#“wouldn’t they try to save their siblings instead of just random civilians?” < the fact that hes on some level right about this. im so Mad

[villainsidestep]

(chanting) heartbreak!fawn !! heartbreak!fawn !!

oh survivor!fawn we are really in it now

[just-an-enby-lemon]

*Random ATLA AU Idea*

1. Aang wanted to run.

The Elders wanted to send him away, to take Gyatso away. His mentor (the closest he had to a father, the only friend - except Appa - he still had, the only childhood left) would listen, would have to and when the morning comes (soon, too soon, so soon) he would abandon Aang just like everyone else. And Aang would be alone soalonenoonelefteveryonegonenotachildjustAvataralonealonealone.

So he wanted to run, to abandon Gyatsu first. Thinking somehow it would hurt less (it wouldn't or how it wouldn't).

0nly he did not.

Not in this world.

And it changed everything and nothing at all.

Instead he walked, walked though the nigth, walked to the familiar door, walked too his master room and cried. "I don't want to go".

Gyatso didn't ask how Aang knew about the Elders orders, didn't tell the kid that it was for the best. No, he huged his meente (his son, his friend, his baby, how could no one else see that this was just a child? Not the master of elements, not yet, just a kid) and said "You won't." It was a vow, a promise he had no idea how to keep. But he would.

They talked though the nigth. And when the morning came somehow Gyatso was able to convice the Elders to give Aang one more year. "Them he will be thirteen, mature enougth to truly understand his call".

But destiny is destiny and Aang's was a hundred years too soon.

So before the end of the year the Fire Nation attacked. And this time Aang didn't want to run, he wanted to figth and to protect. But he was the only hope and he was a kid and he was scared and Gyatso screamed "RUN" and he did.

He would regret running just as he would (he did) in a world where he runned that nigth almost a year ago.

And he and Appa somehow fled. Maybe it was destiny or the Avatar State or just dumb luck (or missfortune). And just as it should be they falled. And the water around them froze.

And so did they.

For a hundred years.

Until two siblings from the water tribe found an iceberg.

...

2. "I'm the last waterbender."

Katara froze. In all universes, in all possible words, Katara always froze on that moment. She wanted to figth, to tell the soldier her mom was lying, to do anything. But she always froze.

And her mother always died.

So she runned.

Too little, too late, but she did.

Runned, trying to get away from the body of her mom, trying to escape the ashes.

With a broken toy sword, and I useless toy boomerang, Sokka saw the ashes, and he wanted to figth. He always would want to figth. He was a protector and his people were dying. But he was a kid and in no reality he would ever be able to win.

And in ever reality Hakoda would send his kid alway, not too much, but enougth, away from the figth, away from his mother corpse and the burnt smell.

So Sokka runned. He followed his sister to the snow. They runned non-stop trying to fend the memories away, but they were never able to.

They runned so far that Hakoda only found his kids two days after the invasion, half-frozen, scared and starved but alive ohalivetheywerealivehedidn'tlosttheytoo.

Running didn't change much for them. Katara would still mature too early and Sokka would still be a warrior and everything would be almost exactaly the same.

And they would still meet a misterius kid in an iceberg and go save the world with him even if it was hard.

They running had nothing to do with the fact that it was Zhao chasing them instead of a certain prince.

...

3. Lu Ten was nine and he was running in a metaphorical sense. His father would be Fire Lord one day and soo would he. He needed to hurry.

So he talked his grandfather into letting him go to a war meeting. He did not understand war or death but Iroh did and he was terrifield of seem his son in a war room. His father didn't care, he discussed civilian sacrifice in front of his grandson and didn't noticed Lu Ten terrified face or heared any of the kids pleas, Ozai found it funny, making japes of what he called his "nephew weakness", Iroh quickly found a way to win without this move and convinced his father of it with everything he had.

For the rest of the day his child told everyone of how his dad was smart and a hero and the best. And Iroh almost forgot, almost belived his son had not lost a once of his inocence in the whole ordeal.

But on the night, where the darkest thoughts came, Lu Ten asked about death and sacrifices and if they were doing the rigth thing. Iroh said they were. But sudently he didn't belive it.

Lu Ten runned on the sense where he wanted to know too much too fast. And as the year passed, as his son turned ten, an his nephew turned two and his niece came to this world, Iroh realized he needed to make a better world for them. He could not keep this war, this conquer, he could not keep doing the wrong thing.

So he found a group of people and he joined them. He sabotaged his own country, his own family for the White Lotus, for his children. He would make a better world for them.

History would tell about how The Great General Iroh had gonne mad in his son sixteth birthday. How in a fit of madness he attacked his brother, how he killed his own child and not much after his nephew and niece. And them realizing what he done himself. How Ursa disappered soon after. The poor Fire Lady lost in grief.

