#what that evolution was like. the wonder we felt. i will never ever forget it

[doux-amer]

I can't believe I had such a massive headache and my eyes felt swollen all day because of the amount of crying I did this morning through the post-match farewell ceremony. I had to stay offline because everything would set me off, and like a fool, I just went on Instagram, thinking I'd be okay because I watched everything and for the new stuff, I could scroll past them and see them another day. But of course I cried again. The only way I'm getting through this week is because I have an overwhelming amount of work that's going to increase once the work week actually starts.

[uptoolateart]

Hey, hey, hey - time for a Gabriel analysis!

So. After we learned that Gabriel Agreste wasn't his original name, my mind jumped to Andre Bourgeois, who also once had a different name. In keeping with the themes of the show, we are seeing that secret identities don't always come with masks and comic book names.

We had a hint of Gabriel's secret past in Psycomedian, when Harry visited and alluded to his Gabi days. How, oh how could the Gabriel Agreste we all know have ever been friends with someone like Harry Clown? This is only possible if he was once a different sort of person.

We had further clues in Gabriel's vision of the past, in the time burrow in Evolution - and in Emilie's video messages left for Nathalie, and the photographs of Gabriel, Emilie and Nathalie on some expedition, seen in Passion - and in Amelie's accusation that Gabriel has changed, in Emotion.

Adrien is also aware his father has changed with time, demonstrated when he tells Gabriel that Emilie once said they came from different backgrounds.

The photos shown in Revelation finally gave concrete evidence that Gabriel used to have an adventurous spirit and he used to smile. He was fun...but something changed...and I don't think it was just Emilie's death that caused the personality shift. Based on casual comments Adrien has made throughout the series, his father has been strange for years.

Gabriel tells Adrien that he and Kagami are 'of the same design' - and we know he means this literally. But taking it as a metaphor...for two seasons I've wondered what Emilie's parents were like. We can infer that she comes from a wealthy, 'important' family. Maybe Gabriel struggled to fit in and win the approval of his in-laws. Maybe he never felt good enough. When he tells Adrien things like, 'You're clinging to Marinette because her mediocrity lets you shine more,' perhaps someone once talked like that about him. With that kind of background, it would be unsurprising that he decided to try to forge a new identity.

And let's remember that Gabriel is a designer. His whole empire is founded on inventing personae. Even beyond the sentimonster aspect, he tells Marinette that he designed the image the world holds of his son. Everything is his invention. That speech in Pretension proved just how deep his God complex runs - he fully believes he has made the world in his image. Even the episode title - Pretension - smacks of the image he is presenting to the world in lieu of truth.

At this point, what we're seeing is a 'new money' stereotype - a self-made man who now spurns those who remind him of where he came from. It's one of the most shameful things about him. No matter how much fame and money you get...you can't forget your roots, people. Maybe that's easy for me to say because I'm not rich or famous. But I just can't imagine turning my back on my own origin story. It's what makes you who you are. Gabriel clearly didn't want to be that person anymore...and that's sad.

What's also fascinating is that, if we zoom in on those pictures Nathalie took in Revelation, we see that once upon a time, Gabriel - Gabi Grassette - was a punk. Let's take a moment to appreciate the spiked hair, makeup, leather jacket, ripped jeans, and dog collar - not to mention that smirk. And far from being ashamed of his work with Harry Clown as a human frites (who, by the way, reminds me so much of Mr Banana), he was smiling about it. Man, he loved it. Contrast that with Gabriel in Party Crasher - 'JOY.... What's going on in my HOUSE!?'

If it were at all possible for the old Gabi to meet Cat Noir, I can imagine him loving Cat's costume. On that note, I can't help but compare that dog collar with Cat's bell. I've said before that I see the bell as a symbol of Cat being domesticated and under control. Gabi probably saw his dog collar more as a rebellion, but maybe it too is a symbol of how he once felt controlled by someone.

The thing is...the punk movement was all about anti-establishment anti-authoritarianism. Today, Gabriel is the establishment he once rebelled against. It makes me think of John Lydon of the Sex Pistols turning Conservative and advertising butter. Musicians like Donovan - not a punk, but in a similar category, as a 1960s hippie - are rare for maintaining that same spirit all through their lives.

Gabriel is a 'sell-out'. He gave up that spirit and became someone unrecognisable. Those photos demonstrate that Emilie isn't the only body buried in a 'basement' in the Agreste mansion. There is a different person buried under the cold veneer that is Gabriel - a person Nathalie probably misses. I expect that's why she's stuck with him all this time, despite her better instincts. Something tells me Gabi would've made a better father.

The irony is that Adrien's moments of rebellion are probably one of the few things he has in common with his father, if we look far enough back in Gabriel's past. That, and their temper - and randomly breaking into eccentric dance and song. Gabi might have appreciated Adrien more for standing true to his principles. Maybe Adrien sometimes reminds Gabriel of himself and he can't stand it - can't stand thinking of what he's lost along the way.

I believe Gabriel exists in a perpetual state of regret. Part of him probably misses Gabi, too. After all, Gabi got Emilie. What has Gabriel got? Wealth, sure, but Emilie's dead, Adrien all but hates him, Nathalie's wasting away, and Gabriel himself has only weeks to live.

If you think about it, Gabriel's whole quest has been about getting a do-over. He wants a second chance with Emilie - a second chance for Nathalie - a second chance at his own life. He then tells Adrien that his greatest wish is to try to reconnect with him...because he knows he doesn't have much time left with his son. Even then, though, his selfishness prevails. (Psst, Gabi...you can't make up for years of terrible parenting with banana pancakes.)

Thinking of the snake miraculous, the second chance lets you know what's going to happen, enabling you to make better decisions the next time around. In other words: it's about learning from your mistakes. Gabriel never learns, and it is his refusal to accept destiny and his own human fallibility that is causing his disintegration.

The more Gabriel necrotises, the more we can see this as his 'sins' catching up with him. He doesn't seem to grasp that all the blackness devouring him is, in a way, the blackness of his own heart. Even if he erases the whole world, he can't erase his deeds. If he managed to get his Wish and bring Emilie back, she would be horrified. She'd wonder where her Gabi went.

Gabriel is proof that 'evolution' isn't always positive. He reinvented himself once, and now, because it didn't go the way he wanted, he's trying to reinvent things again. Tomoe also hints at a belief that the solution to her problems is to make the world anew - to get a second chance. Felix tries this, too, when he creates the red moon to wipe out all people except his select group.

But Felix does learn - Ladybug helps him see that even if you erase all the people causing you so much grief...you still have to deal with that pain. What Gabriel fails to see is that - like Cat Blanc on the roof, all alone without his lady - destroying your witnesses won't remove the witness in your own heart.

Even if Gabriel wiped everyone else's memory of his crimes, he would still know what he'd done. And when you cross those kinds of lines, you can never go back to who you once were.

Please no post-Revelation spoilers in the comments :)

[bruhstation]

You mentioned that we could ask about peoples childhood? I was wondering about diesel the bi Italian gamer himself?

don't forget catholic. ask and you shall receive!

from the very start, diesel is intended to be the foil to duck. they went through the same difficult circumstances, but the way they approached it was different.

giovanni vin diesel:

giovanni – nicknamed “giogio” (read: jojo) by his siblings – was born in sicily, italy to a family that runs a local restaurant. at the time giovanni was a kid, the restaurant has been running for around 5 generations. throughout his life prior to coming to sodor, he was always surrounded by his huge number of family members. his grandmother, parents, sisters, brothers, aunts, uncles, cousins, et cetera… they're always around both the restaurant and his home; cooking, serving, cleaning, basically anything. and giovanni is no exception to all of this, often told by his grandmother to help out at the kitchen after school.

at a young age giovanni realized how "traditional" his family is, constantly sticking to predetermined methods of doing things and rarely listening to suggestions or criticism that others give. whenever he's not cooking for customers, giovanni liked experimenting with old recipes and creating new ones, usually adding his own touches and substituting this ingredient with that ingredient. this didn't sit well with his grandmother who's extremely headstrong about the way things are done. giovanni tried to reason with her multiple times and wanted her to try his own recipes, but his grandmother didn't care about how much he put in effort and always pushed his attempts away.

his grandmother (and the rest of the vin diesel family) is also a very devout catholic, constantly praying for the lord and mother mary to forgive them of their sins (what did diesel ever do wrong?) and bless their lives (that's silly). this is another thing giovanni disagreed on, because he thought "why do people rely on the power of gods that may or may not exist? if we want to improve, we do it ourselves and we rejoice over it ourselves". diesel is very much for progress and the evolution of age, technology, and culture – and this do not sit well with his family. they never outright told him, but he's some kind of outcast in the household.

giovanni wanted to go to concerts and have fun. he didn't want to church and interact with the nosy churchgoers there. he wanted to have a walkman and decorate his room in posters and vinyl disks and go to arcades and actually make friends that understand him instead of making fun of how "weird" or "stubborn" he is. his friends are already having dates, going to the movies without their parents, and staying up past curfew. why can't he? giovanni felt ashamed, especially at how his friends treated him like he's some country boy and made fun of him.

when he was around 15 years old, giovanni tried running away from home. he just felt like doing it after having enough of his grandmother's discouragements and how his family never picked his side. he felt like there will never be a moment where anyone would side with him, so he made up his mind and wanted to live on his own. the moment giovanni set foot in rome, he regretted the decision because he realized he didn't know where to stay and that he didn't bring enough money with him.

a police stationed there took notice of giovanni, stating that someone is looking for him. his older sister actually got to rome faster than him and immediately dragged him back home, constantly berating him along the way. then his grandmother did, then the rest of his family did. he's then labeled the problem child, and since he lived in a tight-knit neighborhood, many believed that something bad happened in his family or that giovanni is actually a very difficult child to handle behind his polite demeanor. for a decade, it stayed that way. and for a decade, giovanni has always believed that his family was right in some ways.

he's just not fit for this kind of life. he needs to go somewhere far away, someplace where he can shine.

giovanni then turned 25. he graduated college and was still helping around the restaurant. his family kept pressuring him to look for a girl to marry and settle down with at his age. he's still not giving up on his goal to find a place where he doesn't have to deal with his family's extremely traditional (and borderline conservative) views and can do whatever he wanted to do.

one day, he found a flyer about the island of sodor.

[thepursuitofunderstanding]

Excerpts from Gabor & Daniel Mate’s ‘The Myth of Normal: Trauma, Illness & Healing in a Toxic Culture’ pg 85-220:

- “A disease is not like a thing. It is an energy flow, it’s a current; it is evolution or devolution that occurs when you’re not awake and connected, and trauma is essentially ruling your life. I think it’s such a mistake to identify it as a thing, because that makes it hard matter when it’s in fact a much more psychological, spiritual, emotional condition.” - V pg 86-87

- “Most of our tensions and frustrations stem from compulsive needs to act the role of someone we are not.” - Janos Selye pg 96

- “Repression disarms one’s ability to protect oneself from stress.” pg 100

- “No other species has ever had the ability to be untrue to itself, to forsake its own needs, never mind to convince itself that such is the way things out to be.” pg 122

- “Our culture too often subordinates felt knowledge to the intellect.” pg 124

- “Emotional rather than intellectual interactions serves as the mind’s primary architects.” pg 126

- “Suppression of innate knowledge is one of medicine’s unfortunate tendencies.” pg 149

- “If it takes a world to raise a child, it takes a toxic culture to make us forget how to.” pg 161

- “The disease paradigm turns a process into a pathology.” pg 215

- “As with most chronic conditions, viewing addiction as a dynamic process to be engaged with rather than a demonic force to be feared or battled can ultimately expand the possibilities for healing.” pg 216

- “Addictions represent, in their onset, the defense of an organism against suffering it does not know how to endure. In other words, we are looking at a natural response to unnatural circumstances, an attempt to soothe the pain of injuries incurred in childhood and stresses sustained in adulthood.” pg 216

- “I have learned that the first question to ask is not what is wrong with an addiction, but what is “right” about it. What benefit is the person deriving from their habit? What does it do for them? What are they getting that they otherwise can’t access?” pg 216

- “When it comes down to it, all addiction’s incentives can be summed up as an escape from the confines of the self, by which I mean the mundane, lived-in experience of being uncomfortable and isolated in one’s own skin.” pg 220

- “Why would the self need to be escaped? We long for escape when we are imprisoned, when we are suffering. Addiction calls to us when waking life amounts to being trapped in inner turmoil, doubt, loss of meaning, isolation, unworthiness; feeling cold in our belly, devoid of hope, lacking faith in the possibility of liberation, missing succor; unable to endure external challenges or the inner chaos or emptiness; incapable of regulating our distressing mind conditions, finding our emotions unendurable; and most of all, desperate to soothe the pain all these states represent. Pain, then, is the central theme. No wonder people so often speak about the benign numbing effect of their addictions: only a person in pain craves anesthesia.” pg 220

[spideyanakin]

doth time waste me (p.p) - chapter 1

synopsis - (eternals! reader) after decades of loneliness, you finally found a family, someone to love. but what will happen when the deviants reappear, and you discover that your purpose wasn't what you thought?

warnings - spoilers for the eternals, mysterio never revealed Peter Parker’s identity, swearing?

word count -

back to main masterlist

series masterlist

'I wasted time, and now doth time waste me'

- William Shakespeare

7 000 years, that’s how long you had been on earth. 

And for the last 3 000 years of them, you had been living alone.

3 000 year of loneliness before you met Peter. 

No matter how many things you had done in your life, how many people you had met, how many adventures you had led, being with the Avengers was one of the best things that had ever happened to you. 

You had gone from living like a goddess with Thena in Ancient Greece and Rome. To experiencing the suspended gardens of Babylon--something that today’s humans called ‘the legendary 7 wonders of the ancient world.’ To seeing the evolution of humans with the help of Phastos, to learning thousands of languages; dead and still commonly used.

But nothing could compare to the life you were currently living.

You had a family. A new family. One that didn’t fight over 'what you should and should not do’, one that didn’t let you down. One that let you use your powers for good. One who didn’t bother you about your purpose every time you moved a finger. 

One that didn't question everything you did.

But that didn’t mean you didn’t miss the family you were brought up with. You missed Sprite’s stories and Ajak’s life lessons. You missed Kingo’s joke and your talks with Sirse. You missed learning about Phastos’s new creations. You missed everyone a little bit more everyday. 

But most of all you missed Thena. She was more a sister to you than any of the eternals ever were. You guessed that being Greek goddesses together made you have an unbreakable bond...

You had changed your name since you had arrived to New York. You knew you needed to start fresh. Temis was your 'real name’ or how you called it now; your 'eternal name’. You knew that being called Temis would just remind you of who you really were, and you couldn’t stand it ever since you and the others had split. You knew you couldn't hang on to that part of you. Plus, Ikaris had made it more than clear you all had to move on. He made it more than clear that splitting up and pretending you were never brought here to fight human-hungry creatures was the only way to go.

So you obliged.

And you made it your mission to forget everything you could about your previous life with the rest of the Eternals.

So Y/n it was. The name rolled off your lips perfectly.

You buried your life as 'Artemis’ goddess of the moon and the hunt (although just like humans added an A to Thena’s name, you truly didn’t know where the Ar came from for you) and tried your best to build yourself a new life as Y/n.

But all that felt so far away now.

As the bright afternoon sun was hitting the buildings of Venice, you couldn't even remember a time in your life you felt as happy. A time in your life where you felt so in your place, so good in your own skin.

You turned your head to face the boy beside you, his eyes already on yours. Peter grinned; a contagious one that spread over your own lips. He gave your hand a tighter squeeze before turning his attention back on Mr. Harrington who started rambling on about a random museum we had to go visit next.

But you couldn't hear anything he was saying. Your attention had been captivated by the boy that had stolen your heart, and you couldn't think of anything else.

You could only think about the first time you met him.

Night had already fallen. As much as you hated being alone at night because of disgusting, greedy, humans: you knew you didn’t have a choice. You had just come from a gala, some fancy event held at a museum, you had been invited to thanks to your 'beautiful' thesis on Artemis and Athena's relationship and essays on potteries and statues made of them. You had spent the entire night answering the same boring questions about the accuracy and precision of your work. Questions to try and test your supposed hypothesis. Some old historians and fellow classicists who hated the idea women so 'young' to have the audacity to defy their ideas. But not all of them wanted a fight. Some were actually praising you for your so-called genius.

Truth was you had only written about what you had lived. Wrote about how the Greeks had perceived you so long ago, and your relationship with Thena...

But now you found yourself in the dark streets of Manhattan. Tired from all the questioning and snob millionaires who were only there to prove they were somehow educated. Your heels started to hurt and all you wanted to do was go home, remove all your make up, lay in your bed and maybe have a pint of ice cream as you watched a movie.

You yawned, as much as you knew about robbers and pickpockets potentially wasting your time, you also knew you could defend yourself.

After all, you were the goddess of the hunt and the moon. Your senses were extra sharp at night, and nothing could escape you. If it would really come down a fight, your bow would just be a swoosh of your hand away. 

As if on cue, just as you finished that thought you felt something or more like someone creep behind you. You could sense it all from here. It was a man - around his 40’s. Tall, strong, and armed. 

“Fantastic” you whispered to yourself as you felt him run towards you and ready to grab your arm. 

Instead of having you in his grip, you dodged the man, he took a large step in order to try and attempt not to fall head first on the concretee. You saw the evident shock on his face which slightly made you chuckle. 

You gave him a cheeky smile and the man was quick to come back to his senses. Just as he was about to grab you again you managed to dodge him again. You grabbed his arm and punched him, making him back up a few steps.

The rings that adorned your hand glittered in the moon, your hand still lifted up from the punch--gave you an idea.

You decided it would be a fun thing to conjure your precious bow after so long. It had been a while since you had any occasion to use it... You started thinking about an arrow that would make him fall asleep, you delicately raised your hands in the air like you use too and pointed towards the man. 

For a few golden seconds, your silver bow lit your face up, just like in the olden days. A sudden feeling of calm you missed so much flooded back to you. All your senses were focused on the feeling of your bow, the smoothness of the magical string that glided as you prepared to shoot.

But you were so drunk on the feeling of the hunt that it made you miss the teenager who's original plan was to save you from the man’s clutches. He stuck the man to the side of a building and the second you met the big white eyes of his suit you made your bow disappear into thin air. You recognized this guy. This was Spider-man--well known for saving the little guys.

“What the heck was that?” You heard him squeak and panic startled you. “You- were- were you going to kill that guy!?” 

Your mouth stayed open in shock. Your cover was blown by an Avenger. A freaking Avenger had found you and now he was asking questions. How stupid were you?

In a rush of panic, you ran in the opposite direction. Spider-man scrambled on his feet in surprise. But he was quick to notice the way you ran faster than anyone he ever had to face. Hell, you even made Captain America seem like he was slow.

Spider-man was quick to shoot a web, sending himself up into the air and hot on your trail. He swung like a lunatic through the streets of New York. Dammit, you were fast. 

The thing that bothered you the most was the fact that he was, in fact, following you. Faster than you would have liked to. You didn’t need to waste time looking behind you, all you could do was feel him fall and rise through the night and he swung to chase you. 

What you didn’t know was that he called backup. 

And In a matter of seconds, before you even had a chance to cross the street, you felt freaking Iron man grab you by the shoulders, and soon enough you were circled by half of the avengers. 

You muttered something in ancient Greek when Iron man threw you on the top floor of his tower, hand directly pointed towards you. You stood up, hands in the air as you caught your breath.

“Ok before you say anything - I wasn’t trying to kill that man”

~

“So who are you?” The big guy you knew as Thor circled around the chair you were currently attached too. “I feel like I know you?”

“You don’t know me,” you gave him a tight smile. In fact, he did know you. You had met him back when he was following Kingo around, he had even clung to you for a few days saying you were 'the prettiest girl he had ever seen and he wanted to marry you when he was older'. You thought to yourself that he better not remember that you were an Eternal, or else you were in big trouble with Arishem. 

You released the breath you were holding when he nodded and shrugged as a response.

“So what were you doing if you weren’t going to kill that guy? Underoos here says he saw you with I quote 'a magic bow and arrow that just disappeared into thin air’” Tony raised an eyebrow as he looked at Spiderman. 

“Who’s Underoos? The teenager in red spandex?” You wondered and everyone let out a laugh apart from spiderman. 

“Yeah.” Tony smirked. 

“Hey how did you know I was a teenager?” Peter removed his mask and your heart leaped in your chest when you met his eyes. As he brought his mask down, his curls took a messy place around his features. And the way his chocolate eyes looked at you made your breath itch. 

“Because you’re that obvious?” Tony pointed out, making Peter send him a look

“I sense things. Like I can sense that they are 3 people behind me including a 5’9 feet around 50 years old man that seems to be-” you thought for a second “radioactive.” By the way Tony looked at you, you knew you definitely weren’t wrong. “The second one is a woman, about 32. She doesn’t have any radioactive powers or things that come from out of this world--but you don’t want to mess with her” you chuckled. “And last is um… A robot? But there’s more to him isn’t there?” 

“You did your research and took a lucky guess to who entered the room.” Tony shuffled on his spot. 

“Alright then how would I know that the women I believe to be black widow has an organ missing? She’s that specific organ lighter then she should be.” Tony looked behind you and you managed to turn your neck around to face black widow who looked at you with a frown. 

“Who are you? Are you a black widow too?” 

“Im just a teenager with weird powers and a magic bow.” You smiled. “I told you. I sense things. Now,” as you said this you managed to break your chain loose and stand up. “I wasn’t going to kill this man,” you smiled. “I was going to shoot him with an arrow that would make him fall asleep. Self defense.”

But that was 6 years ago. Or at least one year and a half ago for Peter and the rest of the avengers who blipped.

Because you didn’t age, you had to pretend you blipped too. It wasn’t easy but you had too. You knew that if Peter was gone, you couldn’t help the Avengers. And if they ever found a way to bring everyone back - they would be too suspicious. 

But when everyone came back. The way you held Peter again after five years made you realize one thing - that you loved him more then you had ever loved anyone on this entire planet. One day with Peter was better then a thousand years alone. 

After everyone started going back to their lives before the blip, you thought that you could finally have a little bit of a vacation. The whole field trip to Europe seemed to be an amazing idea. 

But oh you were wrong. 

“Peter I still don’t know how you go a girl like that.” Flash snickered, bringing you out of your reminiscence. He placed an arm around Peter as if they were best buddies. 

“I’m right here Flash.” You rolled your eyes and gave a look to Peter who looked like he was about to burst a spider-man super punch right in his face. 

“I thought you were dating Black Widow or Hunt.” You gave him a tight smile as you highlighted your superhero name, and Peter let out a chuckle when Flash’s face fell. 

