#“I was so worried about you’ and looking back longingly at the elevator until she appeared????

[cherrycocaineee]

10. Rafael Barba - A Night Together

Warning: Smut

"No one's ever touched me like this, fuck."

"Fuck. You feel amazing."

*Rafael Barba's p.o.v*

    Three, gruesome hours later and the jury was finally back with their anticipated decision. Liv, Amaro, Raelyn, and I were sitting and waiting impatiently; Raelyn’s foot was smacking against the floor as she shook her leg, staring longingly at the clock. A faint chime came from the inside of my pants pocket, vibrating against my leg. I removed the phone and looked at it.

 “What is it?” Liv asked, Raelyn standing to her feet.

 “The jury’s back,” I remarked while taking ahold of my suitcase, leading the three of them out of the small room we were in.

  People started crowding back into the courtroom before the jury walked in. As soon as everyone was back in their seat, the judge and jury entered the room. I could almost feel my heart exploding in my chest, worried that I might have lost this one. It was always a little worry in the back of my head despite the confidence that radiated off of me towards the others. The bailiff walked over to one of the jurors, his feet colliding with the tiled floor, then grabbed the slip of paper from her before passing it over to the judge. He opened the slip of paper and turned to the jury.

  “Has the jury reached a decision?” He inquired, his wrinkled hands setting the paper down.

 “We have, your honor,” the woman stated.

  “Then on the charge of rape in the first degree, how do you find?”

 “We found the defendant…”

“Guilty!” Amaro sang as the four of us walked into the precinct, catching everyone’s attention, “on all charges.”

   After speaking to each other, the detectives decided to pack it up and call it a night. This had been such a hard case; no one wanted to put the young victims through more trauma or do anything that would make them back out of testifying. Part of me hoped that maybe there was something I could do tonight besides go back to the office and work on some paper, but Liv had Noah to get back to and everyone else had plans tonight. Or at least, I thought.

  “Raelyn,” Carisi said, “what are you doing tonight?”

 “Oh, nothin’ special,” she responded, her southern accent poking through, “probably just go home and watch some stupid television drama while drinkin’ a bottle of wine.”

  “Sounds like a night I can get behind at my own house,” Liv laughed, slinging her purse over her shoulder.

  Most of everyone had already wished each other a goodnight and were heading out the door. Amaro would be staying here a while longer until his ex-wife brought their daughter, Zara. I was watching Raelyn go through the files on her desk and putting them up in neat stacks, contemplating whether or not to ask her to join me for dinner. Taking a deep breath, I approached her.

 “Hey, Raelyn,” I started off, watching her shuffle through the files, “I was thinking since you aren’t doing anything tonight and I’m not doing anything either, maybe the two of us can get some dinner.”

 “Oh, that would-”

 Raelyn stopped what she was doing and turned to look at me, her eyes slightly widened.

 “I’m sorry what?” She questioned, “did I just hear you correctly?”

  I smiled and leaned against the corner of her desk feeling a boost of confidence I didn’t know I could feel.

  “Well if you heard me asking you to dinner, then you did.”

 Now it was Raelyn’s turn to smile, the files now pressed against her chest. Her red hair bounced against her shoulders as she nodded her head. Raelyn told me to give her a moment so she could put away her files and then we’d head out. I stood by her desk and waited for her patiently while she finished her business. When she was done, she grabbed her purse, keys, and coat then followed me to the elevator leading downstairs. I told her about the little Italian restaurant that was just down the block from my office that I took my mother to for Mother’s Day once. Luckily both of us loved Italian food.

  The drive to the restaurant was peaceful and relaxing. When we reached the restaurant, we went inside and sat down. It didn’t take long for us to order, and I even bought us a bottle of wine to enjoy with it. Raelyn looked at me.

  “I was kind of surprised that you wanted to get dinner with me,” she stated.

 “Why’s that?” I asked, taking a small sip of my water.

  “You always seem to be busy, always workin’ whether on a new case or some paperwork. Never figured you’d be into hangin’ out.”

  The more she talked, the more I found myself falling deeper and deeper in love with her. Her accent was what I loved the most about her. I knew Raelyn, she wasn’t the type of girl to throw herself around despite being incredibly beautiful. Most people definitely found her intimidating; she was strong-willed and strong-minded, normally not having a problem saying what she wanted and how she wanted. 

  I smiled and shrugged, “don’t know. Guess I just felt like getting out today.”

  “Well I’m glad you asked me to dinner. I like hangin’ out with ya.”

  Throughout dinner, Raelyn and I discussed things like family life, career paths had her father not passed away or her brother, and I found it interesting that she’d have liked to be a teacher. I told Raelyn some things about my mother and my grandmother, then told her what life was like for me when I was a child; the friends I grew up with, how I ended up wanting to become a lawyer.

  A few minutes into the conversation and the waiter brought our food; I ordered some lobster ravioli while Raelyn had ordered lasagna. I poured Raelyn a glass of wine and she thanked me.

 “Nice place, huh?” I asked, pouring my own glass of wine.

 “It’s amazin’,” Raelyn said, her fingers holding her glass delicately, “the food smells great.”

 While we ate, we continued our conversation. After finishing our food, I paid, despite Raelyn’s protest, and we headed back out to my car so I could take her home. Raelyn ran her fingers through her long, slightly tangled hair as I pulled into the parking lot of her apartment building. I insisted on walking her up to her apartment and was glad when she didn’t protest. I know that Raelyn can protect herself but I wouldn’t feel right if I had just left her to go up there alone. It wouldn’t be gentlemen-like. Raelyn and I approached her front door, she turned towards me and smiled.

  “Thank you for dinner, Rafael,” she said, her shoulder leaning against the white frame.

 “Of course, Rae,” I chuckled, “I had a lot of fun.”

  She bit her bottom lip, her eyes were staring at the keys that were dangling in her hand, her coat was hanging loosely over her arms.

  “Do you want to come inside? You know, maybe for some coffee before you head home.”

  “Well I did have wine,” I replied.

  She rolled her eyes playfully knowing that I had only drunk a glass or two and that caffeine wouldn’t sober me up if I had been drunk. She unlocked her front door and headed inside with me following behind her. She reached over and flipped the light switch on. A soft glow illuminated the living room. It was a nice place. Raelyn hung her coat up on the coat rack then took mine from me to put it up there as well. While I placed my suitcase down and admired her home, Raelyn went into the kitchen to start a fresh pot of coffee. I could hear the coffeemaker going off just as I walked into the kitchen.

   “Alright, coffee is makin’,” she said, turning to face me.

 I walked over to her, taking glances at her kitchen, admiring it. When I reached her, I smiled. I was nervous. Raelyn seemed to notice that I was nervous then placed her hand on my shoulder.

 “Rafael, you okay?”

 “Yeah, I’m just nervous.”

 “Nervous? Why? We spent lots of time together before.”

 “I know. But I mean, I didn’t exactly ask you to dinner as a friend. It was kind of a … date.”

Raelyn’s eyes widened a bit. From behind us, the coffeemaker was coming to a stop brewing the dark, warm liquid. She lifted her hand off my shoulder and started grabbing coffee cups.

  “I wish you’d told me it was a date,” she giggled, “because then I would have dressed up more nicely rather than wearing my work clothes.”

  “Well if it makes you feel any better, I think you look beautiful.”

  Just as she was finishing stirring the coffee, I had moved closer to her, grabbing the cup of coffee from the counter and taking a drink. Our eyes never tore away from each other. Raelyn picked up her cup and we went back to the living room to sit on her couch. The cushions sunk in as we sat together. Raelyn slipped off her shoes and crossed her legs so that she was facing me.

  “Thank you again,” she said.

 “No need to thank me,” I replied, “I enjoyed it. I was just happy that you agreed to go, it would have been awkward to be turned down.”

  A small laugh escaped from both of our mouths. The two of us made small talk while drinking a whole pot of coffee between the two. The clock said that it was almost midnight, normally the time that I was heading to bed as soon as I walked through my front door after work. Raelyn seemed to notice the time too.

  “Do you need to head home?” She inquired, swirling the coffee in her cup around.

 “I don’t have to head home right now,” I replied, “not if you don’t want me to.”

  With each second, the two of us were inching closer and closer. I could smell the shampoo in her hair and the sweet smell of watermelon and lilies from the perfume that she was wearing. She could probably smell the cologne I was wearing too from how close we were. I leaned forward and pressed my lips against hers. A minute passed before we started moving our lips in sync, no one wanted to make a sudden move that might deter the other person away. When I pulled away from Raelyn, the two of us were smiling like crazy.

   “That was, uhm, unexpected,” she said, placing her mug on the round coffee table placed in front of us, “but nice.”

  I placed my coffee mug down beside hers before placing my hand on the side of her face and kissed her again, this time with much more passion and confidence. Raelyn wrapped her arms around my neck, her nails raking through my short, brown hair. My hands touched her waist then pulled her into my lap, both of us careful not to knock the filled coffee cups over onto her carpet. Her legs were on both sides of my own, straddling me comfortably as our tongues explored each other's mouths, fighting for dominance until I won. When we pulled away again to catch some air, her forehead rested against mine. Our eyes staring longingly into one another's. Her gorgeous, stormy, blue eyes watched my honey, brown orbs.

  “Absolutely gorgeous,” I whispered, my hands running up and down her sides, “perfecto.”

 I stood up, Raelyn still in my arms, and her legs were wrapped around me, then I carried her to her bedroom. Luckily her bedroom door was open a bit, so I was easily able to open the door with my foot. I placed her down on the neatly made bed and stood between her legs. Raelyn was smiling, her bottom lip once again caught between her teeth.

   I moved down, lowering myself onto her smaller form, watching her dainty hands touch my arms then move up to my neck and face. The feeling was amazing, something I haven’t felt in years. I licked my lips just before they pressed against hers. I could feel her hands wrap around my neck, touching the ends of my freshly cut hair. I moved my left hand under her shirt, the feeling of my calloused hands on her smooth skin making me hungrier, my fingers slowly traced her skin before grabbing the hem of her shirt and pulling it off. Removing my lips from hers, I traced them against the nape of her neck. Her body was tense but it eased with every kiss. Pressing one last kiss to her jawline, I sat up and started removing my tie and unbuttoning my shirt. Raelyn had moved to her elbows and was watching me.

   As soon as my shirt was unbuttoned and my tie was off, Raelyn’s hands were caressing every inch of my chest with her smooth hands. Her fingers reached the small amount of chest hair glued to my skin and entwined fingers in them. There was a slight pinch. After she took her hands away from me, she moved them behind her back to take off her black bra. Once it was off and sitting on the floor with our shirts, I quickly moved my lips to her perfect, pink nipples. Every lick and bite of her fleshy breast and hardened nipples allowed for a sweet moan to release from her throat. I pulled away, a small drip of saliva stretching between my lips and her breast. Raelyn’s eyes were hazy and full of lust.

  “No one’s ever touched me like this, fuck,” her soft voice whimpered.

 “I’m just getting started,” I groaned while undoing my pants.

   Raelyn didn’t waste any time removing her pants too, revealing her matching black panties. I spotted a few scars on her side and started touching them.

  “Happened on one of my undercover jobs back when I worked Narcotics,” she sighed.

  I peppered the marks with gentle kisses before looking back at her.

  “Sigue siendo hermosa,” I hummed.

Hooking my fingers underneath her panties, I pulled them off and practically drooled at how exposed she looked in front of me. I leaned forward and pressed gentle kisses against her thighs. I kissed both of her legs until I reached her honeypot. It was already dripping even before I attached my lips to it. But as soon as I did, Raelyn’s fingers tangled themselves into my hair, her back arching as soft moans poured from her red, plump lips. My tongue ran over her folds earning more moans coated in her sweet wines. I ran my fingers over her skin, tenderly touching anywhere that seemed to please her.

   I slipped my fingers into her folds and groaned as she tightened around me. She was so warm, so wet, so perfect.

  “Good girl,” I whispered.

  Being praised seemed to turn her on even more. I moved towards her face, keeping a slow and steady pace between her folds with my fingers. I started kissing her, feeling her lips vibrate as she moaned softly. But I had to remove my lips because I wanted to hear her intoxicating voice.

  “R-Rafael,” she croaked, “stop teasin’ me already.”

 A slow chuckle shook my chest as I slipped my fingers from her core. I slipped on a condom that Raelyn had in her nightstand. Once it was on, I wrapped my right arm around her thin waist and slowly aligned myself with her entrance. Both of us moaned as I pushed in further and further, her wet cunt engulfing my cock desperately.

  “Fuck. You feel amazing,” I growled, moving faster and faster with each thrust.

  Raelyn’s hands tightened in my hair as I practically started ramming into her. The headboard behind us was hitting the wall with soft thuds echoing in the room. Neither one of us cared if her neighbors heard us.

I pulled Raelyn up so she was sitting on top of me. As one of my hands held her by the small of her back, my other hand moved to the back of her neck and gripped her hair just tight enough to keep her facing me. A thin layer of sweat coated our bodies making us slick. Raelyn was bouncing up and down, holding onto my shoulders tightly, her nails dug into my skin. I welcomed the pinch of her nail, pulling a little harsher on her hair and starting to suck on her neck leaving light reddish-purple marks on her beautiful porcelain skin.

   She started moving up and down faster, clinging to me. I leaned over to her ear and groaned.

  “How about you bend over the bed for me, mi Amor?”

 Raelyn didn’t argue, she just climbed off of me and leaned over the edge of her bed. I moved behind her and slipped right back in, not wasting any time. Her fingers gripped the bedding tightly as she threw her head backwards.

  “Shit,” she cried out, “please, faster.”

  I did exactly what she wanted, snapping my hips faster and faster. The palms of my hands squeezed her waist as I drilled into her. I could feel her legs shaking and becoming unsteady, so I took one leg and propped it up for her. She regained her balance, and the new position caught my breath in my throat.

  “So fucking tight,” I hissed, slamming faster and harder, “God damnit! Fuck Raelyn!”

  She was trying to muffle her beautiful moans into her pillow, but I pulled her hair to keep her up. Not too hard, but with enough strength to keep her looking forward while I railed her from behind.

  I once again removed myself from inside her tight cunt and watched her return to her back. Digging myself back into her when we were positioned right. Now the headboard was slamming hard against the wall causing the both of us to laugh but not slow down.

Raelyn gripped my shoulders, “feels so good.”

  “Oh yeah,” I whispered, my breath shaky, “tell me how good it feels baby girl.”

  “Rafael, it feels so good.”

  I lifted one of her legs over my shoulder, holding it there by her small calves. Peppering soft kisses on the side of her leg as I pumped my cock deeper and deeper into her perfect, sweet little cunt. Her crystal blue eyes rolled to the back of her head and arched her back up again. Sweat from my forehead dripped onto her skin.

  “I-I can’t hold on m-much longer,” she gasped.

 I leaned down and kissed her hard before pulling away, the sweat on my nose touching the tip of her nose.

 “Then don’t. Let it out, Cariño.”

  And just like that, her eyes rolled back, her body started shaking viciously, and her hands pulled me closer to her face. She practically screamed as she came all over my dick, her legs trembling as I helped her ride out her high. Just as she was coming down from her high, my own high started to appear. Each thrust got sloppier and sloppier as I stared into her tired eyes, nonetheless, her hips moved to meet with my own.

  “Fuck,” I hissed as I filled the condom I was wearing with my seed, “fuck, fuck, fuck!”

  Our breaths were heavy as I stayed on top of her. Her breasts were touching my chest each time she and I took a deep breath and let it out. I admired all of the beautiful, purple marks on her perfect, white skin. When we finished catching our breath, I pulled myself off of her and removed the condom I was wearing. After tossing it in the garbage, I laid back down. Raelyn turned to her side to face me, I did the same, and her soft, swollen lips stretched into a tired smile. We pulled the comforter over us and I pulled her closer to me.

  Raelyn rested her pretty, redhead on my chest and sighed.

 “That was definitely fun,” she giggled.

 “I’m glad sweetheart,” I chuckled.

Within minutes, the two of us fell asleep in each other’s arms. The smell of sex dripping throughout the room.

[i-do-trash-fanfictions]

Destober: Day 2, Vanguard

"Thera! May I speak to you a moment?" Ikora called out after spotting the young wolf walking across the bazaar.

"Of course," Thera, who had previously been on her was to the Drifter to collect gambit bounties, replied, then walked over to the warlock vanguard. "What is it that you need?" She spoke professionally, most likely guessing this was an assignment she was about to go on.

"You've been working a lot lately Thera and well... I worry for you. I believe you need a break from the fighting for a few hours. So, I'd like to request that you join Zavala and I to a walk in the City where we'll be checking on the citizens and such." Then she added with a smile, "And, as an addition to this invitation, Zavala has agreed to pay for supper at the end of the day."

"I-I suppose I could." She wouldn't be doing much else, and it was very rare that she got to spend much time with either vanguard. "Casual clothes?" She asked.

"We'll be wearing our casual. We intend to take breaks ourselves. Saint-14 and Shaxx will be watching the Tower in our absense for the day."

"Alright." Thera nodded. "When will I meet you?"

"The elevator in twenties minutes."

"See you then."

----

Twenty minutes later, on the dot, Thera met with Ikora by the elevators that led down to the City below. The warlock vanguard was now wearing fitting grey pants, a white blouse with a purple cardigan, and black boots. It was so weird for Thera, seeing her without her normal robes on. She couldn't remember a time in which she had ever seen her in anything different.

"Where's Zavala?" Thera inquired, looking around.

Ikora sighed. "Late. He always shows up on time to meetings, but for a walk in the City he decides to take his time."

Thera leaned against the metal railing. She wore an outfit made of black denim jeans, a light purple shirt tucked into said jeans with a hunter snake emblazened across it, along with a black leather jacket and black leather ankle boots. A top her head rested light purple aviator sunglasses, and on her ears, worn for the first time in forever, hung amythest stone earrings.

Zavala arrived a few minutes later than the two women. He wore black pants and a beige cashmere sweater. Peeking up from the sweater was the white collar of a button down shirt. It was also so different seeing Zavala without the bulky titan armor.

Thera straightened, arms crossed over her chest.

"Ready to go now, Commander?" Ikora asked, gesturing to the elevator.

"Ladies first."

Both Thera and Ikora entered the elevator with Zavala behind them. In no time they were on the City streets. People came from their homes to stop and wave at them. A few vendors who had set up in the streets gave them deals. Thera ended up with a small bag of taffy, 50% off. She usually didn't get this type of attention, she didn't go into the City much. She was surprised really with how many people knew her as the Young Wolf, and how many ran to her when the Vanguard was right there beside her. She had always seen them more liked than her by the City civilians. Children ran up to Zavala arms reaching in the air, wanting to be picked up and put on his shoulders. Little girls and boys ran up to talk to Ikora, and she crouched down to their height to speak with them, kindly and softly. Thera, without much knowledge about what to do with younger children despite having taken part in a few dodgeball games with Shaxx and Ann, followed the vanguards' lead. She gave each one she came across a piece of her taffy, and at one point a young boy came up to her with two wooden swords, wanting to play with her.

Thera took it and laughed with the child as she gave light blows to the boy and then dramatically fell back when he stabbed her in the stomach with the blunt wooden weapon as the children around them laughed and cheered.

The three also took their time to talk with the adult civilians, asking questions such as whether there was anything they should work on to make the City better. Thera got rather angry when a few mentioned passive aggressive statements about the House Light, but brushed it off quickly. It was one thing to get angry at a Guardian, another entirely to show aggression towards a civilian. Guardians could come back from a punch in the face, these people could not.

Thera took mostly to speaking with the teenagers, especially the shy ones who looked longingly at the three celebrities practically who walked along the City streets. She gave a few autographs, took a few pictures, and at the end of the day Zavala took Ikora and Thera to Cayde's favorite ramen restaurant.

"I had no idea the people loved me that much, especially the children." Thera said after slurping down another bite of ramen.

"Oh they adore you." Replied Ikora. "They usually ask us when we're bringing you down to the City with us."

"Really?"

Zavala nodded. "While Ikora and I are the Vanguard, we handle the more diplomatic aspect. You on the other hand are a warrior who has done many great feats, more so than Ikora and I both."

"I highly doubt that."

"Either way, they are inspired by the tales told to them by their parents about you. Your devotion to the City and the great stories of your triumphs inspire them, Thera. Many wish to be like you."

Thera smiled a small smile. "I never knew. Perhaps I should come down to the City more often."

"The children would love that. We do try to do this once a month. I'll invite you."

Thera nodded as she took another bite. All was silent for a moment and then Thera asked, "Did Ann put you up to this, to invite me down to the City?"

Ikora smiled sheepishly. "Well, she did come to me asking for you to be let off. But the taking you down into the City with us was all my doing. That girl does a lot of good for you."

"That she does." Thera replied. "Wouldn't know what I'd do without her."

Ikora smiled solemnly. "Cayde used to say the same about you."

"He did?"

"He was always proud of you Thera, how far you've come in your life. He always said he wouldn't know what he'd if he didn't have you around." She chuckled lightly. "He said you made life more interesting, and quoting him, 'That you were one of the coolest hunters he's every had the honor of training.'."

Ikora's words touched Thera's heart and she smiled.

It wasn't much longer until they finished their food and left after giving a generous tip to their server. Then they were walking back to the Tower again, the sun setting beautifully behind them.

[kirishwima]

for the soulmate AU thing could i ask for 8 or 9 with jumin?

ok so i had to go with no. 9 bc...the potENTIAL!!!

9. Anything you draw/write on your own skin appears on your soulmate’s.

* Jumin used to love waking up to little notes and doodles from his soulmate when he was younger-they first started appearing when he was about 9 or 10, first at incospicuous places like his wrists or forearms, little notes like a ‘hi!’ or a smiley face and whatnot

* He’d smile at the little doodles and messy handwriting, writing back with thin line markers and fine handwriting, be it a greeting or a smiley face with cat ears, there’d be a little exchange between the two at least once every day

* But as he grew older people started to scold him for the ink on his skin, his teachers would frown, tell him to cover up, his dad and whichever person he’d be dating at the time would roll their eyes whenever they saw doodles of cats on his arms, be it once he or his soulmate drew.

* “There’ll be a time and place to meet them”, his dad would tell him, giving him a wet cloth to wipe the ink away, “you can write down a formal letter to them at that time. Until then, keep your manners, please” he’d suggest, only it was never a suggestion, not really, the ‘please’ so ironic on his lips it dripped venom.

* With everything going on around him, Jumin’s replies to his soulmate’s doodles became sparse and cold, until they started to stop all together.

* Only...his soulmate didn’t seem to give up.

* They’d write something to him every day, asking if he was ok, if there’s something wrong-they were worried at first, wondering if something happened and that’s why Jumin had stopped replying. 

* One day he was washing up, preparing for the day when he saw big bold letters on his arm-’ARE YOU OKAY?! :(’ it wrote, and he sighed down at the words, grabbing a pen from his desk to make a hasty reply. 

* “We’re too old for this”, he scribbled down on his wrist, “stop it”, and with that he covered up his arms with a striped shirt, ignoring any further communication.

* His soulmate persisted, writing on their arms, on their legs sometimes-once Jumin found an angry face doodled on his inner thigh, staring angrily up at him as he went to take a shower. He bit back a smile at the thought of his soulmate furiously doodling that only for him to see, carrying on with his shower as normal.

* One day though. One day.

* He woke up as normal, only his alarm hadn’t gone off, hence he ran through his daily routine, not even stopping to take a glance at himself in the mirror-he brushed his teeth as he got dressed, and ran to the elevator that took him down to the parking lot and to his limousine, ignoring the odd stares his bodyguards gave him, the raised brow Driver Kim had the moment he laid eyes on Jumin.

* It was only when he reached his office, where Jaehee awaited him, when she gasped, choking on her sip of coffee as he walked in and greeted her, asking for his morning report.

