#with a missile strapped to the bottom

[swan2swan]

I really hate how every time President Pullman says “Pilot! You armed?” I know EXACTLY what it’s supposed to be referring to.

[drastrochris]

Wait a minute.

I'm cleaning this "Thunderhawk," which is dirty because it was out on a mission, doing whatever Warhammer people do (I'm guessing Wars, with Hammers).

But this thing still has missiles strapped to the bottom. Dirty missiles. Missiles that went out to do war, but came home dirty.

Now, I'm not here to start calling people heretics, but WTF did this ship do in the war, if they didn't shoot their missiles? Clearly, someone wasn't very dedicated to the mission.

[league-of-sam]

Catching A Ghost | Simon 'GHOST' Riley

Ghost x Reader

CHAPTER NINE

Simon 'GHOST' Riley x AFAB!Reader!OC 18+ MINORS DNI! t.w // angst, mental health, language, violence, death, sexual themes/SMUT, military inaccuracies, language inaccuracies (google translate).

Catching A Ghost: Masterlist

Despite cartel waiting for you on the extraction route, you were able to successfully evade with the help of Graves, as sickened as it made you to admit. 

You were covered in debris and desert dust by the time you'd hoisted yourself into the helo, once again being manhandled by Ghost to get everyone in as fast as possible. 

Not that you minded being manhandled, by him.

On the journey back to base, Hassan had been placed opposite you, smirking as he looked you up and down. 

Rudy sat next to you, tending to your cut with his first aid kit, and you kept eye contact with the terrorist, twirling your dagger in your fingers repetitively like some kind of warning. 

As soon as Soap noticed, a tarp bag was swiftly shoved over his head.

Landing back at base, no time was spared in getting straight back into a car and driving out to the desert to interrogate Hassan. 

Soap and Alejandro pulled him, shoving him down onto his knees, arms bound behind his back.

"Y'all got a clear picture?" Graves said, setting up the camera.

"Crystal." General Shepherd could be heard, along with Laswell's confirmation.

She'd noticed your blood-covered clothes and red neck immediately, her motherly instincts kicking in. 

Soap eagerly told her how you took out three men alone, for which she gave you a proud nod.

"You speak Arabic?" Hassan said as soon as his cover was off.

"No." Graves answered.

"Farsi?"

"No."

"Course not. Then I'll speak your bastardised medieval English because you are all uneducated street dogs."

"Ah, see...we're getting off to a bad start, Hassan."

You rolled your eyes, already bored of their ridiculous back-and-forth.

"Who'd you get American missiles from?" Soap's voice echoed around the air, bringing your attention back.

"I don't care who they're from, I wanna know where they're going." Shepherd said from the screen.

You stood beside Ghost at the back, in view enough to be seen from the video call, but far enough away that you could talk amongst yourselves. You were both observing, waiting, arms folded across your chest. 

You couldn't be less interested in this dick measuring contest, but that, that had piqued your interest, and not in a good way.

"I don't like that, Ghost." You said, not taking your eyes off the scene in front of you.

"What?"

"I don't trust Shepherd."

"Why?"

"Why wouldn't he want to know where the missiles came from? That seems like pretty damn important information from where I'm standing."

Ghost turned to look at you then, frowning under his mask as your eyes narrowed, teeth chewing the inside of your cheek. 

You had a point.

"We'll keep an eye on it."

"Yeah?"

"Yeah."

The sounds of coyotes howling bounced around the group, and it made you uneasy. 

You instinctively scooted a little closer to Ghost, gasping quietly when he placed a firm hand at the base of your spine, looping his finger into the strap at the bottom of your vest.

"I'm a hostage here, this is illegal." Hassan smirked.

"You're a prisoner of war." Alejandro growled, pulling at his collar.

"Iran is not at war with Mexico. I've broken no laws."

You scoffed, "You and your beloved General Ghorbani broke every-"

"DO NOT SPEAK HIS NAME! You dare speak to me without permission, you ignorant whore!"

The pressure of Ghost's finger on your vest was released, as if he giving you permission to go ahead. 

You growled, pulling your knife from your holster, lunging forward for the man, but a sound stopped you in your tracks. 

A hand had come swiftly to Hassan's face, the crack reverberating. 

Graves looked back at you, offering a small nod, before kneeling down to Hassan's eyeline.

"Speak to my girl like that again, and it won't be my fist that hits you next time."

"She might have been once, but she isn't any more." Hassan grinned through bloodied teeth. "That much is painfully obvious."

Hassan's words struck a nerve deep within Graves, who had decided he had to win you back the minute he saw you in the compound, but before he could do anything else, the enraged yells of General Shepherd were getting louder. 

Soap had guided you back to your position next to Ghost, opting to stand on the other side of you, ample protection.

"Without proof, we need to turn him loose, see where he leads us."

"You can't be serious?" Soap exclaimed.

"I'm afraid I am, son."

With a nod from Ghost, Alejandro cut Hassan loose, dropping him in the middle of nowhere with nothing but his phone before everyone headed back to base.

Upon returning, you barely acknowledged the team as you sprinted to the housing, desperate to shower off the blood and grime collected from the day's events. 

They shared worrying looks, but after the things you'd been through today, they opted to give you space.

You let out a sigh, closing your eyes as the scalding water trickled down your aching body. 

This was bliss. 

At times like this, it was easy to clear your head and forget everything.

Looking into the mirror, you scanned yourself. 

Few bruises littered your skin, the angry red of the small cut on your forehead stood out sharply on your pale flesh. Moving your wet hair, you craned your neck, where the purple finger marks were now breaking through. 

Not too obvious, you praised, thank god.

A knock at your door pulled you out of your thoughts, followed by a voice you didn't expect to hear.

"(Y/N)? You in there?"

You swore, rushing around to throw on some clothes, before opening the door gently, ensuring to only crack it.

"Can I help you?" you said, looking up at the blonde man.

"Can we talk?"

You wrung your hands nervously, "I...I don't know."

"Please?" he said softly, stepping forward a little so you had to look up at him.

The light of your room illuminated his face. 

Four months ago, the look he was giving you would have made you fold completely and forget whatever it was he was apologising for, but not now.

"Fine." You said, opening your door for him to come in.

Once you closed it behind him, he stepped to you, sandwiching you between him and the door. His hand reached up, grazing the raw skin on your neck, and you violently pulled away with a grimace.

"What do you want?" you said, moving around him to the other side of the room.

"Are you okay?"

The question shocked you, "I-I'm fine. Uh, thanks for defending me with Hassan before."

"Of course, can't have someone like him talk down to you like that."

"Right."

Ghost listened through the wall. 

He didn't mean to, but the sound of Graves' voice coming from your room ignited fire in his soul. It made his hands clench into fists, his teeth grind. 

It made little images of him bashing Graves' head in with a brick flash in his brain.

"Why are you here, Phillip?" your voice drifted through the wall.

"For you. I want you back."

"No."

"We were so perfect, baby. Are you really gonna throw that away?"

"I said everything I needed to say the night I threw that ring back at you. Scar healed nice, huh?"

Ghost smirked, a proud feeling overcoming him. 

So that's where that scar came from, good girl.

"I kept the ring, (Y/N). Please take it back."

"No, I meant what I said."

"But you need me."

"I don't fucking need you."

"Yeah, you do. How else can you explain this little breakdown of yours?"

"Fuck you. No- you need to leave."

"But I love you!"

"Tell that to my team, Graves."

"Don't throw that in my face, that wasn't my fault, and you know it."

"Get out."

Ghost backed away, hearing your footsteps move to your door, swinging it open. The scuffle of a body being forced into the hallway could be heard.

"Don't do this, give me another chance, darlin'." Graves begged, taking your hand in his.

"No..." you whispered, "I don't love you anymore, I'm sorry."

"You're sorry?" his voice raised, a sarcastic laugh coming from his mouth, "Right, what the fuck am I meant to do with this, then?"

He pulled something out of his jacket, shoving it in your face. 

It was the ring, still gorgeous, but it was so big. 

You never liked it, but it made him happy, being able to show it off, so you'd put up with it.

"Give it to Elena, I'm sure she'd appreciate more of my sloppy seconds." You spat with venom.

"Baby she meant nothing to me-"

You cut him off by slamming the door in his face. 

God, that felt fucking good. 

You released a deep breath, rubbing your face, only to be interrupted by yet another knock at the door.

Frustrated, you swung the door open, "Graves I told you to fuck off- oh." 

You eyed the body in front of you. 

Slouched shoulders, soft eyes. 

"H-hey, Simon."

"You good, Price?" he said, his voice gruff, but endearing.

"Yeah," you smiled softly, "m'good. It's bruising but I'll live."

"Actually, I meant..."

"You heard that?"

"Walls are thin." He shrugged.

"True, dunno what I'm gonna do without my brother's snoring lulling me to sleep."

He snorted a little under the mask, giving the impression that he was laughing, which made your smile ten times wider.

"Ya did good today."

"Wow, a compliment two days in a row, I'm honoured, sir."

"Don't get used to it."

"If I didn't know any better, I'd say you were warming up to me."

"Good job you don't know any better then."

Before the conversation could continue, Soap's voice came yelling as he ran up the stairs. 

In the second it took you to look to where the noise was, and back in front of you, Ghost had gone. 

The only evidence he was even out of his room was the soft click of his door shutting. 

Your breath caught in your throat, taken aback by the hurt in your chest.

You understood, though. 

Well, you tried to. 

In this job, it was hard to show people you cared, because if you cared, then it would hurt so much more when you lost them. 

But you also knew that there was no way you'd get through this job without the loving friendships you were forming. 

If only you could make Ghost see that.

[321spongebolt]

"SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom" Robot Poll

I'm going to ask you all a question if you've ever played this game. If you've ever played "SpongeBob SquarePants: Battle for Bikini Bottom", then you'll know that Plankton's robots are your enemies. If there's any robot you could turn from bad to good and keep them, which one of Plankton's robots (not counting the three main bosses) would you adopt? And what would you use your selected robot for?

There's all kinds of them, so before taking the poll down below, I have descriptions and links for each one.

LIST OF PLANKTON'S ROBOTS

Fodder - A small robot with a cube-shaped head, a hexagonal green eye, and a black wheel for mobility. It wields a black stick topped with a red electrical orb in its left hand. Nifty electrical touch attack. Not tall enough to ride most roller coasters, but more vicious than a pack of rabid clams.

Ham-Mer - A large cylindrical robot with green eyes, a green mouth, and a green glowing compartment on its chest. It uses a water wheel to move around, and its right arm is a large bamboo pole with a ham on it with "Mer" written on the ham. Impressive meat byproduct attack. Smarter than it looks. Goes well with broccoli and a nice Chianti.

Tar-Tar - A humanoid robot that carries a large container of tartar sauce attached to a device strapped around its back that lets it shoot it out at its enemies. Uncanny flying tartar sauce attack. Smells somewhat better than stale fish.

Chomp-Bot - A very small, dog-like robot with razor-sharp teeth. They contain poisonous gas in their bodies. Somewhat unstable critter. Beware his stinky doggy breath. Likes to chew toys, random citizens, and mimes.

G-Love - A green and purple robot with five arms wearing white latex gloves and resembles a flying saucer. Has the most vicious smack attack, hands down. Expert foot masseuse, lemon squeezer, and delightful hand puppet shows.

Chuck - a submarine-like flying robot with lime-green eyes and a gloved robot arm sticking out from the top, which is used to throw water missiles. Annoying missile attack. Likes to throw tantrums... and other various military grade disobedience. Not terribly friendly.

Monsoon - A robot that wears a big pair of square glasses. It carries a red and white umbrella on its back, allowing it to float in the air (meaning attacks that can head upwards are its main weaknesses). It also carries a remote that it uses to generate and control electrically charged storm clouds. Shocking electrical attack. Rather sensitive. Reads poetry, likes plants, and enjoys zapping wandering denizens.

Sleepy Time - A large, sleepy robot that casts a light around its personal space. This light turns red if anyone gets closer to it. In their awake form, Sleepy-Times are revealed to have green eyes. Mostly harmless... unless awoken. Somewhat moody. Likes to express himself by blasting everything in sight or finger painting.

Bomb-Bot - Resembles a bomb and behaves like an Arf-Dawg. Bot follow you, go "boom". This is just the bot to get for the friend you like least.

Arf - Large robots who are dressed like cowboys: they feature a sheriff's badge, a mustache, boots, a belt, a large cowboy hat, and a doghouse. This here's one mean varmint... packs a .45 caliber "Kat Krusher" - most powerful doghouse made.

Arf-Dawgs - A dog-like robot who behaves a lot like the Bomb-Bot.

BZZT-Bot - Small robots that are equipped with a light green laser eye with a yellowish tinge. Their metal body is gray and each of their hands only has three fingers. A BZZT-Bot's face is shaped like a square. Lemon-scented gamma ray attack. Somewhat unpredictable. Borrows money without returning it, blasts things at random.

Tublet - robots that wear a striped red/white helicopter hat and have lime-green eyes. They also ride on a pink hippo floaty. Comes in threes, or in six packs with coupon. Inexplicable jello attack. Stays crunchy, even in milk.

Slick - Massive robots that tower above most other non-boss robots. Their torsos, shoulders, and hands are chrome along with their head, and they have lime-green eyes. Instead of having legs they have three inner tubes that they use for mobility, apparently by gliding across the ground. They hold what appear to be an oil can in their left hand and a bubble wand in their right hand. Disgusting oil blob attack. Doesn't wear underwear or bathe very regularly. Just the kind of bot your mother warned you about, kids.

Now, let's move on with the poll below. This poll will last for one week only, so don't delay. You can also use the list above for more help with your choice. Also, after voting you can also leave comment about what changes you would make to your adopted robot.

[diah-the-demon]

🙃 , 🦖 and 🌿!

🙃 What’s a weird fact that you know?

gps devices automatically turn off when going faster than 1,900km/h and at a higher altitude of 18,000 meters just incase its attached to a ballistic missile

🦖 Favorite extinct animal?

oo thats a tough one cause ive not rlly thought about that before

.. ive got nothing so im gonna say pterodactyl cause thats all that comes to mind rn srry lol

🌿 Describe your favorite outfit.

okay so cut cause its quite long

alright to start off, jewelry.

The necklace with a crescent moon and a star hanging from it (the one i posted last month), a simple metal bead bracelet and my very Gay™ ring that's a spiral (idk if you remember the pic i put of that one a while ago, i'll post another pic if you don't)

ok now the actual clothes lmao

so i have this grey long sleeved shirt, its quite light and comfy, one or both of my bra straps kinda show when i wear it cause its got a wide neckline, but i think it makes it look cute like that so idc if it looks otherwise to anyone else

and for the bottom half i usually wear jeans or jeggings (leggings made with denim), and just a normal leather belt cause some of my jeans are too big lmao

and for shoes i go with a pair of black leather boots cause i do not rlly have any femme shoes apart from 1 set of high heels which i do not need (idk who thought a 6'1 girl would need high heels but whatever i guess)

oh and if im going outside il wear this nice grey coat too, its got some fur on the end of the sleeves and for the collar, im trying my best to describe it but honestly idk where to go from here so yeah, and also a pink and white scarf if its super cold

[hotpinkashcrimson]

KING OF FIGHTERS 95-96 MAGAZINE, AN EXCERPT ON IORI YAGAMI'S FASHION: TRANSLATION

From far away he rushes over. Jingle jangle.. Armed with so many metal accessories, it's almost as if you can hear that sort of noise. Let's thoroughly analyze Iori Yagami! He has quite the luxurious taste~♡

A: It's best to bleach first, then dye it. But your head would hurt incredibly afterwards. 1p and 2p have different colors so this theory is quite popular with the editing team.

B: A choker. Are they being raised by someone? It looks like a belt, with a metal ornament.

C: Very hard shoulders. Is there a coat hanger inside? There's a theory that he's hiding missile launchers under his shoulders...

D: The buttons don't close all the way. Is he wearing a size too small? Or is it because of his thick chest... (I AM NOT EMBELLISHING THIS IS LITERALLY WHAT THE EXCERPT IS SAYING)

E: Vivian Westwood style short jacket. Up to just above his belly button.

F: A Chrome Hearts silver ring. A luxurious item that can only be attained in stores such as United Arrow(Japan's biggest select shop with over 255 stores and sales over 10 billion yen(in 90s standards. Means it's much higher in today terms.)) Around 80,000¥(approximately 650$ USD today). On his middle finger.

G: (Sleeves) Double-cuffs. Meaning there are 2 buttons. The part below his waist also has double the last button!

H: A Malcolm McLaren shirt. The bottom hems are quite long. The collar and sleeves are the pointed type.

I: The belt connecting his legs is inserted from the back through the metal buckles, then is folded back to point away from the feet. Complicated.

J: Big movements are not a problem! With great elasticity, this belt is like rubber!

K: Double monk strap dress shoes.

L: End-of-a-Century bondage pants.

Iori Yagami is a walking designer brand! As you can see, he's quite the luxury afficionado. From clothes to shoes, even for his accessories, second-rates won't be acknowledged. So the editing team independently, with no permission! tallied it up. With everything added up, the outcome was 300-400 thousand yen!! (2457-3276$ USD) (The items have a varying price range so please don't ask specific details!) A 'walking designer brand' indeed! Delinquent people, please don't start anything with a dangerous guy like this, even by accident♡

• Fashion Hidden from Public 1. A Gabor chain. Letting it dangle below the waist is elementary!

• Fashion Hidden From Public 2. The belt. From the design it's assumed to be a Chrome Hearts as well, like the ring.

• Fashion Hidden From Public 3. A Paul Smith watch. Even a cheap one costs around 20 to 30 thousand yen. (164-246$ USD)

• The trademark on his back, the moon. Did he embroider it himself? The original art has the moon open on the right side, but in game it's the left.

[portfolio-of-dreams]

Okkotsu. Y | Jujutsu Kaisen

Running through the dirt roads, dust trails following you and staining the bottom of your pants. The crescent moon glowing above acting as the only light cascading along your path. Demonic hollow shrills sounded through the air piercing your ears, making your blood run cold as it pumps through your heart. Chills run up and down your spine as you hear Yuta’s sword clash against bones. Ripping flesh squelched in the night around you as a haze settled around the scene unfolding behind you.

“y/n! are you safe? can you aim for its neck from there?” Yuta called out to you as he sliced a shriveled finger off of the special grade demon.

“i’m okay, okkotsu! just don’t get in my way!” you yelled back, climbing up the side of a rock pile to get higher above the dusted fog.

You knelt down, sharp rocks cutting into the skin of your knee and red liquid trickles onto the beige and grey jagged edges. You slightly wince, inhaling sharply through your teeth, as you pulled your bow and arrow out of the quiver strapped to your back. You line up the tip, the posts on the nock resting against the tension-pulled string. Your eyes are locked on your target, as you take a slow shallow inhale, releasing as the string on the bow thwacks against your reddening wrist as you whisper to yourself- “These still tips always find home, so to the cold of heart they are as good as a guided missile”- hoping the arrow hits. It flies through the air, soundless and seeming light as a feather. It glows a deep red flame, encapsulating the arrowhead and burning down to the fletching of cursed energy that pierces straight into the jugular vein on the demons neck. Green ooze gushes out, spewing onto the road in globs as the demon screams into the dead silence. Yuta moves in flash like steps to right below you as you watch, ensuring you don’t need to fire another arrow. But as always, your aim is immaculate and the demon diminishes, crumbling to dust, and mixing with the dirt as the wind harshly blows around you.

“Perfect and cold-hearted as always, y/n.” Yuta smiles up at you as you jump off the small cliff. He catches you in his arms, and places a soft kiss onto your temple before setting you down.

“You know, when we go on missions alone, you can call me Yuta, babe.” He says with a sly grin over his shoulder as he heads down the beaten path, kicking up dirt and fixing his sword back into the sheath and pulling it around his shoulders.

“Oh shut up, Okkotsu.” you giggle as you run to catch up with him, jokingly punching the side of his muscular arm. The two of you walk side by side, back to the base you created while off on this mission.

“Gojo better acknowledge my skills too when we report in.” Yuta pouts as the silence of the night returns with only the sound of your feet crunching beneath you.

tagging: @devinsdaydreams @bxnten @spookykoko @mortuary-ossuary @shibuyawardnetwork

[phoebe-delia]

if you want to fuck with the eagles, you have to learn to fly

It's my friend @amorsindolor's birthday, and when I told them I'd be writing them a fic to celebrate, I bet they were expecting me to write them a Jewish Harry fic. Or a songfic.

I'm doing neither.

Mars, we know quite a bit about each other at this point, but a quick scroll through your Tumblr revealed that we have yet another interest in common: the movie Heathers.

Well, I'm more of a fan of the musical, but I like the movie a lot too! You at least like the movie, according to Tumblr, and I thought it might be fun to see a little Heathers AU for Drarry. Rather than make Drarry into a dark and dramatic Veronica and JD, I thought I'd take another stab (genuinely no pun intended here lmao) at writing femme Drarry, this time as the Heathers characters. We can imagine Harry as Veronica, Draco as Heather Chandler, Crabbe as Heather McNamara, and Goyle as Heather Duke.

This is a merging of the two worlds. This will be exploring a Hogwarts version of what might've happened if Drarry (and also Crabbe and Goyle) were 1. teenage women and 2. I guess a bit older than they were when they first meet in canon because this'll still take place in 1989 and Drarry won't be 9 years old. Also, it's Muggle.

I'm getting ahead of myself. Mars, I really hope you like this...ficlet? Drabble? It's not super long in part because if I didn't stop now it would take MUCH longer than the span of your birthday to write 😂.

I'm so glad to spend a trip 'round the sun with you. And I can't wait for what's in store. Enjoy!

"Hey Potter! Wait up."

Harry startled, turning over her shoulder to see Draco Malfoy sashaying down the hallway, blonde hair somehow glowing in the tragic fluorescent lighting of Hogwarts High. She was trailed by her two lackeys—Crabbe and Goyle—the three of them decked out in tights, skirts, and blazers, each outfit unique but still coordinated with the same shade of green. They looked like a fleet of missiles in human form, shooting down the hallway in perfect formation.

Knowing she was caught in their crosshairs, Harry froze in the middle of the hall, quiescent but not cowering, even as Malfoy closed the distance between them, lipgloss smirk on full display.

"So, Potter, have you given our offer any more thought?" Malfoy asked. "We won't wait around forever, you know."

Harry sighed, tucking a strand of short, unruly hair behind her ear. "I told you my answer the first time, Malfoy. I don't want to join the Slytherins. I like Gryffindor and you won't change my mind."