“Yeah, yeah. Hunt is rumored to be dating Spider-man. pfft” As he said that, Flash dropped his arm and turned around to leave you. You spotted him walking towards a kiosk that sold magazines before you brought your eyes back to Peter.

“I mean apart from Flash this is nice.” You looked around to take in Venice. “Taking a break from being super heroes” 

“It’s only nice when I’m with you.” Peter squeezed your hand that he was holding before pressing a kiss to it. “Although we still can’t escape people talking about us.” 

The whole city seemed to have a golden glow as the sunlight hit the angles of the building perfectly. The water sparkled where the sun hit it, and everything was so calm and quiet it was nice for a change. 

“You’re right. But I mean Hunt and Spider-man are too iconic.” You looked at Peter for a few seconds and only felt joy fill you. The sunlight hitting him making his eyes look like pools of honey. 

“You’re so right, we’re icons” Peter kissed your forehead and then seemed to have spotted something in the distance, his lips turning into a bright smile. 

“Y/n”

“Yeah?”

“I’ll be right back.” He kissed your cheek and you raised an eyebrow as you watch him disappear into an alley way and into a shop that was too far for you to read the name. 

You sighed and turned around to sit on the edge of the bank, your feet dangling to almost graze the water. You looked straight forward and started smiling when you spotted a statue of Artemis that decorated a fountain, or Diana as the Romans called you. 

You looked at the statue and let yourself flood back with memories again. This made you wonder where the others were and what they would say if they saw that you used your powers to help humans. 

'They probably all know by now’ You thought

But this spiral of thought only brought you to remember what Ajak would always say. 

'Don’t get attached’ her voice reminded you

'Don’t get involved in human problems’

“Well, I’m happy with this life” You whispered to yourself like you always did when Ajak’s words came back. “Being happy is all that matters, Arishem would understand.” 

Suddenly the ground shook and panic started rising in the street. You stood up in a hurry when you saw the water rise and watched in horror as it was getting higher and higher. 

“What the fuck.” You whispered. You tried to feel the air for danger but nothing. It was like you were stripped from your senses even though you were clearly danger. You could see it, but couldn’t sense it. 

You jumped when a huge wave rose and a water monster. Wait a water monster??? A water monster?? The fuck??? 

The monster started spiraling up and started breaking buildings. You spotted Peter run around in panic to stop a building from crumbling. 

Fabulous. 

Your romantic holiday was being crashed by a fucking water monster. 

Just like Peter, you grabbed the first mask you found and ran towards him. Dodging water bullets and pieces of stone. 

You summoned your bow and tried shooting an arrow, but it just passed right through the water. 

“Peter! I can’t feel him!”

“What?”

“It’s like he’s made of thin air.” No matter how much you tried to focus, you felt nothing. 

That’s when it hit you. The attacks were coming from small things that were flying around. What they were? You had no clue, but they seemed to be hidden by the water monster. 

~

When MJ said she needed to talk to you, you didn’t expect her to 

1. Guess you were Spider-man and Hunt

2. Confirm your theory, Mysterio was the bag guy. 

And that’s when the craziness started. 

That’s how you found yourself in a warehouse in Belgium, fighting off your worst. nightmares in the form of illusions. 

You didn’t know where Peter was but you guessed he was living a nightmare similar as you. 

You could slightly feel him in the room, but the illusions were so confusing your senses were ringing everywhere. 

“Do you really think you can keep this up?” You heard Mysterio’s voice echoing through the room. You tried to scream to make it stop but the illusions just kept flying by. 

“You know you can’t stay with Peter.” You watched as all of the eternals were walking towards you. The eleven of you walking in your usual straight line. You were in your purple and silver outfit with your moon crown, standing right next to Kingo. 

“You don’t belong here Temis” 

“How do you know who I am!?” You cried and turned away from The Eternals only to be met with a worst sight.

“You know you’ll have to leave him” It was a scene of you and Peter. You seemed to have told Peter who you were and you didn’t like how Mysterio portrayed his reaction.

He seemed mad, heartbroken, angry and devastated all at once. 

“You know you will never be able to have a life with him.” The image shifted and watching it was like someone putting a spike everywhere through your body. Worst than if a Deviant had sucked all the power out of you. 

It was a wedding. You and Peter’s wedding to be more precise. You were definitely older, and Peter too. A beautiful white dress with a beautiful ceremony. The rest of the Avengers watching and smiling like idiots. 

“Stop dreaming Temis” 

You wanted to reach for Peter but the image changed again. 

It was a suburban house, a big white one like you see in movies. There was a swing in the yard and two bicycles rested next to the porch. The door opened and you watched yourself step out. Peter quickly following you with a kid in his arm and another one clinging to his leg. Your kids. 

“You’re a monster.” You spat, and the scene shifted again. This time it was clouds of smoke - and Mysterio appeared. You were so furious it took everything in you to not punch the figure in front of you. 

But you knew it was an illusion. 

You were so mad your senses were working again. 

“You don’t belong with the Avengers. You don’t belong here. Go back to Olympia Temis. You’re only hurting him.” 

“And you don’t belong here in general.” You summoned your bow and struck right at a drone. It fizzled and fell to the ground, the illusions disappearing. 

“Y/n!” You turned your head when your name was called and spotted Peter, Mysterio walking right in front of him and making him back away on train rails. 

TRAIN RAILS!

“PETER!” You tried but he didn’t realize in time. The train smashed into his side and without even thinking, you jumped onto the moving train. You were not going to loose Peter. 

When the train stopped at a station you went in and searched every single wagon until you found Peter crashed onto a seat, unconscious.

“Thank god.” You sighed in relief. His sight instantly making you cry. 

You checked if he was breathing, but you were so tired yourself you sat on the seat next to him and let your eyelids close. 

That’s how you ended up in the Netherlands. 

~

Peter saw you were terrorized. He didn’t know what you had seen with Mysterio, but from the look of shock in your eyes it had to be bad. Mysterio had known how to crush you from the inside. 

In between the two of you getting out of a jell cell in the Netherlands, to getting in Happy’s jet. You had spoken 3 words to him, and ever since the two of you had walked into the Jet, you sat in a corner in silence. 

“Are you hurt?” Happy asked and you shook your head. “you sure?” You couldn’t get words out, you just confirmed it with your eyes. 

You shifted to a different seat as Peter and Happy started making a plan. When they finished rambling, they turned to you. 

“Ok.” You nodded. “I’ll follow your plan. It’s good.” You took every bit of your strength back. This wasn’t the time to mourn the life you could never have.

You had to fight.

[allisondraste]

Death and Other Things That Should Have Been Fatal

Fandom: Mass Effect

Pairing: Female Shepard/Garrus Vakarian

Word Count: 4715

Summary: A follow up to Cockroaches and Other Things That Just Keep Living, Shepard wakes up after destroying the Reapers and copes with the fallout. Thankfully, she doesn't have to do so alone.

[Click Here for AO3]

“Shepard?”

The voice was little more than static in her ear, jarring her back into excruciating consciousness, head throbbing, extremities numb.  Spears of pain coursed through her chest with each and every breath, and she didn’t know whether it was the several broken ribs or the sight of Anderson's lifeless body slouched next to her.  She tore her gaze away from the closest thing she’d ever had to a good father figure, eyes fluttering closed as she attempted to focus only on the person speaking to her.

“Garrus?”  His was the first name that rolled off her tongue, the only person in the galaxy she wanted that disembodied voice to be.

“No.” Came the stern reply.  There was a long pause as any hope for comfort in her final moments came crashing down around her.  Then the voice spoke again. “It’s Hackett.”

A jolt of resentment toward the Admiral coursed through her at his introduction.  What more could he possibly want from her?  Had she not already done enough, sacrificed enough for just a ghost of a chance to stop the reapers.  Surely someone else could take it from there.  Why did everything fall on her?

Because someone else would have gotten it wrong.

She shook herself out of her head and back to the present. She would have been mortified under normal circumstances, but she couldn’t bring herself to give a damn now. “I apologize sir, I’m— What do you need me to do?”

“The Crucible is docked, but is not activated,” he explained, “We think there’s something that needs to be done on your end.  Is there a trigger? Some sort of terminal?”

His words clung to the air around her, and her eyes locked onto the terminal the Illusive Man had used earlier.  It was just a few feet in front of her and still so far away. She tried and failed to bring herself to her feet, legs buckling beneath her and sending her plummeting to the floor.  Hot tears burned in her eyes as a new array of pain shot through her body, and she groaned in agony.

“Shepard?”

“I’m here, sir,” she growled, forcing herself up onto an elbow and dragging her body to the terminal, vision beginning to blur at the corners.. Not yet , she pleaded with her consciousness as she reached up toward the terminal, hand sweeping clumsily across the haptic display. Not. Yet.   “I’m at the terminal but I… I don’t— I can’t find—”

Her vision went dark, supporting arm trembling and giving out as her consciousness faded.  Hackett’s voice called out to her repeatedly, further and further away until it was gone entirely.

She awoke to bright, burning light, buzzing in her ears, sensations anyone else would have associated with death.  But Shepard had been dead before, and this was nothing like the last time.  She’d never forget that dark, quiet empty.

“Shepard,” shouted a voice, both familiar and foreign, “Wake up.”

“What?” Blood dripped into her eyes from a wound she couldn’t feel. “Where am I?”

She scrubbed her face with the back of her hand, blinking until her vision cleared.  Her body screamed in protest as she rose to her knees, louder still as she brought herself to her feet and searched for who—or what— had spoken to her.

“The Citadel,” came the reply, “It is my home.”

She snapped her head in the direction of the voice, it’s owner a glowing, translucent entity in the shape of a ghost.  Her heart slammed against her aching ribs, and a name rushed to her mouth before she could stop it. “Kaidan?”

The entity examined her for a moment that felt more like an eternity, long enough for her initial relief to fade, consumed by dread as she awaited its answer.

“No,” it stated in a cold, matter-of-fact way Kaidan could never have managed, “I am the Catalyst.”

Rage ignited in her stomach and chest at the sound of him twisted and distorted by a chorus of synthetic echoes, and she growled. “I thought the Citadel was the Catalyst.”

“The Citadel is part of me,” it explained, then paused, tilting its head in examination of her again, “My appearance disturbs you.”

Shepard let out a derisive snort. “Yeah. You could say that.”

“I apologize,” it said, “I chose a form that I believed would help us communicate. You had fond memories of this one.”

“Too fond.”  She looked down, unable to meet its vacant eyes. “I wouldn’t expect you to understand.”

“Is this one more suitable?”  It’s voice shifted registers and when she glanced up Thane stood before her.

Hot tears burned in her eyes but she held them back and shook her head. “No.”

“Perhaps you would prefer this?” This time it’s tone was higher pitched, clipped.  Mordin.

“No,” she spat through clenched teeth, “I’d prefer if you’d just pick a nightmare and tell me whether you can help me or not. ”

“Very well,” it said, Kaidan once again as it motioned for her to follow after it toward the beam of light before them. “Perhaps we can help each other.”

She limped after it, listening as it spoke, as it explained its creation, it’s function, the purpose for its very existence.  It was nothing the Leviathan had not already revealed to her, but spun in a way that painted the Reapers as innocent pawns simply fulfilling their duty, wiping out entire civilizations to ensure galactic balance, to protect organic life from its own chaos.

Bullshit , she thought as flashes of destruction played behind her eyelids with each laborious blink.  She remembered the sinking void in her gut as she fled Earth, watching it burn beneath Reaper hands.  She thought of Palaven, the harrowed Turian faces as their military and government collapsed, the anger and disbelief that vibrated in Garrus’ voice and beneath his skin. She recalled Thessia, the most advanced civilization in the galaxy reduced to rubble before her eyes and she, helpless to even salvage one artifact, Liara’s anguished sobs as she trembled in her arms.

The Catalyst and its Reapers were responsible for every lost colony in Batarian space that Shepard had shouldered instead.  Every single face on the memorial wall at the Citadel, every orphaned child and refugee, every life touched by this goddamn war, and the lives of those in every cycle that came before— it was all their fault.  They had corrupted and indoctrinated some of the greatest minds of her time, broken some of the strongest wills.  She wondered what had been said to convince Saren and Benezia. What had the Catalyst become to take hold of The Illusive Man?

The echoes of Sovereign’s boasts of supremacy and Harbinger’s threats of annihilation rang out in her ears as clear as the days they’d been spoken. And this entity, this artificial intelligence with the power and capability to stop it all, expected her to believe they were simply creatures bound to a purpose. The Catalyst truly believed she would help it achieve its pinnacle of evolution.

No, just because it was in a shark’s nature to eat her, did not mean she would allow it to do so. Despite the original intent behind their creations, the Reapers were monsters, and they had to be stopped. The galaxy deserved justice. She took one lumbering step toward the trigger on the right, one step closer to settling things once and for all.

“It will happen again,” the Catalyst called after her, “Machines will be rebuilt, and chaos will continue. Organics and synthetics cannot coexist separately.

“That’s…not true,” she grunted, and took another step, “The geth and the quarians have brokered peace.”

“It will not last.”

“You don’t know that,” she shouted, fists clenched at her sides, “The beauty of chaos is that you can’t know that.”

The entity fell silent, briefly considering what she said, then continued. “Perhaps not; however if you choose to destroy the Reapers, the geth will be destroyed as well. The two will not have the opportunity to disprove your hypothesis.”

A pang of guilt pierced her and she halted in her tracks.“All of them?”

“Yes.  The Crucible’s beam is powerful but unfocused.  It will be unable to distinguish between Reaper technology and other forms of synthetic life.”

Another pang of guilt as realization dawned on her. That meant EDI would die, too. Someone who was every bit a friend and member of her crew as anyone else, someone who had put herself on the line multiple times to protect Shepard, to make certain she could get the job done.  EDI, who confessed just before the battle that she finally felt alive. Now, Shepard was forced to weigh her newfound life and the newfound intelligence of the geth race, against the destruction of the Reapers.

What was it Garrus had called it? Ruthless calculus, that brutal math that awaited anyone who spent enough time at war.  Shepard had done plenty of those calculations, had made more than her fair share of difficult decisions, and she’d dealt with the consequences, good and bad.

This time, it was different, more final.  And she was entirely alone.  The future of the galaxy lay upon her weary back, and she was far past the point of compromise.

Shepard wanted the Reapers to pay for what they had done for millennia, wanted to watch them disintegrate in space as the cheers of her fleet rang out over the comms.  She wanted to know with certainty that the war was over.

More than anything, however, and most heavy on her mind,  she wanted to survive. It was a potent wave of selfishness that overwhelmed her as she thought of her friends back on the Normandy, of the relationships she’d forged and that had forged her.  Her heart ached at the thought of never seeing them again, never hearing their voices. She was sick at the possibility that her last moments with those who had carried her through every storm were hurried and spent in a war torn camp on Earth.

Knowing that they were worried and waiting for her to return, remembering Garrus’ desperate plea that she come back alive, it was more than she needed to motivate her to do so.  For the first time in her three decades of life, she had something to go home to. She had given so much of herself to save the galaxy, and she had more than earned the right to live in it.

There was no certainty that destroying the Reapers would ensure her survival, but it was the only choice without the certainty that she would die.  She was willing to take her chances. She had to. With a trembling arm she raised her pistol, aimed at the glass case guarding the trigger mechanism, and fired.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered as the glass shattered and her vision faded to white. “I’m so sorry.”

Shepard had been dead enough times to know that sound always came first, the discomforting beeping of medical equipment and garbled chatter ringing out in the darkness as her nervous system attempted to orient itself. Smell and taste came next, a package deal.  This time the antiseptic and the metallic tang of blood barely masked the rank of burnt flesh.

Then the pain set in, dull but constant and everywhere, numbed only slightly by neural blockers and local anesthetic.  She did not need to see her injuries to know how serious they were, how fatal they should have been.  Yet there she lay, once again waking up from something that would have killed anyone else.

And she was alone.  Again.

She began to panic as her eyes opened to the empty, sterile room, setting off the many monitors she was hooked up to.  Her heart pounded violently, each breath she took sharp and shallow as she yanked herself free from the dozens of tubes and IVs constraining her. How long had she been out this time? What covert operation for which secret, extremist organization had found and resurrected her for their benefit? How much more could one galaxy ask of her?

There was a hiss of opening doors and an unfamiliar asari entered the room urgently, arms extended out in front of her.  In one breath she reassured Shepard that everything was going to be all right  and in the next called for a medical restraint, a sedative.  She stepped slowly toward Shepard as one would approach a frightened, feral animal, and two more uniformed aliens entered the room.  Shepard stood tall, despite the ache in her bones and glared at the three of them.

“Ma’am, I know you must be very disoriented right now, and I am happy to answer any and all of your questions,” the asari said, holding her hands up, “But you are in no shape to be out of bed.  I need you to calm down before you hurt yourself further.”

Shepard glanced from the asari to the two salarians on either side of her.  They all wore generic attire that was standard for medical professionals across the galaxy, but their uniforms had no indication of their names or who they worked for.  She crossed her arms and winced through the pain as she argued. “How about you start by telling me where I am, then I’ll decide if I want to calm down or not.”

Just as she finished speaking the doors opened again, this time to faces she knew, and the subsequent wave of relief that washed over her nearly knocked her back into the bed on it’s own.  On the right stood Dr. Michel, who she remembered helping out on several occasions during the Reaper War.  A bit sweet on Garrus, if she remembered correctly. On the left, wearing a smirk and a raised eyebrow, was none other than Miranda Lawson.

“Sit down, Shepard,” Miranda asserted in her trademark tone.  She flashed the hint of a smile and continued, “The residents aren’t being paid enough for you to harass them.”

Shepard’s eyes flicked over to the three aliens who’d been tending to her just moments before.  They were now speaking nervously with the doctor, who muttered something about tests they needed to run followed by some other medical jargon that Shepard couldn’t decipher.  She did as her friend directed and eased herself back down onto her bed, offering a sheepish grin as she did so. “I feel like such an ass.”

“Don’t,” Dr. Michel chimed in as she approached the bed, and began to scan Shepard with her omni-tool, “You have been in a coma for almost a month.  It was expected that you would be agitated when you awoke, especially considering everything you’ve been through.”

Shepard’s chest swelled with something like gratitude.  A month .  She’d only been out for a month, and she had woken up in what she could now tell was Huerta Memorial under the care of a physician she trusted and one of her closest friends.  This was nothing like the last time she died. She looked up at Miranda and asked,“Had to put me back together again, I see?”

“I only helped this time,” Miranda explained as she worked to reconnect some of the IVs Shepard had ripped out, “Dr. Michel contacted me a few weeks ago for a consultation about your cybernetic augmentation.  I was already on the Citadel, so I came in person to oversee the repairs.”

“Is everything working?”

“Mostly,” Miranda shrugged, “Not quite up to specifications, but your injuries are still healing. With time, you should be fine.”

“And hopefully far away from any more life-threatening battles, yes,” remarked Michel, moving to a terminal near the wall and transferring data collected from her omni-tool scans.

Shepard let out a huff, and let herself recline onto the bed, walls crumbling away at the comforting conversation.  She took a breath and let her eyes flutter closed for just a minute, and said, “If I can. If the galaxy will let me.”

“The galaxy’s going to have to,” announced an unmistakable voice from the door, and Shepard bolted upright to face it.  To face him .

She hadn’t even heard the door open, and yet there stood her turian, with all that easy confidence he’d always carried himself with and a bouquet of indistinguishable gift shop flowers in each hand.  Her pulse jumped, a fact the vitals monitor in the corner was quick to inform her and everyone in the room about. She would never live that one down.

“Garrus!”

“Is that cardiac arrest—“ he motioned toward the screen with one of the bouquets— “Or, uh… are you just happy to see me?”

Shepard just rolled her eyes, unable to stop the grin that twitched at the corners of her mouth as he sauntered up to the bedside.

“I wasn’t sure which you’d like better,” Garrus explained, glancing with uncertainty between the flowers in each hand, “So I got both.  There’s also some chocolate and a few books of hanar poetry back at the gift shop if you just absolutely hate the flowers. I can run back down and—“

She laughed and shook her head at him. “They’re perfect.”

“Are you sure?” He examined each bouquet again.  “You might need the poetry to bore you back into a coma.”

“I thought that anthology was quite beautiful and romantic, myself,” Michel remarked, amused.  She approached Shepard again and administered something that relieved the throbbing pain in her head she’d barely noticed in all the commotion. “There, that should keep you comfortable for a time. I will come and check on you in a  few hours ”

“I’ll be going as well,” Miranda said, eyeing Shepard and Garrus knowingly. “Call me if you need anything.”

She turned to follow the doctor out of the room but stopped and looked over her shoulder. “Oh, and Shepard?  I’m glad we got to see each other again “

Shepard nodded. “So am I.”

With that Miranda left the room, the door sliding shut behind her.  Shepard turned her gaze up to Garrus who was already looking at her, pale eyes scanning every inch of her face intently.  His mandibles twitched and flared in the very specific way they always did when he was agitated or worried.  He shook his head, discarded both bundles of flowers onto the nearby bedside table, and sat down on the edge of the bed next to her, staring off at the wall in silence.

“Shepard I— I’m sorry I wasn’t here when you woke up,” he said finally, turning to look at her and placing a hand on her leg, “I’d just gone to get some air…I didn’t want you to be alone.”

“It’s okay,” she reassured him, reaching for his hand and wondering just how many sleepless hours he’d sat by her bed waiting for her to come to. “You’re here now. That’s all that matters.”

He leaned forward and pressed his forehead to hers, lingering there for several long moments.  She brought a hand up to trace the rough ridges of scarring along the right side of his face.  His eyes fluttered closed at the touch, and he let out a heavy sigh, as if she’d lifted some invisible weight off of him with just the tips of her fingers.

“You know,” she spoke up, breaking the powerful silence between them, “I think I finally have some scars that’ll give you a run for your credits.”

Garrus laughed, but it was quiet—almost sad— and he pulled back to examine her.

“How bad is it,” she asked, “There aren’t any mirrors in here.”

He laughed again, this time with more enthusiasm. “Hell, Shepard, I don’t know. You always were ugly, so it’s hard for me to say.”

“Okay,” she admitted with a smirk, “I had that one coming.”

The room went quiet again, with the exception of the buzzing and whirring of the equipment around them.  It wasn’t uncomfortable, though— nothing had ever been uncomfortable with Garrus— but it was heavy with unspoken pain and unasked questions for which Shepard wasn’t sure she wanted answers.

“How’s everyone else,” she ventured.

