?”
Sam sighed, poking at his own eggs. “I don’t think they are that much, Dean. And you’re the one who said you fell in the bushes last night.”
“It looked like a garden vomited on my pillow, Sam.”
“It was two milkweeds.”
“I don’t know flowers.” Dean glared at his plate, grumbling Her name. “She’d know flowers.”
She’d look at the flowers, and go Dean, this is clearly the work of the flower-moth, a moth that vomits flowers on handsome men who love their girlfriends. And then he’d kiss Her.
Instead he was stuck with Sam hogging all the syrup for his sausages, and a waitress who kept staring at him.
“I’m tell you, Sammy, this place is strange-“
“It has a case, Dean. Of course it’s strange.”
“No, man, like- Weird-“
“That means the same as strange.”
Sam was going to get punched. “You know what I mean. Weird shit keeps happening-“
“Someone gave you a free apple.” Sam gave him a flat look. “And you got blackout drunk, picked flowers for your girlfriend, then started crying when you realized she was stuck in hell. That’s not weird shit, Dean, that’s you needing a therapist.”
Dean scowled. “Shut up. Couldn’t get a therapist anyway, they’d think I was freakin’-“ He whistled, twirling his finger, and Sam shrugged.
“Sure. You go over the case, or do I have to-“
“Big hidden vamp nest.” Dean stabbed his fork into the pancake, and the syrup pooled like it was bleeding. “Talk to locals, see who knows what, gank all the sons of bitches the moment we catch wind of where they’re holed up. Look for a demon, too. Grab it if you see it. Laser tag rules.”
Sam frowned. “Laser tag?”
“First person to hit it gets the point.”
“That doesn’t make any sense.”
Dean shrugged, and it sounded pretty simple. Vamps were easy enough, and someone was bound to snitch with the right pressure. And Bobby said the town had a demon problem. They’d run into one eventually.
Only they didn’t.
And this wasn’t easy at all.
These people were fucking crazy. Everyone kept blaming flooding season for the deaths, as if it wasn’t almost freakin’ Christmas. Dean went to the bathroom in the sheriff’s office, and opened to door only to trip over a pile of books. There wasn’t a single demon in sight, but whenever they interrogated someone about it, people reported smelling sulfur and seeing black eyes.
And all of the interrogations were going to make Dean pull out his eyes. But this one was a special kind of fucking insane. This one was going to make Dean have a goddamn seizure.
“You two look like lovely boys.” The old woman said, pulling out the third tray of chicken nuggets from the oven. “I mean, at first I thought, oh, how spooky, big FBI agents wavin’ around their guns and askin’ questions, but y’know.” She beamed at them. “First impressions are often wrong.”
Sam gave the woman a grimacing smile and Dean stared at his drink. It was a Shirley temple. Three cherries, with half the damn drink just pure grenadine.
If She was here, Dean would slide his over for Her to drink, in trade for one of Her chicken nuggets. Actually, She loved chicken nuggets, too. And these chicken nuggets were half ketchup, which She’d love even more.
Son of a bitch, he missed Her.
“Ma’am,” Sam said cautiously. “We heard that you found one of the bodies, a few weeks ago-“
“Oh, yes, but it’s just flooding season.”
Dean glanced up. “Y’know, we’ve heard that a few times. Flooding season happened every year?”
“Oh, yes.” The woman nodded with a vague wave of her hand. “Or months.”
Sam frowned. “That’s- Not how seasons work-“
“Oh, sure it is. Lollipop?”
Sam shook his head, but Dean leaned forward. She had root beer. And cream soda. And blue raspberry.
He took one of each, then a cherry one for himself.
Sam raised his brows, and Dean shrugged, shoving them in his pocket.
“How many people usually die?” He asked, unwrapping his lollipop. “During flooding season?”
“Oh, about a dozen.”
“A- Dozen?” He sat up, shooting Sam a what the fuck look, and Sam sighed.
“Ma’am, exactly how often does flooding season happen?”
“Whenever it pleases.” The woman sat across from them, pushing forward a huge bowl of purple ice cream. “Purple cow?”
Dean stared at her. Maybe it was a code. Christ, he was too tired for code.
“Blue chicken.”
“It’s the ice cream flavor, Dean.”
“Oh- Uh,” he gave the woman a tight grin, holding up his lollipop. “I’m good. Flooding season-“
“Sweetie, it ain’t nothin’ for you to worry about.” The woman sighed. “Every once and a while you FBI boys get interested in it, then you give up when you see the bodies washing up the river. Nothing for y’all to worry about. Not that you could understand.”
Sam sat up, and Dean had heard it too. “That we could understand?”
The woman nodded, humming as she set the ice cream off by a third, empty seat.
A seat with chicken nuggets, and a Shirley temple, and a bunch of blue raspberry lollipops on the placemat.
Dean frowned, raising his hand to cut off any of Sam’s further words. “Can I ask you something, ma’am?”
“Course. Ain’t that what you’re here for?”
“Yeah, uh- Who’s that plate for?”
Dean pointed to the empty chair, and the woman sighed.
“Ah- Nothin’ for you to worry about, sweetheart.” She rose up, moving back into her tiny kitchen. “Y’all want some mac and cheese?”
“Yes-“
“No.” Sam cut Dean off with a glare. “Ma’am, we would really like to know about the plate-“
“I told ya’, it ain’t anything you’re gonna understand-“
“We’re open minded.” Dean jumped in, giving her a winning smile. “Promise. The occult? My partner here is into that magic stuff it in like, that way,” he winked, and Sam could glare at him all he fucking wanted, Dean was past giving a shit. “And my girlfriend loves weird things, we got paintings of Death on the fridge at home.”
The woman raised her brows. “Really. So-“ She looked back and forth like someone might be watching, then shook her head. “No. I shouldn’t say.”
“Ma’am, we need you to tell us-“
“Aliens.” She whispered, and they both blinked. “They been comin’ around, for a few days. I always thought this town was somethin’ special, and I knew it. Aliens been tellin’ me that their goddess was here, and they’ve been helping me get ready.”
Sam just stared at her, and Dean cleared his throat.
“So… Aliens told you their goddess would want purple ice cream and chicken nuggets.”
The woman nodded eagerly, and Dean gave her an awkward smile.
“They say what kind of music she likes?”
“No!” Her eyes widened. “But shoulda been askin’. Good idea, boy, I’ll tell them about you, agent-“
“Perry.” Dean turned to Sam, giving him a firm look. “Can I talk to you?”
Sam nodded, and they were barely a step out of the house before Dean whirled around, glowering at Sam.
“I fuckin’ told you, there’s something weird going on here-“
“One crazy woman doesn’t mean weird, Dean.” Sam sighed, pulling out his phone. “We’ve got a few more interviews, try and see if we can figure out this flooding season thing-“
“Aliens, Sammy.” Dean shouted. “We just gonna ignore aliens-“
“Yep. We don’t hunt aliens. They’re not real.”
“But-“
“I know you think something is up, dude. But until we get proof, it’s still a vampire case. C’mon.”
Dean scowled as Samy stared back to the car, and couldn’t stop himself from muttering Her name under his breath. “She thinks aliens are real.”
If Sam heard him, he didn’t acknowledge it. But Dean was right. Strange fucking shit was up, in this town. Everyone kept doubling down on the flooding season thing, and when they looked at old records, that was the cause of death for nearly a hundred people in the past eight years. They didn’t get another old lady talking about aliens, but Dean noticed shit. The drawings of oceans and night skies on the pavement with chalk. The people looking up at the sky, and doing fancy, colorful makeup that makes them look like birds of paradise. He passed a stoop, and there was a knife taped to the door.
And a knife on the sink, when he went to the bathroom.
He needed to stop trying to shit. It kept making weird things happens.
Sam hadn’t been wrong about the vampire case. All the old auto spy files about the flooding season victims were dead ringers for vamps, but there had to be more. People didn’t just start worshiping alien goddess out of nowhere, in a town where people died all the goddamn time.
“We haven’t seen a single demon,” Dean muttered over the library table, and Sam sighed.
“What am I supposed to do about that, Dean.”
“I don’t know, I’m just saying it’s-“
“Don’t say strange.”