The truth layed in a confy and somewhat famous small tea shop on the Earth Kigdom. On the old man who runned it and on his three kids. It layed on Prince's Zuko's (or Lee) nigthmares and his soft smiles and lack of scar. It layed on Lu Ten's (it was a fairly Earth Kigndom name and no one discussed how a painter could be the one in the group who lacked creativity for a fake name) hard training and darkened looks (exclusive to fire nation soldiers and wasn't ironic that he almost became one of them) and in his art and his laugther and his LIFE. It layed on Azula's (and honestly the fact she had insisted on ZuLa as here fake name was completly insane and soo stupid but they just stopped trying convice he otherwise) maniacal smile and uncontrolabe rage fits (diferent of Lu Ten's hers didn't had a specific target, but at least were mostly resulted in burned trees and rocks) and on her friends and her few, small apologies and her compassion (it didn't came easy for her empathy, but she tried, she truly did and sometimes she was cold and cruel, but still was enought). It layed on Iroh's (Mushi) conteplative (sad) stares (on his regret of not being able to take Ursa with them), on the strange people with a white lotus emblem that sometimes appeared on the tea shop (sometimes needing healing, sometimes delivering mensages, most planing), on his tea and his stories and on his hope.

And when the news of the Avatar traveling with two water tribe kids came to them. It layed on the decision of finding them before Ozai. Helping them. Making the hope grow.

...

4. Toph was a runner.

This never changed. She still runned away from her parents overprotectivines again and again. She still runned into the badgermoles and became the best earthbender on history. She still runned into competicions and still became the Blind Bandit. She still runned into Twinkle Toes and his gaang and his adventures (and became his earthbend teacher of course). The only diference was that there were even more places to run into, and so Toph runned into a dumb good humored painter (a soldier in other life, a corpse), into cozy Tea Shop, into a nice old man who was more a father to her than hers ever would, into a akward turtleduck of a teenager and into a angry cool fiery girl (who she never had a crush on, shut up, Sokka).

She runned into the Avatar family and into the Tea Shop one and somehow this was enougth to unite them. To make them just one family. Hers.

[headcans-oneshots-and-stuff]

Smiler

Warning: Flufffffffffffff Word count: 2,1k   Summary: Damian Wayne doesn’t smile. Ever. So when he suddenly starts to do so after reading text messages and receiving calls from an outsider his siblings get suspicious. Shenanigans ensue. Pairing: Damian Wayne x reader

Requested by the lovely-dove(l)y(?) Anon again: My second request is Damian is getting random phone calls during the day where he just smiles and walks away to answer it ( it’s the reader on the phone) and everyone is really confused so when he sneaks out they follow him and meet her

A/N: Again SKSKSKSKSK So much fluffffffffffff (a bit less than the other one, but still, I think it’s fluffy), also I decided to end this with the same sentence as the otehrs one because of the similarities and because it just kinda fits I think. 

Damian Wayne was never a smiler. Certainly not before he came to the manor nor after. If he ever smiled it was either through Schadenfreude or it was plainly fake. Everybody knew that: his father, his siblings, the media, his teachers, just everybody. Seeing Damian smile was like an evil omen, and you felt the urge to get your ducks in a row, just in case he’d kill you in a few minutes, mainly if his smile is directed at you. It was like having a lion look at you and fletch its teeth. So imagine how Dick felt when he had Damian smile while they were having a fight. One second he’s screaming at him about what in Imbecile he is, the next second he looks down at his phone laying on the coffee table and smiles. And not one of his evil smirks that you get when he knows you’ll get hurt or embarrassed in some way soon, or one of those fake smiles Bruce had got him to give the high and mighty at Galas, No. It was a real, genuine smile. One he had never seen before. “Damian?” he couldn’t help but try to get his attention back but found himself regretting it when instead of explaining or sharing what made him smile, he immediately went back to insulting him. The next time that happened was shortly after one night of patrol with Damian, Tim and Bruce. The latter sent the two boys home and to bed and decided he’d stay out a bit longer on his own and contact Jason if he needed help. And when the two of them came back into the cave, Tim spectated something completely stunning. While he decided to stay in the suit and sat down at the batcomputer to keep on working, Damian informed him that he’d go shower. But before he disappeared into his father’s office and consequentially into the manor, he walked over to a locker-like shelf in one of the corners near the batcomputer where they sometimes stored their phones and wallets during the patrol. He let the construct scan his hand, alerting Tim to look into the direction with the ‘blob’ sound it made when it opened. And then he saw it. A smile, a real genuine smile like the one Dick had experienced only a day earlier. Tim wasn’t able to see what he was looking it, only knowing that he had only stored his phone in the locker, but he knew it must have been something incredible if it could make Damian smile as simple as that. For a moment, Tim considered asking, considered finding out what in the world could make this happen, but before he could do anything, Damian - and his phone - had disappeared up the stairs.