“Recovering,” he answered with a sigh, “Joker tried to outrun the blast, but even the Normandy wasn’t quick enough.  Crash landed on some human colony world. Everyone made it except—“

“EDI,” she said, name bitter on her tongue. She’d hoped the catalyst had been lying about the Crucible’s effect on synthetic life.

“Yes… how did you—“

This time, she was not able to dam up the wave of emotions that crashed into her.  Tears rushed to her eyes, shame and remorse tightening her chest like a vice. She was a soldier, and she knew that sacrifices won wars, but that did not make it any easier.

“It’s a long story,” she said with a sniff, looking away from him and attempting to wipe away the tears before he could see them, as if he hadn’t already.

“Well—” Garrus reached out and grabbed her chin, gently, giving it a tug until she brought her gaze back to him. “It’s a good thing I cleared my afternoon schedule, then. Tell me everything.”

And so she did. With a shaky voice, she recounted everything that happened from the time she called the evac for Garrus and Liara to the moment she was struck by the Crucible’s blast.  She told him about The Illusive Man, Anderson, the Catalyst who wore Kaidan’s face, and the impossible choice she was given.  He listened to every word, offered her his hand, and didn’t complain as her grip grew tighter and tighter with each devastating revelation.

When she was finished, eyes swollen and head throbbing, she looked at him and said, “I fucked up, Garrus. I had a chance to save EDI and the geth, but I just… couldn’t do it.  I was so angry and… scared , and—“

“Shepard,” Garrus interrupted her, laughing and shaking his head.

“What?”

“You’re about the only person I know who could save the whole damn galaxy and feel guilty because you didn’t save it better.”

“My life isn’t worth more than EDI’s was, and it definitely isn’t more important than the entire geth race,” Shepard argued.

Garrus blinked back at her a few times, then responded.  “It is to me.”

She opened her mouth to protest, but the words didn’t come, so she clamped it shut and frowned.  Her entire argument fell apart in the wake of his blunt confession. How the hell was she supposed to respond to something like that?

“It was selfish,” she finally managed past the lump in her throat, “It was genocide.”

“Maybe,” he answered, firmly, “Maybe not. We have no way of knowing that anything the Catalyst told you was true.”

“Why would it lie?”

“I don’t know, maybe to save it’s own ass?”  His words were pointed but not directed to her.  “It was clearly trying to get in your head, Shepard, using Alenko like that.”

“But—”

“No,” he snapped, “You made the right call, and no one is going to fault you for it except you.”

“ Garrus …” she began, but trailed off when she noticed him looking down at their intertwined fingers, shaking his head and seeming to struggle with his emotions.

When he spoke up, his voice was hoarse.  “You’ll forgive me if I say I don’t think you owe anyone—not EDI, not the geth, not the Alliance, not the rest of the galaxy— any more than you’ve already given.”

He paused for a beat, then added in a lighter tone, “Except me. You owe me a long retirement on your fancy Alliance pension.”

Shepard snorted out a laugh, despite everything, and reached up to take his face in her hands.  She pulled him closer to her, just so that she could press a kiss against the side of his mouth.

“I’ll think about it,” she whispered.

Just as they pulled apart, the door opened and they both turned to see who had entered. Dr. Michel stood at the threshold smiling at them apologetically.  “I am sorry for the interruption, but—”

“Someone tell Garrus to quit hogging the Commander,” complained an all too familiar voice as he pushed past the doctor and into the room. “The rest of us have been waiting just as long as he has.”

“Joker,” Shepard exclaimed, nearly jumping up out of the bed to greet him.

“The one and only,” he said proudly then held up a small plastic crate to show her, “And I brought you something.  Basically had to wrestle the Alliance brass for it when they declared you dead.”

“What—,” she asked as she squinted at the box, noticing movement in the corner, “Is that my hamster?”

He sat the container down carefully on the table next to the flowers Garrus had tossed aside,  “It’s not two bouquets of useless flowers or anything, but, well…you know.”

“We can’t all be as romantic as you,” Garrus said sarcastically as he stood up and stepped away from the bed, allowing the other man space to approach Shepard.

“Thank you, Joker,” Shepard said with a nod as she sat up in the bed, “And about EDI, I—“

He cut her off with the shake of his head, clearly not ready to discuss it. “Not your fault, Commander.”

Shepard just nodded, sorry, but not wanting to force the issue.  Joker puffed his chest out and saluted her, just as more commotion rang out from the door.  She darted her eyes across the room again to see the flood of other people pouring in from the hallway.

Ash was the first to rush to the bedside, throwing appropriate Alliance protocol out the window as she threw her arms unceremoniously around Shepard.  The embrace was firm, but not so forceful that it caused her aching body any extra pain, and when Ash pulled away, Shepard could see the tears glistening in her eyes. She stiffened up and saluted just as Joker had done, and said “Ma’am.”

Much to Shepard’s surprise, Ash then approached Garrus and embraced him briefly as well, pulling away and then giving him a pat on the arm.

The others followed suit after that, offering words of gratitude that she had saved the galaxy, and relief that she’d managed to pull through.  Tali and Liara had followed Ash’s example and hugged her.  The others didn’t but greeted her with enthusiasm all the same.  Vega mentioned how “epic” it was when the fleet realized she’d made it to the Citadel and got the arms opened while Traynor and Cortez nodded along.  Javik, in his typical fashion stood quietly in the corner but nodded at her with a look of admiration she had yet to see from the Prothean.  Dr. Chakwas and the crew from engineering squeezed themselves in the now cramped space as well. Chakwas approached the bed and gave Shepard’s hand a firm squeeze.

Humbling was not a strong enough word to describe the experience of seeing everyone who’d been on the Normandy with her in that final journey to Earth gathered around celebrating her survival.  They had all meant so much to her, and only now did she realize that she’d meant the same to them.

She’d grown accustomed to being a sole survivor, watching her own back and carrying on alone with each of her mistakes strapped to her shoulders.  She was used to blaming herself with the voices of those she lost, of nightmares and flashbacks and consoling herself back to sleep in the middle of the night.  She had trained herself to be numb because she could not bear feeling guilty.

Now, she didn’t have to.  For the first time in as long as she could remember, she had people who cared about her, people who she trusted, and they had survived. For the first time, she wasn’t alone with her grief and she didn’t have to be numb.  She had friends who would hold her together while she sorted herself out, just as she had done for each and every one of them.

“You okay,” Garrus asked as he approached the bedside again, letting a hand tousle her hair gently before falling to her shoulder.

“Yeah.” She nodded and glanced around the room slowly, taking it all in. “I really actually am.”

[dinosaurtsukki]

[ it’s good to be home ] 

sequel to ‘the same eyes as you’ (read here)

pairing: tsukishima kei x f!reader

word count: 1.3k words

contains: fluff, tsukishima being an awkward dad

anon: helo..i'm sorry for requesting so suddenly--but can we get a part 2 of the same eyes as you???? like how hikari would react that mr tour guide man is her father and all fluff. if it's okay tho hdnsjfhd

a/n: okay i definitely feel like this drabble needs a part two because awkward dad!tsukishima is too good to miss. hope you enjoy this too !!

“brush.”

“wide one or tiny one?”

“medium one please.”

“you got it.” 

tsukishima watched out of the corner of his eye as his daughter, no, hikari, handed him the medium brush from his toolkit. the two of them were in tsukishima’s office in the museum, way down inside the basement where he sometimes worked on the cleaning and upkeep of some artifacts and fossils for display. 

it had been about a month since tsukishima met you again and he learned that he had a daughter. neither of you told hikari about it yet and figured it would be better to ease tsukishima into her life. of course, the ideal situation for him would be that you would also welcome him into your life too but he didn’t want to force you either. tsukishima was happy enough that you suggested that he pick up hikari from school.

he didn’t know the first thing about taking care of a seven-year old child, especially when it came to entertaining them. but to his pleasant surprise, hikari was pretty excited when she heard she was ‘going to mr. tour guide man’s office to help out’. right now, she looked as if she was enjoying being his little assistant and handing tsukishima his tools when he needed them.

“alright, ready to head home?” he asked once he looked up to see that it was already six in the evening. usually, he stayed overtime especially when he was finishing something but he knew it was only a matter of time when hikari would get bored or hungry.

“sure!” hikari hopped off the stool she was sitting on and grabbed her backpack before the two of them headed out of the museum. she had a habit of hopping over the sidewalk cracks when she walked, making tsukishima smile a bit as he watched.

“tsukishima-san, can we get strawberry milk again?” hikari asked, skipping to his side and pointing at the vending machine a few blocks away from where your apartment was.

“isn’t it almost dinnertime?” tsukishima raised an eyebrow. 

“i’ll still have room...” she pouted. of course, he couldn’t resist that either.

“alright,” he chuckled. “just make sure to finish all your dinner. and don’t tell your mother too. promise?”

“promise!” hikari grinned. 

there’s always that ache in his chest when he brings hikari home to you. everything -- from hearing hikari yell ‘we’re home mom!’, to the smell of your cooking, to seeing you emerge from the kitchen -- reminds tsukishima of what he’s been missing all these years because of something he did. and more than ever, he wants to make things right.

“welcome home,” you chuckle when hikari runs into your arms. “how was your day with tsukishima-san?”

“good! he let me touch some fossils but also to keep it a secret because no one else is allowed to,” hikari giggled.

“it’s called ‘assistant’s privileges’, remember,” tsukishima grinned at her.

“assistants privlidges,” hikari nodded.

“if you say so,” you laughed at them. tsukishima hitched his shoulder bag and stood up.

“well, i’ll be going ahead now,” he said, despite how much his feet hesitated by the door. “you two have a good night.”

“hold on.”

tsukishima stopped, feeling his heart leap to his chest when he felt your hand on his shoulder. from you, he heard the words he’s been wanting to hear for so long: “why don’t you stay for dinner?”

when he turned around, tsukishima met the softness in your eyes. you wanted him to stay. 

“sure,” he nodded. “dinner sounds great.”

...

you never thought the day when tsukishima would be eating dinner at your table right beside your daughter would come. but here it was: a family dinner unfolding before you. when you decided to let tsukishima slowly come into yours and hikari’s life again, you didn’t know what to expect. the tsukishima you dated back in your university days didn’t even bother with taking care of a plant, but he did have his moments of care especially when it was for you. 

needless to say, you were pleasantly surprised to hear hikari’s stories about being at the museum with her father and watching tsukishima intently listen to her talk about the fairy princess game she played with her friends.

maybe, this is something that could work.

“don’t forget to do your homework first before TV,” you called after your daughter after she ran off.

“yes mom!” she responded. and just like that, you and tsukishima were alone in the dining room.

“i’ll... wash up,” he cleared his throat and stood up to begin gathering the plates.

“no way. you’re the guest here,” you shook your head. 

“it’s alright. you cooked dinner already,” tsukishima insisted.

“okay, how about you wash and i dry,” you suggested. tsukishima blinked at you in surprise before nodding slowly.

“sure, why not?”

there was something comforting with feeling tsukishima’s arm next to yours as the two of you stood side by side at the sink. so much so that you ended up talking out loud a lot, just like those times when you two were younger. 

“sorry, i guess i got a bit carried away,” you laughed nervously as you put away the last plate. 

“i definitely see where hikari gets in from,” tsukishima snickered.

“oh, you have no idea,” you laughed. “sometimes i look at her and wonder how people were able to deal with me.”

“it’s not that much of a bad thing,” tsukishima glanced at you with a small smile on his face. “does she... does she ask about who her dad is?”

“yeah,” you nodded, staring down at the floor. “there was this one time she went through all my things and made a mess just trying to find a picture of you. she didn’t, though. and... i promised her that maybe someday, i’ll let her meet you.” with a sigh, you looked up at tsukishima. “but, i guess that day has come sooner rather than later.”

“i’m willing to wait as long as it takes,” he said earnestly. “until you’re ready. i mean, it’s not just for hikari but for you too. i... the past few weeks i’ve just been hitting myself in the head seeing how much i’ve missed all these years.”

“i know,” you nodded, leaning back against the sink. “and, it’s been nice having you around. i can tell hikari would absolutely love you too. but, it’s not all easy, tsukishima. you have to understand that.”

“i know. i’m ready,” tsukishima said. “well, actually not really ready but you never are for these kinds of things,” he chuckled.

“you’re right there,” you smiled and looked down the hallway in the direction of hikari’s room. maybe, it was now time. 

“would you like us to tell her?”

...

tsukishima knew that lingering by the doorway of hikari’s bedroom while you explained things to her was going to be one of the most tension-filled moments of his life. when he heard his daughter ask ‘so, why didn’t he look for us?’, tsukishima was almost certain that she would hate him. 

and then, she looked right at him, and asked: “are you going to stay now?” 

“of course i am,” tsukishima nodded. “i’ll stay for sure.”

“promise?” 

“promise.”

before he could react, hikari leapt off her bed and ran to where he was, wrapping her small arms tightly around his waist. “i knew it! i knew it!” she giggled.

“woah, knew what? that mr. tour guide man’s your dad?” you chuckled.

“cause he likes the same strawberry milk i do!” hikari insisted, grinning up at tsukishima. “you know, same traits passed down through evolution like you said.”

that made him laugh. “sure, hikari.” his daughter smiled at him and there was something different about it now that she knew she was his daughter. tsukishima didn’t know of any other happiness quite like this. he knelt down on the floor and wrapped his arms around hikari and looked up to find tears in your eyes.

“welcome home, dad,” hikari said softly. tsukishima held a hand out to you. 

“it’s good to be home.”

▸ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ┈┈┈┈ 🎕 ◂

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[dreaminginthedeepsouth]

Pierre Teillard de Chardin

* * * *

I'll never forget this story told by Jean Houston at a conference I attended as an MIU student. Very beautiful and moving, worth a read, especially if you're familiar with Teilhard de Chardin and his writings that got him in trouble with the church because he was way too cosmic for them.

"Mr. Tayer," by Jean Houston

When I was about fourteen I was seized by enormous waves of grief over my parents’ breakup. I had read somewhere that running would help dispel anguish, so I began to run to school every day down Park Avenue in New York City. I was a great big overgrown girl (5 feet eleven by the age of eleven) and one day I ran into a rather frail old gentleman in his seventies and knocked the wind out of him. He laughed as I helped him to his feet and asked me in French- accented speech, “Are you planning to run like that for the rest of your life?”

“Yes, sir" I replied. “It looks that way."

“Well, Bon Voyage!” he said.

“Bon Voyage!” I answered and sped on my way.

About a week later I was walking down Park Avenue with my fox terrier, Champ, and again I met the old gentleman.

“Ah." he greeted me, “my friend the runner, and with a fox terrier. I knew one like that years ago in France. Where are you going?"

“Well, sir." I replied, “I’m taking Champ to Central Park."

“I will go with you." he informed me. “I will take my constitutional."

And thereafter, for about a year or so, the old gentleman and I would meet and walk together often several times a week in Central Park. He had a long French name but asked me to call him by the first part of it, which was “Mr. Tayer" as far as I could make out.

The walks were magical and full of delight. Not only did Mr. Tayer seem to have absolutely no self-consciousness, but he was always being seized by wonder and astonishment over the simplest things. He was constantly and literally falling into love. I remember one time when he suddenly fell on his knees, his long Gallic nose raking the ground, and exclaimed to me, “Jeanne, look at the caterpillar. Ahhhh!” I joined him on the ground to see what had evoked so profound a response that he was seized by the essence of caterpillar. “How beautiful it is", he remarked, “this little green being with its wonderful funny little feet. Exquisite! Little furry body, little green feet on the road to metamorphosis." He then regarded me with equal delight. “Jeanne, can you feel yourself to be a caterpillar?”

“Oh yes." I replied with the baleful knowing of a gangly, pimply faced teenager.

“Then think of your own metamorphosis." he suggested. “What will you be when you become a butterfly, une papillon, eh? What is the butterfly of Jeanne?” (What a great question for a fourteen-year-old girl!) His long, gothic, comic-tragic face would nod with wonder. “Eh, Jeanne, look at the clouds! God’s calligraphy in the sky! All that transforming. moving, changing, dissolving, becoming. Jeanne, become a cloud and become all the forms that ever were."

Or there was the time that Mr. Tayer and I leaned into the strong wind that suddenly whipped through Central Park, and he told me, “Jeanne, sniff the wind." I joined him in taking great snorts of wind. “The same wind may once have been sniffed by Jesus Christ (sniff). by Alexander the Great (sniff), by Napoleon (sniff), by Voltaire (sniff), by Marie Antoinette (sniff)!” (There seemed to be a lot of French people in that wind.) “Now sniff this next gust of wind in very deeply for it contains.. . Jeanne d’Arc! Sniff the wind once sniffed by Jeanne dArc. Be filled with the winds of history."

It was wonderful. People of all ages followed us around, laughing—not at us but with us. Old Mr. Tayer was truly diaphanous to every moment and being with him was like being in attendance at God’s own party, a continuous celebration of life and its mysteries. But mostly Mr. Tayer was so full of vital sap and juice that he seemed to flow with everything. Always he saw the interconnections between things—the way that everything in the universe, from fox terriers to tree bark to somebody’s red hat to the mind of God, was related to everything else and was very, very good.

He wasn’t merely a great appreciator, engaged by all his senses. He was truly penetrated by the reality that was yearning for him as much as he was yearning for it. He talked to the trees, to the wind, to the rocks as dear friends, as beloved even. ‘Ah, my friend, the mica schist layer, do you remember when...?” And I would swear that the mica schist would begin to glitter back. I mean, mica schist will do that, but on a cloudy day?! Everything was treated as personal, as sentient, as “thou." And everything that was thou was ensouled with being. and it thou-ed back to him. So when I walked with him, I felt as though a spotlight was following us, bringing radiance and light everywhere. And I was constantly seized by astonishment in the presence of this infinitely beautiful man, who radiated such sweetness, such kindness.

I remember one occasion when he was quietly watching a very old woman watching a young boy play a game. “Madame", he suddenly addressed her. She looked up, surprised that a stranger in Central Park would speak to her. “Madame,” he repeated, “why are you so fascinated by what that little boy is doing?” The old woman was startled by the question, but the kindly face of Mr. Tayer seemed to allay her fears and evoke her memories. “Well, sir,” she replied in an ancient but pensive voice, “the game that boy is playing is like one I played in this park around 1880, only it’s a mite different." We noticed that the boy was listening, so Mr. Tayer promptly included him in the conversation. “Young fellow, would you like to learn the game as it was played so many years ago?”

“Well. . .yeah. sure, why not?” the boy replied. And soon the young boy and the old woman were making friends and sharing old and new variations on the game—as unlikely an incident to occur in Central Park as could be imagined.

But perhaps the most extraordinary thing about Mr. Tayer was the way that he would suddenly look at you. He looked at you with wonder and astonishment joined to unconditional love joined to a whimsical regarding of you as the cluttered house that hides the holy one. I felt myself primed to the depths by such seeing. I felt evolutionary forces wake up in me by such seeing, every cell and thought and potential palpably changed. I was yeasted, greened, awakened by such seeing, and the defeats and denigrations of adolescence redeemed. I would go home and tell my mother, who was a little skeptical about my walking with an old man in the park so often, “Mother, I was with my old man again, and when I am with him, I leave my littleness behind." That deeply moved her. You could not be stuck in littleness and be in the radiant field of Mr. Tayer.

The last time that I ever saw him was the Thursday before Easter Sunday, 1955. I brought him the shell of a snail. “Ah. Escargot." he exclaimed and then proceeded to wax ecstatic for the better part of an hour. Snail shells, and galaxies, and the convolutions in the brain, the whorl of flowers and the meanderings of rivers were taken up into a great hymn to the spiralling evolution of spirit and matter. When he had finished, his voice dropped, and he whispered almost in prayer, “Omega ...omega. . .omega.." Finally he looked up and said to me quietly, "Au revoir, Jeanne”.

“Au revoir, Mr. Tayer,” I replied, “I’ll meet you at the same time next Tuesday."

For some reason. Champ, my fox terrier didn’t want to budge, and when I pulled him along, he whimpered, looking back at Mr.Tayer, his tail between his legs. The following Tuesday I was there waiting where we always met at the corner of Park Avenue and 83rd Street. He didn’t come. The following Thursday I waited again. Still he didn’t come. The dog looked up at me sadly. For the next eight weeks I continued to wait, but he never came again. It turned out that he had suddenly died that Easter Sunday but I didn’t find that out for years.

Some years later, someone handed me a book without a cover which was titled The Phenomenon of Man. As I read the book I found it strangely familiar in its concepts. Occasional words and expressions loomed up as echoes from my past. When, later in the book, I came across the concept of the “Omega point." I was certain. I asked to see the jacket of the book, looked at the author’s picture, and, of course, recognized him immediately. There was no forgetting or mistaking that face. Mr. Tayer was Teilhard de Chardin, the great priest-scientist, poet and mystic, and during that lovely and luminous year I had been meeting him out side the Jesuit rectory of St. Ignatius where he was living most of the time.

I have often wondered if it was my simplicity and innocence that allowed the fullness of Teilhard’s being to be revealed. To me he was never the great priest-paleontologist Pere Teilhard. He was old Mr. Tayer. Why did he always come and walk with me every Tuesday and Thursday, even though I’m sure he had better things to do? Was it that in seeing me so completely, he himself could be completely seen at a time when his writings, his work, were proscribed by the Church, when he was not permitted to teach, or even to talk about his ideas? As I later found out, he was undergoing at that time the most excruciating agony that there is—the agony of utter disempowerment and psychological crucifixion. And yet to me he was always so present—whimsical, engaging, empowering. How could that be?

I think it was because Teilhard had what few Church officials did—the power and grace of the Love that passes all understanding. He could write about love being the evolutionary force, the Omega point, that lures the world and ourselves into becoming, because he experienced that love in a piece of rock, in the wag of a dog’s tail, in the eyes of a child. He was so in love with everything that he talked in great particularity, even to me as an adolescent, about the desire atoms have for each other, the yearning of molecules, of organisms, of bodies, of planets, of galaxies, all of creation longing for that radiant bonding, for joining, for the deepening of their condition, for becoming more by virtue of yearning for and finding the other. He knew about the search for the Beloved. His model was Christ. For Teilhard de Chardin, Christ was the Beloved of the soul.

Years later, while addressing some Jesuits, a very old Jesuit came up to me. He was a friend of Teilhard’s—and he told me how Teilhard used to talk of his encounters in the Park with a girl called Jeanne.