Draco narrowed her eyes. "Goyle, tell Potter, here, our policy on people who so brazenly decline my kind requests?"

Goyle fixed Harry with a glare. "We give them one chance to correct their mistake."

"That's right," Malfoy nodded. "And Crabbe, if they still refuse?"

"We put them through hell," Crabbe crossed her arms, smirking.

"Very good," Malfoy said, looking at Harry and raising a perfectly-sculpted blonde eyebrow. "Now, care to reconsider?"

Harry grit her teeth. "Not even a little. Now leave me alone." She turned to walk away, but Malfoy was faster, catching her arm and spinning her around again.

"What's your damage, Malfoy?" Harry exclaimed, trying to yank her arm free, but Malfoy's grip tightened.

"You'll regret this, Potter," she said, gray eyes flashing; her sharp nails dug into Harry's arm. "You're nothing without me. Have fun at the bottom of the social food chain, geek!"

She released Harry's arm, whipping around and letting her hair hit Harry in the face. Malfoy snapped her fingers, and Crabbe and Goyle rushed to her side, falling into lockstep.

Harry huffed, readjusting the strap of her backpack on her shoulder. She started off in the other direction down the hallway.

Her head was spinning, replaying the interaction, the image of Malfoy and her pet Slytherins slinking down the hall all superior in their unofficial uniform—

Harry stopped in her tracks, excitement sending chills throughout her body. She reached behind her to the open pocket of her backpack for her new cell. Her fingers finally grasped the phone and she pulled it out, flipped it open, dialed the number, and all but crushed it to her ear, picking up her pace as she jogged down the hall.

"'Mione, Malfoy just tried again...Of course, I told her no—yes I'll tell you what happened later but just—what do you think about a trip to the mall? I think Gryffindors would look good in red."

[themonkeycabal]

The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, Episode 1 SPOILERS

If you need to blacklist, I will be tagging all things as #tfatws and/or #tfatws spoilers

My roommate keeps calling this The Falcon and the Snowman. I'm not entirely sure it's accidental.

I was going to watch at midnight and then fell asleep. Betrayal. I will not forgive this, brain.

Bucky Barnes character development. Sam Wilson character development. Six full episodes of Bucky Barnes and Sam Wilson. When we watched Civil War, did we think we'd actually be lucky enough to get a buddy idiot cop movie? Let alone six hours of it? #blessed

What are we expecting here? I have no idea, honestly. I think all the clips we've been seeing are from the first couple episodes, so they've hidden any sort of plot from us. We know Baron Zemo's around with his stupid purple ski mask and burning hatred for superheroes and probably specifically for Bucky who he tried (and honestly kind of succeeded, before then ultimately failing dramatically) to set up. And Sharon Carter will turn up at some point. OMG guys, Sharon Carter character development!

I'm just here for the buddy bickering and badassery.

SPOILERS BELOW

New World Order: Sam Wilson and Bucky Barnes realize that their futures are anything but normal. *Realize*? lol

Also, it's tagged as "science fiction, action-adventure, buddy" Awww.

Aww, Sam looks sad as he gazes at The Shield.

"How's it feel?" "Like it's someone else's." "It isn't."

That's right, Sam! Listen to that voice. That's yours now, baby.

We're just going to roll right into a mission. Rescuing a Captain Vassant, whose plane fell out of contact shortly after take off, from the ridiculously named group LAF, somewhere over Tunisia. Sam's got to keep LAF from doing bad things and the US Military can't be seen doing anything blah blah blah, violation of treaties, yada yada. And Sam's all "blah blah got it". We're on the same page, Sam and me. Nobody wants to hear it, Briefing Exposition Guy.

We will have a Lt. Torres on the ground following along and offering helpful commentary as they go.

Sam is warned to be subtle as he falls backwards out of the cargo plane in very dramatic fashion and then swoops off on his brightly colored wings. lol

Sam gets to the captain's plane but the pilot is dead and a shady LAF guy is piloting. Oh no. Hey, it's Batroc. Last seen getting his ass kicked by Captain America in "CA: The Winter Soldier". He makes some jokes about their prisoner - presumably Captain Vassant. Awful cocky for a guy with a history of getting stomped on, you know.

Anyway, he's about to get his ass kicked by a Captain America again as Sam breaks into the plane. You might just be using wing shields now, Sam, but you're Captain America in my heart. Also, hey, dumb bad guys, don't open fire with an automatic weapon inside a plane or the ricochets might kill your pilot. And his body will slump forward and put the plane into a steep dive.

Batroc distracts Sam while the bad guys gather up Vassant and jump out of the plane with him. They have wingsuits, but Sam has, you know, wings. And like a jet pack. Don't hit the canyon walls, Sam!

Somehow the bad guys have waiting gunships. Did they expect to jump out of the plane over this canyon? I can only assume. Red Wing takes care of one of the helicopters. Man these guys are a pain in the ass. They wing suit into one of the many many helicopters that just happen to be right in the right spot. They're racing for the Libyan border. Then Sam shows up, they throw Vassant out the copter again — this guy is having the worst day — and glide into another chopper.

Man ANOTHER gunship? The hell? They're causing serious ecological damage to this canyon, what with all the zillionty missiles they're firing at Sam. How strapped is this thing?

LT Torres is trying to keep up, and you know, trying to get Sam to not fly into Libyan territory and cause an international incident or some such. Sam is struck by inspiration and not by a missile. But, the missiles are following Sam and Sam is following Batroc's chopper. Sam zooms through the open doors of the chopper, knocks poor Vassant out of the chopper AGAIN (but then catches him), and LAF blows up their own helicopter. Alas, Batroc escaped.

Sam saves the day and LT Torres is like super excited. Don't break your humvee, Torres.

Torres and Sam stop by a tea shop in Tunis, or somewhere. Sam's trying to fix his tech that got a little shot up and Torres buys the tea. A man comes up and thanks Sam for saving his wife. It's sweet. And then Torres gets up and wanders about a bit with his phone as he exposits about LAF. Is Torres about to become a pin cushion? Only instead of pins it'll be bullets? I'm not feeling good about his continued health. He's too cute and earnest.

Oh, he's looking for some sort of hidden, augmented reality tag on the walls. A red handprint, id'ing some group that calls themselves the Flag Smashers. Bad guys are really scraping the bottom of the evil name barrel. Anyway, they think the world was better during the blip. Nothing says better like mass failure of infrastructure and probably world wide famine. They want a unified world without borders. I have big doubts the world would be a borderless utopia during a blip-like event. Power vacuums invite trouble, seldom unity.

Anyhoo. Sam kind of agrees with me, "every time something gets better for one group, it gets worse for another".

Torres will track the 'online chatter'. But he's also heard some wacky things about Steve Rogers, conspiracy theory stuff, "they think that he's in a secret base on the moon, looking down over us". LOL. What? Is Steve a moon angel now? or Santa Claus? "You didn't like fly him to the moon?" Sam assures him that's all very much silly foolishness. Steve's in Boca working on his tan.

Sam's back in D.C. giving a talk about Steve at the Smithsonian's National Air & Space museum. "And he mastered posing stoically". Hey, I have that picture. Also, RHODEY! Hi Rhodey!

"A few months ago, billions of people reappeared after 5 years away. Sending the world into turmoil." Again. I know this was meant to come out before WandaVision, but timeline-wise this works better.

"We need new heroes. Ones suited for the times we're in. Symbols are nothing without the women and men that give them meaning." Sam holds up The Shield. "I don't know if there's been a greater symbol." Aww, he's retiring the shield. He hands it off to museum people and they put it in a display case. I think Rhodey has some thoughts about this. I suspect Rhodey maybe doesn't agree.

Sam and Rhodey wander through the Cap exhibit and Sam's talking about how when he left (or got snapped, it's not like you had a choice about that, Sam), his nephews were babies and now they're little men. Awww. Rhodey says Sam should bring them to D.C., he'll teach them how to fly, "the right way". lol.

Rhodey says it's crazy to think nobody will be carrying the shield. Sam points out they went 70 years without, so like …

Rhodey wants to know why Sam didn't take up the mantle. BTW, this is a cool exhibit, marvel peeps. Sam says it feels like it belongs to someone else … Steve. Rhodey says everything's broken. Allies are enemies, things are torn apart. People are looking for somebody to make it better. Having made his pitch, Rhodey leaves Sam to stare mournfully at the shield. I think you're afraid to pick up the shield, Sam. Afraid you won't measure up. But, you can do it. I have faith. Also, Steve was kind of a disaster in his own way. He wasn't perfect, which was the point of Steve as a hero. Pick up the shield, Sam.

A fancy hotel, chatting people in the lobby, up to a mezzanine, a group of very Russian oligarch looking dudes and their security. And lo! A metal arm punches through a wall and the Winter Soldier, looking very Winter Soldiery appears and stabs some dudes in the neck. This has a sepia, dream/nightmareness to it. Oh yeah, it's his old shiny silver arm. Totally a nightmare/very bad memory. "Hail Hydra" and he kills the head Russian guy. The poor dude who was just chatting in the lobby is caught trying to get into his door. He swears he didn't see anything, begs for his life and the Winter Soldier shoots him. Bucky wakes up, breathing heavily. Poor Bucky.

Glad he's in therapy. I'm sure goat herding in Wakanda was good and peaceful and all, but, goats will only get you so far. Also glad we've skipped the "wanted terrorist" part and gone on to traumatized hero.

I get the feeling he's not the best patient. He lies to his therapist straight off. Twice. lol. "You're a civilian now. With your history the government needs to know, you're not gonna … [therapist makes stabby motion]." lol (I love this actress by the way. She's been in everything for ages. She's great). "It's a condition of your pardon. So tell me about your most recent nightmare." "I didn't have a nightmare." She starts writing, Bucky objects and tells her she's being passive-aggressive, but he gives in.  

He has a list of amends to make and three rules to follow. He crossed a name off. There's a Hydra pawn who's a senator, he helped her get into office. "After Hydra disbanded, she continued to use the power I gave her." Hmm. He tracks her car and listens in on her plotting to have a congressman killed.

* Rule number one: Can't do anything illegal.

He's hijacked the Senator's car and is remote controlling it, making it drive all out of control and freaking her out. He says he was collecting intel to give to an aide to convict her. Absolutely only did that. Not one illegal thing about that at all, no ma'am.

"Rule number two?" "Hmm. What was rule number two?" "Nobody gets hurt. It's a big one." "Then why isn't it rule number one?" Oh, Bucky, you're a jackass.

* Rule number two: Nobody gets hurt.

"I didn't hurt anybody. Promise." He totally broke a dude's hand and then punched him in the face, knocking him out. I mean, there's levels of 'hurt' I suppose.

"The whole point of making amends is to fulfill rule number three." "Of course I completed rule number three."

* Rule number three: "I am no longer the Winter Soldier. I am James 'Bucky' Barnes. And you're part of my efforts to make amends." He says to the corrupt senator he's just been terrifying. And then he walks away as a tac team pulls up. lol.

What I'm getting from this therapy session is that Bucky is a big fat fibber.

Also he's got a little black book full of names. Including, I see, H. Zemo. That's not going to go as smoothly as taking down a shady government fatcat, I think.

"So you did it all right, but it didn't help with the nightmares?" "Well, like I said, I didn't have any." Fibber.

People wanna help you Bucky and you can trust them. "I trust people," he mutters grumpily. She asks for his phone and he hands it over. Look, lady! Trust! Probably government mandated trust, but still!

"You don't have ten phone numbers on this thing." … I don't have ten phone numbers on my phone. :( "Oh, and you've been ignoring texts from Sam." Well …

"I am the only person you have called all week. That is so sad." lol. Tough love from the therapist. I'm feeling a little judged myself, though. "You're alone." ALRIGHT DON'T RUB IT IN!

"You're a hundred years old. You have no history. No family—" "Are you lashing out at me, doc? Because that's really unprofessional." I love you Bucky, but you are a disaster patient.

Bucky relents. "I'm trying. This is new for me. I didn't have a moment to deal with anything. I had a little calm in Wakanda. And other than that, I just went from one fight to another for 90 years." Get this man a goat farm!

"So now that you've stopped fighting, what do you want?" "Peace." A goat farm. "That is utter bullshit." lol "You're a terrible shrink." "I was an excellent soldier, so I saw a lot of dead bodies and I know how that can shut you down. And if you are alone, that is the quietest, most personal hell." Get some friends, Bucky. "I know you've been through a lot. But, you've got your mind back. You're being pardoned. These are good things. You're free." "To do what?"

On the streets of Brooklyn. Bucky breaks up an argument between neighbors about trashcans. Hey, Bucky has a friend! Yori Nakajima who's probably like 80+. Did you babysit him back in the day, Buck? har har. They were going to meet for lunch, but some punk named Unique was putting his trash into Mr. Nakajima's trash can and just derailed the whole day. The horror. No joke, though, people get so nutted up about that. It's weird to me. Of course, I did also have a neighbor who never put out his trash for pickup and just snuck out at night before trash day and distributed his garbage into in other people's bins. Cheapass.

"Hey man, I'm Unique. Like Monique but it's got a 'u' in there for uniqueness." Yeah, you should have let Yori smack him, Buck.

Well now Yori is just not in the mood for lunch. Bucky tries to persuade him, but one grumpy old man out grumps the other. "But Izzy. We always go to Izzy on Wednesday. What if I buy?" "Fine. But no talking." lol. BFFs!

Yori is looking at the obituaries. "Look, nobody made it past 90 this week." Bucky tsks "So young, such a shame."

Bucky kind of smiles at the girl behind the counter at the sushi joint, Yori tells him he should ask her out. Bucky makes a "are you nuts, shut up" face. That doesn't stop Yori. "He would like to take you out on a date. Maybe to bingo or a night of pinochle." You're a wild man, Yori!

She's down by it, though, and she and Yori hammer out the details while Bucky's like uh, okay, so wow, that's happening. "There's a dance to these things. You can't … you gotta warm up and I haven't danced since 1943."

Yori sees something and suddenly gets sad. His son loves red bean mochi. His son was a consultant, working abroad and he was killed. Oh. Oh Bucky, why you gotta … Yori's son was the innocent witness he killed at the hotel in his nightmare/memory. "I will never know what really happened to him." Brutal.

Delacroix, Louisana

Sam's on his way home. Wilson Family Seafood. Aww. His nephews are helping mom with the catch. "Blue for the snapper, orange for the white fish," Sam calls out. The boys run over to him. They do look like fine gentlemen. It's weird, Sam, I get it. I recently realized my oldest nephew will be 13 in May and it's like "no, he's only in kindergarten, what are you talking about?"

His sister greets him then tells him he's looking all sneaky. Sam deflects. Their boat has seen better days. The Paul & Darlene. Aww. Is that his parents names? "Baby being held together by duct tape and prayers." Just needs to float long enough for his sister to sell it. But Sam's all, uh I thought we were going to *discuss* that. Uh oh, family drama. "We did, and then you were off fighting Dr Space Cape or whatever (lol), while I was holding it together for five long years." Ouch.

Sam is not down by this selling the boat thing. His sister doesn't seem to think they're in a position to hold on to it. Also, she'd really like to not hash this out on the pier with like twenty other people around, Sam.

They get into more of an argument on the boat. The family biz is not doing well financially. Sarah won't let Sam help for some reason, and he makes some comment about the house and loans and she punches him in the chest. lol "I forgot how hard you hit."

Sam insists they can turn it around, consolidate loans. And she's all, been there done that, I've come to terms with this. He's a persistent little jerk. This is such a perfectly sibling argument. Notably he has moved himself out of punching range.

Aww, she wants to believe he can save the boat, but she has DOUBTS.

Back in Brooklyn. Bucky attempts his date. He turns up at the end of the sushi girl's shift and gives her flowers. "Well, if that's not the most adorably old-fashioned thing anyone's ever done."

They chat while she tidies. He tried online dating oh lol. It didn't take. She tells him "You sound like my dad. Wait how old are you?" "Hundred and six." Oh yeah, what a funny joke. Next she wants to know why he's wearing gloves. "I have … um … poor circulation." He grimaces at himself and glances out the window. Smooth as silk, Bucky. Smoooooth.

"Let's play a game." Now, I'm thinking like some weird dating word/get-to-know-each-other game or something. I don't know. But, nope, she means Battleship. lol. I like her.

The drinking game version of battleship. Bucky sucks at it. "You sure can drink." "Yeah, well." Super assassin, unfair advantage.

We're just going to rub in this whole The Winter Soldier killed Yori's son thing, as she says it's nice that he's spending time with the old man. Since he was all messed up after his son was murdered and how it was extra hard because he didn't know what happened. I'm not sure this is healthy, Bucky.

"There's no word for someone whose kids die." Okay, ouch, lady, jeez. Bucky looks like he wants to puke. Or crawl into a deep dark hole. Or something. "Because it's the worst thing that can happen." Bucky nopes right out the front door. So, maybe they should have played pinochle instead.

Bucky goes to Yori. Are you really going to tell this man you murdered his son when you were a brain-washed Hydra assassin? Yori asks how the date was, and Bucky sees a shrine to the man's son in the apartment. Poor Bucky. He makes some excuse about owing Yori for lunch and leaves. Yori's name is in his book of amends. :(

Back in Louisiana. Sam and the kids are packing up meals. His sister maybe wants to sell meals in addition to fish. Sam says they've got to get going to their appointment at the bank. She's says it's in an hour. Sam must be just the worst brother to live with "There's no such thing as on time. You're either early or late. Pick one." Man, no wonder he gets punched.

Switzerland

Lt Torres is walking down a street with an unusually large number of people just sort of milling around in the middle of the street looking at their phones. He's got his kind of hidden, recording. He stops a guy and asks if he knows what they're supposed to be doing. Oh it's the flag munchers, or whatever. There's a weird phony bird whistle and then people gather around a person handing out masks with red handprints on them. His decoy bad guy phone chirps and gives the order to run. A guy jumps out of a nearby building with two huge duffle bags (of money it seems) and walks off while the previously milling people become a seemingly panicked mob, distracting police and whatnot.

Torres tries to arrest the jumper guy, who appears to have some super strength as he kicks a policeman halfway across the street. Torres, you're cute, but not super bright. Torres gets body slammed and then stomped. He survives again, however, defying the odds.

At the bank. The account manager keeps giving Sam the side-eye as he goes through their paperwork. "Do I know you from somewhere." Sam's all modest, "I don't know. Do you?" And then he makes a little wing flappy move with his hands. lol. What a nerd. "Falcon!" Then he takes a selfie with Sam. Sarah is very done with all this. She tries to get them back on track. Account guy wants to know how Avengers make a living. Probably not looking good for your loan, Sam.

"Is there some kind of fund for heroes? Or did Stark pay you when he was around? My condolences, by the way."

Yeah, financially this is looking bad, my dude. "You have no income over the last five years." Well, but, he was blipped. I mean …

Alas, shot down for the loan.

Sam and Sarah argue on the street. Ah, Sam ran off to the Air Force and didn't deal with what was going on at home. Oh my, this is getting ugly. Speaking as someone who got disowned on account of a family business, let me just say, they're not easy. Nuh-uh.

"Half the boat's mine and so is the house. We're not selling our family's legacy." "You gonna do me like what when you know I'm right?"

I get it might be awkward to ask, but I bet you could have asked Pepper for a loan, Sam, and she would have given it to you gladly. Come on, man.

Later. Sam's working on the boat's engine, and it's not cooperating. In the cabin he looks at the family pictures on all the walls. He's having a rough day. About as rough as Torres who texts him to find a secure line and call him along with a selfie of his bruised and battered face. #important (lol, really?)

Sam watches the footage Torres caught and they chat about how Torres was supposed to be doing that stuff online and not getting his face kicked in in Switzerland.

Sarah interrupts and turns on the TV. Some guy is giving a speech about how everybody needs a hero. "We need someone who can inspire us again. Someone who can be a symbol for all of us. So on behalf of the Department of Defense and our Commander-in-Chief, it is with great honor that we announce here today that the United States of America has a new hero." hmm, no comment. Except, you should have taken up the shield, Sam. Now it's Sam's turn to look like he's going to puke. What did I say about power vacuums? Somebody will fill them, whether you want them to or not. 

This new guy looks like a goober. There, I said it.

credits

So … lots of setup. And very clear on the two guys trying to figure out where they fit in this world post blip and big wars. Both of them trying to fix broken families.

Plus a goober in a Cap suit.

So far so good. 

[tanyawritesstories]

Beneath the Armor | Kix x Reader

Came up with this fun little idea a while ago. I was supposed to publish it before I went on vacation but oh well. Hope you like it, Kixystycks deserves some love ♥️♥️

Warnings: SMUT, lingerie, teasing, Kix is a smug bastard

•••

You wiggled around a little bit to get used to the smooth lace fabric. Adjusting the straps of the bra and letting the panties glide over your hips. You looked in the mirror. Damn. You looked sexy in the red lace lingerie you had brought with you and were now wearing. You bought it on Coruscant and took it with you on this campaign, saving it for a special occasion. You knew this last battle to claim the planet would be a tough one and, without a doubt, your boyfriend Kix would be tired and stressed by the end of it. You wanted to help him out when that time came, so you planned on wearing the sexy garment underneath your modified blacks and armor. Hoping to surprise him when everything calmed down.

Someone pounded on the refresher door, startling you. “(Y/n), hurry up! We leave in ten!” You quickly scrambled into your blacks and exited the fresher. “What took you so long?” Kix asked. “Oh, you know,” you said, hastily getting into your special armor, “got lost in thought.” Kix smiled and helped you don the rest of your armor. Slinging your backpack of medical supplies onto your back, fitting your helmet onto your head and grabbing your blaster rifle. “Ready to go,” you confirmed. Kix put his hand on your shoulder piece reassuringly, the piece bearing the same medic symbol as him.

While most of the men in armor had been assigned this duty from birth, your story was different. You were a volunteer. Originally a surgeon on your home planet, you had joined the GAR after the Separatists invaded your home. You defended the city and it's survivors until the 501st arrived. General Skywalker saw your potential as a medic as well as a soldier and all you had to do was ask him to let you join them. The men had not taken well to you at first, being a woman and a civvie, but after a while they warmed up to you. Especially Kix. He admired you and your talents. He was just a field medic and you were a surgeon, you had much more experience then he did. You both shared the work and care of the men but you were in charge of the more difficult surgeries, with Kix aiding you to the best of his abilities.