After that, it started happening more and more often. It wasn’t limited to small glances at Damian’s phone and then a smile, no, now it was him staring and typing (obviously texting with someone) for minutes at a time, keeping smiling or letting small smiles out every now and then and, which stunned them the most, the moments when his phone vibrated and he smiled before leaving the room to answer it. The fact that he smiled? Almost impossible. The fact that he actually took the call? A straight-out miracle. Damian almost never answered his phone, be it over text or call, unless it was his father, Alfred or if he knew it was important and was spammed enough by whoever wanted him to answer. Now, in theory, it might have been, in fact, Bruce who was calling him - even though that wouldn’t explain the smiles - but a key piece of evidence that disputed that was the fact that more than once Bruce was inside the room when it happened. So that eliminated him as a subject. Alfred was out of the question for obvious reasons and Damian’s siblings weren’t even on the list. So who could it actually be? It had to be an outsider, right? “Maybe it’s Jon? Or Billy?” Tim suggested as he sat on the Batcomputer and talked to his siblings who were on patrol. Damian had been grounded for the day earlier because he almost punched a lady in the grocery shop and Bruce was with the league. “Nah, I don’t think so,” Steph replied over the sound of punches being thrown and a man groaning until there was a ‘thump’ and it was silent again. “Yeah, me neither,” Dick agreed, “I mean he’d sell Billy for a single cent and even if he confesses that he’s actually friends with Jon, he wouldn’t smile at or because of him to save his life.” “Right, well that’s all I had,” Tim shrugged and typed away on the keyboard while half-mindedly listening to his siblings discusses the matter over the coms. He was about to stand up, and make himself a cup of coffee when something in the corner of his eyes caught his attention. “Guys,” he smirked and sent them all a screenshot of one of his surveillance monitors, “You are not gonna believe that.”

