#(( R: I am an enigma~ No one will know what I’m feeling if I simply turn my emotions off!

[area-zero-rogue]

// Some random headcanon questions! Sorry these took some time ^^ 1) Is legacy important to Rosario? If so, what kind of legacy would she like to leave? 2) What's the first thing she thinks about when she wakes up? 3) What would it take for her to be perfectly happy? Is it possible?

Legacy is definitely something Rosario thinks about. How might her contributions (or even lack thereof if she isn’t successful) impact others? What can she do to help set up a foundation for success if they decide to take up a similar topic in the future? Even if she is unable to find the answers she is looking for, she at the very least would like to leave record of what she has discovered in the hopes it could help other aspiring researchers. She could really care less if people pay attention to the more personal aspects of her life and she will be damned if she continued anything for the sake of lineage. Her mother’s side, maybe. In the end, as long as she can help by passing her knowledge on in some way, that’s what matters most.

It always begins with a list of what needs to get done. She is constantly set in “go mode”. If she can keep herself busy or occupied with other things, even if this includes putting herself in risky situations, that is preferred to being left alone with her thoughts and emotions. That typically doesn’t turn out well and often kicks off a good few days where she is unable to get anything done, executive dysfunction having a part or not.

Rosa does not believe there is anything that could make her perfectly happy. It already takes so much for her to voice her needs and by pushing them to the side for so many years, she hardly thinks about it anymore. (I will note, she is actively trying to improve this) Sure, there is plenty she imagines would be nice to have such as a home in the countryside, a family, and someone who will actively want to stay by her side. All of that, though, are very stable things and much of her current lifestyle is far from that. She hesitates to decide on where she would want to settle down and have all of that because of the fear that she could make the wrong choices. The last thing she would ever hope for is to potentially bring a child into something similar to what she lived through. I think it could be possible if she had someone to guide her a bit and show her things can be okay, help coax her out of this mindset where she constantly prioritizes others over herself. Also therapy, therapy would definitely help. It will take some work, but I’m sure she could get close if surrounded by the right people.

[cathrrrine]

RUN | Pietro x Reader

Originally from my Wattpad

CHAPTER 18: SAFE HOUSE

—

A/N: I hope you guys like this one ! I just wanted to add a little bit of fluff after all that angst-fest. Happy reading my loves! :)

———

"Enigma." I mumbled, the strange woozy feeling in my chest expanding as I shifted in my car seat to turn to Pietro.

"What?"

"I figured it out. I'm your enigma. Everyone has one." There was a lightness to my words as I said them and oddly enough, I didn't really mind. "You said you couldn't figure me out, therefore I'm your enigma."

I could see his hands on the wheel tighten just a little bit. The whole car ride, I'd been observing him. I just couldn't get his words out of my head.

You're driving me crazy, Y/N.

My head felt like it was about to explode by the sheer amount of force it took for me to figure out what he really meant. I felt...perplexed. I was wracking my entire brain out by trying to decipher the whole point of our previous conversation. Why did I drive him crazy? Why did he feel the need to tell me that?

Why did I feel like I should trust him?

"My enigma?" He scoffed, throwing a playful, cocky look my way. "You are nothing close to anything I'd call mine."

I rolled my eyes, "You know, it's no wonder you've got a head full of grey hair, you grouch."

"Hey!" He gasped, genuinely shocked at my comment. "I am most definitely not a grouch."

His accent made his reaction much better than I could've imagined. The way he rolled his R's made me laugh a little, so I copied it just for kicks, the letter teetering on the edge of my tongue. "Yep, a grouch would most definitely say that."

I scanned his face for any signs of annoyance, waiting to see if my words left any impression on him. Instead, I saw his expression grow heavier. I'd miss it if I blinked, but I swore I saw a flash of that same expression he wore when he confronted me before in my cell. Seriously, I have got to figure him out, and soon. Before I'm too vulnerable.

"We're here."

I turned around, looking out of the window to see the building I'd been dreading to return to. My heart felt like it had been dipped in acid and encased in lead. Suddenly, I knew why Pietro grew quiet.

Getting out of the facility had been fun, exhilarating almost. Steve had helped me escape just as he promised and left me with Pietro in the garage, handing him the car keys and giving him strict instructions to drive away while remaining incognito.

Pietro had a dazed look on his face then, part-confusion and part-anxiety, but I knew that we had one thing in similar; roguery in our veins. Pietro is a little troublemaker, I had mused as I eyed his way-too-giddy movements. He had no trouble following his Captain's orders, he was eager almost.

I told Steve that we could hide in an old safe house of mine, a tiny studio located somewhere in a sketchy town that was close to the facility so it was reachable by car, but far enough so that it wouldn't be a problem if any of his teammates were to come looking. At least we'd have enough time to escape if they did.

The last time I'd been here had been 2 years ago. Back when I thought I was still running from The Winter Soldier. Everything the Captain had revealed to me made me want to throw up. How else were you supposed to feel when someone told you that you'd been running and hiding for years, from a ghost? I felt like I'd been on an unprompted wild goose chase, except that instead of chasing the 'goose', I'd been chased by it. What a joke.

"You alright?"

Pietro raised an eyebrow, nothing but that disgusting kindness in his eyes. I wanted to strangle him right then and there. Was he offering me pity?

I threw him a half-hearted scowl, "Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm just asking. This can't be easy for you, no?"

His words hit me like a truck, and the realisation that he wasn't offering me pity, but simply just inquiring, soon came after. It was an odd question to be asked. I'd rarely been offered that luxury, of someone caring enough to ask if you were alright or not. It felt weird to be on the receiving end of that kind of sincerity, something I thought only existed out of my own realm. Yet here I was, trying to figure out the answer to his question.

I shook my head in an effort clear my thoughts, sort of like an etch-a-sketch. "I've been through worse."

We entered the building quietly, ignoring the looks thrown our way from a few bystanders. It was a rather rundown building, just as I had remembered it to be. I'd never made company with any of the people who live here, because how could I have? What kind of shit assassin would do that?

"They must not be used to new faces, huh?" Pietro tried—and failed—to ignore the man eyeing us from our right, clearly uncomfortable with the unwanted staring.

"I'd assume not. It's a pretty small town."

Pietro cleared his throat, "I see."

He looked a little uneasy, shifting from foot to foot. I followed his line of gaze and oh my god, the man was still staring.

"What the fuck are you looking at?" I snarled. He scurried away immediately, eyes averting from us either in shock or in fear. Though it was most likely the latter, considering the way he kept looking back with wild eyes to see if we would chase him down.

I turned back to my speedster companion, and sure enough, he looked much better than he did before. "It's fine, he's just a creep."

He nodded, "I was never fond of creeps."

We climbed up the flight of stairs that lead to the studio apartment, silent the whole way up with Pietro taking in his surroundings and with me being a bit preoccupied with the thoughts swimming in my head. Memories from my past kicked in violently, and I tried to swallow them down.

"Is this it?" He said as I stopped in front of a tattered door with the number 42 on top of it, pointing to it with his right hand.

"Yep." I walked closer to the door, reaching up to the number 4 and trying to detach it from the wall. Apparently though, it was too high for me, sitting just at the tip of my fingers. Either someone had moved it higher, or I'd grown shorter since

Heels. I'd worn my goddamn heels when I last set this thing up. I'd have slapped myself by now if my hands weren't occupied.

Annoyed, I groaned and stood on the tip of my toes. Just a bit more.

"Here."

My breath caught in my throat as I felt his voice reverberating through his chest which was now level to my head. Pietro came up behind me with his taller stature, his height enabling him to reach for the 4 in less than a second, his hand brushing against mine in the process. I blinked, hard, trying to steady myself and grab hold of my thoughts. I felt my face grow hot, warmth spreading through my skin like fire.

I tried not to make it obvious, how much his skin contact had bothered me. I felt stupid for making such a big deal out of it, and even more so that it was caused by him. What the hell? My throat felt tight, so I cleared it with a cough and put on a neutral expression seamlessly.

He backed away as soon as he grabbed hold of the number, twirling it around his fingers with a playful, lopsided smile. Holy shit, I want to rip it off his face. Just punch the living shit out of him.

"Hmm, maybe you're not that useless after all." I scoffed.

He grinned, "Well, if the grouch hadn't been here, it would've taken you all day to reach for this thing."

"Huh, so you admit you are a grouch."

"I didn't—Whatever you say, gnome."

"Wow, look at you." I snickered. "Practicing sarcasm are we? Pray, do tell, was I your inspiration?"

He shook his head in defeat, then he flipped the 4 over, eyebrows meeting in the middle. "What is this anyway? Some sort of secret hidden in here?"

Classic topic changer.

"Yes," I snatched the sign from him. "A very important secret actually."

I turned the thing around and pressed hard on the back of the long vertical line with my nails, breaking the plastic cover. It gave in with a little bit of pressure, and I dug my fingers in to pull out the slender, metal object that I had hidden 2 years ago.

"Ah. The key." Pietro looked impressed.

"Smart, isn't it? It's an old trick that I stole from a woman in Amsterdam."

He moved closer, and I felt myself flinching a little, afraid my body would have the same reaction that it did just a few seconds ago. Luckily, he didn't notice how distressed I was.

"Why bother though, if you weren't going to keep the key with you? Why not just kick down the door or climb in through a window or something?"

There he goes again, with his perpetual rambling.

"We're 4 floors up idiot, climbing in through the window is too risky, people might see and I might fall and die, which is not very ideal, in case you haven't figured that out yet." I inserted the key into the lock and twisted it, hearing the clack of the latch and bolts as they moved.

"Plus, I just did it for fun. I never even knew if I'd come back here or if this building would even still be intact by the time that I did."

He didn't take up the trouble to reply, or even if he did, I didn't hear him. The moment the door opened and I stepped foot inside the room, I was immersed in the haze of my past. A version of my life that was drastically different to the one I had now.

My emotions were all over the place.

A cloud of dust covered the room from years of vacancy, our shoes creating imprints onto the floor. I was surprised no one had broken in for the whole 2 years. Somewhere in the back of my head though, the memory of me threatening the landlord popped up.

"If I come back and I find out that my house got fucked up, I won't hesitate to drive this knife through your chest."

It's a wonder how far a knife and few sharp words could get you.

"Looks like it needs a bit of vacuuming, just a bit. But that's just my opinion."

I fumbled around for something hard and chucked it at Pietro's head with full force, earning an 'Ow!' immediately after.

"What was that for?"

"I've been meaning to throw something at you for a while now." I shrugged, then continued to explore my previous home even further.

It was exactly as I left it, minus the accumulated bits of dirt and the herd of dust bunnies. I walked to the small kitchen space, opening the cabinets and finding the slightly dented kettle and the 2 mugs I had kept there, untouched. Then I fished around the drawer beneath it and eventually found the box of—hopefully unexpired—tea packets and some Sweet'N Low's.

My fingers clasped around the faucet knob and turned, waiting for a good minute for running water. "Come on, come on..."

After some violent sputtering and grumbling from the sink, out came the water flow. Yes! I cheered mentally.

Then I turned to the silver-haired grouch, gesturing to the tea packets I held between my fingers. "Care for some tea?"

He shrugged, "Only if you won't poison me."

taglist: @ifilwtmfc

[insaneasgardian]

Arachnid Enigma - Irondad and Spiderson

Inspired by a headcanon from @cassiecasyl

“I just had this thought... Tony suddenly gets hyperfixated on spiders and noone knows why. The first time the Avengers notice it's on a mission and it's not weird, he's a genius after all, they figure he just knows stuff. But then he begins rambling about spiders randomly. And sometimes he speaks about some issues like it's personal experience but he doesn't have a pet spider, Nat confirmed that?? What is going on???”

And an addition to it by @savvysass

“Lmao then spiderman walks in and they r like ah. Ok.”

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

Also, this is an Irondad and Spiderson fic. I do NOT ship Starker for obvious reasons. If you do, I would like you to leave my blog.

🦸‍♀️🦹‍♂️🦸‍♂️🦹‍♀️ 🦸‍♀️🦹‍♂️🦸‍♂️🦹‍♀️ 🦸‍♀️🦹‍♂️🦸‍♂️🦹‍♀️ 🦸‍♀️🦹‍♂️🦸‍♂️🦹‍♀️ 🦸‍♀️🦹‍♂️🦸‍♂️🦹‍♀️ 🦸‍♀️🦹‍♂️🦸‍♂️🦹‍♀️

There have been several times Tony Stark has displayed a fascination with arachnids. The first time Tony ever mentioned spiders was on a stealth mission in Bhutan where a HYDRA base had been spotted. It was supposed to be relatively easy, break in, grab intel, don’t be seen, and get out. It was a successful mission but not everything went according to plan.

“I’m in” Steve spoke into his comms as he looked around the HYDRA base he had just infiltrated. “No sign of any people, just a lot of spiders and dust”, he added, eyeing the critters that scuttled around the dark and grimy area.

“Of course there are,” Tony commented, “HYDRA isn’t exactly a stickler for cleanliness, and spiders love dirty, sooty, nasty areas to live in”. Steve proceeded to roll his eyes at the obvious remark. It was just Tony being Tony.

“Has everyone managed to locate the entrance?”, The Captain inquired, getting plenty of affirmative responses. Soon enough, everyone managed to enter the building and joined Steve in the large room he stood in.

There was no illumination except for the few rays sunlight that filtered in through the cathedral window. Just as Steve had said, there was an immense amount of dust settled all over the floor, window, and grand staircase that led to the second floor, along with a lot of arachnids. Clint stepped forward, accidentally crunching a couple of spiders under his foot. Tony clenched his jaw tightly, “Don’t. DO THAT!” he hissed extremely loudly, alarming everyone.

Clint gulped, “Geez, sorry”. Unfortunately for the team of heroes, Tony had not only surprised his colleagues but the occupants of the building too. Shuffling and a lot of movement was heard, and before the Avengers could retreat, the enemy confronted them.

“Great work Tony”, Natasha mumbled angrily under her breath when she saw several HYDRA agents rushing down the stairs. Earth’s mightiest heroes worked quickly and efficiently to take out the flocks and flocks of operatives running at them. Although it wasn’t a very hard job, it still took out the stealth element out of their job.

After the oncoming threat was wiped out and the data they needed had been collected, the team swiftly exited the base and entered the quinjet where Bruce was waiting for them. “What happened?” the scientist asked, inspecting his friends who were covered in gore.

Sam sighed, “Tony happened”, he stated simply.

Another time Tony spoke of the arachnids was when they had a day off, and decided to spend them with Clint’s family at their farm. It was around now that a few of the heroes began to suspect that Tony wasn’t just knowledgeable about the eight legged critters, but he was utterly fascinated by them.

“Thank you again for having us Laura” Wanda said, earning a kind smile from Clint’s wife.

“It was no problem at all!” she responded, putting together some quick snacks for the whole team.

The Avengers had a great time with the Bartons. Chatting and laughing, gossiping and giggling. It was fun. Just before they were about to leave and as Clint kissed his wife goodbye, a little shriek was heard. It was Nathaniel Barton.

Everybody was alarmed at first, thinking something terrible had happened to the boy, but when they saw the cause, they couldn’t help burst out laughing. A large house spider was crawling on Nathaniel’s show. Although spiders were the cause of a rational phobia, the team of heroes did not fear the hairy critter before them.

Tony stepped forward and picked up the spider, placing it somewhere it would be safe, and also where Nathaniel wouldn’t freak out over it. He then turned to the youngest Barton child, “Don’t worry kid,” he began “spiders are great creatures! Honestly, they’re really cute, and nice, and brave”. 

Thor snickered, “You speak of spiders as if they’re people”. Tony opened his mouth to say something, but then hurriedly shut it and looked away from the group. Tony was quiet. That was a first. What was happening to Tony? 

Meanwhile, Rhodey stood in the corner, looking at the confused glances his friends gave each other as they attempted to figure out what was causing Tony’s new behavior. He smiled, and this didn’t go unnoticed by Loki who narrowed his eyes slightly and chewed his lip in thought. What did Colonel James know?

To mention one more instance in which Tony displayed an unusual interest in spiders was just the day after the Avengers visit to the Bartons. Nick Fury had brought his pet tarantula to work and the team was crowded around it.

“What’s his name?” Sam curiously inquired.

“It’s Bert,” the director responded, sounding rather bored, “I got him from Agent Hill’s house,  she despises spiders”. 

Tony looked at Maria, who was standing quite far away from Bert, cautiously watching him. “Don’t be scared Maria!” he exclaimed, “They’re gentle, come closer”. The agent’s eyes widened in fear and she rapidly shook her head which made a few of the Avengers chuckle. “Come on”, Tony encouraged. 

Maria looked around the room for an escape, but seeing that everyone in the room had conveniently blocked the exits she sighed and walked closer. “Go on and pet him”, Fury remarked, clearly amused at the situation. Agent Hill desperately wanted to refuse but she didn’t want to chicken out so she carefully held out a finger and ran it over the tarantula’s hairy body.

She wanted to puke.

“See! It’s not so bad!” Steve said, smiling at her. Still, the agent quickly pulled away. Spiders were definitely not her thing. “Yes, spiders are just as scared of humans and some humans are of them,” Tony began, “they’re quite shy actually but very gentle! They won’t hurt anybody unless they feel provoked-”

“What is it with you and spiders?” Bruce cut him off with a playful grin. The genius billionaire playboy philanthropist froze and all the humor initially on his features disappeared. Everyone noticed this change in behavior and Bruce fidgeted uncomfortably, believing he had upset his lab buddy. “I mean... you just speak of them a lot, do you have like a pet spider or something?”

Tony remained quiet but Natasha answered, “No, he doesn’t have any pets”. The group turned to the redheaded assassin and she shrugged, “What? I’m a spy, I know stuff”. 

A silence fell over once again, and it was interrupted by Tony. “Oh! I got a business meeting soon, see you guys later”, and with that, he turned and trudged away just as Phil Coulson walked in. Tony bumped into him, “Sorry Agent” he mumbled quietly before proceeding to walk out.

Phil shot Nick and Maria a confused look, and both returned it. The Avengers on the other hand knew for sure something was up.

The last time the Avengers wondered about Tony’s obsession with spiders was also the time they found out its cause. The entire team was just about to enter Tony’s lab.

“Sleep well spidey boy” are exactly the words the Avengers heard Tony whisper before they could walk into his lab. They all heard it, and looked around at each other for confirmation that they were hearing the right thing. They then proceeded to have a conversation right outside Tony’s work space. A quick one, in which they decided it was time to confront Tony about his spider problem. There was nothing wrong with loving them, but talking to a spider? This was unhealthy.

So they opened the door to the lab and walked in on a very surprised Tony Stark, his face paled, but he regained his composure. “Heyyyy, what’s up guys?” he asked, casually leaning against a wall. 

His superhero friends looked at him sadly and Steve stepped forward, “Tony, I think it’s time we talked about-” he was interrupted by a snore. Captain America agitatedly glanced back, “Can you guys please be serious?”, he requested. However, everyone behind him was looking confused.

Then a cough was heard, then another, it then developed into a coughing fit. Then there was silence. Until there wasn’t. “Oh shoot! I am so sorry Mr Stark, did I disturb yo-... OH MY GOD IT’S THE AVENGERS!”, a voice came from the ceiling. The group collectively looked up and saw a boy, no older than 16 with wavy brown hair and adorable doe brown eyes gaping at them.