After that Kix had gradually fallen for you but seemed you didn't feel the same way. Funnily enough, the exact same thing happened to you, in the same way. It went on for some time, Kix talking nonstop about you to Jesse, and you talking nonstop about Kix to Coric. Eventually Jesse and Coric got to talking and that resulted in the entire battalion setting you guys up to confess your feelings. 

You and Kix rushed down to the hangar and met the rest of the troops. General Skywalker gave the mission briefing and everyone was corralled into the gunships. The doors closed and the inside of the ship was plunged into near darkness. Everyone took a hold of the handles and you could feel the ship lift off. Kix held onto a handle and had his other arm around your back, you doing the same to him. Even in the dim light, Jesse was able to see your small action of affection. “Are you two going to hold hands if we get overpowered by droids, too?” He said, his snarky tone filling the silence in the gunship. “Oh cut it out,” you joked, taking your hand off the handle and swatting Jesse in the chest. The ship lurched and you were jolted forwards. Though Jesse would have been prepared to catch you, Kix had his arm around you and pulled you back into his chest, your helmets clunking together.

You held onto Kix and stared at him through your helmet. Even if you couldn’t see his eyes, you knew Kix was looking back at you. A chorus of ‘aww’s echoed through the gunship and Kix rolled his eyes. The ship lurched more as it got closer to the planet's surface and the distinct sound of artillery could be heard getting closer. You felt the ship land and the doors opened immediately. You rushed out into the fire fight, a little behind the General. You fired your blaster, trying your best to see through the smoke and dust. You were lucky for your helmet.

You expected the chaos and usual madness which came with these battles. However, this was the last one and if everyone could destroy the last of the droids, the planet would be free.

Something you did not expect was for a bomb to go off not far from you. You were thrown backwards and the explosion left your ears ringing, but you got up and ran to help the men caught in the blast. Most of them were dead, but you found two still alive and in bad shape. You injected them with pain dulling drugs, and did your best to temporarily dress their wounds. You looked up and saw Kix quite a ways in front of you, so you called Coric to help you instead. He helped you carry both men back from the front where he could work on them better. You ran back out into the fray.

The 501st was advancing but slowly. Bombs were going off in every other direction, keeping you, Kix, and Coric busy. You had just finished off a couple droids, when you heard a missile heading your way. You grabbed the trooper next to you and ran. You weren't able to get far enough away before the bomb landed and you were thrown into the air again, landing hard against the ground. Your helmet was knocked off and you were dazed, your vision blurry, ears ringing, and balance way off. You clumsily got to your feet and staggered in one spot. You were too out of it to notice the commando droid sneaking up behind you. Someone yelled your name and you turned around in time to see it raise it's sword-like weapon and slash at you. You backed up but the blade still made contact, tearing through your flesh in a diagonal line. You heard more yelling and fell backwards onto the ground. You saw the commando droid get shot down with an array of blaster fire. You were vaguely aware of the burning sensation across your torso but, unable to stay awake, your eyes rolled into your head and you lost consciousness.

Kix witnessed the entire event, he being the one screaming your name. He ran to your body and saw you out cold, he checked your pulse, still alive. He called for help and Tup came running to help him carry you back to cover. He had stabilized you when General Skywalker announced over the comm that they had taken the city. The enemy had been defeated. Cheers erupted from the soldiers while Kix remained worried still. The gunships arrived right away and the injured were taken back to the star cruiser first. Kix insisted on working on you first, and by himself, he would have to remove your armor, blacks and possibly more and he didn't want anyone else to see his girlfriend that way. Coric assured Kix he and a med droid could take care of the other men. The General gave Kix a private room to tend to you and he got to work.

He removed your broken armor carefully. Those droids must have gotten more advanced blades if they could slice right through plastoid. He checked out your head, luckily your helmet had taken most of the force, it was a miracle you hadn't gotten a concussion. He saw the blood seeping through your blacks and quickly cut your top off. He was not expecting what was underneath. Instead of your usual bra you were wearing a red lacy bra that was mostly see through. Kix stared for a few seconds, shocked. The sight would've normally aroused him, had you not been bleeding heavily from the gash going from your left rib cage down to your right hip. Kix took off your bottom as well, finding a matching pair of red lace panties. Why in the blazes were you wearing lingerie underneath your armor? Kix pushed the question aside and got to work on stitching up your wound.

~~~~

Your eyelids fluttered open and you had to blink to accommodate for the blinding light. Once your eyes adjusted you saw that you were in the medbay, lying in a bed with a loose sterile gown on, and a burning pain going through your stomach. You groaned and sat up, turning your head when you heard the door open. Kix entered and sat on the edge of the bed.

"How are you feeling?" He asked. "I've got a headache and my stomach feels like it's being ripped apart," you answered. Kix moved the covers down and lifted your gown to see underneath. "Your stitches are still intact, it's just the pain catching up to you. Let me get something for you." He walked across the room and grabbed an injector. He stuck it into your neck and pushed the pain dulling fluid into your body. "Do you remember what happened?"

"A commando droid tried to dice me," you laughed, "and I almost got blown up."

"You could have died and you're laughing about it?" He questioned, clearly not expecting that reaction.

"Well I'm ok now, aren't I?"

"Thanks to me," He added. "Yes, thanks to you, dearest," you smiled at him. Kix crossed his arms and smiled halfheartedly. "You owe me," he said going back to the medical cabinet. "I know," you said sarcastically. 

"Speaking of that," Kix continued, opening a drawer, "care to explain these?"

He turned around to face you, your red lace panties dangling from his index finger. You blushed as red as the garment he held in his hand. You completely forgot you had been wearing those. You looked away to hide the embarrassment on your face.

"It-it was supposed to be a surprise," you stuttered. You started playing with your fingers, something Kix knew you always did when you were nervous.

"A surprise, hmm?" He swayed over to your side, "Who for?"

"You," you mumbled, "after the battle ended." Kix tilted your chin up to see your eyes, a smug expression on his features.

"That's awfully sweet of you, love. But I'm afraid because of your injury you won't be able to put on a show for me until you heal." You pouted. "So I'll just put these in here," Kix stuffed the panties into a pouch in his belt, "Until that time comes."  Your eyes darkened at the thought of Kix carrying your panties around with him everywhere he went.

"That time had better come fast."

~~~~

It was another week until your wound was only a scar and the 501st was headed back to Coruscant. Kix had been teasing you the entire time. Whether it was sending playful smirks your way, or briefly brushing his fingers over your skin. He had even flashed you the red lace still kept on his belt from time to time. Needless to say, you were desperate for him now.

You had gotten off medbay duty and was heading back to your room. You wanted a shower and sleep more than almost anything right now, almost anything. You got to your room, which you had specially to get privacy from the boys in the barracks. Pressing in the code and allowing the door to slide open. You walked in and discarded your medical coat, you walked into the bedroom and jumped in surprise. Kix was sitting on your bed with his hands behind his back.

"Hey babe."

"Hi, Kix. What're you up to?"

He stood up, still hiding something behind his back. "You're all healed up now. Do you remember what I told you would happen once you got better?"

"You haven't let me forget," you replied. He chuckled, walking slowly towards you, "I thought you might not. So head to the fresher, put these on, and then I have a surprise for you."

Kix brought the lingerie set out from behind his back and placed the bra and panties in your hands. You smirked and took them, kissing him on the cheek before disappearing into the refresher. You threw off your clothes as fast as you could and donned the lingerie. You made sure to tidy up your hair and spray some perfume on to get rid of the smell of sweat, which would probably be doubled afterwards anyway. After checking your appearance, you excited the refresher. Your mouth dropping open the moment you stepped out. 

Kix was completely naked, laying on his side propped up by an elbow, his legs were spread and he was slowly stroking his cock.

You could feel your arousal making your folds slick, undoubtedly leaving a wet patch on your panties. You stared and Kix's eyes locked with yours, his brown orbs darkened with lust. He used his free hand to beckon you to him. You hastily made your way to his side and dropped to your knees, inches from his face. He closed the gap, your lips meeting in a heated exchange. You wrestled for dominance, gaining it when you replaced Kix's other hand with yours, slowly stroking him. He gasped and you slid your tongue into his mouth. 

With your lips still connected, you pushed him to lay down and climbed on top of him. You continued massaging him and Kix returned the favor by pushing the panties aside and circling your clit with his thumb. Your lips broke apart and you let out a series of lewd noises.

"You make such pretty sounds, baby," Kix praised. You rocked your hips against his fingers and he pushed two inside you, your walls fluttering around his digits. You used his chest for support to hold yourself up as your knees threatened to give out.

"Kix," you moaned out, his fingers hitting that sweet spot inside you, "I want.."

"What do you want, princess?" He said, smug as ever. "Can-can I ride you?" Kix cursed under his breath. "Absolutely. Hop on, princess." He reluctantly removed his fingers, eagerly sticking them into his mouth to taste your juices. You watched him, you desire growing, hungry to feel him inside you. You reached around your back, intent on undoing the bra clasp.

"No, no, leave that on," he took your hands from behind your back and placed them on his chest. "You got this lingerie specially for me and I want to see you ride me in it." You hummed and took his member in your hand again. You moved your panties aside with the other hand and slowly sank down, engulfing his length. Kix hissed underneath you and dug his fingers into your hips, you could see his muscles tense and knew he was enjoying himself. 

You sank all the way down and took a few seconds to adjust to his size. You were filled to the brim and moaned out his name. He moaned along with you, praising how good you felt around him. You ground your hips causing Kix to let out broken noises of pleasure. You began to bounce on his cock, setting a steady rhythm. He became a moaning mess beneath you, kneading your ass and reaching up to fondle your tits.

Your legs started to burn after a while, “Kix, can you.. my legs..” He pulled you down onto his chest, wrapping his arms around you, your skin sticking together and heartbeats syncing. “Shh, don’t worry, princess.” He planted his feet on the bed and braced his legs before he pounded up into you. The increasing speed spurred on the noises of pleasure falling from your lips. The tightening sensation grew in your lower stomach, as Kix hit that spot deep inside you. Whole body bursting with heat and pleasure, your nerves and brain in overdrive, only able to comprehend how good you felt.

Kix’s hands found purchase on your hip and shoulder. He slammed into you, the sound of skin harshly hitting skin filling the room, along with your moans and his grunts and growls. You gripped his shoulders and bit and sucked on his neck, making sure to leave marks that would surely be purple in the morning. He shuddered underneath you and you knew he was close. You moved your hips in time with his fast paced thrusts.

“I’m getting close,” he voiced. You reached down to play with your clit, bringing yourself to the edge. Kix’s movements got sloppy and with a few more thrusts he was spilling inside you, biting and moaning into your shoulder.

The feeling of his seed coating your walls set off your own orgasm and your release mixed with his where the two of you were connected. You stayed in that position as your breathing came back down to normal. Still connected, Kix rolled you both onto your sides, kissing you lovingly. You both laid, basking in the afterglow of sex.

Kix gently pulled out of you once he softened and went to the refresher, coming back with a small, damp towel. He cleaned you off, careful not to touch the sensitive areas. After discarding the towel, he laid down beside you and you insisted on being the big spoon. 

"Did you like your surprise that you already knew about?" You asked.

"Yes, although I wish you wouldn't have gotten hurt for me to find out," Kix replied. "That wasn't part of my plan," you stated, "it does have me thinking, however, of what other things I could surprise you with under my armor. Maybe I'll wear nothing next time." 

Kix rolled over to face you, his eyes clouded again. "Careful, baby. Don't get me riled up." You ran your fingers down his chest. "What if that's exactly what I want?" You purred. Kix rolled so he was hovering over you. "You're going to be sorry you asked," he breathed, "when I'm done you won't be able to walk for days."

[littlerit]

When I saw that scene of Luther purposely losing in the ring, it made me start thinking of the possibilities of him receiving a beating as a punishment as a child... Then that thought led me to picturing how I could hurt ol' Reggie for what he put those kids through. Do you think he was beaten? Like, possibly Reggie saying that it's to help 'harden' Luther's skin or muscles, like how Five saw Luther stop a missile with his body in season 2.

Reggie was a manipulative bastard ;-;

Reggie was a manipulative bastard

Yes, yes he was. And I think he makes a great character and former (now turning current.again I guess with s2) Antagonist for the siblings but also I do wanna wring his neck too.

Do I think Luther was beaten?

I'm not sure to be honest. I seem to headcanon Reggie as using his cane for discipline, I've written it into atleast three of my fics now, but I don't know that I would believe he would just beat Luther to toughen him up (although I do think it's a very interesting idea to explore!). I feel like a lot of the damage Reggie inflicted on Luther he did by manipulating Luther to inflict it on himself. 🤔

Um side note though, thinking about it, there's actually a technique in the horse world called "strapping", or "pounding" when done by a vet physio, where using either a leather pad or your hands (flat bottoms of fists or the side of Palms like a karate chop) to rhythmically pound the muscles to encourage tensing and release which builds and strengthens muscles in the hindquarters.

So.... Maybe? Calls it physio but takes it too far makes it quite painful? But then again it depends on if Luther's strength is just what it is, like Diego's aim, or something that increases with his body strength, so there's an incentive to being fit and strong other than health. 🤔

Long waffley post put short: I'm not sure! 😅

[noonachronicles]

The End of the F**king World Pt. 1

Byun Baekhyun X Reader

Word Count: 8k

Warnings: Language. Violent imagery if you squint.

Genre: Apocalyptic/Alien Invasion AU. Slow Burn (ish?). One pining pup and one idiot in denial to eventual lovers.

A/N: I mean, idk, but do I ever?  ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

Don’t forget to read the Prologue!

There wasn’t a single cloud in the sky, which left the sun free to beat down on every inch of the city. Showering it completely in light. It was nice, the sun, especially when it had been mostly dark and rainy for weeks. Basking in the light of the sun this city looked like every other city in the world. Absolutely every other city.

Cement sidewalks and asphalt roads with their gaping holes from where bombs and missiles had landed. Skyrise buildings half destroyed by fires or from flooding. Windows covered in plywood, plywood riddled with bullet holes. Not a business in sight that hadn’t been ransacked. Nearly every inch of wall space and every abandoned or crashed vehicle was covered in spray paint. Messages of hope for survivors, warnings about certain spots in the city, brief apologies and goodbyes from those who just couldn’t do it anymore. Plants, weeds, grass, and flowers growing through cracks in cement. Overgrowth in certain places making the city look like a literal urban jungle.  

Every major city in the world looked like this because every major city in the world got hit in exactly the same way. If not in the first wave then the second, and if not in the second then the third. And so on and so forth until they were all just empty shells of what they had once been.

The sound of your boots crunching against gravel and broken glass didn't even register to you any longer as you made your way down the empty street. Finally you found what you’d been looking for. A shop you’d noticed the other week but hadn’t had the chance to visit yet. The toy store was dark inside, left mostly untouched by looters except for the cash register. It had probably been busted open in the very beginning when people thought there would still be a use for money.

Old currency was rendered useless and the only survivors left now were the innovators, you thought to yourself as you peered through the window frame. It didn’t matter anymore what you had. Survival was about what you could do with what you found. The thought left you wondering how many people had walked past this shop without realizing its potential.

The storefront consisted of a three paneled window. Two of the panels had been smashed to nothing leaving an easy entrance into the store. The third window stood untouched, looking pristine. You rapped your knuckles against the completely intact glass and waited. It only took a couple of seconds. You could hear them before you saw them. A low hissing that sounded like getting the drool sucked out of your mouth at the dentists broke up with intermittent clicking. The sound either made your skin crawl in terror or it annoyed you. Today, luckily, it was just an annoyance more than anything else.

Grabbing the knife from the strap on your thigh, you focused in on the shadows of the aisles. There were two sets of four beady, silver eyes lurking in the dark. With a sigh you stepped through one of the broken windows and into the store. The hissing and clicking grew louder and more chaotic at your more obvious presence in the room. Resting the blade of your knife on your shoulder you made your aim. Then with a quick snap of your wrist the knife had shot through the air and projected into the shadows.

What happened next went fast, you knew it had to from your experience. As the first blade slipped from your fingers your hand had already dropped down to grab the second. The blade of the knife stuck between the four silver eyes and they went black. As the first grayish green, scaled beast fell forward into the light it’s counterpart opened its mouth wide to release a shrill shriek. The noise only pierced your ears briefly as you’d already thrown the second knife, the blade catching the beast in the throat. Those silver eyes drained to black as well and then it also fell forward into the light. Reaching into your pocket you pulled out your small flashlight and clicked it on. Quickly, you scanned the other aisles of the store for other Lurkers. You were pleased to find none.

First things first. You moved over to the cash register and searched the shelves of the rounded counter. As to be expected it was mostly tiny plastic trinkets at eye level that children would have instantly fallen in love with and would offer one last minute, desperate plea for. You did eventually find what you were looking for. There on the bottom self seated between a box of rock hard tootsie rolls and several bags of gummy worms that looked like they’d melted during the summer heat and then cooled into a blobby swirl of sugary color. A jar of, likely expired, blow pops. Tearing off the lid you shoved your hand in to grab one. You unwrapped it quickly and shoved the candy between your cheek and teeth with a satisfied sigh.

With your sweet tooth satiated for now you bagged the rest of the suckers as well as a jar of jolly ranchers. Then you went to pull your knives from the Lurkers you’d left bleeding out onto the linoleum floor. Placing one foot against the head of the first Lurker you tugged at the handle of the knife until the blade was released with a nasty squelch. You gagged at the sound, for some reason that was always the worst part for you, and moved to the second. With both blades freed from their victims you stood up and looked around your immediate area. Thick, black, gooey blood dripped from the blades onto the floor with little splats. On the shelf next to you there was a display of stuffed kittens with big, pitiful eyes covered in a thin layer of dust.

“Sorry, buddy.” you said snatching one of the kittens and swiping your blades clean against the soft fur before tucking them back into their holster.

You walked the front part of the store first, making a mental inventory of what was there that you would consider usable. On the other side of the room there was a spinning display rack that had been completely stripped of its contents except for one single package of batteries. That’s what you’d come in for.

“Fuck.” you muttered and snatched the lone package from the rack and tore it open.

At least you could replace the batteries in your flashlight, which had been functioning on borrowed time.

Once your flashlight was back at full power you started to make your way down the aisles. Continuing to take more notes of inventory, you searched for something that would be useful now. Dragging your finger through the dirt on the shelves you passed left a cleared line in its wake. You’d found baby dolls, Barbie dolls, and more stuffed animals. Princess dresses and plastic jewelry. There was plastic, silver tiara on one shelf, with little plastic jewels. You grabbed it and placed it on your head before continuing on.

Basketballs, tennis rackets, and skateboards lined the next aisle. The one after that had action figures and puzzles. You took a mental note to let Baekhyun know about the rack of lightsabers. Though considering how much trouble he’d gotten in the last time he had one you’d have to save both of you the trouble and tell him when Chanyeol wasn’t around. By then you’d nearly given up on finding anything when you reached the back corner and saw exactly the kind of thing you were hoping for. An entire display of toddler toys, each box with a red sticker and bold white letters that read, Batteries Included!

“Oh, jackpot.” you grinned, dropping your backpack on the ground and getting to work.

The first few months after the invasion were the hardest. The stress from uncertainty had aged everyone a hundred years. The four of you had stayed in the safe room for four days before venturing out. It took four days of Baekhyun and Chanyeol watching the security cameras endlessly and listening to the random frequencies the radio would pick up, trying to learn what they could, before they felt confident enough to open the door. It ended up being lucky because the night they decided it was time, was the night the electricity shut off for good. None of you slept that night. You just sat with the flashlight in the center of the room and waited for what you’d hoped would be enough time for there to be daylight outside.

It had to be daylight. If nothing else the guys had confirmed that the creatures never came out during the day. There were hoards of them during the night hours but there was something about the light that made them sensitive. Baekhyun had a theory that there was something wrong with their eyes. He didn’t think they could see or if they could they couldn’t see very well. He felt confident that their strongest sense was their hearing. He ended up being correct, you’d found out after watching them a little longer.

In fact they ended up being relatively ineffective threats once you’d figured them out. They were easy to maneuver around as long as there weren’t too many. They were blind as bats and pretty easy to kill if you got them in any of their softer areas which turned out to be anywhere on their necks and the diamond shaped patch between their eyes. The unfortunate part was that if you found one there were more than likely a dozen more and that’s when you’d find trouble. One or two were easy to kill. Even three was doable for a select few of you, if you were on your own. If you ran into a pack or you ran into them at night however, you were done for. They became chaotic attackers when they had the support of a hoard behind them. Like wild, rabid dogs they would tear their victim to shreds in a minute or less. Which was why they still terrified you even after three years.  

What you’d found when you walked out of the jewelry store on that fourth day was the complete destruction of everything you’d ever known. At that point almost everything still seemed to be on fire. Looters had come and gone, and were likely dead if they hadn’t gone into hiding in time. Buildings were still crumbling, sending debri crashing to the ground. Electricity was out everywhere but you did find that water was still running in some areas. You cried when you washed yourself for the first time in days. It wasn’t even anything nice. It was you in the bathroom of a coffee shop in your underwear, standing in front of the sink and wiping your body down with paper towels and hand soap. Still you cried. You’d cried a lot those first months, that whole first year really. You cried less these days.

Anywhere you walked you could see the creatures lurking in the dark, watching every move you made. Hissing, clicking and waiting for the sun to set. It’s why you’d all agreed they would be referred to as Lurkers, because that’s what they did. You didn’t go back to the jewelry store that night. You didn’t go back for more than a year. Instead the four of you collected food and what weapons you could before finding somewhere new and safe to stay. You did that every night for a week. You didn’t know exactly what Chanyeol and Baekhyun were looking for but you knew when they found it you could finally settle.

Hopping around from place to place is how you found Irene. She was a mess when you found her. Holed up in the corner of a broken cooler at a convenience store behind a barrier made out of boxes of beer. Trembling, sobbing, and dehydrated. It took hours for you to get her to even speak her name clearly. Later you found out her boyfriend had barricaded her in the cooler for her safety after he promised her he’d be back once he found his little brother. Then she watched him get torn apart by Lurkers through the cooler door while having to remain completely silent or risk being attacked herself. After that she joined your family, and the four of you became five.

As the days and weeks passed and you had become more comfortable and confident you started to explore the city. It was less for entertainment and done more so out of necessity. You needed supplies like food and weapons. The more you wandered and scavenged the more survivors you found. Groups of people like yours who’d been together since the invasion. As more people came out from their hiding spots obvious leaders showed themselves within your families, as your groups had been defined.