“I’ve got my eyes on the prize,” Jason whispered happily while sitting on his parked bike, dressed in his civilian clothes, and spectating a very suspicious Damian walking through the streets of Gotham City in a black hoodie and black pants as if he tried to impersonate any wannabe robber in a Hollywood movie, the hood drawn over his face. “Anything suspicious yet,” Steph asked, he tone still slightly annoyed with the fact that she wasn’t the one to follow Damian because she was on patrol and had to leave it to Jason and Cas. “For Damian? Not really, nothing unusual yet. Isn’t the first time he sneaked out and it sure as hell won’t be the last time.” Jason watched as his little brother looked around as if he was being followed - which admittedly he was - but Jason and Cas, who was taking the roof-route, even though she too was in her civilian clothes, were careful enough not to let him catch them. “You see that?” Cas asked him and the two of them watched as Damian got his phone out, smiled a little, stuffed it back into his hoodie pocket and entered a small café, not the kind of place that Damian would usually go into. “Now that is… interesting,” Jason muttered to no one in particular and quickly gave Cas a nod who came jumping down from the fire escape of the building a few feet away from him. He got off of his vehicle and put on some shades and a baseball cap to keep himself somewhat incognito, before crossing the streets and entering the establishment himself, making sure to keep out of Damian’s sight and slipping into a booth in the corner from where he could see his brother’s back turned to him. A few minutes passed before anything happened- except for Cas who slipped into the seat opposite him in silence, and they started to wonder what Damian was doing there. It looked like he was waiting for something to happen, or rather someone if you took the untouched steaming cup in front of him into account, but he didn’t seem impatient or annoyed or any of the other things he usually was with even the smallest things. They couldn’t see his expression or his face, but he once again pulled out his phone when he received a call and even with only his backside in view both Jason and Cas could make out the bright expression that painted his face. He turned around in his seat and Jason laid his chin into his hand, elbow on the table, to hide as much of his face as possible, and Cas turned as far as possible without looking unsuspicious. Because of this Cas missed what Jason was able to see. She missed the girl that stepped into the cafe with her phone against her ear. She was around Damian’s age and wrapped into a trenchcoat along with a scarf that looked just a little bit too much like the one Damian had bought a few weeks earlier on a fair Dick had dragged him to. Back then he hadn’t explained himself, only scoffing at his siblings’ comments about it and they all just made up their own theories. that it maybe was a gift for Steph’s upcoming birthday, or that it was maybe supposed to be something to strangle someone with. The girl looked around the café and her already shining eyes got even more bright when they landed on Mister grumpy who had stood up at this point. she lowered the phone and almost jumped over to where Damian was standing, falling into his open arms, giggling quietly. “What the-” Jason muttered, prompting his sister to follow his gaze only to almost freeze on the spot when catching the sight. The girl and Damian managed to tear away from each other’s arms and slip into the booth that Damian had occupied earlier. She took a sip of the drink Damian had ordered for her and seemed to thank her from what Jason could read from her lips. He couldn’t read Damian’s lips with his brothers back turned to him, but whatever he said made the girl blush immensely and shyly turn her head away, causing a strand of her y/h/c hair to fall into her face. Cas and Jason couldn’t stop staring at the two of them, the whole scene so surreal. It was Damian Wayne they were seeing there, the ‘Don’t touch me I’ll bite off your fingers one after another’ Damian Wayne. And he had hugged this girl like his life depended on it and now, this was maybe the weirdest thing yet, he reached over the table to brush the hair out of the girls face, but instead of pulling the hand back again, he cupped her cheek and she practically melted into his touch. “Jason, don’t-” Cas tried to hold Jay back when he stood up and started to make his way over to the other booth, but he didn’t let himself be stopped so the only thing Cassandra could do was to go along with it. The girl who sat facing their direction caught sight of them first and seemed - understandably so - confused when the extremely tall man with the shades and baseball cap and the girl that she could swear looked familiar walked right over to them and stepped beside their table. That was when Damian noticed her distracted eyes and followed them only to let that look of being caught flash over his face before he quickly hid it under a facade of annoyance. He pulled his hand away from the girl’s cheek, but left it in front of her on the table, ready to grab her hand at any given moment. “What are you doing here, Todd?” he asked, clearly not fooled by his disguise, before turning to his sister, “And you Cain? I expected this from an imbecile like him, but I had higher expectations in you.” “Damian who are-” the girl tried to ask, but was interrupted by Jason. “You’re one to talk Brat, I very clearly remember the old man grounding you so guess how surprised I was to see you here.” “Wait, Dami you’re groun-” “This is none of your business Todd, leave us alone,” Damian scoffed and balled the hand that wasn’t near the girls into a fist. “Hmm,” Jason acted like he was thinking about it, but it was clear for everyone involved that it was nothing but an act, “Nah, I don’t think so.” Much to the dismay of a by now very, very annoyed Damian he pushed him further into the booth to the windows and let himself fall onto the couch-like seat beside him, now directing his attention to Damian’s friend. Cas send the girl a sorry smile before slipping into the seat beside her. “Todd? What are you do-” Damian wanted to ask, but Jason shushed him. “You don’t want Bruce to find out you sneaked out?” he asked and was validated by the silence that followed from his little brother, “Well then, I guess this is gonna be an interesting evening then, mind introducing me to your-” he seemed to search for the appropriate word, “-Companion?” The girl was utterly confused by now and switched looking over the faces of the people surrounding her only to land on Damian’s when he took ahold of her hand and pushed it like he was trying to silently apologize. “This is Y/N, she’s my girlfriend. Y/n, this idiot is Jason Todd, unfortunately, my older brother, and Cassandra, my sister,” he introduced and the eyes of everyone involved widened. “You have a lot to explaining to do young man…”

[olivia-anderson-fanfic]

Can you write Jason’s POV of when Marinette gets shot?

Spoilers for Chapter 21 of Satisfied

He tried the door and cursed quietly when he came to realize that it was locked.

Even when he had been on the streets, he’d never learned to pick house locks. It had always been the line he wouldn’t cross. If he started breaking and entering, then what wouldn’t he do?

Fine, he thought.

He took a running start and threw himself at the window. But, instead of being nice and breaking like it was supposed to, it held still. Jason fell to the ground in a crumpled heap and stayed there, glaring at the window as he tried to think of what to do…

Well, he had no clue. Time to ask for ideas.

He pressed a hand to his ear.

“Gothamites are the fucking worst...”

~

About twenty minutes later he heard a familiar laugh.

He glanced up to see Ladybug standing over him, hands on her hips.

“Hey.”

“Yo,” he said.

He pushed himself to his feet and they walked to the door together.

As promised, she picked the lock in no time flat. He probably would have been more concerned about it if he wasn’t already so concerned with the scuffling sound he’d heard from inside.

Ladybug didn’t seem to notice it, her face still set in a wide grin as she bowed deeply. “After you.”

He forced a grin and pulled a gun from its holster. She sobered almost instantly, taking out her pistol.

They raised their guns and slipped through the house. At one point they found a family tied up in the living room. He looked at Ladybug. She was more approachable, she’d be better with the clearly panicking people.

She must have known this, too, because she brought a comforting smile to her face and untied them. Her voice was gentle as she spoke, like she was scared that if she was too loud they would break: “You should all get out of here.”

Despite her efforts, the mother didn’t seem at all consoled. She gripped Ladybug’s arm tightly. “My wife is still here! You have to help her!”