Tony tiredly rubbed his eyes, “Hope you had a nice nap Peter,” he said, “Come down now”. The boy, Peter, obliged and hopped down from the ceiling without injuring himself. 

“How did you do that? Stick to the ceiling I mean” Bucky asked.

Peter looked at the super soldier and smiled brightly, “I’m spiderman!”, he practically yelled, “It’s what I do!”. The Avengers all looked at this young boy in shock. 

“The kid from Queens?” Wanda asked.

“Yea, the kid from Queens,” Rhodey confirmed, “Tony kept Peter a secret this whole time as so not to endanger him”. 

The billionaire nodded and smiled sheepishly, “Secrets out now I guess...” he murmured.

There was silence, it wasn’t awkward or comfortable. It was the kind of silence that hung in the air after a huge revelation... It was astounded silence.

Tony broke it, he placed a hand on Peter’s shoulder and began guiding him out the room, “Come on kid, let’s go get some cheeseburgers”. With that, they stepped out the lab and left the rest of the people still standing there, completely appalled.

Steve turned back to the group he had led into the lab, “Well... that kind of explains the interest in spiders I guess...”

@emma-elsa-0000 @lost-lunar-wolf @joyful-soul-collector @teammightypen @blerghfish @incorrect-spiderson @only-love-can @badmcuposts @cassiecasyl @savvysass 

[nelllraiser]

cat burglar | sasha & nell

LOCATION: a warehouse in the bend. PARTIES: @sasha-r-blog​ & @nelllraiser.  SUMMARY: sasha takes it upon herself to stop a break in, and nell is on the wrong end of the matters.  CONTAINS: gun use, gun violence

Another day another dollar was all the witch could think of as Nell lurked outside of an oversized warehouse in The Bend. The human bounties were especially boring to go after seeing as they lacked any upper hand in comparison to magic. At least when she was on the tail of someone supernatural she knew there was an element of surprise- or at least something to keep her on her toes. But money was money, and she still enjoyed bringing in the assholes who skipped out on their bail. Tonight was no different as she peered into one of the windows that paneled the outside of the building, just barely clearing the edge of it so that she might duck down if her quarry glanced her way. Thankfully, he seemed far too busy with counting the pallets that littered the place, scratching his head every now and then while he jotted numbers down in a notebook. All it would take was a simple sleeping spell and he’d be out like a light. But first she needed to get closer, perhaps get a better idea of what exactly it was he was doing in this shitty warehouse. If he were up to no good once again and repeating his criminal past, she wanted to know it about it. Carefully, she pushed her palm against the glass of the window before uttering a quiet spell, and in a moment it had melted away like water, pooling in a puddle on the ground beneath her. While the liquid glass settled, she hooked a leg over the frame of the window as gently as she could, being careful not to make a sound as she made her entrance.

The Bend seemed like the perfect place to look for crime, or at least Sasha assumed it was. In all the movies she’d watched it was usually run down places like where all the criminal stuff happened. So with her makeshift costume on and her change of clothes tucked neatly into her backpack, she made her way there. It didn’t take long to find a good place to perch and keep a lookout. There was a tall, flat roofed brick building at the corner of the block that seemed abandoned. And with a few well placed jumps and some careful footwork she found herself alone at the top, with a good amount of the Bend visible to her. So that was a good start to the night. Unfortunately, it seemed like the promising vantage point wasn’t leading to much. The neighborhood was surprisingly quiet. Sasha did spot a few people, some teenagers meeting up before heading into an alley. But upon closer inspection they were just making out, and Sasha decided to keep her lunch rather than continuing to watch to make sure some murderer didn’t jump out at them. They were probably fine.

It wasn’t until an hour or two later that another bit of movement caught Sasha’s eye. Across the street, next to a large warehouse, was a woman. Sasha moved to the edge of the roof, watching as the woman peaked through the window. Okay, that was suspicious. There were plenty of buildings here that from a quick glance seemed abandoned. But this one, despite seeming run down, at least had intact windows. So probably still in use? Maybe Sasha should have done some research before coming here. But either way, the way the woman was glancing in was clearly suspicious. If it was just some abandoned building to sneak into, why all the weird snooping? Sasha was about to lower herself onto the fire escape for a better view, when she felt a buzzing against her back. Shit. Fumbling with her backpack, Sasha quickly grabbed her phone and turned it to silent. 

Stupid rookie mistake, she should have just left her phone at home. When she turned back toward the woman, the glass in the window was gone, and the suspicious woman was lifting herself into the frame. Cool, good to know that the phone had distracted Sasha so much she completely missed the woman breaking the glass and almost getting inside. That could have been useful info. What if the woman had a crowbar on her to break the glass? Or a gun? Okay, Sasha was pretty sure she would have heard a gun go off even while distracted, but still. She took a deep breath and steadied herself before heading down the fire escape. When she was half way down she took another deep breath, and vaulted over the edge onto the street below, trying her best to land just as she practiced. Classic superhero landing pose, though more Spider Man than Iron Man, she wasn’t about to fist bump the pavement and break her only weapon. 

Despite Sasha’s strangely quiet landing, her clearing throat as she held the pose was likely audible. 

Nell couldn’t help but be paranoid as the hairs of her neck prickled directly before the clearing of a throat sounded behind her. The sound made her jump, though it wasn’t out of fear so much as a gut reaction of defense, head whipping around to look at whatever it was that had disturbed her. In the same movement, she drew a knife from it’s concealed hiding place on her body, brandishing it in front of her and placing it between herself and...what the fuck? Was there some sort of convention in town that she didn’t know about? That was the first thought in the witch’s mind as she took in the rag-tag ensemble before her, eyes not even sure where to land first on the strange mixture of clothing choice. Raking her gaze over the overflow of tiger printed spandex and fake leather, somehow the most confusing thing about the get-up were the razor-sharp teeth that were printed where the person’s mouth should be, stretched over the features that they hid. Where even to begin? “You know if you need some more quality cosplay my dad has an Etsy and worked the professional costume circuit in Vegas for years,” was the only thing she could think to whisper in the direction of this newly appeared enigma. Nevermind that she wasn’t exactly speaking to her father at the moment. 

The rustling of the man moving inside the warehouse was what pulled Nell’s attention away from the knock-off cat-man that had spawned from seemingly nowhere, and she was quickly reminded of why she was here. “Look- can you go play somewhere else?” she hissed under her breath towards the newcomer, not particularly keen on having her bounty disturbed. The words weren’t meant to be demeaning, as Nell truly and simply had no idea what to do with the train wreck that had stuck their nose into her business. What a cosplayer was doing in the middle of the Bend, she hadn’t the faintest idea— but she wasn’t going to let them get in her way. “I’m kinda busy.”

As the woman turned around to look at her Sasha began to rise to her feet and- oh shit, she had a knife! Sasha froze up at the sight of the suddenly brandished weapon. But it was fine, it was cool. Sasha had her own set of knives too. Or rather, The Claw did. 

The woman’s whispering sounded loud and clear in Sasha’s sensitive ears and made her stop right before making her heroic declarations to put down the knife. “I-I’m not a cosplayer and this isn’t some sort of game...”

That sounded cooler in her head, but Sasha continued to stare down the woman. If she was randomly pointing a knife at her that had to mean she was a criminal. Sasha put one of her hands out to the side, fingers curled, ready to summon her claws at any moment. Come on, you can do this.

“I’m The Claw, and I’m here to put a stop to your break in! What’s in there? Money, valuebles, a stockpile of illegal weapons? Whatever it is, you better make your peace with never getting your hands on them.”

Yeah... yeah! I’ve got this! She’s gotta be scared now. 

The somewhat puzzled yet exasperated expression on Nell’s features only grew more scrunched as the mysterious figure spoke. It was a girl. That much she could initially tell from the voice. She’d already parted her lips to ask what exactly the masked interloper was doing here when the knock-off Catwoman spoke again, and the witch’s eyebrows shot skyward in disbelief. “The Claw?” she echoed, a hint of unshared delight entering Nell’s tone. Who the hell ran around in spandex calling them themselves the Claw? She couldn’t stop the quiet chuckle that pressed past her lips as the rest of the girl’s words sank in. “I’m not breaking in. Well- I am breaking in, but I’m not the shitty person here. Make my- make my peace?” Nell sputtered in her continued amusement. “Babe- I hate to be the one to tell you this- actually I don’t really hate it, but-” Her sentence wouldn’t find it’s end as another voice rang out, Nell’s target apparently having overheard enough of their shared noises to finally take notice of the two young woman loitering in his warehouse window.

“Hey!” He called out, already taking angry strides in their direction. “What the fuck do you think you’re doing here?” he demanded, reaching for some unseen weapon that resided in the inner pocket of his jacket.

The woman was...laughing... at The Claw. Sasha's heart sank, but she tried to replace the feeling with annoyance. The Claw wouldn’t get upset, so Sasha wouldn’t either. She would prove this woman wrong. This woman who apparently didn’t know what a superhero was. This woman who also just admitted to breaking in, as matter of fact! So yeah, even if she laughed at her that wasn’t going to stop Sasha from stopping this criminal. 

Sasha opened her mouth to speak, to cut off whatever excuse or taunt the stranger planned to throw at her, only for another voice to cut both of them off. In the window frame appeared a man, mid 30ss, not exactly friendly looking. Okay so that guy didn’t seem super happy but he also probably just didn’t get that Sasha was trying to help.

“Don’t worry!” She said, putting out a hand, her words faltering slightly when she saw him reaching for something in his jacket. “I’m here to stop this robber from breaking in. I’ve got it under control.”

Truly, Nell hadn’t intended to laugh in a malicious manner, but it was simply too bizarre to witness a self-proclaimed ‘hero’ running around White Crest, fighting crime and toting names such as ‘The Claw.’ She supposed in concept it wasn’t too bizarre. After all White Crest was in desperate need of as much help as it could get. But a masked do-gooder was a far cry from those she usually cleaned up the messes around this town. After all it wasn't as if hunters were running around in capes and hoods. Or...herself for that matter. Of course she’d never consider herself a hero in any sense of the word. She was fairly certain the people that Sasha was trying to emulate didn’t go around torturing sacrifices to bring their loved ones back from the dead. 

Nell’s head whipped around as Sasha and the man’s eyes met, and a frown was quick to turn her lips southwards as she saw him reaching for whatever he was concealing beneath his jacket. While Sasha spoke, Nell did her best to stay between the bounty and The Claw, a threatening and far more serious tone coming from her lips. “Don’t,” she commanded, the words meant both for the criminal and the attempted hero. 

“Or you’ll what?” The grungy man replied with a rough tone as he pulled a gun from its hiding place, training it on both the girls- dipping back and forth between them. “What are two little girls gonna do about it?” 

Nell kept her eyes trained on the man before saying, “Or I’ll start with breaking every finger in your hand, and then see if I wanna start on your other one.” As for The Claw… “You’ve got it wrong- he’s the piece of shit. I’m here to collect his bounty.”

Sasha froze at the sight of the gun, and just as quickly as it was pointed at them the woman moved between her and the man. It took too long for her to process, she should be quick on her feet, she knew that. What hero let someone come between them and a bullet?

“Bounty?” Sasha hated the way her voice squeaked up an octave, but to be fair, this was the first time she had seen a gun in real life and they were about two seconds from getting a much closer look if things kept up. “But you-”

Sasha may have misinterpreted things here. Were bounty hunters even legal? She guessed they weren’t any more illegal than a vigilante. She didn’t really have a good concept of them outside of action movies, and things were getting pretty actiony right now. 

She had barely heard the man speak, barely processed what the woman said either. But suddenly the man moved his hand again, a glint of metal catching in Sasha’s eyes. In hindsight, maybe it was just another threatening motion to get them to back off. But in a panic Sasha felt herself rushing past the woman. She wasn’t thinking. Maybe she should have. The next thing she knew one of her clawed hands was digging into the forearm of the man, the jacket sleeve torn and likely the skin under it as well. She didn’t hear the man's reaction, just an ear shattering bang as the gun hit the ground and misfired into the sidewalk. Sasha could only hear high pitched ringing after that, but she could see the man shout in pain and her grip on his arm tightened reflexively, as if he might pick up the gun somehow or draw another. 

“No!” Nell yelled as The Claw darted towards the man, eyes wide as she watched the girl make her attack, certain she was going to hear a gunshot pop off at any moment. And then a matching red would bloom on The Claw’s costume, staining the stripes as they seeped the girl’s life away. But no such thing happened. There was a bang, and Nell flinched as the bullet ricocheted to god knew where, and then it seemed The Claw was firmly latched onto the man’s gunarm. Had the girl brought hidden knives as well? But Nell hadn’t seen her draw them. The speed and high stakes of the situation didn’t allow for a closer look before she too was moving in on the man, fast and controlled in her approach as she kicked the man’s legs out from under him while he was distracted by The Claw. He landed hard on the warehouse floor, a grunt of pain falling from his as Nell planted a firm kick in his side once he was down. “I said, don’t!”

In the next moment, Nell tugged at her magic, using it to bend the man’s fingers into unnatural angles and making good on her promise of breaking them. While his yell filled the concrete walls, she grabbed at his wrists, taking special care to press down on the digits she’d just snapped, drawing a pair of handcuffs from a pocket and clicking them soundly around him. “Alright- okay,” she began, turning towards The Claw with a frown now that the man was no longer a threat. “Do you believe me now?” Gone was any of Nell’s previous amusement. 

Sasha only had her claws dug into the dude’s arm for a moment before the woman kicked his feet out from under him. Sasha didn’t try to keep her grip. She watched him fall and felt the sticky blood coating her hands. Oh god, gross. Her first instinct was to try to wipe the stuff off on her pants, but she really only had one of these costumes. So instead she held her clawed hand away from herself awkwardly as the woman kicked and cuffed the man.

Wait, how had she broken his fingers? Sasha blink, wondering if her eyes were playing tricks on her. Maybe like the bang had messed with her ears, the flash of the fallen gun had messed with her vision. It looked like they had just snapped by themselves. But she didn’t have much time to think about it. When the woman turned and spoke it sounded as if her voice was coming through water, but Sasha could still make out the words. 

“I-I didn’t realize there were bounty hunters here. I just saw you trying to break in and I thought...” Sasha's heart was beating hard in her chest, but as the adrenaline faded she started to feel anxiety creeping in, past the normal confidence that she tried to show as The Claw. “I didn’t realize.” 

For a moment Nell simply watched Sasha in vaguely concerned confusion, taking in the way she was holding her hand away from herself, apparently not all that accustomed to the blood she’d drawn. Another look towards the girl, and the witch could see something like shock beginning to grip The Claw’s body. It had been a couple of months since Nell had been reminded that not everyone was as accustomed to spilling blood and facing guns down, but as she looked at the costumed crusader— it was hard to miss the way her voice had changed, and Nell’s frustrated demeanour switched into something more sincere. “Hey- are you...alright? You can sit down or something if you need to. I have some water,” she said before turning to rummage in the bag she’d been carrying on her back, offering a water bottle soon after she located it. “You’re not hurt, right?” She hadn’t seen the man land a mark on the young woman, but what if that stray bullet hadn’t been all that stray, and Nell had missed it? WIth a quick and cursory glance over The Claw, Nell did her best to try and identify if she was bleeding anywhere. 

“Aren’t there bounty hunters everywhere?” Nell wasn’t entirely looking for an actual answer as she glanced once again toward the man they’d downed together. When he tried to open his mouth to speak, she granted him a warning growl before kicking one of his broken hands. Earning another howl of pain from the criminal. “Sorry- hold on,” she sighed at the girl before bending down to tug off the man’s beanie and stick it into his mouth as a makeshift gag. “There- now he won’t bother us, at least.” Taking some pity on the girl, she offered her name, hoping that might help set The Claw a little more at ease. “I’m Nell.” 

“I’m alright. I’m fine.” Sasha was fine. Mostly fine. She wasn’t hurt at least and the real bad guy had been taken down. But staring down a gun was a lot. Sasha took the water bottle, but realized she couldn’t risk taking off her mask to drink. Instead she poured a bit of it over her hand to clean it of blood, retracting her claws once they were no longer covered. 

“I’m not hurt I-” She stopped mid sentence as Nell roughly silenced the man. That was fine, all of this was fine. He was a bad guy after all. “I’m The Claw.” Wait, she had already told her that. “I um, thanks for the help. I’m sorry I thought you were trying the break in. I mean, you were, but you weren’t robbing anyone.”

She glanced down at the dude again. She didn’t exactly feel bad for him, not after threatening her and Nell. But at the same time she worried about how much she may have hurt him. “Do you do this a lot? Bounty hunting? I should probably know so I don’t mistake you for doing something bad when I’m out patrolling.” 

Nell didn’t intend to purse her lips at The Claw’s answer, but couldn’t help it as the other girl maintained that she was fine. The witch had heard that particular phrase more than once when it came to people reacting to the concerning outcomes of questionable experiences. If she were being entirely honest, she herself had used it on numerous occasions when she didn’t want to admit that something may not have been fine. But she wasn’t going to push the girl. “Alright.” At least she wasn’t hurt. Nell couldn’t help the way her eyes lingered on The Claw’s...well...claws as the girl poured water over them and her hand. So that had been how the damage was done? “That’s pretty neat,” she offered in a tone that she hoped was casual, nodding towards the girl’s hand. Was she a werewolf or something? What else had claws, but appeared to be human?

“Yeah, I remember,” Nell said with a tease in her voice, hoping to bring back at least a little levity to the situation. “The Claw. Pretty fitting I guess, isn’t it? Though...if you have more than one claw- shouldn’t you be The Claws?” A shrug later, and Nell was speaking again. “You helped, too. I mean you got the first hit on him.” Even though The Claw had successfully drawn blood and proven herself capable, Nell couldn't help the worry that was pooling in her stomach as she continued to watch the girl and listen to her mention attempted robbery. “You know...it’s pretty dangerous out here in White Crest. Also just in general. So what are you doing out here trying to stop supposed attempted robberies and shit?” Saving people in White Crest was an endless job, and more often than not you got hurt in the process. It was no surprise that Nell wasn’t keen on the thought of a spandexed and starry-eyed crusader making their way through the town’s problems. “But yeah- it’s my main source of income, so I’m generally sneaking around.” The word ‘patrolling’ only made Nell’s frown dip lower, concern continuing to grow in magnitude.

“It’s part of my powers,” Sasha said as she followed Nell’s gaze back towards her hand. “The Claws doesn’t roll off the tongue as much, I think my title is just fine.” Sasha couldn’t tell if Nell was making another jab at her, or just trying to lighten the mood, but at least the woman didn’t seem annoyed anymore. And that fact let Sasha relax slightly. 

“It’s my job. I’m here to protect White Crest.” Had Nell never heard of a superhero before? Even her reaction to seeing Sasha’s claws was weirdly nonchalant. “Not for money, not that there's anything wrong with helping for money. It is just my responsibility. I want to make sure the town is safe and those doing wrong are punished.” 

She tried to stand a bit taller, get back into the headspace of a hero. Like Nell said, she had just helped to take down a criminal. Maybe all the blood and guns was a bit unexpected but she had done it all the same. “I know White Crest is dangerous but I can handle it.” 