There were eight families and together you were the Community. The heads of each family met constantly in the beginning, trying to work out how best to work with one another and what they could offer each other. They all wanted to make sure that their families had everything they needed to survive without taking from any other families. In the end the city was separated into nine boroughs, a space for each family, each equal in square mileage. The ninth borough was the city center. All of the major arenas and theatres were there, all of the city's largest buildings. Underground parking lots at every corner. It was a hotbed for Lurkers. Entering any building was more than useless, it was a deathwish. Though it was safe enough to pass through during the day, so long as you stuck to the streets, by night it was wall to wall Lurkers.  

During the first year the Community met once a day after scavanges and doled out supplies. Each family took only what they needed and then the rest was stored by the original scavenger. After the first year half of the survivors were gone. Mostly loss came from accidents or illness. Things that happened that required a doctor, a doctor that you didn’t have. However on the rare occasion someone would walk outside in the middle of the night and scream at the top of their lungs.

Nobody thought them cowardly. It wasn’t an easy life, there was nothing desirable about it. You weren’t even sure where your own will to survive was coming from. It hadn’t been as if there was an expiration date on Lurkers. There was no timeframe for when this would be over. No ETA of your old life getting back to you. No visible end to the invasion. Still you woke up every day and you tried. When you went to bed you went to bed with every expectation of doing it again the next day.

After the first year the Community had become a well oiled machine. Everything had been so well organized. And there were so few people that supplies started to last longer and there was less of a need to meet up everyday. Now the whole Community only came together once a week for a check in. This week's meeting happened to be today.

Once you’d broken apart every toddler toy in the store and collected their batteries, you found a manager's office in the back. You sat down in the pleather chair and pulled your walkman out of your backpack, replacing the batteries that had been dead for a couple days. Having the sound of music flowing through you brought you a sense of joy and content that you couldn’t explain. It was the only thing you’d found since the invasion that could bring you any sort of content or calm. Without it your brain was constantly running a thousand miles a minute with worry and anxiety. You weren’t sure what you’d do when the city stopped providing you with AA batteries.

As the music played you twirled around in the desk chair a few times with a yawn, before deciding to check the room for supplies. There wasn’t too much, a couple things here and there, but in the bottom drawer of the desk you found five of the little airplane sized bottles of whiskey and a dusty, water warped copy of 50 Shades of Grey. After downing two of the little bottles you’d kicked your feet up on the desk and flipped open the book. Then, with a pretty good buzz brewing, you read aloud to an audience of two dolls, a stuffed monkey and three Batman figurines sitting on top of a file cabinet. The next thing you knew you’d amused yourself to tears and were late to the meeting.

Luckily you weren’t too far from the amphitheater where the meetings were held, just a handful of blocks away. You’d even tried to sprint it but were embarrassed to realize that the little amount of alcohol you’d had left you in less than peak condition. In all fairness it had been a while since you’d really had a drink. It had been a long while since anyone had indulged in a drink really. In the first few months a lot of people drank heavily as a way to cope and to avoid thinking about the reality of the situation. Reckless, unchecked drinking unfortunately led to a lot of accidents and those accidents led to the deaths of several people. There had been one night when a member of one of the bigger families drank half a bottle of tequila and didn’t close the door to their shelter well enough. That night twenty people were lost. After that it was rare for people to drink, it was even rarer for them to get drunk.  

The meeting had already started when you’d arrived. You could hear Chanyeol’s voice from outside the amphitheater as you stopped to catch your breath. Catching a glimpse of yourself in the reflection of a ticket booth window, you realized you were still wearing the toy tiara you’d found. Spitting the gum from your blow pop into some grass, you pulled the tiara from your head and shoved it in a trash can near the entrance.

Everyone was already there, which wasn’t a surprise but it was still embarrassing when they realized you’d just come in. Every head turned to look at you. Chanyeol, Hyunwoo, Jihyo, Taeyong, Solar, Hongjoon, Hanbin, and Seungcheol all sat in the center as the representatives of their families, silently watching as you made your way towards the group. You avoided eye contact with Chanyeol at all costs, ducking your head as you made your way to your usual spot next to Seulgi.

“You’re late.” she whispered as Taeyong continued with what it was he’d been saying in reply to Chanyeol.

“Obviously…” you whispered back, she pinched your side until you flinched, “Did I miss anything?”

She shook her head no and you both turned your attention to Chanyeol who had stood again to speak.

“General census has been that all families are low on food and the map doesn’t look great either, we’ve almost scavenged the entire limits of the city with the exception of the red zone. All food source locations are near depleted in zones with larger families, the others are getting close as well. Next week each family will send two members to the Farm for supplies and fresh food. Heads have been discussing that we need to put more focus on our own gardens around the city. We’ll be changing priorities from scavenging to gardening and livestock. The few of us who will continue to scavenge will need to...will need to start moving outside of the city.”

Unease ran through the group, and there was a steady hum of murmurs. Leaving the city limits was a nerve wracking suggestion because no one in the Community had left the city since the first wave. No one knew how things were out there. And of the very few people who had gone to scope it out, no one had ever returned. The only place the Community went that was outside of the city limits was the Farm.

The Farm was a huge compound on a stretch of farmland where an actual family had taken up residence. They had well stocked food storage, thriving gardens, and hoards of livestock. It was also protected under a massive security system. The family who lived on the Farm had come into the city not realizing it was occupied. When they found the Community and what you had to offer, they made a deal . They would exchange fresh fruits and vegetables, and eggs and meat from the livestock where they could spare it for fresh water which was the only thing they couldn’t seem to get steady access to. So twice a month the Community would send a group to collect the food supplies and drop off a water truck with a full tank.

Once the group had settled down after Chanyeol’s announcement there were still a few topics to discuss before the meeting was over. The end of the meeting really only meant that it was time for the group to break off into smaller cliques for further discussions and gossip.

“What if they don’t accept the water after the rain? That was a long stretch, they may not need it. What are we going to do without food?” You heard Sehun say as everyone talked over one another.      

You’d actually been pretty interested in listening in on that conversation but Chanyeol had sat down beside you. “You were late.”

“I know. I’m sorry, Yeol.” you looked up at him with your most convincingly innocent smile which only made him laugh.

“You know I worry. And worse, you know I had to hear about it endlessly from Baek.” he said, raising an eyebrow.

Nodding you pulled one of the suckers from your jacket pocket and offered it to him. “I got caught up and lost track of time. I’m sorry I made you worry. Forgive me?”

He already had the sucker unwrapped and stuck in his cheek when he nodded, “Forgiven. Just don’t be late back home. I don’t need you getting locked out.”

He patted the top of your head as he stood and you watched him take off. Seulgi who was talking in a group a little ways away saw him leaving and ditched her friends to chase after him. You frowned as you watched. It had turned out that they hadn’t been dating before the invasion like you thought. They’d definitely shared some pretty deep feelings for each other, but neither one had the nerve to make any moves. The invasion and imminent threat of death had apparently been the kick in the ass they’d needed to confess their feelings to each other. Still, of everything that had happened over the last few years the one thing you couldn't wrap your head around was people getting attached to each other. You just couldn’t understand falling in love.

Over the last three years the Community had lost so many people from death and disappearance. You had lost so many people. All your friends and family from before the first wave were just gone. Any family and all of your other friends. They were all dead as far as you knew. You would never get to say goodbye, never get to tell them how much you loved them. The hardest out of all of them to get over was Siwon. Things weren’t always perfect between the two of you but you’d been together for five years. As far as you had been concerned he’d been it for you. You’d been ready to spend the rest of your life with him, if he’d ever gotten the chance to ask you to. You’d imagined a future with him, buying a house and starting a family. Then in one day you had it all ripped away from you and the pain of it had been unbearable. You didn’t have a future, you didn’t have love. You didn’t even want it anymore. All you had and all you needed was to survive.

You couldn’t see the appeal of falling in love with someone who could be torn from you at any moment. Or intentionally putting yourself through the eventual pain of loss. You didn’t even like that you had to worry about losing Seulgi. The chance of risk versus the low reward just didn’t seem worth it to you. However, Seulgi was happy and as much as you didn’t understand giving your love to anyone anymore, you were happy for her. She was happy. She had a reason to keep going, and that’s all you could really ask for her or anyone else for that matter.

Throwing your backpack over your shoulder you waved goodbye to the others that were left and took off back up the stairs alone. Outside of the amphitheater you saw Hyunwoo chatting with Hanbin and Baekho, while Taemin and Jongin waited nearby. When he saw you Hyunwoo smiled and said something to the others before hurrying over to where you had been walking.  

“Hey,” he said, catching up to you.

“Hi.” you grinned.

“Hold up a second, I have something for you.” he said, grabbing your elbow.

You stopped walking and turned towards him, “For me? Why?”

“You know why.” he smirked. He moved closer to you so there was hardly any space between your bodies. One of his hands reached into his jacket and he pulled out a small, square, gold box with a red ribbon wrapped around it. “I know you didn’t want a big deal made out of your birthday, but I had to at least get you something.”

“You really didn’t have to get me anything.” you assured him, turning the box over in your hands.

“Fine. I wanted to get you something.” he corrected, “Will you just open it?”

You tugged the ribbon from the box and lifted the lid. A tiny gasp escaped your mouth at the sight in front of you. “Hyunwoo…”

“It’s expired, but only by a few months.”

Your eyes had filled with tears so quickly you couldn’t stop the single tear from slipping down your cheek. “It’s so beautiful. I love it. Thank you so much.”

He grinned as you pulled the chocolate bar from the box. “Don’t share it with anyone, okay?”

“Oh don’t worry, I will not be sharing with anyone. Not even you so don’t ask.” you laughed and wrapped your arms around his broad shoulders. “Thank you so much. Seriously, it means the world that you would give this to me.”

“You mean the world to me.” he said quietly squeezing you back, and then he pulled away, “To us. You mean the world to all of us. You’re always doing so much for the whole Community, my two idiots especially.”

You were grateful for the excuse to look away from him, to look over at Taemin and Jongin as your cheeks burned with a blush. “It’s nothing. You know I love them.”

“Alright.” he cleared his throat and looked over at the still waiting Taemin, Jongin duo. “Get home safe tonight. I have to get the kids home for dinner.”

“You be safe too Hyunwoo, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

Tucking your gift into the pocket of your backpack you smiled to yourself. Maybe...maybe you could see yourself with someone like Hyunwoo. You’d seen him in action, you knew he could handle himself well in a fight. He didn’t need to be protected or taken care of. You wouldn’t need to feel responsible for him all the time or to worry about him too much. Plus he was a sweetheart and absolutely gorgeous, which never hurt.

“What was that about?”

Pulled from the thought you looked up to see Baekhyun. He was sitting on a short, brick wall. His feet dangled from side to side as he chewed anxiously on his thumbnail.

“What was what about?” you asked as he hopped off the wall and fell in line with you as you walked.

“Whatever just happened between you and Hyunwoo.” He was trying to be casual about the conversation but you could feel the energy vibrating off of him.

You sighed, “Nothing, Baek. Don’t worry about it.”

“Are you guys like together? You never said anything. Are you going to leave us? Are you going to stay with his family now? It’s just guys over there, you know? What about Seulgi? Does she know? She’ll be really upset.” he rambled nervously.

“No, Baek,” you chuckled, “I’m not going anywhere. I’m not dating anyone.”

“What did he say? It looked like he gave you something. What were you hugging him for?”

“Baekhyun!” You growled looking over at him with wide eyes, “Breathe. Calm down. Christ.”

He did as he was told and shut his mouth. He stuffed his hands deep in his pockets and took a deep breath. “Okay. I’m chill. You still didn’t answer any of my questions.”

“Well you asked about twenty all at once…” you said sarcastically and looked over at him and his big sad eyes. “Fine.”

Pulling your backpack around to your chest you pulled the chocolate bar from your bag and handed it over to him. He grabbed the candy and flipped it over in his hands.

“Shit. This is like ...European chocolate.” he said in awe, “This is the good shit. I haven’t seen stuff this nice in…”

“Months.” you said quietly.

“At least.” He handed the bar back to you, “God, what did he do? Ask you to marry him with that thing?”

You laughed as you put it back in the bag and then swung the bag back over your shoulders. “No. It was just a gift.”

“A gift? What for?” he asked, kicking a chunk of cement off the sidewalk.  

Baekhyun wasn’t going to let it go. You’d spent enough time with him to know that about him. Taking a quick look around the street to make sure there was no one nearby you said as quietly as you could manage without whispering. “It’s my birthday.”

“Your birthday?” he shouted, his voice echoing against the towering buildings that surrounded.

“Shhh.” you hissed.

“Why? It’s really your birthday?” He asked looking wounded, “You didn’t say anything.”

“It’s not a big deal, I don’t want anyone to know. So please...just shut up about it.”

“Hyunwoo knew. Did you tell him?”

You groaned, “Yes, but it had been by accident. He wasn’t supposed to find out.”

Still he looked upset, “I’m sorry I didn’t know. I would have gotten you something.”

You rolled your eyes subtly. “It’s fine, Baek. I swear it’s fine. I didn’t want anything, that’s why I didn’t tell anyone.”

“No, I should have known already. I should have remembered from before.”

“I’m honestly glad you didn’t.”

“I just wish there was time for me to find you a good gift. I feel like a real jerk.” He sighed, “And Hyunwoo got you chocolate? Damn.”

“I promise you, it’s okay.” You assured him once more as he trudged dramatically down the sidewalk beside you.

Suddenly he lit up with a smile, “What about a joke? Can I tell you a joke? Have you had a really good laugh today?”

You grinned. Secretly you’d become pretty fond of his daily jokes. “That sounds like the perfect gift.”

“Okay…” you watched as his face turned quite serious while he thought of the best joke. “Got it. What do you call bees that produce milk?”

“I don’t know. What do you call them?” You couldn’t help your half smile at the fact that he was already chuckling at his own joke.

“Boo-BEES.” He said with the biggest, cheesiest smile.

The laugh came even if the joke was terrible. A real shoulder shaking, teeth out laugh.

“Oh my god, I hate you so much.” You continued laughing and he just smiled back at you.

“Good. I love you too.” He said, the same way he always did when you told him you hated him. “Happy birthday, Y/n.”

You blushed, the tiniest of blushes. “Thanks, Baek.”

“You’re welcome.” He sighed happily. Pleased, you assumed, that his joke had gone over so well. After that the rest of the walk back was comfortably quiet.

Cordially was a club downtown, or it had been before the invasion. It had been made wildly popular by its exclusivity. It was the only by-invitation-only club you knew of. They would hand deliver invitations every week. White cardstock with red embossment that red simply, ‘You are cordially invited”. Then on the back it either said Friday or Saturday to indicate what day your invitation was for. For a monetary fee an invitee could bring up to ten plus ones. The add-ons were where they really made their money. That and of course the alcohol.

The building was on the corner of tenth and main, which was the most popular area for high end restaurants and bars. It was a two story building that had been built originally for use as a concert hall. It had housed operas, plays, and musicals. Then it had shut down for a couple of years and came back renovated into a burlesque club. After that it became a venue for punk shows. For awhile after that it was a gay bar that played venue to drag shows. And in its final form it was Cordially.

Immediately upon walking into the building occupants would find themselves in what appeared to be one big empty hall. On one side of the empty, dust covered hardwood floor there was a short hallway that led to two restrooms and an office. The big empty space had previously been the dance floor. Along the back wall was a bar and on the other side of the dance floor, opposite the restrooms, was a staircase. Upstairs was a horseshoe balcony. There were two more restrooms, a half bar, and private alcoves that had been reserved for vip invitees who’d paid major money for the privilege. None of that was why the Cordially was so important to you. It was important because, technically, its final form was home.

“Honey I’m home!” Baekhyun shouted as you walked in through the main entrance. “Oh, I forgot...I don’t have a Honey.”

“Is everyone else here?” you asked, ignoring his comment, as you looked outside one last time as the sun set on your birthday.

He looked over at the dusty bar top where five shot glasses had been placed. Three were upside down, two were still rightside up. “Yep. everyone is accounted for.”

With a sigh you let the door close while you grabbed the two by four leaning against the wall. You slide the wood through the door handles, and secured the locks at the top and the bottom of the door, and as a last step unhooked the blackout curtains Chanyeol had installed. The room was still lit with the orange glow of sun through windows that lined the second floor. Moving passed the bar as he whistled a tune, Baekhyun flipped over the remaining two shot glasses. He stopped at the door on the farside of the bar and held it open as he waited for you.

“Thanks.” you said quietly before moving passed him and making your way downstairs to the dark basement.

“Anything for the birthday girl…” he muttered to himself as he shut and secured the door.

“Uh...Baek.” you said stepping cautiously down into the unusually pitch black room. “I thought you said everyone was here?”

“The glasses were flipped. Is there no one down there?” he asked as you felt him step behind you.

“No, everything is off and I can‘t see shit.” you complained, searching your pockets for your flashlight.

“Huh...so weird.” Baekhyun said flicking on his flashlight and illuminating the wall switch. “Hit the lights.”

Flipping the switch up illuminated the bright, white christmas lights that had been strung all across the basement ceiling. The room had also been decorated with streamers and balloons. Chanyeol, Seulgi, and Irene all stood in the center of the room sporting paper party hats and cheerful smiles. They’d been popping poppers and shouting happy birthday, but you could barely register it through your haze of emotion.

Baekhyun had come around you and put a cheap, cheesy sash that said Birthday Princess over your head along with a tiara on top of it. Chanyeol lit candles that had been stuck into the top of a stack of just-add water pancakes that had rainbow sprinkles mixed in. After a moment of genuine shock you realized they’d been singing the birthday song to you and were now waiting for you to make your wish.

I wish I was this happy all the time. You thought to yourself before blowing out the candles.

“I-” you chuckled lightly, “I’m speechless.”

“Do you love it?” Irene asked hopefully, “I know you don’t like to make a big fuss about this kind of stuff. I worried it would be too much.”

“Oh, no! I love it! Thank you,” you said giving her a hug and then giving one to Seulgi too, “I don’t deserve all this.”

“That’s not true.” Chanyeol said wrapping you in a tight hug before guiding you over to the couch where a large pile of gifts were waiting. “You deserve more.”

“Do you like your cake?” Seulgi asked, sitting down on the cushion next to you. “Isn’t it cute?”

You smiled reassuringly, “I really love everything. I swear. It’s perfect.”

“I made it, the cake, but it was Baek’s idea.” When you looked over at him he was leaning against one of the surveillance desks. His cheeks were a little flush as he smiled over at you. “It was actually all his idea. He did most of the planning and the work, but we all helped out a little here and there.”

“You really thought I forgot, didn’t you?” he asked, looking so proud of himself. It was only then you realized he’d been the one that had remembered the last two years. Of course it had all been a show. Baekhyun didn’t forget anything. “Oh man, I really got you so good.”

“Open my present first! It’s the best one!” Irene said with a grin as she shoved a flat, wrapped box into your lap.

After you opened it you laughed immediately and then pulled the diamond chandelier necklace from the box. It had been a running joke between the two of you over the past few years. Whenever a gift giving holiday rolled around the two of you exchanged frivolous gifts. Grossly expensive things that were useless at the end of the world.

“I...It’s beautiful. I can’t wait to have some fantastic event to wear this to. Thank you, Irene.” you grinned.

“I got it at that jewelry store on third street if you want to return it. The receipts at the bottom of the box.” she smirked, “But you should know it was twenty thousand dollars, and I think it’s going to look fantastic on you. You should wear it every day because every day we’re alive is a fantastic event.”

Seulgi’s gift was next. She dragged over a tall box that was wrapped up to look like a gift bag, and that was clearly very heavy. When you pulled the tissue paper from the top of the box you revealed no less than thirty bottles of your favorite shampoo.

“So,” she started, “I have spent the last six months during scavenges looking for this shampoo. I took every bottle from every store in the city that had any. Cherish them, they are probably the last bottles we will ever lay eyes on.”

“I love you, Seul.” you said as you wiped your cheek of it’s tears.

“Love you too, bestie.” She said squeezing you tight, feeling quite pleased.

“Alright, that’s enough of the lame gifts.” Chanyeol said, reaching over Seulgi’s lap to hand you his gift. “I hope you’re ready for a real gift, Y/n. Something actually useful and still very fun.”

“Shampoo is useful!” Seulgi said, pinching his arm, “Dick.”

You laughed at the two of them as they bickered and unwrapped his gift. It really did take your breath away when you opened the package. “Yeol...oh my god.”

“You know I don’t know anything about knives.” he said as you pulled one of the shiny silver blades from its sheath. “Sehun helped me. He promised they were the best knives in the whole city. He said you’d really love them.”

“They’re so beautiful, Yeol. Really, I’m...I’m so happy.” you sniffled as you tucked the knives back in the box, “I can’t even tell you how much I’m looking forward to being able to use them.”

“And!” Irene said enthusiastically, “We’re all giving up our wash time tonight, so it’s all yours.”

Cordially was one of the buildings in the city that still offered running water. The problem was that it was such an old building that too much use throughout the day caused the ancient pipes to groan and when they did it was less than quiet. The five of you learned early on that there was a certain length of time that the water could be used after dark without attracting Lurkers with the noise. That time was divided and a bit of time was allotted to each of you for any night time activities like cleaning up after a long day or even using the toilet.

“No.” you argued, “That’s too much.”

“Yes!” Seulgi said, shooting you a terrifying glare, “Take extra care with the shampoo I worked so hard to get you. Rinse and repeat, for once.”

“It really is too much.” you groaned.

“Just let me know before you want to go, Y/n.” Baekhyun said, and you realized he’d been unusually quiet this whole time. “There’s just one more surprise.”

The group refused to listen to your complaints about wash time so you let it go. Instead you all indulged in your pancake cake and talked about your days. After a couple hours had passed you had to switch from the beautiful lights overhead to your regular LED lanterns so that Chanyeol could turn the computers and surveillance equipment back on for nightly security checks.

Together Chanyeol and you checked the reports from other cities and the surveillance outside of your building as well as the water storage. After your first yawn hit you mentioned wanting to clean up and get to bed soon at which point Baekhyun disappeared upstairs for sometime. You’d been ready to give up on him and crash for the night without even washing when he finally showed up. You grabbed one of your new shampoos, a towel and pajamas before following him quietly upstairs with your lantern in hand.

In the beginning you’d refused to leave the basement at night. The sight of the dark open dance hall creeped you out and you were always worried that there would be something hiding in the shadows. Ironically, it had been Baekhyun that had helped you out of your fear. You’d gotten into a pretty good system of making sure you’d done everything you needed to before the sun went down. It worked out really well for you at first.