Jean Houston

Pomona, New York

March, 1988

[funnyexel]

100 Years of Age

Logan x Reader (Oneshot)

A/n : I’ve recently have had an OBSESSION with Logan from the X-men franchise. Thus, this short fanfic. Usually my fanfics would end in a little spice (kiss, smut...etc.) but this time it’ll be a fluff ending. Please bare with me, this is my first fluff story so if it sucks that's the reason. Also, sorry if the title doesn’t really make sense. I tried to make it nostalgic in a way. Enjoy my lovely’s <3 Masterlist Mega List

“How could you?” Hot tears glided down your face. “How could you!?” There your parents stood before you as you got yanked away in chains. “HOW COULD YOU DO THIS TO ME!?!” Your last words as the truck doors closed. You were being taken and it was all their fault. Full on balling on the truck floor, the soldiers watched. A 14- year old getting taken away with their parents consent...that’s got to be a first. 

The truck was a one-way ticket to hell but how could you have known? They gave you away to some unknown cause to save their own asses. You spent years there, being tested on.

“She has the right DNA. We’ll be one step closer to evolution.”

The first few months were horrible. Being tested on for the Elemental Project, being alone in a foreign area, resenting your parents and being a child in all. On a certain dreadful day, an experiment worked on you. That day was your 15th birthday. They did four major experiments and preps over and over and over again. At this point, you weren’t upset anymore. Your parents are living their lives now. They may or may not be regretting their decision but its out of your hands. You’ve come to terms with this, after months of denying it.

“how are you feeling?” She quietly walks into your cell, trying not to disturb you as you were watching tv. You were sitting against the wall, hands in your lap as your eyes staying glued to the tv. “fine.” Your voice strained and quiet. She hums to your word. You’ve become a woman of little words, only speaking when comfortable and necessary. This woman was nice to you. You welcomed her into your small bubble...sometimes.

She placed a glass of water in front of you, without looking the water arose out the glass and separated itself into these words. “Today is my 15th birthday.” They subsided back into the glass, which you proceeded to pick up and drink out of. She and others were amazed, astonished. This isn’t the end. They still had much to do. You may not have mastered the first element but you’ve grasped it and that’s all they needed to know, before starting the next tests.

The tests were excruciating and brutal. The elements were manifesting backwards. Water, Earth, Air and Fire. Each element took an amount of lives. They told you to control it...they told you to fix yourself. But you could not. You did not control the elements. They only took a liking to you and allowed you to have them, nothing more nothing less. 

But they don’t understand, their thoughts clouded by war and hate. You got put into war before as a ‘learning activity’. Yes. A fantastic idea to put a 20-year old in The American Civil War.

You were cold. Very cold. They made you clothes to fit the elements but the clothes were not very war worthy attire. “She’ll burn her clothes off, if she wears that.” The woman says to the general in charge. “I better see something, Ms. Bailey.” The general says before glancing at you then taking his leave. She turns to you with a little smile. “Be mindful of people around you.” You nod your head to her. You weren’t scared given you were put into a war. You were just..just...you didn’t know. You didn’t know what the feeling was called but you were feeling it.

“Bring her here!” Ms. Bailey and you follow the soldier. “You can’t come on the field.” He stated to her. She gave you one final look before turning away. He motioned you to follow. The sounds of gun shots flooded your ears and the smell of gun powder filled your nose. “Stay close.” He said, not ever laying a finger on you. It was almost nightfall, they knew this’ll be the best time for you to come out. You stayed with him and two other men. 

They were conversing a few feet away, also keeping an eye on you. A young boy was coughing, around the age of 16. You crouched in front of him and rested a hand on his shoulder. Doing a faint hand motion you cleared the air he was breathing. “T-thank you.” You smiled to him but the smile faded as the soldier called out to you. “Come, we’ve got the ‘go’ from the general.” The field was painted in blood and bodies. 

“Can’t handle it?” One of the other soldiers teased. You scoffed at him, the sound barely being audible. “We need you to take an enemy and bring them back here.” The soldier says to you, motioning the two men not to follow you out. You sighed and nodded at him. Walking to the middle of the battlefield, you dipped down to the ground. Your fingertips lightly touching it. “I will not control you.” The ground began to rumble as big chunks of dirt and rock get pulled out. Carefully, you aimed each one at their big guns and incoming soldiers. 

With ease you walked to their men. Their guns were inefficient, due to you setting the gun powder in the guns ablaze. Finally, you found someone that looked like they knew a lot, motioning your hand to the sky. Particles of water parted from the clouds and engulfed the victims body, knocking them out momentarily and carrying them with you. You quickly got escorted back to the base.

“Great, we have the enemy. HOW ARE WE GOING TO GET INFORMATION FROM A DEAD MAN!?!” You flinched at the yelling general. There the man laid on a nursing bed, dripping wet. A gust of wind passes by to dry him then you put your hand over his mouth. Taking the liquid out his lungs. An array of coughs alerted one of the nurses. “alive.” You spoke, looking the general in the eyes. Ms. Bailey took you to the tent for a rest. “You did good today.” She smiled handing you sleeping clothes. You took the clothes and changed, now sitting on the floor, no movement what so ever. 

You often did this when the elements were uneasy and they were always uneasy. “Sorry, no visitors.” You look over your shoulder and see one of the men you were on the field with. Getting to your feet, you walk and stand next to Bailey. She nods to you and walks further into the tent, keeping a watchful eye. “Hi, I’m Logan.” He sticks a hand out for you to shake. You hide your hands behind your back, denying his request. He retracts his hand at your reaction. “y/n” You whisper to him. “Okay, that’s all, she needs to rest.” Bailey closes the tent as you wave goodbye to him. 

Those memories became distant, vivid as you went back to the dreadful place. Time passed very slowly there. You never knew why but it did and it was awful. “This is ground breaking! Absolutely ground breaking! Now that we’ve got her to adapt to all the elements we’ll be able to make an army.” That day felt different. Stumped on the why but it felt different. Later on you found out why. You’ll never ever forget it. It was your most happiest day you’ve lived. The freedom. The life that filled your soul and the genuine happiness that accompanied your aura. But nature had different plans for you. 

Nature had weird ways of caring for you. It liked you. It had better plans for you. Plans that would not involve this era in anyway what so ever. You were hesitant at first but your character is familiar to its weird ways. Thus, leading you to comply. “wait. everyone quiet.” Voices were creeping into your hearing, slowly becoming louder. “She’s waking up.” Your eyelids flutter open. It felt as if you were worked to the bone, took an elevating nap then woke up refreshed. You were in a cocoon like capsule, made by water and other bits of nature. The cocoon discarded itself, evaporated and moving itself into the ongoing water cycle. 

Your body slumped a bit, a little surprised squeak as you stood straight. Seeing people in weird gear and other gadgets around the room. Eyes big and observing everything. “Hi.” You looked at the man before you. Your eyes instinctively trailing to the flat screen. It’s a television. ‘How the world has evolved.’ You thought looking back to the man, mouth open but no words flow out. So you decide to respond with a small wave. Your calmness got interrupted as you saw a gadget that resembled a gun. “the war is still present?” You speak in a low tone and sigh. “The war?” He shakes his head. 

“How old is she?” Someone utters in the background. You shrug to their question. “1863?” You look the man in the eyes. Pure shock fills his soul. “It’s the 2000’s.” You feel a force pull you out the establishment. Into a forest. ‘The 2000’s? What would you want me to do in the 2000’s?’ You question in your head as you run. To no destination in particular but to get away from those people. You ended up in a bar. It was one of the things you could recognize...everything was so different. As soon as you stepped foot into the bar, all eyes were on you. Stares full of disgust, lust and confusion. 

You walked to the counter and stood at the end of the tall table. “Miss, are you lost?” You nod to the nicely dressed lady. She converses with her peers as you look over to the television. ‘Mutant Rights? Mutant? What’s a Mutant?’ This is so new. It was a lot happening at once. A high pitched whistle, stung your ear. “Hey, cutie.” Looking to him unbothered, you point to him and a gust of wind pushes him away. Not enough to knock him down or anything serious like that but enough to get him out your personal space. He looks at you like he’s seen a ghost. “m-m-m-m-m-m” 

He kept stuttering, you cock your head to the side in amazement but puzzlement. “Yeah, she’s a mutant. Run along, boy.” The woman exclaims and pulls you into a back room. “You seem like a wonderful girl but men will take advantage of you.” She says handing you a soft fabric. “what’s this?” You ask, opening the folded clothing. “A hoodie? Have you not- you know what never mind.” She leaves the room. Pulling the fabric over your head. “A hoodie.” You fiddle with the cup like piece. “I’m a mutant?” You look at the full length mirror. ‘I see why she said I’ll be taken advantage of.’ 

You dust off the skin tight shorts and knock out rocks out your minimalistic flat shoes. “where do mutants go?” You walk out the door and ask the girl. She finishes serving someone a drink before answering. “here.” She hands you a pamphlet. ‘Xavier Institute’ You study the interestingly folded paper then look to her. “thank you.” You smile and walk out the bar. ‘Now to find this Institute.’ At those words many images and places flood your mind, until one image matched the pamphlet. You could hear children giggling and happily cheering. The images fade away and you know exactly where you’re going. 

Putting the paper in the hoodie pocket, you begin to walk in the direction of the school. “ouch.” A small pebble hit you in the leg. Sighing, you stand still. The ground beneath you begins to rumble, carving a circle large enough for you to stand on. It slowly ripped itself out the ground bringing you in the air. Putting your hands out, you began to get your balance as you fixed your stance. It seemed like your seeing the world in a different light. The trees were so vibrant and beautiful as you were gliding on the rock. The sun was rising, its the most beautiful thing you’ve seen in your life. You couldn’t help but smile. 

In no time, the school came into your view. The rock pile that was holding you up, broke apart into little rocks as you were lowered to the ground. Walking through the gates, you looked around for others. It didn’t seem like anyone was out yet, but lights were on in the inside. Placing two knocks on the door, you stood and waited for someone to answer. A woman with white hair answers the door. Before she could let out a simple question, you stop her with your own. “what year is it?” Her face scrunches up with confusion at your odd question. “2006? Come inside.” 

She pats you on the shoulder as a welcoming jester. You hesitate before stepping into the abnormally big school. “logan?” You lock eyes with the recognizable man. “Do you know each other?” The white haired woman asks you. Breaking away from the eye contact, you frantically shake your head and back into the door. Logan kept looking at you, in confusion. “I- um. I might be at the w-wrong place.” Mist begins to fill the space you occupied, giving you a chance to leave. Time running short as footsteps echo behind you. Having no time to run off the property, you run into the woods that’s to the left of the school. 

“I-I...I don’t want to go back.” You cried out as they grabbed you from behind, roughly sitting you down. “You know me?” He asked. You responded with a hum, still being a little shaken up. “you and I met at war. it was only once.” You looked up to him. “Why’d you run?” He asked as you got up to your feet. “when I escaped my project. there had been many more trying to recreate it. I thought it was still going on.” He lead the way back to the school. “I was apart of a solo weapon x program. It- it wasn’t #1 priority but it was still important.” They brought you into an office and began to ask questions, which you answered. 

“So how old are you exactly?” Storm asks. “I don’t know.” Logan asked a few questions here and there but he stayed quiet most the time. Storm gave you an vacant room after the long introduction. You got familiar with the room before going out to the yard, you observed some students and meditated. It seemed like everything was calm. It was odd non-the-less but very nice. “Hello.” A child no older than 11 greets you. “hello.” You give a small smile to him. “What’s your name?” He asks, you look up to a small group of students a good ways away. “Y/n.” You say looking back to him. 

“Look at what I can do, Y/n.” He says a bit excited. Pulling a weed from the ground, he holds it between his thumb and index finger, slowly it turns to a flower. “That’s very similar to what I can do.” You smile to the innocent boy. “Can I see?” He asks in a cutesy pure tone. “Sure.” You point to some moving rocks. They bonded together and came rolling to you. It was a medium sized ball of pebbles and rocks. Clasping your hands together then breaking them apart, water separated from the rocks. The rocks now rolling back to their places. The water splits into two and glides around, almost dancing with each other. 

Soon enough it came down to you. “Wow.” The boy says, studying the water. You then open your right palm, heat gathering in it and creating fire. Now you had fire in one hand and water in the other. The two elements began to fight with each other. Trying to put the other out. Finally, you put the fire out and disperse the water. A gust of wind swishes through is hair, roughing it up a bit. Standing up, you give him a smile. You see Logan in the corner of your eye. “bye, flower boy.” He gives you a smile and you approach Logan. “You didn’t answer my question properly earlier.” He slows and matches your pace. 

“I- I see. I had a failed attempt before. I thought I found refuge but I was horribly mistaken.” You looked away from him for a moment. “a distant memory is all it is now.” You give him a small friendly smile. “How can you not be upset?” He stops his actions and turns around to you. You stop too. “Upset? Why would I be upset?” He studies your answer for some time. “I’m not upset. How could I be? When all those people who experimented on me, are surely dead. While I am here, in a new era. Alive, well and hasn’t aged a day.” Your lips curve slightly but drop into a noticeable frown.

You wanted to open up a bit more to him but you felt you weren’t ready to talk about it. “You look upset.” His statement hinting at a tease. “Not upset. Just..sad.” Not picking up his light-hearted statement. You part ways as Logan gets called by Storm. Giving him a small wave, you go to your room. During the start of your months at the Institute, you did some strength training. “Colossus and Kitty, will spar with you.” It was soon clear to everyone that you are fairly powerful. Continuing your stay at the school with studying, you had to learn about the 21st century somehow. You found a new passion for reading while doing so. Romance books in particular.

“What romance book are you reading tonight?” You hide your smile as your head lifts from the book. “I’m actually reading a crime book.” He sits in a chair close to you. “What brings you here?” You bookmark your page and set the book down. He let out a heavy sigh. “Nightmares?” You whisper and he nods to you. He does a jester to you, returning the question. “visions of my parents.” You lean back, rubbing your forehead. “I need a cigar.” He exclaims under his breath. “do you ever think about it?” His eyes lock on yours. “do you ever just think about why we were chosen?” You try to maintain eye contact with him. “stupidity and..” He points to himself then you. “sacrifice.” 

You break your eye contact with him. “I’m sure it wasn’t stupidity in your case. At least you had a choice.” He stays silent wanting to hear more about you. Logan was very hesitant about letting people in since Jean. But he couldn’t help the fact that he wanted to learn more about you. You knew him in the past and besides that you were an interesting person to him. “My parents...they gave me to the program. They didn’t even know what it was, all they needed to know was that it was going to save themselves if they gave away their child.” He reached over to you, giving you a reassuring pat on the shoulder. 

“I don’t even remember much of my childhood. They told me it was garbage in my mind that I didn’t need.” You leaned into his touch slightly. “Some people say they want to forget their family. They don’t mean it. Do they?” A few tears escape your eyes. “because this feels like hell.” You quickly wipe the tears away. Logan walked with you to the sleeping quarters. You can’t stay up all night. The walk was silent but you two did walk pretty close together. “goodnight.” You smiled to him as you opened your door. “I’m sorry for dumping that all on you tonight. You don’t have to remember.” You nervously chuckle. He shakes his head.

“It’s..okay.” Hesitation in his voice. “If you need someone to talk too, I’ll- you can talk to me.” You can tell he struggled to find the right words but you appreciated it more than any other person would. Giving him a heartfelt smile. You gripped the door knob and looked over your shoulder. “Thank You, Logan.”

[nodameshield]

how are we doing? have the tears dried yet? I know mine haven’t :: 

let’s start light : research fellows count ! (also, lady, only ten years old? - I resent that).

Goh understands this?? he’s got a silly proud smile and it’s following Ash’s butchered storytelling??? love 

research fellows count ! 

perfectly attainable dream 

sure, go for it.  (look at both of their supportive lil smiles, we love best friends) 

we all know the scene that’s coming ahead, but I thought this was a beautiful demonstration of growth already on Goh’s side.

Listen before the sad part begins let us appreciate for a moment how Ash and Goh were smiling at EACH OTHER after the interview was over. cuties. 

behold : the last frame we have of baby Sobble. I’m going to miss you, bean. thank you for everything<3 (he was so proud of his good deed as well!! my very heart) 

just how fast the night changes, indeed.

Drizzle went through shock and pain at record speed and swiftly landed on anger - only to fall into ✨depression✨ just as quickly.

and then we just stayed there.

someone 

is 

(oh hey Cinderace ! good to see ya)

having  

a rough morning

 (I’m sorry, this scene was just fucking funny - the drama)

Cinderace’s proud big bro moment was just too sweet to leave out - let us not forget, he’s been a big bro since he was Raboot (and even as a temperamental Raboot, he was always gentle to Sobble). And now his baby bro has evolved as well. precious ! 

Goh handled this situation very maturely from the beginning. And here’s when the build up starts. He’s saying ‘hey, let me help you how I think you need to be helped” and he genuinely doesn’t mean any harm! naturally, his reaction is to help his Pokémon, in the way that has worked in the past.

but then he starts to understand maybe that’s not the best approach this time around.

and he’s ready to respect those new boundaries (of course, there’s no blame on Cinderace, either. Much like Goh, he - and everyone, really - was just trying to help in the way he thought was the best).

shoutout to the animation on this bit because Pikachu’s ears darting down was a delightful detail. Chloe’s expression and Grookey’s simmering down drove the point home as well.

ah, you coy little thing. Did you forget how your trainer almost left you behind because of how rebellious you were??? Because you made him feel as though you’d be better off without him?? (Cinderace has selective memory, you can’t change my mind, don’t be miss-leaded by the cuteness)

this build up was wonderful - we begin to hear all these reasons why, yeah? maybe he just wants to be alone.

maybe he’s still very afraid and careful of his surroundings, and his evolution made it worse? (he’d been popping up in random places in previous episodes, hiding, which was also great foreshadowing for this episode !) 

maybe he’s cocooning himself until he’s ready to evolve again? (which, considering his disappointment and how badly he wanted to be Inteleon already, is a very plausible reason)

but Prof. Cerise gets it right when he says ‘we can’t really know for sure’ (which ties greatly with Goh’s upcoming scene) - is it your Drizzle’s quirk? are they all like this? who cares? Isn’t wonderful how he’s a living creature? how he’s got nuances and a personality? shouldn’t that be enough of a reason to look after him, and try to help him right now?

my child, still thinking he’s got to do everything on his own.

and these two are just like ????? Goh ??? watchu talking about ???

can you imagine how MUCH this moment means to him?? he was ready to keep going alone (it’s what he knows) and even when Ash and Chloe prove him, time and time again, that he’s not alone, there’s still something in Goh coded to believe others won’t care as much/won’t be there when he needs them. and that’s why he insists: I’ve got this. I can do it alone.

and, sure, but you don’t have to. that’s the beauty of friendship.

you tell him, Chloe. (actually, without Chloe calling him out, he might have taken longer to figure out where Drizzle was. so...) // but also, it gives us a glimpse into the fact that, while Goh might have felt very lonely, Chloe has been observing and caring for him - in her way - for a long minute as well.

my very point above. 

HEY, LISTEN: he doesn’t know, either. he’s a child, words are hard, and you rotate along the four moods of childhood (happy, upset, scared, hungry (?)) and don’t ponder much on anything else because you are a child, there’s no emotional intelligence to speak of, no need for it, you’re being shaped by your environment and all the stimuli of the world being a new place. things like loneliness, confusion, anxiety... we can’t put those into words - hell, they’re fucking abstract and confusing even when we are adults.

and Goh’s stimuli and environment was, given what we know of his family life, a rather lonely one. Did his parents have a lot of spare time to take him to the park? I don’t think so. Was he good at going out there and asking other kids to play? ... probably not. 

Chloe doesn’t strike me as an extrovert, either, so even if she wanted to get close to Goh or invite him to hang out, perhaps she was too shy as well. Heck, perhaps Goh’s reaction would’ve been like the one above, he simply didn’t know. Maybe he didn’t want to ! and that’s perfectly fine as well.

am I forgiving the anipoke team for making Goh cry? no, never. but this was beautifully executed so I can grow to live with it.

“why are you depressed?” “you have nothing to be sad about!” “look at all the wonderful things you have!” “just be happy again!” - sound familiar? yeah, this was incredibly well done.

as adults, perhaps we see this and think ‘shit, how cool that they’re prodding on these topics, it’s important’ and it is !!! so important !! but if it’s this impactful as young-adults/grown-ups, imagine how impactful it must be as a child to see this and feel perceived. I’m honestly so proud of this moment, this whole episode. I’m grateful they took the time to look into this maturely. and even if children don’t do a full-fledged analysis on it, if they relate (like I know so many of us did) they won’t forget it. and that’s beautiful.

darling I’m blanking on your TW handle I’m so sorry - but someone in a tweet SO RIGHTFULLY pointed out that these are the words Goh would have needed to hear when he was younger. saying them to Drizzle it’s a full circle moment for him, he’s hearing them as well, and it’s helping both of them grow.

He’s not forcing himself as Drizzle’s trainer. Goh bears no entitlement here. He’s saying ‘Hey, if you’re comfortable, if you want to share , I’ll be here’ / as a kid, people did care for him, they kept wanting to know what was going on, but Goh couldn’t put that in words and people pestering him only made it worse, but if someone had said ‘hey, when you’re ready...’ then,,,,yeah,,,,maybe it would’ve been different. 

he’s offering that safety now to his Pokémon, something he didn’t have, but he grew to understand is what he (and now Drizzle) needed. If that doesn’t have you breaking down in a teary mess then you are stronger than I’ll ever be, because my glasses were cloudy by this point.

why, why, why. because you needed to hear all that as well, baby! so did a number of us. thank you.

I’ll say that, however it was that you connected with this moment, that’s yours to cherish. 

Personally, I too had a lonely childhood marked by parents who overworked, and I too spent a lot of time alone in kindergarten and through elementary school because it was hard to make friends (turns out i’m an extrovert, ha, talk about breaking out of your shell...) so, obviously there were easy common grounds for me in this episode.

but I LOVED to read the reactions and realize so many people still connected with it, one way or the other. So many of us felt seen and understood and acknowledged in emotions that are so hard to put into words !! 

so, again, if you identified with Goh or Drizzle or any of the topics in this episode, that’s very beautiful, and I hope the underlying message that you’re not alone gets through.

With Sobble, and now with Drizzle as well, Goh is very adamant to remind us that, however we are, that’s fine. there’s something that makes us special, regardless of other people’s opinions, or their ideas of how we *should be* // that’s the message I’m taking with me, at least.

 and i can’t wait to see how this story line evolves !! I have no doubts that, when the moment comes, Inteleon will be a wonderful addition to the team, but Drizzle is here now, and he’s plenty wonderful already x

Bonus: 

ha ha, yes. I watched this episode three times. And all three times I was a mess.

side note but a very important one: the animation, the voice acting, the dialog, the scenery of the starry night - the entire scene was so beautifully executed. so  carefully crafted. ugh, amazing. just perfect. so happy.