* He could’ve sworn she was laughing, but before he could ask what’s so funny, she simply turned around, running out of his office before rushing back in a moment later, a compact mirror in hand.

* “Sir I-I think you really need to see this” she said, pushing the mirror in his hands.

* With a frown he took it, bringing it up to his face.

* On his forehead, with big bold letters, were the words ‘CAT LOVING MEME’ written, along with a doodle of a cat on his cheek, a crudely drawn...something, on the other cheek.

* Jumin blushed a furious red, sinking down to his knees. He’s not one to be embarassed, not one to be bothered by what other people think of him-but to think that his soulmate is also sporting this same face right now, possibly running around town with the same words and doodles on their face...?!

* He sighed, asking Jaehee to cancel all his appointments for the day before he looked around his office for an appropriate marker.

* “C&R main office, tomorrow, 8a.m. Ask for Jumin Han, and don’t be late.” he wrote on his arm, as big and clear as possible. If this is how his soulmate wanted to play, then so be it. He’d scold them for this behavior, and ask them to stop-it was high time they met anyway.

* That night Jumin was unable to sleep, nursing a glass of wine in his hand as he walked around the house, looking to his arms longingly. Would his soulmate really not reply to his message, even after that whole fiasco? Did they even see his message? What if they didn’t? What if they did but didn’t show up? Why...why did Jumin even care so much in the first place?

* It was late at night, or rather early in the morning as he lay down on the couch with Elizabeth in his lap, his shirt abandoned on the floor as he’d looked all over his arms and chest for a response, but to no avail, when he felt a prickle on his wrist, right at the pulse point.

* He lifted his hand, looked at the fluttering beat where a response was finally scribbled.

* “I can’t wait to see you, Jumin.”

* The man was already smitten and he had yet to even meet them, hoooo boy

-listen i love these doodle-soulmate AUs bc im a menace that constantly writes on myself so my soulmate would be doomed to memes on their hands 24/7 lmao

-send me a mystic messenger headcanon for character(s) reactions!-

-soulmate headcanons list-

[justcourttee]

I Won’t Try Again- Pt 4

The day had started off rough, but Gotham’s beauty was making up more than enough for the morning. Marinette jotted down many notes and sketch ideas as inspiration flooded her mind. The architecture, the Gothic styles, was beyond stunning. They made their way through the streets, the mall, and had ended their tour in the gardens where Marinette took a moment to sketch out a few ideas for the Waynes based off their city.

Her friends had stepped into the greenhouse while she took a few moments for herself. They knew that once she started sketching, the world faded out of existence and no one could break that.

Alya leaned in to Nino’s side as they walked around the garden. Adrien glanced over longingly as he walked behind the couple. He knew that he and Marinette weren’t meant to be, but it didn’t stop him from pining over his former partner. He was in love with the idea of her for so long, so when he finally got the chance to date her, he pushed too far too fast. He knew their relationship dying out was his fault. He knew that. And when his 21st birthday hit, he couldn’t even admit to himself that he was disappointed when his soul phrase wasn’t the first thing out of Marinette’s mouth that night when he saw her.

He cleared his throat to catch the attention of the couple in front of him.

“Has Marinette shared with either of you what her soul phrase is? Her birthday was yesterday, but with everything happening, I never caught the chance to ask.”

The couple shared a look confirming that Marinette had found time to tell Alya, who definitely told Nino.

“It was mad harsh dude. She’s a little broken up about it.”

Adiren raised his eyebrows at Nino’s comment. Could Marinette's soulmate be a bad person? Would it mean that she would eventually want to try again?

Nino shook his head as he saw Adrien’s wheels start turning. He knew how his best friend felt about Marinette, but he also knew Marinette was a firm believer in soulmates. As long as Adrien had a chance to find his, she wouldn’t interfere.

“C’mon boys. Let’s go get our girl. Maybe we can convince her to let us take her out to dinner.”

They all turned to the exit but stopped in their tracks as all the doors around them slammed shut. Nino instinctively pulled Alya behind him as they all took defensive positions. Several ropes dropped from the ceiling as multiple men slid down, blocking every exit. People began screaming as they tried to run toward the elevator in the center only to find it broken down.

“No need to worry my beauties.”

Adrien’s head whipped up as a beautiful woman with red hair seemingly floated overhead. Her smile was intoxicating as vines grew from her and towards the people below. Realizing her intent, Adrien’s instinct kicked in as he ran forward knocking the closest person out the way as the vine wrapped around his arms yanking him into the air. He heard shouts from below, mostly from Alya as he was flung into the air to face the redhead from before.

“Sweet boy, if you wanted to volunteer to go first, you could’ve just asked.”

The woman grabbed his face and pulled him into a kiss. He lost all of his senses as she pulled away with a smirk. All the feeling in his arms and legs had disappeared and he began to feel as though his entire body was shutting down. The vine released him as he fell into Nino and Alya’s arms.

“Attention GCPD, as I know you have the place surrounded. For every hour Bruce Wayne makes me wait, another person will fall victim to my intoxicating lips. But you have the power to save them! The boy has four hours until all of his internal organs shut down. My men have the remedy, but you must deliver me Bruce Wayne. Time is ticking.”

Adrien felt tears on his face as he looked up to meet Alya’s red eyes.

“It’s okay Adrien. Marinette will save us.”

He nodded as his vision began to darken. His lady always saves the day.

. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

Damian landed in a tree near the entrance, Nightwing on the other side of the greenhouse.

“What do you see?”

He heard slight static in the com before Nightwing gave him an answer.

“8 men with guns. Ivy is in the middle, sitting on a large vine, filing her nails? There seems to be two victims so far. A boy with blonde hair and a young girl, maybe ten.”

Damian’s face hardened. Ivy typically left young girls alone. Something had to be dire for her to attack. Just what had his father done? He was about to make his move when he heard a slight rustle in the trees above him. Casting a glance upward, he saw a young woman observing the scene, her mouth moving as if she was talking to another person. He had never seen her before and he knew of every hero and antihero that ran Gotham’s streets.

He was about to speak up when he heard commotion from below.

“What’s happening Nightwing?”

“The bats. Dude, the bats you described. They’re attacking the guards!”

Damian growled as he swung onto the top of the greenhouse. Ivy was busy trying to capture the bats with her vines, as she seemed to miss him and Nightwing making their way inside. With a shared look, they both nodded and dropped into different sections. One by one, they took down the guards, freeing the exits for the hostages.

“I asked for Bruce Wayne, not Batman!”

Damian barely moved in time as a vine burst through the ground trying to wrap around him.

“Ivy. Stop this. What do you want?”

She threw back her head laughing. Vines bursting from multiple spots trying to pin him down.

“That is between me and Bruce, Bats.”

He heard a grunt as he spared a look to his right. The last of the guards was out, but not by Nightwing. No, instead, a woman in a deep red, almost maroon suit with slight black accents was standing over the guards body. She turned her attention to the nearest hostage using what looked like a yoyo? to cut through the vines holding them. Offering her hand, she ushered several of them out the door before vines blocked the exit.

“Who's your little friend Batman? She is positively annoying.”

Vines shot from the ground but the girl gracefully leapt out the way, landing in a defensive state as if ready to take on Ivy herself.

Damian turned his attention back to Ivy as he threw a batarang at her supporting vine. Ivy growled as she dropped to the ground. Her eyes darted behind Damian causing him to tense.

“No!,” she shouted as her hand shot out.

Damian raised her arms ready for an impact that never came. He risked a look behind him as Nightwing finished ushering the last hostage out before the vine slammed him into the wall.

“You Bats are ruining everything!”

Ivy’s normally pale face was turning red as she shot vines in every direction. Damian had a hard time dodging them as he tried to close the distance between him and Ivy. He ended up in a tree out of Ivy’s sight when he felt a presence land beside him. He looked beside him to spot the woman searching for an opening.

“Get out of here,” he growled the words at her, trying to scare her into submission, but it seemed as though he only shocked her.

“Move!”

Damian heard Nightwing’s cry as he tackled the woman out of the tree, both landing harshly on the ground below. The tree they were once in was split in two by a giant vine. She was still in shock as she stared at him with disbelief in her eyes.

“Nightwing, get her out of here.”

That seemed to snap her out of her trance as her face hardened. She pushed him to the side and swung her yoyo at Ivy, catching the woman off guard. Ivy fell backwards as the woman yanked forward sending Ivy flying straight into her fist, knocking her out.

A silence fell over the greenhouse. After a moment or two, Nightwing finally opened the door to let the police in. They immediately ran over and placed an inhibitor collar around Ivy’s neck. Damian turned to face the woman, only to see her swinging away.

“Dammit. Nightwing, finish this.”

Without waiting for his answer, Damaian swung after the girl, tackling her mid-air. They fell into a nearby bush, both rolling over until he had her pinned to the ground. Mustering all the anger he could, he glared at the woman beneath him. “Who. are. you?”

She looked at him with curiosity in his eyes before deciding to give him an answer that knocked him off guard.

“Your soulmate.”

With that, she kicked him hard and flipped backwards, before he had a chance to recover, she was gone.

Tag List:

@amayakans @maribat-is-lifeblood @throneoffirebreathingbitchqueen @moonlightstar64 @myazael @anonymously-odd @zebrabaker @crazylittlemunchkin @moonystars14 @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry @mandy984 @mysupporthyperfixations @smolplantmum @cutechip @mochegato @messymessyml @emotionalsupportginger @jabalem @fusser90

[alieninatrenchcoat]

Boundaries

( An MSR one shot where Mulder and Scully attend a small get-together to celebrate the pregnancy of one of their colleagues, but Mulder begins to act a bit strange. )

     The conference room was oddly dark for the occasion. The light fixtures against the walls shone against the warm wood paneling at what seemed to be half their brilliance, wrapping the atmosphere is a cozy glow. The sun had begun to sink into its own departure with the coming depth of winter, yet the window spanning the far wall of the room was left barren, letting the night sky look down upon the scene. It was as if those inhabiting the room were in denial about the loss of daylight within the specific hour of the day. The blinds were not drawn, and the street lamps added to the luminosity of the confinement as it danced upon the slow-falling clumps of the first snow in D.C. Maybe this celebration called for the onlookers of the night to find themselves witnessing the occasion as well if not for a single passing moment of their drive home from work, or exiting the bus from the street below. The conference room must have looked nothing short of inviting. 

    Although, Scully wasn’t too sure that a cramped FBI headquarters conference room at 5pm was necessarily a normal space to throw a party. A workplace baby shower. In fact she wasn’t sure it was even a party at all. It was more of a mundane get-together. Agent Kinsley and Agent Stonecypher had kindly asked that she and Mulder be there after their forest-frenzy en route of their “team building seminar “ in Florida.  They claimed that Mulder and Scully were somewhat of an eye opener to what “true communication” truly was, and that the initiative to follow in their footsteps had brought them to realize there was more than friendship present within their partnership. The giddy couple was expecting a child.

        Mulder, of course, could not have been more agitated about Scully dragging him from the basement office to sit at a small conference table with a band of fellow agents who didn’t particularly care for him. In addition, the agent couple actually respected his work, he found to be most insufferably annoying. Yet, they wanted him there to celebrate Carla Stonecypher’s pregnancy. He sat there slumped back in his chair with his arms crossed in a most unprofessional posture. Only a few others were seated at the table across from him, none of which he knew, and all of which were talking to Scully. In the seat to his right he watched her, searching for a hint of agitation to appear on her pale face. He could extract that flicker of emotion from her to curate a reason for them to exit the scene and get back to work. Heading back downstairs for the few hours left of the day, surrounded by his own company, was currently his only desire. He looked forward to spending his days there in a space he and Scully had carefully cultivated on their own. Their homey home away-from home. His eyes darkened as he swiveled back and forth slightly in his chair, fuming about being forced to sit there. He tightened his arms together, and kept watch on scully. In contrast, her posture was perfect. Her red suit coat illuminated by the street lamps beyond the window, her complexion emotionless as she sat with her hands folded neatly on the table, taking in the conversation being thrown at her. 

       Scully was well-aware he wasn’t happy about being there, but a pregnancy is a big deal, and a happy one nonetheless. She could feel his eyes boring into her own in hopes that she might turn around with the final signal to retreat, but she ignored him and continued her courteous flow of conversation. 

    Carla and Micheal were standing by the door talking to Skinner and another AD Mulder and Scully didn’t recognize. There were a few other groups standing in clusters, some by the window watching the snow and nursing glasses of wine. 

Mulder felt a little gipped considering Scully was consorting with the group she wasn’t even aquatinted with until their arrival. What was the point to come if they weren’t even talking to the couple that had invited them? He straightened up, broke his Scully-trance, and scooted his chair up to the table to imitate her position. He brought his eyes up to settle upon two men in bright ties, and a tiny older woman. Their suit coats all draped on their chairs behind them. Mulder had decided too keep his on as if to send subliminal messages that he was not intending to stay long. He turned back to scully, unsatisfied with their company’s view. She finally gave him a quick glance when he nudged her calf with the toe of his dress shoe. She ignored it and continued talking about some cell research project, but furrowed her eyebrows. 

     Mulder couldn’t take it. The redundancy was making him sweat. To the surprise of scully and those she was speaking with, he shoved himself away from the table, gliding on his chair, and abruptly stood, causing the group’s conversation to come to a haunt - all attention on Mulder. 

“If you’ll excuse me, I’d like to get a drink, would any of you care for one?” He asked with a hint of sarcasm as he sunk his hands into the pockets of his slacks and drew his lips into a fake grin with brows raised. Scully looked up at him perplexed by this outburst, but he stared with anticipation of response at the three across the conference table. The rest of the group in the room didn’t seem to notice his flamboyant gesture of arising from his seat. The man with the yellow tie, which Mulder made a mental note of as ‘giving him a headache,’ raised his hand in request of a said drink being brought to him. Mulder nodded dramatically and gave scully’s shoulder a tap as he turned away and made for the second door to the external sitting room. He closed the door behind him and took a seat in one of the many chairs lining the confined span of wall. He was alone. A table had replaced a few chairs for the small get together in celebration of the upcoming child. Wine and water, to the effect of a baby shower, as well as a finely decorated charcuterie board sat awaiting the guests. The lights were dimmed in this room as well, but the smaller window was masked in blinds. Mulder groaned looking longingly at a glowing exit sign near the glass panes leading to the external hallway. How badly he wanted to ‘exit’ the room and escape, but he didn’t want Scully to become cross with him. He could vaguely make out yet another exit sign’s glowing light above the elevator at the end of the hall. The elevator. The stairway down to his heaven, the office. He considered leaving in that moment, wondering if scully would really actually care all too much. She knew he couldn’t stand the endless fretting of Micheal and Carla, so he thought she’d be understanding and forgiving of his absence. The more he considered taking action upon his plan to ditch her, he thought more of himself eventually being alone within his office space. Meaning no Scully. He enjoyed the peace, but Scully just made it feel like it was less of a waste of time. Working in an office was not the best possible way to investigate x files, and she was way better at doing the research than he was anyway. It would be pointless to be at an office space without her as his right hand man. He sank his head into his hands at the notion that he was at a loss no matter where he was in this building if she wasn’t there. And she sure as hell wasn’t about to leave with him, so he admitted defeat. He’d stay for her. Scully. At this stupid baby shower. But for now he just needed a second alone, away from the noise. 

        There was a click at the door, waking him from his resentful thought processes. He snapped to attention when he saw it was Scully peaking through. When she recognized the man in the chair across the room to in fact be Mulder, she slipped into the room with him. Mulder looked down at his hands with a bit of shame at having not brought back drinks after 5 minutes, and for leaving her alone out there. Although, she was perfectly capable of handling herself. He waited for a lecture from her. A lecture on how rude he was acting, and how he could at least make an effort to socialize because bringing life into the world was a gift she wasn’t given and he knows how much it means to her. A lecture about how she wouldn’t have dragged him away from the precious paranormal if she didn’t feel like it would benefit him in any way. That he was too much of a recluse within the fbi sometimes that maybe those who didn’t like him only looked down upon his lack of approachability rather than his investment in the extraterrestrial existence of aliens. 

But the words never left her mouth. 

She took a seat next to him and ran a small hand through his hair. 

“You feeling okay Mulder?” He could hear the delicate concern in her voice and felt a pang for guilt for possibly making her worry “you don’t feel hot, but are you sure that you-“ 

“I’m alright Scully. I just needed some air.” Mulder stood, not looking at her and walked over to peer through the closed blinds covering the glass between the waiting room and the hall, searching for another sign of life. 

“I know you don’t feel like being here, but It’s just for a little while. I spoke to Carla and she explained to me the the intricacies of the doctors’... Mulder?” 

Mulder now had his hands cupped against the glass and his eyes like binoculars, mumbling inaudibly and giving a “mm” in response to her. He obviously wasn’t listening. Scully frowned and lost the sympathetic outlook as she too crossed the room to the wine and began to open a bottle in order to complete the task Mulder had neglected. The pop of the cork finally caught his attention and he made his way up behind her. 

“Scully” his voice was somber. Almost sad. He lost the silly ‘ignorant-binocular-mumbling’ act. 

“What is it Mulder?” She acknowledged snappily.

“Do you ever wonder...,” he drones off thoughtfully leaving room for her to question the end of his sentence, but she doesn’t. In hopes to draw her attention further, he finds that his hands come to grip her hips from behind as he towers over her shoulder. He tries to consume the ounce of attention left that she’d be willing to sacrifice to him. much to scully’s disadvantage she couldn’t shove his hands off of herself due to her preoccupation of pouring the wine.

“Mulder! Can you not see that im-“ 

“- do you ever, ever wonder...” 

“Get your hands off of me,” she ordered. Her tone was even as if she had already given up trying to convince him to obey. 

“Scully, do you ever wonder what it would be like?” His hands slowly move from her hips to her slower stomach. Slowly. His palms completely flat, pressing against her tiny torso as if straining to to feel every possible fiber of her blouse. 

She set the glass and the wine bottle down, swallowing, shivers electrocuting up her spine. She felt a lump in her throat. Mulder was usually handsy and flirtatious by nature, but she wasn’t quite sure this was his norm. He’d never touched her like this. She didn’t try to push it away, but stood rigid, allowing his hands to rest in their place. “Wonder about what, Mulder?” A moment of silence passed as they stood there waiting for the other to say or do something in protest. 

Mulder brought his voice to a near whisper.“what having a life inside of you is like?” he finished very seriously. He was seriously asking. He bent his head down slightly to brush his cheek against her within close prolixity of her ear. Scully tried her best to lean her own face away from him to look at his while still allowing him to touch her. His hands felt like magnets to the vulnerable soft feeling of her core beneath his skin, wanting an answer from that place rather than from her own mouth. She allowed it, feeling confused but sympathetic at the feeling of his neediness bleeding through. He wasn’t like this. She was worried something had happened to him, so she allowed herself to be his comfort. She was sure it meant nothing, just like every other caress or touch or closeness they exchanged. Mulder hoped that would be the case, although he wasn’t sure if that’s how he meant it to be. Maybe he wanted it to be something more. He turned his head to return her look. She seemed slightly bewildered and concerned at his question, but she gave him a confused smile. His expression had not changed. His eyes were as dim as the sky peaking through in the busy adjacent room. He was so somber, delicate, almost sad. 

“Oh Mulder...of course I have. What makes you curious? The baby shower?” 

He nodded, still seemingly troubled. She covered his hands with her own and guided them to a less intimate place back on her hips and shimmied herself to face him. Her back to the table. His hands left her waist to find themselves fingering over the grains of the wood in the table, trapping her between his two arms on either side  of her. He couldn’t hold her gaze any longer and focused on her dainty necklace instead, in the shadow of the crook of her neck and the already dim lighting. She placed a hand on his cheek and lifted his face to meet her eyes. He felt the  curiosity within them looking back at him, and he leaned into her hand. He knew he couldn’t quench that curiosity in this moment. 

“Mulder. You’re acting all strange, you're positive nothings the matter?” 

He gave scully a sad smile then used her shoulder to help balance himself as he straightened up. His hands returned to his slack pockets, taking a step back. He shouldn’t have touched her. He didn’t want to break their unspoken boundaries and he was grateful she didn't seem to consider it out of line or uncalled for. 

“I shouldn't have- I uh - Scully…” he glanced in the direction of the hallway window and then to the door Scully had closed behind her.

“Mulder?” She cocked her head, folding her arms inquisitively. 

Gluing his embarrassed eyes to his shoes, he started again “ I couldn't help but think that-” 

The door clicked again and the man with the bile-yellow tie swung the door open, Mulder and Scully whipping around to face him. 

“Hey Dana! I see you found him! Everything alright here? Carla and Micheal are wrapping it up, but I was hoping to be leaving with that drink, Agent Mulder!” The self-proclaimed Agent Wayne gave a boisterous laugh. Scully gave him a smile. 

“Yes everything is just fine, we'll be back in a minute” Scully replied. Muder nodded in confirmation. The door shut again with a big and over enthusiastic thumbs up from Wayne. Scully’s attention was back on Mulder expectantly. 

“Talk to me Mulder,” Scully insisted earnestly. He seemed to have mysteriously perked up, acting as though he wasn’t just all gloomy a moment ago, and guided her by the small of her back to the door in which wayne had retreated. 

“C’mon Scully, let’s go wish the happy couple a nice farewell!”

Thoroughly confused by his drastic behavioral changes, Scully tried to let it go for the time being. She’d question him about it later and out of public eye. She was completely and utterly surprised that Mulder was soon talking it up with everyone in the room, especially Carla, asking her all about how she and Micheal ‘found themselves on this new and exciting journey,’ and catching up with them about what they’d been up to since their forest investigation. She didn't bring it up. Not there. But she couldn't help but wonder what came over him or why he would ask her about her thoughts on her own hypothetical pregnancy. About why he had touched her. They could have been walked in on by Agent Wayne seconds earlier, or even seen through the hall window. Neither of them cared for rumors about their relationship being more than platonic, and he should have known that holding her like that would put the rumors through the roof if anyone were to notice. Not to mention the probability of Skinner having been the one to walk in. Mulder left the gathering after most others had left themselves, and happily he told Scully to go home and get some rest. Mulder? Telling her to go home instead of manning the office? She was undeniably  perplexed and confused. 

__

The phone rang. It was late. Scully was already in bed, but her lamp kept her out of the dark, and she was reading Moby dick for what she claimed to be the twelfth time. It was a last resort to defeat the thoughts of Mulder that had been keeping her from falling asleep. Thoughts of possible reasonings behind his actions or something she may have missed in his words or body language that would have given him away if she'd notice. Analyzing him. The phone rang again. Leaning over to her bedside table, she picked it up. 

“Hello?” She yawned.

“Hey Scully it's me.” She had a feeling.

“Mulder it’s-”

“Wait. wait, Scully. I gotta talk to you for a second” he was very much awake. 

“What is it?”

“I wanted to apologize. How I acted tonight… It was...it was inappropriate. Asking you such a question and already knowing the answer. I don't want...I didn't want to hurt you by bringing it up when I knew about the, the um-“

“Mulder. It's alright. I wasn't offended, just… taken aback. I didn’t expect my infertility to be something you would think about.” 

“ It wasn't my place Scully. It wasn't my place to ask… or to touch. “ There was a long pause between them for a moment. Scully took a deep breath, but he continued before she could start. “I was sitting in that room itching to be back downstairs. You knew that. I just didn't stop to think that the situation was bigger than me. I mean the whole party situation. That this was a celebration of another life coming into the world as a result of two people who love each other. It wasn’t about me. And when Carla and Micheal invited us and said that they started getting to know each other more because of you and I… I guess I just didn't know what that meant until I took a step back. In that waiting room, I just thought that...I thought of you. I thought of why you'd want to be there for them and it made sense to me” Scully didn't respond. “You still there?” 