“It is strange! First we got this flooding season shit, then no demons-“
“No demons is good-“
“Not when a town is supposed to be drowning in them.” Dean hissed, leaning forward. “That means they’re hiding, Sam, that something bigger is happening-“
“Like aliens?” Sam’s tone was bored and mocking, and Dean scowled.
“Yeah, Sam. Maybe.”
“Aliens that eat purple cow ice cream and Shirley temples.”
“I’m not a freakin’ alien expert-“
“You need to sleep, Dean.” Sam sighed, flipping a page. “You sound insane.”
Of course he sounded insane. Their job was insanity, that wasn’t Dean’s fucking fault. They’d spent the whole day making no damn progress on anything, and Dean might be tired, but he mostly wanted to get this over with, and find a demon. He’d only taken this case for a demon, and now there weren’t any to be found.
Maybe demons were the ones fucking with him. Dean wasn’t sure why the hell they’d target him over Sam—or why they seemed to know the exact things that would making something thing to the right of heart strain—but they were. He was walking down the sidewalk, and almost tripped over a bunch of crayons. He went for a bottle of whiskey, only for it to turn into a pina colada. The fucking fireflies kept dancing all around him—he wasn’t even that drunk this time—and when he started the walk back to the motel, he was pretty sure that whatever part of his brain hadn’t gone banana’s when She and Sammy fell in was finally slipping.
The whole town had smelling like Her apples, all day. He hadn’t even been able to look at the lady hitting on him, because it made him feel sick. It was as if Her ghost—presence, if he thought ghost he thought dead, gone, never in his arms again, and then he had to run to the bathroom to vomit, then find a sugary peppermint resting on the doorknob—was wrapped over this entire town.
And on the wind, coming from somewhere in the swamps, he could hear it.
It wasn’t the birdsong, from yesterday.
It was a voice he knew. That vibrated in his chest and made his head feel light. That something deeper than his bones and blood seemed to recognize, even though Dean had never actually heard it before.
But he knew it.
More than anything, Dean knew it.
——————
Dec. 20th - 2010
Princess,
I got you some lollipops. Cream soda, root beer, and blue raspberry. When you get back, you can have them.
You gotta come back. Just for this case, sweetheart. You’d love this case, you’d be bouncing off the damn walls. It’s got aliens, chicken nuggets, mac and cheese and free street knives. Like it was designed for you.
I guess everything was designed for you. That’s the Bride of God thing. You’re the universe, and I’m just some asshole you watch TV with.
Guess I always knew that. I know that you don’t want to be the Bride, but I can’t see how this life is any better. I’m not saying I want you to go, I’m saying you deserve better. Better than what any of us have ever been able to give you. Better than your family, or me, or Dad.
I don’t know if I ever apologized to you, about Dad. What he did to you. If I didn’t, I’m sorry, baby. I told you, that’s never been what you deserved. And I’m never gonna be able to make up for the shit he did, for what I did when he told me, but I need you to know that I’d choose you. If I could go back and do it all again, I’d never leave you. I’d stay until the morning, ask you on a proper date, then give you whatever life you wanted.
I don’t care if that ends with God coming for you anyway. Least I got you for a while.
Any amount of time with you is more than I could ask for.
I love you. I think it’s driving me insane, how much I love you. Sam thinks so. And Bobby seems to think you feel some of it back, but I don’t think he understands what this is like. It doesn’t feel like normal love, Princess. It sorta feels like I knew it forever, even when I’ve been pissed at you. Like is so fucking deep in my body I couldn’t stop loving you if I tried.
I don’t know if you feel it like that. But Bobby told me a couple days ago that you’d be broken up about it, if I died. I hope that’s not true. You’re worth a whole lot more than my sorry life, baby girl.
Yours,
DAW
——————
He couldn’t sleep.
The singing wouldn’t stop. All fucking night it carried through the windows, dragging Dean up from any rest, soothing him and driving him out of his mind all at once. Sam got about around 4am, and it was still going.
“You been hearing that?” He grumbled into his pillow, and Sam let out a loud, dramatic sigh.
“Hear what, Dean.”
“The freakin’ singing.”
“The- Do you have headphones on?”
“Do I look like I have headphones on, bitch?”
“Well, there’s no singing-“
“No, there’s-“ Dean let out a long, heavy breath. “Never mind.”
It was gone by the time the sun was up. And then they had to get back on the case. The vampire and demon free vampire and demon case, with an extra side of aliens, in a city that wouldn’t just let Dean goddamn rest.
“They found another body last night,” Sam said over breakfast, and Dean grunted. “We should go to the coroner’s office, check it out.”
“Thought we knew it was vamps.” Dean muttered. One pancake again. He was going to drive off a cliff. “What’s the fuckin’ point.”
“Conformation.” Sam shrugged. “I’d bet on vampires, but maybe it’s something new like vampires. We have to cover all our bases before we go in swinging, Dean, you know that.”
He grumbled an agreement, his gaze wandering aimlessly over Sam’s shoulder. There were two little girls, sharing a milkshake that looked pretty goddamn good. If She was here, Dean would buy Her a milkshake. Then She’d tell him that she could buy it herself, both of us are using stolen money, Winchester, and Dean would convince Her that it was actually pretty fucking important that Dean but the milkshake. It was about chivalry.
And in his fake dream world, She’d give in with a giggle, and he’d get to wrap his arm over Her shoulder. Kiss the top of Her head, then watch her drink with a big innocent expression, adorably unaware of how Dean was watching Her lips wrap around the straw, thinking of all the things he was going to do to Her when they got back to the motel.
She’d makes Dean drink some of it. And he’d get little bit of whipped cream on his nose—on purpose, but She wouldn’t be able to prove that—so She’d kiss it off. Then it wouldn’t matter what Dean had been planning, because he’d kiss Her fully, She’d climb into his lap, and by the time people were coughing and staring at them making out in the booth, Dean wouldn’t be able to wait for the motel. He’d just bring Her right to the backseat of the Impala, find a shady corner to park, and bury his face between Her thighs-
“Dean.” Sam waved in front of his face, snapping Dean out of the daydream. “Stop thinking about her and focus.”
“I wasn’t-“
“You make the same face, whenever you think about her.”
Dean’s brow furrowed. “The hell I do-“
“Yeah, you do. It’s better than Her Dean face, though. C’mon.”
“Her-“
Sam stood up, and Dean’s words died in his throat.
Right where Sam’s massive fucking head had been blocking, was a huge Indiana Jones poster.
And Dean would be all the stolen money on his credit card that it hadn’t been there the days before.
Sam wasn’t interested in any of Dean’s theories, though. He hadn’t heard the singing, couldn’t smell Her apple, didn’t seem to notice how this whole town was drenched in Her.
“Maybe we should go back to the Alien lady.” Dean muttered, staring blankly at the vic’s body. “See what the alien goddess thing is about.”
“No. That would be a waste of time.” Sam turned the vic’s neck, and gave Dean a smug look. “See?”
He angled the neck for Dean to see, and he rolled his eyes. “Yeah, I never said it wasn’t a vamp. I just- Something’s up, Sam-“
“Yeah, vampires.” Sam dropped the neck, picking up the arm with a frown. “The bodies are bloated, though. And they’re always found in the river. Maybe the vamps dump them, after feeding fresh-“
“Sure. We haven’t seen a single demon-“
“Maybe there never were demons. Bobby can be wrong sometimes.”
Dean scowled. Bobby could be wrong. But usually when Bobby was wrong, they had Her there to say what was right. And that was always on cases with weird fucking shit.
“Let’s check upstream.” Sam said, grabbing his jacket off a chair. “See if we can find the nest-“
“Sam.” Dean grunted, grabbing his arm. “Look, I know you don’t have feelings right now, or whatever, but you gotta at least admit something’s up here. That this isn’t a normal case.”
Sam nose wrinkled slightly, but he let out a long sigh, and nodded. “Yeah, it’s strange. But we know there are vamps, Dean. And if we gank them and still see some weird shit, then we can start thinking about- Aliens.”
Dean nodded slowly, opening his mouth to make some sort of point about the demons—three things in one town was kind of a lot, so maybe there was a bigger root problem that needed to be dealt with—that was cut off by a knock on the door.
The coroner—a round faced, smiling man—waved at them from the window, and Dean sighed, pulling the door open.