“Of course. We’ll do our best. You need to get your kids outside, ma’am.”

The woman looked reluctant, but then her eyes found her kids and she took them both by the hands and led them out.

Marinette waved until the door shut behind them, then her smile slipped off her face.

He gave her a raised eyebrow, a ‘you ready?’, and they raised their guns in unison.

They opened the doors as a pair, guns at the ready. They’d force them open quickly and lean in, eyes searching for any sign of movement, and then continue on. Eventually, though, they were running out of doors, and they came upon the last one: the one that led to the basement.

They bore identically grim expressions as she pushed the door open.

Light filtered down the old, rickety stairs enough for them to gauge how big the drops between each step were, but it wasn’t nearly enough to see the rest of the basement. He tightened his grip on his gun. Should they wait until their eyes adjusted to the lack of light before fully entering the --?

Fuck. Ladybug was already walking down.

He hurried after her. Their fingernails scraped against the old stone walls as they searched for a lightswitch.

They’d only gotten a few steps before a gunshot rang out, splintering the railing between the two of them.

The vigilantes whipped around, guns pointed into the darkness at random. Their eyes strained to see even the outline of the perpetrator.

Wait, that wasn’t just one person.

The man was using the homeowner as a shield.

“Drop your weapons!” Screamed the criminal, his voice high.

He was scared, then. This would have been great for them if he wasn’t currently holding someone hostage or pointing a gun at them.

Jason flipped the safety on and Ladybug followed suit. They both knew that they couldn’t get a shot off on the guy without risking the civilian’s life. They dropped their pretty much useless weapons over the side.

He rested his hands behind his head, his fingers tangling in his hair, and he tried to think of what to do.

The main problem was that the man was clearly a good shot, he’d perfectly hit the railing between them and he held his revolver with practiced ease.

On the other hand, the criminal was in a panic and clearly desperate. Maybe they could leverage that, claim that they had backup on the way. He might agree to let go of his hostage if they agreed to go easy on him, or maybe they could bargain for a lighter sentence --.

His brain screeched to a halt when Ladybug hopped the railing.

His mouth fell open… only to snap closed again when a bullet nailed the wall where her head had been just seconds before.

When Ladybug hit the ground, she went for her pistol. Jason watched on in horror as a shot hit her shoulder…

And then found himself able to breathe again when the bullet clattered to the floor. Right. Dick had mentioned that Ladybug was pretty much invincible in her costume, it was all going to be fine --.

But then a shot hit her square in the chest. And she wheezed. Blood flew from her mouth.

Wait, so she wasn’t completely invulnerable?

It didn’t matter. She was definitely in pain.

“LADYBUG, WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU --?”

The criminal was turning their gun on him, but Ladybug burst forward and he brought his gun back to the nearest threat. He shot her in the leg.

Jason’s hands went to cover his mouth. What could he do? Oh god, oh god --.

And then Ladybug hobbled a bit forward and the criminal shot her in the stomach. Her hands flew to the spot on instinct and she turned to her horrified teammate.

Her eyebrows furrowed in confusion.

She brought a hand up to wave him along and finally caught sight of the blood coating her hands.

Her eyes widened and she looked down at herself, at the maroon staining her spandex.

She wobbled uncertainly on her feet, her eyes fluttering closed, and fell to the ground.

The dull thud of her body hitting the ground was what fully pulled him from his shock.

He hopped the railing and grabbed his gun from the floor, pointing it at the criminal. Tears threatened to blur his vision, but he didn’t care. He could make the shot anyway.

The man held the hostage closer to himself. Whatever. He couldn’t let him get away with making his friend look like that; making her breathing come out in ragged gasps, making her bleed out over the floor --.

But then again… she was bleeding out on the floor. He didn’t know much about biology, but he was pretty sure that getting someone else’s blood in your wounds couldn’t be good.

Jason grit his teeth tightly and surged forward, settling for hitting the man with the hilt of his gun. The civilian gave a scream of surprise as the criminal crumpled behind her. He barely paid her any mind.

Every part of him was screaming that he needed to tend to his friend, but he couldn’t quite yet. He reached into his belt and cuffed the man to the stairwell.

If he got away... if he got away unpunished…

He grit his teeth. He couldn’t think about that.

Jason ran to Ladybug’s side. She looked so tiny like that, curled in a tight ball with her hands pressing against her side. He moved her as gently as he could. He needed to see her wound…

But, god, did he not want to.

She was losing blood, and a lot of it. His hands went to his utility belt and then he was reminded of the fact that he’d stopped taking bandages a long time ago. He cursed his past self out mentally and shrugged off his leather jacket. It wasn’t great, but it was something.

She flinched awake when he pulled tight. She looked at him with half-lidded eyes and then cracked a tiny smile.

“WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU SMILING FOR?! YOU’RE BLEEDING OUT, BUG! BECAUSE YOU RAN AT A GUY WITH A GUN! GOD, WHY CAN’T I GET A SINGLE SMART SIBLING?!”

Wait a minute! Siblings!

He made sure she was bound as well as he could manage, then pressed a bloodied hand to his comm.

“Hey, guys, problem. The perp is cuffed at the bottom of the stairs --.”

“That doesn’t sound like a bad thing.”

“Well then shut the fuck up so I can tell you the bad thing! Ladybug got shot! And she’s bleeding! I’m taking her to the medbay. Someone call the police on the perp! I’m busy!”

He ignored his family’s yells of ‘WHAT?!’ and ‘HOW?!’ as he carefully scooped his friend into his arms.

His eyes found the hostage they’d saved. “Please, I know it’s been a hard night for you, but you need to stay here and watch this guy until the police come. Her gun is over there --” he jerked his head towards it “-- thank you, and I’m sorry.”

And then he set off towards Wayne Manor, trying his hardest not to jostle her too much.

She buried her face in his shoulder and he could feel tears wet his suit.

He tried to think on the positive side. If she was crying, then she was definitely alive…

She was okay...

Please, please, please be okay...

[junejalow]

“You have a daughter!?” Kali/Smoke

Bringing this over from my Archiveofourown prompt requests! Hope you enjoy! This prompt/dabble is for thelordchanka with the prompt "You have a daughter?"

The base was buzzing with work, recruit's heading out for last minute flights since they weren't needed for the upcoming cross training session and missions Harry had lined up. Most of them would require select operators, one's who wouldn't be able to leave for the holidays. Upon a collective request among the select few, three hours of negotiating (mainly whining and complaining) Harry finally relented on his restriction of having civilians on base. Although he was still reluctant about the entire choice all together, he had very strict rules. 1) No pranks. 2) Armory stays locked. 3) Kids/teenagers must stay with parent(s) at all time. 4) Common room and training/simulation room may be used as forms of entertainment. The last rule strictly applied as long as the kids remember that everything they see must stay a secret, he could trust the operators to reinforce this. After all, Rainbow didn't technically exist. A ghost in the shadow of every military unit on earth. They handled situations and missions no one will ever know about and the few that were public? Covered as special ops or joint missions. Everyone in Rainbow were all highly trained soldiers hand picked from even the best operators. They never disappointed Harry while on the job, but more humane moments like now? Well, it was just a simple reminder that they were still human behind their harden military mind sets. 

Kali was still trying to process the information she just heard from the table behind her, Smoke had a daughter? The crazed chemist actually had family, much less a child. How in the world did someone like him maintain a lasting relationship enough to reproduce. Ignoring Ace's conversation with Wamai, she focused back on the SAS group behind them. 

"She didn't like the idea of taking Christmas break but I'm pretty sur she'll love being here, I'm always telling her about everyone here. Despite her studies, Charlie does love hearing them. Surprise right?" Smoke mused as he fiddled with a picture he kept in his wallet, staring at it fondly. He had rarely spoke to anyone outside the SAS about his adoptive daughter, she was in her last year of high school and scoring straight A's and would graduate with honors. Charlie was the embodiment of everything Smoke couldn't be when he was growing up and so much more. He loved seeing her view of the world and everything she was learning, she had taught him a lot about life that he would never have thought of looking at in a thousand years. She was his connection to being human, a safe haven away from his crazy job. 

 "You're acting like we haven't mess the lass before." Sledge replied after swallowing a spoon full of mash potato's. They had met her once before when Smoke had to go check on his apartment a few miles away following a series of break in's. She acted nothing like the chemist aside from sharing his twisted sense of humor. Charlie basically kept him out of trouble when he had leave time from work. 

"Yeah but she hasn't met the rest of this lot, wonder what she'll think." 

"You worry too much." Mute mumbled beside him, a neutral frown on his face over the fact that Thatcher had taken his phone minutes earlier so the young operator would eat instead of burying his face in the device. More than once he had complained later in the day of being hungry because he missed dinner or breakfast for that same reason. Thatcher of course scolded him every time but taking his phone was a last ditch effort to get the man to eat properly. He didn't need the defender light headed during training from lack of food. 

"I'm not worrying too much! I just don't trust most of these barmy bastards not to try something stupid when everyone shows up. Bandit hundred percent I don't trust, he'll twist her beautiful little mind into something terrible."

"Yet you're just as bad, ever think about that or has Doc's scolding taught you nothing?" Thatcher piped in from his spot across the table. 

"All he's bloody taught me is how much I can get away with before I have to hide." Smoke chuckled, putting the picture of his daughter back in his wallet. 