“Yes” she felt she knew where this was going. She hoped he couldn’t hear her heartbeat pulsing in the palm of her hand, knuckles white against the phone. 

“Well, I realized why you wanted to be there. And that's why I asked.”

She took another deep breath, contemplating how to respond to his conclusion “I think that most women wonder what it's like to carry life, Mulder, and you don't need to pity me for wanting to try to be happy for those who have what I can't”

“You're exactly right Scully, which is why I'm apologizing. I wanted to go back into that room and feel their joy. I wanted to actually care. I wanted to. For you. I didn't want to wallow in my own self pity. How many times are we going to be at baby showers? It's trivial of me to consider, but I thought that I'd make the most of this one because I know I'm not going to get to have one for you. “

Scully's voice cracked as she breathed his name into the phone, trying to decipher exactly what he was implying, “Mulder thats-”

“Fuck Scully, I didnt mean that we… that you and I are-”

“Mulder stop.” she stood up from the bed and began to pace. “I thought maybe you were dissociating or upset about something, or that your head wasn't in the right place. We don't need to talk about it. I won't force you to come with me to things like this again. I just thought it would be...refreshing since we haven't had a field case in a bit. That maybe getting you out of the basement was a good idea. I was worried it was my fault you were so upset about being there. I’m just glad that I could be the reason you ended up wanting to stay. It's ok. We don't have to discuss...what doesn't need to be discussed.” She held her breath in hopes that she said the right thing. Her lungs were heavy. Her throat dry, heart pounding, hoping he got the message. She didn't want to push their boundaries. Neither did he. 

“Thanks for looking out for me, Scully. I don't know what I'd do without you. You did the right thing getting me to go. Really.“ 

“Are you sure? If there’s anything else you want to talk about, we could meet up and discuss-”

“-Absolutely. Sorry if I woke you. I'll see you tomorrow.” 

“Mulder, wait-” he hung up. She slumped back into bed, sighing. She set the phone back in its place and picked up her book once more, but she could no longer focus on the words. The answers to her confusion tugged at her brain more than the questions she no longer had.

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

( this is the first fanfic i’ve posted, so I’m not expecting it to draw much attention, but if anyone has constructive feedback or thoughts, im open to hearing any! )

[elisaphoenix13]

Accidental Phenomenons

Nobody had been home all day, either they were out on missions, at school, or at work. Sam, Quill, and Scott were the first ones to get back and they all ended up at the penthouse to raid the fridge for something to eat. When they got there though, they found three strangers standing in the kitchen and looking a little confused. Well, the teenager was looking confused. The toddler was sniffling and rubbing his eyes, and the silver-haired adult woman was trying to calm the toddler. When the three Avengers came in, the woman looked up at them and actually looked relieved.

"Who the hell are you?" Quill finally asks.

The toddler immediately looks up and turns on the stool he was sitting on and then launched himself at the celestial. Quill grunts when he wraps his arms and legs around the god and rubs his face in his collarbone with fresh tears.

"I didn't mean to! I'm sorry Daddy!" The little boy whimpers.

The look on Quill's face was comical and the scathing one on Scott's almost made Sam laugh. Almost. They had more pressing matters to turn their focus on. The boy clinging to Quill had no need for support and certainly wasn't getting any from the god since his arms were straight out at the sides.

"I thought you said you wore condoms in space." Scott says.

"I did! I swear!" Quill exclaims and grimaces when the toddler sniffles against his shoulder. "I have no idea who this kid is!"

"That would be Flynn." The woman says and all three men look at her, then the toddler, and then realization dawns on them.

"Athena?" Scott asks curiously as Quill tries to pry the toddler off. It wasn't really working.

When she nods, Sam looks over at the teenager. "That makes you Tibbs."

"When are Dad and Gramps getting home? I wanna go down to the lab." The boy asks and then yawns.

It was the breaking limit for Sam. He burst into laughter, wheezing about the Gramps name Tibbs very obviously gave Tony. Athena sighs and mutters under her breath as she walks over to the living room to sit on the couch, and Tibbs sits on the breakfast counter. Quill eventually managed to pry Flynn off of him and was holding him out at arms length and looking at him like he had a second head.

Scott could see the hundreds of questions running through his head, but what the celestial finally asked was, "what did you do?"

Flynn squirms in Quill's hold to cling onto him again. "I didn't mean to…" he repeats with a hiccup. "I slipped while playing with Tibbs and I broke the big shiny cup."

"The what?"

"He's speaking of the relic that Master brought home." Athena elaborates, motioning toward the shards of a broken vase on the floor. "He didn't know what it did and deemed it harmless enough to bring home and study."

Scott scratches the back of his head. "Well I guess now we know. Is he dimension hopping?"

She shakes her head. "He is out with his mate."

"Guess we're waiting for Mama Bear to get home." Sam says.

Neither Scott nor Quill argued, and they decided to get the three new humans fed. Sam helped Scott in the kitchen and Quill sat in the living room with Flynn still very much attached to him. He fortunately calmed down and was content to cling to Quill, and Tibbs had walked around the tower until he found a sunny spot big enough for his new form to lie in. Athena was content to observe until lunch was ready. When Sam and Scott set out some sandwiches for the six of them, Quill had to get up and take Flynn to the table with him since he wanted nothing to do with anything that would potentially take him away from his daddy.

So Quill had to eat with the toddler in his lap. It was an interesting sight to see, but quickly got old since on the rare occasion, Valerie was found with Quill instead of Stephen. Tibbs took his time slinking to the table, and Athena had gone when Quill did, leaving Sam and Scott to be the last to join them with drinks in hand. They were all at the end of finishing their lunch when the elevator opened and Stephen and Tony stepped out, with Valerie on Tony's hip. That was a strange sight in itself.

The couple immediately stopped and looked at the strangers sitting at the table and then Tony looked at Stephen. "Did you adopt more kids off a website or something Duchess?"

He earned a smack to the back of his head for that remark.

"These people are actually your pets." Sam tells them and Stephen looks at them with an arched brow.

"How did this happen?" He asks and looks over to the broken vase when Athena motions to it once again. "Ah. I see."

"Can you change them back?" Tony asks as he swipes one of the extra sandwiches Sam had made.

"I believe so." Stephen nods. "Just give me a little bit to look into it." He says as he grabs the last extra sandwich and wanders off to find his books.

The books that Stephen had brought back from Kamar-Taj and the New York Sanctum slowly ended up on a bookshelf in Tony's office since that was one of the few places the kids entered. If they did, they knew not to horse around and they didn't because the only reason they ever went into the office was to play on the chessboard or retrieve something for their parents. It was where Stephen did some of his meditating or studying when he needed more quiet than usual, and that was where he disappeared to to look for a way to reverse what the relic had done to the pets.

Tony had put Valerie down for her to go do as she wished, which happened to be watching a Disney movie after retrieving her favorite stuffed animal. She, of course, looked longingly at the door to the office, but she knew Stephen was looking for a way to turn Athena, Flynn, and Tibbs back to normal. She would have her mother back as soon as he was finished and so she waited patiently on the couch and watched a movie.

"Hey Gramps? Can we go down to the lab?" Tibbs asks and Tony chokes on the piece of sandwich he had been swallowing.

"Excuse me?! What did you call me?!" Tony sputters after coughing to clear his throat.

Tibbs tilts his head. "Gramps?" And Sam started cackling again.

"He considers Peter his dad." Scott explains while Sam continues to laugh and Quill takes Flynn into the living room to watch TV with Valerie. "It makes sense that you're Gramps."

Tony points at Scott. "Nuh-uh! You don't get to be all logical about this Mr. I-Drink-From-The-Fountain-Of-Youth!"

Sam stops laughing abruptly to make a face as Scott turns bright red and Quill cackles from the living room. "Ugh, don't remind me."

Tony shakes his head and walks to the living room after finishing his sandwich, and sits on the couch. He only half paid attention to the movie playing while he texted the boys to do some odd errand on their way home from school since Stephen insisted that they try to have some normalcy in their life. The boys didn't complain about having to run errands once in a while so Tony didn't bother arguing, and it kept chaos out of the house for a few more precious minutes. He loved his kids, but they could definitely be terrors.

There was that once incident at a nearby bodega where he was actually called to pick up his kids and pay for damages, and Stephen had grounded them for two months. No friends, no phones unless there was an emergency (Friday helped with restrictions on those), and no tv. It was the harshest punishment the sorcerer had ever dishes out but it was effective. Especially when followed with:

Your father may be a billionaire, but that doesn't give you an excuse to behave like wild animals! I'm disappointed in all of you!

The poor twins had thought that Stephen was going to send them back into the system, and Harley and Peter had looked admonished when they got home. Tony took away lab time as the final nail in the coffin when they did. It was the quietest the kids had ever been but it felt wrong when it was because of a punishment.

Tony looks up from his phone when he hears books tumbling from the office, and Athena immediately jumps to her feet to go investigate. She may be temporarily human, but her loyalties still lied with Stephen.

A quiet curse floats out from the office when Athena opens the door and Tony raises an eyebrow. "Honey? Do I need to come dig you out of a pile of books?"

"NO! I-I mean...fuck--" there was more thumps and the engineer raises an eyebrow at the rare usage of a swear word. "Don't be mad."

Tony sighs and takes the cue to stand. "Did you open a hell dimension in my office? If you did, I don't think I'll know whether to be upset or thank you."

"Err...no. Nothing like that. Maybe you'll actually like this…" Stephen mumbles the last bit as Tony stands in the doorway.

He found more than just Athena and Stephen. The sorcerer was predictably under a pile of books that Athena was helping remove from him, but their four boys and Cassie were in the room as well. Harley and Thomas looked amused under what looked to be shock, Peter just looked indifferent (Tony wasn't sure how he felt about that), and William...looked mortified. Cassie looked too happy for Tony to jump into worry so he just followed their gazes back to the sorcerer.

"Are you going to help Mom or not?" Tony asks and rolls his eyes when the kids finally jump into action.

It barely took a minute for Tony to find out why Peter had looked indifferent, because as Stephen finally managed to sit up, there was a whimper...and then a cry of a baby. The engineer rushes forward to look for the source and finds himself taking the 'newborn' baby from Stephen the second he processed what he saw, ignoring his spouse's grouchy, "oh sure, I'm fine. I can get up by myself."

"How exactly did this happen?" Tony finally asks after wiggling his finger in front of the baby until she takes it.

Stephen looked confused. "I... honestly don't know. I wasn't even looking in that book. The kids managed to startle me when William teleported them here...and the next thing I know, she's lying next to me."

"Huh…" Tony says. "Well, make the boys clean up this mess. I'll go put a diaper on Lucy while you explain to Valerie that she is no longer the baby." He says calmly as he walks toward the door.

"Lucy?!" Stephen sputters. "We're not going to talk about it?"

"Lucy Elina...what? You don't like it?" Tony asks over his shoulder and Stephen sighs.

"No...I do."

"Then no. We're not going to talk about it." He says and exits the room, smiling when he hears a muttered "douchebag".

By some miracle, Tony slipped up to their room without anyone noticing the new baby, and the engineer was able to put a diaper on his newest daughter before they were found out. Sam saw her first and simply rolled his eyes.

"Always bringing kids home or into the family without any warning." He huffs.

Scott looked over at them before joining them and smiling...and then pouting. "I think Stephen's magic cheats so your kids are always cute."

"Just good genes." Tony smirks and Scott gives him a mischievous smile. "What?"

"Hey Spaceman?"

"What?" Quill asks from the living room where Stephen was currently turning the animals back to...well...animals.

"There's a new baby."

Quill's head snaps up toward the trio and Tony points at him.

"No! You stay there Porcupine! Worry about your own!"

"He's fine!"

"You'll see her in due time!"

Stephen rolls his eyes and changes each strange human back to their animal forms, and then sits on the couch with Valerie. The toddler was tilting her head curiously as her father did eventually make his way over with Sam, Scott, and the teenagers, and when she saw what Tony was holding...her expression soured. It made Harley cackle.

"Valerie...this is your new baby sister." Stephen says softly and Val frowns.

"Mama no love me?" She asks sadly and the sorcerer immediately pulls her into a hug and pushes his fingers through her hair.

"Of course I do. Do you think I stopped loving your brothers or Diana when you were born?" When she shakes her head, he smiles. "That's right. I love you all the same. For a while it might seem like me and Daddy are giving her lots of attention but that's only because she can't take care of herself like you can now." Stephen explains gently and Valerie looks at the new baby again.

Fortunately she accepted this and moved closer to inspect her baby sister more, but Stephen could still sense some of the jealousy. When Valerie was born, Diana at least had some forewarning to her potential arrival, and the boys were basically used to it at that point...but Valerie didn't get that. Tony and Stephen had planned on talking to the kids beforehand, but this was truly an accident. A happy and wanted one, but an accident all the same. It would likely take time for Valerie to warm up to the idea of Lucy being around, especially when she was now going to take up a good portion of her parents attention.

"Speaking of Diana…" Tony starts and Cassie gasps.

"Oh my god it was my turn to pick her up today wasn't it?!" The teen grabs William's hand. "Help me!"

William sighs softly. "Well...at least I'll sleep tonight."

And then they were gone in the blink of an eye. A couple of minutes barely passed when they came back with Diana, but it was long enough for Tony to get comfortable on the couch before she practically jumped at them to see the baby. Diana was a very laid back child and easily went with the flow of things.

"A new baby sister!" She says excitedly as she jumps onto the couch next to Tony to look down at Lucy. "What's her name?"

"Lucy." Stephen answers as he continues to run his fingers through Valerie's hair.

All three animals present had gotten as close as possible to sniff at the new addition, and this time, Stephen didn't need to tell Athena she was family. The wolf already knew.

"Hey!" Quill suddenly says as he pulls Flynn away. "I need to teach you what personal space is!" Scott snorted at that.

"For once, Nat owes me money." Sam grins. "I'm going to go collect and send the cavalry up."

Tony sighs and leans his head back against the couch as Sam steps onto the elevator. "When did I sign up for chaos?"

"When you adopted Peter and married Stephen." Scott answers and Tony reaches over and smacks the back of his head once he frees an arm from under the baby. "Ow."

"I'm just glad it's another girl. It's a freaking sausage party around here." Cassie says.

It sent Quill and Harley into hysterics.

[prettywordsyouleft]

Out Of The Storm

Pairing: Brian Kang x reader

Genre: friends to lovers au / suggestive

Warnings: intimacy, though not detailed

Word Count: 1958

You weren’t that skilled in the kitchen, but whenever you were frustrated or upset, nothing seemed to calm you down more than baking did. You didn’t know exactly what about baking helped you feel more in control. It was just something you did now, after a moment in life where you chose to make yourself some chocolate chip cookies instead of lay in bed and cry over your heartache. It had become an engrained tool, a final call for clarity from your otherwise frazzled mind.

However, not even the banana cake you had just freshly pulled out of the oven made up for how lost you felt tonight.

It was all piling up, one thing after the other. A succession of annoying problems that built enough to send you out into troubled waters. As you attempted to deal with one issue, the next came, exhausting your fight, washing you out into depressive depths.

You knew there was only one person who could help you now.

Brian could see the sadness in your eyes despite the way you thrust the banana cake you gripped within your hands forward and the bright smile that accompanied the action. Leaning into the front door that he had just opened, you took it as a sign to step inside. It was when you passed him that he noticed how full your bag appeared over your shoulder. “Oh good, you're home! I know I should have rung first but-”

You stopped when you noticed his company, blinking rapidly after letting the plate within your hands settle onto the countertop a little more hastily than you expected. It unsettled you and you stepped back. “Ah, I am sorry! I didn't expect to uh-- I'll go!”

Before he could even breathe a word in protest, let alone close the door, you whizzed on by, hurrying down the hallway of the apartment building to the elevator. With a short curse, Brian shut his door and went after you, grabbing you from behind and pulling you back into him.

He could tell you were already crying with the way your body shook within his grasp. “Why are you leaving?”

“Bella is over at yours. You should go back to whatever you were doing. I'm sorry I interrupted.”

He attempted to chuckle because you had jumped to the wrong conclusion. Still, it sounded weak because Brian was worried about you. He knew you too well by your evident distress that you hadn't turned up on his doorstep tonight just to offer him some baked goods. “Yeah, only for work. We have our marketing proposal to turn in by Monday morning. You know that.”

“Does she know that?” you asked, leaning into his embrace. You were exhausted and Brian frowned, growing desperate to know what had happened to you.

“Do you need a place to stay?” he asked and you slumped further, lowering your head. “You aren’t interrupting anything. You can stay.”

“You do know Bella…” You sighed heavily, shaking your head lightly as if you decided not to continue the thought. You were weak and without any verbal agreement, you allowed him to slip an arm around your waist firmly as he turned you, taking you back to his apartment.

Bella looked up upon your return and forcibly smiled. “Oh, you're back... both of you.”

Brian sensed your immediate decision to depart again and gripped your side as he led you towards his bedroom. “Y/N just needs to rest up. We can keep working on our proposal in a moment, Bella.”

You stared at him quietly as he helped you into his bedroom, clicking the door shut gently behind you both. He was unnerved, mostly because he hadn't expected your company today. Brian didn't mind, frankly he would happily have you over any time you wanted to. However, your silence only meant the thoughts you were having you weren't comfortable in sharing with him yet. And it made him anxious to know why.

Brian smiled as he pulled back the covers to his bed. “You look like you could do with laying down.”

“Mm. You're right.”

“I won't be long, just rest a little and when I am done with working, we can hang out then.” Brian's forehead creased with concern. “Have you had dinner yet?”

“It's fine, I'm not really hungry. You better get back out to Bella.”

He didn't want to leave you, sensing some level of jealousy from you in the way you instructed his departure from your side. Brian could tell you wanted him right now. Yet he couldn't decipher if it was the same way he wanted you. He let out a small breath as he nodded, and leant in to press his lips to your forehead briefly. “Rest, please.”

It took him a little over an hour to wrap everything up with Bella and their project. His mind was distracted, in which he apologised for multiple times, each sorry subduing Bella further. Brian didn't quite have the energy to discern himself over why, and when he said goodnight to her and shut the door, he was relieved. Leaning against it for all of a moment to gather himself, Brian hurried over to his kitchen, wondering what he could throw together to make for you to eat. He faltered, deciding it would be better to ask you first before cooking again. He had already eaten with Bella, but the nerves in his stomach had dispelled some of his energy. He knew he could eat again if you were hungry too.

Heading over to the bedroom, he slipped inside, finding you asleep in his bed. Smiling softly, he walked over to the side of the bed you were gently gripping onto, nestled into his pillow and breathing evenly. You looked more at peace than you had when he first saw you and it made his smile broaden, crouching down in front of you so he could get a better look.

Brian didn't know when the change had happened for him. You had been friends for five years now, meeting through mutual circles. Over the last two years though, you had grown closer. It wasn't uncommon for you to come over in the weekends like this, bringing food and playful company. You would watch movies, laugh and play until someone ended up falling asleep on the other. Your connection felt natural to Brian. However, no true distinction had come from your closeness and he was certain you saw him nothing more than a close, reliable friend.

He let out a dejected breath with this thought, wondering why he was so hesitant to tell you he wanted more. He yearned to take the next step with you, something he normally had no qualms in telling someone when he liked them.

Brian was certain he was in love with you. Maybe that was why he didn't boldly make a move, worried he'd lose you if he did.

He didn't notice you had opened your eyes at first, too busy dispelling his feelings back to where they had risen from. He blinked, finding you staring up at him as if the whole world was before you. He fell captive in your gaze, soaking you in as he had been, more overwhelmed with you doing it right back. He noticed your hand was now tightly gripping onto the side of his mattress, anchored there so you wouldn't float away from him.

Not that he would let you. He couldn't let you stray from his side.

“Are you going to do it finally?” you whispered and for a second he frowned, not understanding immediately what you meant. And then clarity arrived, your gaze urging him closer, his mouth crashing down upon yours. The surge of emotions was strong, and despite how fragile you looked earlier, there was an equal amount of passion that washed over him from you. Hands moved towards the other as lips and minds further entangled, embracing, exploring. As the lustful waves pushed and pulled, so did you, drawing him up and onto the bed, rolling together and trying to find a way to ride through the sudden outburst. It was like a storm, dragging you both out farther from the shore and into the depths you had both so longingly wished to dive into. Mouths separated only for gasps of air or the removal of clothing, the heat now too unfathomable to have so many layers on.

The exploration of one another carried through until the storm broke in the middle of the night, your cry of euphoria echoing around the walls and then all was still. Brian went to go grab something to clean you up but your hand reached out, stopping him. Although he had been taking you in all night long, drinking all of your body down like a man at the brink of dehydration, it felt different when he looked back at you. Your hair was dishevelled, eyes sparkling with a light unlike any other he had seen. You were exhausted despite smiling at him and he couldn't help himself from leaning over to kiss you again.

And again, and again, addicted to the taste and the fit of your lips against his. You let out a breathy chuckle. “Haven't you had enough?”

“No,” he told you, delighted to see your smile widen further. “I don't think I ever will.”

Caressing his cheek, you giggled once more. “I didn't expect this when I came over tonight.”

“Nor did I but I don't regret it, do you?”

“The only thing I regret is letting it take so long. Making love with you-”

Brian couldn't help but cut you off then, overwhelmed by the description you gave to what happened under and on top of the sheets tonight. His heart soared, racing against yours as he stole your breath for the umpteenth time. And then he rested his forehead against yours as he caught his breath, closing his eyes and smiling giddily. “You love me?”

“Surely after all that...” you trailed off and he opened his eyes to find you turning shy. He grinned, trying to catch his heart before it leapt out of his chest and into yours. You then gave him a pointed look. “Of course I love you. Why do you think I was upset to find Bella here? Everyone knows she has a crush on you.”

Brian continued to grin. “Does she?”

“Don't tell me you didn't know!”

“I don't care if she does or not,” he answered, pecking your swollen lips and chuckling at how your annoyance seeped away with it. “I've been in love with you for so long; I didn't bother to see what others thought of me.”

You smiled with satisfaction, your hands running over his back gently. “I'm glad I chose to stay.”

“Chose?” Brian shook his head against yours gently. “Like I was going to let you leave looking like that. Wait, I don't even know why you were so upset when you arrived. Is everything okay?”

You nodded, burying into Brian, breathing him in before pressing your lips to his neck softly. “It doesn't matter anymore.”

“Are you sure?” he asked and you nodded again, lifting your head up so he could confirm it within your face.

“Whatever it was that bothered me brought me to you. If anything, I have to thank my previous sadness since it led to us finally doing something about all this unspoken between us.”

“Should I thank it too?” he teased and you rolled your eyes. Humour aside, Brian cupped your face within his hands. “I’m glad you came to me.”

“Finally we did something about us, huh?” you breathed and he pulled you into his embrace.

Finally.

_________________

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[starrynighttime]

Miraculous Ladybug SL AU Part 1

Based on the AU by @zoe-oneesama

Read on Ao3

Part 2

Marinette was bored.

Ever since Cat Noir told her that she had to stop intervening with akuma fights,  she spent afternoons laying down on her bed and staring at the ceiling. It just wasn’t fair, Cat Noir’s “partner” did absolutely nothing to contribute to akuma fights except to swoop in at the end and take all of the credit. Marinette wished she could do something about it, but she couldn’t. 

“Marinette! Breakfast!” Her mom calls from downstairs, pulling Marinette out of her slumber. She swings her legs out of bed, throws on some clothes, and goes downstairs. 

“Hi, mom.” She kisses her mother on the cheek and takes a bite out of her croissant. Sabine smiles. 

“I have another croissant and a coffee for you to take to school.” Marinette finishes her breakfast and smiles. 

“Thanks, Mom!” She hops out of her chair and, after kissing her dad on the cheek, she picks up the baked goods and runs out the store. While running to school, she bumps into an old man wearing a loud Hawaiian shirt, causing him to nearly fall over. Marinette yelps and catches his hand before he hits the ground. 