[queenof-literature]

Something with Wind and Wild finding out Wild’s actually related to Wind? (It’s a personal hc of mine that they’re related due to vah medoh being named after Medli and the fact that there are rito in the first place + rito’s village theme being a variant of the dragon roost island theme)

Thank you for the prompt anon! That’s a fun headcanon and I did my best with it! I hope you enjoy!

I said in an announcement I’m putting shorter requests/drabbles in its own story and place in my masterlist to make things a bit more organized. Here’s the Ao3 link to that.

Related

“When will we learn to stop trying to figure out the timeline.” Warriors deadpanned to Sky as he watched the others fight.

“Do we ever learn?” Sky replied, laughing at the sight before him. He supposed there were benefits to being the forger of the Master Sword. His place in the timeline was relatively solid.

“No, no, no. We all know there are different timelines, there has to be.” Hyrule waved his hands.

“Yes, and you and Legend are in the same one, we know that at least.” Four nodded.

“Why does it matter?” Wild whispered to Twilight.

“It doesn’t.” Twilight said simply. 

“That’s funny coming from you! Legend pointed. “You have blood relation to prove your place in the timeline!”

“It’s Time’s fault for breaking the timeline in the first place.” Four accused.

“Hey! Blame the sages, not me.” Time spoke up, holding his hands up in defense.

“Do you know where you are in the timeline?” Twilight asked Wild curiously while the others fought around their campfire.

“It’s been 10,000 years since the last hero in my Hyrule.” Wild shrugged. “So, I mean, does it even matter in my timeline?” 

“I’ve never been big on blood meaning everything, the people in Ordon are my family even though I was found in the woods. But if you’re curious, we may be able to figure it out.” Twilight assured. Wild never knew how he and the others somehow always knew what to say to him.

The truth was, Wild wasn’t sure that he wanted to know the answer. The group had helped him understand that the events of 100 years ago was out of his control, even if he had a hard time believing it sometimes. But he wasn’t stupid, he saw the forlorn gazes the others cast towards the ruins of his Hyrule. Castletown was a ghost of itself, even if Zelda had plans to begin rebuilding, it wouldn’t be the bustling city the other Links knew for a long time, perhaps with the small population of his Hyrule it never would be.

But he loved his Hyrule. He knew every inch of the land yet it still managed to surprise him. The land nurtured him, and he nurtured the land. He ensured monsters didn’t destroy nature, and nature forgave him for letting wildfires. He killed animals for food and ensured he used every part. The others could make fun of him all they wanted, but it was a mutual bond he longed for when he was far from it. To see the others look at it with such sad gazes after a long journey… he understood, but it hurt.

“Meh.” Wild answered. “If we happen to figure it out, then we figure it out.” Wild ignored the suspicious look Twi sent him. Wolf boy was too perceptive for his own good.

“Well Wild and I are obviously in similar timelines!” Wind, with ever impeccable timing, proclaimed.

“Don’t sound so sure.” Warriors challenged. “Don’t forget that almost your entire world is water.” Warriors said, as if Wind could forget that. As if Wind could forget that his entire kingdom of Hyrule flooded, the kingdom Time worked so hard to protect.

“Yeah, no shit!” Wind cursed to let out some steam. “But water dries, I’ve seen entire places in other Hyrules that used to be covered in water.”

“Those are lakes and rivers, not entire oceans.” Legend spoke up.

“Yeah but Wild has said before that the last hero came 10,000 years before him! Who knows what has happened since my time! And before the hero who knows how long it’s been since I was there!” Wind puffed out his chest.

“What makes you so sure it’s you anyway?” Hyrule asked.

“Easy! Our Koroks are practically identical! I mean evolution takes time right?” Wind asked with arms wide. “And Vah Medoh, that divine beast Wild told us about, sounds like Medli from the Rito in my world. And you guys don’t even have Rito! Maybe they originated in my Hyrule and continued on in Wild’s Hyrule! The music they play and their instruments are really similar!” As Wind kept listing off points, Wild didn’t know what to think. Wind? His predecessor? Perhaps even his blood? How was he supposed to react?

“And what does Wild think of this theory?” Sky raised an eyebrow. Despite his teasing tone, Wild knew Sky was making sure he wasn’t left out of this conversation, and it wasn't for the first time Wild was extremely grateful for Sky. 

“Yeah Wild! What do you think?” Wind was practically vibrating with excitement and nerves. What did Wild think? He didn’t have any better theories, and besides, Wind made a lot of valid points. Wild bit his lip.

“W-well.” Shit, Wild could feel the words bubbling in his throat again. It’s been so long though! “I mean, I- well.” Wild tried to repeat what he had been thinking about, how Wind made great points and how the boy had obviously thought long and hard about this. Instead, with a frustrated huff, he raised his hands to sign, as usual he appreciated that no one interrupted him. ‘Sounds good to me.’ Wild signed simply, hoping his message came across well enough.

“Yes! I’m a grandfather!” Wind cried cheerfully, much to the shock of the other Links.

“We never agreed you were blood related-” Four tried to argue, only to be shushed by Wind.

“Shut it, sonny!” Wind pointed with a glare he most likely thought was threatening.

“You have to at least put a thousand ‘greats’ in front of that grandfather title.” Warriors lectured with an amused smirk.

“No one has time for that! I’m near the end of my life and you want me to waste time on that?” Wind shot back, as if they were the ones being ludicrous.

“Wind, you’re 14-”

“I’m old!” Wind cried out. “I’m decrepit! My joints ache! My knees pop every time I bend down!” Wind rambled.

“Looks like you’re being replaced.” Legend whispered to Time, who simply glared back. He did not sound like that!

Hyrule glanced towards Wild, slightly afraid this conversation would make him upset. Finding out where you were in the timeline was… odd. It was nice to know where you stood but the answer wasn’t always happy, or it wasn’t always what you wanted. Hyrule relaxed upon seeing Wild smiling and laughing at Wind’s antics with the rest of them, only getting louder as Wind continued on. Wait, didn’t this mean Wild was a part of Time’s line? And so Twilight’s as well? Oh well, better not go there tonight.

~

“Hey Wind?” Wild questioned turning in his bed roll to face the younger boy. The others had mostly turned in, and Wind had settled next to Wild’s bed roll, causing Wild’s chest to light up with an odd warmth.

“Yeah Wild?” Wind ceased his joking tone at Wild’s serious one.

“Are you… upset? That it's me who's your potential predecessor?” Wild asked hesitantly.

“Wild we’ve talked about this-”

“No, no, not that.” Wild really did not want to get into his, what Four called, ‘self esteem issues’. “But… I’ve seen the way you all look at my ruins. Aren’t you, you know, sad, that that’s what Hyrule turned into?” There was an awkward silence and Wild as glad Sky was probably far enough away for his watch he couldn’t hear them.

“Do you remember when we first got to my Hyrule, I mean the first time with you there?” Wind asked, and Wild didn’t see how this related but let the boy continue. “And you were stunned by how much water there was. I mean the look on your face.” Wind joked, but it was stiff and dry. “I was self conscious too. Especially with the Hero of Time there, I loved visiting my home but having Time there always made me nervous. I mean I was already suspecting that he was perhaps part of my timeline. What if he found out his Hyrule, the one he worked so hard to save, was flooded during my quest?”

“That wasn’t your fault-”

“I know.” Wind interrupted Wild, with a small smile that this time seemed genuine. “Still at the time, the way you were all were still talking about how much water there was, how irritating it was to go around on boats all the time, how odd it was that there were so few land masses. It scared me, I thought they all hated what their land had become.” Wild’s eyes widened in surprise. He never even knew…

“But Time knew something was wrong, of course he did. I couldn’t tell him yet, I had to be sure. I didn’t want him to know until I knew for sure, as excited as I was to meet the Hero of Time, I was so scared what he would think of me, of my Hyrule.” Wind’s voice trailed off into a whisper, and wrestled his arm out of his bed roll and placed it on Wind’s shoulder. That’s what he was supposed to do, right? He relaxed when Wind smiled and nodded in thanks.

“What he said, it stuck with me. I told him how I felt, how the others seemed to hate my Hyrule. You know what he said?” Wild knew it was a rhetorical question, still he shook his head. “He said ‘It’s not bad, it’s different.’ I know it's simple, but he’s right. We’re just not used to each other’s Hyrules, that includes you Wild. We’re not used to ruins, or Guardians, or insane lightning storms. But the giant mushrooms you have are amazing.” They weren’t really mushrooms, but it still caused Wild to smile. “And those super tall islands you showed us! And your Rito have an amazing village. You know how I see it?” Wind waited for Wild to tilt his head against his bed roll. “I think our Hyrules just prove that no matter what, we’ll endure. There’s been cataclysms, great floods, calamity, but no matter what, Hyrule finds a way. That’s pretty great, don’t you think?” Huh, Wild had never thought about it in that grand of a way. He knew that the people of Hyrule, all of them, Hylian or no, were strong. But Wind put it into perspective. Wild wondered if Wind knew how good he was. Just… good. A good kid, a good hero, a good person, a good brother. Just genuinely good. Wild didn’t know how to say that, especially without sounding patronizing, so he settled for something else.

“You’re right Wind, thank you.” Wind knew the words were simple, but the emotion behind them got Wild’s point across perfectly. Wind smiled brightly.