Kali made a mental note to ask him later about the entire conversation, she was on good enough grounds with the defender that they could have a decent and friendly conversation when they crossed paths. Soon enough the cafeteria slowly became devoid of noise. Most of the operator's were calling home to invite whoever could make it or simply wishing their family and friends happy holidays. Kali on the other hand decided to hit the training room for awhile, not surprised to see a few operators spread out doing their own training. She listened in on different conversations as she bedded down to work on her sniper aim. Nothing caught her interest though, most of the banter was work related or Christmas gift ideas. She had learned from Mira that most of the operators exchanged gifts as a way of team building, an idea Harry had implemented soon after his employment as the new director. 

She had to give the man some credit, he surely knew how to bring a team together. Most of his tactic's were questionable at best but even she could the good intent behind each choice, he was even able to pull Doc and Lion to even ground and now the two seemed like friends all over again despite the random bickering they still did with Montague or Castle playing peace keeper as usual. Some small part of her felt bad for them, they were all adults but some parts of them still shined like children fighting over a toy. It was a vast difference from the attention to detail they all showed in the field though, she had heard Jackal mention it was like flipping switches off and on in their minds. Essentially they were all two sides of the same coin, one side a passive civilian living day to day while the other side was a ruthless soldier who wouldn't hesitate to pull the trigger on someone wishing to cause harm. 

Personally she never really understood where she placed in that category but as long as the job was done who cared? She has taken out countless dangerious men and women alike. She seriously wouldn't have her life any other way. She sighed after spending the rubber bullets she acquired from the training gun rack and headed back to the main building, she noticed Smoke hanging around the common room and remembered the conversations from earlier, deciding now was a good time as any.

"Porter, mind a chat?" She asked as she approached the man relaxing against the bar across, tending to a half drank beer, the room from the tv that was currently playing some nature documentary. Dark chocolate brown eyes met her hazel eyes, a question playing across them before he motioned to the seat next to him. 

"I can fancy a talk, what's on your mind Kali?"

"You have a daughter?"

Smoke nearly choked on his beer at the straight forward question, he shouldn't expect less from her but at the same time he didn't think anyone had been listening in. Each table/group always stuck to their own conversations and rarely asked or interrupted anyone on theirs. 

"I didn't think you were bloody listening in! I could barely hear my own thoughts over Ace's loud mouth." A small smile tugged at her lips, Ace could very well be loud and self centered at times but he was a man that truly cared about other's safety above his own, rushing headlong into the worst of a situation just to make sure no one needed having. A natural thrill and need to protect and serve. 

She still owed him greatly for saving her that one time. "I happened to catch a small snippet. So I grew carious. Never heard you talk so fondly over something other than those canisters of yours." 

Smoke rubbed at the scar at the base of his hair line, no one at base had ever dared to ask him about it. Hell they all had their fair share of scar's, physically, mentally and emotionally. He simply waved the question off all the time and gave the same short handed reply. It was work related. Of course a lot of the operators around base never bought into it but out of respect for privacy no one ever pushed the subject. 

"She's not... blood. I adopted her years ago before I got invited to Rainbow. Never saw myself being with anyone but I've always wanted a kid, someone that could show me the world in a different view right? Charlie's done just that. She's excelling in school, straight A's and honor's. Nothing like her old man." He chuckled softly before taking a swing of his beer, pausing for a moment before continuing. "Charlie she... see's everything so bloody different than I do. I've forgotten what a civilian's view on life is, I don't see everything the same as when I was a kid. I was too busy exploring, a free spirit I was. That kid on the other hand, smart head on her shoulders. Been teaching me a lot over the last few years I didn't even know were things. Like all these new math and science categories she's studying, blew my mind at first. Seems like they expect them to know college level stuff before they even graduate. But what about you Kali? Got any family? Husband? Wife? Siblings? Kids?"

Kali slowly took in every ounce of information the man offered, she never really considered Smoke an open guy but at the same time there were rare moments each person just needed an outlet. She figured this was one of those moments. He was going to expose someone he held close to his dangerious line of work, granted she wasn't going to be in harms way by any means and neither would the other kids. A bigger smile graced her features, her hazel eyes settling on the tv across the room. 

"No, nothing of the sort. I'm married to my work as most people say. I don't have time for any relationships, to me it's a burden I don't need." 

Smoke scoffed and sat up a bit straighter in his seat, "You're missing out then Shah, Charlie's the best thing that ever happened to me." He told her with a warm grin, "Give it some thought, might change your mind after you meet her." 