“Hey, boys!” The coroner breamed between them, and Dean had never met anyone who was happier to be working with dead bodies. “You find what you needed? Anythin’ else I can do to help?”
“No.” Sam said, giving the coroner a close-lipped smile. “We got it. Thank you for your assistance.”
“Hey, anything for the big timers, right?” The coroner laughed. “The FBI bein’ this interested in our little town-“
“Yep. Well, we should head out-“
“I mean, three feds, lookin’ at my dead bodies? This is the best week of my life.”
Dean froze, his body going rigid, and he didn’t have to look at Sam to know he’d done the same.
“Your dead bodies?” Sam asked, and Dean scowled.
“And,” he shot Sam a glare. “Three agents? I don’t know if you’re seeing double, buddy, but there’s only two of us-“
“Well, there’s you guys, and the lady.”
Sam frowned. “The lady?”
“Yep. Scary looking gal, real looker. Started walkin’ around my office like she owned it, talked like a book had a baby with a pirate.”
Dread started to twist in Dean’s gut. Dread and something worse. Something with soft light that could be fucking hope. “Her eyes.” He muttered, gesturing to his own face. “Were they- What’d they look like?”
“Huh.” The coroner tilted his head. “Kinda sparkly. Like stars.”
Son of a bitch.
He didn’t wait for Sam, before stomping out of the office. He couldn’t goddamn breathe, or see anything but blurred color, and it felt like he was having a freaking heart attack, with the strain to the right of his heart. She couldn’t be here. Dean would fucking know if She was here. She was still in the cage, because he couldn’t get her out, but that meant-
“Dean.” Sam called, jogging after him. “Slow down-“
“I’m not gonna fucking slow down,” Dean sneered, whirling around. “I told you, Sam, something crazy is happening in this town. Someone is messing with me, making me- I can-“
Sam braced his hands on his hips as Dean took a deep, unsteady breath. “Dude, I know that sounded like her, but-“
“No.” Dean snapped. “You don’t get it, I can smell her and hear her, and- She loves chicken nuggets, Sam. She loves chicken nuggets, and candy, and Indiana Jones, and- Son of a bitch, she loves that purple cow ice cream, I remember her giving Cas some- And the bar has been playing all her favorite songs and she loves flowers and- Christ, Sam, I think I’m gonna open the shower tonight a find a kitten in the bathtub-“
“Dean-“
“Someone is fucking with me, Sam. Someone is trying to drive me insane-“
“Dean-“
“And I’m gonna- I’ll fucking kill them-“
“Dean!” Sam shouted. “I think you’re right.”
Dean blinked. “You do?”
“Yep. It’s-“ Sam sighed, keeping his gaze firmly locked on Dean’s. “Don’t look. But there’s a child watching us.”
“A-“ Dean turned, Sam groaned, and there was a child watching them. Not in the way children watched adults fight, but with a strange sort of intent.
The moment her eyes locked with Dean’s, she took off down the street.
Dean sighed. “Are we chasing a child.”
Sam shrugged. “Guess we have to.”
They took off after her. Down the street—fast fucking kid—and around the block, before she turned into an alley-
Something slammed over Dean’s head, drove into his gut, and the world went black.
Stayed black, for a little while.
Dean’s head fucking hurt again, when he could think. The low groan that left him wasn’t dignified, either.
But they had bigger problems to deal with.
The room was pretty dark. Windowless, with a soft carpet Dean’s face had be dropped against. Everything goddamn hurt, and between the throbbing in his skull, ache in his jaw, and sticky, wet feeling in his gut, someone had beaten the shit out of him. His hands were tied behind his back, and when he glanced over, Sam was in the exact same position, with a gash on his arm and black eye blooming on his face.
His eyes slowly started to adjust, as he forced through the pain and pushed himself up on his knees. The whole room was full of fancy shit. Polished wooden tables and plush chairs, with the stupid, cream and red design you’d see in a grandmother’s house. There were paintings on the walls, and crystal glasses filled with something red, and a man.
One man, bald and bored looking, sitting on the largest chair with one leg over the other. Watching Sam and Dean try to get their bearings with vague amusement, swirling the red stuff in his own glass.
Blood.
“Sam.” Dean groaned, scrunching his nose as another pain stabbed through his skull. “Think we found the vamp nest.”
Sam glared at him, and the man chuckled.
“You are Dean, I presume?” He hummed, his voice smooth and dry. “Which makes the big one Sam.”
Dean smirked at him. His gun was gone. Best bet was getting the evil plan, then finding a way out. “So you heard of us?”
The man sighed. “Every Alpha has heard of the Winchesters. At this point, every monster has heard of the Winchesters. I’ve always heard you travelled in a herd of three...” The man raised his brows, and Dean tensed. “But I guess the brains couldn’t grace us with her presence, being trapped in the cage.”
Dean’s jaw clenched, and Sam cleared his throat. “Alpha?”
“Yes, Sam Winchester.” The man sighed. “Alpha. You’re a smart boy, I’m sure you can work out what that means.”
Sam blinked. “Alpha is the first letter of the greek alphabet. So, uh-“
“He’s the first vampire.” Dean grunted, eyes narrowing. “Or he’s saying he is.”
The man—Alpha Vampire—gave Dean an amused look. “Interesting. Not just the beauty, are you, Dean.”
Sam frowned. “He’s right?”
“Oh, yes.” The Alpha hummed. “I am indeed the first vampire. The father of the greatest race my mother ever created-“
“Mother?”
“Yes, Dean. Mother. We all come from somewhere, just as my children came from me. And you two have killed many of them-“
“Sorry, Dracula.” Dean shrugged, and the move split his spine. “They were killing people-“
“They were eating food.” The Alpha snapped. “Just like a hunter, to speak of things they don’t understand. I was hoping to speak to the Magdalene-“
“You know about Magdalenes?” Sam cut in, and the Alpha sighed.
“Of course I know about Magdalenes. I have met several, in my life. But you have the Magdalene.” The Alpha laughed to himself. “Had the Magdalene.”
Dean’s fists curled, and even that movement hurt. “Listen, Count Chocula, you better shut your goddamn mouth-“
“Or what, Dean.” The Alpha drawled. “You are not at the advantage here. And I would not go making threats when I am already very displeased with your presence in my town.” He leaned forward, glaring between Sam and Dean. “I have spent almost two hundred years in Cadillac without disturbances. Do you have any idea how long it takes to convince a town that flooding season is a genuine reason for people to die en masse?” He sighed, lips curling. “Very long. And it was all going just swimmingly, then suddenly there are demons and fairies, and it is all the Winchester’s fault.”
“Demons?”
“Fairies?”
The Alpha sighed. “Yes, Sam. Fairies. They are rare, in our world, which makes the fact that about three dozen of them have been running around my town all week all the more annoying. And-“
“Uh, can we go back to the demon thing.” Dean said over the Alpha, forcing his voice to remain steady. “Cause we’ve been here a few days, and I haven’t seen a single demon-“
“And we’ve never heard of fairies.” Sam added. “We’re here to hunt vampires.”
The Alpha gave Sam an amused look. “And is that supposed to help your case?”
“No.” Sam shrugged. “But demons and fairies aren’t us.”
Dean really wanted to circle back to demons—they hadn’t even fucking seen one—but they also had to get out of this alive. So it could go on the back burner for now.”
“Sam’s right.” He said, throwing the Alpha another grin. “You’ve got the wrong guys, buddy. Sucks.”
The Alpha scowled. “You cannot trick me, Dean Winchester. I know it is you. My people have been on lockdown, since they arrived, and none of them are foolish enough to deal with a hoard of demons in this political climate. Not when the new boy-king of Hell is trying to make me open the door to Purgatory-“
“Purgatory?” Sam cut in, the room was sort of spinning as the Alpha sighed.
“Yes, Sam. Purgatory. Even our souls deserve a place to rest, when vermin like you bite.”
“But why would Crowley care about that, he’s the King of Hell-“
“I have not been asking him,” the Alpha sneered. “While he’s been trying to kidnap me. And as I was trying to say, demons are unruly, but fairies? They can be controlled.”