“Your powers…” Nell echoed as her gaze lingered on The Claw’s hands once more. It wasn’t exactly the word she would have used as she generally referred to the gifts of the supernatural community as ‘abilities’. Though she supposed it made sense for the girl to think of them as ‘powers’ if she was determined to run around playing superhero. “Are you...a werewolf?” Nell asked point-blank, seeing no other way around the question. She didn’t particularly feel like dancing around the subject, and they were the only humanoid creature she could think of in that moment that might employ their claws in such a way. 

“Your job?” Nell continued to question, not entirely sold on that description. “What do you mean by that? Why’s it your responsibility?” She could sympathize with wanting to make sure people were as safe as possible in White Crest, but she certainly didn’t consider it to be her job. It was just...something she was good at, and something she felt obligated to do. So where was this sense of duty coming from where it concerned The Claw? “Do you know?” Nell challenged, not entirely convinced. She couldn’t help but feel like she was somehow responsible for making sure this girl knew what she was truly getting into— the pain and heartbreak that lay down the line if she decided to take the weight of the world on her shoulders. “I know you wanna help- but it’s not always happy endings or whatever. Things go to shit. A lot.” And then years have passed and you don’t even know how you got here, but it’s too late to stop now. You can’t turn your back on people that need help. If Nell could spare someone the disillusionment she’d experienced over the last few years, and the bone-deep tiredness she felt half the time these days...she’d take that chance.

“I’m...no I’m not a werewolf.” Okay, Nell was clearly making fun of her now. “This isn’t some joke or silly halloween costume. It is my job. My responsibility. I have powers and I have to help people with them.” Sasha felt her face heat up. She wasn’t used to getting angry enough to raise her voice, and already she felt self conscious at it, clearing her throat and glancing back down at the cuffed man to avoid Nell’s questioning gaze.

“I know this town is dangerous. I can handle it. You don’t need to-” Treat me like a child. Act like I don’t know what I’m doing. Sasha clenched her jaw. She wasn’t going to argue. Nell had helped, but Sasha wasn’t going to try to explain this to her. 

“Are you taking him to the police?” Sasha motioned to the man. “Or wherever bounties go. I need to get back to my patrol.” It was a lie. Sasha was pretty sure she was going to head directly back to her dorm the moment she left Nell and sleep until she forgot about her annoyance and the gun going off and the feeling of blood between her fingers.

“I didn’t say it was any of that stuff,” Nell defended with a gut reaction, realizing she’d made a wrong step somewhere along the way. Certainly Nell had thought it to be a game at the beginning of their meeting, mistaking the girl for cosplay, but now she knew better. But if The Claw wasn’t a werewolf...what was she? Unless she simply didn’t know she was a werewolf. Maybe that was also a possibility. If that were the case, it would only fan the flames of Nell’s concern. How could the girl hope to save a world she didn’t have all the pieces of, and not get hurt in the process? “But you don’t,” Nell replied simply. “You don’t have to. Not if it gets to be too much or anything like that.” 

Nell recognized a stubbornness in the girl that was most likely mirrored in herself while The Claw defended her choices, and that only worried Nell more. But she also knew there was no sense fighting it if they were, indeed, alike in that trait. Any opposition would only be met with a stronger fight back. So if Nell couldn’t prevent the girl from taking a path that was rife with hardship, maybe she could at least help. “Fine,” was her short answer. “But if you have any questions— how can people contact you, anyway? Is there like a ‘The Claw’ twitter or something that you work off of?” If The Claw wouldn’t listen to her, then she’d simply have to settle for trying to keep an eye on the girl. 

The dismissal was obvious in the girl’s words, and Nell had no interest in overstaying her welcome at the moment. Besides, she did need to get this man back to the bail bonds agency. “I’m taking him,” Nell answered with her arms folded over her chest, not yet moving an inch. She usually utilized magic to get her bounties back to her employers, and though she’d already technically used magic in front of The Claw, she wasn’t about to do so again so openly when it seemed the other girl hadn’t noticed. “Good luck on your patrol.” She’d have to wait for The Claw to leave in order to finish her business here. 

But you were thinking it. You were thinking that I’m a joke. And you think that I can’t handle things either. But Sasha didn’t voice it. She didn’t want to get angrier at Nell, or vice versa, but it was already getting to that point. So she ignored the bounty hunter’s statement about what she knew she had to do or whatever, biting back a retort. Even the question about contacting her made Sasha irritated in the moment. She knew it was dumb, but it hadn’t been something she figured out yet since saving Connor and him asking her the same thing. Being reminded again that she had no easy way to contact someone without revealing who she was only made her worried that it would now come off as unprofessional to the bounty hunter. 

“I’m setting something up. Why don’t you give me your contact info and I’ll reach out to you if I need it.” A burner phone or some side account on something wouldn’t be hard, she just had to make sure it didn’t trace back to her. And behind the current annoyance and Nell, Sasha knew it would be smart to know how to contact her. Not that Sasha would need the help, but she didn’t want some weird bounty mix up to happen again. 

“Thanks.” Sasha said, unsure if Nell meant what she said about her patrol. At least she hadn’t detected any sarcasm in that, even if she seemed to want Sasha to get out of her hair soon.

Nell didn’t offer any more words as The Claw gave her a short answer, knowing that the peace between them was hanging by a thread. Instead she tucked a hand into her jacket pocket, magically summoning a piece of paper and pen from back home into her hand before bringing them back into sight. On the paper she wrote both her phone number, and the name ‘Penelope Vural’ before handing it over to the girl. “You can text me or find me on the town forum. Whatever works for you.” Friendship wasn’t on Nell’s mind as she offered the contact information, and instead she was hoping that she might be able to keep some sort of eye on the strange crusader. “Let me know if you ever need anything or whatever. Or have questions about who I’m after. Sometimes jobs take more than two hands...or claws, and I’m always down for action.” That was the best she felt she could do in making sure The Claw didn’t get herself killed, and without adding flame to the fire the witch had inadvertently built between them. 

Nell turned away from the self-made heroine, unable to bite her tongue any longer when the rock of dread was solidifying in her gut. She didn’t want to watch another person get hurt by White Crest, but she wasn’t about to stand by and let it happen either. When she turned to look over her shoulder, the other girl was already gone, and Nell hadn’t even gotten to give a well wishing of safety before the night air swallowed up The Claw. All she could think was that hopefully the town wouldn’t swallow the girl whole as well. 

[ohtheseboysilove]

Too far (2) [Roger Taylor x F!Reader]

Words : 6, 200 k + (I got a little carried away)

Summary : Roger and Reader were having fun until he went too far with another girl.

Note : Quite different from the first part but I quite like it ! I promise the nice anonym who asked about this fic to post it this week so here it is, hope u like it lovies ;)

No warnings.

"Where is (Y/N) ?"

Roger’s lips disappeared into a thin line when he heard Freddie’s words. Of course he would asked about you. He absolutely adored you. As well as Roger did. But he fucked up everything and now he would have to listen to his band mates giving him a lesson about how stupid he had been.

"Not here" The drummer grumbled and he reluctantly made his way to the dressing, not in the mood to make conversation.

Three days after the fight, he was still moping about it, hating himself to destroy the best thing in his life.

"And why that ? She is the best at highlighter and eyeliners !" Fred complained, admiring the way the bodysuit was making his arse looked in the mirror.

They were having a photo shoot today to promote the recent album and, usually, you tagged around, loving to doll up the boy and especially Roger.

"She was busy" The blond lied and grabbed the clothes resting on chair for him.

The lead singer plopped a hideous hat on his head and came closer to his band mate, looking at him suspiciously.

"What did you do, Roger fucking Taylor ?" He groaned and crossed his arms, his foot tapping impatiently against the floor.

Brian and John glanced at the drummer, curious to hear the story too.

"I fucked up, alright ? I had been bloody stupid and now, whatever was between us, is over” Roger mumbled, his cheeks red under their intense gazes. He was ashamed to tell what he did. "Can we focus on our work now ?”

"You better tell me now what you did, I’m not leaving this—"

"Don’t use big words now Fred, we’re suppose to do the makeup in two minutes" Deaky cut him and the singer took a deep, annoyed breath.

"After the photo shoot, you explain everything" He shoved a finger into Roger’s chest before storming out of the room.

"Fuckin’ drama queen" The drummer cursed and quickly buttoned his pants, shaking his head.

"He just want to help, Rog" Brian gently said, resting his hand on his band mate’ shoulder. "He is acting like a little bitch but he saw how you like (Y/N). He is not blind, neither I am or John"

The drummer didn’t answer and watched his friend leaving with an encouraging smile. He inspired and expired few times, blinking away the tears pooling at the corner of his eyes and once he was sure he wouldn’t sob pathetically, he followed his friend.

**

"I let that chick, the one who stayed with me most of the evening at your party, I let her suck me in the bathroom" The drummer admitted and immediately earned a concert of groaning.

"Tosser" Deaky commented and rolled his eyes, not very surprise. "Why on earth did you do that ?"

"Aren’t you the two of you a thing ? Or at least, was ?" Brian frowned his brows a bit lost, his friend was an enigma sometimes.

"We weren’t officially together" Roger breathed quietly. "It was a mistake and now I broke her heart" His shoulders sunk under the culpability, your crying face still lingering in his mind.

"Alright, I really want to kick your ass because you bloody deserved it but, you look like a sad puppy so I take it like you regret it enough" Freddie said and the drummer nodded, shame drowning him. "Fine, what did you do to make (Y/N) forgive you ?"

"Nothing’" Roger mumbled, his hand rubbing awkwardly on the back of his neck. And by the look on Freddie’s face, he knew it had been a mistake to reply that. "She told me to not bother calling her" He weakly defended himself and Brian smacked dramatically his hand against his face.

"Roger ! Honestly are you daft or something ?" Freddie scolded him as he fished a cigarette from his packet.

"So you didn’t try to contact her for the last three days ?" John asked with arched brows, wondering what was wrong with him. Roger’s ears burned and he felt like he maybe misread the situation. When he shook negatively his head, the bassist sighed. "She must feel like shit now"

"You cheat on her and then you don’t even fucking apologise ?" The lead singer exclaimed, slapping Roger’s head, calling him a stupid fucker.

"I didn’t cheat on her ! We weren’t even together properly speaking ! And she kissed that Ricky guy before, just to piss me off !" The drummer suddenly stood up, he was already feeling guilty, he didn’t need his band mates to make him felt worse.

"Please, don’t try to compare in front her a kiss and sucking a dick, Roger. Or you will end up with a bleeding nose" Deaky commented casually, he was already changing in his normal clothes, eager to go back home early.

"I always said that your and (Y/N)’s relationship was bloody weird. And unhealthy" Brian groaned. "Kissing people around to end up fucking each other at the end of the night...who on earth do that ?"

"Piss off Brian" Roger grunted with annoyance. "Coming from someone who cheat on his wife, it’s a pretty audacious thing to say"

Before the curly man could bite back, his eyes shinning with anger, Freddie stepped in front of his band mates, raising his hands to calm them.

"Both of you can shut up, we’re not here to do Roger’s trial. Or Brian’s" The two musicians glared at each other but didn’t reply. "We here because our drummer is incredibly stupid when it’s about relationship" John cackled and completely ignored the blond death glare. "And we all know that if (Y/N) doesn’t come back to you, you’re gonna be a right pain in the ass"

"Always is” The guitarist muttered and barely avoid the shoe threw by his band mate.

"Roger, you’re gonna move your butt from this sofa and go buy (Y/N) a nice gift before dragging your sorry ass to her place and apologise"

The drummer shifted uncomfortably. He wasn’t good at apologising. Always saying the wrong thing and ending with making the situation worse than before.

"She don’t want to see me”

"Of course she don’t want to ! You cheat and didn’t call her, the poor girl probably thinking you don’t give a fuck about her" Freddie exclaimed and tugged Roger’s arm, forcing him to stand up. "Go, now"

The drummer mumbled something and quickly changed back into his clothes before sliding on his shoes, his mind thinking about what he could buy you. He wasn’t even sure if you would open the door to him.

"What if she don’t let me see her ?"

"You bloody sleep in her hallway if you have to"

The advice came from Brian and Roger nodded simply, murmuring a low awesome before walking to the closest shop.

**

Roger found himself into a Tesco, wondering hopelessly through the supermarket shelves. Maybe going to a fuckin’ Tesco wasn’t his smartest idea. He passed the kids toys and refused to buy a stupid teddy bear because you would certainly hate it.

He spent more than fifteen minutes looking at the beauty products, grabbing perfume and creams then put it back. The perfumes were awfully cheap — you’re in a fuckin’ Tesco! — and the creams weren’t really nice to offer in his opinion. It was like saying ‘hey here some anti-ageing cream for you, it’s deeply needed!’

Then he thought that a box of chocolates could be nice. Sweet food always worked with you. But even with his deepest efforts, he was struggling remembering which flavour you liked. Certainly not something with mints or fruits, you were more classic flavours.

White, milk or dark. He could perfectly remember that night where you had smoke a join together, naked in his bed and talked about chocolate for a good half an hour. There was only one flavour you would eat but he couldn’t put the finger on which one it was, you deeply hated the two other. He was almost certain it wasn’t the white one, no human normally constituted would like to eat that awful type of chocolate.

It must be milk or dark and if he had to place a bet he would say dark but he wasn’t utterly sure about that. And if he brought you the wrong one, you would certainly throw it in his face and he would make the situation worse. So he forgot about that, no chocolate.

And now he maybe found an idea for you. The red bottle caught his eyes when he walked past by and he was really considering buying it. Perhaps you would find the gift original and funny. Or insulting and too presumptuous. But at least with this one, he was sure what was your favourite flavour. He knew it because he saw this same little bottle a handful of time in your overnight bag. He also used it too, more than once. And you always insisted about how this special brand and flavour was your absolutely favourite, perfectly doing the job and even more.

"Fuck it" Roger muttered and grabbed the little bottle adorning by the tittle cheeky cherry. Yes, he was about to buy lub as an apologetic gift. He was sure Fred would has loved the idea, his two other band mates in the other hand...probably less.

His gaze fell on the bigger bottle next the little one and he swapped them. The drummer wasn’t a bloody tight-wad and really wanted to be forgiven. He paid his single product then walked toward the wrapping station, an old lady ogling him nastily. Yeah, he was probably looking like a serial fucker, putting a stupid bow on a bottle of lub but whatever, you would have loved the gesture, certainly cackling at it if you weren’t absolutely mad at Roger.

"No wrapping, just a red bow please" The drummer mumbled as he dropped the bottle on the counter, feeling the weird look of the boy on him.

"You’re aware it’s a bottle of lub, mate ?" The young employee said, seeming absolutely jaded to be here.

The blond contained himself to not just roll his eyes and telling him to piss off. "I am very aware of what I just bought, mate" Roger scoffed and the boy just arched his brow but didn’t add anything.

The way the employee was loudly chewing on his gum was driving him mad and as soon as he was done with the bow, Roger threw the first note he found in his wallet and put the lub back into his shopping bag.

"You know it’s free of charge, right ?" The young man commented lazily and Roger bit the inside of his cheek, wondering why he was so daft.

"The fuck is wrong with you ? I’m giving you money and yet, you’re complaining" He harshly replied and took back the note, shoving it furiously into his pocket.

"I can’t keep it anyway, supermarket policy" He shrugged, not a tad offended by Roger’s tone.

"Bloody fantastic" The drummer sarcastically said and left in a hurry, hating this day even more.

**

Now he was in front of your flat door, nervously rubbing his chest. He entered the building because someone was apparently moving out, leaving the front door wide open. His fingers held tighter the bouquet of flowers — he bought them after the supermarket — and breathed out quietly. His Tesco bag hanging on his arm, he ran a hand on his hair then knocked on the door.

"Yeah ?" Your face fell as soon as you recognised Roger at your front door, wearing an awkward smile.

"Hey" You didn’t reply and stared at him angrily. "How have you been ?" The drummer cursed himself at his awful starter.

"I have been bloody amazing, Taylor" You sarcastically bit back and started to close the door. "Now can you fuck off ?"

"Wait! (Y/N), please, gimme a minute" He breathed out in hurry, stressed that you would close the door in his face. "I’m here to apologise for the other night"

He looked frankly desperate. Lost. Like a deer caught in headlights. You knew he wasn’t really the guy who usually apologise. But today you didn’t care.

"I don’t want any of your apologies" You replied with a cold voice and the drummer seems surprise by your anger, probably expecting the flowers to make you melt or something.

"(Y/N), baby, please...I feel awful for what I did and I need to apologise—"

"You’re three days late for that, Taylor" You cut him and slammed the door, feeling a tiny bit better for this small victory. Stupid really and it wouldn’t last long but you needed anything to cheer you up these days.

You could hear him cursed loudly then the bag dropped on the floor, you could picture him seated in your hallway, ridiculously out of place with his flashy and rocky clothes.

"I’m gonna stay here until you let me properly apologise (Y/N)” He yelled threw the door, feeling absolutely stupid but determined to win this argument. He wanted to be forgiven so badly.

You didn’t reply and went back at your life, the thought of the blond seating your hallway pushed in the back of your mind.

**

Around ten in the evening, you heard loud voices outside your door and curiously peered through the door.

"I’m not a bloody homeless!" The drummer hissed dramatically, now standing next to one of your neighbours, Mrs Smith, an old lady who was openly racist and homophobic and everything that made young people growing angry against the old ones.

"This is unacceptable ! You can’t sleep in our building, it’s a private property young man !” She bite back and pushed back her round, big glasses on the back of her nose. "You need to find a job, not waiting around to steal money from honest and good people, you punk ! "

"But I have a bloody job ! I’m the drummer for Queen, the rock band !” Roger crosses his arms but the lady didn’t even budge at the name of Queen. "Whatever” He scoffed and sat back on the floor, ignoring the furious glance of the old woman.

"I’m going to call the police, Sir" She threatened and the blond snorted loudly giving her a thumb up. "I’m serious !"

"Go ahead, you would probably be dead by the time they arrived anyway" You couldn’t control the heartily laugh who escaped your lips and the both of them turned toward your door, surprised. You clapped a hand on your mouth and they quickly went back to the argument. "I’m waiting for my girlfriend, alright ? We had a fight and it’s all my fault and now I’m waiting for her so piss off" Roger couldn’t give a damn about being rude to her, the stupid things she said in such short amount of time...she totally deserved it.

She mumbled something between her teeth but entered her flat anyway, giving Roger a last nasty glance. He replied with a fake smile and a little sarcastic wave.

Your heart was beating so fast in your chest after the word girlfriend that you almost didn’t heard Roger spoke to you :

"I’m glad I made you laugh, doll”

You shook your head, he was such a charmer and you would be really stupid to fall back right in his arms. So you stayed silent and walked to bed, the ache in your heart a tad less painful than the day before.

**

Around two in the morning you woke up to pee and couldn’t repress the need to peer through the door. Roger was still here, seating against the wall, his head slightly falling on the side, his mouth apart and you knew he would have a sore neck tomorrow morning. He was cute, you couldn’t denied that. A shiver ran through his body and he automatically clenched his black weather jacket tighter around him, his face twisted with discomfort

"Fuckin’ hell" You cursed but grabbed the little fluffy blanket on the sofa and silently opened the front door.

You wrapped it around his body, knowing that you couldn’t back to sleep with the thought of Roger freezing his balls off in your hallway. You went back inside and finished your night, feeling better after that.