“I’m so sorry, mister! I didn’t see you!” The old man smiles, a twinkle in his eyes.

 “It’s okay, young lady. Thank you for helping me.” He says, putting his hand over Marinette’s. He turns around and Marinette notices… he put something in her palm. Confused, she turns around to question the man… but he’s gone, already. Almost as if he had vanished. She looks at the little box and puts it in her bag. Whatever it is, it probably isn’t for the public eye. 

Adrien lays his head on his desk, tired and worked to the bone. Being a superhero with a modeling gig along with school and extracurriculars was a lot to juggle. It wouldn’t be as much if his “partner” actually did some of the work instead of taking selfies and checking her makeup. Suddenly, he hears a little tap on his desk and he looks up to see an angel with all of her pig-tailed glory sliding a coffee his way. 

“Good morning, Adrien.” Marinette says, smiling and making the entire room brighter. He stared into her ocean-blue eyes, getting lost in them and not noticing her call out his name until- “-Adrien!” she exclaims, rapping the table, jolting him back to reality. 

“Um-huh? What?” Marinette laughs a little bit, causing his head to spin a little. She holds up a white paper bag. 

“I was asking if you wanted this croissant.” Adrien shakes off his dizziness and nods. 

“Oh! Yes, sorry. I was looking at… um, I forgot.” Marinette’s cheeks turn a little pink, but she keeps on smiling and slides the croissant his way. 

“Remember, we have a study session this afternoon.” He nods a little too enthusiastically. 

“I can’t wait!” Marinette raises an eyebrow slightly, like she wasn’t expecting such enthusiasm for a study session. Nonetheless, she smiles and walks to her seat behind him. Adrien opens the bag and wonderful smells of baked goods waft out of it. He feels a nudge in his shoulder and he turns to look at his best friend. 

“Dude, are you willing to share? I didn’t have breakfast this morning.” Adrien closes the bag protectively. He hears Marinette’s tinkling laugh behind him and they shift to look at her. 

“There’s a second one in there for you, Nino.” She says knowingly. Adrien opens the bag and, sure enough, there were two croissants inside. He hands one to Nino and pulls out the other one for himself. Nino holds the croissant longingly. 

“Woah, Dudette. You’re so awesome. How did you know I didn’t have breakfast this morning?” 

“Because she has everyone’s schedule hanging in her room, that’s why!” A cheery voice exclaims behind them. Alya slides into her seat next to her bff. Marinette shrugs sheepishly. 

“I like to know what’s going on with my classmates. Like, I knew that Nino had a late-night DJ gig and would most likely not have breakfast this morning, so I made sure to pack an extra croissant for him.” She shrugs it off as if it were common knowledge, but Adrien’s heart does a little tap-dance. 

He loved this girl.

After classes, Marinette meets Adrien in the library. They study together a for little bit (Marinette doesn’t notice Adrien’s sneaky arm around her chair) but studying eventually turns into conversations about the superheroes. 

“Yeah, I don’t get why so many people like Scarlet Lady so much. She doesn’t even do anything! Cat Noir does all of the work while Scar just sits around and takes selfies!” Marinette exclaims, chuckling. Adrien’s heart starts thumping again, but he tries to ignore it. 

“I know! I thought I was the only one who noticed that! I mean, sure Scarlet Lady cleanses the damage done and whatnot, but she doesn’t really do anything else except fix her makeup.” Marinette sighs. 

“I wish I could help out with akumas more, but Cat Noir keeps on telling me to stop. I know it’s for my own safety and stuff, but I just hate seeing him do it all alone when I know I can do things.” Adrien blushes a little bit. 

“Marinette, I-“ He gets cut off when Chloe runs in, screaming. 

“Help me! There’s an invisible being chasing me!” Adrian and Marinette look at each other, but before they can question it, books start flying around the library. Marinette quickly grabs Adrien’s hand and pulls him out of the library, shutting the door behind her. 

“What the heck was that?!” Marinette exclaims. Adrien gulps. 

“Akuma, I think. Probably someone who has it in for Chloe.” Marinette snorts. 

“Who doesn’t?” Adrien chuckles, but then, he remembers. He has to fight the akuma! He looks back at the library. “You should probably go hide, Mari.” She gives him a look. 

“Me? What about you!?” 

“I’m… gonna see if there’s any students left so no one else gets hurt.” He says. Marinette pauses, then kisses him. On the cheek, but Adrien’s face still heats up. Marinette smiles. 

“Stay safe, Adrien.” She runs off, leaving Adrien frozen with a dumbfounded look on his face. Plagg flies out if his shirt, grinning. 

“Uh-oh..” Adrien looks at him. 

“What?” 

“Somebody’s in love!” Adrien blushes. 

“Marinette’s just… a friend.” 

“Uh-huh.” the kwami mutters, not buying it. 

“If that’s so, why are you just standing here when there’s an akuma in the library?” Adrien gasps. 

“Oh, right! Plagg, claws out!” 

“We will talk about this laaaattteeerrr!!” Plagg shouts as he gets sucked into the ring. 

Marinette runs into an empty classroom, breathing heavily. She drops her bag on the floor and the little box that the old man gave her tumbles out. Tentatively, she picks it up and holds it in her hand. Was this a good idea? A gift from a strange man she didn’t know? How important were the contents inside? Giving into her curiosity, she lifts the lid to reveal a yellow hair comb with a bee on it. However, she wasn’t expecting the glowing orb to come out of the hairpiece, causing her to nearly drop the box. A small bee-like creature materializes in front of her and stretches out it’s tiny paws. It’s actually… quite cute. The creature opens its eyes and speaks. 

“Greetings, my queen. My name is Pollen and I am your kwami.” Marinette stares at the creature. 

“What?” The kwami chuckles. 

“No worries, I am sure this is all quite confusing, but I will explain everything.”

Cat Noir leaps onto the roof of the hotel where Chloe lived. If anyone knew about this akuma, she would. Unfortunately (or fortunately) Scarlet Lady didn’t accomany him because she had “more pressing matters to attend to”. He was just about to go inside when he heard someone screaming behind him. He turned to see an impossibly large pigeon flying through the air. 

“aaaaAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!!!” It screamed, landing right on top of him. “Ow.” It  sat up, revealing itself to not be a pigeon, but a girl. The girl gasped when she saw him. 

“Ohmigosh, I’m so sorry! I didn’t mean to land on top of you!” She exclaimed, leaping up and extending her hand. “Are you okay?” Confused, Cat Noir took her hand and stood up. 

“I-yeah, I’m fine. Who are you, exactly?” 

“I’m uh—ack!” she retracts the string on her weapon, causing it to bounce on her head. “Mari-erm… gold. Yeah, Marigold.” Cat Noir wasn’t sure what to make of this new heroine. She seemed kind enough, especially compared to Scarlet Lady, but he was still skeptical. 

“So, Marigold, what are you doing here?” he asked the yellow-clad girl, who was struggling to open her weapon (a spinning top). She manages to open it and scrolls through it. 

“Well, right now I’m trying to find the Users’ Guide my kwami told me about so I can actually help you heroes.” Cat Noir raises an eyebrow. 

“Help? Wait… Users’ Guide?” Marigold nods, only half-listening. 

“Yeah, and it says here that my special power can immobilize people.” 

“And you’ll only have about 5 minutes until you change back after you use it.” Cat Noir said, helpfully. 

“Ooh! Apparently the miraculous enhances all physical abilites! That’ll come in handy.” Cat Noir released a breath he didn’t know he was holding. This new heroine was actually here to help him. And she was a real hero, with a miraculous and everything. 

“So, do you wanna…” he gestures at the door. Marigold nods and straps her weapon to her waist. 

“Right. I came here to interview Chloe and fight a villian, not fall on top of the cute cat hero… did I say that out loud?” Cat Noir chuckles. 

“I’m flattered.”

After their less-than-informative interview with Chloe, Marigold slumps in the elevator. 

“She’s hiding something.” Cat Noir sighs. 

“Well, what are we gonna do? She’s the only one with possible information about the akuma.” Marigold rubs her chin, then brightens. 

“Not the only one! When in doubt, ask the butler!” Cat Noir grins. 

“Brilliant!”

When Scarlet Lady finally decides to show her face, Cat Noir is holding a squirming Vanisher in place. 

“Venom!” Marigold shouts, pricking the invisible girl with her stinger. Vanisher freezes up and the two heroes search her for the akuma. 

“It’s in her pin!” Scarlet Lady calls, walking over. Marigold rips the pin off of Vanisher’s sweater and crushes it under her foot. Scarlet Lady snags the purple butterfly in her yo-yo. 

“Took you long enough.” Scarlet mutters. Marigold grits her teeth. 

“But you didn’t-“ 

“Thanks, Scar.” Cat Noir interrupts, placing a hand on Marigold’s shoulder. Recieving the message, Marigold swallows her rage and walks over to a confused-looking Sabrina. 

“I.. what happened?” she asks, looking around. Marigold places a hand on her shoulder. 

“You were akumatized by Hawk Moth, but everything’s okay now.”

The news was buzzing about this new superhero, Marigold. Where did she come from? Who was behind the mask? How did she get her powers? Was she stung by a radioactive bee? Marinette watches the news with Pollen sitting on her shoulder, eating a honey biscuit. 

“I can’t believe I did all of that, Pollen!” She says, excitedly. Pollen smiles at her holder. 

“I am so happy you enjoyed it, my Queen, but I must ask: Why did you decide to comfort the victim over going to the press?” Marinette looks back at her computer. 

“Because it was the right thing to do. Besides, I’m a little camera shy. Why do you ask?” Pollen takes another bite from her biscuit. 

“Well, your partner in red seems to always go to the press and create fabricated answers to make herself look better and make you and your partner in black look worse. Why not clear the air?” Marinette sighs. 

“Scarlet Lady has been a superhero much longer than I have and she holds the press in the palm of her hand. If I all of a sudden jump out and call her a liar, she could very easily turn everything onto me and make herself the victim. I’ll let the press make their own conclusions.”

For the first time in months, Adrien relaxed. He was no longer the only superhero actually doing things. Marigold helped him when Scar refused to. She was simply… amazing. Not as amazing as Marinette, but pretty close. 

As more and more people got akumatized, Marigold and Cat Noir always stepped up to help them. It was because of this that the press started noticing that Scarlet Lady almost never did any of the work. She was always in the back, checking her makeup and doing her nails. People started to wonder, who was the real hero all along? The press kept on trying to get interviews with Marigold and Cat Noir, but they were always busy comforting the akumatized person. The only person who had any luck was a young reporter named Alya Cesaire, who had managed to snag a private interview with the bee heroine herself. Things were looking up.

Adrien walks up the steps and into the school building when he hears Marinette and Alya talking quietly. 

“-just don’t want to be a burden to Adrien, Alya.” He hears Marinette say. Adrien stifles a gasp. Marinette being a burden? Not possible! She was the girl who helped lift his burden! Adrien presses his back against the opposite wall to listen in. 

“C’mon, girl! You like Adrien and Adrien likes you, so-“ 

“I don’t like Adrien!” Marinette interrupts, then she takes a breath. “I mean, I don’t like him in that way. It’s only a small crush, if anything.” 

“Small crushes can turn into something much bigger!” Alya reminds Marinette in a singsong voice. Adrien’s heart starts hammering against his chest. Marinette just sighs. 

“Even if it does, I don’t want to add to Adrien’s burden by giving him a girlfriend to take care of. He’s already worked to the bone with fencing, Chinese, modeling-“ part-time superhero Adrien thinks to himself. Marinette continues. “I mean, you’ve seen him yourself. Every morning he has his head on his desk with dark circles under his eyes!” 

“Yeah, and then you walk in with coffee and a croissant and he’s smiling like he’s just won the lottery.” Alya says, Adrien hearing the smirk in her voice. 

“H-he’s just… grateful!” Marinette stutters. Alya snorts. 

“Yeah. He’s grateful for you. If it were anyone else delivering those baked goods, he wouldn’t be grinning for the entire day! Face it, girl! Adrien is head over heels for you.” Marinette sighs again. 

“Do you really believe that? Do you really think that Adrien is in love with… me?” Adrien wants to leap out and scream Yes! I’m in love with you and I’ve been in love with you since the first week of school! But he stays rooted where he is and keeps on listening. 

“Listen, Marinette,” Alya says, suddenly serious. “You can believe what you want. Maybe Adrien just sees you as a friend and nothing more, but I can’t deny what I’ve seen with my own 2 eyes. He has feelings for you, girl.” Alya walks off and Adrien hears Marinette slide down the wall and sit on the floor. He pauses, then walks around the wall to face her. 

“Marinette? Are you okay?” She jumps a little bit at the sound of his voice. 

“Oh, Adrien! W-what are you doing here?” Adrien gulps, not wanting to admit that he had just listened to her private conversation with Alya. 

“I-uh was just walking by and saw you sitting against the wall.” He says, lamely, kneeling down to her level. Marinette relaxes her shoulders. 

“I’m okay, just… going through a lot right now.” Adrien shifts uncomfortably. 

“Do you want to talk about it? I mean, you always help everyone with their problems, the least I can do is listen to you talk about yours.” Marinette smiles a little bit. 

“Thanks, Adrien, but I’m not ready to talk about it just yet.” 

Part 2

[fernwehbookworm]

Haunted- Chapter 5

This is where Alex finds them, well she finds Kara. Alex uses her spare key to unlock the door and bursts in to find Kara sitting at the table with a soft smile on her lips. Kara looks like she is about to laugh when she registers Alex’s presence at the door.

“Alex!” Kara shoots to her feet as if she has just been caught doing something she shouldn’t.

“Kara! What are you doing? Kelly called me. She said you ran off!”

“I… Nothing. Just trying to finish this article. I think I got it now.”

“And you came to your apartment that is compromised in some sort of way?”

“Yeah, about that. Look it’s nothing. Just… A friend pulling a prank. It’s all taken care of.”

Alex watches closely, she knows her sister is lying. Kara was never good at lying. Kara also keeps turning her head a bit to the side, as if she was hearing someone calling her name but she was refusing to turn her head to acknowledge them.

“Just a prank, huh?”

“Y-yup. Everything is fine. Completely normal.”

“Really? Then why did Kelly call me, worried, because you had run off yelling something about Lena being there and you not being crazy.” Alex makes her way closer to Kara, shutting the door behind herself.

“I was just disorientated from the glitch in the program. As soon as I cleared my head I was fine. Then I had an inspiration for my article and decided to write. It’s done now. I just have to submit it.” Kara sits back behind her computer and picks up her pen, playing with it between her fingers. Fidgeting, a classic sign.

“Well, that’s great!” Alex says, “Then we can have a movie night tonight. I’ll tell Kelly to come and we can get takeout.”

“No!” Kara shouts then immediately regrets it when Alex raises an eyebrow. “I mean, no, it's fine. I need to catch up on sleep and I’m sure you and Kelly have to work early.”

“We have hardly spent any time together. It will be fun.” Alex pulls out her phone and is already dialing Kara’s favorite Chinese place.

“Seriously Alex—” Kara is cut off by her sister ordering some of her favorite foods.

“We can’t talk about everything you need to know if your sister is here,” Lena says in Kara’s ear.

“I know.” Kara says under her breath, trying to move her lips as little as possible. “But I don’t have much choice right now.”

“Just keep the pen close. It’s helping me focus on staying together.”

Kara nods just barely then pockets the pen to keep it in reach. While Alex finishes the order, Kara submits her final draft and hopes that Snapper will like it. Then she logs off and powers down her computer to face an evening of trying to act normal around her sister.

“Okay, food will be here in an hour, so will Kelly. What do you want to watch?”

“I don’t care. You can pick.” Kara Grabs drinks from the fridge for the two of them and joins Alex, who has already settled on the couch and is scrolling through the menu. Kara settles next to Alex and feels Lena settle next to her also, as much as Lena can settle.

Kelly arrives and Alex let’s her in. Kara can hear hissed words as they work through an argument before returning. Kelly has her own plate of leftovers and Kara watches Lena eye the food longingly. At some point, Kara fell asleep, she was still semi-conscious of her sister and Kelly talking softly and laughing at the movie. At some point, a blanket is draped over Kara and the television turns off. Soft sounds of Alex and Kelly cleaning up pull at Kara’s consciousness.

“I’m worried, Alex. The reading I had from the program is troubling. I really think something is wrong. I… I think she may need more help. This could be stress-induced.”

Kara stiffens and is alert almost instantly. She can see Lena looking into the kitchen area intently, the pen was still clutched in Kara’s hand.

“I know. She’s lying to me and I don’t know why.”

“I've seen it a couple of times before. Patients lie because they know what is happening isn’t normal. Seeing things, hearing voices, or maybe paranoia. It’s not a good sign.”

“What do we do?”

“Maybe if we can get her to my office again then I can get a colleague of mine to evaluate her for… more extreme care.”

“Like what? Getting her committed?” Alex hisses at her girlfriend.

“If it's necessary. Alex, you know I love her like my own sister. I am terrified of what might happen if she doesn’t get the help that she needs. She could be suffering a mental break. We can’t ignore that.”

The silence is tense. Kara stares at Lena as Lena looks back with fear. This could ruin everything. Lena would never make it back to the physical world. Kara could not get trapped in a facility because she is not crazy. An audible sigh comes from Alex.

“Yeah, okay. We can get her there tomorrow. Come on, once she’s out from a movie she won’t wake up. We can take her bed, it's too late to go home.”

Sounds fade to the bedroom but Kara stays unmoving on the couch. Kara weighs her options before sitting up slowly. Lena sits next to Kara and Kara feels the cold presence of Lena’s hand on her’s.

“We have to go. Now. It’s getting harder to hold myself together. We can’t wait until the weekend. And if your sister somehow commits you against your will, then I might as well be dead.”

The lamp clicks off in the bedroom and Kara remains silent for several more minutes. Then she stands as quietly as possible and grabs her shoes by the couch. She pads to the door in her stocking feet and eases the lock open as quietly as possible. With a small squeak, the door opens and closes and Kara puts on her shoes in the hall.

“Okay, time to go,” Kara says half to herself and half to Lena.

It’s late, almost 3 am, and the world is quiet. As quiet as a city can be. The walk to L-corp is nerve-wracking, every little sound had Kara looking over her shoulder. Street lights glow yellow and it throws the world into a surreal alternate reality as Kara makes her way between the light and shadows. When Kara approaches the looming shadow of the L-corp building, Lena directs Kara towards an underground garage where Lena’s own personal entrance will be.

“It has a handprint scan, how is that supposed to work?” Kara asks when she approaches the shiny plate next to the door.

“There is an override code. Just don’t mess it up. There are no retries before security is alerted. Ready?”

Kara swallows hard and nods.

“Okay. It’s long. 31415926535897932384” Lena says the numbers just slow enough for Kara to input each one of them. When the last number is imputed, the light turns green and the door slides open for Kara to step through. She makes her way down the short hallway towards the elevator doors.

“How in the world do you have that number memorized?” Kara asks in amazement.

Lena gives her a surprised look. “It's the first twenty digits of pi.”

“You have the first twenty digits of pi memorized?” Kara asks with disbelief.

“I have the first 100 digits memorized,” Lena says smugly.

“Wow, your brain is so attractive,” Kara says.

Lena blushes. “That is not normally a compliment I get about attractiveness.”

“Well, it should be. Okay, next code?”

“8822672”

The elevator dings open almost immediately and Kara steps in. “Floor 33” Lena reminds Kara of the lab floor.

“What does that code mean then?” Kara asks as the elevator ascends.

“Radium. The element that Madam Curie helped discover. It’s the atomic number, weight, period number, and group.”

“So really are a geek under all that genius.” Kara smiles at Lena.

“You really have no idea. Are you sure you still want to have dinner with me?” Lena smiles back.

“More than ever,” Kara says seriously. The door dings open on an empty hallway.

They continue like that through four more doors until Kara and Lena are standing in the still broken lab. The papers and glass on the floor had been cleaned up, but the window was still cracked and the work stations were disrupted. Lena quickly makes her way towards the machine, passing right through a table turned on its side.

“Shit, they took my laptop. It’s probably up in the CEO’s office, knowing Jess. There is another elevator directly up at the other side of the room. Come on.” Lena is on a mission now. Moving quickly, Kara follows. Worry knaws at Kara as she notices Lena not looking as solid as she had before. Lena is running out of time.

“12101815, it’s the birth date of Ada Lovelace. She was considered the first computer programmer, before computers were invented.” Lena tells Kara, unprompted, as Kara inputs the code into the elevator.

“Wait, before computers were invented? How?” Kara asks while getting in the elevator.

“She made an algorithm for Charles Babbage’s proposed analytical engine. Way ahead of their times and current technology.”

“Wow. Like how do you even think like that? It’s like trying to describe a color that no one else can see.”

“It is. But that’s how we advance in technology. People pushing the boundaries of imagination.”

The elevator doors ding softly open. Kara steps into Lena’s large and spacious office. It’s dark, the only lights far below in the streets of the city. The buildings out the massive windows are mostly dark. Soft white carpet pads Kara’s footfalls. The moonlight reflects off the white surfaces that fill the office. A large desk with an even larger chair sits in front of the windows.

“Quick, we need to turn off the alarm. There, by the door. 10241993”

“What’s that number?” Kara asks as she quickly steps towards the control panel. The digital screen counting down to the alarm going off.

“It’s actually, well, my birthday.” Lena lets out a small, uncertain laugh, “I know you are not supposed to do that, but really, if people get this far I don’t know if the last password will stop them.”

“It’s good to know you are human enough to use your own birthday.” Kara smiles over her shoulder at her phantom before inputting the code.

A loud buzz sounds and the screen flashes red as the code is denied. The timer hits zero. Nothing happens in the office. “Shit.” Lena has behind Kara, “Jess must have changed this passcode. Quick, find the laptop. Security has been alerted and we have about three minutes. It’s probably in the wall safe. 08241995. Jess’s birthday. I doubt she would have changed that.”

Kara does as she is told and it works. The paper light laptop is there and Kara grabs it, bolting for the elevator. Once inside it starts to descend, then it jets to a halt.

“You have been detained. Security is on its way. Do not resist.” comes a deep voice through the speaker.

“Override it with that keypad. 06262015” Lena shouts.

“Legalized marriage?” Kara asks as she inputs it.

“Yes, but I can’t explain them all to you.”

Kara sees stress etched into Lena’s face and it seems to be making it harder for Lena to stay present. She flickers in and out of focus. Her voice sounds muffled and far away. Kara watches her until the door opens and rushes to turn on the lights and set up the laptop and inputs another code that Lena gives her.

It’s a frantic rush of connecting cables and turning dials. Kara’s hands are shaking from nervousness. The computer seems to take forever to call up the program that Lena had been using to run the machine. Kara can hear shouting out in the hall. Quickly she begins to push overturned work tables to the door, even pilling chairs on top of them, anything to keep the security out. Kara Rushed back to Lena to start setting dials on the machine to where they should be.

“Good, That should do it. Now just hit ‘run’ on the program. It will take a mi—” Lena’s voice was getting softer and softer and then suddenly Kara can’t hear her anymore. Kara could see through Lena now. Time was running out.

In the silence, a phone rings. Kara jumps and stares at the phone mounted to the wall. It rings into the stillness and Kara finds herself walking towards it to answer.

“Kara! Kara! What are you doing? How are you doing this?” Somehow, it’s Alex. Alex is calling Kara on the L-corp lab phone. Which means, Alex is in the building. There is a loud thumping at the lab door and angry shouts.

“I have to do this, Alex. I have to save her. I knew I wasn’t crazy. How are you here?”

“They called the FBI and my director called me! What are you talking about? Kara? How did you get so far past security?”

“Lena. She's helping me to bring her back. Now, I have to finish this.”

“Do not turn that machine on! It will kill you too!”