“That’s great, dude.” Dean grunted, straining slightly at the ropes around his ankles. They were fucking tight, and every movement send a new wave of pain through his body. “The hell do you want-“
“I want you to listen.” The Alpha snapped. “You claim you are not behind any of this, but I know otherwise.”
Sam frowned. “We’ve been here three days, we couldn’t-“
Sam cut himself off as one of the curtains moved, revealing the little girl that had been watching them on the street. Dark hair and big eyes, a blank expression as She stood so goddamn still Dean didn’t know if she was breathing or not.
“This is Ella.” The Alpha hummed, standing to place a hand on the girl’s shoulder. “She’s a young good fairy, bound to my service.”
“She a kid.” Dean hissed, and the Alpha laughed.
“Do not act like you wouldn’t hunt her if she was only a few years old, Dean. And she has been quite helpful, telling me exactly what’s going on.”
Sam gave Dean a tense look, Dean swallowed, and something seemed to bang outside.
“Ella,” the Alpha drawled. “Tell me why you’re here.”
The girl pointed.
To Dean.
“Dean?” Sam said, and Dean was confused as well, but the tone wasn’t fuckin’ needed. “That can’t be why she’s here-“
“I assure you, fairies cannot lie-“
“But they’re here for their goddess.” Sam snapped, and Dean felt kinda heavy
“Those were the aliens, Sammy-“
“Fairies that woman probably thought we aliens, Dean.” Sam gave the Alpha a glare. “It can’t be Dean. He’s not a goddess. Or a god. He’s just a guy.”
Dean scowled, and the Alpha tilted his head.
“What about the fairies cannot lie do you not understand-“
“The part where you think they’re here for Dean.”
Sam held the Alpha’s glare, Her apple smell was getting stronger, and Dean was starting to feel sort of lightheaded. Might be the blood loss, or just the fairy doing something to him, but-
“If you’re planning on do somethin’ to me.” He muttered, and the Alpha frowned at him. “Can it happen now, before I bleed all over your fancy freakin’ carpets?”
“The injuries won’t kill you,” the Alpha, snapped and Dean groaned, shaking his head.
He was going to bleed out in fucking Cadillac. The one thing Bobby had told him not to do was die, and he couldn’t even fucking manage that. And Sam was saying his name, but it didn’t sound all that worried, and if he went maybe he could be a part of that flooding season thing.
And Her apple smell was consuming him. Maybe he was already falling into hell.
Maybe She’d meet him there. All the way down.
He could already hear a lot of shouting, but it didn’t sound like hell shouting. That was more just screams of pain. There was a muffled urgency to this shouting, and Alpha was frowning somewhere over Dean’s head, and the ringing in his ears got louder.
“I may have to cut our audience short-“
“Father-“ A tall, broad man slammed open the doors of the fancy room panting heavily, and the Alpha frowned.
Dean’s knees felt weak, just keeping him upright. Everything fucking smelled like apples.
“Jonas, what-“
“It’s- Fuck, it’s-“ The man shook his head frantically, and the Alpha took a long step forward.
“Jonas, speak plainly-“
“It’s her!” Jonas screamed, and the Alpha flinched back. “It’s the girl-“
Jonas’ word died in a gurgle of blood, his throat slit clean open with a bubbling wound that spread, before his head fell clean from his shoulders.
And Dean must be dying. Or just already dead.
Because Jonas fell to the floor, and standing right behind him was Her.
She was fucking here. Out of the cage and right in front of him, the light from the hallway seeming to cast around Her like She was something ethereal from the night sky, come down to guide Dean home. All the color in the world growing vibrant, and the air in every ragged breath cleaner. Wind seemed to be blowing through Her shining hair, making Her look even more like a goddess from above heaven. But Her skin looked soft. Touchable. And She was still wearing Her usual jacket and dress, spinning Her blade in her hands, as she frowned down at Jonas.
“You know.” She drawled, nudging his body with her foot. “I’ve wanted to be the girl.”
She still sounded like a siren. It was the only noise in the world that wasn’t far away anymore, the only thing Dean could hear at all.
“Magdalene.” The Alpha hissed, and She looked up with a sweet smile.
“Hi. Do you like my trick? I-“
Her words died, and She was looking at Dean.
Right at him, with bright eyes.
He didn’t even know if this was real, but She was looking at him, and he couldn’t stop himself from groaning Her name.
If She was here because he was dying, it could only go faster. The sooner the pain ended, the sooner he’d be able to hold Her.
“Dean- Dean-“ She took a stumbling step forward, and the Alpha was faster. Dean felt himself be yanked up be the neck, another low sound of pain escaping his throat.
He probably didn’t look very heroic. If She was just another hallucination, it wouldn’t matter, but just in case She somehow wasn’t, Dean tried to puff out his chest and look like he wasn’t dying. It only made the Alpha’s sharp nails sink a little further into his neck, and another low groan leave his body. Somewhere in his periphery, Sam started to move, then let out a sharp grunt as the Alpha kicked his gut.
“The rumors are all true, it seems.” The Alpha said, voice mocking. “The Magdalene has a soft spot for the angel’s toys.”
She was frozen in doorway. Dean could see Her grip on the knife tightening, shoulders rising and falling rapidly.
She was freaking out. Dean needed to get to Her and touch Her—to make this all better—but he didn’t even know if he’d be able to, or he’d just fall right through the air.
“I’ve heard rumors that you’re particularly fond of this one.” The Alpha squeezed Dean’s neck, and his vision started to dance with spots.
She took another staggering step forward, Her voice far softer than only a moment before. “Don’t-“
Something sharp was starting to poke at Dean’s throat. “Another step, and he dies.”
Her eyes were locked onto Dean’s, and they were the only bright thing left in the world. Glossy and desperate, and he didn’t understand. He’d be fine. Once he was gone, he’d be able to touch Her again.
“No- Dean-“
“Knife down, darling.” The Alpha hummed, and she raised Her hands, shaking her head desperately.
“I- I can’t- Please, don’t-“
The Alpha roared, and nothing split open Dean’s throat, and the world didn’t go dark. All the pressure was released, and he fell onto the ground, flat on his back.
He could swear, through the fog clouding his head, he could see the little fairy girl wrapped around the Alpha’s head, clawing and chewing at his skin. But they fell out of his view, and Dean wasn’t sure if he was dead. There was too much pain for it, but he also couldn’t really feel his own body, and people were shouting around him, but he couldn’t make out the words.
He was being dragged. Across the ground, then hauled up into the air. When his head turned, he was pressed against something that smelled so fucking good. Then there was a harsh light that made him groan, then he was somewhere softer, a rumbling below him. Smaller arms were pulling him up, and he slumped forward against a warm body that fit his so perfectly. Familiar, gentle hands were grabbing his face, but he couldn’t control his own body, and he slumped down forward. There was a beautiful voice, calling his name, and it sounded so sad. When a tension released from Dean’s wrists, his arms moved to hold the source of it—the warm body—as he tried to mutter soothing words, but they just came out like nothing.
“Dean,” She whispered, prying him away from Her neck. “Dean, I need you to stay awake, no-“
She sounded like She was crying, and he couldn’t let that happen, either. Dean mumbled Her name—the word a little clearer than all the others—but She still wouldn’t let him fall down.
“I- Fuck- Don’t move-“ A hand pressed to his chest and he covered it, trying to keep Her there.
It worked.
Dean was touching Her.
He might still be dying, though. He could see that light people were always talking about, as he forced his vision to focus. Forced himself to see Her.
She looked so sad. Almost broken, with Her hair stuck to Her brow and Her eyes darting between his face, and Her hand on his chest. Her brow was wrinkled, and there were bags under Her eyes, and She’d never looked more beautiful because She was here. Real, and touching Dean in a way he could feel as more than a phantom shiver.
And Dean could touch Her.
It was slipping so fast. The word was getting sharper, and the pain was easing, but now he just felt so tired. He had to touch Her, though, before exhaustion pulled him under. He had to, just so he knew this wouldn’t have to become another nightmare where She slipped through his fingers.
Dean grabbed Her face between his hands, and She stared at him. Wide eyed and pretty. Flushing slightly.
Real.
“Hey, Princess.” He tried to sound collected and charming, but his mouth was swelling, and the world was still spinning. “You look pretty.”
His brow dropped to Her shoulder, the exhaustion settling into his bones. But he grinned, as it washed over his body.