**

You weren’t surprise when you woke up to see that the drummer was still deeply asleep. It was only five in the morning after all. Your shift on Thursday was always early until midday so most of the building was still sleeping. Sometime during the night Roger drifted on the floor, his hands acting like a pillow under his head and the rest of his body curling like a foetus. Your pink blanket tightly held by his arms.

You get yourself ready, sipping your cuppa through the process, mind still half asleep, checking nervously if Roger was still sleeping. You didn’t wanted to confront him so early and before work, you didn’t have the energy for that. Thankfully when you made your way out, the drummer was still snoring. You placed a hot cup of tea next to him, cursing yourself for being too nice to this asshole but you couldn’t help yourself. You knew how hard it was for him in the morning, he loved his good sleep and couldn’t function properly without his tea. Or else he would be a nightmare for his band mates, even worse after sleeping in a hallway.

After all, it wasn’t Freddie, Brian or Deaky’s fault, they didn’t deserve a piss off drummer for their day.

That was your excuse for the sweet gesture, nothing about Roger obviously.

**

When the drummer opened his eyes, every fibres of his body were sore, he knew immediately something was wrong. The feelings was deeply hooked into his chest. The lights were too bright and the mattress wasn’t at all comfortable. That when the events of the night came back, he was in your hallway and he missed you when you went out.

"Oh for god’ sake !" Roger groaned and massaged his sore arms. He just slept at your front of your door for literally nothing.

He felt desperate and useless. Maybe you wouldn’t forgive him at all. During his sleep he crushed the — very expensive —bouquet flower he bought you and he cursed even louder. His head rolled against the walls and his heart tightened painfully. He was worried, extremely worried. About you. About a possible us with you. But the task was more complicated than it appeared to be.

"Fuckin’ cunt you had been !” Roger spat, his eyes slightly burning from the urge to cry. He couldn’t lose you.

But he didn’t cry. Instead, his gaze fell on the fluffy blanket covering his legs then the cuppa clearly waiting for him not far away and a bright smile curled on his face. The tea was lucky warm by now but he couldn’t care less, the thought of you caring enough for him t bring a cuppa and a blanket made the butterflies in his belly crazy.

Maybe all of this wasn’t useless as he thought he was. Maybe there was hope.

**

Roger was waiting for (Y/N) to finish work. It was in less than two hours and for now, the drummer was seating in a little café, taking his breakfast.

A fuming cup of tea. Two waffles covered in maple syrup with bacon on the side. You were the one who initiated him to the delicious world of sweet and sour food, the best combination ever in your eyes. And he had to admit that you weren’t wrong, it was damn good.

He was half-asleep but before catching you back from work he had to buy another bouquet of flowers and your favourite Chinese food. The restaurant caught his eyes as he was walking in the street and he knew you would be hungry after your shift.

"Roger, where the hell are you ?" The drummer rolled his eyes at the dramatic tone of Brian, of course.

"Waiting for (Y/N), still need to be forgiven” The blond was outside the café, in an open phone-booth, a cigarette hanging between his cold fingers.

"But we have an interview today !” The curly hairs man cried and mumbled something away from the phone, probably to Chrissie.

"Well I don’t care, I have better thing to do today" Roger groaned and took a puff of his cigarette, exhaling deeply. "I’m sure you can manage one interview without the talented drummer" He smirked and he could guess that his band mate was rolling his eyes.

"They only are after Freddie anyway..." The guitarist complained and sighed. “We didn’t hear from you yesterday so we thought it went good with (Y/N)”

"Not really, no" Roger mumbled and threw his finished cigarette into the bin next to him. "I barely say sorry and she slammed the door in my face and I spent the night in her hallway like you advised me to do"

"Did you really ?” The drummer was a bit insulted by the surprise in Brian’s voice but he couldn’t denied that he wasn’t the one to do such effort for a girl. “That’s...great, I mean if you really like her you need to explain her the situation, I hope she’s gonna listen to your sorry ass" The guitarist teased gently.

"Yeah, yeah, I hope too. I do really really like her and...hum anyway, wish me luck, I’m going now" Roger rubbed awkwardly his chest, he wasn’t the most comfortable about confessing his feelings for a girl to his mates.

"Good luck Rog" The curly man said truthfully. "I’m gonna say you’re sick to Reid but you own me one Taylor"

"Thanks Bri" He smile lightly and hung up the phone, his hands sweating just thinking about seeing you in less than ten minutes.

**

He was ready. A paper bag filled with hot Chinese, lot of stuffs you liked, in his right hand. A cheap bouquet of daisies in the other hand — it was the only thing he found in the area —, the Tesco bag hanging around his arm with the cherry cheeky lub. The more he thought about it, the more he felt awkward and maybe you won’t find it funny at all.

"(Y/N) !" You slightly turned your head as you pushed the door of your building open and found Roger running to catch up with you. "Please let me explain myself, I know I did a mistake but I want to apologise" He followed you inside, his big eyes pleading you to listen.

You scoffed sarcastically at the word mistake and kept walking, feeling too tired to fight right now.

"Rog, I’m not interested into listening to you" You didn’t spare him a glance and entered the elevator, leaning against the wall in loud sigh.

"But I brought you chinese" He gave you a little, shy smile but you didn’t smile back and pressed the button of your floor. "I know I fucked up (Y/N) but you need to listen me" He stood in front of you, frankly sweating with nerves.

"I don’t own you anything, Roger" You kept your gaze on the wall, ignoring him. The memories of him and that girl was still vivid in your mind and if you looked at him, you were afraid you would just burst in tears. "I told you it was over so don’t lose anymore of your time on me" You swallowed harshly, the lump in your throat making it difficult.

"No, it’s not over" Roger shook his head and crushed his hand against the emergency button, making the lift stopped brutally. You gasped with surprise and stabilised yourself against the wall, sighing quietly.

"Roger, what are you doing ?" You hissed and tried to reach the button but he stayed firmly in front of it, not letting you approached it. "You’re being childish right now"

"I don’t care, if it’s the only way for you to listen to me than I’m fine with that" He shrugged. You knew he was quite stubborn so you simply nodded slowly and crossed your arms. The drummer took a deep breath and ran a nervous tongue on his lips. "I know what I did hurt you but— but technically we weren’t together, (Y/N), you can’t—"

“Great way to start your apologies, Roger” You spat angrily but you could feel tears filled your eyes again.

“Just listen, alright ?” He urged you, feeling you were hurt by his words but he really needed to get through the explanation. “We never had been official, what I did with this girl hurt you but you can’t me mad at me ! You smooched that Ricky guy right in front of me—”

“Jesus Rog ! She sucked your fucking dick !” You threw your arms in the air, angrily. Why men always tried to find stupid apologies when they acted like pig ? “It’s not the same, not at all ! And you fucking know that” You humphed annoyingly, brows deeply furrowed as Roger scratched awkwardly his chest.

“You’re right” He whispered so softly that you turned your head toward him, surprised to hear him agreeing with you. “I shouldn’t have done that. Even if we weren’t together, it was still deeply disrespectful toward you. And I’m very sorry about it” He sheepishly said, his eyes focused on his sparkly pink converses. He looked like a little kid who did a big mistake and needed to apologise after being grounded. “I do like you, very much. I think that why I reacted so stupidly with this girl. I know it’s not an excuse for my behaviour but I’m…still trying to process my feelings for you. Make me do stupid thing” He peered carefully at you, a shaky breath leaving his chapped lips. Almost shy.

You stayed silent. You didn’t know what to say. The last thing you expected was to hear Roger apologised so easily. Saying everything right. You were ready to scream and kicking him out of your place but not to find yourself stupidly quiet in front of the drummer.

“Please, forgive me” He grabbed your hands and tugged you against him, carefully not spilling the Chinese food from the bag. “I wanna be with you, for real this time. No more blurry lines. A couple who goes on date and all that shit”

You felt your throat tighten and your eyes pooled, making you quickly rubbed them. You couldn’t cry. But you could certainly forgive him now.

“You’re so romantic, Taylor” You chuckled weakly, linking your arms behind his neck, cheek pressed against his shoulder.

“I’m trying my best, sweetheart. I could ask some advice to Deaky though” He snorted and rubbed his large palm against your back, clumsily trying to not drop the flowers on the floor. It wasn’t the most comfortable hug but it had a strong meaning. Well, he hoped so. “Can you give me another chance ?“ You could feel his lips pressed a butterfly kiss on your hair, making you relaxed immediately.

You buried your face onto the crook of his neck, taking a deep breath, his familiar odour bringing a smile to your lips.

"I—” You coughed loudly as your breath get stuck in your throat, suddenly too tight to even speak.

You took a step back as well did Roger, surprise by you reaction. Your eyes fell immediately on the flowers that he was holding. The sight only made your eyes widen. Roger’s eyes quickly matched yours as he looked at you, worry wrote inside his pupils.

“(Y/N), you’re alright ?” You tried to take a breath but you couldn’t, you could only feel your throat getting tighter at each try. “Your face is red…why your face is red ? And swollen !” His voice went an octave higher than usual, clearly scared now.

His fingers quickly pressed on the lift button, praying it would open the door rapidly.

“The…” You took little breathes, trying to not suffocate as the drummer cursed loudly, your eyes turning red and puffy making him completely panicked. “Flowers” You spatted with difficulty, gesturing desperately toward the bouquet of flowers still his hand.

He glanced at the daisies completely lost and handed them to you but you shook your head with fear and suddenly he understood what was wrong.

“You’re allergic ?” You quickly nodded, fingers massaging your tight throat, big tears rolling down your cheeks as your lungs burnt deeper each second. “Holy fucking shit” The familiar ding! of the lift made the drummer jumped as the door finally opened.

He ran down the hallway and opened the window before throwing carelessly the flowers through the air. You followed him to the window, more than eager to got some fresh air, hand digging blindly inside your bag until you found your precious allergy pills.

“Water ?” You murmured to Roger, feeling already a tad better from the fresh air but the pills were deeply needed. And quickly.

“Hum…beer ?” The blond dropped most of his things on the floor, clumsily looking for the two beers he bought to go with your lunch, hands shaking under the sudden adrenaline from your state. “Here” He cursed quietly when few drops of the drink fell on his fingers, nerves making his all body shook.

You popped the pills on your tongue and took several sip of the cold drink under the worried gaze of Roger.

“Oh god, it feel good to breath” You sighed, letting your whole body relaxed against the wall.

“I can’t believe I almost killed you” The drummer whined as you chuckled softly, your pads checking if your face was still swollen. Thankfully, it weren’t anymore. “I told you I was bad at apologising” You both sat on the floor, right in the hallway, feeling absolutely exhausted.

“I’m fine” You replied with a little smile, gulping down the rest of the beer.

“Who the fuck is allergic to daisies ? It’s like the most common flowers ever !” Roger ran a hand on your flushed cheek, wiping away the rest of the tears.

“Usually I’m not that bad but the confined space and the contacts with the pollen kind of finish me” You shrugged with an amused smile and the blond shook his head, not believing you were actually joking about it.

“I’m sorry. For cheating on you. And for almost killing you. And being such a jerk”

“That’s a lot of thing to apologise for” You teased and took a look inside his brown paper bag, the delicious of Chinese food tickling your nose.

“Good thing that I got a lot of free time to make you forgive me then” He smiled cheekily and pressed a small kiss on your forehead, his lips resting several seconds on your skin before moving away.

“You can add wrong Chinese order to your list of apologies” You frowned at the sight of the udon prawns and sighed dramatically, putting back the box inside the bag.

“Shit. You don’t like seafood right ?” You shook your head and he bite his lips, brows furrowed in concentration. “Beef ?” He asked with a pout, his tongue poking out like a little kid.

“Chicken”

“For fuck’ sake” He groaned at his mistake and you giggled quietly. “Meh, it’s almost the same anyway” He added as he rolled his eyes.

“It’s not at all !” You playfully slapped his shoulder and he grabbed your fingers, pressing an another kiss right on your knuckles.

“This time, I definitively calling the cop !”

You both raised your head and bursted in laugh at the sight of the old lady who nicely called Roger a “homeless” and a “punk” the night before. The drummer winked at her and helped you get on your feet before walking to your flat, giggling like two hysterical teenagers.

**

“(Y/N), darling !” You smiled fondly as Freddie stood up from the old couch to hug you with enthusiasm. He pressed a loud kiss on each of your cheeks and reluctantly let Brian and John hugged you too. “Yes, hello, hello, now (Y/N) dear, please sit and tell us everything” The singer patted the spot next to him on the sofa and you chuckled softly at his excitement. Not sure what all of this was about but you were happy to see the boys.

It hadn’t been that long, a week not much more but with the events which happened previously you hadn’t been sure to see them again at all.

“Tell you about what Fred ?” You took off your jacket and threw it on the back of the couch. “Thanks, babe” You said gratefully as Roger handed you a fuming cup of tea, he winked at you and sat in one of the armchair, a little smile floating on his lips.

“I would love a cuppa too, babe” Brian commented with an ironic smile, his red special carefully resting in his arms, pads softly pinching the strings of the instruments. “Thanks for asking”

“Well, you know where the kettle is” The drummer replied casually, looking at his friends through his sunglasses, not intending to move from his spot.

“You’re a wanker” The curly haired man sighed, rolling his eyes but weren’t really surprise either.

“We all know that but that’s not very important” Freddie chimed in, signalling to his friends to shut up. “Darling, tell us how our dear Roger processed to make you forgive him”

“This idiot was moping around without you, it was painful to watch” Deaky chuckled, ignoring Roger’s glare.

“Please tell me you made him crawl and beg on his knees” The lead singer added, clapping his hands with an amused smile.

You let out a little giggle and exchanged a glance with your now official boyfriend, his mouth resting in a pout.

“Well, he did spend a certain amount of useful time on his knees...” You cheekily replied and Roger smiled proudly before winking at you.

“Oh did he now ?” Freddie grinned and shot a look to his friend, both of them sharing an amused gaze.

“That a way to apologise” John shrugged and Brian rolled his eyes.

“What about the present you were suppose to get her ?” The guitarist arched an eyebrow and the blond lost his cocky smile, scratching his chest uncomfortably.

“He offered me a bottle of lub” You laughed and took a sip of the warm drink, savouring the look of Roger with red cheeks.

“You’re kidding ?” Brian gasped and Freddie pinched his lips, clearly repressing a giggle.

“With a red bow on it” You added and the drummer shot you a look, not as amused as you by the situation. “And chinese but it was the wrong order”

“I think that the worst apology you could have done” John commented.

“Not too fast Deaky, the end is even better” You chuckled and gave a little kick in Roger’s leg with your foot. “Babe, tell them what happen with the flowers” You teased him and his whole face was red, giving a pleading look.

“Oh my god, what happened with the flowers ? I need to know more than everything else” Freddie cried and turned toward his bandmate, imitating by everyone in the room.

Roger shifted awkwardly in his seat, gaze looking at his shoes.

“I almost killed her” He muttered and you bursted in laugh. The face of each boy was priceless.

“What is wrong with you ?” Brian asked Roger, a confused look on his face.

“It was an accident !” He defended himself, crossing his arms like a little kid.

“Glad to hear that detail” Deaky sarcastically added.

The drummer rolled his eyes and sighed.

“She didn’t want to talk to me so I stopped the elevator when we were both inside so she didn’t have a choice” The blond explained under your amused gaze.

“Smart move” The lead singer commented, his chin resting on the palm of his hand, captivated by the whole story.

“But I didn’t know...she was allergic to the flowers I bought her” He admitted in a grunt, ears turning red as his bandmates snorted shamelessly next to him. “It’s not my fault okay ?” He cried, shouting daggers to Deaky, the loudest to laugh.

It only increased his laugh louder.

“I know that, babe. They’re just teasing you” You murmured and softly squeezed his forearm to calm him and his bad temper.

“I can’t believe it, of course it happened to you” Freddie let his head fell on the sofa, arms crossing around his stomach as his laugh slowly calmed down. “Roger, you’re a real piece of work”

“You really need to work on your apologies, man” Brian shook his head with a little smile.

“Honestly, I don’t know what is worse in this story” Deaky said when the room became quieter. “Roger’s disastrous apologies or the fact that (Y/N) actually forgave him”

It was now you who was turning bright red.

[chickensarentcheap]

Sanctuary -Chapter 16

Fandom: Extraction, Tyler Rake

Tagging:  @c-a-v-a-l-r-y, @alievans007, @innerpaperexpertcloud, @valkyrie-of-the-light

If anyone wants to be tagged, please let me know. I know there’s quite a few reading this ;)

Warnings: none really. Maybe some bad language.

“You're a natural,” Esme comments the next morning, as she and Nik lounge on a park bench; Yaz keeping the kids busy and laughing hysterically over his antics on the playground equipment.  

 They've all become restless being cooped up in the house with nothing more to do than count down the hours and minutes before Tyler leaves for Ireland. Opting to head into town for a late breakfast and some window shopping before taking the kids to burn off some of their excess energy. Tyler and Ovi had been gone for better part of the morning and wouldn't return to some time in the early afternoon; time at the shooting range, lunch, and long overdue talk about his expectations for the teenager while he was gone.

 “I've never been told that before,” Nik laughs, as Declan bounces happily on her lap; tiny feet planted on her thighs, hands on her shoulders, her own resting on his hips to help keep him steady. He's a cute little thing: strawberry blond hair (inherited from Tyler's mother), huge, brilliant blue eyes, and quite possibly the most adorable smile and giggle she's ever seen or heard. Out of the four, he'd been the biggest: an impressive nine pounds, ten ounces.  “Normally I'm told how uncomfortable I look.”

 Nik remembers when Tyler had to actually teach her how to hold Millie. Back in nursery in that little apartment in Australia. How nervous she'd been when that impossibly tine baby had been placed in her arms. Never had she held something so fragile. Helpless. Priceless. A little human being that depended solely on her to keep them safe.

 She's perfectly content being 'Auntie Nik'; she can spoil them rotten and love endlessly on them yet hand them back to their parents at the end of the day. With each passing birth, she's gotten more accustomed to the actual nurturing parts. She can feed them. Burp them. Bathe them. Clothe them. And is now able to successfully change a soiled diaper without promptly vomiting.

 “You don't look uncomfortable to me,” Esme says, as she adjusts the snap closure on the back of Declan's baseball cap and then slips it back onto his head. “And he obviously doesn't think so either. Look how happy he is. He adores you.”

 As terrible as it sounds to even to Nik's own ears, Declan is her favourite. He's vibrant and full of life; always smiling or giggling and very rarely crying of fusing. Infinitely curious. Simply loving life and everyone and everything in it. The twins rarely bother with her; they're head strong and wild, whereas she's very strict and routine orientated. Millie is a character all on her own. Five going on fifteen, full of sass and attitude. Never backing down from a challenge and very rarely showing any signs of fear. Very much her father's daughter. Right down to the bad habit of immediately distrusting others and shutting them out.

 “You're a strong little thing,” Nik says to the baby, laughing and wriggling away from the hands that try to latch onto her sunglasses. “You're going to be walking in no time, I think. Those are some powerful legs you've got there! I remember when you were still in your mommy's belly and you would kick her hard enough to make her cry sometimes.”