“That’s Grandpa Wind to you.” Wild had to muffle his laughter in his bed roll.

~~~

This turned out a lot more fluffy/little angsty I hope that’s alright anon! Thank you for reading all, I hope you enjoyed!

[starr-fall-knight-rise]

HASO, “Connections.”

Hope everyone is having a good day today, and hope you like the story 

“Explain the difference to me one more time, I just want to make sure I understand.”

“Of course, sir you see t-”

“Admiral, I’m sorry to bother you but the Chairwoman just called, and she needs to speak with you.”

Admiral Vir stood from where he had been sitting with one of the crewmen, and tucked a notebook under one arm. “My Apologies corporal, can we continue this at a later time.”

“Of course, sir. I’ll send those resources I was talking about.”

“It would be much appreciated.”

He stepped out into the hallway pausing by Lt. Simon as she stood waiting for him.

“What is this about?”

“They didn't say, apparently it's too classified for me.”

“Uh-huh.”

Simon looked back over her shoulder as the two of them made their way down the hall, “What was that abou?”

“Corporal Isaa is a bit of a chemistry genius, I was just picking his brain.”

Simon frowned, “Since when did you care about chemistry.”

Since my ex girlfriend became an exalted saint of her entire planet leaving me to wonder if I ever even deserved her in the first place, and with an overwhelming desire to be  better person both morally, physically and intellectually  hoping that I might eventually evolve into the kind of man that could ever compare to a woman like her. Even if it never leads to anything because regardless of how I feel, the desire to become better is never a bad thing.

He shrugged, “You can never know too much, Simon.”

She glanced down at her clipboard, “You’ve been very busy the past few days, are you….ok?” She wasn’t really sure if she should be worried. She wasn't exactly good at reading people emotionally. She only really noticed the changes in patterns, and his sudden change to serious intellectual study and going to the gym twice a day struck her as odd.

Adam smiled  little, “Fine, in fact….. Better than I have in a while. Turns out, I like to stay busy, I like having things to do, and with two hours before bed to relax and unwind, it's not like I’m working myself to death.”

She supposed that was true enough. Where once the men's schedule had been as hard to predict as the evolution of the seasons, his new routine was as plotted as a grid carved by a laser. He hadn’t changed all that much, still goofy, still insistent on listening to distracting  music on the ridge, and wearing those annoying shoes with wheels, but all between his visits to different departments and scrawled notes on hard-copy notebooks, he was beginning to collect in large piles in his quarters.

Two visits to the gym every day, once to work out and once for sparring practice with anyone who would take him on was…. Odd.

A little more so the amount of times he had let Cannon kick the shit out of him, which was many, but the man could take a beating without complaint, so she supposed that was to be…. Admiried? 

Pitied?

No

“Is this about, Sunny?”

Admiral vir almost walked himself into a wall stopping just short as he turned to look at her eyebrows furrowed, “Simon?”

“What/”

“I think you’re getting better at reading people.”

He walked past her without answering the question and into the elevator up to the bridge. They stood quietly inside together as they waited, and Admiral Vir left her behind as he stepped onto deck walking over to take the call.

He sat in the captain's chair as the holo projection buzzed to life before him.

“Chairwoman.”

“Admiral.”

“What can I do for you.”

“Are you busy?”

“I don’t have to be, ma’am.”

“Good, good, something has come up, and we need the expertise of your crew.”

He leaned forward in his seat just a bit, “Go on.” 

“You recall the planet we sent you too, the one with proof of ancient alien inhabitants though there was no evidence of them?”

He shivered, “how could I forget.”

“And you say you encountered… something.”

He nodded “I seem to recall your psychological experts rejected my experience out of hand as…. Head trauma, wasn’t it?”

She sighed “yes, well…. There have been some developments, come to light, and we believe that…. That we were wrong. We would like you to meet up with the scientific team we are sending over, and, if you don’t mind, bring an evaluation of your experience from Dr. Adric, we may want to analyse it more. Our Team wishes to study it in more depth, if that would be acceptable.”

He bowed his head, “Yes, Ma’am. I will. Expect us there within the hour.”

“Our team won’t be ready for a few of your hours yet, so that should give you time to get that evaluation for us.”

“Yes, ma’am.”

***

Dr. Adric stared at the Admiral, sitting across from him in his office. Despite him being here for wildly different reasons than were normal, he couldn't help but analyse the man as if he were one of his patients.

He looked good, healthy, rested, and relaxed, which seemed uncommon for the man within the last year. He was also more  reserved than he had been, which could potentially be a sign of emotional exhaustion or simply increasing maturity, but the man’s easy smile and relaxed posture calmed him to that idea, and he sat back in his chair.

“How are you doing?”

Adam smiled again, “Just can’t help yourself, can you doctor,”

“No, afraid not.”

“I’m alright, hope to keep doing better in the future. I think, Like everyone, I still have my days, but they are less and less as the weeks go on.”

“I am very glad to hear that.”

“Did you get the message from the Chairwoman?”

He nodded, “About your experience on RM-46.”

“Yes.”

“What do you remember?”

He held his holopad in front of him and held it up, recording while he took notes.

“I remember feeling like I was being watched, that was a big one, probably more to do with how eerie the planet was than anything. I was on edge, but not afraid. When I fell into the trapdoor, I remember it was dark at first,”

“Did you hit your head?”

“No, but I did get the wind knocked out of me pretty badly.”

“Go on.”

“There were these little red glowing orbs on the wall and they pulsed on and off as I walked. They were everywhere, and they sort of permeated the room around me which grew bigger and bigger and bigger as I walked, until I was in a massive room, it could have housed a stadium inside it, and at the center of the room I saw this….. this …. Thing… It's hard to describe really but…. Not, impossible to describe, like a tree root, but curled into impossible combinations and connections, where it seemed like one should end another would begin, and where you would assume one would go in front of another it went behind, but in ways that seemed impossible. Like… Like an M.C Echer painting where the water flows uphill. Everything about it seemed to defy the laws of nature but not in a way that one could really explain…. And when I saw it I…. I had such an urge to… to touch it. Like i…. It's impossible to describe.  But you know when you've been underwater for too long and you really need to breathe, and you are so desperate for air that you claw your way back to the surface….. It was like that. And so I reached out, and when I touched it it was… warm, and soft like skin. I Didn’t really have long to think about that thought because before I knew it, itw was like I had been knocked away from my body. Ripped out of myself and cast into the universe.”

He raised a hnd to his head rubbing his temples eyes squinted slightly, “Trying to think about it…. Makes my head hurt because…. It was, unfathomable, there was so much of everything extending into infinity, and all of it was trying to fit inside my head at once. I saw things made and unmade and I felt like I was part of the universe. I was being pulled through everything and nothing and…. I.” He closed his eyes, “I’m sorry, it… it almost hurts to think about.”

He took a deep breath,

“And then I felt as if I was going towards something, somewhere specific, and as I approached…. I…. I felt as if I was going home. Not like home to my parents or even my brothers and sisters but… home.” He sighed, “I’m not explaining this very well. But I felt like I was heading back to somewhere I belonged, it felt warm, like if peace was a location, and there was the only place I could find it. It felt like going to somewhere where I would never hurt again, I would never, want anything ever again. And then…..” he rubbed his head again, “And then I can’t describe, it was like I could see…. Like a veil was being lifted from over my eyes and just as I was looking into… whatever it was, the veil slammed down like an iron shutter and I was pulled back…. I…. Have never felt such a sense of loss….”

He reached up a hand and wiped at his eyes, “I can’t even think about it without crying. It hurts so bad, like heartbreak, not metaphorical,but it physically hurts like my chest is being pulled apart. I think about it and I can’t breathe.” He took a deep breath resting his hand against his chest, “It never seems to fade. If I try to think about it too much, I just hurt.”

Dr. Adric reached out a hand and rested it on the other man’s arm, “We can stop.”

He took a deep breath and nodded, “It's just so, strange. Nothing has ever had that kind of effect on me before, and then just to be told it was all from head trauma, well I don’t buy it. But that wasn’t even the weird part.”

“No?”

“No, when I was there… I didn’t feel… alone…. It felt like, as I was carried away, I was wrapped in the arms of…. something …. Like a child, and when they took me away they said that I wasn't’ ready yet. I Could have imagined it I guess, but I swear, it told me that I wasn’t ready yet, and that is when I woke up five miles away from the city before it collapsed.”

They drew into a long silence.”

“I see.”

“Do I sound crazy?”

“No, I have just never seen a reaction like that…. And you say whenever you think about it.”

“I try to think very little about it. The last time I tried in any sort of way I ended up on the floor in the fetal position sobbing like a child and fell asleep there waking up with an absolutely massive headache, so ys, I try to avoid it whenever possible.”

Dr Adric frowned, “I think that is something we should look into.”

It looked as if Adam was about to argue, but then sighed, “Alright after this is over, I promise, we can look into it, but I am almost 100 percent positive, it isn’t just my head. There was something out there…. something …. Something I am supposed to be a part of, but I’m not.”

Adam turned his head to stare out of the room and into space.

***

Deus, that word again.

 He sat at the desk in his room staring at the piles of notebooks before him, and the projected map hanging in the air just off to the side. He spun in his chair to stare at the projections.

Deus…. The latin word for god or deity repeated back to him from the mouths of aliens.

At the projected map before him, the locations where he had heard those words blinked and pulsed slightly as little lines of glowing thread connected them.

First, it had been the infected starborn, and then it had been the Leviathan, and then from the city before the collapse. Why would a latin word make its way into the vocabulary of creatures who had never even heard latin before. Or perhaps this was just some sort of fluke, it was a big universe and some of the sounds that alien made sometimes made human words, it was bound to happen. But the fact that they meant the same thing swas odd.

He wondered if it was some kind of greeting instead, but shook his head thoughtfully, no, they had been talking to him when they said it, directly speaking to him, but that hardly made sense either, last time he checked he wasn’t some great dity of overwhelming power.

He assumed he would have noticed by now.

He tapped his foot lightly against the ground, and off to the side waffles raised her head, wagging her tail slowly across the floor.

“You confused too, girl?”

She whined softly and rested her head back on her paws.

He turned to look back at the map. He was missing something here, a very big piece of something. And he wasn’t entirely sure he wanted to know what.

Of course that wasn’t going to stop him he supposed.

[carewyncromwell]

"Cover my eyes -- cover my ears -- Tell me these words are a lie... It can't be true that I'm losing you -- The sun cannot fall from the sky... Can you hear heaven cry the tears of an angel?”

~“Tears of an Angel,” by RyanDan

x~x~x~x

tw: character death, brief mention of violence 

The Battle of Hogwarts, taking place the night of May 1st 1998 and into the next morning of May 2nd, was a dramatic day in the Wizarding World’s history. It was the day that Lord Voldemort fell at the hands of Harry Potter and the Ministry of Magic successfully seized back control from the Death Eaters that had infiltrated it -- the day that marked the end of the Second Wizarding War and a new beginning for wizards in the United Kingdom. 

It was also a day, however, of immense loss. Although most magical historians (and authors writing books about the infamous Boy Who Lived) tend to gloss over the names and identities of those lost in favor of the grander-scale historical strides achieved by the end of the War, those who actually fought in the Battle -- such as Jacob Cromwell -- never forget that.

Once known as the “delinquent” who pursued Hogwarts’s infamous Cursed Vaults as a student, only to disappear mysteriously for seven years and then reappear looking exactly the same as when he vanished, Jacob worked hard to make a better name for himself. Once his fight against R was finally over, he set about traveling the world and taking on as many areas of study as he could, using his extensive knowledge of Transfiguration, Potions, Charms, the Dark Arts, defensive magic, magical and Muggle history, Legilimency, Muggle science, and both modern and ancient languages to pioneer new magical discoveries. One of his most passionate interests was in applying Muggle chemistry and biology to the fields of Potioneering and Magizoology, and through those advancements, he was able to not only introduce the use of the periodic table to advanced Potions classes and the principles of evolution to advanced Care of Magical Creatures classes, but also help develop a slew of new antidotes for magical creature venoms. Despite this, though, Jacob was enough of a vagabond with no definitive sense of direction that he could be easily persuaded to jump back into Cursebreaking -- the thing that first brought him and his once-boy best friend Duncan together -- and through Cursebreaking, Jacob met Lugh Hopper. @thatravenpuffwitch​​

The Patriarch of the Hopper clan was a very brave and dedicated family man, even despite the tragedy in his life. During the First Wizarding War, he lost not only his wife, but his son and daughter-in-law, so he’s always been quite protective of and nurturing toward his grandchildren Ellie and Jacob Hopper. With this in mind, it’s not entirely surprising that a man with such good paternal instincts and such a fearless spirit took a liking to a reckless, passionate nerd like Jacob Cromwell. They were both Legilimens with a strong devotion to family and a lot of courage, and honestly, Jacob C was just entertaining to go on assignments with, considering he never flinched away from a challenge and would get over-excited about the littlest things. 

Jacob Cromwell had never had a real father figure in his life before, since his father Evan had never been very affectionate or supportive toward either Jacob or Carewyn and ultimately abandoned his family when Jacob received his Hogwarts letter, and so Lugh filled a hole in Jacob Cromwell’s life that he barely even knew had been there before. Lugh validated Jacob’s intense passions and desire to fix people’s problems and make the world better, even after all of the mistakes Jacob had made in his life. The older man wholeheartedly supported Jacob when he put his Cursebreaking assignments on hold to return to Britain, supposedly to “research at home” for a while, but in truth to help his sister Carewyn hide Muggle-born fugitives from the Ministry of Magic. And when both men arrived at Hogwarts on May 1st, they greeted each other with a casual hug, slapping each other’s backs, as if Jacob Cromwell was just as much Lugh’s grandson as Jacob Hopper was.

The two men fought side by side some of the time during the Battle. Both were extremely talented magical Duelists -- Lugh had once worked in the Auror Department alongside Alastor “Mad-Eye” Moody, while Jacob had been a dueling prodigy since he was still at school and had in his travels studied with a Native American wizard about how to fight with two wands simultaneously. Despite this, however, the casualties in the Battle of Hogwarts were very steep indeed -- and sure enough, one of those casualties was Lugh, who only went down thanks to the combined efforts of four Death Eaters. 

When Lugh went down, Jacob Cromwell -- who never was very good at containing his anger -- lost his head completely. He tore into the enemy forces with both of his wands, mercilessly cutting them down with an assortment of both dueling and Dark spells that other members of the Hogwarts army wouldn’t have dared use. He used Transfiguration to fuse one Death Eater to a suit of armor, even if the metal cut painfully through his flesh and bone. He seized one Death Eater’s wand arm with a spell and then dislocated it, twisting it completely the wrong way. He even impaled one of the men who’d cornered Lugh with a chandelier. Jacob was so grief-stricken that he’d gone mad -- and even when the Battle had been paused and there were no more enemy combatants left to fight, no one could get close to him. Most didn’t want to, out of fear of his temper. The only ones brave enough to were Bill Weasley and Jacob Hopper. 

When the eldest Weasley tried to approach first, Jacob Cromwell refused to let him get within three feet of him. Jacob C had always had a lingering, petty resentment of his sister’s best friend, since Bill had sort of “taken Jacob’s place” in Carewyn’s life while he was trapped in the Portrait Vault and also embodied a lot of Jacob’s insecurities about not being good enough of a brother for Carewyn, so he had a lot of trouble accepting any help from him. Jacob Hopper, on the other hand, naturally grieved his grandfather just as much as Jacob Cromwell did -- and although Hopper was a rather arrogant rebel, Jacob Cromwell was one of those too, so the two had found more than a little bit of common ground while working together on assignments with Lugh. And so tall Jacob Hopper was able to get close enough to the shorter, stockier Jacob Cromwell to roughly pull him into a hug without a word -- and the two Jacobs ultimately stood there in the hall together, Jacob Cromwell’s shaking hands holding his wands wrapped around Hopper’s chest as they both gritted their teeth and fiercely tried to contain their grief and tears. All Jacob Cromwell ever said to Jacob Hopper that day was --

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry.”

Most wouldn’t know what he was sorry for, exactly...but Hopper surmised it was indicative of survivor’s guilt, more than anything. 

After the War was over, Jacob Cromwell -- with some encouragement from his sister Carewyn -- finally felt brave enough to ask the Hoppers if he could sing something for Lugh’s funeral, in his honor. Naturally the Hoppers agreed...and when the young vagabond wizard came up to stand in front of the congregation that included his sister and her new ward Erik, his mother, and his best friend Olivia Green, his way-too-long ponytail of dark brown curls better groomed and dressed in nicer high-necked black robes than he’d ever worn in his life, he sung full-voice and bravely, even with tears streaming down his face. 

“Oh, we never know where life will take us --  I know it's just a ride on the wheel -- And we never know when death will shake us, And we wonder how it will feel... So goodbye, my friend --  I know I’ll never see you again, But the time together through all the years Will take away these tears. It's okay now... Goodbye, my friend.”

And for the remainder of Jacob Cromwell’s life, he held Lugh Hopper’s memory as close to his heart as he did Duncan Ashe’s -- this time, as motivation to fight for a world where people like Lugh didn’t have to lay down their lives, just to save others from people like Voldemort and the Death Eaters. 

[lauwrite1225]

Somebody to die for.

Finan x OC; The Old Guard inspired Alternative Universe

Summary : Victoria’s life is rather simple until she has a car accident from which she ends up miraculously unscathed. A series of weird events animates her daily life, everything seemingly bringing her to a strange man. Until this very man knocks at her door.

Spotify Playlist • Masterlist

A/N : Happy Finan Friday dear readers!! So this chapter we have more of Finan and Vicky getting to know each, and god I love them. Anyway! I'm having fun finding song lyrics for my chapters titles, it makes them look ✨cool✨

Warnings : blood and death (again lol)

Chapter 3 : We've opened the door, now it's all coming through

Victoria couldn't help but develop a real fascination for the way she's now so easily healing. Most of the time it's only accidental, she drops a glass and cuts herself when she throws the debris or cooks and burns herself. Each time, any wound has disappeared in a matter of minutes. She's still not used to it, but she realizes it doesn't affect her everyday life at all, in fact, she's even starting to like it and finding it pretty useful. She even contemplates talking about it with Rebecca, there’s no secret between them, and this is definitely a big secret. 

And in matters of secrets, Rebecca doesn’t forget that Victoria didn’t talk about the person who was in her apartment a few days ago. “Are you going to tell me about him?” She asks before bringing her frapuccino to her lips while they are sitting at a Starbucks table. 

“About whom?” Vicky raises an eyebrow, feigning misunderstanding.

Becca rolls her eyes, leaning back in her chair. “The boy that was at your flat.”

“There was no boy.”

“A girl maybe.”

“Neither.” Rebecca narrows her eyes, she’s always been hard to convince. And in all honesty, it will be very hard to convince her that there was no one, because when it comes to Vicky’s love life, she’s tough. “I just have plumbing problems.” She lies, looking down to her own coffee.

“Oh, of course, my bad.”

Her friend doesn’t search further, but Vicky is pretty sure she won’t give up and will ask again and again. When she goes back to her place, she doesn’t expect to find Finan sitting on her staircase. She stops a few stairs below, staring at him with wide surprised eyes, waiting for him to raise his nose from the book he is reading.

“The hell are you doing here?” She finally asks, upset by his lack of reaction.

He looks up to her and smiles, pointing at a small plastic bag next to him. “I came to return ya the sweater.”

Vicky frowns, climbing the last stairs to unlock her door while he is closing his book and standing up. “You know, it was my ex’s, I didn’t particularly want to see it back.”

She can feel Finan behind her, looking down to her. “Ya got a point.” 

She watches him for a brief moment above her shoulder. This time his beard is shorter, which undeniably suits him in her opinion, even if she never had a particular thing for bearded men before. Her ex couldn’t grow a single hair on his chin. “Have you been waiting here for long?”

“Two hours.”

“Creepy.” She replies, opening the door. “Do you want something to drink?” 

“If ya’re proposing.” He shrugs. 

Once again, they were both standing in her flat, though this time she hopes Finan wouldn’t end up dead on her parquet. She comes back from the kitchen with two glasses of water, handing one to Finan before leaning against the table. 

“So…” She begins, determined to know more about the strangest man she has ever met in her life. “I guess you're not living in London, right?” 

He takes a long sip of water before shaking his head. “No, in a small house lost in Ireland.” 

“Alone?” She asks curiously.

“Yes.” He answers after a pause. “Believe it or not, but I try to not make myself too known.” He says slowly, agitating the water in his glass by moving his hand in small circles, his gaze fixed on it.

Vicky tilts her head. “Because of the theorists?”

“In part.” He looks up to her for a brief instant, his deep brown eyes meeting hers. “Before the Second World War, I could live in some place for ten or fifteen years then just move away.” Then he sighs, almost nostalgically. “Now, it’s more complicated, with all the technology.” He meets her gaze again, but this time it’s more intense and severe, making her feel nervous. “No one must know about it.” 

“It’s hardly something I can hide.” Vicky replies, trying to keep the atmosphere light, but she can already feel the unpleasant outcome of this conversation. 

Finan is silent for a long moment, walking to the table to rest his empty glass on it. He’s now close enough for her to have to raise her chin to stare at him, but he avoids her eyes. “That’s why ya’ll have to leave too.”

“What?!” She gasps. “No! I have my family, my friends…”

“Ya don’t understand.” He cuts her off and meets her eyes. “Your family, your friends, everyone is goin’ to grow old and suffer and ya…” He pauses to take a deep breath. “Ya’ll still be yourself and won’t be able to do anythin’ for them.”

Victoria is breathless, both because of what he has just told her and because of how she can read in his eyes that he knows what he is talking about. Though, letting everything behind, all her life, doesn’t sound like an option to her. She straightens, as if she could tower him, but she’s still a head smaller. 

“And where would you want me to go? I’ve not been living on my own for a century, if I disappear, it won’t go unnoticed.” She replies, her arms tightly crossed over her chest.

Finan sighs. “Listen Victoria, maybe ya're family is wonderful and will accept it. But nowadays, one person knowin', and it's potentially the whole word who would know.”

Victoria frowns, understanding the warning behind. “Do you think people could want us bad if they knew?” 

“It wouldn't be the first time.”

She bites her lips, her teeth sinking into the tender flesh as she looks down to her glass. She has to admit it, if the knowledge of their existence ever fell into the wrong hands she doubts scientists, politicians or whoever could find interest in their abilities would let them live freely. It feels so surreal, she’s always lived a rather simple life, not that she’s ever complained about it, but since she let Finan step into her apartment a week ago everything has been shaken out. 

“Ya still have time.” He adds, his hand resting on her shoulder in a gentle way.

Victoria nods. “Are you going to stay around? Or go back to Ireland?”

Finan hesitates, his palm leaving her shoulder to rub his face. “I don’t know yet.”

“Well…” She says and he stops scratching his beard. “I still have a lot of questions. So if you could stay around for a short while.”

Vicky is surprised by how endearing she finds the smile that grows on Finan’s face, small wrinkles appearing in the corner of his eyes. “If ya want me too.”

And so, Finan remains in London, spending his time in the mediocre hotel, of what Vicky has seen on TripAdvisor, that he is renting. The rest of the time he is with her in her apartment, answering every of her questions. She enjoys learning about his life, usually over a beer, and it seems Finan does as well. In the course of a few days she learns that he was born in Ireland sometime during the ninth century and that he left for England where he fought for a saxon lord, during Alfred the Great's time. He’s easily the most interesting man she’s ever met. But he also has the talent to make every story more interesting than any of her history teachers ever succeeded. He describes each battle he took part of with so many details Vicky wonders how he can remember everything. 

“Fightin’ was the only thin’ I was good at, so I kept doin’ that.” He says after she has asked why he devoted his life to fighting.

Vicky uncaps a new bottle of beer and sits next to him on her sofa. “But you don’t fight anymore.”

“Nah…” His eyes darken in the same way as when he remembers a sadder part of his life, which Victoria is getting used to having only brief explanations of. “After the Second World War, I felt like I needed some peace.”

“I can understand.” When she was small, she remembers her grandmother talking of how the war changed her father from a lively and smiling man to a silent and constantly gloomy one. Finan had fought in more wars than she can count and to know that this one has signed the end of his warriors life reminds her of how it was a war like no other.

But her time with Finan isn’t only about morbid battles, the warrior had his share of travels. When he’s talking of them, it doesn’t sound like the world she knows. He describes places still untouched by the desire of humanity to build its own tower of Babel.

“Have you been to America? After Christopher Colombus discovered it.” She asks curiously another day.

Finan chuckles. “Nah, I’ve never liked the sea. So crossin’ a whole ocean for some lands...” 

“Some lands? It’s like one of the greatests discoveries in history!” She answers feigning offense, her hand pressed to her chest. “You’ve never been curious about all the gold you could have found there?” She leans back on the couch, bringing her bottle to her mouth. “Maybe you’d have been rich.”

“Pity.” He smirks, being rich clearly being the least of his ambitions. 

Besides their discussions about Finan’s life they also have normal conversation. She lends him books from the shop, crossing her fingers that no one would notice some of the books are disappearing for a few days. The second time she does that, she adds a phone to the small pile of books she hands him. Finan frowns at it and then at her. He slides the books in his bag before studying the cell phone. It’s the simplest and cheapest she has found, just a screen and a keyboard, it only cost her 10£.

“Why are ya givin’ me that?” He mutters, doubtful. Vicky finds it amusing, despite having lived through all the evolution of modern technologies, Finan seems to be as comfortable with it as her with administrative paperwork.

“Well...” She starts, putting the groceries she just bought in her refrigerator. “I just thought it would be easier for me to send you a text when I’ve finished work. Not that it bothers me that you wait for me in the staircase, but I doubt it is comfortable.”

“I was getting used to it. I haven’t bein’ waitin’ in front of a Lady’s door for ages.”

Vicky looks at him from above her shoulder and can’t help the redness rising in her cheeks when he grins amusingly. She immediately looks in front of her again when his gaze travels from the phone to her. “I doubt I correspond to your definition of a Lady.” 

“I’ve got a very broad definition.” She could hear his smirk as he speaks, the one that she has started to notice being so characteristic for him and all she can do is to answer with an awkward giggle.

When she’s done, she turns around and crosses her arms against the counter, Finan standing at the other side. “Have you… Have you had many relationships since you first died? I mean, serious ones.” She’s almost certain he won’t answer this question, but living eternally without anyone to love has been scaring her for a few days.

“One.” He answers surprisingly fast. “It didn’t end well.”

Victoria nods slowly, his answer being enough and understanding it isn’t a subject he wants to dwell on. Apart from the arrival of Finan, her life doesn’t change at all. She keeps working at the bookshop, drawing in her sketchbook when there are no customers. Vicky has always loved to draw, a passion she has inherited from her mother. Sometimes, she wishes she had the guts to apply to art school after high school instead of getting herself into business studies that she grew to dislike. When Finan asks her why she didn’t follow her dream, she answers that did it to stay with Rebecca. Her best friend has always been better than her when it came to school, and her parents always felt the need to compare them. Doing the same studies as her was more to prove to her parents she could do it too. At the end it has been an absolute failure, Vicky giving up her studies and finding a job in the bookshop.