That was until you, and everyone else, started to realize that things were changing. With every month that passed you realized that the invasion was having a lasting effect on weather patterns. Even now, after three years, they were unpredictable. Winter had come fast that first year. Sunlight was sparse, nights were seemingly endless. Some nights lasting literal days, as if the invaders were trying to force people out into the night to search for food and water, leaving them open and vulnerable for attack.  

It was one of those long winter nights that Baekhyun realized how uncomfortable you looked. He’d laughed at first when you told him you had to pee, but when he noticed the genuine fear on your face when he suggested you just go upstairs he stopped. You’d been so embarrassed, it felt silly that of all the things left to be afraid of, that the dark was what paralzyed you. Then he offered to take you whenever you needed and promised he wouldn’t tell anyone about your fear. That winter night lasted eleven days and every time you had to go to the bathroom or wanted to wash up, Baekhyun was there to take you. He’d check all the shadows and stand outside the bathroom until you were ready to go back down. Even if you shook him out of a dead sleep you  never heard a complaint.

It had been a long time since you’d needed someone to help you in the dark. On several occasions you’d even gone on scavenges at night. Like for the past four weeks when it rained all day everyday. There had been no sun but you also had no choice, your family needed food. So it seemed silly to you that he had offered to take you upstairs now. In front of the upstairs womens restroom Baekhyun stopped and held out his hand, “Lantern please.”

“I’m going to need it, Baek…” you whispered back knowing fully well the solar powered electricity that Chanyeol had set up didn’t run upstairs.

“Your lantern.” he requested once more, quietly, but sternly. With a deep sigh you handed him your lantern and he smiled brightly. “Thank you.”

He knelt down putting your lantern on the ground and picking up a container you hadn’t noticed before. Standing back up straight, he offered you the container.

“My gift to you.”

“You’ve already done enough.” you said taking the container, “Your stupid joke was more than enough for me.”

“Then this will just be the cherry on top.”  he grinned, “Open it.”

You pulled open the lid of the container to find actual cherries. Cherries, strawberries, and blueberries to be exact. “How? I thought we were out of fresh food until the Farm trip?”

“I’ve been stockpiling my portions for you.”

“No, absolutely not. I can‘t accept this, Baekhyun.” you said shoving the container back towards him.

“You have to. I won’t eat it. I’ll let it all go to waste.” he shook his head defiantly, and you knew he was telling the truth. “It’s yours now.”

“Here,” Pulling open the lid once more you searched for the biggest piece of fruit you saw. You held the strawberry up to his lips. “Just eat one. I won’t be the reason your dumbass gets scurvy.”

He smiled happily, “Okay.”

You moved the fruit closer to his mouth and watched him wrap his lips gently around the fruit, you gulped at the sight but he didn’t seem to notice. “Do I get my lantern now?”

He shook his head as he chewed and swallowed down the berry, “Just go in, you won’t need it. I’ll wait out here on guard, You can have your lantern after.”

You looked at him suspiciously before turning to the door. With your fruit and your shampoo in hand you pushed the door open. You inhaled sharply at the sight. The entire makeshift shower room had been covered in candles and wildflowers. It was the most beautiful display you could ever remember seeing in your life.

“Baekhyun…” you whispered his name, not really knowing what else to say.

When you turned back to him he was smiling from ear to ear and he asked very hopefully, “Better than chocolate?”

You may have rolled your eyes but your smile and bright glow said everything he needed to hear, “I hate you.”

“Ah,” he blushed, “I love you too.”

[madasthesea]

Bio Dad AU... again

Tony’s knuckles were white against the dark leather of his steering wheel. It was a miracle he hadn’t been drunk when the call had come in: Mary wasn’t supposed to deliver for another three weeks and Tony kept convincing himself that he had time to kick the habit.

It was 5 AM and there were more cars on the road than he would have expected. Early birds trying to beat the morning traffic, he supposed, but he didn’t know. So much of the world was foreign to him, really, so much of the minutiae of normal life, the wonderfully mundane existence that so many people lived, that revolved around work and family and once a month nights out with their friends that always went late cause they were too busy catching up to notice the time.

Tony didn’t get that. He didn’t understand laundry day or stopping in the grocery store to chat with someone you haven’t seen in a while or the laughter filled chaos of getting a kid bathed and put to bed on time.

He would now, if he did this right. If he managed not to screw things up for the first time in his life, he could get a taste of it, that long unattainable balm of normality. If he did this right, he could hold happiness in his arms.

They were going to call him Peter, Mary had told him.

He turned into the hospital parking lot, following the signs to the maternity ward.

He hadn’t even thought to bring a car they could put a car seat in. His first act as a father and he’d already messed up.

Happy had to go buy a five-seater sedan and drive it from the lot to the hospital. He’d even picked green, just to spite Tony. He hated green cars.

Peter was sleepy and grumbly as Tony struggled with the fasteners. The final click of the seat belt felt absurdly monumental for such a tiny thing. After this Tony would be climbing into the driver’s seat of a practical, family car, and he would drive his son home, and he would be a dad.

People told him he would learn as he went. That it came naturally, that soon enough he’d be changing diapers and preparing bottles like he’d been doing it all his life. Tony was a fast learner, but he wondered if there were things he could never learn. Maybe he’d learn to change the kid’s diaper, but never quite understand how to lull him to sleep. He could put him to bed on time, but what if he never stayed to read him a story? Can you learn tenderness from a book?

Tony tossed the keys to the Audi to Happy and climbed into the new car, the smell of the faux-leather seats unfamiliar but pleasant enough. He adjusted the rearview mirror until he could see Peter doubly reflected at him from the mirror on the headrest. The kid’s eyes were barely open, the dark tuft of hair on his head covered by the hat the nurse had put on.

“Alright, Petey,” Tony said, and Peter stirred just enough for Tony to know that he heard him.

Tony took a breath and put the car into drive.

“Here we go.”

 “Hurry, hurry, hurry,” Peter chanted, already tugging at the straps of his booster seat, kicking his little sneakers against the leather upholstery.

“Calm down, kiddo, they’re not going to start without you,” Tony said, forcing a smile as he leaned into the backseat and undid the buckles, letting Peter slip off the seat and out of the car. He forgot his tiny little backpack—equipped with nothing but a box of crayons and Peter’s favorite stuffed animal—in his rush, so Tony grabbed it before slamming the door closed, the small dent in the green paint catching the light.

Peter’s face was only slightly apprehensive as Tony crouched down in front of him, helping him shrug the backpack on.

“Ok, buddy,” Tony murmured, his mouth dry. “You excited?”

Peter nodded eagerly. The kid was already a genius, who loved reading and exploring and learning and Tony knew that he’d be fine, he really, really did. But he couldn’t quit convince his heart of that.

“It’s going to be fun, huh? I’m jealous,” Tony teased.

Peter furrowed his eyebrows, his big eyes narrowing.

“But you already know how to read, Daddy,” Peter pointed out. “And count and things.”

Tony smiled again, more naturally this time.

“That’s true. I guess that means I don’t need to come after all.”

“I don’t think the chairs are big enough for you anyway,” Peter giggled. Tony’s heart broke, just a little bit.

“I love you, baby.”

“Love you, Daddy!” Peter chirped, leaning forward for his habitual kiss, which Tony happily gave, plus a few extras.

“I’ll see you later. Stay with the teacher until I come get you, ok?”

“Uh-huh,” Peter agreed, then turned and trotted over to the waiting line of students and teachers, his little feet still slightly pigeon-toed and his hair sticking up in the back.

Tony stood and leaned against the car until Peter was inside, then climbed in and sat for a long, long time.

 The sling made it hard to buckle Peter’s booster seat, but he waved away Pepper’s hands and did it himself anyway.

As he sat back, he let his good hand drift up to Peter’s face, cupping his son’s round, tear-stained cheek and wiping away the sticky salt tracks.

Peter watched him like he never wanted to look away, like he was afraid Tony would disappear if he blinked. Tony hated himself for making Peter afraid of anything, hated the three months of separation they had endured with a hot, sparking anger that only mellowed slightly when he met Peter’s gaze.

“I grew an inch and a half, Daddy,” Peter whispered, leaning over as much as he could in his seat and pressing his cheek against Tony’s arm.

Tony shifted closer, too, taking his boy’s little hand in his own calloused one. Was it bigger, or was he imagining it? Three months in the life of a six-year-old was so much. He’d missed four percent of his son’s life, four percent of his laughs and tears and questions and breaths. Someone had made him miss them: had trapped him in a dank cave and tortured him and threatened to make him miss his son’s entire life, make him miss seeing his boy grow up. It was unforgivable.

Tony cleared his throat and shook away thoughts of missiles and metal suits.

“Really? You’ll be taller than me, soon, kiddo.”

Peter hummed happily at that, pleased at the idea. “And I lost a tooth and Pepper gave me a dollar and pretended it was from the tooth fairy.”

Tony looked up and met Pepper’s eyes across the backseat. She was watching them, subtly sniffing and wiping at stray tears, but she huffed a small laugh at Peter’s confession, rolling her eyes.

“Did she now?” Tony asked, smirking at her. Her returning smile was too soft and grateful and happy. Tony swallowed and looked away.

“Daddy,” Peter murmured again, his voice wobbly. “I thought you were going to miss my birthday.”

Peter turned seven in four days. When Rhodey had told him the date Tony had nearly broken down sobbing, either in joy or grief he wasn’t sure.

Tony leaned down and pressed a hard kiss to Peter’s head.

“Nothing in the world could make me miss your birthday, Peter.” Tony promised, his voice hoarse.

Peter’s bottom lip trembled. “I was going to wish for you to come home when I blew out my candles.”

“Yeah?” Tony asked again, fighting the tears burning behind his eyes. “I wished for that, too. Every night.”

Peter lightly kicked the back of the driver seat, his light up sneaker glowing blue as he did. Peter smiled at it, his little hand still wrapped in his dad’s.

“Guess it worked, then.”

 “We’ll get you feeling better, ok, buddy?” Tony said, trying to keep the panic out of his voice as his son slumped listlessly in the passenger seat. Tony had had to do up his seat belt for him like he was still a toddler.

Peter had had a headache, he said, when he came back from the field trip to Oscorp. He’d gone to take a nap, but when Tony had woken him up for dinner, his fever was 103 and his words were slurring together. He could barely stand let alone walk in a straight line.

Tony chose his fastest car in an effort to get to the ER sooner, but the traffic was terrible at this time of day and he spent most of his time sitting at red lights, his fingers anxiously tapping against the steering wheel as he watched Peter growing steadily paler in the front seat.

He should have called an ambulance. Heck, he should have flown in the suit. They would be there by now, Peter would already be getting treated.

“Hey, kiddo, talk to me,” Tony softly pleaded, reaching out to brush Peter’s sweaty bangs off his forehead.

“Dad,” Peter panted, his eyes screwed shut, tears beginning to make their way down his cheeks.

“Oh, Pete,” Tony sighed, taking Peter’s hand in his own as the line of cars began creeping forward.

Peter squeezed back with a strength Tony didn’t know he possessed, making the bones in Tony’s fingers ache. And then his hand went completely limp in Tony’s, his head lolling until it hit the window with a thud.

Tony’s stomach dropped, his heart leaping toward his throat.

“Peter?” Tony asked breathlessly, taking his attention completely off the crawling traffic in front of him and turning towards his kid. He jammed two fingers against Peter’s throat, feeling his pulse racing under his skin. His skin was burning hot and slick with sweat.

“Pete, wake up,” Tony ordered, tapping his cheek with one hand and raising his chin with the other. Peter’s eyes were moving rapidly behind his eyelids like he was having a bad dream, but he didn’t respond.

“Come on, wake up.” His voice broke. He shook Peter lightly, in one last effort to rouse him.

Peter’s chest was rising and falling rapidly, each breath shallow and fruitless.

“Ok. Get a grip, Stark,” Tony told himself, the car jerking forward as he finally pressed on the gas. They were four blocks away from the hospital. He only had to make it four blocks.

“Ok, it’s going to be fine, buddy, you’re going to be just fine,” Tony rambled to his unconscious son. “I don’t know what’s wrong with you, but the doctors are going to figure it out and fix you up, just like always.”

They’d had more than one panicked drive to the emergency room throughout Peter’s fourteen years. He’d been only two when he’d had his first asthma attack, Tony holding him as he ran into the lobby with tears streaming down his cheeks as his baby boy fought for every breath, his lips nearly blue. There had been several times since, when Tony would drive with once hand clenched around the wheel to hide its shaking while he rubbed the other along Peter’s knobby spine, coaching him to breathe in and out slowly, baby, go slow. It’s ok, Daddy’s got you.    

Tony took the turn into the parking lot too sharply, making the tires squeal and the car jolt. Peter’s head hit the window again, the seat belt biting into his neck where it was supporting his boneless weight.

“Sorry,” Tony gasped as he sped toward the bright lights of the ER. He swerved toward the doors, pulling to a stop right in front of them, turning it off and yanking the keys out on muscle memory alone. He honestly didn’t care if someone stole the thing. Now that help was so close, attainable, now that Tony could do something more than idle in a long line of traffic and chatter uselessly to himself, he needed to get Peter inside now. Every cell was aching with the need for Peter to be alright, for him to be safe and taken care of.

Tony raced around the car, yanking the passenger door open and undoing Peter’s seatbelt, letting him tumble into Tony’s arms.

The boy had long since grown out of being small enough to be carried, but Tony could care less as he shifted his arm under Peter’s knees, holding the kid close to his chest.

“It’s ok, baby,” Tony promised fervently as he straightened and rushed toward the hospital doors. “Dad’s got you.”

 “Ok, all you’re going to do is ease off the brake.”

Peter cast him a nervous look, biting his lip, but he took a deep breath and did as he was told, slowly picking his foot up. The car began inching forward.

Peter slammed his foot back down, making Tony jerk against the seatbelt. He gave an unimpressed look at the anxious sixteen-year-old sitting in the front seat of the old 2001 sedan, the faux leather seats now cracking and peeling.

“I wasn’t expecting it to move,” Peter said sheepishly.

“That’s ok,” Tony assured him. “It is going to move forward even if you aren’t pushing the gas. Do it again and let it coast a bit, ok?”

Peter seemed a little more ready this time, fighting the obvious urge to brake again as the car crept forward at a few miles per hour.

“Now press very gently on the gas,” Tony instructed. The car leapt forward a bit as Peter stepped down too hard, but levelled out to a steady ten miles an hour as he adjusted.

Tony leaned his head back against the headrest, grinning over at his son.

“Not bad, Pete. A little faster, ok?”

They drove in circles on the compound driving course for another hour, practicing gradual braking and accelerating, turns and parking.

“Ok, kiddo, let’s take a little trip,” Tony decided as the sun crept toward the horizon.

Peter’s eyes flew open wide, the panic that had left him immediately rushing back.

Tony snorted, reaching over and ruffling his hair. “On a straight, deserted road in the middle of nowhere. You can do it, I have faith in you.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?” Peter asked, his knuckles turning white around the steering wheel.

“Hey, don’t break the wheel,” Tony chided, reaching over and loosening Peter’s enhanced grip. “If it gets sketchy, I’ll take over, ok? Now take a right out of here.”

Peter took to driving like he took to everything—once the nerves were sorted out, he was intuitive and clever and confident. Tony just sat back and watched him, the red light of the setting sun playing in his hair and eyes, the way he bit his lip every time he checked his speed. Finally, Tony told him to pull over and turn off the car.

Ignoring Peter’s question of what they were doing there, Tony got out and went to the trunk, pulling out a blanket. Then he spread it out on the hood and climbed on.

“Come on, Pete,” Tony said, holding an arm out in invitation for Peter to join him.

Peter raised an eyebrow, but clambered onto the hood as well, settling against Tony’s side.

“You know, I drove you home from the hospital in this car,” Tony said, tucking Peter’s head under his chin.

“Really?” Peter asked, sounding surprised.

Tony hummed a little. “You were three weeks early and I had no idea what I was doing. I’d driven an Audi to the hospital,” Tony snorted. “Not exactly built for driving kiddos to soccer practice. Happy had to go buy a car so that I could buckle your car seat in.”

Peter laughed. “I bet he loved that.”

The stars were starting to come out, already bright against the falling twilight. The country road they were parked on was free from streetlights or other cars, the light pollution from the city far behind them.

“And now you’re learning to drive in it,” Tony murmured, feeling a little bit of melancholy creep over him. He couldn’t believe his kid was sixteen. Not to mention a superhero, but Tony didn’t like to think about that when he was feeling emotional.

Sometimes he looked at Peter and remembered the little kid who couldn’t say his L’s until he was five, who would only take naps in the car, making Tony drive around the city in circles for hours at a time so the kid would get a proper nights sleep.

Peter glanced over at him. “You’re getting sentimental in your old age, Dad,” he said, his smirk a little too soft to be truly teasing.

Tony huffed a small laugh, shrugging. “Well, I’m entitled. It’s a milestone in a kid’s life, to learn how to drive.”

Peter looked up at the sky. “It doesn’t feel that big, compared to things that I’ve seen and done. Things we’ve done together.”  

It was true, they’d had more life-and-death situations than most fathers and sons, more scrapes and bruises and hospital visits than they could count. He’d seen his boy in a hospital bed too many times.

“It is big, anyway,” Tony reminded him. “The average things are just as important as the superhuman things. Your life can’t be... battles to save the world all the time. You need the little things to make the big things worth it.”

Peter turned his head and smiled at Tony.

“Like stargazing with my dad?” he asked.

“Like teaching my son to drive,” Tony agreed.

Peter curled a little closer to Tony, laying his head on his shoulder.

“I love you, kid,” Tony whispered, pressing a kiss to the crown of his head.

“Love you, too.”

[onebourbon-oneshot-onetear]

Aquatica

Chapter 4- The Enemy Below

I do not own D.C Comics, and I only own my OC and my versions of the plots.

BEEP BEEP BEEP I rolled over and slapped my hand on my alarm clock. I opened my eyes and looked at the numbers flashing on the screen, 9:15 pm. While most people are going to bed at this time, I was getting up to run around the rooftops of Gotham.

Doing my nightly patrols was actually pretty fun. It gave me a chance to exercise and use my powers in a less stressful situation than I would while with the Justice League. Usually when I work with the League, it's always an Earth-ending-life-and-death situation. That's not always the best time to test new stuff out with my powers. While patrolling Gotham, there wasn't a real sense of urgency. Most of the crimes that I stopped at night was robberies and small acts of vandalism by rowdy teens, no big deal.

I groaned and rolled out of bed. Usually I fall asleep in the early afternoon, but due to a flood in India that I had to help Superman with, I had only gotten about three hours of sleep. I went and turned on my coffee machine and headed to the bathroom to go take a shower and get changed into my leggings, leotard and jacket. I dried my hair and pulled it up into a half ponytail. I walked into the kitchen, poured myself some coffee and grabbed some leftover food from my fridge. I wolfed it all down, tied up my black combat boots, and climbed out of my fire escape onto my building's rooftop.

Since my building was in the middle of Gotham, I could see practically everything that went on. Usually I looked for the flashing lights of police cars in order to find a crime that I could help with. So far they have seemed grateful for my help, and nobody has had any problems with me helping them catch their criminals.

Tonight I didn't see any police lights, so I decided to go along the rooftops and find the criminals myself. Most of the time while jumping or flying from building to building I would catch a robbery happening in an alley. It was pretty easy from there to freeze the robber to the ground until the police got there. I could usually catch about twenty robbers a night, and a dozen more than that on the weekends. Yeah, that's how bad the crime in Gotham was. You would think people would learn not to do such stupid things, especially when Batman and I were out. Then again if these guys were smart they wouldn't be robbers.

I patrolled for a couple of hours catching about fifteen robbers, when a jet hovered above the building I was next to. I recognized it as the League's jet and I flew up to meet it. Inside was John, Diana, and Superman, and from the looks on their faces, I knew something was wrong. "What's up guys?" I asked.

"Evie, we need your help." Superman urgently said. "We have a sunken military submarine with officers trapped on it and we need to get them out." My eyes widened and I wasted no time hopping in the jet and strapping myself in.

"Do we have any idea what caused the sub to sink?" I asked.

"No, not yet." Diana said. I have only seen her a couple times since she joined the League, and I still wasn't a fan of hers. She had never been mean to me at all, so I really didn't have any reason to dislike her. As childish as it sounds, I just wasn't a fan of her personality. She thought men were beneath her, at least from the way I had heard her talk about the beliefs of Themyscara, the land she was from. Apparently the Amazon warriors thought men were not to be trusted and they were weak. Considering how Diana had never met a man up until about a month ago, I didn't think it was right for her to be so judgmental about them. But either way, I decided to act professional around her and be nice. Well as nice as I can be.

We had already left the city and were heading to the location where the sub was when Superman turned towards me and handed me something. "Here, I haven't given you a com link yet. This is one you can keep with you at all times, that way if you need something you won't have to find your own way up to the Watch Tower." I took the earpiece and stuck it in my ear. It was small and discreet so I could get away with wearing it all the time.

"Thanks." I said to him. He turned back around and started pressing more buttons on the jet. I felt the nose of the jet pitch forward and I assumed we were going to land. I wasn't expecting the whole jet to go underwater. I jumped in my seat as the jet crashed into the water and started diving down.

Superman must have sensed my uneasiness because he turned back around and looked at me. "You didn't know this thing could go underwater?"

I looked out the window at the dark water and looked back at him. "No, no clue." I weakly said. Superman just chuckled, but he grew serious when a beeping started going off on the monitor up front.

"I've locked on to their distress beacon. We're getting close." Diana said.

Superman had gotten up and looked out the front window. "We're not the only ones." He said pointing out a ship that was facing us underwater. It appeared to be a submarine, but it was sleeker and didn't look like anything our military used. We flew under it and we saw that their submarine dwarfed our ship. "We've got company." Superman said sitting back down and getting buckled back into his seat. We came back up over their ship, and they shot two missiles at us.

"Not for long." Green Lantern said, steering us out of the way of the two missiles. We rocked to the side as we dodged the missiles, and when we righted ourselves we flew past the submarine and over a rock structure that had different canyons carved through it. If we weren't being shot at I would have loved to stay and look at the view.

The sub followed us and kept shooting missiles at us, which we continued to dodge and block. Up ahead of us were two arches made of rock.

"G.L go through there! They won't be able to fit through." I told him. Their sub was way too big to get through both arches. G.L went through both arches and I turned around to see if the other sub did too. They hit the first arch and got stuck.