Because he could hear Her.
Saying his name.
Home.
This wasn’t one of those dreams.
It was like he was back underwater, reaching up to try and get to the surface, his hand scraping over the waves but never breaching the surface. He couldn’t breathe, or see, or even roar Her name, to make sure she was still there.
But then it was different.
Suddenly the water was warm, and the world started to glow with light.
He was swimming. Drifting even further down.
But it didn’t hurt anymore. And when he blinked around, there was something bright and silver and beautiful, like a star fallen right into the ocean, watching over him in the dark.
“I don’t remember anything.”
“Anything?” There was a light pressure on Dean’s chest, and it went still. “Not even- Anything?”
“That’s what I said.”
It started moving again. “Well, where did you wake up?”
“Cas said Kansas. You didn’t?”
“No. I didn’t.”
There was a lot of light, here. Behind Dean’s eyes, softer than the light when he’d been dragged around earlier. This was also a softer surface, and everything still smelled like apples, but there wasn’t a ringing in his ears, or more than a stinging pain in his chest that his body was too tired to fight.
He’d been injured. The pain was stitches, because he’d gotten the shit beat out of him. And most of what he could remember was a blur, but there had been the Alpha, the fairies, and-
Her.
She was here. Home. This was probably Her hotel, because there wasn’t any rattling of the heater. It was Her and Sam talking, and Her hands on Dean’s chest. She’d tensed, because Sam didn’t remember the cage, and they’d been in there together.
But they were both out. Dean hadn’t died, She was real.
“Are you going to tell me-“
“Jerusalem.” Her words were short. Tight. Dean wanted to curve over Her, until She relaxed, but he couldn’t really find enough strength to move. And selfishly, he just wanted to keep Her hands on his chest.
“Huh. Alright.” Sam paused. “Why were you hunting alone?"
“I was looking for you guys.”
Lie. That was a lie. Dean didn’t know why, but that was a freaking lie, and he was too fucking tired to understand it.
“What the hell happened, back there?”
“I don’t know.” She murmured. “The- Fairy?”
“Yep.”
“The fairy,” She sighed. “Attacked, and I didn’t pause to take an audit. I- I had to-“
Her words died off, and Dean fought his shiver as Her fingers trailed up his chest.
Sam cleared his throat. “I’m gonna go call Bobby. Give him the rundown. Vampires, fairies, demons-“
“Demons?”
“Bobby said there were demons, and Dean was looking for one, to help Cas with find what Crowley’s after or some shit. But we didn’t see any.”
“Oh.” She hummed, and there was something strange to Her tone Dean was too tired to place. “Okay. Tell Bobby we’re a star up and three over, he’ll know what it means.”
Something scraped on the floor, the wood of the floor creaked, and a door slammed.
She was still touching Dean.
It lingered, every time She brushed over Dean’s skin. Like a brand he didn’t want to heal from, or something hot sinking under his muscles and taking root in his gut. He’d never try and remove it.
He never wanted Her to be gone again.
When She finished the stitches, there was rush of panic through his body. She’d stop touching him, and he didn’t want Her to. He shouldn’t have played passed out, now he couldn’t tell Her to stay without freaking Her out. He couldn’t even pretend to grab Her wrist in his sleep, She hated that-
She didn’t move away. Light fingers ghosted over the wound, a soft sound came from somewhere above him, and his hand was pulled into Her’s. He felt Her touch his fingers so delicately, tracing over every callous and line, before they were tangled together, and Dean’s hand was set back down as the mattress dipped.
She was lying next to him. Holding his hand, even though She didn’t know he was awake.
Like She couldn’t bear to leave either.
Fuck it.
Slowly enough that She could stop him if She wanted, Dean pulled Her into his chest. He heard Her breath hitch slightly, but She was still relaxed in his arms, right until She was almost curled over him, free hand resting on his chest.
When he opened his eyes, She was there. Right next to him, blinking up at him with wide, slightly puffy eyes. Her lips were swollen from chewing, that little wrinkle between Her brows. Dean held Her gaze as he moved his arm over Her head, and around Her shoulders, swallowing the grunt the movement caused and reaching around to rub his thumb down Her nose.
Her eyes fluttered, slightly, and he couldn’t stop his small grin.
“Morning.”
Her throat bobbed, voice perfectly soft. “It’s 1pm.”
“Brunch time.”
“That’s just lunch, De-“
“Brunch is a feeling, Princess.”
“You’ve never even had brunch-“
“I ate eggs with you at 2, that one time.”
“That was 2am.”
“Yeah, and it felt like brunch.”
Her lips twitched as She sniffed, turning Her face into Dean shoulder, and he chuckled. It hurt.
He didn’t care.
“Hey, Princess.”
She hummed, not moving, and Dean sighed.
“Sam’s soul is blocked, by the way. That’s why he’s being such a dick.”
“Yeah. I know.”
“He tell you?”
“No.”
“Then how-“
“Demon.” She mumbled, still not moving. “In Iraq.”
Dean frowned into the air. Iraq. That was halfway across the freaking world, not just a few days to South Carolina. And Sam was right, She had been hunting alone. Lying about why.
Not wearing the clothes She’d fallen in with, like Sammy had been.
And suddenly his throat hurt again. She wouldn’t be so calm, if She’d just gotten out of the cage. She might not have been a shattered mess like Sammy, but She wouldn’t be spinning Her blade and carving through vampires. She’d be too tired, from being dead.
He had to ask.
Even when he didn’t really want the answer.
“You’ve been out-“
“Since September.” She whispered, and Dean felt the ache from his chest move to the pit of his stomach.
Three months.
Three fucking months.
“Why.” He grunted, unable to think of anything else to say.
She pushed up on Her palms, looking at him with a pleading expression. “I- I had to.”
She didn’t say more. And looking at Her, Dean couldn’t bring himself to push for it.
She looked so fucking tired. All the lines of Her face were sharper, Her eyes holding new strange depth to them that he couldn’t name. As if She’d seen all the stars in the sky, been blinded by them, and done something horrible to keep seeing.
To keep looking at Dean.
But it still fucking hurt. And he couldn’t stop the bitterness of his tone.
“Bobby know?” He muttered, holding Her palm over his chest because he loved Her, and if She turned into mist above him, he might snap in half. “That you’re back?”
“Yeah.” She sighed, scanning over Dean’s face. “I- I just got back a few days ago. I lost my phone, his number is the only one I know. And he- He told me you were here.”
Truth. That was the truth.
And She looked so fucking sad.
“So you came,” Dean muttered, and She nodded. A small, nervous movement, Her whole body tensed above Dean’s. Like She expected him to shove Her away.
And it was boiling in the cavity of his chest. She ran again, when She swore she wouldn’t.
But she was here now. Looking at Dean like he was the most important thing in the world. Like he could possibly hurt something as vital as Her. And he doesn’t want to break Her. Touchable. In Dean’s hands, with one still covering Her’s and the other on Her waist.
He knew that, the longer he sat in it, the pit was only going to split further open.
But She was filling it with light.
And right now, he’d been in the dark too long to care.
“I missed you.” He said, his voice barely a rasp, and something flashed over Her features.
“I missed you, too.”
She squeezed his hand three times, with the words.
Okay. Everything’s okay.
It wasn’t. He wasn’t even that angry with Her. It just hurt. It goddamn hurt, that She hadn’t come back. Maybe She’d known what he was doing, while She was gone, and decided She wanted nothing to do with him. Maybe he’d been insane to think She’d ever want to crawl back to him at all, when he was still from the mud.
But She’d saved him. And he could see it, haunted in Her eyes. All those stars behind Her gaze, crashing back down to Earth to only look at Dean. Look at him like She loved him. And maybe She did, but Dean couldn’t have that be a burden. An obligation. Something that made this all worse, to be loved by something as low as Dean.
So he would be better. Do better. Figure out where he went wrong, and never be something She ran from again.
She was still looking at him. And he was out of words to say it. How he’d missed Her, and how he loved Her, and how fucking sorry he was for all of it.
But when he reached up to cup Her face, She leaned into the touch, and Dean knew. He was bad at saying it. He’d fuck it up.
He’d just have to show it.
She stared at Dean, as he guided Her down, but melted into him all the same.