One day, she has a call from her mother while she walks back to her flat. 

“Do you think Rebecca would still like to join us for dinner one night?” Vicky’s mother asks through the phone. 

“Sure, especially if you make her lasagna.” She smiles.

Her mother laughs. “Rebecca loves beef stew.”

“True, but I crave for lasagna.” Vicky justifies herself, the simple idea of her favorite food creating a hole in her stomach.

“Alright sweetheart. This weekend then?”

“Great! I’ll tell her.”

When she hangs up, her attention on her phone, she doesn’t realise she’s walking into someone until two strong hands grip her shoulders to stop her. She jumps and looks up in surprise, about to step back until she recognizes the man with sunglasses and a hoodie as Finan, whom she texted earlier when she walked out of the bookshop.

“Watch out, lass.” He warns, smiling anyway.

“Sorry, I was texting Rebecca.” She explains, easing under his grip. He removes his hands, his fingers lightly grazing her arms. They walk together to her flat together, Finan silently following her while she finishes her text. When they reach the building and climb up the stairs she finally starts to talk to him. “I won’t be here on Saturday.”

“Oh?”

“Family dinner.” She unlocks the door and Finan answers with a low hum. 

Their evening goes as usual except that this time, Victoria proposes to him to stay for the night. 

“I mean it’s late, and it’s raining. I would be a really bad friend if I kicked you out.” She says, waving her hands while he stares at her with a raised eyebrow.

“So we’re friends now?” He grins, leaning over the table. 

Victoria looks away. “I still consider you the creepiest man I’ve ever met. But if you’re the only person I’ll have to support for eternity, I guess I’d better consider you as a friend.”

When she finally dares to look at him, he has the broadest smirk pulling at his lips and she has to admit it, he really is handsome, with his dark, however sparking, eyes. “Friends we’re, then.”

After she has prepared the couch for Finan to sleep, she joins her bed. As usual, since she had her accident, Victoria struggles to find sleep, and knowing that Finan is sleeping in her living room isn’t helping. Not that she fears him, but she can’t help but overthink about her reaction around him. It’s been a while since she’s found a man truly attractive, not only physically, but his whole being. And in all honesty, with how awkward their meeting has been, it definitely is not a feeling she expected.

She finally falls asleep listening to a Florence + the machines playlist. But much to her dismay, her sleep isn’t peaceful. Since she has met Finan, the dreams have seemed to disappear, but tonight is different. Victoria is back in the forest where the Irishman died, she can even see him from the corner of her eyes, but her attention is mostly focused on the young blond man she has drawn. He is fighting as well, until he is hit by a shield. He stumbles, falling on the floor and catching his breath after the rough impact. And Vicky can feel his fear when a Dane, of what Finan told her of this night, slices his throat in a sharp blow. The young man chokes in his own blood and she shakes in horror as she can feel the life leaving his body as she did with Finan. 

A/N: Ehehe So what do ya'll thing this dream means 👀 ?

Also, for the great fans of TOG that would read that, I am taking liberties regarding how dreams works during all this fic, I haven't read the comics, only seen the movie and to transcribe such thing is kinda hard. I hope yall won't mind and appreciate how work with them 🤷

Tag :​ @for-bebbanburg ​ @naps4bats ​ @osferth ​ @maggiescarborough ​ @finansarms ​ @dumbledoreisnotmyhubby

[manjuhitorie]

tat - Shinoda’s Hitori-Atelier blog posts - REAMP Digest volume 4

Shinoda’s blog post via Hitori-Atelier! Please consider joining Hitori-Atelier and supporting Hitorie’s ventures today. How-to here: https://boatmanju.wixsite.com/hitorietranslations/hitorie-atelier 

It’s already been 3 months since REAMP was released, time really flies.

In that short bit of time we’ve already planned a tour ahead of us, and were given the opportunity to do the opening for the anime ‘86′. Let’s fucking go~~~~~ Is everyone faring well? I've recently rekindled my passion for sampling, I haven't felt like this in years. I'm taking free samples I find strewn across the internet and turning them into techno. I kinda remember mentioning my appreciation for techno in vol. 1 of this blog series, and yeah. I'm finally trying it out for myself. I've managed to make a pretty sick song if I do say so myself. You'll find it on Hitori-Atelier soon enough. (＊This is most likely the song titled 'mad candy', found in 'Shinoda's Contents') It's fun 'cause compared to vocal stuff, I use a whole different part of my brain to make techno. I say "This part of this sample has a good beat to it, I bet if I rearranged it like this it would make music~" and do it. Relatively speaking, this kinda music making matches my personality type really well. I feel like I've found a fucking good hobby for myself here. With that said, even though it’s a hobby, work is still work so the collateral damage of music-making is still vividly affecting my body. Like music is still music, and with the way I tunnel vision I'll end up at my desk for an obscene amount of hours. By the time I'm done with it physically and mentally I'm a wreck. Like the fuck do I mean by hobby, is this some kinda shitty joke Shinoda? Anyway let's talk about 'tat'. The question as to what the title means comes first. Initially I wanted to name this song "刺青(meaning tattoo)". Because the song ‘Perfume’ by ‘Eito’ (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9MjAJSoaoSo) was a huge hit at that time so yeah.. But that idea failed ygarshy's inspection so I had no choice but to look around for a word similar to tattoo.

That was when I found photos of tattoos on Instagram with the hashtag #tat. This is it, I said. As a slang tat can mean many other things as well but I forget what they were. I'm sure you can find out if you look it up but, take note that none of it has much to do with the song itself. I considered '#tat' for the title as well, but it was too lame so I pulled back. This song was written when the album was almost finished and most songs ready: I reviewed the album as whole and felt that something was missing. I had wanted something with now tat’s tempo and mood to it to tie the album together. It turned out really well, if I may say so myself. Isn't it a great song though? I feel like all my efforts were worthwhile... It's fun to let the creative juices flow and write with whatever comes to mind. I tried to make the amount of guitar notes concise and solid. The tone was supposed to be graceful too but... ygarshy swooped in with a kick and his bass so heavy it sounds like he's blasting music from a little motorcycle. The melody too has the same makings as the hits these days. It’s about someone of the opposite sex with a bold tattoo who’s stuck in days of ennui, and me who’s gazing from afar wondering what these feelings inside me are. It’s about that sorta thing (?) - I think I managed to express it (????) The beat isn’t made to be far off from modern tuning either. I’m sure I could’ve harmonized it even better but, at the time I found good reason to make it more rock band-y, so I have no regrets. I only wish I made the song name something easier to find via search. It’s so hard to find the people talking about it... Starting with a verse and closing a song with that same verse is great, ain’t it. I’ve always liked songs with a bit of a whacky structure to them, Like November in HOWLS, it goes from verse 2 back to verse 1 then into the instrumental break. If you think it’s just any old number then prepare to be sorely mistaken - Or, that kind of fetishy stuff is important for music if you ask me. I received a fair lot of praise from people in the song-writing industry about tat, I’m happy. Though I’m not sure about the lyrics. Someone from our workplace told me that “Mushy gushy heart-wrenching lyrics would fit well”, so I sought out to do exactly that. The only problem is that my expression of mushy gushy made that person from work go “????” so making people’s heart clench is hard shit. This doesn’t leave here okay.. My dismay over the discontinuation of Chikyuu Monogatari is vented in here a bit as well. Though I don’t think Chikyuu Monogatari is boring. Not really. I saw a few people say that ‘tat’ is like the evolution of cakebox. And it makes sense to me now that y’all say it. cakebox was my solo project I did back in my mid-20’s. I made 3 mini pieces with 7 tracks and 1 EP with 4 tracks before stopping. I’m sure only like 10 people in the whole world ever listened to it. If you look it up you can still get it to listen too. Like an offering of random ass songs to my dead school life, I had a phase between my late teens and my early 20’s wherein I was obsessed with making songs using just my voice and guitar. The question of direction was beyond my consideration, I just sorta let the creative juices flow back then too and promptly set pen to paper. That was my creative process cycle. It was kinda like a diary. There’s barely any proper complete songs. The reason being that I completely lacked the skill necessary to make them proper. My guitar was alright but my singing wasn’t up to par, no one ever praised my voice at all. So I resolved that I just wasn’t cut out for it and strove to be a lead guitarist. Instead of my own songs I chose to go do band stuff, thus devoted myself to guitar.   Yet still my desire to make something proper stuck with me, and so soon after that I started a band in which I did guitar and vocals. we mashed stuff together and made song proper. Alas. Between creative differences and my own lack of ability, we were barely able to make something that I was proud of. After shit happened I ended up at home immersed in making my own songs. “Surely I could put all my experiences in bands and my own growth to good use, to turn my backlog of WIPs into something proper as well?” I thought to myself, and thus was the beginning of cakebox. I think that was the first time I ever got involved in making my own music through my own power. But my way of intense creation was too innocent for listeners or something, or like I wasn’t conscious enough of my headfirst personality... So I didn’t even have the sense to match the tuning up with modernity, and ultimately my work wasn’t clicking with society’s needs. That reality was crushing me more and more with every piece I made. I didn’t have absolute confidence in myself or conviction to push through either. After 3 albums the feeling of “Why am I even doing this” grew, and I found more purpose in Hitorie instead. From then on I devoted myself to Hitorie. These past few years in Hitorie have been nothing but learning experiences for me. After years of the four of us together stressing over what makes good music, I think my own work has leveled up as well. One thing I learned that has especially stuck with me, even now, is leader’s unwavering stance on “Believing that I’m just no matter what”.   For someone with my relative dispositions it’s a nigh impossible stance, and at often times I felt it was egoistic of him but... It’s what led him to create such powerful music, and it’s something we depended on greatly. The other day I gave Unhappy Refrain a full listen for the first time in a while. It’s perfect in every way, what the hell. Vocaloid as a genre was still establishing itself back then, and without a doubt this album served as a monument for the cause. The same way ‘my bloody valentine’’s ‘loveless’ was the cherry on top for the shoegazer genre. It’s made an immovable unsurpassable mark on music history. I really was in a band with a crazy person. To think that when I was in a band with him I more saw myself as the crazy amazing one. What the fuck was up my ass. I understand why felt the need for a band after making this album - why he brought us together - even more now. The obscene amount of notes in that album with a tone reeking of rock band stuff... It’s really flooded with his innocent yearning for rock music. I think the troubles he faced following Unhappy Refrain were the repercussions of him making such a huge monumental piece. But his stout core belief in himself - that he’s just - has stood equally as tall as that monument all the way. Now, after so many twists of fate.. I never thought I’d be writing AND singing my own songs for Hitorie like this. Except, one difference between the me of now VS. the me of old is that I don’t feel even a smidgen of unconfidence. I’m not worrying that I “don’t stand out” or “don’t suit societies needs” anymore. I feel like ‘tat’ might be the best song in the album (sorry ygarshy and Yumao). To the point that when people praise it I merely agree with them, “No lies detected” I say.

It’s all thanks to my time spent with Hitorie, the musical knowledge we sharpened, and the fact that my bandmates’ amazing performances have my back. If I don’t have something as big as this supporting me then I’ll just be a fucking chicken with no confidence in my music, after all. With that said, Music made by you yourself is an irreplaceable treasure, “If you made something good, then be proud”: this lesson of mindset was taught to me by Leader. It’s a really life-changing way to be so... If I mimic Leader at least this lil’ bit no one would make a bad face at me, right? What do y’all think? With that that said, the actual most pure thing that’s naturally come out of my head in years, with my actttual emotions stuffed in, is... The actttttual best song is “Utsutsu” if you ask me so. Look forward to the next entry of this blog series, y’hear me. Shinoda

[smolcobie]

Just Work | Kim Mingyu

Summary: After a virus threatens the existence of the human race, you’re forced to work with the mysterious and famous agent black, Mingyu, to save the world. Your biggest philosophy’s that nothing is above your job, but the relationship that arises between you makes you wonder: Is this just work? 

Word Count: 9.1k (it’s worth it, I promise you.)

Warnings and genre: Mingyu SecretAgent!au | violence | suggestive | heavy making out | romance | Potential end of the world.

Feats: Vernon, Woozi, Minghao, Wonwoo, Jun and Seungcheol.

AGENT LIZ, RED CODE.

The message shines in your eyes making you stop your training kicks and punches. After 30 seconds the message faded away, making you sigh. "Another mission, Y/N..." Although you were working for more than 4 years in the MI6 Agency, you still weren't familiarized with this high-quality technology.

You were recruited by accident, you always wanted to be a Cop but it happened that your IQ was way above the average, so MI6 contacted you and trained you until you became one of their best agents.

Your whole physique shivered when you read the last sentence. RED CODE.

There were only 2 times a RED CODE existed, and it was during a terrorist attack and today, so you knew that it was more than a serious matter. It was deadly serious.

You take off your gloves leaving the training room, walking to the central. You don't care about the little drops of sweat on your forehead since it's an emergency. As soon you enter the central you notice the heavy mood-setting there when you analyze the faces of your boss and few colleagues.

"Liz, arrived early today." Agent Wonwoo smiled at you "I was already in the building spending my time in training, different from you that only cares about fooling around." Your ironic tone makes him laugh "Affectionate like always." He finishes your little conversation sitting in his chair.

Wonwoo was one of those agents that only work in this world of violence for fun and spends all his salary on girls and parties. He was a good agent, good looking, always resolves every case before the normal amount of time. He was a good weapon for the company, but everyone knew that the secret weapon was agent black. The one that only a few people got the honor to meet, and you can't help but wonder if he would appear now since it's a red code;

"Agent Lizard, thank you for joining us." Your boss (and legend) Mr.s Jack starts the reunion "Agents, it's the knowledge of you all that today we had a red code. It's been 19 years since we had one and honestly, I'm truly worried." It's the first time you heard something like this from your boss's mouth.

"We have 5 days, 120 hours to save the world from an unknown virus that could disintegrate most of the human race." "What?" Your voice cracks at the end of your sentence.

"We received the information about this mysterious virus called 1XJ. He's modified to adjust inside the body of the host modifying his nature for better results in strength, velocity, and sight. But if the body of the host rejects the virus it can kill a person in less than 24 hours." "How you got the information?" Agent Joshua asks and Mrs. Jack plays a video in front of our eyes "We received this video 10 minutes ago from an unknown source, it disappeared but our IT agents got a copy."

The video starts with a black background and a person with a white mask starts to speak with a robotic voice.

"In 5 days the humanity will face their evolution, only a few chosen humans will continue our procreation. The world will change forever, where the strong ones will build a new paradise and the weak are going to die. If you want to join our cause, prepare yourselves to the final condemnation."

And the video stops. It was offensive to the eye watching such a psychopath thinking he could play with all humanity like some kind of god.

"We are going to send all of you in different missions to solve this problem. Agents this is the future of humanity, don't forget that." She says and you feel sad for a moment "You're all dismissed."

Everyone gets up while Mrs. Jack calls you "Agent Lizard, come to my office."

You follow her feeling anxious for some reason that you couldn't comprehend.

You both enter the spacious white room as she closes the door sitting in front of you resting her hands in the glass table.

"Agent Liz, I need to speak with you."

"Say it, boss." You sit and she sighs.

"I have a special mission for you." "What is it?" She places a confidential document in the table "Read it."

You open the document feeling confused.

"I don't understand, these are dates and mission notes from another agent."

"It's from our agent Vernon, he's wanted all around the world for betrayal." "Why?" "He actually had a mission to verify a mysterious lab from China but he never came back, and another source said he was alive working on some virus and then we received that video."

You are speechless. "You believe the guy in that video is him?" "I don't think is him in the video, but we have our suspicions since he worked in the IT section, but we can't affirm that so that's why I want you to investigate this."

You feel a heavyweight in your shoulders "Why me? You could call Wonwoo." "Unfortunately, he's very known out there, but you're our chameleon no one knows you."

You sigh "It's too dangerous for me to go alone, this is the potential end of the world." Your boss smiles "You're not going alone, I'm scaling someone who can work with you in this special mission."

"Who?" "Agent Black."

A shiver runs down your spine.

"Are you serious? The famous agent black?" "Yes, he already comprehends the situation and you both will start tomorrow."

"I guess I can't say no, right?" "Unless you're not worried about the future of humanity." You take the document and sighs "I accept this mission." "Good to work with you agent, you'll meet Agent Black in our secret district in China in a few hours. A plane is waiting for you outside."

"What about my equipment?" "It's already in your plane. Just go now, you have a long day ahead." "Thank you, boss." "Liz, one more thing" you gulp watching her over your shoulders "Yes?" "Don't fail."

And the rest of the air you had left your mouth.

72 HOURS, 3 DAYS BEFORE THE END OF THE WORLD

After a few hours of travel, you arrived at the section in China. You spent hours reading the file over and over again trying to find any gap but you still couldn't understand why Vernon would do something like this.

"Welcome agent Liz in our district, you'll meet agent black soon. Follow us please." "Thank you." You feel a bit nervous about getting to know the famous agent a lot of people in the agency used to talk about.

You only heard rumors about how he works. No one ever got him in a camera, the rumors say he has a unique beauty, a velvet voice that could break the chief of mafia and make him confess their crimes, sweet eyes that hypnotize anyone and lips that could kill without any remorse.

He was powerful but only a few lucky people got to know him, and now one of them is you.

After following the man you entered the secret place built under the floor, he leads you to a big grey room with a big round table and white. "Wait here, the Agent black will arrive soon." The man said bowing making you sit thinking about everything.

"The world ending in 4 days... I can't believe this." You sighed but your attention got stolen from the new presence walking through the door "Hello agent Liz, I'm Agent Black." Your heart made a small clench at the sight of the handsome tall man. "It's my honor, agent." He approached you shaking your hand.

He was... very handsome. Tall, his voice was deeper than you expected but he kinda looked like he was tired. He was dressed formally and you felt a bit envy recognizing the classy clothes from prestigious brands while the clothes you bought were from the incredible sale Target made.

"So you're gonna be my partner? I'm surprised." He smirked sitting in front of you "I don't understand, agent." You eyed him confused "They never send women to work with me" He laughed "It's complicated because they always fall in love with me and compromise the case." You laugh through your nose "Well you don't have to worry about that agent, you're not my type."

You smirk feeling proud of such a lie.

He was totally your type, but being a secret agent means that a normal relationship is not something you would achieve easily. You could die and make the person dangerous any time while working, so you never stopped to think about things like that.

The man in front of you smiled and you looked down to your own file siding it to him so he could take a look. "We're going to start looking for this agent." He viewed the papers furrowing his brows "They think Vernon is behind all of this?" "Yes." "I don't think so." He sighed "It's so obvious, he went missing and people think he's a traitor. It's so classical, I've seen this before."

He said and you smiled "I'm happy I wasn't crazy for thinking this was so weird. I met him, he could never work for something like this, he was the kind of agent that preferred to be working in his computers inside the building instead of going to the field."

Mingyu laughed "He was a good man then." "He isn't dead yet, let's find him first." You got up and he stared at you smirking "You said exactly my thoughts." You sighed "You have any idea where to start looking for him?" "Yes, I have a special contact here in China. Just follow me." "Where are we going?" He got up adjusting his suit "We're going to the center of Hong Kong."

*

"So where are you from?" He asked you breaking the silence while you stopped at the red light during the traffic "I thought secret agents couldn't talk about personal things." The man beside you smirked "Ah... I can see now, you're one of these agents." You turned angrily "What's that supposed to mean?" He laughed.

"You're one of those who don't actually live, just exist for this job." You scoffed "And you don't?" He looked at you briefly before starting the car "I'll let you discover for yourself why I'm the best agent here." He smirked and you rolled your eyes.

You stayed in silence during the rest of the drive. "It's here." You arrived at the place going out of the car walking into a small building that looked abandoned. He jumped the metal fence adorning the place and you followed him.

He stopped in front of a metal door knocking 3 times before a funny guy opened just a small gap asking "What's the password?" "Redbird." The boy widened his eyes opening the door quickly "Come on in, fast." You walked in fast and he closed the door locking everything.

"Mingyu, are you sure it's redbird?" You looked at the agent widening his eyes "Yes Minghao, I'm sure and you just exposed myself." The boy looked at you smiling embarrassedly "Sorry man, I was so shocked." You laughed "Nice name, agent." You grinned "Now you tell me yours." You smirked "If I told you my name, I would have to kill after." He laughed and turned to the boy in front of you.

"Minghao, we need your help. We're looking for a missing agent." The boy put some glasses and walked to his computer. The building was totally different inside, it was way more technological. "Tell me where he was working." "He was uncovered in Tai Wai." You said and got a closer look "Do you know the last place he was seen after he went missing?"

"Mei Tin road." "Okay give me some minutes." The boy that tapped fast on the keyboard impressing you with his ability, he was even better than the people that worked in the MI6.

"He's great right?" Mingyu approached you whispering in your ear sending shivers down your arms "Yes, he's even better than the people in our agency." You whispered back not looking into his eyes "How you met him?" "I saved him." He simply said and you turned to him that was smiling weakly.

"He went missing, the police archived the case and I found him after working in a case about the most wanted drug dealer in Hong Kong." You looked at him impressed "They kidnapped him, and were using his hacker's abilities to send drugs over all China." He sighed "I found the location and arrested the dealer and his men, but Minghao was already presumed dead so I helped him start over here working for me personally. I pay him and everything."

"And isn't it dangerous for him to be here alone?" The man just smirked "He's totally safe here, he's protected by at least 10 secret agents and he's very good in Kung Fu, so he's way better than us." You smiled "I'm happy he's safe here." "Me too, he's like a small brother for me."

To say you were shocked was an understatement, you never thought the great and famous Agent Black was this affectionate towards people.

"Guys I think I found it." Minghao said capturing your attention "Is this the man?" You looked at the images of one small security camera got "Yes..." Vernon was kidnapped just like you expected "I knew something was wrong." You said "It's been 1 month and 2 weeks, he could be dead by now." Minghao sighed and Mingyu smirked "He isn't dead."

"How do you know it?" "I know who captured him, I recognize this van right here." He pointed at the screen and you sighed "So let's go find him now." "Calm down, it's not what you're thinking." He grabbed your arm "Minghao search any formal parties from Wen Junhui." The boy obeyed smiling "You're lucky, he's holding a party tonight." Mingyu smiled at you "I hope you have a nice dress because we're going to a party tonight."

"I can't believe I have to do makeup in a situation of red code." You sighed adjusting your eyelashes "It's the needs of our profession." Mingyu tried to tight his tie "Argh, it's so hard." You looked at him laughing "So the famous Agent Black doesn't even know how to fold a tie." You approach him helping him. You swear you could almost see a small blush in his face "Thank you." He said looking away "Let's go?"

"Yes." You sigh and follow him.

"Minghao thank you for everything." You say bowing to the boy that smiles "It's nothing, it was my pleasure." "Let's go sweet, today you're going to be my girlfriend." Mingyu smirks making you blush slightly "Shut up, let's go." "Bye bro, see you." Mingyu ruffles Minghao's hair and grabs your arm.

You enter the car feeling weird, this mission was nothing like you had imagined.

"How do you know the man that captured Vernon?" You ask putting your seat belt "I'm close to him. In China he's a famous mogul, it's hard to not know Wen Junhui." You eyed him suspiciously "How are you close to the man that literally kidnapped our agent?" "Because he's an agent too, his favorite thing is to capture other agents to work for him for some time." He sighs "He's such a jerk."

"Why don't you arrest him?" He looked at you laughing "Well if you want to be killed or wanted by all agents of China you can do it." Your jaw dropped "Are you telling me that..." "Yes, he's the boss of the secret agency CHN, the official agency of China." "I can't believe this." You sighed in disbelief

"But the thing with Jun, is that he doesn't kill the agents he captures, he just uses them for his purposes." "You think he's the one that wants to kill humanity?" Mingyu laughs at you "Definitely no, if you want to get to know Jun you need to understand 2 things."

"What is it?" "He loves to party and he never misses the opportunity to meet new beautiful agents" He looked at you "Like you." A blush creeps out from your neck to your cheeks, you tried to hide but Mingyu noticed smiling "You're cute." He blurts out and you look at him hitting his shoulder "Ouch! That hurts!"

"Stop joking around we need to focus on our job." He laughs "Okay, madame." You looked at the huge mansion you parked nearby "We just arrived, lady." Mingyu said going out of his car and you felt nervous.

All those years of training and yet you couldn't feel prepared to act like you're his girlfriend.

"Just to you know, Jun will definitely try to impress you with something, but you're my girlfriend for now and we can't let him know about that." He says crossing arms with you "Okay."

You both enter the jaw-dropping place. The lobby was decorated with fine gold fabrics, a huge crystal chandelier in the center, live music and lots of food. People had a unique formality, they were rich people indeed.

"This is so far from my reality." The man next to you laughs "I knew if I told you Jun makes parties like this every week you'd be shocked." Beautiful women around looking at Mingyu was something you expected to see but not so blatant like they were doing. The women there were practically eating him with their eyes.

"Kim Mingyu, what a surprise." A nice man approaches greeting you both and eyeing you from your head to toe "Jun, partying as always." Mingyu smirked quickly "And who's this beautiful lady?" Jun smiles at you "I'm Liz," "My girlfriend." He completed the sentence before you and Jun smiled.

You definitely were surprised at how young and handsome he was.

"I'm impressed at you Mingyu, I didn't expect such a goddess would actually put up with you and your hassles." Mingyu's expression hardened as he slid his arms to grip in your waist "He's not that bad." You smiled softly and Jun snorted "This is good, I hope you enjoy my party. You'll be always welcomed here miss Liz, even when you break up with him."

He smiled and turned around walking out of your presence. Mingyu's hands were red with the force his fists made to stay in place. "It's okay, let's go Mingyu." You said softly his name and he liked being called by his real name for the first time.

"So now that he's gone, let's have some look around here." You said and he agreed "Don't go too far." Mingyu said in your ear making you nervous breaking the touch he had over your waist.

You decided to walk around after picking up some champagne looking around. You noticed quickly that there were a lot of security guards but specifically around this dark corner where people didn't get close. The ceiling had no cameras so you smiled to yourself already making a plan in your head when your thoughts were stopped by Jun.