"Lost 'em." Green Lantern smugly said, before two more subs came up from the bottom of the sea floor and stopped in front of us. I just rolled my eyes. You never say stuff like that, it's only an invitation for more crap to come our way.

"You were saying?" Superman asked sarcastically. Green Lantern continued to dodge the missile attacks, but Superman had had enough. He stood up and opened a compartment on the ceiling of the jet. He took out a mask to wear underwater and handed me one. "Those sailors won't have a prayer if we keep playing cat and mouse, come on." I took my staff off my belt and put it on my seat so I didn't lose while fighting and it sunk so I couldn't find it ever again. Besides, I would have all the water I would need out there.

We left the jet just before a missile hit it. Lantern put a bubble over us and we went over to the subs to find a way to take them out. Now instead of missiles being shot, they were now individual beams. I was going through the water faster than I had ever gone before. I quickly zipped over to a sub and completely froze their guns, leaving them defenseless. I looked over and watched Superman punch the other subs guns so hard that the metal completely crumpled. Green Lantern went underneath and tore a hole straight through with his ring.

Superman and Wonder Woman each took a sub and pushed them together making the windows to the subs explode, while Lantern tore off the nose of one of them. I floated back through the water to make sure that no other guns were intact. The two subs were completely dysfunctional and they both sunk to the bottom. Once they hit each other the force created an explosion.

I looked back at the sub and failed to notice that a small army had come together in front of us until someone told us to halt. I looked over and saw two more submarines, two men on what looked like underwater jet skis, and another man who held a trident and wore gold plated armor with dark green pants and accents on it. One look at them and I knew who they were.

"Those are Atlantians…" I whispered to myself. The man in the gold must be Aquaman, king of Atlantis. He may not be on dry land all the time but I definitely knew who he was. Seeing as I'm a girl who can control water, it was absolutely awing to meet the man who can practically control the seven seas, and talk to sea creatures. Talk about meeting a role model. I wanted to swim right up to him and ask a million different questions about different ways I could use my powers, but judging by the glare he was giving us he wasn't too happy to see us.

"Man, that glare can compete with Bats' glare." I said.

"You've violated the sovereign borders of Atlantis. Leave at once or you will be destroyed." Aquaman said pointing his trident at us. Oookay, guess I'm not getting those questions answered.

Superman was in the front of the group so he spoke for us. "We apologize for the intrusion." He said, putting his hands up in surrender. "We were responding to a call for help."

Aquaman looked over to the sub, which was now sitting on a bunch of rocks. "They should've stayed on the surface where they belong."

"Please. The men on board, they'll drown." Diana pleaded with him. Aquaman raised an eyebrow, and thought for a second.

"Take the crew. But the vessel stays." He commanded.

"No way. That's a nuclear sub." Green Lantern said. I looked back at him like he was crazy, which I'm pretty sure he is. He pushed past Superman and made his way closer to Aquaman. I noticed that all of the guards had now tensed up and had a hand on their weapons.

"G.L, not now." I quietly said to him, but he brushed me off.

"If you think we're just going to walk away and leave it…"

"What makes you think you have a choice?" Aquaman interrupted. He did have a point, we were at an unfair advantage, seeing as the Atlantians were in a completely natural environment down here, and the only one of us who was feeling mostly comfortable underwater this deep was me. And I know that I probably wouldn't be able to stand up to a whole Atlantian army.

G.L's eyes glowed bright green and he went to go swim forward even more, but thankfully Superman stopped him. "He's right. Time's running out." He looked over at me. "Aquatica, do you think you can make an air bubble to get the crew out of the sub?" At first I forgot that he was talking to me since he used my hero name, but I guess since we were in front of people we didn't know he just wanted to be safe.

I remembered the question and I didn't even have to think about whether I could do it. "Sure, no problem." I shrugged. I swam over to the sub and separated the oxygen molecules from the hydrogen ones in order to form a huge bubble where the outside was made of water, but inside was made of air. I looked over at Aquaman and I was happy to see he looked impressed. I didn't get to think about it too long because soon enough the crew was put in my bubble and we were getting ready to leave.

"That's the last one." Superman called up to me. I closed off the small tunnel I made from the hole in the sub to the main part of my bubble, and started moving it up to the surface slowly. I couldn't go too fast for risk that I, or anyone else inside the bubble, would get the bends. That wouldn't be fun to deal with.

I broke the surface and saw that we were in the middle of a bad storm. Thunder and lightning were everywhere, the waves were choppy, and it was pouring down rain. The rain didn't bother me, in fact it made me stronger. The part that worried me was the thunder and lightning. The last thing I needed was to risk these people getting electrocuted. "Hey G.L, think you can take over here?" I asked him. I explained what I was worried about and he agreed with me. He put everyone in a giant green bubble and I went over and hopped in the jet.

Superman decided to stay outside and speak with Aquaman so it was just Diana and I in the jet. We sat in comfortable silence and I drew some pictures on the condensation that had formed on the windows. Childish, I know but hey, I didn't have anything else to do.

Green Lantern took the crew of the sub to the hospital in Metropolis while Superman, Diana, and I went back to the watchtower. I went to the kitchen and grabbed a cup of coffee. Since I didn't have much sleep last night I needed some help staying awake now. I walked back to the main floor with my mug in my hands. J'onn, Diana, and Flash were standing in a huddle talking, while Superman was on the phone. Judging by the way he was standing and the tone of his voice I assumed it was someone important on the other line, and that someone wasn't happy.

I walked over to the group just as Diana said "Aquaman's no madman. He's a king. He only wants to preserve and protect his own kind."

"So, who's gonna protect us from him?" G.L asked.

"I don't know, I kinda like the guy." I said.

"How can you say that?" G.L turned to me and asked. "He has one of our nuclear submarines!"

I fully turned towards Lantern. "He just wants to protect himself and his people. I can totally understand what he is thinking. Everybody up here on land doesn't think twice about polluting the water and going wherever they want, not caring about whose area they are invading. As someone who deals with water quite often, I can completely understand why Aquaman doesn't like us. It infuriates me every time I see garbage floating in the ocean, or dead sea animals killed because of plastic and toxins. That is his home, imagine how he feels." I said. "Do I agree with him keeping nuclear subs? No. But I can understand where he's coming from." I said taking a sip of my coffee. Apparently he didn't like my answer very much, and G.L stormed off, fuming.

I watched his retreating form and shook my head. "That guy needs to loosen up a bit." I said. I downed the last of my coffee and went back to the kitchen to clean my mug. I didn't have anything else planned for the day, so I figured I would go downstairs to my pool.

Did I not mention that the Watchtower has a pool? Cause it does! It's more of a giant diving well, you know, one of the really deep ones. It's awesome because I can sit in it and recharge my powers, or I can work on new things with my powers. It's also my hiding place. I can make an air bubble and hide down there for hours without anyone finding me. It's worked so far, so hopefully nobody will catch on to what I'm doing.

I went down to the pool and just floated on my back, listening to the water lap against the edges. I could feel the water repowering me and it woke me up a little more than the coffee did. J'onn said he thinks he understands why being in water helps me rejuvenate so much. Apparently there is more water in my system than that of a normal humans. Normal people are made of about 60 percent of water. I'm made up of 80 percent. It's not a problem, in fact it actually helps me when I'm sick or hurt. Instead of using medicine for minor stuff like scrapes or colds I can just sit in water for an hour and the symptoms are gone. The only downfall of being made up of this much water is I am more sensitive to the heat. Being outside on a hot summer day isn't life threating, but being in extreme heat for a long period of time can deplete my powers completely, or worse, kill me.

I was laying in the pool when I got called up through my earpiece. "Evie, you may want to come up here." J'onn said.

I sighed, hoping I was going to get a little more peace and quiet. "Sure thing J'onn, be right up." I pulled myself out of the pool, evaporated all the water off of me and headed upstairs. Not surprisingly, Green Lantern was ranting about something again.

"I knew we couldn't trust that fish man. The sub's been stripped and the plutonium is gone."

"And you think Aquaman's responsible?" Diana asked him.

"Who else princess?" G.L asked her sarcastically. "We've got to go back to Atlantis and get some straight answers."

I looked over to Superman. "If it's Aquaman you want, he's not in Atlantis." He said. I saw the news was on and the usual anchorman was reporting from what looked like the World Assembly building.

"According to eyewitness accounts Aquaman then forced his way past the guards and into a closed session of the World Assembly." The reporter said. "But as to why he's here or what he wants, we'll have to wait for further developments."

"Well that's one way to make yourself heard." I said, crossing my arms. "Maybe this is a good thing, it sounds like he wants to talk things over."

"Or he wants to kill us all." Green Lantern mumbled. Diana looked like she was about to retort and I rolled my eyes and walked over to look down at Earth. I didn't need to hear any more arguing from those two. The Earth looked so peaceful from up here, I wish we could get some of that peace here. I continued to stare at it and J'onn walked over to me, apparently now wanting to hear the arguments as well.

"How are you doing, Evie?" He asked me.

"I'm fine J'onn, how are you? Are you getting used to Earth's habits yet?"

"Some customs are strange, as is everything else. It is a lot to get used to." He said.

I chuckled, "I'm sure you'll be fine J'onn. If you have any questions or you just want to talk, you can just ask. I'd be happy to help."

"That is very kind of you Evie, thank you." He turned away from me and spoke to the rest of the group. "I believe we should go down and try to talk to Aquaman. Make sure he does not get into any trouble."

"You're right. Who knows what could happen." Superman said. Diana went to go get the jet ready to go while J'onn made sure everything in the Tower was secure. We were at the World Assembly building within minutes, and there was a horde of reporters outside.

"You guys go in and talk some sense into Aquaman, I'll stay out here and cover crowd control." I told them. They nodded and flew inside. I stayed outside and looked at all the people waiting to hear news from inside the meeting. A few minutes later the reporters swarmed the door just as Aquaman walked out. I made my way over to him to make sure none of the reporters got too close. In his bad mood, I'm sure Aquaman didn't need any cameras in his face.

The reporters had surrounded him and were asking him dozens of questions. He just glared at them and pushed past them. I was about five feet away from him when I called out to him. "Aquaman, wait!" I said. He ignored me and kept walking towards the street. I followed him and was quickly gaining ground when I heard a high pitched noise. I had just enough time to see something heading straight at us before it exploded. I was thrown back a couple feet and hit the concrete wall lining the sidewalk. I couldn't hear anything except a high pitched ringing in my ears and I saw double vision. I tried sitting up but I had the wind knocked out of me from the impact of the blast.

I looked up to see what the damage was, when I saw Aquaman laying on the ground struggling to get up. I sat up straight and a sharp pain shot through my ribs. Great, they're probably cracked or broken. I groaned and was able to stand on my feet, albeit I was a little wobbly. J'onn rushed over to me. "Evie, are you hurt?" He asked, concern lacing his voice.

I took a deep breath. "I'm fine, just a little banged up." I saw Superman pick up Aquaman, with Diana's help, and flew away. "How is he?" I asked.

J'onn looked grim. "It is hard to say, he was closer to the blast than you were. His injuries will be much more serious." I took a step and the pain in my ribs flared up again. Sensing this, J'onn said "Perhaps you should go to the hospital as well."

I kept walking. "I'm fine, honestly." From the look he was giving me I knew J'onn didn't believe a word I was saying. I sighed, "Fine, have it your way." I said. J'onn walked over, picked me up and flew me to the hospital they others had taken Aquaman to.

Soon enough I had a nurse checking my vitals and bandaging my ribs up. "These are just bruised sweetie, but make sure you don't overwork yourself for a couple days." She said to me. She was a cute old thing, old enough to be a grandmother but not so old that she you had to worry about her not properly doing her job.

"I'll do my best, but unless the criminals stop working for a few days, it'll be pretty unlikely." I said. She had just finished with the bandages when she lifted my shirt back down and patted my knee in a grandmotherly fashion.

"Well then, those bad guys won't know what hit 'em." She said. I smiled and put my jacket back on.

"Can you tell me where they took Aquaman?" I asked her. I should probably regroup with everyone in case crazier rocket launching people show up.

"He's in a special ward. Take the elevator to the top floor, you can't miss it."

I nodded. "Thank you." I got off the bed and was halfway over to the elevator when she stopped me.

"Here," she handed me a water bottle. "Drink this, you don't want to get dehydrated." I took the bottle and thanked her again. I followed her instructions and when I got off the elevator Diana, John, Superman and J'onn were waiting and watching the doctor work on Aquaman.

"How's he doing?" I asked. Everyone looked over at me and Superman was the first to walk over to me.

"How are you doing? You were pretty close to that explosion." He said.

I shrugged. "Just a couple bruised ribs, and some scrapes. Nothing I can't handle." I said. Just as I finished the door to the operating room opened and the doctor walked out.

"How bad is it?" Diana asked him.

The doctor took off his surgical mask and put his hand to his chin. "Hard to tell. His physiology is not like ours. It's unlike anything I've ever seen." Poor man, he looked so flustered. Superman stepped up.

"But can you help him?" He asked.

"I don't know." He said. I looked past him and saw a movement in the shadows. My muscles tensed and I thought it was going to be whoever shot the rocket at us, but it turns out it was just Bats.

"Then maybe I can." He said, finally stepping out of the shadows. "Get him on a gurney, I'm going to need a water tank." At first the doctor didn't know what to think, but seeing the look from Batman he was receiving, he was practically sprinting into the O.R.

They pushed Aquaman through the hospital and into a room that had a water tank set up in it. Batman had gone ahead to get the tank ready and when the gurney came in the room, Superman lifted Aquaman up and put him in the tank. The rest of us had spilled into the room and watched as the beeping on the monitors evened out.

The doctor turned around. "His vitals, they're stabilizing." He said astounded. Batman walked over to the heart monitor and handed the doctor some papers.

"Maintain saline at 3.5 percent." He told him. He talked to the doctor some more but I had just turned around and watched Aquaman in the tank. Putting him in water makes sense since he lives there anyway, I thought. He must rejuvenate in water just like I do. I turned to see that the doctor had left and everyone had gathered around the tank.

"Same goes to you Evie." Batman said.

"Huh?" I said, coming out of my thoughts.

"Drink the water, it'll heal your ribs." I looked down and in all the commotion I forgot that I still had my water.

"Right, thanks…wait how did you know my ribs were hurt?" I asked him. He hadn't been around when I had gotten here, and my bandages were covered. Bats chose to ignore my question and he turned back towards the tank. I rolled my eyes at his mysteriousness and took a sip of my water. Immediately, the pain in my ribs had faded and I didn't feel the sting from my scrapes anymore. I smiled to myself, this is a major perk.

About half an hour later, I was sitting on the hospital bed, twirling my staff between my fingers, a habit I had picked up for when I was bored. Green Lantern was looking out the window and the rest of them had huddled around the tank.

"He's coming around." Superman said, startling me. It had been absolutely silent for the past half an hour and his voice was really loud. I got up off the bed and walked over to the tank while putting my staff away.

Green Lantern strode forward and went right up to the tank. "Good. Now maybe we can get some answers." He said. Of course he would still be upset. Don't give him a break since he almost died, let's interrogate him as soon as he wakes up. "What did you do with the plutonium?" He asked, literally banging on the glass. I raised my eyebrow, is this guy serious?

"Hey Green Bean, could you not bang on the glass like an impatient child at the zoo?" I asked him. Was giving him an attitude the smartest thing to do? No. But I don't really have a filter. Before he could crush me with the power of his ring, Aquaman woke up and floated up to the top of the tank.

"Plutonium?" He asked. He pulled himself out of the tank and took the suction monitors off his chest.

"From the submarine. You stole it." Green Lantern said. I closed my eyes and smacked my palm to my forehead. Let's not ask the Atlantian how he feels since he almost died, let's ask him if he stole our nuclear devices. Nice bedside manners, John.

"My orders were to leave that vessel where it lay." Aquaman said, sounding quite angry.

Green Lantern getting in his face probably wasn't helping the situation. "And you expect us to believe that?"

"Believe what you want. Someone tried to kill me and I need to find out who."

I scoffed, "Yeah, join the club." He looked up at me and my eyes widened once I realized what I had said. "Not to be rude or anything, I mean you have every right to go looking for them." I stammered out. "I was just collateral damage, it was really you they were after. Not that it's a good thing, cause it's not. I'm just saying you're more important than I am…not that I'm not important, it's just cause you're royalty and I'm not and…" I finally stopped when Batman elbowed me in the ribs. Everybody in the room was now looking at me strangely. "Sorry." I whispered out, looking down at my boots.

"You go by Aquatica, do you not?" Aquaman asked me. I was stunned for a second. I just sounded like a lunatic, why was he talking to me?

"Yes, that's my hero name, but if you want you can call me Evie." I somehow managed to squeak out.

"I'm sorry you were hurt when it was me they were after." He said. "I've seen what you can do with water, it is quite interesting how someone from the land can control the water so fluently."

I almost fainted right then and there. Aquaman, the King of Atlantis, was complementing me on how I control water. I stammered out a quiet thank you, and then I started grinning like an idiot. Somehow, despite how crazy I looked, Aquaman managed to give me a soft smile.

Aquaman grew quite serious again, and he headed for the door, looking to leave.

"Wait, I can help." Batman said, stepping forward. "But you're going to have to trust me." Aquaman paused for a second, then he turned around and walked back into the room. We started discussing a plan to lure the would-be assassin out of hiding in order for them to finish off the job. J'onn would morph himself into Aquaman and be taken out by stretcher. The rest of us would be waiting for the assassin, and before he can do any real damage, we would catch him. Sounds easier said than done.

Night fell and we started our trap. The news crews were waiting outside along with an ambulance, after word had spread that Aquaman was being moved to a different facility to receive treatment. I was on the roof with Wonder Woman while Bats and Superman were on a rooftop across from us. We were all looking for any signs of the assassin. "I hope this plan of yours works, Batman." Diana said into her com link.

"Just keep your eyes open." He said. Not even five seconds later, the doors to the hospital opened and Aquaman was rolled out on a gurney. Immediately the news reporters and photographers were swarming him, trying to get a picture of the Atlantian. While everyone else was busy looking at Aquaman, I glanced down and saw somebody dressed in a parka and snow hat crouching behind a mail box. I believe I just found the assassin. He could have blended in a little more, it isn't December. I thought. Plus, the poor guy has to be dying under that parka.

"Guys, isn't it a little hot for winter clothes?" I said looking down at him. Just as I said it, he pulled out a missile launcher from his duffel bag.

"There!" Wonder Woman yelled out, pointing to the man. I rolled my eyes at that. No. Really? The guy wearing winter clothes in the summer is our guy…and he's right there?! Gasp. I'm sorry, I can't control my sarcasm.

"I see him." Batman said, looking through his binoculars. Or batnoculars as I now call them. I don't know what he calls them but it's probably the boring old name for them. At least my word was more fun.

Just before the assassin could pull the trigger on the launcher, Batman had thrown a batarang and pushed it downward, so the rocket hit the ground and exploded before it could hit any people.

As soon as he realized that his plan failed, the assassin ran away and down an alley. Superman flew after him while Batman went to check on J'onn. I decided to follow Superman to see if he needed any help. Just as I turned the corner, I saw that Superman had bent over to pick up a manhole cover, but as soon as he touched it he was thrown back and electrocuted.

Batman and J'onn ran down the alley as I was bent over Superman checking to see if he was okay. J'onn phased through, and I swore I heard an engine going past even though there was no cars around us. J'onn told Diana that our would be assassin was heading her way.

"Do you have this?" I asked Batman. He looked back down at Superman and nodded. "Alright, I'm gonna go help Wonder Woman." I jumped in the air and a disc was created under my feet. God, I loved doing that! I flew to where Wonder Woman should be positioned at.

There was a giant crash as Diana pounded her way through the ground. I waited to see what would happen, and there was another smaller portion of concrete that crumbled down again. "I don't think that was supposed to happen." I muttered to myself. I heard the engine of the assassin and I flew down into the original hole that Wonder Woman made.

I caught up with him after a few turns and I smirked. Wrong move going in the sewers buddy. I decided to mess with him a little bit. I froze his motorcycle so it stopped suddenly and he was thrown forward into the water. I stopped my disc and just hovered in the air a couple feet away from him. He was groaning and struggling to get up. I guess I threw him a little too hard.

"Next time, don't run from someone who controls water in a giant tube full of water." I said to him. There was a splash behind me and Batman was standing there. I pretended to dust my hands off and turned towards him. "Well, now that that's done would you mind cuffing him? I'm sure you have handcuffs with you, right?" Even from here I could see Batman roll his eyes at me but nonetheless he walked forward.

"Don't move." Batman growled out. I finally got a chance to look at the man, even if it was for a brief second. He wore a red and silver outfit, with what appeared to be a metal helmet that encased his whole head. He had a small red scope over his right eye, I assumed that helped him shoot. Before I was even done looking him over, he had rolled onto his back and threw a small silver circle in the air just above Batman's head.

My eyes widened and before I could do anything gas came out of the disc. The second it came near me I was thrown into a coughing fit so bad that I couldn't breathe. I barely saw through the gas the assassin running away, but I was coughing so bad I never would have been able to go after him.

The gas let up a few second later and I was able to draw a small breath. "What the hell was that?" I wheezed out. Through my watering eyes I could see Batman was doubled over coughing just as bad as I was. I gathered what little strength I had and raised the water levels up quickly until it reached the top of the ceiling and I brought it down just as fast.

The gas was gone and I gulped in some air, and I could hear that Bats was doing the same. "Sorry I got you wet, I had to get the gas off of you." My voice was all raspy from all the coughing.

"It's fine." Batman said, his voice gruffer than usual. He straightened himself up and looked down the pipe in the direction our guy had run down.

"I don't suppose you know where this pipe leads, do you?" I asked him.

"This isn't Gotham, I have no idea." He said. I nodded and started jogging down the path with Bats next to me.

"Wait, does that mean you know the sewers of Gotham too?" I asked him. He only smirked at me and didn't say anything while we continued to run. "Oh, you have got to be kidding me. How do you have time to actually go do things when you're memorizing maps of the sewer?"

He was saved from answering when we reached the nearest manhole. Thankfully it was uncovered, but it was still a good ten feet up. Before I could even think, Batman had grabbed my waist and pulled me to him before he used his grapple to get us both out of the sewer.

My cheeks instantly went red after being in such close proximity to him. I'm not saying I liked him or anything, it was just a little unnerving. Plus I could feel his muscles and let me tell you, they felt pretty good. Don't blame me, I may be a hero but I am still a girl. I notice these things.