 “There were a couple times he nearly brought me to my knees,” Esme recalls, shaking her head in disbelief. “Like he would just get all that power into that one kick and just let me have it. If Tyler was lying up against me, it would even wake him up sometimes. All the kicking and the rolling around. You've just never sat still,” she addresses her son, tickling his stomach. “Always on the go! Even then. You never wanted to settle and now look at you. Still going about with your nonsense.”

  “You're going to grow up and be big and strong just like your daddy,” Nik says.  “You'll be able to put your older brothers in their places, that's for sure. And you'll be able to protect your sister from any mean boys in the neighbourhood. Or beat up any boyfriends that don't treat her right.”

 “Boyfriends,” Esme laughs. “Bold of you to assume that Tyler is ever going to let her date.”

 “Is he still bent out of shape over that? He's probably just worried because he remembers what he was like when he was a teenager. He doesn't want her bringing him any boys like him.”

 “I can imagine how my dad would have reacted to me bringing Tyler home. That would not have gone well. I'm the first girl after three boys. He would have taken one look at Tyler and the hair and the tattoos and promptly kicked him out of the house. Trust me, that is not what he wanted for his daughter. Someone with an edge. He would have taken one look at him and that would have been it. I love my dad, but he definitely would not have approved. He would not have even given it a chance to get to know him. My dad had a certain vision for how my life would go. And a guy like Tyler was not part of that vision.”

 “What kind of guy was he hoping for?”

 “None, preferably,” she laughs.  “He wanted the white-collar type. Boring. Simple. Vanilla. And as you already know, there is absolutely nothing vanilla about Tyler. In any aspect of his life. He's a little...”

 “Wild?” Nik offers.

 “Edgy. Dark. Dangerous. Fearless. A mystery. The type my father definitely did not want me to end up. I think once he realized I wasn't going to give in and stay away from him, he would have come around. Even teenage me would have been unable to stay away. I can't explain it. What exactly it is. But I felt it in Dhaka. Maybe I even felt it when I walked into his place in the outback. There was something different about him. Something irresistible, despite your brain and your heart telling you to just walk away. It was impossible. In Dhaka. I couldn't stop it. I didn't want to stop it.”

 Nik completely understands. She'd felt it too; the minute she'd met him a little more than ten years ago. He’d been a challenge. An enigma. And she hadn't been able to stop going to his bed even though she'd known he'd never want her for anything more than that. No matter how many times he told her, no matter how many times he insisted that he'd never want anything more, she'd held out hope. And sometimes she still did.

 She hates how it still makes her feel; the bitterness that eats away at her when she sees them together. It’s been a little more than five years and it is still so hard. To accept the way things are. Even when it’s so blatantly obvious how happy Tyler is. How much he relishes and thrives on being a husband and a father. How it has brought out a light within him; a sense of peace and contentment that had been absent from his life since his son died, and his first marriage disintegrated. And she should be happy about that. That he’s far removed from the Tyler Rake that existed in that little shack in the outback.  That he’d given himself the chance to actually be happy; that he’d let someone break down those walls and show him what it is like to be wanted and loved.  But it’s difficult. He hadn’t wanted that person to be her. And now she had to sit back and watch as his life went on.  A spectator to just how wildly and crazily in love he is with someone else.

 “Have you given it much thought?” Esme asks. “About having your own family?”

 “I have a family. I have Yaz. The team. All of you.”

 “You know what I mean, Nik,” she sips at a takeout cup of piping hot ginger and lemon tea; a rather potent smelling concoction that she swears help calm her stomach and her bad nerves.

 “I’m a much better Auntie than a mother. I’m too selfish. I enjoy what I do too much. I like being able to come and go as I please. Nothing tying me down. No one I have to answer to. That kind of life was never meant for someone like me.”

 “Six years ago, you could have said the same thing about Tyler. That this kind of life wasn’t meant for someone like him.’

 “That’s different. He wasn’t allowing himself to have this life. He hated himself too much. He was a mess and didn’t want to bring anyone else into it.  But he thrives on this kind of existence.  And he needed it. The stability. Someone to come home to. Kids that love and idolize him. Things that give him a purpose. Could imagine where he’d be if you’d never come along? He would have let himself die that day on the bridge. I’m sure of that.”

 “Sometimes it seems like a lifetime ago,” Esme sighs. “And then there’s other days where it seems like it was just yesterday. I’ve made peace with it. I’ve put it behind me. But sometimes…I don’t know…sometimes it just creeps up on me. Something just brings it back to the surface. I try not to let it get to me. But it’s in there. I can feel it.”

 “You’re probably just on edge because he’s leaving,” Nik suggests, as she places the baby down on a blanket that lays spread out at their feet, then accepts the cup of coffee that Esme had been babysitting for her.  “Are you feeling okay? The way you’re drinking that stuff, you’re not…”

 “Oh my god no. There is no bun in this oven. Not yet anyway.  It is definitely just bad nerves. And stress. I am so stressed, Nik. Not just about this. This is just the icing on the proverbial shit cake.”

 “Talk to me. What’s going on? Are things okay with you and Tyler?”

 “For once, it actually has nothing to do with him. I mean, other than the fact he’s leaving in eight hours and I have no idea when he’ll be back. If he’ll be back.”

 The word ‘if’ hangs heavily in the air. It’s always a possibility that things will go to hell. That the job won’t go nearly as easily and seamlessly as hoped. It very rarely does.  And there’s always that possibility that this mission may be the last one.  That one bullet in the chamber with your named etched on it.

 “It’s just stupid stuff,” Esme continues. “It’s Millie and the way she regresses like she does. It’s my parents and the fact my stepdad has been cheating on my mom for years and now they’re not even living in the same house. It’s my brothers and their relationship drama. And my sister.  She’s met this guy and she’s dropped out of college and no one knows where the hell she is. And then there’s the ex husband.”

 Nik arches an eyebrow.

“I guess he’s been friends with my mother all this time. Since things fell apart. And she had the nerve to tell him where I was. Address and all. He showed up at the house, Nik. When I wasn’t even there. He actually spoke to Tyler.”

 Nik smirks. “And he lived to tell about it? Maybe Tyler is starting to slip.”

 “He should have just killed him. No one would miss Mark. Not even his own parents. Well maybe my mother would. How screwed up is that? That she’s stayed friends with him but she hates Tyler? That she holds Mark up on some kind of pedestal but treats Tyler like he belongs in the gutter? It makes no sense.”

 “She has it in her head that he took you away from her,” Nik reasons. “One day you left and never came back. You said you were going on a business trip and then you’re calling to say that you’ve met someone and you’re staying in Australia.”

 “It was nearly six years ago. She needs to get a grip. He’s my husband. Whether she likes it or not. And he’s the father of my kids. Her grandchildren. You’d think that would mean something to her. He’s not a bad guy. You know that, Nik. He’s a big, strong man with an even bigger heart.”

 “With the right people,” Nik stresses. “That’s the important thing here. Only with the people that he allows himself to be that way with.”

 “It’s just so frustrating. That she just can’t give him a chance. Even if it’s just for the sake of her grandchildren.  He went to see her the other day. She called him and asked him if he would drive up. Said they needed to talk,” she rolls her eyes at the last part, sips her tea.

 “About what?”

 “Who knows. Tyler came home and never even brought it up. And I know better than to ask. If there’s one thing I’ve learned in the past five and a bit years, is hat it’s better if you just sit back and let him decide when he wants to talk about things.  You know what he’s like. He likes to keep shit in.”

 “Until he snaps and it all comes out.”

 “Exactly. Which I’ve pointed out many times and you can imagine how well that went. He’s so stubborn! So goddamn stubborn and it drives me absolutely insane.”

 “Well…” she grins, and playfully digs her elbow into her friend’s side. “…now you know how he feels when it comes to dealing with you.”

 “I am nowhere near as bad as him. Nowhere.”

 “I’ll give you that. But you’re both horribly stubborn and you’re both enormous pains in each other’s asses. But it works. In its own way. Neither of you could live without the other. I’m one hundred percent sure of that. And he’s going to be okay,” she reaches out to rub her friend’s shoulder. “He’s going to come home. To you and the kids. I promise you. We’ll make sure of it. And I know you hate me. For putting him in the situations I do…”

 ‘I don’t hate you, Nik. I could never hate you. And you don’t put him in anything. Tyler manages that all on his own.  If anyone is an expert on getting himself caught up in wild and crazy shit, it’s him. I just wish…” her voice trails off, a frown curving her lips as she lays a hand over her eyes to shield them from the sun and peers into the distance. “…what the hell?”

 “What?” Nik turns her attention to what has caught her friend’s eye. TJ wandering away from the playground, towards a stranger waving to him from a cluster of bushes and trees fifty meters away. “Yaz!” she yells at her brother, whose completely oblivious as he busies himself pushing Mille and Tanner on the swing. “What are you doing?! You’re supposed to be watching that one too!”

 “It’s okay,” Esme assures her, and hands her the cup of tea. “Tyler’s fine. He won’t hurt him. He doesn’t hurt kids. Only women.”

 “You know that guy?”

 “Unfortunately,” she sighs, and slips her feet into her flip flops. “That’s my ex husband.”

 ***

  “Tyler James Rake Junior!” Esme bellows, as she stomps across the grass, to where her son is immersed in conversation with Mark. As if they’re long lost friends.  “Just what in the blue hell are you doing?!”

 “We’re talking about football,” her son informs her. As if it’s perfectly natural to be making friends with complete strangers. “But real football. Like daddy likes. Not the stupid NFL.”

 “You do not just go wandering off like that,” she scolds him, dropping to one knee in front of him, hands on his shoulders. “How many has daddy and I talked to you about that? That you stay where we can see you? That you just don’t go off on your own?”

 There are many reasons for their warnings. And their worries. Yes, there’s a lot of unsavoury and sketchy people out there that are just waiting to take advantage of a child. But there’s also the possibility of there being someone out there just waiting to exact revenge. It is a strange way to live: always looking over your shoulder, waiting for the other shoe to drop. But it’s the nature of the beast.

 “He’s fine,” Mark pipes up. “I wasn’t going to hurt him.”

 She ignores him and continues to address her son. “What did daddy tell you? About never taking off like that? About never talking to strangers?”

 His chin falls to his chest, a pout curving his lips. “That I should always be where someone can see me.”

 “You scared me. And Auntie Nik. Don’t go wandering off like that, okay? What if something happened to you? Mommy doesn’t want to lose you. She loves you way too much. Come here…” she draws him into her arms, a hand on the back of his head as he snuggles his face into her shoulder. “…I’m sorry I yelled. I’m sorry I hurt your feelings. But you scared me, Tyler. Please don’t do that again, okay?”

 “Okay,” he agrees with a sniffle, and when he pulls back, she uses gentle fingertips to clear the tears off his cheeks and the sides of his nose.  “I’m sorry, mommy. But it’s not a stranger. He’s my friend.”

 “No. He most certainly is not. He’s not your friend.”

 “But he came to the house and said he knows you and he talked to daddy.”

 “He is not your friend,” she stresses.

 “Everything okay?” a breathless Yaz inquires as he arrives on the scene. “I’m sorry, Esme. I just looked away from him for less than a minute. I was caught up with the other two and I just glanced away and…”

 “Everything’s fine,” she assures him, wiping grass and dirt off her knee as she stands up. “He’s okay. A little too fearless, but okay. Can you take him back?”

 “I want to stay with you,” her son argues, and wraps both arms around one of her legs.

 “Who are you?” Yaz addresses Mark.  No chill. Just straight to the point.

 “I’m Mark,” he steps forward and offers a hand.

 Yaz looks at his hand, then straight in the eye, and then back to the hand again. Giving a derisive snort as he turns to Esme. “Mark, Mark? As in…?”

 “Just take him back to the others,” she says, and pries loose little fingers from around her thigh. “Go with Uncle Yaz,” she speaks to her son. “He’ll take you down to see the ducks and the geese. Mommy will be there in a few minutes. Can you do that for me? Go with uncle Yaz to feed ducks?”

 He nods, and she takes his little face in her hands and presses a kiss to his forehead.

 “You’ll be okay?” Yaz asks. “If you need me to stick around…”

 “I’ll be fine.”

 He nods, then looks at Mark. “Just so you know, I know about fifteen different ways to kill someone without leaving any evidence behind. And my sister knows about five times more than that.”

 “I’m not here to cause trouble,” he promises. “I’m just here to talk.”

 “Yeah…sure you are…” Yaz mutters, and then takes TJ by the hand and hauls him off back towards the playground.

 ****

 “He’s a little cutie,” Mark observes. “Looks nothing like you though. None of them do.”

 “What the hell is wrong with you?” Esme hisses. “First you show up at my house and talk to my husband, now you’re following me around and talking to my three old? Are you following me?”

 “You never called,” he attempts to reason. “I gave your husband my business card and he said he’d tell you to give me a call and…”

 “He should have just punched you in the throat and threw your ass in a shallow grave. And believe me, he’s more than capable of doing it. And much worse things. What do you want? It’s been eight years. No contact. Exactly the way I like it. And all of a sudden you just show up out of the blue? Are you unhinged?”

 “I’ve kept in touch with your mom. She’s the one who told me where to find you.”

 “Oh, I know. And believe me, she’s going to be on my shit list for a long time. What do you want? Why are you showing up at my house? Why are you following me to a park and watching me with my kids? Do you realize how creepy that is? That you’re just hanging out watching us and talking to my son? That is creepy as fuck and that is a line you never should have crossed. My son, Mark? Are you serious right now?”

 “You’re making way too much of a big deal out of this, Esme. I guess some things never change, huh? You still overreact.”

 “Don’t even try that with me. I’m not the same person I was when I let you get away with all your crap. So don’t you dare try and gaslight me. For once just own up to your own shit. You never should have kept in contact with my mother and you definitely should not have shown up at my house. You talked to my husband? Like, seriously Mark?”

 “He’s a nice guy. Not nearly as intimidating as he looks,” her ex smirks. “He’s a big boy, huh? Strong as hell.”

 “Why don’t you show up at the house again and try your bullshit on him and you can see just how strong and intimidating he can be?  I honestly would like to see that. I’d like to see him just hand you your ass. You have no idea what he’s capable of. And I don’t think you really want to find out.”

 “I’m not underestimating him. I’ve heard the stories. They’re out there if you know the right people. I definitely would not want to get on his bad side.  I heard what he did to those guys back in that apartment in Dhaka. I thought maybe it was all just a bunch of bullshit. Did he really kill a guy with a garden rake?”

 “I’m not indulging you in this. I don’t care what you’ve heard. I don’t care who you’ve heard it from. You had no right going to my house and talking to him. And you definitely had no right coming here and talking to my son. How low are you willing to stoop? How much further down into the gutter are you willing to go? That is my child, Mark. My three-year-old. And you’re out here luring him away like some pedophile.”

 “I was not luring him away. He saw me and wandered over to talk to me. That’s it. I would have never hurt him, you know that.”

 “Because you only hurt women, right?” she crosses her arms over her chest. “Just tell me what you’re doing here. Why do you want to talk to me so badly? Can’t you just go back under whatever rock you’ve been living under for the past eight years? I have a life. One that doesn’t include you. I have a husband and kids. Can’t you just let me be?”

“I just want to talk to you,” Mark assures her. “I’m not here to cause problems. I just want to talk.”

 “About what?”

 “Can we go and sit down somewhere?  Get a little privacy?”

 “You either talk right here or not at all. I’m not going anywhere with you. So talk. Whatever you have to say, just get it out.”

 His eyes narrow as he looks over her shoulder. “Your friend is staring at us.”

 “That’s Nik. And she’s probably going through all the different ways she can kill you. You wouldn’t want to meet her in a dark alley, either. Stop trying to change the subject. What do you want? Why are you here?”

 “To talk.”

 “I got that already. About what? You’re testing my patience, Mark.”

 “First things first…” he reaches into the breast pocket of his golf shirt and plucks out a small, sparkling and shiny object, offering it to her.  “…you left it behind.”

 The engagement ring he’d given to her many years ago. When things had seemed normal. Perfect. When she’d been convinced she’d found the love of her life and she’d wanted nothing more than to devote her life to him.

 She slaps his hand away. “You’re lucky I didn’t shove it up your ass or down your throat. What is wrong with you? Why would you bring that? If I didn’t want it then, why would I want it now?”

 “Well I noticed you don’t wear one, so…”

 “So you thought I’d just take that one back and wear it? You really are a delusional, arrogant prick, aren’t you. You’re not part of my life anymore. You haven’t been part of my life in eight years. And I was perfectly fine with that. I don’t want your ring. I don’t want you showing up at my house. I don’t want you talking to my husband or my son. You’re messed up, Mark. You have serious issues. You need to just go. Go back to whatever cave you’re living in and…”

 “Denver,” he interrupts. “I live in Denver now.”

 “Oh, how convenient. Considering you hated Colorado when we were together. Well go back to Denver, then. Go back there and leave me alone. Leave us alone.”

 She attempts to turn on her heel and walk away, but he captures her by the wrist and turns her around to face him.

 “Don’t…” she warns, and yanks her hand out of his grasp. “…ever touch me like that.”

 He releases her and then holds his hands up in surrender. “Just give me a chance, okay? Let me just explain what I’m doing here. It’s just to talk, I promise. There’s things I need to say to you. To get off my chest. Will you let me do that?”

 She crosses her arms over her chest once again, head cocked to the side as she waits for him to continue.

 “I’m in a program. For my drinking. I know what you’re going to say. That it only took eight years for me to get to this point.  And that I should have listened to all the times you begged me to go and get help. That things would be completely different now if I had have.”

 She doubts it. Their problems extended far beyond his alcohol issues. Getting help for that barely scratches the surface.

 “One of the things I need to do…to make a clean break and start a new life…is to make amends for things I’ve done. It doesn’t erase what was said or what I did, but it’s an important step I need to take. For my own mental and physical health.”

 “Because that’s all it was ever about, right Mark? You. I was never really in the equation.”

 “Maybe it will give you some kind of closure as well. Maybe you need to hear these things just as much as I need to say them. So you can get on with your life.”

 “I’ve gotten on with my life. I met the love of my life. The true love of my life. I got married. Had babies. I love the life I have. With the person I’ve made that life with. I don’t need to hear anything from you, Mark. But I understand why you need to say them.”

 He gives a smile of appreciation, taking a deep breath as he nervously rubs his hands together.  “I know that I hurt you,” he begins. “I know that I wasn’t the easiest person to get along with. Live with. That there were things I said and did that were horrible. That I was a terrible person to you a lot of the times. Especially after the baby.”

 She nods in agreement, swallowing down the lump of emotion that has lodged in her throat.

 “I think we just got caught up in things.  I had just come out of a bad relationship and I was looking for someone…anyone…to fill that hole inside of me. And you were there. I met you and everything seemed right with the world again. And maybe it was wrong. Maybe it never should have happened. I was your commanding officer. But it did happen. And I don’t regret that. Because there were some good times. And when things were good, they were damn good. Weren’t they?”

 “I never denied there were good times, Mark. But there were more bad than good and you can’t deny that.”

 “And you can’t deny that those times weren’t all my fault. You’re not exactly the easiest person to live with, Esme. You don’t make it easy to love you. I’m surprised this guy’s held on as long as he has, to be honest.”

 She smirks. “And you were doing so well there for a minute. You almost had me feeling sorry for you.”

 “He must have a lot more patience than I do. Almost six years, right? And he’s still around? You must be doing something right.”