"Miss Liz, already alone? As I expected Mingyu doesn't know how to value good women." He smiled and you sighed "Mrs. Jun, I'm just looking around since I'm fascinated by this incredible mansion." The man slid a hand through his black hair smirking "Are you into architecture?"

"Just a bit." You smiled and he touched your cheek slightly "I'm sure you would love the architecture around my room." You gently took his hand off "Mrs. Jun I don't think you understood the part that I'm compromised with Mingyu." He grinned "You don't need to pretend with me, any woman wouldn't date him knowing who he is truly... unless" He eyed you suspiciously "Unless?" He approached you smiling "Unless you know who he truly is in real life."

You smirked "Maybe I'm special." The man approached your face "So you know about his failed mission 127." You widened your eyes and Jun snorted "Oh, so you don't know about that..." "What are you talking about?" He looked at you drinking his champagne "Miss Liz I see that you really care about him, so I'll let you discover by yourself." He kissed the top of your hand and walked out again.

You felt nervous but Mingyu pulled you close "You okay?" He looked at you with a caring look and you just sighed "Yeah, just tired of Jun." He smiled and took your hand.

The music was slow so the man looked down at you "Wanna dance?" "It's not time for us to dance." You scoffed feeling nervous because, to be honest, you didn't know how to dance that well "Don't be nervous, we'll dance to take a look at the place" He pulled you close by your waist "Okay."

You looked away putting your hands in his shoulders whilst he looked behind you "You noticed that dark corner right?" "Yeah, there are no cameras either." He smiled "That's great." "I think we should make a plan." He suddenly grabbed your leg bowing your body "I have the perfect plan" his breath fanned your face and your hands slide around his neck "Tell me" he pulled you up "You're going there and try to distract the security, I'll knock them over." He whispered in your ear and you nodded "Okay, let's go."

You approached the corner as if you were looking for the bathroom, you searched briefly the lobby and saw no sign that you were being followed. The corner was dark enough to see, so you walked as if you were lost but quickly took the chance to evaluate the place. There was only 1 door at the end of the small dark corridor, and no cameras.

As you approached the door a voice caught your attention "Miss, you're not allowed here, this is private." A tall man with a black suit stared at you seriously and you looked at him innocently "Oh! I didn't know, I was looking for the bathroom" The man stayed in his place "Follow me, the bathroom is not here." You nodded but when he turned Mingyu knocked him out with his hands "Oh God, Mingyu behind you!" You ran to him and knocked the guy behind.

"Remember me to not fight with you " He commented smiling and you sighed “Let’s go, this door is suspiciously locked.” Mingyu nodded walking first and breaking the door that opened revealing a Dark Room, a PC and Vernon handcuffed.

“Liz? What are you doing here?” He looked at you shocked “I came to save you, and your career.” You untied the boy's knots while Mingyu closed the door pulling the man inside “Who are you?” Vernon stared confused at Mingyu and he smiled “Agent Black, nice to meet you.”

The boy widened his eyes looking at you “What is happening?” “It seems that the world is ending, and people think is because of you.” Vernon sighed stretching his arms and sighed “We need to get out of here, before Jun find us.” Mingyu nodded looking at the corridor seeing no signs of people.

“Liz, we need a suit for Vernon.” Mingyu looked at you smiling “What?” He asked and you just pointed to the security guard unconscious on the floor.

After a few minutes of stripping the guard and giving Vernon time to get dressed, you and Mingyu walked out first. “We’re going to distract Jun and you’ll get out of here got it?” You looked at Vernon that just agreed while Mingyu placed his strong arm around your waist.

You walked through the salon smiling and subtly looking around for Jun that was busy talking with some lady. Mingyu approached him slightly while you gave Vernon the sign to walk away “Oh? Is my favorite couple enjoying the party?” Jun smiled at you that just nodded smiling “Actually, we’re leaving but I loved it.” You answered before Mingyu while Jun smirked “I’m glad you liked it miss, you’re always welcome in my house.” He kissed the top of your hand while Mingyu rolled his eyes.

“Don’t worry Mingyu, I won’t steal her away.” He winked and said in Mingyu’s ear “Unless you don’t treat her good.” Mingyu just laughed through his nose and smirked “Don’t worry Jun, I’ll take care of her.” You felt your insides warm-up and just walked away with Mingyu.

Vernon was in the street pretending to talk with a Chinese lady while seeing you both enter a car in front of the building. “I need to go now, but it was my pleasure talking to you.” Vernon kissed the top of her hand running to the car that opened his door so he could enter “Oh my God, please tell me what’s happening.”  

“That’s a long story and we’ll talk soon.” Mingyu said and Vernon sighed in the back of the car.

***

“What is this place?” You entered the secret room of an abandoned building. The funny thing is that the room looked perfect and clean, nothing out of space “My secret home here in China.” He sat on the bed while Vernon gulped harshly the water from the filter that was stuck to the wall.

“So, let me understand one thing. I’m wanted for betrayal after getting kidnapped, the world is ending and you’re the famous agent black?” He looked at Mingyu that just nodded “We’re screwed.” He laughed sitting on the chair that was beside the bed “Why am I going to prison? I don’t understand.”

You sighed and explained the situation to Vernon from the beginning. “Okay, so they think I did this? This is ridiculous I was doing my job when I got kidnapped.” “I Know. I told our boss this didn’t make any sense so here we are.” You smiled weakly and crouched in front of the boy “We need to know everything you discovered, you’re our only chance to make this mission possible.”

“Look, before I got kidnapped, I was investigating a lab here but they didn’t have anything suspicious but they had someone interesting.” “Who?” Mingyu asked crossing his arms in front of his chest “I need a computer so I can show you.” You picked the laptop in a table next to you and gave it to him.

“While I was investigating this man, I discovered he was a scientist working on a strange virus that could be extremely dangerous.” He tapped fast on the computer and turned to show the face of the man “This is him. His name is Lee Jihoon, he wasn’t working on this alone. But when I was this close to discovering his boss, Jun kidnapped me.”

“Do you know where he is now? Or where he could be?” You asked and he nodded “Thankful to Jun, I could track him while I was there. He wanted me to hack security cameras and look for new agents so I know where he is today.” Mingyu smiled “Good job agent.” “Now if you excuse me, I’m going to take a shower because I stink.” Vernon smiled and locked himself inside the bathroom while you sighed walking to the small living room next to the room.

Since it was a closed building it didn’t have windows so there were large screens showing different scenarios “You like it?” Mingyu asked you and you sighed sitting on the sofa “It’s nice.” You commented resting your head against the sofa sighing “This is ridiculous, I can’t believe there’s this crazy guy who likes to think he’s some kind of god.” Mingyu sighed and sat beside you “I know right? This is crazy.”

“You know I was thinking…” You started a conversation looking at the green forest in the screen “About?” He looked at you tenderly “What if we fail? What if everyone dies in the end? I didn’t do much in this life.” You confessed feeling your chest tight “I lived for this job and I couldn’t say it was worth it. In the end, we’re going to die and I didn’t have a normal life like I always wanted.” You stared at him.

“I never told anyone this, but I just wanted to be a cop, have a nice house and travel to Hawaii on vacations like my friends from college.” He laughed a bit “I understand, I was like that too once.” “And now I don’t even know if we’re going to survive and I just realized… I lived nothing.” 

Mingyu smiled sadly at your confession “You wanna know my secret?” You nodded and he grabbed your hand caressing the top with his thumb “Do you feel this?” “Yes...” You were confused “You need to remember that you’re human. You have emotions, sensations… feelings.” He stared at you deeply “That’s my secret, even on missions I always like to remind myself that I’m not a machine. I need to live like a human, have friends, fun and try to enjoy every day.”

“What's the point to save humanity if you can't live and feel like a human?” You confessed feeling your throat dry “It’s not too late, you can make everything different.” He stared at you and you sighed “You spent all this time saving people so they could live, you can enjoy your life too. You deserve it.” He said lowly while you smiled “You could be a nice therapist if you weren’t a secret agent.”

He just giggled and ruffled the top of your head “Thanks Liz.” He answered and you felt the urge to open yourself for real “Y/N.” You said and he looked at you confused “What?” “Y/N. That’s my real name.” He grinned happily “That’s a beautiful name.” He squeezed your hand making your cheeks red “I know.” You boldly stated smirking.

“I’m out!” Vernon interrupted both of you “The bathroom is clean.” Mingyu smiled at you dropping your hand “I’m going to take a bath too. You can rest here.” You just nodded missing the warmth of his hand on yours.

You closed your eyes resting your head int the arm of the sofa while looking at the scenarios. The peace and the silence made you drowsy so you soon fell into a deep sleep without noticing.

* 

You woke up harshly by the sounds of something breaking and widened your eyes when you saw a man tied in the chair inside the room with his mouth taped. “What is this?” You looked behind you and saw Mingyu smirk “Sorry, you were sleeping so beautifully so Vernon and I kidnapped Jihoon.” You looked at the man that seemed afraid “The scientist?” “Yep.” Vernon appeared and took off the tape harshly “OUCH!”

The man complained “Who are you? What do you want from me?”

“We have a lot to talk, Mr Jihoon.” You crossed your arms “Do you know what is the 1XJ virus?” He widened his eyes “H-How did you…” Mingyu who had 0 patience kicked his chair “Answer the question.” The man just nodded sighing “Look I know what you’re thinking, that I made the virus to kill everyone but it’s a lie.” He started to explain “I was studying the way virus change and evolve but one agent made me work for him. He said if I didn’t pass to him my search, he would kill me, I had no choice!”

“Who forced you?” Vernon asked “I-I don’t know his name, but he’s Korean. He had black hair and was working with 2 agents, one from MI6 and the other from AIK.” You looked at each other “Do you know where they could be now?” “The only option I can think of is Paris, I remember they were saying something about Eiffel tower being the essential point.”

“What should we do to kill the virus, or stop this?” Mingyu asked and Jihoon smiled sadly “You can’t, the virus is immortal.” He said and you sighed “There’s no such thing, WE NEED SOMETHING OR ELSE WE’RE GOING TO DIE.” You screamed and the man trembled.

“OKAY! There’s only one cure.” He confessed “But it’s in the lab I worked, but they have incredible security there.” “I want the location and the name.” Mingyu grabbed the chair arms and stared at the man’s eye “It’s here in China, you have only one bottle. It’s a gold liquid if you mix them together the virus dies immediately.”

“We have a chance.” You looked happy at the boys that smiled “But we need to go to Paris, we can’t waste our time.” Mingyu said freeing the man “You’re coming with us.”

The man sighed relieved.

48 HOURS, 2 DAYS BEFORE THE END OF THE WORLD

“You got everything?” Mingyu spoke in the mic while Vernon used a computer inside the van “Yes, we have approximately 10 minutes to grab the liquid before their alarm and cameras work again.” “Perfect, Liz you ok?” “Yes.” You fixed your sexy dress while waiting for the sign to distract the security guard ���Now!” Vernon said and you started to walk like you got lost.

You approached the man in the suit in front of the building “Hello? Do you speak English? I’m lost.” You said in a velvet voice showing your leg slightly while holding the end of your dress. The man just smirked looking at your figure “Yes, a bit.” He answered interested while Mingyu got inside the building through a window at the balcony “I was looking for a party you know? I think it’s a club, I-I don’t know the name.” You made a sad face while Mingyu smirked to himself.

“Never thought you could have such a façade.” He mumbled to himself while he followed the directions Jihoon gave through Vernon.

“Look lady, there’s no club here. I think you’re mistaken.” He said approaching you slightly “But we can go somewhere if you want.” He whispered staring at your cleavage shamelessly.

“8 minutes Mingyu.” Vernon warned the boy that was close to the vault “I’m almost there, I need the password.” Jihoon sighed “Oh no, I can’t remember clearly.”

“Man, we’re screwed.” Vernon mumbled while you tried to smile without punching the security face.

“Tell me your name, princess.” He touched your cheek and you almost puked right there “My name is Kate.” You touched his suit “And yours?”

“I NEED THE FUCKING PASSWORD VERNON?” Mingyu stared at the round door that had 5 cameras around filming it. “JIHOON?” Vernon looked at him that was scrunching his face “TRY 2019.” He said and Mingyu clicked but it was red.

“Still red.” Mingyu looked at the time. 5 MINUTES “SHIT 5 MINUTES JIHOON, C’MON.” He whispered nervously.

“My name is Yukhei, nice to meet you.” The security smiled looking at your face “So what’s the secret?” You said trying to communicate with the boys that were desperate “I don’t have any secrets, princess.” The security guard said sweetly and Mingyu snorted.

“If he says princess one more time, I’ll shoot him.” Mingyu said and you smiled at yourself.

“I REMEMBERED! TRY 1713.” Jihoon screamed at the mic making Mingyu wince at the sound.

“Damn, don’t need to scream like that.” He clicked the password until it got green. “Thank God it worked!” He sighed picking up the gray suitcase and replacing it for another. “1 MINUTE MINGYU! GET THE HELL OUT OF THERE!” Vernon screamed and Mingyu closed fast jumping out of the building.

“So… since you’re working now, I don’t want to trouble you sir, so here is my number.” You gave the security a paper with random numbers and your fake name “Call me anytime.” You winked and he smiled “I will.” You walked out of there sighing relieved.

After a few minutes, a black van stopped in front of you “Good job, Kate.” Vernon sarcastically said and you rolled your eyes “I don’t wanna talk about this ever again.” You mumbled angrily while Mingyu smirked beside you “Give me your number, Kate.” you just pushed him.

“Let’s go to Paris then.” Vernon said relieved and Jihoon panicked “Me too?” “Obviously, unless you want to die.” Mingyu stared at him that sighed.

*

“Me and Jihoon are going to find a particular plane for us, you guys watch the suitcase.” Mingyu nodded and you ran to the bathroom so you could take a bath and change to comfortable clothes. “Alright.” Mingyu said and put the suitcase on top of the table in his room.

He opened carefully seeing a small bottle with a yellow liquid. “I hope you work fine, I’m not ready to die yet.” He chuckled and closed the suitcase.

You walked out of the bathroom sighing happily with your clean face “I’m finally free.” You sat on top of the bed while Mingyu stared at you smirking “You’re a nice actress.” He smirked and you grinned rolling your eyes “It’s not like I have another choice, I’m a secret agent I need to be good at this.” Mingyu got up rolling his sleeves up showing the veins of his arms “You’re right. In the beginning, I was nervous too but I got good after a few missions.”

You looked at him smiling “You too? I thought you were always good at this…” You said without thinking and he grinned showing his full smile “I’m flattered but I had my hard moments too…” You remembered what Jun said about a 127 mission and asked him with the rest of the courage you had in you.

“Hey Mingyu… What happened in mission 127?” You asked directly making him stare at you failing his smile “Who told you about this mission?” “Jun.” He sighed and sat beside you running his hand through his hair.

“It happened last year. I had a partner, his name was Seungcheol.” He started speaking with a melancholic tone “Basically, our mission was to catch a killer wanted by INTERPOL, he was planning a terrorist attack in Korea.” “So, what happened?” Mingyu looked at you biting the insides of his cheek.

“We found his secret hiding on the roof of a building, he had the button to explode a bomb that would hit a huge building and kill everyone there.” He took a deep breath “So when we got there, Seungcheol fought him and broke the button, but the guy shot against me and that’s when he protected me.”

You could feel him getting emotional “Seungcheol stayed there, I ran after the man and I…” He looked away from you “Killed him.” He sighed “I never wanted to kill the guy, I wanted to make him pay for his crimes, but because of Seungcheol I lost my mind. I punched him so hard that he couldn’t resist it.” You touched his shoulder and he looked at you “I’m not the great guy everyone says.” He felt his eyes water but quickly winked.

“It’s not your fault, I’d have done the same thing as you.” You stared at him “You’re just… human.” He smiled sadly closing his eyes “After that, Seungcheol didn’t resist, his doctor said that his last words were: Live a good life, Mingyu.” “And you started to live properly.” You completed his sentence and he nodded “Yes, I started to live like he wanted me too. In the end, he was right.” He stared at you “That’s why I’m telling you, don’t waste your life.”

You just smiled touching his cheek caressing a little “Well, we have 2 days before the world ends, I don’t have a choice, right?” He grabbed your wrist kissing slightly “Good choice.” He whispered pulling you towards him, his breath fanning your face and your eyes closing but unfortunately got interrupted by Vernon and Jihoon entering the house.

Mingyu got up sliding his hand through his hair while you sighed adverting your eyes.

“So, I found our plane. Are you guys ready to speak French?” Vernon entered the room looking at you smirking “What’s with this mood? Did I interrupt something?” He wiggled his eyebrows and you just smiled “Shut up Vernon, let’s save the world.” You said and Mingyu smiled side hugging Vernon and Jihoon “Let’s go, Paris.”

24 HOURS TO THE END OF THE WORLD

Thankfully to Vernon, you arrived at Paris without any problems. The plane was fast, unique and first-class. You could have a few hours of sleep, eat a portion of decent food and think of a plan to stop the enemy “So, let’s review our plan, one last time.” Vernon sat on your bed at the closest hotel from Eiffel Tower. 

“Jihoon and I are going to trace elements that could lead us to the signal from the enemy.” You nodded “Mingyu and you are going to go up the Eiffel Tower and destroy the main virus when I finish hacking their system.” 

“So this is it, finally.” Mingyu sighed and Vernon smiled “Yeah, but I need to hack this hotel wi-fi, or else we aren’t going to make this work. We’re lucky that my partner Joshua is here in Paris to help me.” Vernon picked up his phone and sent Joshua a message.

“Me and Jihoon are going to the last floor, you stay here and get ready, we’re leaving in a few hours.” Jihoon looked at you “I recommend you guys use a special coat, if something goes wrong you can’t touch the virus with your skin or you’ll get infected.” You nodded “Don’t worry, I prepared everything in our plane.” You answered and they smiled.

You went to your bag searching for the items while Vernon pulled Mingyu aside and whispered lowly so he could be the only to hear it “I’ll give you 3 hours, so please don’t waste our time and be smart.” He smirked at the red face Mingyu made “Thanks buddy, I’ll compensate you after we save the world.” He shook his hand while they left the room.

You spread all the guns and equipment you brought from China. You looked at everything before choosing your favorites.

“Having fun?” Mingyu sat in front of you using his elbows to sustain himself “If you think choosing guns so we can save the world is fun, then sure.” You laughed not looking at him picking up the bullets and charging all guns.

“Staying with you, I think is fun.” He whispered and gave you a small smile. You looked at him laughing through your nose “You really have the time to hit on me in times like this?” He pulled you by your wrist gently “Yes, I can take some time for you.” You bit the interior of your cheeks “What are you doing Mingyu?” He hugged your waist trapping you in his embrace while looking at you “Why rush ourselves? We have time, Vernon and Jihoon are not here.”

Your heart beatings speed up “You’re such a playboy.” Your hand caressed his hair “Is that what you say to the female agents you worked together?” You sarcastically stated and he sighed “No, I don’t say that because I never liked them.” He spoke honestly pulling you to his lap.

“You’re the only one I got interested.” He smiled and you looked down at him “And you expect me to believe you?” You laughed through your nose “You could be a good liar.” He sighed grabbing your thighs “Why don’t you judge me then?” His lips brushed against yours “Tell me if I’m lying.” He grabbed your hips and you smiled “Okay.” You could feel his hot breath in your face.

He licked his bottom lip quickly before leaning in and kissing you softly. Your left hand grabbed his shoulder to stabilize yourself while you roamed through his hair with the other one. His lips slide slowly over yours as if you’re the most precious thing in the earth, you pressed your body against his kissing harder.

He pressed his lips against your jaw sighing softly when you pulled his hair towards you closing your eyes. Your throat being marked with his thick lips making you smile.

“Mingyu, the world’s going to end.” You tried to speak but he shushed you entering his tongue in your mouth harshly putting you down in bed “I’m sorry, but I won’t forgive myself if I don’t do this now.” He climbed on top of you pushing your guns aside. You touched his warm cheeks with the palm of your hands while you stared at his perfect face “You’re so hot.” You confessed and he laughed “I thought you said I wasn’t your type.” He pressed his lips on your again “I lied.” You said pulling him to you.

Your moment soon got interrupted by the ring of Mingyu’s cellphone.

“Ughh, not now.” He got up picking up the mobile looking at the name ‘Vernon’ “What is it?” He mumbled angrily while you fixed your hair and clothes “I’m sorry man, I know I promised 3 hours a least but it’s an emergency.”

“What is it?” Mingyu put on speakers so you could listen “We hacked the wi-fi and apparently they discovered that we’re here already. They’ll release the virus before we expected, we need to get out now.” Vernon screamed and you looked at Mingyu desperately.

“C’mon Y/N, let’s save the world.” He said extending his hand to you that grabbed happily “Yeah.” You smiled putting on your bulletproof vest.

*

Vernon drove the van like it was a race. You and Mingyu were the first ones to escalate Eiffel Tower, while Vernon and Jihoon asked for reinforcements.

“Don’t forget what Jihoon told you, try not to be seen. I’m going to distract the enemy and you’ll destroy the virus.” You nodded and Mingyu looked at you one last time “What is it?” He just kissed you quickly and smiled walking first to your hiding.

As you expected the enemy was at the top, his agents too. the sight took your breath away, it was Wonwoo there. You couldn’t believe that he betrayed the entire corporation. You looked at Mingyu that was shocked, he was stunned and couldn’t move.

You touched his shoulder and he swallowed hard nodding. He got up and picked the other agent using him as a hostage. “If any of you move, I’m going to kill him.” He said putting his gun against the back of the man.

The enemy smirked and looked at Mingyu “Nice to see you again, Mingyu.” He laughed while Mingyu had tears in his eyes “Seungcheol. I thought you died.” You got frozen by the name. Seungcheol... his partner wasn’t dead?

“Yeah, I know. I bet it sucked for you, but I never died, and that shot was fake too.” He approached Mingyu smiling sarcastically “Meet my true partner: Wonwoo. He’s the one that planned everything with me, it was perfect.” He looked at Mingyu “Sorry you killed that man, but I’m glad you’re here so you can see the revolution we’re going to make.” Mingyu snorted.

“You’re a psychopath, I can’t believe I cried over you.” He pressed the gun further on the agent “I’m not joking, I’ll kill him.” Seungcheol and Wonwoo laughed “You can kill him if you want, I don’t mind.” The agent was terrified and you could tell by looking at him.

“Dino isn’t essential for this anymore. I got the key right here.” He showed the button on his hands while Wonwoo had the bottle of the virus plugged on his case “If you give one step, I’ll click this button and everyone will die.”

“Who are you? What you did to my best friend?” Mingyu said with remorse in his voice “I never was your best friend, but I admit it was fun working with you.” You took advantage of the talk and approached them silently. You were behind Wonwoo but they couldn’t see you.

“Well, the talk was great but now I have a duty. Bye Mingyu.” Seungcheol said while Mingyu whispered to Dino “You have a chance to change your destiny right here.”“I don’t think so baby.” You said shooting at Wonwoo’s leg grabbing the case. Mingyu released Dino that shot Seungcheol in his hand.

You grabbed the bottle with the cure and broke into the bottle with the virus making Seungcheol scream “NO!” Mingyu kicked him into the ground while you knocked Wonwoo out. Dino grabbed the control with the button and shot through it making it useless.

Mingyu approached Seungcheol looking at him “Are you going to kill me like you did to that man?” He said sarcastically and Mingyu just punched his face making his mouth bleed. “I’m not the kind of man that commits the same mistake twice.” He handcuffed Seungcheol while Vernon and all the team arrived right after.

“I guess you didn’t need me after all.” Vernon joked while the agents arrested the boys there. Mingyu approached Seungcheol one last time “I hope you live a good life in prison.” He whispered and the boy just smirked “Jerk.” And the man took him while you ran to Mingyu to hug him.

“We did it! We saved the world!” You sighed relieved while Mingyu kissed the top of your head “Everything’s going to be fine.”  He sighed and you gave one last look to Wonwoo “I knew I was better than you.” You said while he limped because of his leg.

And that’s how you saved the world in less than 5 days.

*

“Agent Liz, I’m glad you could complete your mission. Honestly, I was shocked when I heard Wonwoo and Seungcheol were involved in this.” Your boss sighs while you smile a bit “I think you deserve a few days off, what do you think?” She asked you smiling and you nodded relieved “I’d love it.” You shook her hand and walked out of her office.

“Hey! Liz, where are you going now?” Vernon shouted and you looked at him “My home, take a good shower and sleep probably. Why?” He searched his pockets until it found an envelope “This is for you.” He smiled and walked away when you grabbed the letter.

 From: Mingyu

To: Y/N

 You laughed when you saw how cute it was written. It was an address and the number of a room with a key in it. “He’s such a playboy.” You commented walking out of your agency.

The hotel wasn’t hard to find, it was one of the most expensive in your region. You laughed at yourself just thinking about the kind of things Mingyu was preparing for you to get there. You parked your car and entered the place showing your key, which the staff guided you to the elevator.

You clicked the ‘10’ button floor and waited the doors close. Inside of you, you could feel your entire body shivering in anticipation since you didn’t saw him since that day in Paris. You missed him more than you expected.

The door opened and you walked to the room your key indicated.

1056 – You stared at the number before using the key to open the door. You took a deep breath and entered the place.

The first thing that came to your vision was Mingyu looking at the windows with his social outfit. “So you really came.” He mumbled turning to you with his hands inside his pockets “Of course. I wanted to know what you want from me.” You spoke softly fixing his tie “You still don’t know how to make your tie?” You asked while he just stared at you.

“I thought you would ignore me.” You lifted your eyes and smiled “Why would you think something like that?” you whispered while he pulled you close by your waist “I don’t know… Maybe you just liked the adventure, but not me.” His nose touched yours “Are you saying you like me?” 

You giggled and he hid his face in the crook of your neck “What do you think?” He pecked the skin and you smiled to yourself “I think I need to judge it.” You whispered to his ear and he smiled picking you up.

He placed you on the bed gently “Now the world isn’t ending.” He smirked and you caressed his face “So what you gonna do about it?” You boldly asked making him smile.

He just kissed you hovering over you while your hand went to his hair. His hands explored the skin inside your blouse and you messily tried to unbutton his white shirt. “I’m glad I saved the world with you.” He said sucking on a sweet spot behind your ear “M-Me t-too.” You could barely speak while his lips traveled from your neck to your collarbones.

He took his shirt off making you blush from the view. “Like what you see?” He asked you while you just gave little pecks to his face roaming your hands on top of his shoulders. “You’re so handsome.” You whispered and he smiled “Thanks.” He whispered on your ear kissing it “You’re pretty too.” His lips were so soft that you thought how unfair it was. Your fingers explored his perfect jaw making you smile into the kiss.

He smirked sucking on your bottom lip sending shivers down your spine.

You took off your blouse and skirt, making his ears red. He kissed you deeply touching every skin possible. He gave you small pecks showing you affection and care, something you didn’t felt for a long time. The way his scent filled your nostrils made you weak.

After that, you knew you wouldn’t get over this man easily.

 1 YEAR LATER

Sunrays through the window make your eyes open slowly, your whole body is warm by the body next to yours. Mingyu’s arm still tight around your waist and his breath hitting the nape of your neck. You turn around slightly afraid you would wake the man up, but smiled seeing the cute pout that he does unknowingly whenever he sleeps. Your right-hand touched his cute cheek caressing a little making you laugh.

You stretched your arms and saw the ring of your left hand making you smile. If someone told you that you would save the world and marry agent black you’d have laughed, but life was good to you.

“Babe…” He mumbled opening his eyes a bit “Come here, I want to cuddle.” He smiled and you leaned towards him kissing his nose “You’re such a big baby in the morning.” “Yes I am, come here.” He pulled you by your waist hugging you “I love you Mingyu.” You said sincerely making the boy smile “I love you too.” He pecked your cheek and put his face in the crook of your neck while you caressed his hair.   

 You sighed happily at the vision and closed your eyes enjoying the feeling of peace.

“I guess it wasn’t just work after all.” You mumbled to yourself smiling. 

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MASTERLIST