“It won’t. It will bring her back.”

“ No it won’t! Kar—”

Kara hangs up the phone on her sister.

“Kara.” It's a whisper now, Lena’s voice. Barely louder than a breath.

It moves Kara forward. Lena is almost gone and only Kara can save her. Kara starts the program and waits. It’s just like her dream. The machine starts up, light begins to build until it is so bright that Kara has to turn away.  The noise becomes deafening. Then, with the shattering of the window, silence falls. Kara thinks she might have blacked out for a moment because she is on the floor. The lights are out again which means there was probably another power outage. When Kara sits up, she sees Lena. For real. Slumped over in front of the machine, the dark head begins to move and sit up. A pale hand presses against a temple and Lena groans.

“Lena!” Kara cries and scrambles to the scientist's side.

“Kara?” Lena responds horseley.

“I’m here,” Kara reaches out and places a hand on Lena’s arm. It’s solid and warm. Kara smiles. “And you are here too.”

“I’m… here. Really here?” Lena is still processing.

“Yes.”

Loud bangs resound from the door to the room. It happens again as Kara helps Lena to her feet. With a loud groan and the splintering of wood, the door is broken down and big burly men rush into the room and pause as they find Kara with Lena’s arm thrown over her shoulder.

“Kara!” Alex cries as she rushes in after the men, Kelly right on her heels, followed by Jess.

Jess gasps as she takes in the sight of her employer and friend. “Lena!” Jess bursts into tears as she pushes a man aside to get to the CEO.

“Hey Jess,” Lena says softly, and is nearly knocked off her feet as Jess wraps her in a tight embrace. Kara steps away to let them have a moment. Jess is crying into Lena’s shoulder and Kara thinks Lena might be too but she can't tell as she is squeezed into her own hug with her sister.

“Don’t you ever do something that stupid again!” Alex practically yells in Kara’s ear. Kara feels another pair of arms as Kelly joins them.

“Sorry, but I am not planning on being haunted by a scientist again.”

“So you weren't going crazy?” Alex asks

“No, but I don’t blame you for thinking that.”

“But how…”

“It’s a long story that I don’t really understand myself.” Kara cuts off her sister's question.

There is shuffling on the far side of the room as security seems uncertain what to do. They were coming in to detain a criminal but now that criminal has somehow brought their employer back from the dead and there were now a lot of tears. A throat clears and Lena seems to pull herself together instantly.

“You may all return to your posts. I will fill out a report and submit it to the chief of security. As you can see, there is no break in here. Just the CEO accessing the office after hours with her friend.”

There are some protests and grumbling but a look from Lena silences the men and they file out of the room, one by one. Finally the women are alone and everyone looks to Lena.

“How is this possible?” Jess asks Lena.

“I don’t know everything, but something happened when I started up the machine and the field of transportation was expanded and I was affected as well. Then I was stuck in this between state and somehow anchored to the pen that Kara here stole,” Lena pauses to raise a pointed eyebrow at Kara, “I could communicate with her, then, and she was able to come here and reset the machine to bring me back to this plane of existence. But it took a bit to figure all that out and Kara here thought she was being haunted.”

“Well, wouldn’t you when someone writes ‘Help Me’ on your bathroom mirror and creepily starts music playing and knocks things over?” Kara defends herself.

“Of course you did that.” Jess rolls her eyes at her friend's antics.

“When there are a few times you can solidly touch things, you have to take advantage.”

“But, my program?” Kelly asks.

“That I can’t really explain, except it put Kara’s mind into a more open state so it was easier to contact her. I think it just appeared as a glitch in the system. Look, this is all science that is even beyond me and I’m going to have to study it. I don’t have answers right now except that I don’t think it was an accident. The settings I had Kara replicate weren’t the ones I originally set.”

“It wasn’t an accident,” Kara says softly, yet surely.

All four women’s heads turn to her. “How do you know?” Lena asks.

“A dream. I was watching you. You were setting up your test. While your back was turned and the experiment was running, I saw a shadow come in through the door. I couldn’t make much out, but then I saw a hand turn that dial,” Kara points towards the black knob, “then everything went to shit and the light got so bright I couldn’t see and woke up.”

Lena nods slowly, “That’s the one that was off. But I used the program to replicate the last settings.”

“Who could have known you were here and running tests?” Jess asks.

“I don’t know. I had even told you I had gone home.”

“I know.” Jess deadpans. “And I will never believe that lie again.”

Lena rolls her eyes. “And after I told you that, I… canceled my flight to meet with... shit…”

“Meet with who?” Kara asks.

“Max Lord.” Jess finishes.

“He knew the premise of the project because he tried to beat me to copyrights. I won, though. We were meeting about another project but when I canceled he must have figured I was close to a breakthrough. That would be bad for him.”

“How so?” Kara asks.

“Because he runs very shady import and export businesses in third world countries and this machine would bypass a lot of that. It would allow me to send medicine and food directly to those in need.”

“Cutting down on his profits,” Alex says, deep in thought.

“Exactly.”

“Do you have any proof of this?” the FBI agent asks.

“Oh, yes. I have been compiling it for a while. It's not airtight, but it may be enough for an arrest.”

“Perfect. Let me make some calls.” Alex grins.

[hockeysweetheart]

Okay This part tho

After the anthem, the tributes file back into the Training Center lobby and onto the elevators. I make sure to veer into a car that does not contain Peeta. The crowd slows our entourages of stylists and mentors and chaperones, so we have only each other for company. No one speaks. My elevator stops to deposit four tributes before I am alone and then find the doors opening on the twelfth floor. Peeta has only just stepped from his car when I slam my palms into his chest. He loses his balance and crashes into an ugly urn filled with fake flowers. The urn tips and shatters into hundreds of tiny pieces. Peeta lands in the shards, and blood immediately flows from his hands. "What was that for?" he says, aghast. "You had no right! No right to go saying those things about me!" I shout at him. Now the elevators open and the whole crew is there, Effie, Haymitch, Cinna, and Portia. "What's going on?" says Effie, a note of hysteria in her voice. "Did you fall?" "After she shoved me," says Peeta as Effie and Cinna help him up. Haymitch turns on me. "Shoved him?" "This was your idea, wasn't it? Turning me into some kind of fool in front of the entire country?" I answer. "It was my idea," says Peeta, wincing as he pulls spikes of pottery from his palms. "Haymitch just helped me with it." "Yes, Haymitch is very helpful. To you!" I say. "You are a fool," Haymitch says in disgust. "Do you think he hurt you? That boy just gave you something you could never achieve on your own." "He made me look weak!" I say. "He made you look desirable! And let's face it, you can use all the help you can get in that department. You were about as romantic as dirt until he said he wanted you. Now they all do. You're all they're talking about. The star-crossed lovers from District Twelve!" says Haymitch. "But we're not star-crossed lovers!" I say. Haymitch grabs my shoulders and pins me against the wall. "Who cares? It's all a big show. It's all how you're perceived. The most I could say about you after your interview was that you were nice enough, although that in itself was a small miracle. Now I can say you're a heartbreaker. Oh, oh, oh, how the boys back home fall longingly at your feet. Which do you think will get you more sponsors?" The smell of wine on his breath makes me sick. I shove his hands off my shoulders and step away, trying to clear my head. Cinna comes over and puts his arm around me. "He's right, Katniss." I don't know what to think. "I should have been told, so I didn't look so stupid." "No, your reaction was perfect. If you'd known, it wouldn't have read as real," says Portia. "She's just worried about her boyfriend," says Peeta gruffly, tossing away a bloody piece of the urn. My cheeks burn again at the thought of Gale. "I don't have a boyfriend." "Whatever," says Peeta. "But I bet he's smart enough to know a bluff when he sees it. Besides you didn't say you loved me. So what does it matter?" The words are sinking in. My anger fading. I'm torn now between thinking I've been used and thinking I've been given an edge. Haymitch is right. I survived my interview, but what was I really? A silly girl spinning in a sparkling, dress. Giggling. The only moment of any substance I hail was when I talked about Prim. Compare that with Thresh, his silent, deadly power, and I'm forgettable. Silly and sparkly and forgettable. No, not entirely forgettable, I have my eleven in training. But now Peeta has made me an object of love. Not just his. To hear him tell it I have many admirers. And if the audience really thinks we're in love. I remember how strongly they responded to his confession. Star-crossed lovers. Haymitch is right, they eat that stuff up in the Capitol. Suddenly I'm worried that I didn't react properly. "After he said he loved me, did you think I could be in love with him, too?" I ask. "I did," says Portia. "The way you avoided looking at the cameras, the blush." They others chime in, agreeing. "You're golden, sweetheart. You're going to have sponsors lined up around the block," says Haymitch. I'm embarrassed about my reaction. I force myself to acknowledge Peeta. "I'm sorry I shoved you." "Doesn't matter," he shrugs. "Although it's technically illegal." "Are your hands okay?" I ask. "They'll be all right," he says.

In the silence that follows, delicious smells of our dinner waft in from the dining room. "Come on, let's eat," says Haymitch. We all follow him to the table and take our places. But then Peeta is bleeding too heavily, and Portia leads him off for medical treatment. We start the cream and rose-petal soup without them. By the time we've finished, they're back. Peeta's hands are wrapped in bandages. I can't help feeling guilty. Tomorrow we will be in the arena. He has done me a favor and I have answered with an injury. Will I never stop owing him?

She pushes him and then Has a come to jesus moment and is like are your Hands okay.  Did I act good enough Oh my god . 

[miraculousshipping]

When you can’t have one...

Pairings: Lovesquare: Adrienette, Marichat

Warnings: Tooth-Rotting Fluff

Summary: 

A/N: Okay I kid you not, I started writing this fic hours before Chat Blanc premiered because I figured we'd all need some fluff afterwards and this is a post-reveal fic that involves Gabriel not letting Adrien and Marinette date and I was so not expecting to see that shit in Chat Blanc! So yeah, think of this as a "this is how it should have happened" post-reveal fic! I hope you enjoy, because I think we could all use some fluff after that.

Read on: Ao3 | FF

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

"That last akuma was pretty difficult." Ladybug says after she and Chat Noir land on the roof of the Agreste Mansion.

"Yeah, but there's no akuma too challenging for m'lady to handle." Chat Noir says and holds her hand before pressing a kiss to the back of it.

"Well I couldn't have done it without my amazing partner." Ladybug says and steps to the edge of the roof.

She turns around and throws her yoyo to wrap around a pole before wrapping her arm around Chat's waist. They both jump off the balcony and then swing into Adrien's room through his open window, which he had left open when he went to fight the akuma with Ladybug.

Once their feet hit the floor, they de-transformed and Plagg and Tikki flew over to Adrien's bed and collapsed in exhaustion.

"Ugh! That must have been the most exhausting fight I've ever had!" Plagg whines.

"Sugar cube how are you holding up?"

"Barely." Tikki says hoarsely.

"I haven't powered a ladybug for that long in centuries!"

"I'm sorry for taking so long to figure out when to use the lucky charm Tikki." Marinette apologizes.

"But I have special treats that I was planning on giving to you and Plagg anyway, but now they're a reward for a job well done." Marinette says and pulls a little bag out of her purse with some pastries in it.

Plagg and Tikki's face's light up in excitement and they quickly fly over to Marinette.

"Whoa! What are those?" Plagg asks as Marinette pulls two pastries out of the bag.

"They're yummy pastries! And they're perfectly baked. They look so flaky." Tikki says.

Plagg sniffed it and then he gasped and did a flip in the air.

"And they smell like cheese too!" Plagg exclaims.

"Yep. These are called cream cheese danishes. Since I know Tikki loves sweets and Plagg loves cheese, I thought I'd make a treat for you two that has both!" Marinette says.

Plagg and Tiki both take one from her hand and take their first bites.

"What do you think?" Marinette asks.

"They're amazing!" Tikki exclaims.

"This cheese tastes like cheese but it's sweet too! You're some kind of a baking genius Marinette!" Plagg praises.

Marinette laughed.

"Aw, thanks Plagg but I'm not the one who came up with the idea for this type of dessert. I just followed the recipe from one of my dad's books." Marinette explains.

"But you are the one who made them." Adrien tells her.

Marinette blushes as he looks at her with that adoring look in his eyes.

"And it sounds like they taste delicious. Did you by any chance bring some for me?" He asks sheepishly.

Marinette laughs at her boyfriend's failure at subtlety and goes over to his desk and places her hand over a cookie tin.

"I swung by earlier and dropped this off for you." She says.

Adrien's face lit up like a Christmas tree and he ran over to the desk and yanked the lid off of the tin. His mouth watered at the sight of not only the danishes but the other macaroons,cookies, and croissants inside as well.

"Thank you so much Marinette!" Adrien shouts.

Marinette squealed in delight as Adrien lifted her off of the ground and spun her around in his arms.

"You're welcome, but why are you so excited? You act like you've never had sweets or croissants before." Marinette asks.

Adrien's smile fell a bit and he set her down.

"Well, I mean I have had those things before. My father always makes sure the food we eat is the best that money can buy, but no amount of money in the world could compare to the love that you put into everything you and your parents make." Adrien says.

"Aw, Adrien you're too sweet." Marinette says and looks upon him fondly.

"I bet these macaroons are sweeter." Adrien says and takes a bite out of one.

Marinette laughs and places her hands on his chest and moves in closer to him.

"We'll see about that kitty." Marinette says.

She stands on her tiptoes and bites the rest of the macaroon that hung out of Adrien's mouth. When she pulled back both of them were blushing as they chewed the sweet. Then they turned away from each other as they heard their kwamis get excited over something.

"This bed is amazing sugar cube!" Plagg says while Tikki laid down on Adrien's bed.

"Not only is it huge, but it can do so many different things with this remote! Watch this!"

Plagg presses a button and then the head of the bed where the pillows lay rose up.

"Wow it's like a slide now! Whee!" Tikki says and slides down the bed.

Marinette and Adrien laughed at their kwami's antics.

"And that's not all! It can also give you the most relaxing massage." Plagg explains and clicks another button.

Tikki started vibrating on the bed and Plagg laid down next to her.

"How does it feel sugar cube?" Plagg asks, his voice sounding strange due to the vibrations from the bed.

"It feels relaxing." Tikki says, her voice vibrating as well.

"Just what a kwami needs after a tough battle against an akuma."

Adrien giggles a bit then looks at Marinette and notices she's staring longingly at the bed. He recognized that look.

"Would you like to lay down Marinette?" Adrien asks, holding his hand out towards the bed.

"You're probably just as exhausted as Tikki. You should lay down and relax too."

"Oh Adrien that does sound nice, but as soon as I lay down I doubt I'll be able to get back up. Tikki and I can't stay here much longer. At any minute your dad, Nathalie, or your bodyguard could walk in on us. What would they think if they saw me in here and lying on your bed?!" Marinette shouts, suddenly very anxious about her current situation.

Adrien puts one of his hands on her shoulder in reassurance and holds his finger up to his lips while making a shushing noise.

"Don't worry about any of that m'lady." Adrien says with an easy grin.

"My father is at a conference in London, Nathalie's chained to her desk with work, and my bodyguard's only guarding the front door, he's not checking the house to see if I'm in my room or not." Adrien explains.

"Wait, so does that mean that..." Marinette starts.

"I purposely invited you to come here after defeating the akuma so that we could spend some time alone together without any interruptions. Like a..." Adrien adds.

"A date?" Marinette asks, her cheeks heating up.

Adrien places his hand on the back of his head and scratches it while his cheeks reddened and he smiled at the floor

"Yeah. I guess so." He says.

Marinette giggles and so does he.

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

"Dark wings fall." Hawkmoth says with a sigh as he de-transforms.

"You were very close that time Master." Nooroo says, trying to cheer up the depressed Gabriel.

"Yes but I'm never close enough!" Gabriel exclaims.

"That battle took them so long, I was sure that I had them pinned this time by creating a ghost villain that they couldn't even touch but, just like always, in the end I failed again." He says through gritted teeth as his elevator took him down.

He reappeared in his office in front of Nathalie. She wore an apologetic look on her face, knowing well that Gabriel was upset because he had failed to defeat Ladybug and Chat Noir once more.

"You were so close this time Sir. It wasn't very easy for them to defeat this villain-" Nathalie says until Gabriel cuts her off.

"Specter wouldn't have been defeated at all if that damn movie about people who fight ghosts with high-tech reactors strapped to their backs that shoot ion beams didn't exist then maybe Ladybug's lucky charm wouldn't have given her one to hold Specter in place while Cat Noir destroyed the brooch I akumatized!" Gabriel rants in frustration.

"I wonder why Emilie ever cared for that movie so much anyway. The whole concept was ridiculous, and the science was merely theoretical at best." He continues before sighing and placing his hand over his forehead.

"But I suppose it makes sense that a movie about ghosts would haunt me like that. I can even hear the theme song in my head as it's being pulled out of my long-term memory." Gabriel groans.

"Uh, I don't think it's in your head Sir. I can hear it too" Nathalie says and looks towards the large double doors next to them that lead into the foyer.

Gabriel turns to her and arches one of his eyebrows. Then he looks in the direction of the doors and frowns, knowing that there was only one place in the house where that noise would be coming from.

"I can't believe you know about this movie Tikki." Adrien says.

"I've been around for a very long time Adrien, Plagg too. I remember one time Wayzz brought an action figure of one of the characters from the movie into the Miracle Box for us to play with. He explained the plot of the movie he saw with Master Fu too, so that's how I know about it. But I've never seen it before!" Tikki explains.

"Yeah, actually watching it is definitely better than watching Wayzz horribly try to act it out for us." Plagg says and Tikki frowns at him for being rude.

Marinette cuddles closer into Adrien's side and laid her head down on his chest.

Adrien smiles at her and lays his head on top of hers, only to pick it back up as the sound of footsteps coming up the stairs startles him.

Marinette hears it too and she quickly scrambles away from Adrien, only to clumsily fall off of the bed as soon as the door opens and she's looking at Gabriel and Nathalie upside down, staring at her in surprise that quickly turns to disapproval. She gives them a big nervous grin, and Adrien did the same.

"F-father, what are you doing here? I uh, thought you were away tonight?" Adrien asks.

"I was, but then when I arrived there I discovered that the conference had been canceled at the last minute due to the host having to deal with some personal matters." Gabriel explains then looks from Adrien down to Marinette and squints.

"Now, I believe the more important question is why instead of studying have you decided to watch a mediocre film with a girl, alone in your room together, and how did she even get in here without Nathalie and your bodyguard's permission!" Gabriel sternly questions his son.

"You already know why." Adrien says and sighs.

"I wanted to spend time with my friends. But you never let me."

"So you decided to go behind my back and sneak a girl into your room? That's highly immature of you Adrien, I never would have expected you to stoop to something so low. And I'm sure this young lady's parents wouldn't be very pleased either to learn that their daughter was in a room alone with a boy unsupervised." Gabriel says.

Marinette quickly sat upright and Adrien froze in his seat.

"Oh no! It wasn't anything like that Mr. Agreste!" Marinette quickly explains.

"I don't care what you say." Gabriel tells her sternly.

Marinette gulped in fear when his steely gaze focused on her.

"No one aside from you or Adrien were in here to see what was going on, therefore I cannot be sure that what you are telling me is the truth, and if you're the kind of girl that sneaks into people's homes then you're not exactly showing me that you have a good conscience, so most likely you are lying and I am to assume the worst." Gabriel says.

"She's telling the truth father!" Adrien says and gets off of the bed to stand in front of Marinette.

"Marinette has the best conscience, she's always putting others before herself. I'm the one who snuck her in here, it was all my fault not hers." Adrien says.

Marinette's lips curved downward as Adrien took the blame for her.

"Well I won't deny that that could be true, but nevertheless there is evidence to suggest that she's corrupting you. So I forbid you from seeing her outside of school ever again." Gabriel declares.

"What!?" Marinette and Adrien exclaim.

Marinette stood up and Nathalie stepped forward to lead Marinette out.

Adrien frowns and steps to the side to stand in-between her and Nathalie.

"Father, please." Adrien pleads, tears starting to form in his eyes.

But Gabriel remains stoic and Marinette gives Adrien's hand a squeeze.

"I'll see you in school Adrien." She says and gives him a small smile before leaving with Nathalie.

Once Marinette was gone, Adrien frowned at his father and clenched his fists.

The action surprised Gabriel, but also gave him an idea as he sensed the growing anger in his son. So he turned and left without saying another word to him, just to fuel that rage even more.

Adrien picked up a pillow that fell on the ground and tossed it angrily onto the bed before flopping down on it and frowning.

"Be careful Adrien, you don't want to get mad! Hawkmoth could akumatize you if he senses your anger!" Plagg exclaims.

"I know Plagg." Adrien says and takes a deep breath.

"But I can't help but feel like this is so unfair! It's bad enough he keeps me away from my friends, but now I can't even see Marinette, the love of my life!" Adrien exclaims and shoves his face in his pillow.

"Yeah you're right. Being you really sucks sometimes." Plagg says.

"Yeah..." Adrien says.

He lifts his face out of his pillow and smiles at Plagg.

"But when that happens, I can turn into somebody else." Adrien says with a smirk.

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

"Don't be so down Marinette." Tikki says.

"You can still see Adrien in school."

"Yeah I know but it's not the same." Marinette says.

She lets her hair down and hugs her knees to her chest as she looks out over the city lights from her chair on her balcony.

"It's better than nothing but at school it's complicated. We never get to be alone either because our friends are with us or because girls like Lila and Chloe are trying to break us apart." Marinette reminds her.

"And now I've blown my chance to ever hang out with Adrien alone again."

"Are you sure about that bugaboo?"

Marinette gasps and she quickly turns her head towards her roof and sees Cat Noir perched there.

"What are you doing here!" She shouts.

"Isn't it obvious?" He asks and jumps down and lands in front of her.

"I've come to spend some quality time with my girlfriend on this beautiful Parisian night."

He leans in to kiss her and she pushes him back.

"I mean what are you doing out here with me! Your father said you weren't allowed to see me anymore outside of school! If he finds out that you snuck out here to visit me he might try to pull you out of school!" Marinette exclaims.

"You're forgetting something m'lady." Cat Noir says with a chuckle and swipes his finger under her chin.

"Gabriel Agreste forbade Adrien Agreste from seeing you outside of school. He didn't forbid Cat Noir from coming to see you though."

Marinette smiles and lets out the breath she was holding.

"You can come up with any loophole to break a rule can't you?" Marinette asks.

"Rules were made to be broken. Especially when they keep me from m'lady." He says and pulls her into a hug.

They kiss for a little bit before pulling apart.

"Alright, then I guess there's nothing wrong with this." Marinette says.

"That's my girl!" Cat Noir says and gives her a big kiss on her cheek.

"Now do you have any more of those danishes by any chance?"

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

"This couldn't have been more perfect!" Hawkmoth says in his lair.

"Cat Noir and Ladybug are probably still recovering from my previous akuma, and now I can create another from my son's anger to beat them while they're down and finally capture their miraculous! Wait...what?"

His smile fell.

"No, it can't be."

Nathalie looked up from her desk when Gabriel came out of his elevator.

"What happened? Is something wrong?" She asks.

"Yes. My son's anger is completely gone!" Gabriel says as he storms out of the doors and makes his way towards his son's room.

He opens the door and looks around. Both he and Nathalie look up and see the window is open again.

"It would appear he's snuck out again." Nathalie says.

"Yes. But thankfully we know where he's gone." Gabriel adds.

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

"How do I look? Romantic?" Cat Noir asks as he lays on his side on the railing of the balcony, propping his head up on his hand with his arm and leg bent while holding a rose and putting it back in his mouth.

"I guess you could say that." Marinette giggles before continuing to sketch him.

"I'm amazed you can even balance on that small railing like this. And for this long!"

"I've got cat-like reflexes, I can balance on anything for as long as I want. Nothing's gonna knock me off of this railing bugaboo." Cat Noir says confidently.