The next few days flowed by quick, families arriving as they could. Most of them were settled in spare rooms while most operators didn't mind sharing dorms with their families. Currently the cafeteria was buzzing with chatter and stories being tossed around while a few decorated the base for Christmas, of course the chaos worsened over a snide comment Bandit made to Smoke. Before the man could retort it, Charlie already had him by the ear and was basically dragging the full grown man away from the fight all the while scolding him. 

"You promised me you wouldn't fight with uncle Dom while I was here and you almost did it anyway! I seriously can't leave you alone for one second!" Charlie argued. 

"I'm sorry! I promise for real this time! I won't bloody do it again I swear!" Porter tried to protest.

"Fat chance dad!" 

Kali chuckled quietly to herself because Wamai who had his hands clasped behind his back, "Rethinking what Porter said about family?"

"As far as I'm concerned Wamai? this is my family."  

[sidesteppostinghours]

#gideon shut the hell up challenge#people keep saying they’re sorry for your loss. Your Loss. that is how they refer to your brothers. how they refer to you.#you have always been one of three. part of the pack. and that has always been fine but now you are alone and you are not You but your loss.#julia says sorry for your loss. ricardo says sorry for your loss. you yell that it should be their loss too. it is everyone’s loss.#they have lost your brothers and now they have lost you too. (fate works in funny ways you think)#at the funeral people offer apologies. offer you flowers. offer you baked goods and stories of how [your loss] saved them or their mom or#their dad’s uncle’s wife’s coworker’s daughter’s friend from childhood or someone else equally unimportant. someone alive.#[I’m sorry for your loss] they all say and you do not say thank you. there is no being thankful for [your loss].#[I’m sorry] says ricardo. you stop listening. [I’m sorry] says julia. you wonder if she said it to the man she punched.#you do not apologize back. you do not let it be [their loss]. it is yours. they have always been yours.#[I’m sorry] says chen . for river and cyrus. the first to use their names with you. to acknowledge them as your brothers. to make them more#than just the pieces of you that have been broken. and you thank him.#we like writing in tags sorry !!!! also at some point the original idea was that any parts of ‘I’m sorry for your loss’#would start distorting and then get blacked out to show like. when u hear smth so much and esp w grief that u just block it out#anyway. survivor!fawn but still factoring in that chen is not afraid to just. Say Things.#esp in v3 I think the ortegas would be even more cautious w fawn out of wanting to not upset them and meanwhile chen is like yeah I’m gonna#just straight up acknowledge ur brothers for u bc I can tell that’s what u need#we are also thinking abt v3!au and fawn being heartbreak but. that’s not for this post obvs

#gideon shut the hell up challenge#really most of this is a continuation of the last hb!f post but. we will repeat it bc !! thoughts !!!#north purposefully reading the paper in front of fawn while keeping tabs on them…. watching as their eyes are glued to the headlines#the first is about heartbreak. the loss of the sidesteps. the fact that one survived. the funeral.#he says he can’t let them read the articles (maybe if they’re good he promises and the numbers mean they can’t tell if he’s lying) but then#well. if he takes juuust long enough for them to read the front article while he flips through the shit inside… how is that His fault? :)#one brother is dead he says. the other brother is alive. and he says they’re dead too. fawn tries to argue but he points out that#if he was going to rescue them wouldn’t he have? he saw you fall fawn. he knows there’s no body. where’s your brother? where’s his loyalty?#north says fawn has always been faithful. he knows that. he knows Them. he’s their handler! of course he knows them! so he knew they would#come back :) and if their brothers knew them wouldn’t they know? wouldn’t they care? wouldn’t they try to save their siblings instead of#just random civilians? they played hero and it killed their brother. their brother is playing hero still. maybe being a hero#means having blood on your hands. not like fawn. spotless and clean. a little broken but not unfixable. they’ll fix them :) they’ll Help :)#it takes years to get out. years of watching headline after headline abt sidestep’s exploits. more public now than before.#it hurts to read sidestep’s name. The sidestep. not the sidestepS. doing just fine alone. unlike them.#it is so hard to be upset at their brother. it is so Easy to be upset at their brother. there is a voice in their head that says#horrible things in a voice that is theirs but not theirs (it is cyrus and river and chen and north and heartbreak and-)#but they don’t listen. it would be so easy but they forgive him. they always will. and they’ll help him!#he doesn’t know they’re alive. or maybe he doesn’t care. but he knows abt the farm. he cares abt the farm. and they’ll help him be ready#hero hunter (prepare them) fawn who is doing so out of not self preservation but a fucked up version of love ??#‘​you let me die but I forgive you and will keep you alive’ ?? ‘my blood is on your hands but I will not have yours on mine’ ???#(​we haven’t thought at all abt meeting up w the villain!brother tho lmao)

PEER REVIEWING THESE TAGS FOR MYSELF BECAUSE. HEY. HEY!!!!!!

oh survivor!fawn we are really in it now