Once I steadied myself on the ground I muttered a thanks, trying to let him avoid seeing my red cheeks. I doubt he did but like the silent man he is, he didn't say anything. "Come on, Superman is following him." Bats said before using a grapple to get up into the air.

"Oh, right…yeah." I had almost forgotten we were following an assassin. I jumped on a disc and followed behind Bats. We rounded the corner and saw a green van on fire and Superman holding our assassin. "Do you know who this guy is?" I asked Bats.

"His name is Deadshot. He's one of the most deadly assassins out there. He hardly misses a target."

"Well, I hate to mess up his record." I said not sounding very sorry at all. We walked over to Superman just as Wonder Woman and J'onn did.

"Gee, why would a hired gun try to shoot somebody?" he asked, laying the sarcasm on thick. "Could it be that someone paid me to?" If he wasn't a bad guy I probably would have laughed at how sarcastic he sounded. A man after my own heart.

"Who?" Wonder Woman asked him.

"Oh come on babe, you know I can't tell you that. Professional ethics." He said. I could practically hear his eyes roll as he said that.

"Oh please," I said stepping forward. "You have no ethics. Just tell us who payed you already." I snapped out. I didn't feel like standing out here all night just so some jerk can mess with us.

"So you're the girl that can control water." He said. He looked me up and down and my skin crawled. "Tell me, are there any other liquids you can control? Cause sweetheart, I would love to find out." My eyes widened as I understood double meaning behind what he said.

"What did you just say to me?" I growled out. I walked forward and practically ripped Deadshot out of Superman's grasp and held him up by the front of his suit. "Would you like me to freeze that area of your body, sweetheart?" I practically spit at him. "Cause I can guarantee that would get you singing like a song bird."

I felt a hand on my shoulder and I whipped my head around. "I'll take it from here." Batman said. I looked back at Deadshot to see that his eyes had gone wide. I shoved him into Batman's grip and took a step back.

I looked down and saw my hands were shaking, that's how mad I was. I'm a woman, not a piece of meat. I got enough of that kind of stuff in the Navy by the guys who didn't think I was worth anything. I certainly wasn't going to take it from some scumbag who shoots people. I closed my eyes and took a deep breath.

"Okay. I'll tell, I'll tell." Deadshot said. I was very pleased to hear that he sounded panicked.

"What did he say to him?" I asked Superman, curious of what Bats could have said to make him flip that fast.

"Trust me, you don't want to know." Superman said. Well alrighty then.

The pair walked back over to us and Batman pushed him towards us. Deadshot dusted off his shoulder where Batman had touched him. "Who hired you?"

"I don't know. I don't ask questions." He said. I rolled my eyes and crossed my arms. A whole lot of help this guy was.

"Not good enough. How were you paid?" Batman said.

"In gold. See?" Deadshot looked over to an overturned chest that had an enormous amount of gold coming out of it. With the heated discussion between him and me, no one had noticed it.

"That has to be worth thousands of dollars." I said. Batman went over and picked up a piece and looked at it closely.

"Spanish doubloons." He said.

"Where would they get coins like this?" Wonder Woman asked.

I snorted "I don't know, maybe some pirates hired him." Everyone looked at me a little annoyed, except Deadshot who let out a loud snort. I looked at him furiously. "I don't remember talking to you." I said. His eyes widened and he didn't say anything else. I looked up and everyone was still looking at me. "Sorry." I said looking down at my boots. I really needed to stop doing that every time I get embarrassed, it was starting to become a bad habit.

"Atlantis. That is where you would get these coins." J'onn said. I realized he was right. With all the sunken ships and shipwrecks that have happened, especially during the times of the Spanish conquistadors, they would have plenty of treasure to just give away.

"We've got to warn Aquaman." Superman said.

"Too late." I looked up and Green Lantern was hovering above us before he dropped down onto the ground. "That royal pain in the neck's already gone. And I couldn't stop him."

"Hera help him." Wonder Woman said. I internally rolled my eyes at that, and then a thought popped into my head.

"Wait," I said. "Does this mean we are going to Atlantis?" I asked excitedly.

"It would seem so." Superman said. I squealed inside. Atlantis! The city underwater, where everyone there could control water and were super cool and watery! I wanted to jump up and down, I was so ready to go. "Come on, let's go."

Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Deadshot trying to nonchalantly creep away. "Not so fast." I said. He tried to run and I decided it was time for payback. I froze him directly to the ground in a giant bunch of ice. "This should hold him until the police arrive." I said. Superman chuckled and walked past me.

Deadshot was struggling to get out to absolutely no avail. We all filed past him, with Bats and I going past him last. "Aw come on sweetie, a little help here?" He shivered out. I just laughed and kept walking.

"Sorry, but you aren't getting out of there. Next time you should watch your mouth." I called over my shoulder.

"That was a little harsh, don't you think?" Batman asked me.

"Nope." I said, popping the 'p'. "He deserves it." I looked up and Batman was smirking again. "By the way, what did you say to him?" I asked.

"Nothing. Don't worry about it." He said and quickened his pace so he was walking in front of me. I shrugged my shoulders. If he didn't want me to know, it's probably for the best.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Diana had gone to get the jet when the rest of us stayed behind and waited for her. We started discussing plans for how we would talk to Aquaman once we get to Atlantis. I had noticed that Batman had been very quiet and stood farther back away from the group. I walked over to him.

"Everything alright? You're even more quiet than usual."

"I'm fine." He said, not even bothering to turn towards me. "I'm not going with you guys to Atlantis. I'll stay up here and keep an eye on everything."

I guess I should have known that Bats wouldn't want to go with the rest of us. Even though he had been helping the League with the big dangers, he still preferred to work alone. "Alright, that's probably a good idea." I said. If something were to happen up here than none of us would know. "Let us know if you need anything." I had already turned and headed back towards the group when I heard the familiar sound of Bats' grapple shooting up. By the time I turned back around, he had disappeared in the shadows.

Diana had come back with the jet, so we all had piled in and headed towards the ocean. We dove under the waves and were off to Atlantis. This trip seemed longer than when we came to rescue the ship, and I started to get anxious. Despite working with the League for over a month now, I still got nervous before our encounters with the bad guys.

"We're almost there." Diana said breaking the silence. "Atlantis is just beyond that reef." I pushed aside my nerves and focused more on my excitement. I was going to go see Atlantis! I wondered what it looked like, if the buildings were made of gold, or coral, or old ships; I wasn't sure what to expect. It would be so cool to see a city that is completely underwater.

"Don't expect them to welcome us with open arms." Green Lantern said, and with that my excitement was swept away and my nerves had come back to take its place. Thanks G.L.

"Set the ship down here." Superman suggested. "Maybe we can slip under their defenses."

"Yeah, I doubt that. We are in their ocean. They probably knew we were here five minutes ago." I said. I love being right sometimes because no sooner had I said that, two explosions rocked the ship.

"Evie is right. They've already seen us." J'onn said. We all looked out the front window of the jet to see a giant ship that dwarfed ours, along with dozens of foot soldiers on their underwater jet skis.

"If it's a fight they want, they've got it." Green Lantern said glowing green and heading for the back. What is it with this guy and wanting to fight everyone?

"Wait! Remember why we're here." Diana said, stopping Green Lantern from doing anything too stupid, like start a war. That would be a pretty dumb thing to do. Even though he didn't look happy about it, G.L powered down.

"Good. Let's go talk to them." I said slipping on my air mask. Superman and Diana did the same and we opened our hatch and swam out into the middle of the vessels that were surrounding us.

"Hold your fire! We come with an urgent message for your king." Superman called out to the soldiers. I held my breath to see what they would do. A second later missiles were heading straight for us.

"Scatter!" I yelled out. Green Lantern put a shield around us to protect us from the blast and we headed towards different directions to stop the incoming soldiers. Two soldiers on speed jets were coming my way so I ducked and weaved in between the rocks to try and lose them. Unfortunately that didn't work, so I thought of a different plan. I hid on top of a rock, and when one of the jets came near me, I plunged myself on top of one of the soldiers shoulders and grabbed his neck. I flung him off the jet and he hit one of the rock formations.

However, in my genius plan I never thought about what I would do with the speed jet, you know, since I don't know how to drive it. The jet started plummeting to the ground so I jumped off and floated in the water. The jet hit the rocks below and exploded.

The other soldier following me saw the explosion and started coming in our direction. I pushed myself through the water until I was a good bit ahead of him. I stopped and turned around, looking at the jet. I waited until he was close to me and I took my staff, extended it, and clotheslined him. He flew off of his jet and sank to the bottom. I carefully swam back to where everyone else was trying to stop the larger ship from firing at us.

Superman lifted a rock and ran underneath the bottom of their sub, sinking it. "This way!" he said flying past us. We swam past another rock arch, and we saw the outline of buildings.

"There it is!" G.L pointed out and we swam faster to the buildings and as we got closer, I realized that the city was under a giant bubble. That surprised me, I thought that the city would be completely submerged underwater. I was so curious about the city, once we helped Aquaman I wanted to ask him if he could show me around. That might be a stretch though, considering I had only talked to him for a total of like, five minutes.

Once we got closer to the city, we started letting our guard down. There didn't seem to be any more soldiers following us, so we weren't in immediate danger. At least, that's what I thought. There was a blast behind us and silver spiked balls were floating past us. They reminded me of old Navy mines that you would see in movies.

We each ducked and dodged them, careful not to try and set them off. I dove down deeper and somersaulted myself over an incoming mine. I carefully weaved my way back to the others. "Not even close." Green Lantern said.

I was thrown forward into the rock wall when the first mine exploded behind us. Spoke too soon G.L, I thought. "Depth charges." I heard J'onn say. Each mine that went off caused the nearest one to go off as well, surrounding ourselves in a ring of explosions. I was being tossed against the cliffs from the pressures and forces of the explosions, and I was unable to get myself back up. After one large explosion, a piece of rock fell off the wall behind me, hitting my head and I blacked out.

Why was everything so bright? And what the hell is that beeping? I groggily opened my eyes and saw I was kneeling in a giant room, with marble floors and giant pillars. This must be one of the buildings inside of Atlantis, I thought. There was a man standing in front of Superman, speaking to him about Aquaman.

That's when I noticed the metal sensors on top of everyone's heads, I assumed that's what the beeping was. I thought my headache was because of the rocks, but now I'm pretty sure it's because of this thing on my head. What the hell were they planning on doing to us?

"Where's Aquaman?" Superman asked the man he was talking to.

"I thought your kind already took care of him." The man in the green outfit said.

"No. He came back here." Diana said, just waking up as well.

"We came to warn him about a plot against his life," Superman said, trying to make the guard understand that we wanted peace, and not a fight. "An Atlantian plot." I glanced around the room and noticed that we were surrounded by not only guards, but some civilians as well. They were all dressed in varying shades of green or blue. I wanted to look around some more, but the guard standing next to me didn't look too nice. I certainly didn't want him thinking I was trying to escape.

I noticed a movement on the balcony above me and I looked up to see one of the most beautiful woman I had ever seen. She had red hair, that looked almost purple in the light, and she was wearing a green crop top with gold on the edges and matching pants. She had a sheer cape that trailed down her back and around her legs. Then I noticed the crown that was on top of her head. That has to be the Queen of Atlantis, I thought, perhaps she could get us out of this mess.

"Lies and deceptions!" The man Superman was talking to said. He picked up his trident and shot Superman with an electric beam. My eyes widened, why couldn't these jerks just believe what we are telling them? The force of the beam knocked Superman backwards and he laid on the ground groaning.

"I consider this latest incursion nothing less than an act of war." He said, looking at all of us.

"Yeah? Last time I checked, we didn't shoot first, you just did." I said, giving this man my meanest glare. He looked over at me and I knew I probably shouldn't have opened my mouth.

He walked over to me and knelt down, putting his trident right up against my throat. "You dare speak to me like that, you land dweller? Just because you can handle water as well as an Atlantian can, does not mean you are worth anything here." He pressed the end of the trident in my throat a little harder with enough pressure to draw blood, and then he stood back up and walked to the center of the line we were kneeled in. "You'll be executed as enemies of the crown. Then I will wipe out the surface world forever." With that threat he turned away, and we were all lead to a metal room.

The others were led in first and handcuffed to the walls. Just before I was about to enter a guard grabbed me and pushed me to the side. "This one thrives in the water. Take her to the heat chamber." A not so gentle guard pulled me out of this room and into a smaller one.

I started struggling but the guard only gripped my arm harder, so hard I'm pretty sure I'll have a bruise there tomorrow. "Umm, not to sound rude or anything but where are you taking me?" I asked him, figuring if I knew where I was going, I would be able to get myself out of this situation.

"The heat chamber." He grunted out, obviously not interested in talking to me.

"Oh, now I know where I'm going. Thanks big man!" I said in the most sarcastic tone of voice I could possibly muster at the moment. Suddenly he spun me around so my back was to the wall and my feet off the floor, while he was holding me up by my neck. This guy had a strong grip and I couldn't draw in a breath.

"Listen to me you Land Dweller, I don't like you. Quite frankly, I'm going to enjoy watching you burn up in the heat chamber." My eyes widened and I started panicking. What did he mean I would burn up? He gave me a sickly sinister grin. "That's right girl. The heat chamber is where Atlantians go to die. It's so hot it burns them to a crisp. Who knows what it will do to you when you're in there." At this point I was seeing black spots in my vision and I could feel myself about to lose consciousness, until he released my neck and I dropped to the floor.

The second the pressure was gone I started sucking in air, trying to get the pounding out of my ears and the spots in my vision to go away. I had hardly taken a single deep breath when he pulled my arm and practically dragged me the rest of the way down the hallway. He opened a door and inside was a glass container, with large vents coming into the top of the container.

My heart rate quickened and I started squirming harder. Too long in that heat, and the water inside of me would evaporate, killing me in a matter of minutes, practically burning me from the inside out. My struggles were proven completely pointless as the guard threw me in the chamber and the door locked behind me.

I scrambled onto my feet and started banging on the door trying to break it. The guard looked back at me and sneered before pressing some controls on a table in the middle of the room.

The vents turned on and I immediately felt the heat coming through them. Imagine opening a black car in the middle of the summer on the equator. Then multiply it times a hundred. Within thirty seconds of the vents turning on I could feel myself becoming dehydrated and sweat was pouring off my body. The seconds seemed like lifetimes, and I could feel my skin drying up, literally watching cracks form on my arms. I started coughing and I collapsed onto my knees. The inside of my body felt like literal fire, and I curled up into the fetal position.

I figured that this was the end of my life. The city that I was so excited and willing to see would be my cemetery. I wanted to laugh at the irony but if I did that my lungs might turn to dust. I closed my eyes, preparing for death, when I realized it had gone quiet in my glass box. Then I realized the vents were no longer on.

My eyes fluttered open and I saw a woman on the other side of the glass, the unconscious guard at her feet, pressing the buttons on the control panel. She looked up at me and I realized that it was the woman in the crown that I had seen earlier. The door to my box opened and a cool gush of wind came in.

I still couldn't move, but I felt her drag me out of the box and onto the granite floors in the middle of the room. I probably looked pathetic, trying to draw air into my lungs, but my entire body felt so dry that I couldn't do anything properly. I wondered if this is what fish felt like when they were out of water. "Perhaps this will help." I heard the woman say. Seconds later I felt a splash of water on me, and it was absolute Heaven.

Just from that one splash of water, I felt ten times better. I was able to draw in breaths without sounding like I was dying, and I could start to move my body more without being afraid it would break apart. The woman gave me another splash of water and I felt completely renewed. I sat up and looked up at her. "I don't mean to sound rude, but who are you?" I asked her. She held out a hand and pulled me up from the ground so I could steady myself.

"I am Mera, Queen of Atlantis and wife to our King, Aquaman." She said. I nodded and looked down at the guard lying on the floor.

"Nice work there your majesty." I grinned and looked at her. She also smiled, but it vanished quickly and she looked quite serious.

"We must go now. You're friends are in as much danger as you were in." I frowned, suddenly worried about them. In my whole being turned into a raisin ordeal I had completely forgotten about them being chained to their own chamber. Mera and I rushed out into the hallway and back where the others were. We peeked into the door and I saw that the container the others were in was filling up with water. Now I see why I couldn't have gone in there. It would have been way too easy for me to stop the water. I checked to make sure the others hadn't drowned yet, but they were still struggling which meant that they hadn't been underwater too long.

Mera went in first, slipping through the door and behind the guards. Without warning, she picked up a silver weapon that somewhat resembled Hawkgirl's mace, and whacked both guards on the head with it. They crumpled to the ground in a heap and didn't move. I rushed into the room while Mera was already pulling the lever to drain the water that had filled the container with everyone in it.

The water was sucked down the drain like an oversized bathtub and the glass lifted up. The others were panting hard, trying to catch their breath and refill their bodies with oxygen. I didn't even bother waiting for a key and I went over to J'onn first and slashed his shackles off with a piece of thick ice. He ripped the headband off his head and sent me a smile.

Mera had already taken the locks off of John and she was making her way to Diana. "Thank you. But why?" Diana asked Mera in a weak voice. Usually I would have something sarcastic to say about the whole thing, but seeing as how she almost died I would give her a break, just this once.

"You believe someone in Atlantis had betrayed my husband. I also fear for his life, but I need your help." She explained. My heart went out to the poor woman. She sounded so desperate and sad, you couldn't help but want to help her.

"You've got it." John said, with Superman and J'onn walking behind him and rubbing their wrists where the handcuffs were. I smiled a bit at that, it was nice to see John so determined to help the Atlantians when twelve hours earlier he hated them. I personally think John needs to let lose a little bit, he's too serious all the time.

Mera had led us out of this torture building and let us walk around Atlantis. The buildings were incredible, they were all sorts of geometric shapes, and the colors weren't too bright or too dark, they resembled natural ocean colors. I was practically bouncing up and down when I was walking I was so excited. Apparently I was too excited cause Superman put a hand on my shoulder in order to calm me down a tad bit. "Sorry." I said shrugging and looking sheepish. He only smiled and shook his head. That's what I liked about him. He didn't take the small things too seriously unlike some people we know. *cough cough* John Stewart *cough cough*. Oh sorry, must have had a tickle in my throat.

Anyway, back to the tour. The best part was the giant waterfall that was in the middle of the city. It had a bridge that circled the whole thing and the sound was so soothing. It seemed like the most fitting thing to have in the center of the city. A place where air can meet water all the time.

"Your kingdom is truly magnificent." Wonder Woman said, reflecting my thoughts. "I see why Aquaman protects it so passionately."

"Unfortunately, there are those whose ambitions would destroy it." She said. I had to hand it to her, for her family being missing, she was holding all of this together very well. I suppose that must have been the Queen in her. Her people looked to her and drew their strength from her.

Mera was right with the whole destroying Atlantis bit, because when we turned the corner on the bridge guards started shooting at us, nearly hitting the Queen herself. Out of instinct, I drew the water from the waterfall and froze it creating a giant block of ice in order to protect us from them.

More guards came from behind us and I heard Green Lantern tell everyone to step back. I was too focused on my ice to really pay attention to what he was doing but I heard a giant boom and the bridge rattled, with the sounds of screaming guards following. Luckily I had jumped and formed an ice disk while everyone else floated above the hole in the bridge, with Diana holding Mera.

"Well that was easy." I said while evaporating the water from the ice into my staff, which was now back on my belt.

"Thank you." Mera said looking up at Diana.

"This fight is far from over." J'onn said looking at all of us. He flew up over the city and we all followed suit. We decided to go back to the palace in order to regroup and think of a plan. We entered the throne room, and we were all impressed. It was made completely of white marble and silver stone. On the far edge of the room sat a platform with Aquaman's throne on it, in between two black marble pillars. I was ogling at the room when my eyes found Mera.

She looked as if she were about to collapse from the stress she had been through these past two days. "Your highness, perhaps it is best if you rest for a minute." I said gesturing to the stairs in front of the throne. She gave me a grateful smile and I led her over to the stairs while the others seemed to split up to look for Aquaman. I sat with her and tried my best to soothe her.

After a few moments neither of us had spoken. To be perfectly honest, I had no idea what to say to the woman. She was missing her husband and son, even I had no idea what kind of pain that felt like. "You are quite talented with water." She said softly, breaking the silence.

"Thank you." I said just as quietly, not wanting to be so loud in this big room.

"It seems as if you are not Atlantian, yet you have the very powers that we have. How is that?" She inquired. I bit my lip, thinking of a way to tell her how I got my powers without boring her about my past.

"Well, I was part of the military for a little while. One day I had walked into a lab filled with chemicals, and one of them exploded. The next thing I knew when I woke up in our hospital, I could control and manipulate water." I said. I figured that would be the short and sweet version. Mera was looking at me with wide eyes, as if she was surprised that I was not born with this ability.

She seemed to have gotten over her disbelief and she smiled. "When this whole thing is over you should come back here to Atlantis sometime. Perhaps you can learn new ways to use your powers and I could gain a friend." She said looking over at me. "I may be queen, but that does not mean that I have too much time to go out on social visits. It would be nice to do girl things with someone who isn't intimidated because I am their queen." She explained.

I sent her a smile and patted her hand. "That sounds wonderful. I would love to see more of your kingdom." I said. Before Mera could reply J'onn materialized through the floor.

"We've searched the entire palace." He said. Superman and Diana flew in from an upstairs balcony.

"But there's still no sign of him." Superman said. With these words, Mera finally broke. Her strong façade cracked and it was plain as day, the pain that she was feeling. She put her hands over her face and sobs racked her body. I put a comforting arm around her shoulders and my other hand rubbed circles in her arm.

"Mera, it's going to be okay. We'll do everything we can to bring them back to you, I promise." I said to her. Just then, footsteps echoed down the hall and everyone, except Mera, looked up at the doorway. I looked up and my jaw dropped.

Inside the doorway was Aquaman, holding a baby who I presumed was his son. The joy didn't last because my eyes immediately glanced down to the red bandage covering his left hand. That can't be good. Mera must have sensed that someone else was in the room with us, because she stopped sobbing and moved her hands from her face. She finally looked up to see her husband and child in the doorway.

A look of pure joy swept across her features and in mere seconds she was sprinting across the room to get to them. I stood up from the steps and met the others in the center of the room. She tackled them both into a hug and they murmured some words to each other, but as soon as Aquaman let go of his son, we all could see the red stump where his hand used to be.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

While Aquaman wasn't freaking out over missing a hand the rest of us were. Mera immediately rushed him to their version of a hospital so he could get looked at and possibly fixed. From what I understood, the doctors didn't think they could reattach the hand, but they could put on a prosthetic.