"Marinette!" Her mother calls from her bedroom.

Cat Noir gasps and falls off over the edge just as Sabine opened up the hatch door.

"Oh did I startle you sweetie?" She asks.

"Uh, yeah." Marinette says with a forced grin.

She hoped Cat Noir was okay.

"What's up?" She asks.

"Someone's here to see you." Sabine says.

Marinette looked worried when she noticed her mother didn't seem too enthusiastic about the visitor. She came downstairs with her mother into her bedroom and her heart seized in her chest when she saw Gabriel Agreste, Nathalie, and The Gorilla in her bedroom.

"What are you guys doing here?" Marinette asks softly.

"Don't act so innocent. You know why we're here." Gabriel says.

Cat Noir hung onto the window that he grabbed onto during his fall. He looked in it and gasped when he saw who was in Marinette's room.

"Adrien isn't here I swear!" Marinette pleads.

"How do I know you're telling the truth?" Gabriel asks.

"Because the only way into this building is through the bakery." Tom says.

"My wife and I have been there all night. We would have seen your son come in with her but she came in alone."

"And you're sure there's no other way he could get in?" Gabriel asks.

"Not unless he dropped down from the roof." Tom says.

Suddenly someone jumped in from the hatch door and everyone screamed, that is until they saw who it was.

"Cat Noir!" Nathalie exclaims.

"Yo! I heard some arguing going on while I was patrolling outside. What seems to be the problem here tonight folks?" He asks.

"U-uh." Everyone collectively stutters as they were still shocked by the sudden appearance of the hero.

"Cat Noir thank goodness you're here!" Marinette says, knowing she should play along.

"This man's son has gone missing. Have you seen him anywhere?"

"Hmm, maybe. What does this son of yours look like?" Cat Noir asks.

"You already know. You must have seen him on billboards." Gabriel says tentatively, still a bit shocked by the whole situation.

"His name is Adrien Agreste."

"Oh him!" Cat Noir says.

"I just saw him by the Eiffel Tower a few minutes ago. He might still be there, if you hurry over you'll probably catch him."

"You're right, we should probably get going." Gabriel says and the three of them go to leave.

Gabriel takes one last look at Cat Noir before shutting the hatch door.

"Thank you so much Cat Noir!" Sabine exclaims.

"Yes, we were so lucky that you happened to be walking by when Mr. Agreste came over. I can't imagine what would have happened if you hadn't come in and defended our Marinette." Tom says.

"Your daughter has good character and she's pure of heart. It would break my heart if someone thought otherwise." Cat Noir explains.

Then his ring started to beep.

"Well, I have to go now, it was nice seeing you all again!" He says and leaves out of the hatch.

Marinette went outside and watched as Cat Noir hopped from building to building as he made his way to the Eiffel Tower where his father was heading. She smiled, knowing that no matter what, nothing would ever be able to keep them apart forever. Their friendship always helped them rise above evil as Ladybug and Cat Noir, and now their love would triumph over it for good.

----------

A/N: What did you think? Please give me comments and feedback if you want me to keep writing stories like this!

[jazy3]

Thoughts on Grey’s Anatomy: 16X09

This week’s episode was the Fall Finale and it did not disappoint let me tell you! It was so good! The theme of this episode for me was 'I did not see that coming!' And the ending really shocked me! It felt like the old Grey's! I have to say this is the first episode of Grey’s Anatomy I've watched in a while that made me want to actually go back and re-watch it. We open on Meredith coming out of an elevator. It’s her first day back at Grey Sloan! We find out that Mer is looking for a package. Apparently, Cristina sent her something to make her feel better after almost losing her licence to practice medicine and getting dumped. They are persons and BFF's forever! Maggie and Amelia are happy to have her back and the residents are excited to see her. They present her with a welcome back cake and Helm finally gets her hug. It’s all very sweet. Then DeLuca pipes up about not knowing that Bailey had re-hired her.

To which Meredith responds that she was going to tell him, but he was too busy dumping her. DeLuca tries to argue that he didn’t dump her. He told her to take some time. To which she responds, “Rob, Steal, Murder, Kill. It all means the same thing.” Love that salt Mer! Throw that shade honey! Such a Queen! Meanwhile over at Pac North a woman comes by to tour the ER as a potential new hire and Owen has to show her around because Alex is away in Iowa because something is up with his Mom. Yikes! That’s definitely going to be a major plot point when the show comes back in the New Year. Owen shows the woman around and is all doey eyed while doing it which Richard immediately calls him on in the most hilarious way possible!

Back at Grey Sloan Vic and Jackson are having a moment when Catherine pulls up. She doesn't know that Jackson and Maggie have broken up and as a result is cold as ice to Vic in the funniest way! I love her line, “Station 19? What is that a TV Channel?” Oh Catherine. We get a hot and sexy Amelink moment followed by a Schmico moment. Everybody is knocking boots. LOL. Good old Grey's. Side note, where does Nico work right now? Did he take a fellowship position at Grey Sloan? Is he working somewhere else and here to see Levi? I feel like they probably addressed this and I missed it. We cut to Amelia and Link have an adorable little moment where they play a cute little game of what attributes they hope their baby has from each of them. My heart!

Their game is interrupted when they find out that Jo has become a Safe Haven volunteer and just found out that a baby has been dropped off at Station 19 and she has to go pick them up. Oh boy. Link is wonderful and supportive of Jo and what she's trying to do. I love him for that. Amelia gets pulled away to talk to Bailey. They swap pregnancy updates. It's adorable. I’ve noticed Jo's hair is darker now and they haven't addressed why. That’s interesting. I like that they've turned the black female resident named Hannah Brody who was previously a background character that rarely said much into a full-fledged character this season. After losing the actors who played Sam Bello and Dahlia Qadri to other roles they could have just cast a new actor to play a resident but instead they promoted from within and I like that.

We cut to Maggie rounding on her first patient who turns out to be a man who needs heart surgery and whose wife just gave birth ahead of schedule. Maggie is nervous after what happened with Sabi and unfortunately this comes back to bite her later on. Bailey rounds on her first patient and we find out that it’s none other than Captain Herrera from Station 19 and his cancer is back. Oh boy. The residents are still doing rounds when Meredith comes in to see her first patient a teenage girl that she operated on two years ago and that's when the new Head of Paediatric Surgery walks in! His name is Dr. Cormac Hayes. He's Irish and he started this morning. Him and Mer do not get off to a good start to say the least. Hayes doesn't like it when residents round on his patients when he's not there and doesn't seem to understand that Meredith is Meredith freaking Grey and that she part owns the hospital he's standing in.

Meanwhile Jo arrives at Station 19 to pick up the baby. We find out that it’s a three day old infant and that Ben is happy to see her. Back at the hospital Maggie approaches Teddy and asks her to scrub in on her valve replacement surgery. Maggie is clearly nervous and concerned and Teddy picks up on none of it somehow. Meredith and Dr. Hayes butt heads again over their patient, who they decide to send for a CT scan, while DeLuca looks on longingly but decides not to say anything to Mer. Probably a good idea seeing as he just dumped her. Idiot. Meanwhile Bailey is giving Captain Herrera an ultrasound while they talk about her pregnancy and how she thinks it’s going to be a girl. Jackson finds his Mom in one of the conference rooms and they finally talk about what’s been going on in each of their lives and their relationship problems. I love Catherine's outfit in this scene! The striped multicoloured blazer and pink sequinned blouse are fierce! She always has the best clothes!

I like that this show has moments where they work to dispel harmful myths like the idea that using formula instead of breast milk is bad for your baby. It’s not and we need to stop shaming mothers who can't breastfeed or choose not to. Meanwhile at Pac North, Gemma and Richard are having an impromptu AA meeting in Richard's office. They're in the middle of praying when one of Pac North's incompetent employees barges in! Because they are holding hands the employee mistakes Gemma for Richard's wife! They have a good laugh over that and finish doing the serenity prayer. Pac North: Never a dull moment! Meanwhile Jo is still at Station 19 with the surrendered baby. Her and Jack have a heart to heart about being former foster kids. I really love Jo's bomber jacket! It's super cute! They upgraded her wardrobe this year and damn! Back at the hospital we find out that Amelia has yet to have an ultrasound because she's terrified of what she might find out. Bailey convinces her to get one.

Mer and Hayes butt heads again over their patient's CT scan and Hayes throws major shade. Mer throws it right back though by asking who hired him Bailey or Koracick? When Hayes won't answer and asks her why she wants to know Mer fires back with, “Bailey usually has too much sense to hire surgeons whose egos are too big to fit in an OR.” Savage Meredith is the best Meredith. Maggie and Teddy operate on their heart patient. Teddy wants to chit chat. Maggie does not. Meanwhile Catherine shows up at Pac North looking for Richard. She runs into the incompetent employee from earlier and tries to throw shade. It backfires hilariously. Unfortunately, the employee mistakenly tells her that Richard is having coffee with his wife and so now Catherine definitely thinks he's having an affair. Jeez louis.

Meanwhile back at Grey Sloan we find out that Hayes went behind Meredith's back and told their patient and her mother that she might have cancer. Mer is not happy to say the least. Amelia and Link talk about the fact that she hasn't gotten an ultrasound yet. Link assumed she had. Amelia realizes that she really does need to get one. I love her line, “He dumps my sister and you put him on your service?” Amelia. Always coming in with the one liners! Link was unaware that Mer and DeLuca had broken up. DeLuca tries to clear things up while talking to Link and Nico as they scrub in. Link calls him on his BS. Mer has very few equals because she's that good. Which is the truth. As Link points out Mer is one of the world's top general surgeons. DeLuca is still a resident. She doesn't see him as an equal because he's not. No one is. Nico makes some good points about how Schmitt isn't his equal but that doesn't mean he doesn't respect him.

I loved Nico’s line, “But if he told me to take some time, yeah no, I would not respect that.” Drop that truth Nico! Drop it like it’s hot! I love that DeLuca is finally realizing what an idiot he's been. He's acting like he's this great catch when he was dating Meredith freaking Grey. She's the catch. There are lots of men out there who would give their left arm to go out with Mer and he dumped her over his own feelings of inadequacy. He didn't deserve her and he's figuring this out after they're no longer together. You snooze you lose pal. Link tells DeLuca to go fix what he did because he's not her equal, but Mer went out with him anyway and fell in love with him knowing that. He was the one who suddenly decided that was a problem not her. Meanwhile Maggie and Teddy are operating when Tom comes on the intercom and compliments Teddy's work and then leaves. Maggie asks her why she doesn't tell him to leave her alone. Teddy responds that he's her boss and she feels guilty for breaking his I loved Helm’s line, “Wow. So many lawsuits in one explanation.” Never change Helm. Never change.

Maggie then calls Teddy on the fact that Tom is not harmless in the sense that he wants a future with her and she does not seem to want to clear that up. Just as they are getting ready to close Teddy gets called away to the ER. Teddy leaves and right after Maggie realizes that the patient's heart isn't restarting as it should. Meanwhile Bailey comes to see Captain Herrera. She confirms that his cancer is indeed back. Bailey wants to discuss treatment options. Herrera says he won't do chemo again. That's when he looks down and realizes that Bailey is bleeding. When I was watching the episode the first time through I thought for sure this was going to be a cliff hanger. That we would find out there was something wrong but not find out what it was until January. Alas we do find out. Ben and Jo arrive at the hospital with the surrendered baby. That's when Ben gets a text that there's something wrong. He runs off to be at Bailey's side leaving Jo looking worried and confused. Meanwhile Maggie tries desperately to re-start her patient's heart.

Teddy comes back in and says the heart is probably hibernating and that they need to give it time to come back and re-start. Ben rushes to Bailey's room to find her in bed talking to Carina with Pruitt standing beside her. Their faces say it all. Bailey suffered a miscarriage. I cried watching this scene. Poor Bailey. Poor Ben. She is not having a good year. This also means they'll have to tell Tuck that he isn't going to be getting a sibling after all. My heart breaks for them. Meanwhile Meredith and Hayes are in the OR doing a biopsy on their patient. It's not malignant. Meredith was right and Hayes was dead wrong. Once that's confirmed she lays down the law. “Listen Dr. Who Ever You Are, this is my house. You're a guest in my home. I got this.” Damn straight Mer! On the fashion front, Mer is back to wearing her purple pink scrub cap with the floral pattern on it. Meanwhile over at Pac North, Owen has just finished giving the new potential hire a tour. Richard gives him major side eye. He knows what’s up. Richard warns Owen that he's standing on a slippery slope.

Owen says he's not dead inside, but he's also happily taken. Richard counters by asking him if he’s proposed to Teddy yet. Owen says he hasn't. To which Richard responds, “But what? You're waiting for her to have your third child?” I love Richard. Back at Grey Sloan Mer proves to Hayes that she was right all along and he finally seems impressed. Over at Joe's Bar Catherine meets Jackson for (several) drinks and laments about how Richard is having an affair. Jackson calls her on the fact that she has no proof, hasn't actually talked to Richard, and that it seems like a simple misunderstanding which it is. I love his line, “I cannot be responsible for my relationships and yours! Alright? There's not enough therapy in the damn world for that." Oh Jackson. Back at the hospital Ben chases after Bailey in a hallway. He wants to take her home but she just wants to be alone. Which would be heartbreaking enough except that as she rounds the corner she runs into a very cheerful Amelia.

Amelia asks Bailey if she got her ultrasound, oblivious to the fact that she has just suffered a miscarriage. She urges Amelia to get one. She says she's going tonight. As if you weren't tearing up enough already, Amelia asks Bailey if she decided to find out the baby's sex or not. Bailey tearfully tells her it's a girl. Unaware of her heartbreak Amelia joyfully jumps up and hugs her before skipping off down the hall. Oh Grey's, always hitting me right in the feels. Meanwhile Teddy and Maggie try to explain to their patient's wife what happened in surgery. She is understandably upset. Maggie excuses herself because she can't take it any longer. As she walks away Koracick catches up with her in the hallway and asks what happened. Maggie says she would like to tender her resignation effectively immediately. Koracick tells her to hang on a minute. One bad outcome does not mean she should quit.

She tells him she had a bad feeling about the surgery and she should have trusted herself and had someone else do it. Maggie tells Koracick that she can't be a surgeon if she can't trust herself. She quits. Tom tries to argue with her but it's no use. She walks away. Teddy comes out to talk with Tom. He tells her he is in need of a new Cardio Chief and asks if she's interested. At which point Teddy loses it believing that Tom just fired Maggie to give her what he thinks she needs. Teddy tells Tom that she has moved on, that she loves Owen, and she's sorry that she hurt him. But that he has got to stop barking up this particular tree. Tom tells a stunned Teddy that he didn't fire Maggie. She quit. But he does think she should be Chief of Cardio. After a moment’s hesitation he also tells her that he wants a life with her and would marry her tomorrow. Tom points out that Owen has a baby with her and still hasn't proposed. He asks her if she's really sure she wants to close the door on them before walking away. Meanwhile, Bailey finally breaks down alone in her office about the loss she's suffered.

Meredith and Hayes finish treating their patient who is upset that the boy she likes hasn't texted her back. Hayes pipes up and says that as someone who has raised a couple of teenage boys he knows a thing or two. Hayes tells her that all teenage boys care about is Fortnite and pizza and that they're terrified of girls. And that they can't talk to them, especially the ones they like. This cheers her up considerably. After work Link comes over to see Jo at the loft. He asks how things went and finds out that Jo took the surrendered baby home! Did she steal that baby? Did she talk to the social worker and work something out? We don't know. The day ends with Meredith in the elevator texting Cristina. Cristina asks if she got her package. Mer says it never came. Just then Hayes gets on the elevator too. She stops texting and asks him what his deal is. Hayes tells her that he doesn't try to figure out what people want to hear. He prefers to give them all the information up front and let them figure out how to deal with it.

He follows up by saying he does this because his wife's doctors didn't pay him that respect before she died so he does his best to do so for others. He ends by saying Grey Sloan might be Mer's house, but someone gave him a key so maybe it's best if they try to learn how to live together and welcomes her back. He says he can see why she was missed and just as he walks away she gets another text from Cristina. The package isn't an it. It's a him. The package Cristina sent isn't an object. It's a person. Dr. Cormac Hayes is Cristina's gift to Mer. He's the new head of Paediatric Surgery at Grey Sloan, he's a widow (or McWidow as Cristina calls him), and he's a father to at least two teenage boys. Cristina signs off her texts to Mer with a bunch of three leaf clovers. She's gifting Mer with the luck of the Irish in the form of a new love interest. Which is such a Cristina thing to do. LOL! Everyone needs a Cristina in their life! I'm excited that Mer has a new love interest. From what I can tell Hayes checks all the right boxes. He's an attending Department Chief.

He appears to be a talented surgeon. He appears close to Mer's age. He's a father. And he's got Cristina's stamp of approval! The fact that Cristina had a hand in picking him and bringing him from Ireland to the U.S. to work at Grey Sloan to be the new head of Paediatric Surgery also suggests that Alex might be in on this too. Cristina is a heart surgeon, not a peds surgeon. It’s not her speciality. You know whose it is? Her good friend Alex. Where is Alex working right now? At Pac North and he’s happy there. Which means Grey Sloan needs a new Peds Chief. Cristina wouldn’t send Mer and her beloved hospital someone crappy. Cristina is hard to impress and if she sent Hayes to Seattle it’s because he impressed her. He’s someone Cristina thinks Mer will get along well with, can potentially build a life with, and who can do his job well in a way Alex would approve of. To me this implies that Cristina would have talked to Alex about bringing Hayes to Grey Sloan as a potential new hire before she set things in motion.

Although I doubt she mentioned the boyfriend element. My guess is she reached out to get his thoughts on Hayes and get his stamp of approval. One of my biggest pet peeves is that Cristina and Alex have butted heads with or openly disliked most of the people Meredith has dated (and vice versa). I'm excited to see her with someone her best friends actually like. We’ll have to wait to January to see if I’m right or not, but I’m really excited to see where this goes! To be honest, I think they should have gone this route from the beginning after having Mer date for a while and not wasted our time with all that Link and DeLuca nonsense, but were here now and that's the important thing! But the episode's not done yet! We see Amelia having her ultrasound. Everything is fine with the baby (yah!) except we find out that Amelia is actually 24 weeks pregnant, not 20 weeks like she thought. Which based on the look on her face means either Link or Owen could be the father. Yikes! We then cut to Joe's Bar where Ben and Captain Herrera are drinking at the bar, Jackson is drinking alone, the residents are drinking together, and Nico and Schmitt are on a date.

Herrera tries to comfort Ben to no use. Ben then questions why Herrera himself was even at the hospital. Schmitt turns to bring drinks back to his and Nico's table WHEN A FREAKING CAR CRASHES INTO THE BAR!!! I legitimately screamed when that happened! Not Joe's Bar! No! Wow. What a finale! This means several major and minor character's lives are hanging in the balance until January! I wonder what's happening with Alex's Mom. Whatever it is it doesn't sound good. Imagine how freaked he'll be when he gets back. He's already dealing with family issues and now everything in Seattle is a mess! Jo took home a baby. Cristina sent Mer a new boyfriend from Ireland. Bailey just suffered a miscarriage! Maggie just quit. Amelia might be having Owen's baby and a car just crashed into Joe's Bar! Alex's first day back in Seattle is going to be a doozey!

Until then dear readers!

[chibikinesis]

Another ModernAU short draft ♥ ♥ ♥ 1700-ish words.

Another fairly uneventful day was finally coming to a close. The clock signaled the arrival of the final quarter of Edward's shift, and he gazed longingly out the window and into the courtyard. Days like this made for easy money, but he'd be damned if he wouldn't rather be just about anywhere else on such a beautiful day.

"Don't worry, Ed. You're in the home stretch now." Daniel chuckled, making his way into the room with two mugs of coffee. He placed one of them on the desk near Edward's elbow, and sunk back into his chair with a grunt. "What, two more hours?"

"That'll probably feel like another eight." Edward sighed tiredly, lifting the ceramic to his lips and taking a sip.  "Thanks for fresh cup.”

"Hey, no problem." Daniel pulled an excess of creamer and sugar packets from his pocket, and Edward chuckled. It was far from the first time it'd happened, and he was sure it'd be far from the last either. "Y'know... whoever said cargo pants are useless was a goddamned fool."

"Solid point." Edward smirked. "I mean... what'd you manage to squeeze into all those pockets? Half the coffee bar?"

Dan laughed wickedly. "Smartass."

Edward sighed, a contented smile on his face as he looks around. His attention was seized by a figure drawing nearer to the window; a slender woman with a trendy blonde bob, his age or a little older, and wearing an outfit that he could pin as neither casual nor dressy. 

She took little notice of him; her gaze had immediately honed in on Daniel, who had just taken notice of the peculiar look on his coworker's face. When he heard a gentle tapping on the glass, he turned to greet this new guest.

"Hey, you old codger." She grinned, laughter in her voice. "Still working here?"

"Heeeyyyy, nice to see you, too." Daniel laughed that ornery laugh of his, rising to his feet and striding over to the window to greet her. "How the hell ya been, kid? Been a while!"

"Doing well, actually. Finally found a nice little place to settle into nearby."

"You back in town then?"

"Yep. Have been for a few months now, actually. Finding my footing, settling in, what-have-you. Finding a decent job, and don't even get me started on the moving process." She sighed, as if to recall just what a hassle it had all been. "What about you?"

"Still here. Can't complain." He smiled warmly. "Don't do any good even if I do, so..."

"Doesn't hurt to try, at any rate, does it?"

Edward watched the exchange in silent confusion, sipping at his coffee. Daniel certainly seemed familiar with the young woman, and that wasn't a terribly common thing to see. He was becoming more and more curious as to how she knew him.

"You're more optimistic than I am." Daniel grumbles. "But, hey, I doubt you're just here to shoot the shit with this old codger, right?"

"It's been nice, Dan, but I'd be lying if I said I didn't come here to see someone else."

"I figured as much. Lemme get 'im on the horn."

Daniel turned and walked a few paces to grab his radio, and the woman leaned in just a bit to survey the security room as she waited. Her wandering eyes stumble across Edward's pensive form and she does a double-take; it took her a moment to place it, but she was certain that this was the man she'd seen in Jack's company during a fair few of her shifts. She smiled warmly at the recollection, and offered a small wave, which he awkwardly returned.

"'Ey, Jack, you copy?"

"Daniel? What is it?"

"Ya' got a visitor down here."

"A visitor?"

"Yeah. Waitin' down here by the security office."

"Now who on Earth-"

Daniel quickly switched channels on his radio, knowing that Jack was about to barrage him with a slew of questions he didn't particularly feel like answering. Plus, he had no doubt the resulting anger would make the doctor's trip downstairs even more hasty. The old guard smirked confidently. "He'll be right down."

"That's one way to do it." The woman was impressed by just how bold Daniel had gotten since she last saw him. If she was being honest, she found that she quite enjoyed it.

As if on cue, they could hear the grinding of the staff elevator descending; with a loud ding, the doors slid open, and almost immediately, they could hear Jack's angry, nasally voice spilling out.

"Daniel, what have I told you about cutting me off like that?!" he spewed. "I can't always afford to come down here on such short noti-"

He came to an abrupt stop when the woman stepped into view, a calm smile on her face. "Hey, Jack."

"Em-..." He stopped dead in his tracks. It took him a full moment to digest it all; he looked as though he'd just seen a ghost, and seeing him that way left Edward feeling a little uneasy himself. "Emogene."

"Since you don't seem like you can be bothered to respond to any of my texts or calls," she spoke, a meaningful undertone in her voice. "- I thought it might just be easier to try stopping in to talk, one-on-one."

Jack sighed, guilt etched on his features as he nodded feebly in agreement. "Let's... follow me."