Pressed Her lips against Dean’s, as his hand glided up Her back, and made a soft, blissful sound as he kissed Her with a little more than he’d ever had before. Then She kissed him back—wrapping Her legs carefully around his torso and crashing so deep into him he couldn’t really think past Her apple on his tongue and warmth in his arms—and it was like breathing.
Simple and natural and thoughtless. The most crucial thing, to move his lips against Her’s and press his tongue between Her lips. To keep holding Her as she made a high, sweet sound and ran Her fingers through his hair.
She was still fragile in his arms. Dean still felt the weight of the whole year, hanging over their heads. But it wouldn’t matter, as long as he got to hold Her and kiss Her like this. Like he’d been made to do it, with his mouth slotted perfectly against Her’s and every sound Dean pulled from Her like music. He was still Her shadow, and not time would wipe him away.
He’d love Her in the dark, as long as She kept being light.
And it wasn’t something She could stop being. She just was. Even with Her body shivering under Dean’s touch—his hand dipping under Her shirt to skim up Her back, Her neck being angled by his careful hand—and way Her nails dug into his shoulders, She was still light.
Her light had never been pure white enough for it to just stop shining. It was made with a little bit of darkness. Made of silver.
So She’d last.
And Dean would stay Her shadow, nipping at Her lips as they drew back for ragged breaths, until She left him in the dark.
“Don’t leave.” She whispered against his lips. “I- I’m sorry, Dean, I’m sorry-“
“I know.” He murmured, bumping their noses. “I know, Princess-“
A sob shook Her body, and Dean could taste the salt of Her tears. “I’m sorry, please don’t leave me-“
“Hey.” He ran his thumb down Her nose, and those pretty lashes fluttered. “I’m not leaving, sweetheart. Just- Don’t run again.” His voice was hoarse. “Please.”
“Oh- Okay.”
She said it like it was simple. Hooked Her pinky with Dean’s and silently swore to it, as if it was nothing. And when She spoke, Her words sounded like a plea.
“All the way down?”
He leaned back to look at Her, and there it was again. That look.
And Dean had tried being mad at Her. Tried hating Her, as well.
It never worked in his favor.
And She always came back.
“Yeah, Princess.” He squeezed Her hand three times, giving Her a small—but so painfully fucking real—grin. “All the way down.”
End Note: I'm sorry for edging you guys, thank you for trusting.
Thank you so so so much for reading!! If you like this story, please reblog, share, or leave a comment! <3
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Chapter 6: What Happens After 2 A.M.
Summary:
Raven learns firsthand, nothing good ever happened after 2 Am, While Damian tried to come to terms with his feelings (good fucking luck with that) and Rose thinks Jason is a hot stalker.
So last we left off, our poor little empath was feeling all Fifty Shades of Rejected . And listen—if there’s one thing women don’t do better than men, it’s handling rejection.
Yeah, I said it. Don’t come for me in the comments just yet. Think about it: for every guy who’s ever rejected a woman, there are dozens of women who’ve rejected the one guy—not because he’s creepy or weird, but just because she’s not interested. And that’s fine! That’s how the world turns.
Men evolved to handle rejection—like water off a duck’s back. No biggie. On to the next one.
In fact, there’s a scientific term for this phenomenon: greater male variability . Which basically means... not all men get to procreate.
It’s like All Dogs Go to Heaven —but sadder. And lonelier.
Girls, on the other hand? We didn’t evolve for that. One of the easiest things in this world? Catching a dick. Takes almost no effort. You blink too long and—boom. Dick acquired.
So all these girls out here bragging like, “I may be a vapid, shallow, possum of a human being, but I can still catch a dick” —yeah, that’s not a flex. Anyone one or anything can catch a dick. Because for every nice guy looking for his future wife there are like five more who aren’t and are desperate enough to nut in anything.
Now, keeping a man? Drowning him in a bowl of your pussy-whip? That’s the hard part. That's where evolution really comes into play. That’s the kind of thing that keeps even the most successful, bossed-up women awake at night wondering what they’re missing.
And the answer? Love is a fickle little bastard. Shows up when you least expect it. Usually when you're already crying in public or covered in almond milk at the back of a Whole Foods.
So do yourself a favor, Sarah. Give up. Completely. Stop being a bitch to every guy who says hi or asks you a random question near the produce section. And if he can afford to shop at Whole Foods? That’s a green flag.
Anyway, back to the story at hand.
So yeah, Raven was feeling pretty dejected—especially given that the object of her affection was the one person she regarded as her closest and dearest friend. That’s how they started off: more than friends, but less than lovers. She could understand why Damian’s first instinct was to treat her like the enemy. Hell, in her own way, she’d felt the same. Keep some distance. Don’t disclose too much. Unsure if she could trust him with that kind of depth.
But we all know that didn’t last long.
Because Raven and Damian were a fated pair, whether they liked it or not. Whether it was Ra’s who understood the power running deep within the Lazarus Pit, or Trigon who foresaw just how much his daughter would come to love the boy whose family he once made a deal with— that tether would become more precious than anyone realized.
And their souls would be bound together for all eternity.
That’s a lot to put on two kids. Emotionally stunned, traumatized kids at that.
And as much as some people might think that should be the end of the story—the cosmic romance, the soul-binding, the star-crossed lovers destined by blood and brimstone—it wasn’t. Because as romantic and dramatic as all that might sound, it was also terrifying. Confusing. Uncharted.
It raised questions. It begged for clarity. And right now?
Damian was just out of reach.
So Raven did the only thing you can do when your “soulmate” isn’t soulmating.
She got fucking shit-faced.
In fact, she got so fucking shit-faced that, at a certain point in the night, everything turned to a blur. And the details of how she came to find herself in her own bed were not even hazy—just simply unaccounted for.
We’re talking: head pounding, stomach weak, mouth dry from booze. At least the air conditioner was blasting. That always helps with a gnarly hangover.
“Fuck,” she groaned, pressing a hand to her forehead. She’d survived the darkest depths of her feelings and a full night’s worth of bad decisions... until she glanced over, and once her vision steadied—she realized she was not alone.
Raven froze.
The inevitable Oh my god, did I fuck a stranger last night?! thought ran screaming through her skull.
Not because she didn’t recognize the guy lying next to her—but because she couldn’t see his face. Just a tuft of short black hair and the slope of a bare back, dimly lit in the shadowy room.
Now, an acceptable thing to do would’ve been to wake this motherfucker up.
But that’s easy to say in hindsight.
Because when you’ve only ever had sex with one guy—and not just some guy, but someone you know deeply, like historical-trauma-bound level know—and you wake up next to someone else that you don’t know? That’s soul-crushing humiliation. Especially when you were blacked out and have no idea what happened.
Which brings us to the other little conundrum of this blurry-ass wake-up call: Raven didn’t know if she’d actually slept with this guy or not.
Keep Reading Here
#damirae#teen titans#damian wayne#damian al ghul#raven teen titans#dcamu#justice league dark apocalypse war#raven dc#damian x raven#raven#harley quinn#harley quinn fanfcintion#conner kent#superboy#holy shit
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Tell me Tuesday
(But it's Thursday)
Rules: Tell me about your writing! Pick a scene/ chapter from one of your fics (or I'll suggest one! and add any commentary you feel like. Why that line? How come this plot twist? What does the eyebrow waggle MEAN?!?! I want the dirt and I can only smash my face up against the glass of your stories so hard before start to leave smudges.
Thanks for the game @adejareve and for the tags @chaosherald @dags-over-caravans and @blackwall-my-tiny-husband
I wasn't gonna play because I have too many works and no one wants to know what happens in my brain but whatever I will try to choose one and do this (or if someone wants to request one for the future whatever). Not tagging anyone cuz I'm late to the party
So Anyway let's go back in time to New Friendships and Insights. This is one of my favorite things I have written. Mostly because platonic Harding rots my brain. In my HC Harding has to be Rooks BFF they spend a YEAR together
Instead he focuses on his companion. Harding eyeing him wearily. Hand twitching occasionally, as if she would reach for her bow at the slightest indication of trouble from him. Ah, the normal response. He muses to himself. Rook keeps saying it's only been a few days. People will get used to Lucanis’ dual nature.