We all stood in the operating room while the doctor put something metal in place of Aquaman's hand. The noises of the drills and the sight of all the blood was making me a little nauseas, so I did the best I could not to look over at the doctor working, instead, finding the floor tiles much more interesting.

"His own hand. I can't believe it." Superman said, still not quite believing it.

"I told you he was a madman." John said, crossing his arms.

"Is it madness to sacrifice all for someone you love?" Mera asked him. At least John had the decency to look a little ashamed for calling her husband crazy right in front of them.

"Can't you work any faster?" Aquaman demanded of the doctor. Good grief, if cutting off your own hand isn't enough to keep you down, than what is?

"This is a delicate operation, My Lord." The doctor said. "It can't be rushed." I don't know what kind of doctors they had here in Atlantis, but they freaked me out. Why were they in a full body jumpsuit? It was extremely unnerving to not see any skin at all, and only see a blue suit and some weird looking goggles.

Aquaman continued to sit in the chair, groaning in pain as the doctor attached his prosthetic on. I'm glad I wasn't in that situation, cause they would have had to have given me barrels of anesthesia to make sure I didn't feel a thing.

Suddenly a small beeping noise disturbed the continual zapping of the doctor's instruments. At first I wasn't sure what it was, but then I realized it was one of our com links. "Superman, a situation has developed up at the north pole." Ah, so Bats decided to make another appearance today. How thoughtful of him.

"What, did Santa forget to pay his rent this month?" I said loud enough for Batman to hear. I heard the loud sigh and could practically picture the eye roll and frown that was quite normal for Bats to wear when he was around either me or Flash. What can I say? We are the comedic relief to this team.

"No Evelyn." Bats said. Ouch, use of my full name. "Thermal readings show temperatures increasing rapidly."

"If that continues, the ecological effects could be catastrophic." J'onn said.

"Then let's check it out." John said, always ready for a fight, he is.

"But what about the crisis here?" Diana asked, looking over at the royal family who was gathered around the doctor.

"I have a feeling the two events are connected." I said.

Aquaman looked over at us just as I said this. "It's the doomsday thermal reactor." I blinked, not quite understanding what he was saying.

"Uh, yeah sorry but did you say a doomsday thermal reactor?" I asked. "That doesn't sound like a fun time."

Aquaman ignored me. "We designed it to create a polar meltdown."

"What?" John shouted. Great, and these two were getting along somewhat well.

"I had it built as a weapon of last resort." Aquaman explained. "To protect Atlantis, should the surface world ever attack." We all just stood there in shock, not quite believing that the Atlantians had a weapon that could kill all of the humans in practically a day. "But I never armed it." Aquaman added looking down.

"Oh, well if you never armed it I guess that makes it a-okay then, doesn't it?" I said, getting quite upset. Not only was he prepared to kill us but he would take the rest of the animals down with us? I mean honestly there are better ways to end the world then melting the North Pole. Think about the polar bears people! We need to save them!

Aquaman glared at me, but it faded when he saw just how upset we all were. His glare turned into shame, and my heart started to melt a little bit. I could see he never actually intended to use it. This doomsday device was no different than our nuclear weapons. God forbid those ever have to get used. I suddenly felt bad for snapping at him like that.

"Then Orm must have armed them," John said, interrupting the awkward silence that had settled around us. "Using the plutonium from the submarine."

"If the polar cap melts the world will sink beneath the waves." Superman said. To be honest that didn't sound like such a bad world. I mean, I would have fun, the Atlantians would have fun, but I guess for everyone else it would kind of suck. "Everything will be destroyed." He concluded. Suddenly this plan didn't sound as cool.

"We have to stop Orm." I said.

"And he will be." Aquaman said. His procedure was finally done and he stood up from his operating chair. In place of his left hand was a harpoon, attached by a gold medal holder on his wrist. That was the most metal thing I have ever seen, no pun intended. He was like a cooler version of Captain Hook. Except much hotter. What? I'm not blind. He's gorgeous.

"I'll see to it personally." He said and with the expression that was on his face I believed him. Poor Orm. He's gonna have hell to pay when Aquaman gets ahold of him.

"So, road trip to the North Pole anyone?" I asked.

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

Soon enough we were on our way to the North Pole. Aquaman decided to swim there while the rest of us flew. Well, I say flew but I guess you can call my version surfing. It was so much fun to skim across the tops of waves, I don't know why I didn't do it more often. Oh, that's right, cause I'm always saving the world and kicking ass.

Aquaman was pretty fast in the water, I had to go my full speed just to keep up with him. He was literally like a torpedo in the water. We reached the shore to the North Pole and he flipped himself out of the water, scaring off some seals that were chilling on the ice cap. And yes, I totally meant that pun.

"Aquaman, wait!" Superman called to him. I got off my ice disk and started walking behind Aquaman, with my staff in hand.

"Why do you follow?" He retorted looking between me and the others.

"We want to help." Diana told him.

"This is my battle." Aquaman said, obviously not budging on doing this by himself. "No one asked you to fight it."

"Well since we all live on this planet, we automatically have to help protect it." I said, flipping my staff over in my hand. "You don't get a say in that matter."

The others hovered beside both of us. "Evie is right." Superman said. "Like it or not, we have a stake in the outcome. We're not leaving."

"Just stay out of my way." Aquaman grumbled out. With all the grumbling this guy does he could rival Batman. Suddenly, a light beneath the ice exploded and we were all pushed back, but we landed on our feet. Here we go again.

The ground beneath us shook and two giant Atlantian ships rose out of the ice and started shooting at us. Superman and J'onn flew towards the closes ship while Green Lantern put himself, Diana, Aquaman and I into a ball and flew us right behind the others.

Up ahead I saw an entire squadron of Atlantian soldiers on jet skis come towards us. "Hope you guys are ready." G.L. said and he reduced the sphere, letting Aquaman land in the ocean while the rest of us flew towards the ship. G.L put up a shield to block the rays from the soldier's guns. I lifted the water up to create a giant wave that lifted all the skis out of the water and flipped them over, sending the soldiers tumbling into the water. That should stop them for a little bit, I thought.

There was a loud cracking noise behind me and I turned to see some of the big glaciers starting to crumble apart, it was getting too warm up here. "Superman, the glaciers are already starting to melt." I heard Batman say through our coms. I looked over my other shoulder and saw his bat jet moving past the glaciers on the other side.

"I know, but we've got our hands full here." Superman said into his com. In the background I could hear the firing of the guns and they were only getting louder. I whipped around and saw another fleet of skis coming towards us. Four were headed straight for me, so instead of flipping them up this time, I decided to get a little rougher. I made a wall if ice right on the surface of the water. When the skis tried to go over it, they got caught and the men were sent dozens of feet up in the air and landed with a smack in the water.

Suddenly there was a huge splash and I looked over to see Aquaman on the back of an orca, jumping on top of a group of soldiers. "That has to be the coolest thing I have ever seen." I said to myself. (And look! Another ice pun!)

I looked back around and saw that everyone else was busy fighting other soldiers, but the glaciers were still melting at an alarming rate. "We need to turn the machine off." I said into my ear com. "Does anyone copy?"

"I'm already on my way over to the machine, meet me there." Batman said. I looked around and saw that one specific glacier had heat waves coming off of it. Looks like I found the hiding place. I jumped on a disc and made my way to the glacier, with Batman catching up to me. "There's not much time." He said looking over at me. "If we can't shut that down the entire world is doomed."

"I suppose this is a bad time to say I told you so." Green Lantern said into his comm.

I rolled my eyes. "Now really isn't the time Green Bean." I said. I turned to Batman. "What do we have to do?" Before he could answer me there was a bigger rumble than before as more ice fell down into the ocean. "Wait, did it just get hotter?" I asked.

Batman didn't say anything, which meant that I was probably right. We both landed and stood at the entrance of the glacier, dodging the falling ice pieces. "Bats, we might be too late." I said, starting to get a little panicked.

"Not yet." He said as he ran into the glacier. I chased after him, right on his heels. We raced in through a side entrance and saw the giant machine sparking and smoking. Great, it's completely fried. I nervously looked over at Batman but he didn't seem to be worrying too much. He picked up a few pieces of the machine and threw them back down.

"No good. I'll have to go inside and manually shut it down."

"That doesn't sound too safe." I said, worriedly looking at the machine which seemed to be sparking even more frequently.

"Your ice, can it protect me?" Batman asked.

I paled a little bit, I wasn't sure if I could put enough ice around him without actually seeing him. "I might, but I would have to be directly with you. I'm not sure if I could do it without a visual." I quickly said, knowing that time was of the essence. Batman seemed to hesitate for a second, but he nodded.

"Alright then." I said. I stood directly next to him and closed my eyes. I imagined a layer of ice covering both of us, but with the consistency of water, so we could move without breaking the ice. To my absolute surprise it held together when we walked forward into the tube we would have to crawl into.

Batman went crawling in first and I followed behind him. We had only been in for a few moments when an explosion rocked the machine back and forth. We both paused and waited to make sure nothing would happen then we continued on at a faster pace. "We might want to hurry, just a teeny bit." I said.

It was hot as hell in this machine, and I could feel myself starting to weaken. I wasn't fully recovered from the heat chamber I had been put in earlier today, and this was only depleting me more. Plus, I was tasked with keeping both Bats and I safe from this machine, using a technique I had never done before. Needless to say, the stress was starting to get to me. "Seriously Bats, how much longer?" I asked through gritted teeth, with sweat dripping from my forehead.

"We're here." He said as we came up on a valve release. He twisted the nozzle and the machine started shutting down. As soon as he said we were safe, I release my hold on the water and it fell onto the ground. I don't even have the energy to soak it all up. I lean up against the wall and put my head back, closed my eyes and took some deep breaths. I probably look like a wreck at this point but I didn't care.

"You alright?" Batman asked. I opened one eye to look at him and he was staring at me, looking quite concerned.

"I'm fine. It's just been a long day." I said, resting my head back against the wall.

"I could assume that from the bruises on your neck." He said, nodding to them. Oh yeah, I had completely forgotten about that.

"Yeah well what can I say, me and security guards don't get along. Especially when they throw you in a heat chamber and try to turn you into a raisin." I said. He nodded so I guess he understood what I was saying. I had finally gotten my breathing returned to normal and I sat up on my knees. "Okay, let's get out of here."

We crawled back out of the tunnel to see Aquaman walking towards us. "Looks like we did it." I said.

"Then the threat is over." Aquaman said. Without another word we left the machine behind and went towards the entrance of the cave where the jet was parked. Aquaman jumped in the water and went back over to the others, presumably to tell the others the good news.

"Do you want a ride?" Batman asked me. I was quite shocked, usually once the mission was finished he would high tail it out and we wouldn't see him for a few days. I was still feeling weak so I nodded and jumped in the back. Bats got in the front and threw me something, which landed in my lap.

"Here, this should help." I looked down, and sitting in my lap was a bottle of water. I arched an eyebrow and picked it up.

"Since when do you keep water in your jet?" I asked him.

"Since the last time I got thirsty." He deadpanned out. It took me a second to realize that he was joking.

"Are you joking around with me?" I asked him. He didn't say anything but I could see him smirking in the reflection of the glass. "You are joking." I gasped. "Mark this down ladies and gents, that on this day in the good year of our Lord, the Batman of Gotham told a joke!" I said in a totally ridiculous British accent.

"Evie, just drink the water." He replied, but I could hear a hint of a smile in his voice. Soon enough we had landed where the others were. He opened the hatch and I jumped out, but I realized that he didn't.

"Are you coming with us?" I asked. He just shook his head.

"I need to-"

"get back to Gotham." We both finished at the same time. "Yeah, I know." I said. I smiled and turned around. "Hey Bats?" I said looking over my shoulder. He looked up at me expectantly. "Thanks for everything." I said. He nodded and flew off.

I turned back around and the others were talking to Aquaman. "I need to get back and fix the damage my brother has done to my kingdom." He said.

"We'll come with you, in case you need anything." Superman said. Aquaman looked reluctant but he agreed. "Very well."

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA

We all stood in the throne room, with Mera standing next to Aquaman who was sitting in his throne. We all were behind the throne in a line. Aquaman said he needed to hear what the guards who had betrayed him had to say about their actions. He sent for them and they were escorted in.

One man was pushed to the front by the others. Poor son of a bitch, I thought. He was going on and on about how they were not to be blamed for their treason. "And surely, you must know, My Lord. Our loyalty belongs to you and you alone. We never believed in Orm's plan. But your brother forced us. The truth is we were only following orders." He said as he finished.

I didn't think for one second that Aquaman believed any of this, and I was proven right. Aquaman stood up and looked down on the guards. "Get them out of my sight." He said. From the look on his face I could understand why he was such a great king. His orders were absolute, but when the time came for it he was kind and caring. He was exactly what people needed.

"I can only blame myself." Aquaman sighed out. "My fear of the surface dwellers blinded me to those I should've feared most, and it cost me dearly." He finished the end of his sentence holding up his new harpoon hand.

"Don't be too hard on yourself." John told him. "Maybe we've all misjudged." He said. It seems that it only caused the world to almost end for these two to see the error of their ways and reach an understanding of each other. Go figure.

"Perhaps. All I want…all I've ever wanted is peace and security for Atlantis." He said, looking out at the silhouette of the buildings that made up his kingdom.

Superman stepped forward. "After what's happened, it won't be easy."

"I know." Aquaman turned around and looked at his son, who was in Mera's arms. "But some sacrifices are worth it."

"Besides, I don't think you're one for doing things the easy way." I said. Aquaman looked over at me and chuckled.

"I want to thank you all." He said, looking at each of us individually."

"It's not a problem. Anytime you need help, just let us know." Superman said. We took that as our dismissal and we started to walk out.

"Evie!" Mera called out. I turned around and she came walking forward and wrapped her arms around me, now that she had handed to baby to Aquaman. I returned the gesture. "Thank you so much." She said. She pulled out of the hug and kept her hands on my shoulders. "You are always welcome to come and visit me and my family." She said.

"Thank you." I said, "I'll make sure to stop by soon." I gave her one last smile and headed for the large doors. I had a strong feeling in me, that even though it has been a rough road between us, one day the Atlantians and the people on the land would one day live together in harmony.

[swan2swan]

One interesting thing about Umbara is how practical and utilitarian all of their military weapons are. 

Their fighters look like transport pods. They’re joyriding vehicles that had a gun slapped on the front, maybe a few shield generators or a missile tube...these things could be right at home skimming along the surface of the ocean for a water show, or dancing in formation with dozens of identical twins to form a lightshow. Heck, if these things were trimmed up with a system of blinking lights, they could be their own lightshows. Four or five could easily tell a whole visual performance in the night sky.

This? This is a mining vehicle. You tunnel with this thing and then run cables and small transport vehicles behind to bring up whatever materials you need. You can demolish buildings quickly and navigate disaster zones, you can climb cliffs and traverse mountains with cargo on the back...or you can strap a few guns and shields onto the front and ta-da, you have an absolutely devastating assault vehicle.

This is a police vehicle. At worst. You can’t rely on wheeled vehicles on Umbara because it’s a pitch-black mudpit of fog. If a tree falls down in the road, you’re going to crash. If the bridge is out, you’re going to fall. If an animal crosses your path, whammo. But if everyone’s moving around in nice, large, spider-crab things? You step right over that log, you catch yourself on that cliff, the animal knows to get out of the way of the giant stompy-things (or you stomp on the animal and keep moving). But when war comes, you put a BIG GUN on top and you have a tank! 

And lastly, this...hover-tank...again, probably a police vehicle. It has electromagnetic cannons, it’s going to disable your vehicle if you are exceeding the Umbaran Speed Limit. Maybe it has some planetary security purposes, but it’s also probably a freight hauler. 

The bottom line being:

The Umbarans were like the Naboo and Gungans but in darkness. A peaceful planet that didn’t want conflict but wasn’t afraid to get its hands dirty by going to war themselves, rather than hiring a bunch of clones or battle droids because “heavens we might get hurt in war”. 

[itmighthavebeenintentional]

Shackled - Ch 3

Summary: After nearly ten years, Sam Winchester calls Miriam Bard to collect on a life debt. Unfortunately for Miriam, Sam leaves out a few important details.

Warning: Implied loss of family, grieving, depression, cursing, Demon!Dean, threats of violence, emotional manipulation, mind fuckery, psychological manipulation, short‘n’snarky, 18+ ONLY, YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED.

Word count: 1151

Author’s Note: Thanks again to @thoughtslikeaminefield​ and @cracksinthewalls​ , without whom this chapter would be a lot less of everything. I also really appreciate everyone’s lovely comments, hearts, and reblogs; you are all wonderful. I will try to get at least one chapter a week up, but I am in the middle of taxes, doctors, and registering my car (legal shit, amirite?).

If you’re reading this, hi! Have a seat and strap in, it’s gonna be a bumpy ride (in the best way!).

In case you missed it:

Ch 1 | Ch 2 

Chapter 3

“Two days at the absolute longest,” Sam said for the third time as he awkwardly zipped his bag with his off-hand. Miriam gave him a look, and he sighed.

“I know. I’m sorry. The kitchen has plenty of supplies; your room is near enough that you should be able to hear anything, or-”

“Or I can just drag in a mattress and have a good, old-fashioned slumber party. Sam, go. The sooner you leave, the sooner you’ll get back. I’ve got my holy water stash, I’ve got the knife, I’ve got my gun, and I’ve got you on speed dial. Short of a missile launcher or God himself intervening, I think we’re as prepared as we’re going to get.”

Sam let out a sharp breath, dropping his gaze from hers and nodding. He started to say something, then changed his mind and hefted his bag over his good shoulder. He lifted a small cooler from the map table and started towards the stairs. He stopped again, one foot on the bottom step, having some sort of internal debate.

“Miriam,” he finally said, “he’s...don’t let him get to you. It’s really...He can read things off you, get inside your head. He’s gonna find whatever he thinks will hurt you the most and press on it. Hard.”

“From what I remember, Dean was always good at reading people and pressing buttons,” Miriam said. “I’ll be okay, Sam. I’m as forewarned as I can be, all considered.”

“I know what you’re going through, believe me, I do. I wouldn’t ask you if there was anyone else.”

She held up a hand, cutting off his apology. “I get it, Sam. I’ve got you. I’ve got this. Go.”

Sam hesitated, his jaw working worriedly. Then he gave her a tight-lipped smile and nodded.

“Right. Call me if you need me.” And then he was gone, leaving Miriam alone in a massive underground bunker with her demons, both inner and otherwise.

…

“You know that gun can’t kill me, right?”

The smirk wasn’t quite as effective as it had been earlier, but Miriam was a little better prepared. She also had the distinct feeling he wasn’t putting the same effort into it this time.

“Doesn’t have to kill you. Just has to slow you down.”

Dean pursed his lips as he considered, then he nodded in agreement. She kept one eye on him as she slowly circled the room, looking for any important details she might have missed. Nothing loose behind the shelves except the table with its row of holy water flasks. Nothing within the trap that could be used as a weapon.

Of course, there was nothing to worry about anyway because Dean wasn’t getting out. He couldn’t. No way.

Miriam’s finger twitched against the trigger guard.

“You gonna circle all day, honey? Gettin’ dizzy over here.”

The demon sounded bored, of all things, and Miriam realized that she didn’t really know much about demon emotions. Or functions. Or anything, really.

“You gonna need feeding? I’m not walking you to the bathroom, princess.”

She was startled when her snark earned her a genuine smile. He was still in what she’d started thinking of as his human face, and the crinkles of skin next to his eyes were surprisingly appealing. Rough, but endearing.

Strange, she thought. Must’ve been too distracted by the case back in the day. Never thought much of you the first time around.

“You never thought much of him,” Dean said suddenly, and she glanced at the demon sharply. “Doesn't hold a candle to what you think of me. Papa’s got a brand new bag.”

She stared at him, shaken. Was he reading her or her thoughts? She didn’t think she was that easy to read, but then again, who knew? The alternative, however, was that he was actually in her head, seeing every little thought, every insecurity, every fear.

Either way, he was definitely getting under her skin.

“Does that cheesy bullshit work on anyone?” she asked, letting irritation creep into her tone. Not much got through her haze of numbness and fatigue these days, and she wasn’t pleased that Dean had such an inexplicable effect on her.

Something to consider when he’s not examining me, she thought.

His eyes narrowed, and she shook her head, wondering where that bizarre magnetism she’d felt from him earlier had gone. Maybe she’d been delirious from lack of sleep and too much driving. She steeled herself and took a few steps closer, examining his bonds as best she could without touching them.

The inscribed cuffs bound the demon to the arm of the chair on one side. Sam had done a thorough job securing both Dean’s arms and legs with ropes. She had to admit the younger Winchester had been right; short of an earthquake cracking the sigils on the floor, Miriam really couldn’t imagine Dean getting out of his confines.

As she was checking the knots on his arms once more, admiring Sam’s neat work, a mark on the inside of Dean’s forearm caught her eye. It looked burned on, a brand rather than a tattoo. She’d never seen anything like it, but she couldn't help staring, as if-

“Checking up on the goods, darlin’? Feel free to get hands-on, I won’t mind.”

She snorted, straightening her back with an audible pop. Time to get a little rest, put some space between her and the demon. She’d had more than enough of this nonsense for the time being.

“Down, Fido. I’m gonna catch an hour or two. Don’t wake me up unless you want the less fun kind of sponge bath,” she added, flicking her eyes significantly to the table full of holy water. His glare and flared nostrils were answer enough.

Just to be safe, though, she brought one of the flasks with her.

She didn’t dare go very far, though, not until she was truly sure he couldn't break out. She thought for a moment before pushing the shelves back into place and firmly closing the door behind her. If he got loose, she’d have at least a few moments notice from the noise.

And this way she didn’t have to fall asleep with him staring a hole through her head. She had enough emotional demons possessing her brain already; no need to add a literal one to the mix.

Miriam settled down in the nest of pillows she’d left in the hallway, doing her best to get comfortable on the floor. Better than a lot of places I’ve slept, she admitted as she pulled a blanket up around her shoulders, tilting her head back against the wall. She listened to the whoosh of the air vents, the creaking of the ropes and clinking of handcuffs as Dean tested his bonds again and again, and the eventual growls of frustration as he gave up for the time being.

Not so bad, she thought before she drifted off.

Chapter 4 is up!