“I give amazing blow jobs and he gets laid nearly every day, twice a day,” she retorts, and he frowns. “You actually almost had me there, Mark. I was starting to feel sorry for you. I was actually starting to feel proud of you for getting help. And then you do this. You turn it around so you’re the victim.”

 “I’m only pointing out that things fell apart because of both of us. Granted, I was a lot worse than you were and you put more into it when it came to trying to keep things together. You definitely worked harder than I did when things were falling apart.  And I know I went off the deep end after the baby. I’m sorry. For the things I said and the things I did to you. The other women. The lying. The being a complete asshole.  And that’s what I came to say to you. That I’m sorry and I hope one day you can forgive me.”

 She nods, considering his words, arms still crossed over her chest, hands rubbing her shoulders.

 “You have a beautiful family, Esme. You’ve got a guy that’s obviously crazy about you. Amazing kids. And I’m glad you found that. I’m glad you found someone that loves you as much as he does. Someone that could give you what I couldn’t.  I’m sorry I couldn’t be the kind of man that you needed. I really am. Even now I wish things could have been different.”

 “Things happen for a reason,” she says. “Had we…had you fixed things…I wouldn’t have what I have now. I never would have met Tyler. And that was the best thing that ever happened me. Even if what happened afterwards was screwed up. I don’t regret meeting him. Or going through what I had to. He almost died. I almost lost him and I had just found him. But I don’t regret how I met him or how things happened between us. And none of that would have happened if things worked between us.”

 “Well I hope he appreciates it. How much you love him. How much you’re willing to go through for him. Because when you love, you love with your whole heart. Your whole being. And I just hope he realizes how lucky he is. I hope that you have a long life together. A happy life. And I really am sorry I couldn’t give you all that.”

 “And I’m sorry too,” she admits. “For not being the person you needed.”

 “That’s the thing. You were. And I was just too stupid to realize it.”

 “Mommy,” Millie appears by her side, tugging at the bottom of her t-shirt.  “I’m hungry.”

 “Again?” Esme laughs, and scoops her up into her arms. “You’re getting to be just as bad as your daddy and your brothers. Can you say hi?”

 “Hi,” the little girl chirps, and offers a hand. “I’m Amelia. But everyone calls me Millie. I like that better.’

 He smiles and shakes her hand.

 “I’m five,” she announces. “Those are my brothers...” she nods over her mother’s shoulder in the direction of where Yaz is helping the twins shake playground sand out of their sandals. “Tyler and Tanner. They’re twins. But they don’t look exactly alike.”

 “Fraternal,” Esme explains. “Not identical. But you’d never know it if you saw them side by side. It’s hard for people to tell them apart, isn’t it, Millie? We can because we live with them and see them every day. But to other people it’s hard.”

 Millie nods. “Sometimes, at school, if they have a new teacher or a new person watching them on the playground, they’ll pretend to be each other. Just to mess people up. They think it’s funny,” she rolls her eyes at that, then adds in exasperation, “Boys. They try at home too, but mommy and daddy know who is who. That’s my other brother,” she points in the direction of where Nik is buckling the baby into his stroller. “Declan. He’s just a baby. I like him better than the other two. I really want a baby sister. I’m tired of having brothers.”

 “Well that’s something your dad and I have to decide. Whether it be a brother or a sister.  We don’t really get to pick. It just happens.”

  “Do you know my daddy?” Millie addresses Mark. “His name is Tyler too. My brother was named after him.”

 “We met,” he confirms. “We don’t really know each other though.”

 “You know mommy?”

 He nods.

 “How?”

 “Your mom and I knew each other a long time ago. We met at her old job. Long before she met your dad or had you or your brothers.”

 “You were friends?”

 He smiles. “Something like that.”

 “Do you like dogs?”

 Mark blinks.

 “I have a dog. His name is Macaroni. But everyone calls him Mac. I try telling everyone that’s not his name, but…” she shrugs.

 “Welcome to the world of five-year old’s,” Esme grins. “Where your attention span is limited yet you can carry on six different conversations at the same time. I should go. The other three are probably hungry too. And we should get home before daddy and Ovi, right?” she presses a kiss to Millie’s temple.

 “Ovi’s my other brother,” Millie explains. “But he didn’t come from mommy’s tummy. Mommy and daddy didn’t make him like they made the rest of us. I’m only five, but I know how these things work, you know.  Ovi doesn’t look like me. But he’s still my brother.”

 “The drug dealer’s kid?” Mark asks Esme, and she nods. “Pretty admirable. You guys taking him on like that.”

 “He needed a family. Him and Tyler have a pretty tight bond. Even back then they did. And we couldn’t just leave him there.”

 “He never would have survived. If you hadn’t have taken him. You realize that, right?”

 She nods, then gives Millie a smile and a kiss on the forehead. “Hungry? Should we go and grab something to eat? Make Uncle Yaz pay? We should go. If all four of them start carrying on at the same time…”

 “Thank you, Esme,” he reaches out and rubs her shoulder. “For hearing me out. I know it wasn’t easy for you and I know you didn’t owe me anything. And I hope one day you can forgive me.”

 “Maybe,” she says. “I’m glad to see you’re getting yourself together, Mark. That you’re finally taking things seriously and getting the help you need. I really am. You deserve much better than the cards you’ve been dealt. You always did.”

 He smiles, then reaches out to tuck a wayward piece of hair behind her ear. “Your hair has always done that,” he chuckles. “I always used to fix it for you.”

 “Well, someone else does that for you now. So…”  she backs away. Far enough that he can’t reach her.

 “I really am happy for you. Genuinely happy. You got the life you wanted. Someone that loves you and can provide for you, give you children. He’s lucky.”

 “I’m pretty lucky myself. Even if it takes something like this to make me realize it. He’s a good man. Not perfect, but perfect for me.  And he’s a great father. Right, Millie? Isn’t he? Isn’t he a great daddy?”

 “The best daddy ever,” she gushes. “Even if he won’t let me paint his nails or wear the tiara.”

 “It’s a long story,” Esme says.

 “But he does take me fishing,” the little girl continues. “And hiking. Those are pretty cool too. Do you have kids?”

 “No,” he responds. “I was never lucky enough to have kids. Your mom’s a good mom, isn’t she?”

 “The best ever,” Millie says, and presses a noisy kiss to Esme’s cheek. “Even if she does keep giving me brothers.”

 “And that’s our cue to leave,” Esme laughs. “I need to get these guys fed and home. It was nice seeing you, Mark. For what it’s worth, I hope you got what you needed by coming here. I know it wasn’t easy for you, either.”

 “If you ever need anything, and I mean anything, don’t hesitate to call. I’ll help anyway I can. Maybe we can start from square one. Be friends again. We always worked better as friends. Would you at least think about it? Give it a chance.”

 “We’ll see,” she says. “If you don’t hear from me…well if you don’t hear me, just take care of yourself. You’re on the right path. Stay on it.”

 “I will,” he promises, and then she turns on her heel and walks away.

[anothers-trash-my-treasure]

Bittersweet - Chapter Two

Surprise I finished it tonight so HERE WE GOOOO. Sorry, this took me a hot second to get out, but better late than never I suppose. Enjoy!

Pairing: Merriell Shelton / Reader (femme)

Warnings: I don’t think there’s any?? Lemme know if I should change this.

Word Count: 2104

Tag List: @r-ahh-mi @the-almond-dinger @elliotmercury @fahrenheit39

Let me know if you wanna be added to the tag list!

A few days had passed. And with each passing day, my hope that Merriell would call faded a little more. I shouldn't be surprised. After all, I would only be in Louisiana for another week and a half, it’s not like anything serious could come out of it. But still, it would’ve been fun to just..fool around a little? When I voiced this to Chloe she laughed a little too hard.

“What?” I ask while taking a sip of my wine.

“C’mon y/n,” she starts, looking at me with a raised eyebrow, “You are not someone who just ‘fools around a little’. You won’t even kiss someone at the bar when we go out.”

She had a point. But I wasn’t about to let her know that

“Yeah, but did you see him?” I ask, letting my head roll back and a small ‘hmph’ leave my lips, “He was gorgeous.”

She agrees with me, taking a sip of her drink with a noise of approval before switching the conversation. 

By the end of the night, I had come to the conclusion that he wasn’t going to call. It was a nice fantasy, but ultimately too good to be true. Besides, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve been let down. Too many times I’ve let myself believe that I’m worth a little trouble. Let myself believe this time, this guy is going to fight for me. But time and time again, I’m let down. It happened with my last relationship; if you could even call it that. 

I push the thought out of my head with a yawn, crawling under the covers. I turn off the bedside light and let the darkness of the room lul me off to sleep. And If I let myself dream of wide green eyes and sly smiles, well that’s no one’s business but my own. 

~

I’m pulled out of my slumber way too early. I can hear my phone buzzing against the bedside table and the default ringtone blares way too loudly. I groan realizing that someone's trying to call me. Thinking it’s probably just my mom, calling to make sure I’m still alive, I reach out my arm and grab it.

“Hullo?” I say sleepily, trying my best to not slip back into the thick fog of sleep.

“Mornin’ sunshine.”

That’s definitely not my mom. I shoot up in bed, pinching myself to make sure I’m not still dreaming.

“Merriell?” I ask a little incredulously.

A low chuckle reaches my ear and it is way too early to be hearing that up close and personal, “the one and only,” he jokes before turning to more important matters, “What have you got planned today?”

I stutter a bit, “well, I’m not gonna lie I was really planning on sleeping past,” I glance at the clock, “6 AM, Jesus, why are you up so early?” 

“Bold of ya to assume I eva’ went to bed,” He replies easily, “Seriously, whatcha up to later?”

I chuckle softly, trying to be aware that Chloe is sleeping in the next room, “Um, nothing, I don’t think. Why?” Okay, that was a lie. Chloe and I were supposed to walk down bourbon street today and possibly indulge in some serious day drinking but like hell, I was passing up the chance to see him again. 

“Well, whatta ya say I pick you up around 10?” Before I can ask what we’re doing he interrupts me, “an’ don’t ask me what we’re doing. It’s a surprise.”

I sigh, laying back down on the bed, “You sure are an enigma, Merriell Shelton.” A yawn interrupts my sentence, “But yeah, that sounds great. I’ll send you my address?”

“Sounds great boo,” He says and I can hear the smirk on his face, “See ya in a few.”

I mutter a soft ‘bye’ before hanging up. I stare at the phone in my hand for a second, a feeling of excitement and nerves but mostly just happiness because he actually called. I let out a soft squeal before scrambling out of bed. I’m up, might as well get a head start. 

~

Chloe still isn’t awake by the time Merriell comes to pick me up so I write her a note. Telling her to enjoy her day but I’ll be out with this stranger all day. She’s gonna kill me, but I can’t bring myself to care as I run out to his car. I feel like a teenager straight out of a 70’s musical when I see him leaning against the side of it, a cigarette dangling from his lips. He smiles when he sees me, letting the cigarette fall to the ground, putting it out with his foot as I approach him.

“Good morning, Merriell.” I greet him, a little unsure if I should hug him or not. 

He nods politely, a sly smile spreading over his lips as takes me in, “Mornin’” he says before whistling lowly, “for someone who isn’t a fan of mornings, you sure are well put together for this ungodly hour.” he teases.

I narrow my eyes at him playfully, “trust me, if someone hadn’t woken me up at 6 AM, I definitely would not look this presentable.” 

He hums, moving to open the car door for me, “I’m sure you’d still look just as beautiful.” He closes the door behind me before settling into his seat and driving off. He fills the silence easily, asking me about my visit, where I’m from and what I do. Everything is so easy with him, it’s a little startling. The banter comes quick and easy, the ability to make each other laugh right along with it.

What surprises me is that he has the whole day planned out. This is no half-assed date to try and take advantage of the next cute tourist he would lay eyes on. This is personalized, letting me get to know him without him telling me anything by bringing me to his favourite spots and letting them do the talking for him. He takes me to brunch at this little cafe/diner, claiming they have the best pancakes and of course, he’s right. The workers all know his name and his order, greeting him with warm smiles and laughing when he introduced me.

“Showin’ a lost tourist around. Found this one lurking around the french quarter, had to show’er that there’s more to the city than what Google says.” He winks at me and smirks when I blush and lower my head in fond-embarrassment. 

After brunch, he drives me around, stopping when he wants to show me something or another that is clearly so much better to see that, as he put it ‘all that crappy tourist shit’. As we drive his hand finds the skin of my bare knee, the contact sending tingles throughout my body. He doesn't try to move it any higher, just enjoys the contact as we cruise down Louisiana back roads. 

He laughs when Chloe calls and reams me out for abandoning her today while we’re sitting on the hood of his car near the crescent city connection.

“Why didn’t ya just tell me that ya had plans?” He asks, an amused smile spread across his face as he nudges my shoulder playfully, “That desperate to see me, huh?” 

I run my hands through my hair, ready to deny it playfully but then I catch the way the sunlight plays with the different hues of green and blue in his eyes and I decide to throw caution into the wind. 

“You caught me,” I admit, biting my lip coyly. When his eyebrows raise at my response I press on, “I mean can you blame me?” I ask playfully, “You were so charming the day we met, Mer. Kissing my hand and introducing yourself like such a gentleman.” My voice is teasing, but my words are true. I giggle a little when he looks at me a little too long without acknowledging my words, “What? Has little ol’ me made the Merriell Shelton speechless?”

He shakes his head with a coy smile, looking out at the setting sun before looking back at me, “‘m afraid it’s gonna take a bit more than a few lousy compliments to take the words outta ma mouth, sweetheart.” and with that he’s sliding off the hood, pulling me down with him, “c’mon, I betta get’chu back to your friend before she has my head.”

And although we spent literally the whole day together, I’m a little disappointed that it has to come to an end. He drives me back to the rented house we’re staying at in a comfortable silence, the only sound being soft music over the soft purr of the engine. My hand rests on his that sits on my knee, our fingers tangled in each others. When we pull up to the house, he shuts the car off, bringing our intertwined hands to his lips and kissing the skin of my knuckles softly. 

“Thank ya miss,” He says between soft kisses, “For blessing me with your presence today.” 

I smile at him shyly, suddenly not knowing how to end things, “Well thank you for calling.” I say softly. 

Much to my displeasure, he untangles our fingers and gets out of the car to walk around to my side and open the door for me. I step out of it carefully, allowing him to shut it behind me. I desperately want this night to never end, but I know it has to. But there’s a part of my mind that tells me this might be it. He might not call again and this could be the last time I see him. He’d be nothing more than a story I tell my friends. A simple Hey, remember that time I let a complete stranger show me around a city I’ve never been in? And the thought alone has my heart clenching painfully. He must sense my change in mood, because he brushes a piece of hair back from my face, tucking it behind my ears and meeting my eyes.

“Whats’a matter?” He asks simply, his eyes boring into mine.

I shrug, avoiding his intense stare, “It’s nothing.” I insist, crossing my arms, letting my body language attempt to shield me from any future for a rejection I might be setting myself up from, “I had a really good time today Merriell.” I say honestly.

He smiles, taking a step closer to me, “I did too.” His voice is soft, almost a little lost.

His thumb and pointer finger take my chin in a light grasp, tilting my head upwards so I look at him, My arms uncross when his other hand finds my waist, one of my hands landing on his forearm while the other rests on his chest. Time seems to slow down, my eyes bouncing back and forth from his eyes, that have held me captive all evening, to his lips, that probably taste like cigarettes and faintly of the ice cream dessert we split at dinner. Lord help me I want him to kiss me. It’s the only thought that’s crossing my mind; What his lips would feel like on mine, what he’d taste like, how his hands would cup my face to deepen it.

Please, I think desperately, Kiss me.

But he doesn’t. 

He clears his throat and steps backwards, removing his hands from my body and bringing one up  to rub at the back of his neck, “I’ll uh-” He pauses, “I should let you go.” He looks away.

I feel an exhale leave my body but I nod nonetheless, a small ‘okay’ leaving my lips. Disappointment sits heavy on my shoulders as I watch him walk back around to his side of the car, He looks at me over the top of the car, a smile that looks way too forced plastered on his lips.

“I’ll call you?”

I bit my lip to stop myself from asking him to stay for a drink. If he wanted to stay, he would have kissed me, “Please do.” I tell him before waving half-heartedly and turning to walk inside.

 I hear the car start behind me and part of me wants to turn around and ask him if he wants to keep driving around some more, anything to not have the night end light this. I keep walking, even as I hear the car drive away. When I reach the front door I turn around, staring at the retreating tail lights, whispering softly to no one;

“Goodnight, Merriell.”

~

Part 3

[risingleomoon]

That Time I Almost Dated Aquaman

Originally published as Verity Charlotte ©️ 2021

“What’s happened, Vey-ity?”

I liked the he started or ended every sentence with my name. R can't seem to manage an "r" sound to save his sweet life. He called my by the name I chose. The first person to ever do so. Others say my DeadName. With R, I never felt unseen. Knowing it would be the last time I would hear him say my name like that, I breathed in deeply and lifted my finger from the button that would un-mute my mic.

“For someone who stands so tall for truth, I sure do spend a lot of time avoiding it. You see, the funny thing about the truth is that everybody wants it but nobody is happy when they get it. It’s one of those vicious circles. I have a deep rooted need to know the truth, but when I finally have it, I’ll stare at it until I’m dumb with denial. Yes, I can see the facts in front of me. I am smart enough to do the math. I will call it by its name as I simultaneously deny it exists. The truth is the truth as the sky is blue. Still I seek ways to untruth the truth I so desperately needed. An enigma wrapped in a well tailored conundrum. Unfortunately, I’m now in a position where the truth wins and I’ve got to hand it a goddamned trophy.”

I could hear him chuckle. I close my eyes and inhale as though I could breathe him in and keep him forever. I’d never heard anyone laugh with an accent before. I’d never known anyone quite like R at all before. We met on a random Shoot Your Shot Laura hosted one night. I’m still a little baffled at how quickly things happened. How did I get here from there?

To throw more blue sky ribbons of truth out there, I’d put myself on a tighter lockdown during the summer of 2021 than Covid did the year before. I outright hid from the world. By July, one person had access to me and we joined Clubhouse in an attempt to make me feel … something … again. Laura and Thorilla have hosted the Singles in the City Clubhouse events for what feels like an eternity. First, I found music on Clubhouse. Then, I found business. Once I found the business side I found Laura. Laura is heavy in the female entrepreneur life and she's also the Queen of Hearts as a professional dating coach. And she's damn good at her job.. Laura and I connected privately. I like her style; power in the feminine self. My own business was nonexistent and I wanted help from the best. After a while, I found myself invited to join in on a Shoot Your Shot practice round.

Single in the City has been around for some 15 years. Incidentally, I'd recently found myself single, just not in the city. And it was summer after all. I also felt pretty low about myself. I wanted a confidence boost that a bikini can't give. Laura saw that. She saw ME. We figured I'd keep my hand down and simply observe, learn from others as we went. "And besides, Effy's in there." Sure, I told her. Let's see how it works, maybe start connecting with real people again. The rules of Date Club are simple: open your Twitter or Instagram to the public, link it in your Clubhouse bio, then raise your hand (if you’re so inclined) and wait your turn to shoot your shot at dating some of the most beautiful, successful, wealthy and exciting singles in America.

Go big or go home, she says.