This is set right after the Ossuary. We show not only does Harding not trust Lucanis but also Lucanis is self depreciating and thinks of himself as a monster who deserves it
And he wonders if it's true. Harding does seem to flinch less often. Her shoulders holding less tension than previous days. He notes the arrow she usually reserves for him is curiously missing from her quiver as she allows her back to be turned to him. But the man hardly doubts much will change. He's an abomination now. He wants to laugh at the irony of the name Demon of Vyrantium. But he doesn't.
But we see attitudes starting to shift. Also I'm sorry but his name is hilariously ironic
“So the usual?” he asks with a raise of his eyebrow. Harding simply nods. Though he notes the slightest smile on her lips as she samples her rich chocolate drink. Savoring its flavor as he busies himself with her two eggs hard fried and ham. And dry toast. He's offered to make her biscuits but she says her ma made toast and that's what she wants. He's appreciative for that little insight about her. Letting the barest hint of her true nature shine through. A touch of trust in him.
He's getting to know them. And they are getting to know and trust him.
At the mention of the Qunari, Spite settles onto the bench near Harding and listens intently. Only Rook can have that effect on the demon, and Lucanis tries not to think too hard on it. For their leader has a similar effect on him.
This is a Spookanis so have to casually bring it up
“Yes. Neve told me the story of the ritual gone wrong.” He has worked himself into a corner. Talking was never his specialty. He needs to think of something. Ask about Bad Hat and Rook. Too close. Thankfully, Spite saves the day.
I will always take every opportunity for Spite to call Neve Bad Hat
“I know the look you give him. Inquisitor Trevelyan used to look at Varric like that. And she used to ask me questions about him for hours.” At the mention of her departed friend, her face falls for the briefest moment. But she recovers quickly before continuing. “It's obvious, you know. And maybe I'm just a romantic at heart, but I would see my two friends happy if possible.” He can't help but feel elated at being called her friend. He wonders if she notices the slip, but he knows she means it. Harding is too earnest to say those words without the full weight of her feelings.
Ugh not only is Rook friend but also Lucanis now.
Lucanis and Spite both listen. Until the door creaks open revealing the man in question. Silencing their talks until a later time. He strides over, giving Harding’s braid an affectionate tug that sends her into giggles before folding himself in the large chair at the head of the table. He winks at Lucanis and the Crow's heart does a little flip as he sets about making Rook's favorite omelet. And as the Qunari falls into an easy conversation with the dwarf, Lucanis can't help but be grateful for new friendships and insights.
Rook tugging her braid is everything to me. Shows their closeness. And that wink at Lucanis? Gahhhh
#dragon age#dragon age the veilguard#da: the veilguard#da4#dragon age rook#datv rook#rook x lucanis#lucanis x rook#spookanis#rookanis#spite x rook#rook x spite#spite dellamorte#lucanis dellamorte#lace harding#tell me tuesday
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This VHS pack includes the five seasons of Miss Zany Knows What to Do! from 1989 to 1993. Miss Zany captivated the hearts of both children and parents alike in this world-class educational show as she taught with excessive enthusiasm and color. "She was ahead of our time," say critics. "She was actually from the future!" say skeptics. A portion of our proceeds goes to the Finding Missing People funding program, in honor of Miss Zany and the many like her. Call now and get the whole set of wacky educational fun today!
for the #cartoonysimchallenge by @somewhereinstrangetown 💙 do I still get extra points if the cartoon style IS my personal style?🙈
#hmmm#what do you think? is she missing? or back in the future???#cas challenge#cartoonysimchallenge#simtronics#sims 4
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I love how Gerald was trying to keep Shadow from spoiling anything about the future meanwhile literally everything Shadow says and does around Maria is the biggest death flag ever
#in fairness i’m sure both past robotniks just assumed her illness would be what killed her h a#sxsg#sxsg spoilers#sonic x shadow generations#shadow the hedgehog#maria robotnik#ark siblings#sth#comic#my art#doodles#so this was pretty much entirely done 24 hours ago#but ironically was distracted from posting earlier by playing sxsg#and then watching snapcube play it cause her delight is addicting#i’m missing 2 chests and 2 bolts and I wanna see if I can pull it off without a guide haha#anyways now I’m thinking about the fact that maria and gerald probably went back to their time assuming maria would die of her sickness#and how that would change their respective behaviors#i bet gerald would be holding out that maria would still live a bit longer#just cause shadow inadvertently revealed he’s from at least 50 years in the future due to having met black doom before#(which rewatching cutscenes to remember this quote he Did try to play off a little bit with some sort of#‘oh what do you think the alien squid meant by ’this time i’ll beat you’ that’s so crazy’ comment)#so hey maybe it wasn’t a perfect cure but she managed to live another 10-20 years at least?#all the more reason to press harder surely!#meanwhile maria is coming to terms with her mortality at age 14 or whatever she is#frankly I bet she came to terms with it long ago the way she seems to be written#okay back to snapcube
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continuation? of this comic from earlier~
there are two reasons why I keep drawing them as these gods:
They really do have to do with them. That isn't even a speculation for me at this point, it's something so obvious
I can draw them all lovey-dovey and wholesome I want, because the gods seem to get along really well ;v;) it'd be out of character to draw them otherwise
and mythology is interesting~
#oshi no ko#hikaai#hikaru kamiki#ai hoshino#oshi no ko spoilers#doodle#spoilers#I don't really agree with the way this manga handles things but#what I can give credit for is how they got very creative with taking elements from the myths and recreating/incorporated them#that's something I'd like to do with my original works in the future#idk about hikaru(actually I do) but his god counterpart; I think he'd have been a great spouse honestly#amenozume really did choose the best guy the way I see it? maybe I don't know enough but I felt that way after researching a bit#and ofc she's really cute and lovely and better yet- upfront and courageous#THAT'S WHY HIKARU'S ALL LIKE “I CAN'T LIVE WITHOUT YOU” IN THE SONGS~!~ HOW CAN HE BE SANE LOSING A LOVER LIKE THAT IN THAT HORRIBLE WAY#I get frustrated at how ambiguous this comic is but Ai's death ISN'T HIS FAULT...he wanted her back!!!! he went crazy bc he missed her okay
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One day
One day I hope people realize that Kitsunami already "broke through his programming" back by issue #56 of Idw Sonic
He had an entire mini arc where he dealt with being without Surge for the first time, and in the real world. He met Sonic and his friends directly, tried to work out what his purpose would be without Surge in his life (gave it a shot trying to devote himself to Sonic, seeing him as the next best thing after Surge). And when it was all said and done, he decided after experiencing more that at Surge's side is where he wanted to be.
As of the recent IDW issues, Kit isn't sticking with Surge "because of programming" and "because he just needs for other characters to friend him and turn him into a better person". He is at her side because he wants to be. He protects her and aids her because he cares about her, not just because he's serving the strongest guy in the room. And he's not interacting with others because he's decided not to give a shit about anyone else other than Surge (because from his pov, even the "good guys" are fake. From his pov, everyone is someone trying to lie and manipulate their way into pulling him and Surge to their side)
Kit already has decided what he wants to do with his life. And he decided it on his own. Not because of anyone else's wants or wishes. That's the whole point of his speech at the end of #56.


He's burying whatever his and Surge's past is and moving forward with his conviction to be with Surge because it's what he wants.