Daniel and Edward watched as the two walked out the nearby set of glass doors and into the courtyard outside. Daniel's gaze strayed, and he studied Edward's worried face for a moment before shifting his attention back outside, and back again. He smiled knowingly.

"Ed."

"Hm?"

"You can un-clench your buttcheeks now." Daniel chuckled. "Emogene is Jack's sister."

Edward tried to brush it off, but they both knew better. His cheeks darkened, and he waved his hand dismissively, both of them shifting their attention back to what was going on outside.

“Look, I know you’re on the clock right now, so I don’t want to keep you too long, I just...” Emogene drew a long breath and huffed a defeated sigh; or at least as defeated as she’d let herself sound. But Jack knew. “I miss you, Jack. I know I hurt you and mom when I took off back then, but I there were just some things I needed to do by myself, for myself. And I did, and I’ve grown... so much. I’m doing so much better now, Jack, and I’m trying to be a better sister, if you’d just give me that chance.”

“I told you, we could meet up some time-”

“Oh please, Jack, you’ve been making excuses and putting me on the back burner for three months now. You know, when you’re not outright ignoring me.” She crossed her arms and tapped her foot. “I see you having lunch all the time and you don’t even bother to say hello. “C’mon, if you can make time to have lunch with your guard in there like... three times a week, you can squeeze in some time for me-”

“Wha- how...” Her mouthfuls were loaded with accusations, none of which he found he could really refute, and her brother’s cheeks darkened in shame. The last one stung a bit more than he thought it might, though. He’d have stolen a glance back at Edward if he wasn’t concerned he’d be too obvious. “How did you...?”

“Because I’m the head event coordinator at the mall and I’m there just about every day. If you actually talked to me you might know that by now.” Her voice was scolding, but not excessively abrasive. Perhaps a sign of that personal growth she’d hinted to. “Look, I know that if you’re anything like you used to be... which, you probably are...”

Jack crinkled his nose at just how correct she was in her assumptions.

“ - that you’re probably just going straight home after work, and shutting yourself up in your study, and being a hermit for the rest of the night. Or entertaining mother’s whims.” Jack could detect a small bit of venom in her tone when she mentioned Wilhelmina, but she quickly recovered. “- I’ve got a pretty nice apartment now, and I’d love to have you over for dinner. I ... really wanna’ catch up. Hear what’s been going on with you. Maybe fill you in on what’s been up with me, if you give half a damn.”

The doctor’s stance softened, and his lips curled into a small smile. All this time and she could still read him like a book. But her idea was sounding... tolerable.

“I know a break from her did me good. Probably wouldn’t hurt you, either. I think we could finally act like... functional siblings for once if she’s not helicoptering over us and stirring the pot.”

Jack raised an eyebrow and cocked his head ever so slightly, and Emogene shrugged.

“... maybe. That might be asking too much. It’s worth a shot.” Her nose wrinkled at the thought, and she gave a playful shrug. “But if you come over and decide you still don’t really want to associate with me, I mean, I... guess that’s fine. At least you can say you gave it a shot.”

There was something a little heartbreaking in that last sentence, and it registered as a small ache in Jack’s chest. Had he really made her feel so alienated with his behavior?

“Just... give me that chance, Jack.”

He wasn’t sure he’d ever heard more sincerity in her voice in his whole life; it wasn’t delivered without her signature Emogene Cynicism, of course, but it was definitely there and more tangible than ever. She was letting her walls down enough to let him in. She was taking the initiative to repair the bonds that had been broken. And he was dodging her like a plague.

Who’s really the bad sibling in this situation, when I really think about it? He pondered for a moment. He didn’t like the conclusion he drew, but it was one he needed to accept. You need to do better.

“Actually, Emogene, that sounds... great.” He smiled weakly at her. There was a lot more he wanted to say to her. He had a lot to apologize for, for starters, but he supposed that could wait until he visited her apartment later. He supposed the lapse would give him more time to mentally prepare and rehearse it all. Besides, he was still on the clock. “What time?”

“Seven... ish?” She gestured vaguely. “But, uh... don’t tell mom about me. I’m... not ready for her to know I’m back home yet.”

Jack nodded solemnly and understandingly at her, and she beamed him a genuine smile.

“I’ll text you my address, okay?”

“I’ll actually open it this time.” her brother chuckled.

“Cute.” She snarled. “Anyway, I’ll be holding you to that. You better be there tonight.”

“I promise.” 

[zankivich]

Neighbors: Shawn x Plus-Size Reader Chapter 2

a/n: hi friends. Feeling kind of down about all things writing at the moment, don’t know if I’ll continue at all. But this was already written so I figured I might as well post it. If you don’t hate it and feel like letting me know that’d be cool. I hope you all have a wonderful holiday. bye 

*Shawn’s pov*

He walked down the hallway jingling his keys and taking his time. Then just in case, he walked back to the other end. If anyone was around to see him, they’d surely think he was crazy. And maybe he was. This is the life that he had been destined for. Walking up and down the hallway of his apartment building in the hopes that the girl next door might pop out.

He’d been doing it for weeks and so far had only been successful twice. Since the night of their first meeting, and the subsequent morning after where they’d puked together for a couple of hours, she’d been stringing him along like she had the carrot and he was a rabbit. At first he’d thought maybe she wasn’t interested, was even going to give up, and try to move on. But, he’d stumbled upon her juggling a whole bunch of groceries one night and the conversation that followed told him that maybe he wasn’t crazy at all.

“Here let me help you.” He’d said reaching for the bag she’d be trying to balance between her knees.

“I had it.” She mumbled in response.

“Just let me help you. Accepting help isn’t the greatest weakness in the world you know.”

She was maybe the most stubborn woman he’d ever met in his life. And Jesus did he love every little bit of it.

“Thanks.” She said begrudgingly.

He followed her into her apartment which was much different than his own. Less bachelor pad, more grown woman with her shit vaguely together. She had a couch and a coffee table, and all of her furniture was mix match and different. It fit her somehow. And the longer he was in there the more he felt like he was learning about her. He peered over at where she stood in her kitchen, hip casually propped against the counter as she stared at him with crossed arms. He stepped further away from the living room, choosing instead to join her at the counter. He thought about the way her waist had felt under his hands when they danced, and the way her laugh sounded as they drank tequila. He wasn’t quite sure what to do about how much he thought about her. And the look on her face wasn’t exactly one of love and adoration. All of the confidence he had felt after the cuddling and the dance had completely washed out of him.

“Can I ask you something?”

He leaned against the other side of her counter, his legs long enough that they rested on either side of hers.

“Sure.”

“Do you like… do you not want me around?” He mumbled eyes on his fingers which were fidgeting with his ring. “Cause I kinda thought that we might of hit it off in my apartment. I mean I know there was alcohol involved so maybe...I just don’t want to bother you if you don’t want that.”

She stared at him for a second, and he got the feeling that she was trying to decide whether or not she was going to be honest with him. When her face softened, it was as if a wall came down, and he had somehow moved on to the next level of knowing her more deeply.

“I… guess I’m just confused on why you want to be around so much.” She shrugged.

He nodded trying to wrap his mind around everything that she was.

“So it’s not that I make you uncomfortable. Or that you don’t like me?”

“No I,” She paused and her cheeks darkened. “I like you.”

He smiled at her, completely incapable of stopping the twitch of his muscles. And maybe she rolled her eyes and tried to play it off, but it didn’t matter. Now he knew.

So he took some extra time every now and then--or every single time he entered the building--to see if she might come around. It was a tuesday night and that meant that she should be getting home from work any minute. He’d landed in Toronto that afternoon for a break after promo, having spent the day with his sister and mom, and all he wanted was to ask her about her day.

When he saw her get off the elevator this time, his heart leaped in his chest. And not just in the way it had been doing since she’d knocked drunkenly on his door at two am looking for salt. There was a man with her this time and his arm was draped casually over her shoulder like it belonged there, and yet he’d never seen anything that looked more wrong. He moved quickly to get into his apartment, not wanting to be found creeping in the hall while her date dropped her off. The saddest part was having to physically restrain himself from staring through the peephole, but his heart already felt broken and he wasn’t in the mood to torture himself more than he already had.

He changed out of the outfit he’d worn, both to show his mother that he wasn’t completely helpless without her, as well as to maybe make the pretty girl next door notice, and grabbed angrily for his guitar. His fingers were itching, he couldn’t get his feet to stay still, and his stupid heart wanted very much to head in the direction of his next door neighbor. It was the perfect combination for a song, and a wounded heart.

*Y/n pov*

You notice when Shawn leaves town. Mostly because you were constantly looking for him. Not in a weird way, you hoped at least, but just in a way of wanting to see him. After he had somehow gotten you to blatantly admit that you liked him--without any discussion of what kind of like that was--there hadn’t been much more development. You didn’t have his number, and he didn’t have yours, and despite the fact that you were literally inches from each other, it felt like he was so far away. He’d admitted to liking you too. That was the craziest part of it all, and yet both of you were just kind of watching from afar wondering what the hell either of you had meant by that.

That was partly why you’d gone out that night. Your best friend, Stu, had watched you sulk long enough apparently, and despite the fact that he didn’t know the crush you had was on the rockstar next door, he’d had enough of your moping. So he transfered you to a bar straight from work where you drank and moped and ate tacos. There were worse ways of moping, you guessed. When he dropped you off, arm wrapped around your waist to balance you in your heels the way only a true best friend would, you stared longingly at the door that you really wanted to be behind.

“You gonna be okay babes?” He asked.

You nodded sullenly. “Don’t mind me. I have a hitachi wand that does everything a man could ever wish to do for me.”

Stu wrinkled his nose and you smiled for the first real time of the night at your best fiend.

“You are just so hopelessly gay. Go home to your boyfriend. Stop worrying about me. I’ll be fine.”

“Fine. If you decide you finally want to talk about something that’s bothering you, you know I’m just a call away.”

You didn’t have the heart to tell him that this particular burden could only be solved by six feet, two inches of pasty Canadian. So, you hugged him and let him get on with his night instead.

You changed back into your oversized t-shirt and shorts, and settled about baking something that would make you forget about Shawn. You found the process of creating something from nothing to be particularly soothing, and thought that maybe it might help. And if not that, certainly the added bottle of wine would do the trick. There was no thinking about Shawn when you made the pie crust. There was no thinking about Shawn when you were sauteing the apples. And there definitely wasn’t any thinking about Shawn on your third glass of wine when you swore you saw his face in your caramel sauce. What a shit show.

The pie was just coming out of the oven when you heard your neighbor blasting some very sad shit. It sounded like maybe it was an alternative band that would once have been a emo/scream-o band in 2008, but had evolved. Shawn happened to look like an innocent puppy with big floppy ears every single time you’d ever seen him, so the music was even more puzzling then it would’ve been for any one else on the planet. Even more puzzling was the conscious understanding that he was home. He had to be… You scolded yourself. Going over to that man’s apartment tipsy for the second time in a row would be absolutely ridiculous. No. Just no.

And that is how you ended up outside of your neighbor’s apartment for a second time, far less done up than when you’d cuddled in his bed. In your fuzzy slippers and oversized tee you knocked hard against his door, hoping that he would be able to hear you over the depressing music.

*Shawn’s pov*

The knock on the door is the last thing in the world he wanted to deal with. He had half a mind to pull the rockstar card and ask for them to fuck off. Despite being twenty-three years old, he felt more like a sappy teenager than ever, and he just wasn’t in the mood to have someone tell him to turn his music down when the woman he liked was probably in love with someone else. They had definitely never defined any sort of relationship; hell, he hadn’t even talked to her more than a couple of times. He had no right to be hurt by her living her own fucking life, but…he was.

When he opened the door and she was standing there in fucking fuzzy slippers with a pie in one hand and a bottle of wine in the other, he thought for sure he must be dreaming. But she had this adorable, awkward grin on her lips that he wanted to kiss, and knew that his brain wasn’t even remotely capable of imagining such a beauty.

“H--Hi.” He mumbled, dazed.

She blinked her annoyingly long lashes at him.

“Hey. I...I didn’t know you were home again.”

His ears perked up at this.

“You noticed that I left?”

Her cheeks reddened and he felt his heart reform itself in his chest. Wow.

“No I--I just…” She stuttered. “I heard the music. Sounded like maybe you could use some pie.”

No one had ever baked for him before. And he didn’t know he wanted it, needed it even until right in this moment.

He smiled at her. “So, you baked me a pie?”

Her lips parted drawing attention to her mouth and his eyes traveled there unwittingly. She was beautiful and he was maybe just a tad bit hopelessly into her already. Her big, brown eyes rolled at him so hard he thought they might pop out of her head. She cocked her hip in the most sassy manner he’d ever seen, but all he could do was remember what it had felt like to hold her hips in his hands, what is had felt like to mold himself to the back of her body. His mouth was suddenly dry.

“I did not bake you a pie. I baked a pie. I bake when I’m stressed, and you are just simply reaping the benefits from my hell of a life.”

“You’re stressed?” He frowned before suddenly moving into action. “What are you doing standing in the hallway? Come in.”

He slid the wine from one of her palms sliding his hand there instead and pulled her into the safe confines of his home. Shawn thought that she looked like she belonged on his couch. And the visual of her tucking her legs under one of the oversized pillows his Mum bought him made his whole chest feel warm. He made a mental note to thank her for buying the pillows again.

He popped the cork on the wine and poured each of them a glass, tucking some plates and silverware under his arm before making his way back to her. When he sat down his knee brushed against both of hers which were folded sideways so that her body was angled towards him. They both looked at each other before awkwardly looking away and take a gulp out of their respective glasses.

“So, what’s bothering you, honey?” He asked propping his arm against the hand he had leaned against the back of the couch.

She shrugged twirling the glass around in her fingers.

“It’s not that I’m bothered by anything. I just went out to dinner with a friend, and he and his boyfriend are like ten years strong, so everytime we go out together it feels like he’s pitying me. But he’s my best friend, and I love him. So even though I don’t really like to bother him; he kinda calls bullshit.”

The guy who dropped her off.

His eyes widened. “Boyfriend? Like...as in a gay boyfriend?”

Her eyes immediately turned to slits and he’d never seen someone’s face change so drastically so quickly.

“Yea? Is that a fucking problem?”

Nice fucking going, moron.

“No! No, no, no. That--That’s wonderful! I mean...I love gay people!! Honest. I--I met the fab five at this netflix event thingy and Tan France totally exposed me to the power of a printed floral shirt.”

She stared at him like maybe she thought he was the dumbest fucker alive, which he most definitely was. Even if she was single, he was going to end up with her hating him before he’d even gotten a chance.

“Hmmm.” She hummed seemingly deciding that he probably wasn’t a homophobic asshole. “What do you say we eat the pie now?”

She set the pie on one of the plates and instead of cutting either of them a slice dug her fork directly into the cripsy center of the pie. The room filled with smells of cinnamon and apples, and his stomach rumbled appreciatively. Then, out of nowhere, she was lifting the fork towards his mouth instead of her own, and he immediately fell even harder. She seemed to stare accusingly at her hand, as if she wasn’t sure why she’d made that decision, so he moved to close the gap between his mouth and the fork lest she change her mind.

“Oh my god.” He groaned around the metal. “You fuckin made that?”

She chuckled at him and the smile on her face nearly did him in more than the pie did.

“Like I said...I like to bake.”

“Will you bake me things all the time? I mean you should be selling this!” He rambled plucking the fork from her fingers to take another bite. “You might just have the cure to cancer in a pie, and no one knows about it.”

“Shawn, I assure you there is no cure for cancer in my pie. There may be connections to heart disease with all the butter, but no cancer.”

Bummer.

“That’s okay. I still support you in all your endeavors.” He assured her.

“Well thank you...As long as you as support me.”

They smiled at each other and all of the tension from the last couple of weeks wasn’t there anymore. He got to just be with her, and it felt absolutely amazing.

They drank wine on his couch and ate her ridiculously incredible pie while catching each other up on their lives. It was wild to think that they’d only spoken a couple of times, because he kind of felt like he could tell her anything. There wasn’t any judgement there. He never knew how good it could feel to just have someone to talk to.

“So this is like...the biggest promo tour you’ve ever done?” She asked.

They’d discarded the pie and had settled close enough to each that their thighs were touching. The wine and the candles he’d lit earlier had each of them feeling warm, and her thighs were poking out of that big t-shirt that he kind of wanted to knot his fingers in and pull her closer. But he didn’t. He liked the idea of just being with her without trying to hit on her, and something about that felt important to him. He liked her that much.

“It’s definitely the most intense. Andrew is working really hard on navigating my cross-over from ‘teen pop star’ to ‘genuine adult artist’. I think the music will speak for itself. He kind of agrees with me, but wants to put me in as many situations as possible to make that happen. It means performing a lot, which is when I’m happiest, so I’m okay with it.”

She did this thing sometimes where she would hum while she thought about something. He had half the mind to call Charlie Puth and ask what key she was humming in because it sounded absolutely beautiful to him.

“Do you get to come home often?”

He nodded watching the way her eyes dipped to her lap. His fingers itched around his wine glass to tug her chin up so he could see them again. It felt like her question might be more layered than either of them was ready to admit

“Yea. I come home as often as I can. I mean...there are definitely times where I’m gone for weeks at a time, and when tour comes around I’d be gone most of the year, but even if it’s only for a couple of days I try to fly home. Toronto feels like a safe space...It--It recharges me.”

It feels like barriers are being broken. Like they’d been standing on opposite sides of the room, but with every passing minute, they were stepping close to each other. And he wanted that, wanted to know her as deeply as she’d let him. He got the feeling that she wasn’t used to opening up, and he wanted nothing more than to change that.

“But uh… What about you?”

She reached for the bottle of wine on his coffee table, refilling both of their glasses for the fourth or fifth time.

“What about me?”

He rolled his eyes and used his head to nudge at her shoulder playfully. What happened instead was that his head just kind of stayed there.

“Well I know you like to bake...I know you like tequila. I know salt on your fries is a must. And I know that you hate the idea of accepting help. I wanna know more.”

She took a deep breath and he felt her shoulder lift as she exhaled. She smelled like cinnamon and lavender. It was intoxicating.

“It’s not that I hate the idea of accepting help,” She mumbled. “I just am used to doing things without it.”

“How come?”

“You ask a lot of questions you know that?”

He nodded. “I figure if I keep asking eventually you’ll answer one of em.”

“Funny. You’re funny.”

He took another sip of wine and maybe he nuzzled his face a little more into her shoulder.

“You don’t have to tell me anything you don’t want to. I’m just here to listen.”

It takes a long while. They sit in silence and drink another full glass. Somehow it’s not awkward between them. He actually feels rather content. He thought that maybe he could sit in silence with her forever, and it’d be okay. Just as long as he could sit beside her with her hair tickling his forehead.

When she speaks it takes him by surprise. Mostly because of the sound starting as a rumble in her chest and hitting pleasantly at his ear. She doesn’t start out deep at all. She just tells him about her family at first. She used to be super close with her mom, but their relationship is complicated apparently.. She has three older brothers, who she thinks made her as tough as she is. But there also wasn’t a lot of time for emotions with four kids and a single mother, so maybe that has something to do with her struggle to let people in. She had a cat growing up that died while she was away at college, and she hasn’t adopted an animal since. One of her favorite albums of all time is The Stranger by Billy Joel. She’s always wanted to visit Amsterdam since she read The Fault in our Stars in high school. Peanut M&Ms are her favorite candy.

He realizes somewhere between the story of her mother taking her to see a scary movie for the first time--and how she’d been braver than any of her brothers--and the story of the time she broke her arm against a bully’s face, that she’s kind of absolutely incredible. And he’s not sure why that makes him smile so much, but it does. And he can’t help it. And he’s not sure that he’d ever want to.

“What is so funny, sir?” She asked when he’d been smiling into her shoulder like a maniac for over ten minutes.

They’ve drunk so much wine that all of his inhibitions are gone, and all that’s left is the truth.

“Nothing’s funny. You’re just insanely wonderful is all.”

He can feel her roll her eyes and before he knows it his wine glass is being pulled from his fingers.

“I think that’s enough for you, bud. Time for bed.”

“What? Nooooo, I wanna hear more about your eighth grade emo phase!” He whined indignantly.

“Another time. I have a feeling if I keep getting you drunk like this, there are gonna be some very angry record execs looking for me.”

She got up off the couch and helped him into a standing position. He was maybe a little more wobbly than he’d like, but it wasn’t as if he was hammered off a little wine. Nonetheless he wrapped his arm around her shoulder and let her drag him towards the bedroom. Maybe because he just wanted to be close to her.

“No one would dare yell at you, ever, sweetheart. I’d fire them on the spot.”

She chuckled and squeezed appreciatively at his hip in a way that shot sparks across his skin.

“It’s nice to know someone’s looking out for me.”

They make it to his bedroom, which isn’t too different from the guest room they slept in last time. It’s just a little bigger, and so is the bed, and he’s got pictures of his family and friends on the dresser. Most of his awards stay in his old bedroom in Pickering, but his first artist of the year award for the MMVAs sits on his desk, because it was from Canada, from home, and it served as a reminder of everything he’d accomplished.

“You okay now?” She asked once he made his way safely into the bed.

He yawned reaching for her hand with his own.

“I’m fine. Come lie with me though.”

“Shawn, I should go back home.”

He sighed squeezing her fingers tightly in his own

“It’s fine, it’s fine. Just for a minute. Please?”

It takes a little tugging before she is lying beside him. He can’t help but hide his face in her hair again, the smell of lavender so calming in his nose. His arm snakes around her waist without ever talking to his brain first and through the haze he recognizes the important of checking in first.

“I--Is this okay? Please tell me if it’s not.”

He’s hold her gently with his hands and they’re not making eye contact, and he just needs to know that it’s not wrong. That she wants it too.

“It’s okay.” She murmured and laid her hand on the arm covering her waist to give it a gentle squeeze.

“Are you sure?”

“I promise. Thank you for asking.”

They fall asleep with their legs intertwined and their bodies pressed together. He sleeps better than he did the entire time he was away.

***

*Y/N’s point of view*

It just becomes a thing that you do all of a sudden. You’ll knock on his door, or he’ll knock on yours and you wind up sitting on his couch for hours. It’s like you’re...friends. Friends who fall asleep holding each other every now and again, or all of the time. He talked to you about music stuff, and it never felt gloaty or pompous. It was his world and he let you into it, because he said it made him feel good to talk to someone outside of it all for a change. Some days he spoke industry talk that went over your head a lot, but you listened anyway. Other days he spoke of melodies and songs and his passion for his work. And those were always your favorite because his eyes lit up and he stammered more and he just had the most perfect look in his eyes to you.

Besides the times when he’s talking to you about record labels and industry mishaps, you find yourself forgetting that he’s not just your neighbor. You get the feeling that he prefers it that way. Neither of you acknowledge what it is exactly that you’re doing. Is it friends? Is there a deeper attraction there? He didn’t seem to want to push you towards any particular decision, and quite honestly you were still having trouble wrapping your mind around everything that he was. But that didn’t stop him from pulling you into his bed at the end of the night and tucking your head under his chin. It didn’t stop him from holding your hand at random times, or insisting on you sharing a blanket despite the multiple ones available. It was a weird sort of limbo that you found yourself in.

It’s another night of hanging out, only this time in your apartment, when the scale tips a little more out of balance. You were sitting criss-cross applesauce beside each other eating takeout with chopsticks when he brought it up.

“So…” He hedged, around a mouthful of lo mein. “I wanted to ask you something.”

“Sure, what’s up?”

“I have to go away for a little while. I’m spending some time in New York. Couple of talk shows, a little recording, some meetings.”

You nodded. “Do you want me to like… water your plants or something?”

“Water my--No! No, why would I...No. I was actually wondering if you wanted to tag along.”

“Tag along? Like go with you...To New York?”