I want to be absolutely clear that I never once raised my hand to speak. I’m not 100% sure I spoke at all actually. I must've at least sputtered out a yes. Effy burst out laughing. I burst out laughing. Laura set this up, right? The entire encounter must have taken all of five minutes and it was entirely unorthodox to Shoot ones Shot at an unarmed newbie. It went something like this:

Me half listening, half scrolling Twitter and imagining how I’m going to ream Kitty for supporting this moronic idea when she gets back online. But whoever is speaking has a cute accent.

Scroll

Scroll

Scroll

Stop

“… magic eyes and a mischievous smile …” (with the accent it sounded more like “majeek eyes and a misschivus smile, I’m a sucker for a good voice, it’s the only thing they can’t lie about.)

I finally looked at who was speaking. A baby. Bet he's going straight for Effy, I smile to myself. That girls dance card is never empty.

“… she has bewitched me with her beauty” Nod, nod. This is a good one. He lives close to her in Cali, likes to surf. Profile click. There is no way in hell that man is 50 years old. Effy is 25.

“… I dig that she jives with plant care. I have an aloe myself …” Chuckle, Ef must've talked about her "plants" again. They're her babies. Polynesian and Iranian? He is not fifty!

“… dinner on the beach and set goals for the future …” Poor guy is in for it now. Effy's future plans are limited to who she's wearing to breakfast. He. Is. Not. FIFTY.

“… mermaid hair and won’t raise her hand…” Wait, what? Huh? I cursory glanced around the active room members. There are only seven women in this room right now. My heart thuds. My hand is the only one still down.

“… I’d like to shoot my shot with Vey-ity!”

Later I would laugh and tell him that it felt like being called down on the Price is Right. Laura, bless her heart, was trying to shut the whole thing down before he could say my name. Apparently I was the last to read the clues that Aquaman threw ashore. Thorilla was laughing his head off while Laura scrambled to remind everyone that we only practice our shots on people with raised hands. I laughed it off and Effy DM’d me on Insta that she’s been here awhile and has never spotted that one before. Good catch, she says. I caught fucking Aquaman, Effy. This is bad, very bad.

Naturally I didn’t land THE Aquaman. He was pretty die hard about Lisa Bonet at the time. As it should be. But R is a dead ringer (he is in fact 50, despite his youthful looks). And despite his ridiculously sexy accent and the fact that I was about to be swept up in the kind of life I’d only dreamed about, this was still very bad. Oh so bad. I had absolutely no business in a dating room. Though I considered myself single at the time, it was still wrong. Not as wrong as continuing the friendship all these months later, of course. It was easy enough to twist the truth as I told myself that there was no need to feel guilt. Nothing sexual had occurred beyond the time of the in-between, he'd seen nothing that hadn't been previously shared to Patreon. He’d remained a consistent sounding board. That’s all.

See, there's that "I see the truth but if I squint my eyes I can adjust the light and shadows so this will all still somehow work out for the best." September morphed into November and still it went on. I'll call it by its name: Emotional Affair. By the time balance was restored in other areas of my life, R and I had developed a flirtatious kinship. We realized pretty quickly that we had a lot in common. Native Californians with a zest for a more magickal and natural life. Oh yes, Aquaman and I got along swimmingly, as it were. In another life, I'd have hopped a plane and married him. In this life though, there’s just no way it could have lasted. Whatever status I chose, my heart belonged to someone else. Girls like me don’t get fairy tales like R. Some are just too good.

“What shall we have the trophy engraved with Vey-ity?”

“John Bruce", I told him. “Because at the end of every day, he’s the man you can’t beat. No one can. I can move to Cali tomorrow and the day after I'll be waking up longing for him. He’s the man that will always win. He’s earned the truth. I want to give it to him so we can finally grow together into what we are meant to be.”

“He doesn’t deserve you”

“You’re supposed to say that. I don’t deserve him.”

“Perhaps you deserve each other”.

This was not said maliciously. That’s not R’s style. He meant it. He meant it from the depths of his soul. Beautiful old soul that he is, R genuinely wished me well. He may be the first. I'll miss his voice and the way he said my name. But I will never long for him in my soul. I will never share with R the cord of fate that ties me to John Bruce. That tie can never be cut.

"Perhaps we do".

We only deserve the best, John Bruce and I. We deserve each other.

[halfbloodglader]

Enigma (Minho)

Minho x Reader - 2,347 words

Ever since she showed up in the glade, Minho was head over heels for the Y/H/C haired Y/E/C eyed girl. He really wasn’t sure why because their personalities constantly clashed. But, he blamed it on the fact that they shared the same beliefs and how their hearts were in the same place. They were both strong and brave, fighting for what they knew was right. It kept them knitted together in this strange, invisible way. And it bothered him to no end. Like an itch he just couldn't reach, it pried his mind, keeping him from mapping the maze as well as he knew he could. 

‘I should hate her!’ He grumbled to himself as he jogged across the glade, coming up behind Y/N and Newt. 

“Hey shebean!” Minho hollered out as he rushed past, smacking the back of the girls head. 

“What the hell, Minho?!” Newt yelled back at the runner. Minho just kept his eyes focused forwards and shrugged his shoulders. “Just ignore that shank.” Newt looked to the girl sympathetically. He hated to watch her alway be beaten on by Minho, always wondering why he didn’t just pick on the other boys. She didn't deserve it.

Everyone entered the council hall and Minho tried to keep his eyes from following Y/N as she approached to sit in the chair beside him. Yet another thing he despised, how she wasn’t even a keeper, yet got to act as one in meetings. 

“So, you all know why we’re here today. We need runners. Minho is making great progress, but the maze is much bigger than we thought. He can’t go out there alone everyday.” Alby crossed his arms and leaned back against the wooden beam in the middle of the room. 

“I want Newt and Ben.” Minho slumped back in his chair and looked to Alby hopefully. A ruckus broke out amongst the boys, some wanting to be runners and others shouting that Minho didn’t need help. Saying how they shouldn't be risking more lives in the maze. Everyone was in a frenzy but the girl who sat quietly, staring at the ground in thought.

“Alright, alright!” Alby shouted out. “Look, three boys is enough and if Minho thinks they’re the best choices, so be it.” He admitted and most of the boys settled. 

“You need four.” Y/N muttered. 

“Speak up shebean, no one can hear you.” Y/N glared at the runner and raised her head high. 

“You need four runners. They need to run in pairs. You’d cover twice as much ground in a day and the corridors aren’t wide enough to have three people running together.” Y/N explained and earned nods and mumbles of approval from a multitude of the boys. 

“Alright. Who’s number four then?” Minho cocked an eyebrow and Y/N rolled her eyes, looking around the room. Most of the boys darted their eyes away from her, not willing to enter a place like the maze. She took in a deep breath and looked up to the deep brown eyes of Minho. 

“Me.”

Minho scoffed. “Man, you are full full of klunk.” He crossed his arms and puffed out his chest, looking to Alby for help. 

“You need all the people you can get, Minho. She’s more than willing and more than capable. You’ve seen her run.” Alby reminded the hotheaded boy. 

“I can be partners with her.” Newt piped up and looked to the girl with a warm smile. 

“No!” Minho spat a little louder than he’d hoped. “She’s with me. You and Ben can partner up.” Minho watched as the enigma of a girl sucked in a deep breath, almost as if she was regretting even offering herself up now. 

“So be it. Starting tomorrow, you’re all runners.” Alby waved his arm in the air, dismissing the meeting and Y/N was one of the first people out. Newt waited for the room to clear and looked to Minho begrudgingly. 

“You treat her like klunk, Minho! Why are you making yourself her running partner? I thought you hated her!” The blonde stood tall, pressing Minho for truth. 

“Dude, chill. I don’t hate her. We just - it’s just…” Minho scrambled for words.

“It’s that no matter how loud I am, no matter what I find in the maze, she doesn’t notice me!” He grumbled, rubbing the back of his neck. Newt snickered, looking to Minho in disbelief. 

“You like her! Don't you?!” He exclaimed and Minho’s face flushed a deep red. 

“N-No-“ He sputtered but Newt shushed him. 

“Maybe she can teach you some humility and patience.” Newt laughed and turned on his heel, leaving a flustered Minho in the desolate room. 

“You tell anyone and I ought to break your shuck nose!” Minho screamed out after the blonde.

The next morning, Minho pranced around proudly, warming his body to run in the maze as he saw Ben, Newt, and Y/N approaching. The closer they got, the higher he jumped and the faster he moved. She seemed to have that affect on him. 

“Slow down, Minho. You’re not even in the bloody maze yet.” Newt smacked the back of the runners head, breaking him from his trance. 

“R-Right yep.” He slowed and located Y/N just a few metres away, discussing something with Ben. 

“Think you’ll be able to keep up, shebean?” Minho ruffled her hair aggressively and she smacked his hand away. 

“You’d better hope I don’t leave you in the dirt.” Y/N muttered and pushed past Minho in aggravation, heading back to Newt to stretch.

“Man, you’ve sure pissed her off.” Ben scoffed, raising an eyebrow at Minho. 

“Shut up.” He grumbled. The ground began to shake and the doors slowly crept open, the dark corridor before the group just as foreboding as the day before. 

“Alright. You guys know when you ought to be back by. So, be careful. Don’t die.” Minho shrugged and looked to the girl. Her eyes were ablaze with something that he couldn’t quite place. Anger? Passion? He had no clue. 

“Minho! Lets go!” Y/N’s voice rang in his mind and he shook his head, trying to regain focus, sprinting forwards to catch up with the girl. “Lead the way, slinthead.” Y/N let him pass her before carrying on into the maze.

The day stretched on longer than either of the kids had hoped. The sun shone down upon them relentlessly and the dead air of the maze didn’t make it any better. Minho signalled to the girl to slow down and he slumped against a wall, taking a lunch out of his pack. Y/N did the same and sat quietly, examining the stone walls around her. 

“You don’t talk much, y’know?” Minho sat forwards and waited for her attention to fall on him. To his dismay, she simply shrugged and kept eating. Now, he was fuming. He couldn’t catch her attention in the glade, and now, even when no one was else around, he still couldn’t. 

“Like, what do you have going on up in there?” Minho poked the side of Y/N’s head and she finally looked to him with the irked glare that made his heart flutter. 

“Lots. But, it’d all be beyond your comprehension.” Y/N smirked and shifted her focus back to the wall.

Minho’s face tensed and it took everything inside of him not to pin her against the wall and scream in her face. Ask why no matter what he did she didn’t seem to care. His thoughts were broken by her standing up, walking curiously towards a thick patch of ivy on the wall. 

“The hell is this?” She whispered and Minho jumped up. Her hands slowly reached up and pulled back the ivy, revealing a narrow, dark corridor. Minho hovered over her shoulder, trying to glance into the darkness. A gust of wind came blasting through, sending her jumping straight back into Minho. Unprepared, the boy stumbled back and crashed into the ground, the girl landing in his lap. 

“What was that?!” She hollered, her eyes searching the area for Minho. 

“Well, shebean. Never expected this to happen.” Minho snickered and Y/N tried to lunge off of his lap. But, Minho held her firmly, not letting go.

“Minho! Let go!” Y/N snarled, trying to pry herself from his arms. 

“Not until you tell me why you hate me so much!” He could feel Y/N’s body stiffen. 

“I don’t hate you,” She admitted. “You just treat me like klunk! Sorry for not wanting to put up with that all the time.” She huffed. 

“Ok, but that doesn’t explain why you never pay attention to me! I’ve done everything to try and get you to notice me but you’re always busy… thinking or whatever.” Y/N could feel how confused Minho really was deep down. 

“Just because I look busy doesn’t mean I don’t notice you. I notice more than you think. You just don’t know when I’m looking.” Minho took a moment to try and figure out what she’d even said. 

“Wait - are you saying you do pay attention to me? When!?” He let out an exasperated sigh. 

��Like when you’re mapping. Or when you’re talking to Alby when you’re worried about another glader.”

“Why the shuck would you pay attention to that of all things?!” He shook her shoulders and she let out a small laugh which took him by surprise. 

“Because, it proves that deep down you are a good, smart person. Not just the hotheaded, vocal halfwit you strut around as.” Y/N was tired of trying to explain it. 

“Wait- did you just say I’m a good person?” He smirked to himself and Y/N dropped her head in defeat. 

“Yeah, when you’re not being a total jerk.” She finally was able to pry herself from his arms and jumped up. A mischievous grin grew on Minho’s face.

“What now?” She sighed, picking up her pack and putting it on. 

“Let’s make a deal.” He sounded quietly, and the moment Y/N turned around she bumped into him. She backed up and cocked an eyebrow. “I’ll stop being a jerk if you start talking to me more.” He held out his hand, hoping she’d shake on it. 

“What kind of deal is that?” Y/N tried to walk past him but he grabbed her shoulder. 

“Look, we’re going to be spending a lot of time together, shuckface. I know we make a good team. But, we ought to work on your communication skills.” He smiled sarcastically and pulled her a little closer to him. 

“And you need to work on your possessiveness.” Her face dropped and went stolid. “And your stench.” A sudden grin erupted on her face and she rushed forwards down the corridor.

“Too far, Y/N! Too far!” He screamed out after her, racing down the corridor. 

“You wanted me to talk more! That’s what I’m doing!” She hollered back and Minho pushed his legs nearly to the breaking point to catch up with her. 

“I cannot believe you.” Minho scoffed as he ran in unison with the girl beside him. 

A small grew on her face. “You’d better start to.” 

Minho rolled his eyes and kept focused on making it back to the glade in time. He wanted to say something, anything to break the silence. But, something held him back.

When their feet met the soft grass of the glade once again, Alby was there waiting for them. The leader looked between the two in disbelief. 

“You didn’t kill each other?!” Alby exclaimed and Minho huffed, grabbing Y/N’s arm and dragging her off towards the map room. The moment they found themselves in the forest, an idea popped into Minho’s head. Although he knew he shouldn't do it, he couldn’t stop himself. Suddenly, Y/N’s leg was taken out from beneath her and she went face first into the forest floor. She rolled onto her back, trying to catch her breath that was knocked from her body. 

“I thought we had a deal!.” She coughed, trying to regain her vision.

Minho was on her in a second, stranding her body. “You don’t get it do you, shuckface?” The runner raised an eyebrow and Y/N store up at him, completely puzzled. 

“No, Minho! I don’t!” She barked at him, patience finally wearing thin. She struggled to get out from beneath him but he sat down on her. 

“I like you!” He blurted the words out and Y/N’s face went cold. Before she could even muster a response, Minho was being pulled off of her by Newt and Ben. 

“This shank causing you trouble?” Ben asked Y/N, looking between the two suspiciously. 

“No.” She pursed her lips and shrugged it off awkwardly, walking briskly to catch up with Newt.

The four made it into the map room and were hunched over the maps for a few hours, comparing their findings. Per usual, the three boys talked amongst themselves and Y/N sat quietly, listening to all they said. 

“Alright, I’m calling it a night. See you guys later.” Ben tossed his supplies on the table and Newt agreed with him. Y/N smiled at Ben as he passed and Newt ruffled her hair. The girl still sat in silence, fawning over the map and Minho stared right at her. Y/N could feel his eyes on her and when she finally couldn’t take it any longer, she looked up. Just as she expected, Minho was across the table staring at her with an awkward grin plastered on her face.

Y/N pushed her jaw forwards and scoffed. “What?” She muttered. 

“Guess you know my biggest secret now.” Minho mumbled and drew circles on his paper. 

“I can’t believe that’s why you were being such a jerk. You could’ve just told me.” She rolled her eyes and pushed away the map she was working on. 

“Could have. But what fun would’ve that been?”

[classic-queeries]

Holden C*ace*field: Asexuality and Representation

Some background: At the end of my junior year of high school we read Catcher in the Rye in my American Lit class. A friend pointed out a quote to me and said “hey, Holden kinda seems asexual to me.” I hadn’t been particularly interested in the book before she pointed it out, but once I read the quote I saw what my friend saw. Further reading absolutely convinced me that Holden was demisexual.

My English teacher however, did not have the best history with queer coding. When we read The Great Gatsby many in my friend group were convinced that Nick Carraway was gay. When one friend brought it up in class, however, she got shot down almost immediately. The teacher only brought up queer coding once, in reference to The Scarlet Letter, saying that Chillingworth was gay because there was subtext that he sexually assaulted Dimmesdale. Which, if you’ve read the book? Not the conclusion I’d jump to. He kept using the words “homoerotic subtext” which also did not sit well with us. 

Needless to say, I did not bring up my demi-Holden theory in class. I did not want to deal with the teacher shutting me down like he had my friend. So instead, after AP tests and I’d handed in my last major paper for the year, I wrote an essay. Full semi-formal style, MLA formatting, definitions of everything, multiple sources and examples all correctly cited. Nothing he could fight me on.

And you know what he did? He fought me on it by throwing my argument back at me without the label. What followed was a few days of me stomping around, ranting to my friends that had helped me with this about how he wasn’t listening to me. I stopped the communication after a few back and forth exchanges. I was getting nowhere.

I’m still proud of the essay. I would classify it as one of the better things I’ve written, simply because it was an argument I actually cared about. So I’d like to share it, share why I relate to Holden even in a small way, because maybe it’ll help someone else.

–Mod Sherlock

When I first ran across the word asexual I didn’t think it applied to me. But it turns out whatever definition I had read was wrong. Asexual simply means that one does not experience sexual attraction. I’ve come to terms with that, and embrace my being asexual, or ace, proudly. You’ll see me down at Pride in June having fun with my friends, decked out in purple, black, and white. Problem is that not many people know about us. The last GLAAD survey had aces as about four percent of millennials (Accelerating Acceptance 2017). That is a bigger estimate than the last one we had at one percent back in 2004.

Of course, asexulaity is kinda an umbrella term. That GLAAD survey involves aces, demisexuals, and graces. I myself identify as asexual because I cannot conceive of what exactly sexual attraction is. People look at someone else and go, “I’d hit that,” or they appear in sexual fantasies? I literally cannot make sense of it. Many people have tried to help, none succeeded. I know a few people who identify as demisexual, which means that they only experience sexual attraction to someone once they form a deep emotional bond. They have to be dating the person, or close friends, or any other number of meaningful relationships, before they experience sexual attraction. There are others who identify as grey-asexual, grace, which means that they have only limited experience with sexual attraction. They may only experience it intermittently, maybe only once or twice in their life. This differs from demi in that they may experience it without the deep emotional bond. Asexuality is best thought of as a spectrum. The ace spectrum is from allosexuals, those who do feel sexual attraction, to aces, with demi and graces somewhere in the middle (AVEN).

The fact that we don’t experience sexual attraction doesn’t mean that we aces can’t have meaningful relationships. The split attraction model (SAM) is about the difference between sexual and romantic attraction. People can have two different orientations for different attractions. I have several panromantic asexual friends, who experience romantic attraction to all genders, yet no sexual attraction. There are homoromantics, biromantics, heteromantics, every sexuality has a romantic equivalent. This of course includes asexuality as well; those who don’t experience romantic attraction identify as aromantic. I identify as an aromantic asexual because romance is an enigma. Like, what the hell even is romance? Going out on a date with someone? Movies are more fun with more people, why not bring a couple friends? Ice cream or food? How is that a date? Romance is entirely dictated by societal norms and I, for one, am tired of it. Why should I be expected to date anyone if I don’t want to? And why is it that everytime I walk home with a male friend I get people asking me if we’re dating the next day and every time I think “oh my god no we’re neighbors he’s gay and I’m aroace what the flippity fuck people.” But I digress.