#sonic the hedgehog#idw sonic comics#perverted bond#surge the tenrec#kit the fennec#kitsunami the fennec#idw sonic issue 56#to be honest I actually despise the fandom's overuse of 'Starline's programming'#because they treat Surge and Kit as people whose entire selves have been dominated and controlled by a set of code that makes them as robots#Essentially they treat Starline's hypnotism and 'coding' as a strict set of rules that's hard af to break#When the truth is that they're more of a set of heavy suggestions and guidelines to fall back on when they have nothing else to return to or#nothing else to compare to their own experiences#You can visually see in the comic as they ''diverge from their programming'' simply because it clashes with their personal wants/feelings#(For instance‚ how after actually meeting Surge in Imposter Syndrome‚ he is never again the dutiful fox that would do anything she asked#ever and the happiest he could be about handing his life to her on a silver platter no matter how she treats him. rather‚ he falls back on#serving her because he has no other purpose to fall back on‚ but he performs it unenthusiastically without receiving positive reinforcement#and to the bare minimum‚ as if he's just doing his job)#This topic is a bit nuanced‚ but I think IDW is less focused on them fully 'breaking their programming' as a robot storyline might go#and more focused on them solidifying just what it is they want to do with their lives and how they live it#Many people miss that Kitsunami has had his defining moment and knows what he wants to do with his life now because they don't think it's#possible for him to live a future he wants/needs unless he 100% rejects everything Starline did to him and Surge and chooses a purpose#completely separated from any 'programming'#And I'm sorry but I think some of you need to ask if a future as a good boy fox hero who gets entirely new friends and family outside of#Surge and is barely associated with her and is also just a normal sweet guy is something that he actually wants/is projected to receive#or if YOU specifically decided what's best for him. Bec#Because 'If I was in his position obviously I would want X' or 'If he was my kid I would want him to become like X for the sake of his own#happiness'#It's fine if that's your headcanon or your au and you own it. But recognize that this current Kit likes who he is and he knows what he wants#to be. He's a smart fox‚ and he doesn't need anyone out there to pledge to save him and fix him. He doesn't want fixing. He wants to spend#the rest of his days with Surge making her happy (because it makes him happy). He doesn't want for himself what everyone else wants for him.
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thinking about Julie going into hibernation, but also how she was participating in winter activities and was at the Homewarming party.
obv an in-universe excuse is writing inconsistency within the show but nahh. i wanna get sad.
My headcanon is that Julie begins hibernation after the Homewarming party. Right after. And later in the evening it turns into a different party, Julie's Goodnight Party (name in progress).
It's fun, because any party with this rainbow monster's name in it is gonna be fun! but there's an underlying somberness. They eat, play games and talk about everything and anything like the Homewarming party, but it just feels different.
(continues below, sad warning bc I made myself sad)
When Julie starts getting sleepy, the party ends with her neighbors giving their farewells, goodnights, and big hugs.
Frank is the one to walk her home, of course. He brushes Julie's hair, makes sure her and her nest has everything she needs, and stays with her as she falls asleep. But not before they share a big, comforting, long hug filled with every unspoken "I'll miss you" and every ounce of love they can pour into it.
It's the longest Frank has ever hugged anybody. "A hug long enough to get him through winter," according to Julie.
He wished that were true.
Either way he smiles, he smiles for Julie as it's the last expression she sees before finally closing her eyes to sleep.
The tears that later soaked into his pillow are the only secret Frank's ever kept from his best friend.
#After taking Eddie home this past holiday Frank nearly missed Julie going home. He got there right as she was about to leave#He had stayed with Eddie until he fell asleep knowing he'd wake up in the morning.#Before he stayed with Julie until she fell asleep knowing she'd wake up in the spring.#Man i am. So emotional over this#julie hibernating is insane. and must be insanely hard on frank#frank really doesn't like winter#but maybe in the future he'll have a certain mailman's shoulder to cry on#and getting through winter wont seem so hard#imagine if you didn't read the post and are sitting down here like 'what this dude on about'#read my sad rambles and maybe you'd know! /silly#welcome home#julie joyful#frank frankly#homewarming#welcome home headcanons#headcanon#typing out loud#Julie's Hibernation Edition#this all came to mind bc im thinking about the Hurricane thats gonna steal my electricity tmrw#it got me thinking about blizzards#and what the neighbors would do in a blizzard. and what about Julie? what if they can't reach her?#i was thinking frank has Barnaby and Howdy move her and her nest into his guest room#just for the storm. she goes back home afterwards even if he wanted her to stay#welp.. i need to do laundry while i have power still sooo#that's all folks!#oh and ignore typos hehe
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mabeline/jonah wolf in my 2020s timeskip au! read my tags for more information about her
#first things first i think in like 2022 him and spencer def broke up at some point for a multitude of reasons#mainly that mabeline feels she's matured and has taken on a more protective/providing role in spencer's life and yet he hasnt changed 1 bit#if anything he just got worse#the breakup itself isnt over like some huge conflict. jonah just realizes one day this guy is kind of bad for me and she loves him still#but doesnt know if they really should be together so she says something like. i think we should take a break.#and the two of them arent together for most of the story in this au#on spencer's end this leads to a whole bunch of turmoil an identity crisis a situationship with maddiefriend etc#on mabeline's end he's kind of just left with this quiet longing#she's objectively doing quite well for herself but he finds himself missing something. he just wishes spencer were still with her#and hates himself for still being stuck on him but cant stop thinking about what if he gets better#so eventually by the end of the story i think they would get back together#her and spencer reunite and shes hesitant at first to accept him but he proves that he's changed for the better and learned his lesson.#and she admits to herself and to him that he loves him#i'll try to make this more cohesive if i actually write this as a fic or a comic sometime#not that i really have time for that... these days. sigh#anyways besides pining over her ex she gets up to some other stuff like starting testosterone and fursuit commissions like it says up there#as of getting back together with spencer in 2025 (?) she still lives with her parents#but she has accumulated enough mouney to like rent an apartment so afterwards him and spencer end up living together and working towards#getting enough money for a hosue#i think maybe also her and spencer become fully fledged members of P.I.E.? im thinking about the future of P.I.E. as well#toast and ghost are retired probably by this point and i think spooker and chris would become the main guys#i havent put THAT much thought into it but i think woah should be involved as like an apprentice and sue's daughter too who i will draw soo#P.I.E. experts let me know what you think the future holds for them... if you are okay with it i might use your ideas for inspiration#anyways actual tags now#venturiantale#taleblr#mabeline wolf#jonah wolf#venturiantale fanart#VT 2020s au
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good evening tumblr (it's literally midnight..)
I'm back in the Miguel trenches and I just saw this and I just about fell to the floor in tears because this is literally what's gonna happen to Mateo..
(incoming nonsense rant in tags, sighh)
#obvi yeah Miguel would not in general BUT Im crazy and am gonna make this about the Arachnopi family#like even after Mateo helps Arachnopi with their funky situationship they still aren't end game#they will all one day go back to their respective dimensions. no mater how much Mateo literally BEGS them to stay together#he finally had his “parents” for a little over a year. you really think he'd be willing to let that go?#obvi not. and it consumes him. pain that could've easily been preventable if he just kept himself out if their business in the first place#He feels their presence missing for the rest of his life#and knowing it could all be prevented gives him a new life mission#To make sure no other dumb kid goes down the same path of dumb decisions he did.#He basically becomes a Miguel 2.0 who specializes in stopping young spider people for dimension hopping for personal relationships#He’d thankfully never meet another May/Miguel variant#but he will get comments from younger spiders who know Miguel that they see the resemblance#Especially since he’d constantly overwork himself which makes him look older then he is even when he’s only in his 20s#And like I said earlier Miguel would be devastated to see Mateo like this#ESPECIALLY if he’s older and goes through his inevitable btsv character development#he’d see so much if his Atsv version of himself in Mateo. But he wouldn’t dare visit him after all those years#And if he did he’d better be ready for a fight. Mateo would not take seeing him again years later lightly#Then there’s May. Oh my goodness May Octavius..sighh#Mentally May is very weak. She doesn’t fight against anything that happens to herself or others. Very much “it is what it is” mentality#She uses it as an excuse at times. Especially canon events.#She’d see Mateo’s future as a canon event. Something unpreventable and unchangeable. He’s stuck to that fate forever#Like how she is as Doc Ock. So she’d literally just shrug it off with no sympathy for him. That’s just how life is.#(her maternal instincts are basically non existent. She was never ment to be a “mother” lol)#(She literally sucks. Boooo May Octavius 🍅🍅 /hj /lh)#Anyways goodness me I’m willing to bet that all makes zero sense and no one cares but UGHH that pic sent me into a spiral..#spiderverse Mateo you mean so much to me and you don’t deserve any of this wahhhh </3 (as if I’m not the one writing his lore lol)#Double anyways LF Mateo literally living his best life in an au lol. Silly guy. I like bullying him out of love :)#I promise guys you’ll all one day understand what LF means and what Mateo is doing there but that day is not today lol#for now I’m gonna hit the hay#who let me rant at 12am about a stupid ocxcanon ship no one cares about? /lh#mayo mumbles
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