“Yea!” He said eyes bright and puppy like. “Look it’s not that weird. I have friends come visit me on the road all the time. You know how I told you I get lonely when I’m doing those long ass business meetings with all the old folks, it drives me crazy. Come with me.”

It feels weird. And not just because this thing between the two of you keeps festering but because you also haven’t really hung out outside of the confines of your apartment building. Leaving the country feels fast, it feels... like maybe it means something. You’re just not sure what.

“I don’t know Shawn... Can I think about it for a couple days?”

He nods, smile not dimming in the slightest.

“Of course. It’s uh--it’ll probably be next week. Andrew is getting flight information together now so I asked him to get an extra ticket just in case. There’ll be a spot for ya.”

“Okay. Yea, okay.”

You sit in silence for a while each of you munching on noodles. It’s not necessarily awkward, but it lacks the usual comfort that you two had had since the very beginning. Shawn proceeded to fidget with his food sending you random glances over his kung pao chicken. You didn’t know what to say, so you stayed quiet.

“Listen y/n did I--”

A knock on the door interrupts him, and quite frankly you’d never been so happy for unannounced company.

At the door is none other than your best friend, the light of your life, Stu, and suddenly you realized that you’d neglected to have the “my neighbor’s a rockstar” talk with him. So much for welcoming unannounced company.

“Stu!” You gasped. “What’cha doin’ here bud?”

He raised an eyebrow. “Bryan was getting on my nerves, and I needed to come vent. Since when are you so squeaky?”

“Squeaky? Who’s squeaky? I’m not squeaky!”

His eyes slanted closer into slits. He knew you better than anyone and that very rarely played to your advantage.

“Are you fucking someone in there?!”

Very. Rarely.

“Shhh! Would you keep your mouth down, no one is fucking anyone.” You hissed.

“Okay, okay. Sorry, jeez!”

You both took a second to take deep breaths and calm yourselves the fuck down. Shawn thought this might be the perfect time to intervene apparently.

“Is everything okay, sweetheart?”

Those fucking pet names of his would be the death of you.

“Ah ha!”

Your best friend cheered as if he had just cracked the fucking case, and promptly kicked your door open to reveal Shawn sitting on your couch in shorts,  black tube socks, and a headband on like he was either about to work out or do a face mask. What a shit show.

He paused, box of lo mein in hand, and a bite of food he was definitely stealing from your container still raised to his mouth.

“Uh...hi?”

“Excuse me?!” Stu exclaimed. “You’re telling me I’ve been at home worried you were falling into a downward spiral and your ass has been sitting up in here canoodling with Canadian treasure, Shawn Mendes?!”

“Canoodling?! We are not canoodling Stu!”

“Why are we yelling?!” Shawn asked.

You sighed. “We’re both pisces and over-dramatic, it’s kind of our thing.”

“Awww, I didn’t know you were a Pisces.”

Jesus.

“Oh this is normal.” Stu nodded sarcastically.

“I’m sorry. Hey man, I’m Shawn. You must be Stu, I’ve heard a lot about you”

Stu stared at Shawn like he had three heads before staring at you like had four of them. There must have been some unofficial best friend rule that said if one were to ever hang out with one of the biggest selling pop acts of the decade and not tell said best friend, you were kind of the worst.

He took a deep breath before rolling his eyes and moving past you to plop down on your couch.

“I’ve heard absolutely nothing about you, Shawn. Please do tell.”

You looked to your couch where the boy you sort of liked and your best friend were suddenly interacting. It felt as if your bubble had been popped. Like it wasn’t your own little secret with Shawn anymore. And you couldn’t help but wonder what New York would like, what it would be like if the whole world knew you were friends. This terrified you beyond belief.

Slowly, and not without difficulty, you make your way back to the couch where the two men are talking about the fact that Shawn lives next door. You picked up your noodles and tried not to freak out at the latest development. Shawn peered over at you as he was talking and seemed to notice that things weren’t a hundred percent okay.

So smoothly you barely noticed yourself, he rearranged himself on the couch ever so slightly so that his shoulder was pressed more soothingly against yours. It was something he’d only done a couple of times before, and it had only been when you were noticeably stressed. But you peered over at Stu and his eyes seemed to be zoned in on the lack of space between the two of you. And your mind imagined that on a grander scale, of hundred of thousands of people scrutinizing your every move, your every atom. It made your skin itch, and your chest feel a little tight. You shifted on the couch, leaning slightly farther away from Shawn so that you were sitting on individual cushions again.

Shawn looked at you, Stu simultaneously looking at the both of you, and you sort of wished you could melt into the couch. It was definitely the most awkward hour of your life, and you had someone manage to go through puberty.

***

By the time Stu leaves, it is after one in the morning, and your body and mind are thoroughly exhausted. The apartment is silent as Shawn and you work to clean up the mess from your dinner. You can feel him peering at you, but you try to ignore it, try to work through the awkwardness that has settled between the two of you. You feel more separated from him than ever and you can’t help but be surprised at how shitty of a feeling that is.

Shawn stood next to the sink as you loaded the dishwasher, leaning his long limbs against the counter. You have your head down by the plates when he brings it up.

“So I feel like I’ve done something wrong.” He murmured.

“You didn't. Everything’s fine.”

“Yea, see the problem is that I don’t believe you.”

You stood up reaching over him for another glass to slot into place never making eye contact.

“Well that’s not my problem. I told you nothing is wrong, just drop it.”

“Hey,” He muttered reaching for your arm gently to stop you. “Why are you angry with me? Talk to me.”

His thumb nips at your chin, titling your eyes upward so that you have no choice but to meet his. When the room is empty and no one else is around, it’s so easy to get lost in this. His thumb sends sparks across your skin, and you want to just nuzzle into his chest and go lie in your bed for a little while. And in moments like this, more than anything, you want to demand that you tell him what all of it means, because his hands on your hips don’t feel friendly ever.

“I can’t…”

“You can’t what? Tell me what’s going on inside your head right now.”

Your eyes flicker down to the tattoo on the back of his hand and you press your thumb against the ink as if it will give your more courage to speak. Maybe it does. Or maybe it’s just the comfort of his skin touching yours.

“I can’t go to New York with you. I--I can’t be seen standing next to you.”

You see the hurt flash in his eyes and your whole body completely rejects the notion that anything could ever be allowed to hurt him, that you yourself could ever be capable of such a thing.

“No. No--shit, Shawn I don’t mean it like that. I’m not embarrassed of you. I just...I don’t think I’m ready to have people stare at me like that. The way Stu was looking at us tonight? He’s never looked at me like that. I’m not ready for that kind of scrutiny.”

Shawn’s eyes dropped, a curl fighting its way from underneath his headband to fall into his eye. You reached hesitantly up to tuck it back into place only for Shawn to wrap his hand around your wrist and keep you there.

“So it’s not that you don’t want to be my friend anymore? Or that I fucked something up talking to Stu?”

“Of course not. You’re actually kind of perfect. I think if Stu wasn’t definitely endgame with Bryan he probably would’ve hit on you tonight.”

Shawn nodded letting your wrist go so that he could wrap his arms around your waist instead. You nestled your head against his chest and sighed a sigh of relief as the tension eased slowly out of the room. He held you close swaying your bodies gently back and forth. You could hear the rhythm of his heart and you worked to match your breathing to his. It calmed you immensely, and made everything else seem insignificant.

“Sorry for overwhelming you, honey.” He mumbled into your hair.

“It’s not your fault. It’s okay.”

“I’ll wait for you ya know? For as long as you need.”

It’s another weighted statement, that neither of you know what it means. Or, maybe you both know what it means and you’re just not willing to admit it yet. But, he lets you wrap your arms around his shoulders, and he lets you hide in his chest for a little while longer. And apparently he’ll wait for you for as long as you need. Even if neither of you quite understand what he’s waiting for. For now, this is enough you suppose.

[detroitbecomevenom]

Investigated (2)

Pair: Miles Morales and Reader (you)

Summary: Y/n’s newspaper has gotten her fame even outside of her little school. her articles on Spider-Man are usually well received, well until someone not exactly fond of the masked hero gets a hold of one of them. Now Spider-Man, who is actually the reporter’s boyfriend, Miles Morales, must find a way to save her before it’s too late.

[This is a short series that I’ve written. The first part can be found through my masterlist. I can’t link anything because of the whole shadowbanning linked posts thing on this website lol.]

Y/n opened her eyes and lifted her head up, finally in control of her own vision. For a moment she had forgotten what had happened, then the memories rushed back as she found that she was stuck to a chair with tape over her mouth. This was the cliche situation that she only thought happened in fanfiction written by uneducated teenagers, but this was real.

There was a desk in front of her with nobody actually sitting at it, but she assumed that it belonged to whoever took her. The room seemed to be empty with the exception of herself so it could be possible that she could attempt an escape. She struggled with moving any part of her body other than her head, but that unfortunately made more noise than she had initially expected.

The door behind her opened and the person walked around her, sitting on the desk. Y/ns eyes widened with the sight of him: Wilson Fisk. He smiled, watching her panic in her chair. “Hello, sweetheart. Sorry about the big scene, but if you tell me what I need to know, you’ll be back home safe and sound as soon as you know it.” Y/n felt her heart drop into her stomach, what was she supposed to know?

Y/n raised her brows and peered down to tell him that she couldn’t really speak with the tape, without actually saying anything. He got the idea, peeling the tape off and sitting back on the desk. “What do you need to know?” she tried taking the path that kept herself safe, although she didn’t really have any big secrets that a crime lord would need to know.

Her cooperation brought a smile to his face. He pulled out a picture and unfolded it, showing her. “Who is this?” he asked, keeping the paper as still as he could for her. It showed Spider-Man in action. She was confused, “The person under the mask.” he clarified.

Anxiety built up quickly in Y/n’s heart, just like it would when she takes a test that she didn’t study for. This could possibly be a life or death thing here, yet she had no idea how to win the life option. She took a deep breath, knowing her answer wouldn’t make things better, “I don’t know.” she shut her eyes, waiting for his reaction.

“That’s what I figured you’d say,” he gloated, watching her carefully open her eyes. He searched around the desk and picks up a pair of scissors, standing up and walking towards her. Y/n felt herself tense up, her own body trying to figure out what he was going to do with the sharp object he now wielded. She shook while he combed through her hair with his own hand, stopping at around her shoulders and cutting the section off. “Now, I’m gonna keep cutting until you think it’s time, to tell the truth.” He took another section, the sound of the blading closing in made tears form in her eyes.

He cut again, “I am telling the truth, I don’t know who he is,” she pleaded, hearing the sound once again, knowing that this wouldn’t last long and the next thing could be much worse. “I’ve only met him once and it was a long time ago,” she added.

The last cut was made and Y/n looked on the ground to see her previously long hair all over the dirty floor. She felt like she was on an episode of Law and Order, but this time she wasn’t sure if the cops were going to save her. A tear dropped onto her shirt, breaking for the first time after she had told herself to be strong. “That’s the thing, though.” he knelt down in front of her, “I still don’t believe you.” He caught a tear from her cheek and wiped it on her shirt. “I’m going to come back later and if you decide that you’re gonna stop telling stories, then nothing else will happen to you. If you think you’re going to try and be a hero, I will warn you now that you’ll only be dreaming of safety.” Fisk locked the door behind him, leaving Y/n in a completely dark room to cry.

~~~

“Right now marks twenty-four hours ever since the incident that happened in Brooklyn, New York. The mayor has stated publicly that he is safe as well as recovering from the shooting and everything is being done to find Y/n L/n as soon as possible.” the news reporter read off of teleprompter with a straight face, making sure that he didn’t say anything wrong. “Latest reports from the PDNY say that the shooter has been identified and is a known affiliate with the crime lord and recent prison escapee Wilson Fisk. Now, we don’t know why someone so big in the crime ring would want a high school student that simply tries to help her own community, but we can only guess for now. What do you think?” he turned to the man next to him with the same look as him.

“The most popular thing that I’ve seen from online theorizers was that Y/n was a symbol of peace and Fisk is making a statement. Whatever the reason, however, we still have a heavy heart for this girl. We have no idea what she may be going through, let alone her friends and family.”

~~~

Y/n felt as if she couldn’t remember a time where she wasn’t stuck in a dark room fearing for her life. She somehow fell asleep after many hours of staring at everything on the desk in front of her, studying it. Her senses elevated when she heard the door opening, yet there was a new guy that entered. He carried a plate with a waffle and bottled water, “Boss doesn’t want you dead, so here.” he placed the plate on her lap and stepped back.

She raised her brows at him, glancing to her restrained arms and the plate. Was this guy really that dense? Don’t get her wrong, the last thing she wanted was to be demeaningly hand-fed by a stranger, but the situation called for it unless he actually wanted to release a hand. At this point, she would rather have been tortured than having food shoved down her throat.

The whole process was almost dehumanizing and Y/n quietly praised when he had left, although having food was a relief as well. Now she had to wait again, which seemed like the real torture as she started to lose her own mind in the silence and darkness. Sometimes she would hear the door opening, but then realizing that the sound was merely in her head. She thought about Miles, how worried he might’ve been. She had no idea exactly how long she was gone so he could’ve been forced to go to school without her. She thought about Spider-Man, whoever he really was, and if he was trying to find her.

This process went on for days, each time Fisk would come in looking for answers that Y/n didn’t have. Each day got worse, from getting cut and being forced to take LSD to just straight up getting beaten. Today was strangely simple, with him dumping ice cold water over her, then proceeding to ask the million dollar question.

“Are you ready to cooperate today?” If Y/n ever said that she wasn’t almost petrified with fear at that exact moment in time, that would be the biggest lie she would have ever told. She looked up to the man with the straightest expression she could, although the uncertainty of what was about to happen to her now was eating away at her soul.

“I told you, I have no idea who he is,” she raised her voice, instantly regretting it. For a smart girl, she was a real dumbass in situations like this that could literally get her killed. Fisk smirked, shaking his head.

“I offer you freedom for one name, yet you still turn me down. It’s a shame, you had so much potential,” he walked back towards the door, only to let another man in. This new guy had a professional camera and a computer attached to it. He turned Y/n’s chair to face the camera and adjusted it as if he’d done it several times before.

“You know what to do, sir.” the man was typing away on his computer, which Y/n assumed had something to do with the camera’s function. She felt duct tape being slapped against her mouth, something that she hadn’t felt since the first day she was here. She looked at herself on the screen that showed the camera’s view and it felt like the person staring back wasn’t her at all. Her hair was short and eyes bloodshot from lack of proper sleep, this wasn’t her.

Fisk stood in between Y/n and the camera, probably for a dramatic reveal. The record light turned on red and he began talking. “Good morning Brooklyn. Hold your applause, as I can’t really hear you. This message is most likely not for you, but you can help spread it.” he spoke in a way that you would only hear while taking one of those standardized tests on the computer. “With that being said, Spider-Man needs to show up at the address shown on the screen by tonight or there will be consequences.”

He stepped to the side slowly for a dramatic reveal of Y/n, who stared longingly into the lens. She was cold, wet, and exhausted, almost the exact opposite of who she thought she had been on the daily. She felt his hand touch the top of her head. “Your little friend is waiting, so why not stroll on by alone. No cops or all they’ll see is a dead body,” he cocked a gun and held it to the side of her head. She shut her eyes tightly, knowing that he wouldn’t really shoot her even though the threat was still very valid. “Cut it,” he told the guy behind the camera and Y/n watched as the red light went out.

Y/n was conflicted. She didn’t want to be the reason that Spider-Man was killed, but she also wanted to stay alive for at least a little longer. She wanted to see Miles again and feel his lips against hers. If the beloved hero dies just so she could have a nice life, would she even be able to tolerate that big of a weight?

Fisk had left her and the camera guy alone in the room. He was in the process of putting his equipment away when they locked eyes. “You’re a pretty little one, aren’t you?” he teased, zipping the camera case shut. “It’s too bad you’ll be killed soon.” With that, he shut the door.

It had been a few hours since the recording and she watched the door open again, this time with Fisk and a few guys. “It’s moving day, sweetheart,” he chimed as the guys started to free her hands and legs from the chair that she hadn’t moved from in such a long time. When they finally stood her up, her own legs gave out on her, making her fall into the man next to her.

Her own exhausted led to cooperation, which made her willingly get in a suspicious van without resistance. All she wanted to do was sleep, or maybe take a shower, but mostly sleep. The vehicle stopped and Y/n was once again pulled out to the middle of some warehouse, waiting for who she assumed to be Spider-Man.

[runswithwolvesx]

“ i remember our first kiss. ”

kissy sentence starters || no longer accepting!

Her statement captured Stiles’ attention rather instantly, amber eyes flicking up from the television to the blonde who now stood before him. Stiles had invited Caroline over for a movie marathon and the buttery scent of freshly popped popcorn had followed her to the sofa, the bowl in her hand the only thing he could focus on for a moment. Why was Caroline bringing this up? They had talked about it before, once. The blonde had admitted she didn’t feel the same, didn’t return the romantic feelings Stiles clearly felt within his core for her. At the end of the day, Stiles had decided their friendship was far too important to be compromised. “Do you want to talk about it?” He wondered, eyes then fluttering from the white bowl to her face, and the expression she wore spoke volumes to Stiles.

There was a vivid frown there, and he watched, as if things were in slow motion, as Caroline plopped the bowl onto the coffee table and took a seat right next to him on the sofa. The last thing Stiles wanted was Caroline to feel uncomfortable. “We don’t have to, you know? I’m okay with just being friends.” He answered, quite honestly, a truthfulness ringing in his voice. The woman was quick to shrug, hasty to shake her head and start to speak. However, her inner struggle must have been heavy because it was clear as day on her face, in her cerulean orbs. Stiles just allowed her to rant, allowed Caroline to express how she felt, how she didn’t want anything between them to be different. Again, Stiles was facing rejection, but he sucked it up, knew that it was possibly for the better.

“Hey,” Stiles’ voice fell gingerly, a hand finding her shoulder in an affectionate manner. He tended to be very touchy around the blonde, always instinctively reaching for her when necessary. “It’s okay. I’m fine, Caroline.” That was a blatant lie. Because whenever he thought about it, his heart ached, yearned for something, for someone he couldn’t have. And then other thoughts would plague his mind. What if she eventually fell in love with someone? What if he had to watch her find happiness with another man? Could he have even stomached that? Could he still remain her friend if that were a reality? Still, his amber orbs remained on her beryl eyes, trying to convey that he understood her completely.

Suddenly, he was feeling the heaviness of his heart and Stiles knew he couldn’t possibly sit through a movie marathon with all the ache weighing on him. “Maybe we should do this another night.” The suggestion fell as his shoulders deflated, his chest falling with his exhale. Removing his hand from her frame, he watched Caroline nod in agreement, rise from the sofa and head towards the exit. Stiles rose himself, surrendering to his feelings as he began to slink away towards his bedroom. All he wanted to do at this point was shut his eyes, turn his mind off, fall asleep and hope he’d awake with less of a yearning, less of a nagging voice in the back of his mind reminding him that he wasn’t ever going to be the guy Caroline deserved in her life. Oh, how he wished she’d returned the feelings, that she felt them. But, he couldn’t change that and as soon as he came to terms with it, the better they were both off for it.

The clicking of the front door opening hit his ears, and Stiles placed a flat palm on the frame of his bedroom door, hazy eyes closing tightly, lips pressed together thinly in sadness. He needed the support the frame provided because even his legs felt weak, his head spinning with reasons as to why they belonged together, why they deserved a shot at something more. However, there was also a very real part of Stiles that worried if they acted on it, if something came of it and things didn’t work out in the end, he could lose Caroline for good. Maybe it was better this way, maybe it was supposed to be this way. Hadn’t she once told him that friends shouldn’t kiss each other? Guilt invaded his veins at the memory, at the look on her face when she’d said it. 

And that’s when Stiles waited, patiently standing there and breathing in and out at a steady pace, just allowing her to leave, for the door to shut at any second. Footsteps never sounded and the familiar door creak never came. Even though his eyes remained snapped shut, Stiles’ brows knitted together, brow crinkling with discomfort. Why wasn’t she leaving? Hadn’t they agreed to watch movies another night? When both of them weren’t dealing with the tension between themselves? Fingertips rapped against the wood, beating erratically, his ears honing in on the drumming sound. He tried his best to focus on it but the fact that her footsteps never sounded, that the door never shut told him to turn around. Every fiber of his body screamed to spin, to check. Hell, Caroline could’ve used her enhanced speed and he wouldn’t have heard a damn thing.

Finally, his curiosity got the better of him and though he hesitated, Stiles spun on his heel, prying his eyes open. That’s when he saw her, a piercing stare meeting his heavy orbs. Eyelids were somewhat droopy, his face twisted with agony. But the strange thing? Caroline’s expression mirrored everything Stiles felt and it shook his bones, urging him to move, to console the woman he’d fallen so deeply in love with. Battling with his inner thoughts, Mieczyslaw needed to make a decision: keep silent and let it devour him alive or make one last attempt at conveying to Caroline how much he loved her, how he’d move mountains for her. The television playing softly was all that hit his ears now, neither of the pair speaking a word but simply peering at each other across the vast distance.

Kicking himself into gear, his legs began to move on their own accord and Stiles can see Caroline’s expression twist, her head tilt to the side gently though her eyes never strayed from his own. Each inch closer to her, his heart quickened, beating so frantically, he felt it may implode. Every move he made was intentional, slow yet unfaltering and Caroline didn’t budge, didn’t even try to move or stop him from shuffling across the room. There’s a thick air now encompassing the pair as the space between them became smaller and smaller, until eventually, Stiles was standing right in front of her, as he had so many times over the years.

Thick brows elevate on Stiles’ face, a vibrant warmth now cascading across his features as he just gazed at Caroline with nothing but adoration. He can decipher the worry on her face, yet her eyes shone with a need, a desire blazing so brightly, even Stiles didn’t know quite what to do with it. All he knew was that he couldn’t leave things like this between them. He didn’t want to compromise the safety net of their friendship but he also was all too aware of what he wanted, what he craved for. A solitary tear dripped off her eyes then and Stiles moved a hand towards her face, his thumb brushing it away, sliding against her skin in a way he’s never touched her before. Electrifying as the sensation was running up his arm, he knew they both needed some sort of answer and he didn’t speak, didn’t say a single word, allowing himself to finally lean in towards her face.

Nothing about this was similar to their first kiss. The worry of confessing his feelings to her had been long gone. Stiles’ eyes are attentive to Caroline’s, watching for any sign that the vampire wanted him to stop, to freeze in his movements. There’s no detection of dismissal on her face, no ounce of movement in her beryl orbs that told him otherwise. Noses finally bump, and Stiles swore he heard a breathy sigh escape the vampire then, his heart thumping even wilder than it had before, if that were at all possible. Ghosting his lips over hers, Mieczyslaw allowed them both to breathe each other in for a long moment, still giving Caroline ample opportunity to reject him once more. Again, she didn’t budge, she didn’t give him any sign that she was afraid of this, that she was ready to run far away. 

The lingering between them felt surreal, allowing him to drift off to a place of peace, of serenity. Stiles knew he needed to finish what he meant to do, yet hesitation swallowed him until he finally gathered enough courage to allow his lips to timidly brush Caroline’s. The brunette’s lips remained puckered a fraction but as he was ready to pull away, he felt the weight of one of her hands claim his arm. Suddenly, Caroline’s fingertips travel up the length of his bare arm, eliciting goosebumps, causing a shiver to slide down his spine. Before Stiles could process it, her arms loop around his neck and peach lips meld into Caroline’s more passionately, more longingly. Delight pumped through his blood, enjoyment and happiness all taking full hold of Stiles now. Bringing a hand to her face, he cupped one of her cheeks, fingertips traveling against her silky skin, gliding effortlessly while they only parted from the kiss for seconds so he could inhale deeply. Their lips meet time and time again, his tongue sliding under her upper lip, coaxing the vampire into a deeper kiss.

@carebearxsunshine