The SAM stems from the fact that there are many different types of attraction, some of which are easy to confuse with sexual attraction. Sexual and romantic attraction exist and are often conflated. A common attraction variation for aces to use is aesthetic attraction, which is simply thinking that someone looks nice. I can think that someone looks pretty in a military dress uniform without being sexually attracted to them. In addition there is sensual attraction, which means that someone experiencing it wants to interact in a tactile but non-sexual way. For instance, Carrie Fisher? Was very huggable. Both aesthetic and sensual attraction are extremely easy to confuse with sexual attraction and are often so intertwined that a person cannot tell them apart. Sensual has a sexual connotation for some people but i’ve never seen it used in a sexual way. In addition, I know that before I realized I was ace I would categorize who I considered ‘sexually attractive’ by who was aesthetically pleasing and just called that sexual attraction.

Enough with the SAM, though we’ll get back to it. A common misconception about asexuals is that we don’t have sex as a rule. That’s blatantly wrong, that’s the definition of celibacy. We have different levels of comfortability with sex. Some are sex-positive, which means that they enjoy or even want sex. Others are sex-ambivalent, meaning that they don’t particularly care either way. Still more are sex-repulsed, which means that they viscerally consider sex gross and do not want to participate in it or even talk about it depending on the extent of their repulsion. Like everything, this is a spectrum. Allos can also have these opinions on sex, they are not limited to aces.

The major problem that most asexuals face is ignorance. The estimated number of asexuals was so low in 2004 partly because there just isn’t wide enough knowledge about us. That number rose three percent in the past thirteen years in part because AVEN, the Asexual Visibility and Education Network, was formed and started to help spread word. Yet we are still ignored and pushed aside, even pathologized:

“….because sexuality is taken for granted as necessary to normalcy and normative bodies….asexuality is and has been historically diagnosed as a problem in need of medical reress and treatment….[the DSM has] “hypoactive sexual desire disorder” (DSM-III-R 1987)….”female sexual interest/arousal disorder” and “male hypoactive sexual desire disorder” (DSM-V 2013). Such labels indicate that low levels of sexual desire were seen by sexology and continue to be regarded by scientific medicine as ‘unhealthy’ and abnormal, reflecting more broadly on society’s negative attitiudes toward asexuality” (Przybylo 186).

Sexual attraction is so pervasive in our society that when someone doesn’t feel it they’re treated like they have a mental illness. I’m sure there are more examples of this, but I don’t have the stomach to go looking for more. I had to talk myself out of looking through the DSM for myself, I don’t need to find more examples of bigotry and prejudice.

Even so, I find unintentional (I hope) examples of aphobic attitudes in my own classroom. Calling sexual attraction “normal” hurts. That tends to imply that anything against the norm is bad, to be shunned and destroyed. I’m reminded of a song by my favorite band, called “We Are the Others,” which has the lyrics: “Normal is not the norm/ It’s just a uniform/ Forget about the norm/ Take off your uniform/ We are all beautiful”(Delain). “Normal” is not a thing. Everyone is weird to someone else, but that doesn’t give one reason to be a bigot.

On top of this ignorance is the fact that erasure is so common in what little media we have. There was a recent TV show based of a series of comic books from Archie called Riverdale. One character, Jughead Jones, was an aroace in the comics (Riseman). In the TV show they erased Jughead’s aromanticism by placing him in a clearly reciprocated relationship with Betty, and his asexuality is up in the air, but likely erased as well (Alexander). Riverdale is just one of a few that erase ace identities. Most a-spec characters are in obscure books that you would never hear of if you didn’t go looking for them, or in webcomics which are unlikely to gain a mainstream audience. There has not been a mainstream confirmed ace character. Ever. This erasure and ignorance is what makes headcanons so important. I headcanon many of my favorite characters as ace because I relate to them so well, so why shouldn’t they share my sexuality as well? That’s why when I find a character that has a wealth of canon evidence that they might be aspec, I find the bandwagon and start driving.

So when I realized that Holden Caulfield from Catcher in the Rye might be asexual I hopped right onto that bandwagon and hit the gas. It was actually one of my friends that pointed out that Holden might be asexual. I read the quote they sent me, and immediately poured myself into the book. I kept notes on everything that Holden did, everything he said, that seemed like he might be aspec to me. As I read I related more and more to Holden, and I am convinced that Holden is aspec. I propose that Holden is a heteromantic demisexual who, having never seen the terms, confuses sensual and aesthetic attraction for sexual.

Before I get into the meat of it, let’s clear up one thing: asexuals can still get aroused. I mean, it’s a little hard to have sex without that and some of us do have sex no matter what some people seem to think. There is an important distinction for aces, however. In her article “Introducing Asexuality, Unthinking Sex,” Ela Przybylo writes that “Scholars who study the physiology around asexuality suggest that people who are asexual are capable of genital arousal but may experience difficulty with so-called subjective arousal. So when the body become aroused, subjectively-at the level of the mind and emotions-one does not experience arousal”(183). This is a very important distinction. Aces may have general arousal, but we have nothing to direct it at. Our mind is separate from our body in this case. There’s one line in Catcher about Holden feeling horny: “After a while I sat down in a chair and smoked a couple of cigarettes. I was feeling pretty horny. I have to admit it” (Salinger 63). This is after he walks into the hotel and sees several indiscrete people doing rather sexual acts on the balcony. What strikes me about this is that, despite feeling some general arousal, he just sits down and smokes a cigarette. This may be just me misunderstanding, but people do not just sit down and have a smoke when horny? That doesn’t seem like something an allosexual would do. In addition to that, Holden does not seem to be reacting to a particular instance and has nowhere to direct his attentions. His body may be reacting to the ‘perverts’ on the balcony, but his mind is completely clear. Holen is not experiencing subjective arousal. As stated above, this is generally an ace thing.

Another very ace thing Holden does is hire a prostitute then ask her to talk with him, not have sex. In general, when one hires a prostitute, one does so for sex. Holden goes into the fiasco with the thought: “I figured if she was a prostitute and all, I could get in some practice on her, in case I ever get married or anything. I worry about that stuff sometimes”(Salinger 92). This on the surface seems like a typical thing for a young adult to worry about, but, really? Who the hell worries about sex? Holden goes into this so objectively, thinking about getting married in the future and getting practice on her. This is a typical thing for a confused ace who has no idea that they are ace to worry about. After he thinks this the prostitute, Sunny, shows up. They talk for a bit and then Holden is very surprised when Sunny just up and pulls her dress off: “…she stood up and pulled her dress over her head. I certainly felt peculiar when she did that. I mean she did it so sudden and all. I know you’re supposed to feel pretty sexy when somebody gets up and pulls their dress over their head, but I didn’t. Sexy was about the last thing I was feeling….Boy, was I feeling peculiar….All she had on was this pink slip. It was really quite embarrassing” (Salinger 94-95). Yes, Holden, according to societal conventions one will supposedly feel horny when met with a mostly-naked person of the opposite gender. But people go against those societal conventions all the time. Asexuals, for instance, would not feel ‘sexy’ when met with a naked girl. Holden’s peculiar feeling may be the fact that he doesn’t know Sunny, and thus has no chance of feeling sexual attraction towards her. It may also be caused by possible sex repulsion of some degree when faced with someone he doesn’t know. This is, of course, ignoring the fact that he hired a prostitute then proceeded to ask her to just have a conversation with him. That is such an ace thing to do I mean, come on, who would do that.

Even more critical beyond Holden’s uncomfortableness when faced with sex, is the fact that he self-admittedly doesn’t get what sex is all about. Contemplating the people doing ‘crumby’ stuff on the balcony of the hotel he’s staying in, Holden thinks:

“Sex is something I really don’t understand too hot. You never know where the hell you are. I keep making up these sex rules for myself, and then I break them right away. Last year I made a rule that I was going to quit horsing around with girls that, deep down, gave me a pain in the ass. I broke it, though, the same week I made it - the same night, as a matter of fact. I spent the whole night necking with a terrible phony named Anne Louise Sherman. Sex is something I just don’t understand. I swear to god I don't”(Salinger 63).

Holden’s opinion on sex is that it’s confusing. He just simply doesn’t understand how to go about it. He makes himself rules for gods’ sake. He doesn’t understand why people do the do, why people go beyond ‘necking.’ Sex is so centralized in our culture that for an ace person, navigating the world is a problem. Centralization of sex in culture includes the beliefs that sex is needed for romance, the act of sexual intercource is key to adulthood and maturation, and sex is important for a healthy life (Przybylo 181). The key bit here is that Holden seems to believe that he should want sex with people, but he doesn’t understand sex. The centralization of sex confuses him and he ends up reaching for ways to make sex make sense to him, like a set of rules that he immediately tosses aside. He ends up doing the same thing that many aces do before they realize their sexuality: pretending just to fit in. He hires the prostitute because he thinks that might help him with his sex game. He feigns a desire for sex as real life aces often do: “As one participant from a study on asexual masculinity discusses, as an adolescent he had to “play along” with his male friend who “were all into porn mags” and checking out girls, feigning a desire for sex in order to fit in but ultimately “los[ing] out socially because…. A lot of social activities seem to be … centered around sex (Przybylo 2014:229)”” (Przybylo 188). Holden doubts that everyone has these desires and questions people that have sex just for the hell of it. He tells Carl Luce during their conversation:  “[i regard sex as] a physical and spiritual experience and all. I really do. But it depends on who the hell I’m doing it with. If I’m doing it with somebody I don’t even-….This is what I mean though. I know it’s supposed to be physical and spiritual, and artistic and all. But what I mean is, you can’t do it with everybody-every girl you neck with and all-and make it come out that way. Can you?”(Salinger 146-147). Holden sees people like Stradlater going and having sex with basically random girls just because they want to. He sees them doing it with girls they’ve only known for a couple hours, and questions, “you can’t do it with everybody?” He simply doesn’t see how people can just essentially randomly hook up and have a desire for the other person. This is a very common thing for aces to question. How do people just hook up if they don’t even like the other person? What underlying attraction is there? Don’t you have to know the person? The concept of a one-night-stand doesn’t exist to many aces.

This brings me to my crowning jewel: Holden basically explicitly states that he is demisexual. Just after the previous quote, while he’s talking to Luce, Holden says this: “You know what the trouble with me is? I can never get really sexy- I mean really sexy- with a girl I don’t like a lot. I mean I have to like her alot. If I don’t, I sort of lose my goddamn desire for her and all. Boy, it really screws up my sex life something awful. My sex life stinks”(Salinger 148). Holy. Fucking. Crap. That is the definition of demisexuality. Holden only has desire for a girl when he “likes her alot.” Demisexuality is only experiencing sexual attraction when a deep emotional connection is formed. Holden just almost explicitly said he’s demi. To back me up even further, I sent this quote to a few ace friends with the caption “if this isn’t aspec then idk what is.” Their responses: “HECK U RIGHT,” “Wow that’s practically explicit,” “If you can’t see the ace-ness inherent in this you need to get your eyes checked,” and “That’s one of the most canon ace things I’ve ever read and [I’m] willing to throw down with both teacher and author in the parking lot over this” (Fuck Yeah Asexual). If I have friends, demi friends who know the definition and use it all the time, willing to freaking fight Salinger and my teacher over this, you know it’s good.

Part of the reason that my friends may be so willing to fight people for Holden to be demi is that we have basically no representation in popular media. I found a total of five major canon ace characters in pop culture when I went looking. Every single other character I found was minor or from something that hasn’t inundated pop culture yet. Of those five, only two explicitly used the word asexual. Luffy from One Piece is commonly believed to be asexual, as is Maya from Borderlands 2 (SBS Volume 54, W.). One of these is a manga, the other a video game. While they do have very large audiences, neither character is confirmed ace in their media, purely by the creators word. Todd from Bojack Horseman is asexual as well(season four ep 3). Raphael from Shadowhunters is ace in the TV show, and aroace in the books, and I already mentioned the fiasco with Jughead (“By the Light of Dawn”, Alexander). Because we have so little representation, interpretations of famous literary characters like Holden as aspec really helps with overall awareness of the ace community. Awareness is coming around, slowly but surely, but every little bit counts.

So I will fight for ace Holden. I will drive this bandwagon right over anyone who objects, throwing my heaps of evidence and definitions out the windows. Maybe I’ll wrap the definition of demisexuality around my little crowning jewel and lob it at anyone who wants to fight me. Y’all are entitled to your opinions, but if you come say I’m wrong and ‘ruining books with my queer characters’ you’re gonna get a great big ball of demi-Holden evidence thrown at you. And I’m gonna wrap it all up nice and pretty in the demi flag.

[lindners]

with great excitement and not so much honor i introduce you my newest character n o r a   l i n d n e r — history geek & puts up walls around her high enough that even genghis khan cannot fight. okay but serious business — hello there ! my name’s dallas ( i play adala + alvaro ) & i am eighteen, and am from the netherlands. i love dogs, i love football, i love watermelon and i love any roleplay shenanigans. send me pictures of your pets ?1!? if you’d like to plot, talk, send me pictures of your pets, you could either like this post or message me at any time. it’s free, it’s a good offer js.

so, after long preperation of making gifs for her and finding the perfect fc over the span of like three days, i am finally ready to introduce nora to y’all. her name is nora alexandra lindner, she’s nineteen and a freshman at bernard studying history and philosophy.

she’s originally from washington, one of the smaller towns near seattle. she grew up within a high class society, with both of her parents coming from old money and having connected in a marriage that only secured their position is this layer of society. she used to go to private schools in both primary and secondary school, living in this determined societal bubble. ever since she was young, she grew up in this quite big, old mansion that was originally her grandparents’ place. ever since she was only three or four years old, she would explore the endless rooms, the attic, the hidden doors all throughout the house. perhaps in a quest to fight her curiosity. the place also had a gigantic library with bunches of old books and ever since the moment she could read it was where she spent most of her time, reading as she sat in the windowsill.

her mother passed away when she was five years old, an event that had a major impact on her life although she claims to never have once shed a tear. she dealt with the loss in her own way, which was mostly to reminisce her fondest memories and perhaps honor her mother more than grief her. even around her family, it wasn’t considered proper to show your emotion in excessive ways as crying or screaming. she dealt with it internally more than anything.

ever since then it was nora, together with her older sibling and her father, together in this big estate, however the family always had the tendency of being fairly mysterious, quiet, secretive. the loss of her mother merely increased this feeling, making the family feel more broken up despite their unconditional love for each other — there just had been a sense of distance between nora and her father especially. her older sibling was hard to connect with when she was younger, due to the gigantic age difference between the both of them. the true distance was formed however, by the closer bond that her sibling and father seemed to have. for some reason there were all these suspicious meeting in the living room late at night that she would notice when she sat on the stairs because she couldn’t sleep, and for some reason it never connected in her mind why it was going on, until ... drum rolls, her secret got revealed to her.

her dad especially always carried this air of mystery around him. being a college professor in english, he was very career oriented in the first place, however the doors to his office were closed far too often to be casual. he used to have these meetings with his friends, fairly late at night behind closed doors and the mere things that nora would notice as she tried to listened to the muffled sounds behind the door, would be the smoke of the cigars and their hushed voices. it always had some kind of dark feeling in nora’s mind, never knowing about what took place behind those doors. her dad and his friends were this group a la dead poets society,  with their similar interests. they grew up together, her dad being one of those people spreading self proclaimed revolutionary poetry in banksy style by writing it on the walls in the bathroom stalls or leaving messages in everyone’s lockers. it was something they got into trouble for back in the day, but perhaps this part of her dad is mirrored within nora herself, seeing how she likes to think about big questions left unanswered. perhaps not with the same skepticism or revolutionary thought as her dad, but with a hint of curiosity and interest. but in the end, nora was always obsessed with the idea of what was going on.

nora herself could be perfectly described as an old soul in a young body. ever since the moment she could think straight for herself, she started to think and she never stopped thinking. she asked endless questions, even if they don’t require an answer just because she likes the philosophical thought. the meaning of life was probably a concept she understood by the age of four, i would not be surprised.

notorious for her calm interior and exterior. in some ways, nora carries this calm atmosphere with her, some kind of relaxing way of living life to the fullest. even besides her intense trains of thoughts. she is the kind of person who lives by don’t worry, be happy and whose main goal in life is to pursue her dreams and seek fulfillment. not to be successful, to outdo her parents, to become a doctor or whatever else.

this calm of hers might also come from the weed though. she’s a stoner, often to be found late at night on a park bench face up looking up at the night sky as she wonders about the future of the world. she simply enjoys the rush it gives her, the boost it gives her thinking and the way it makes her feel slightly alive.

a gigantic history geek — from when she was incredibly young it was mostly informative history books that she found in her grandparents’ library, and it is exactly where she found her passion for the subject. she is interested in puzzling together the theories, the what ifs, trying to predict the future by looking back at what happened years ago. probably makes too many history jokes, spams you with history memes.

she is a talkative person, who knows how to keep a conversation going. but despite her talking a lot, she never truly says anything. it all comes down to the same — they speak about anything, but not themselves. she’s fairly closed off, building her walls high not for a particular reason but because she tends to like breathing this air of mystery. keeping people guessing about what will be coming next, she gets off on the thought of being an enigma.

she is known to be considered apathetic, however. she deals with emotion but in a way that is far less intense than any normal person would. it nearly looks like it doesn’t phase her, like it does not do her anything. but dealing with both excitement and pain with a kind of restraint was always how she was raised, and still how she expresses herself. because she doesn’t. her lack of expressive emotions nearly makes her feel scary. perhaps because the line between right and wrong is more blurry in her eyes, or because she is able to look at these happenings from a bit of a distance, and it only causes them to be able to experience it less intensely.

her aesthetic i see as this schoolgirl like vibe, with her plaid skirts, the sweaters, stockings and black boots. carrying around a backpack at all times. smoke between her fingers, books pressed between her arm and her chest. breakfast for dinner. soft rock and alternative music. has this truly soft and pretty singing voice that she rarely lets anyone hear. looks incredibly put together, but is a mess. does not know what she wants to do with her life. shrugs a lot.

I DONT HAVE A CONNECTIONS PAGE UP ! because i’m absolute trash. but what i would love to see is a childhood friend, perhaps something like a roommate, enemies, study buddies or someone she tutors, someone who has a bad ( making her more wild or reckless ) or very good ( letting her open up ) influence on her & someone she has a good and calming influence on, or who she drags into her addiction. confidants, because she’s a good listener even though she barely talks about herself. former flings, perhaps a former friends with benefits on bad terms. current flings even.

[megamanxfanfics]

S.V - Ep. 6: Recover the Laser! Fire the Enigma Cannon!!

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

INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room - NIGHT

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

Caption: 7:00 PM

Alia walks into the Control Room to report to Signas.

ALIA: (sighing) 7 PM and our heroes are fast asleep…

SIGNAS: There are 12 hours left and just one more device to get until collision. I think we’re alright if they take a short nap.

[Insert Title Card – Recover the Laser! Fire the Enigma Cannon!!]

ALIA: (worried) Hmmm…

SIGNAS: I know, it’s anxiety-inducing, but we have to let them rest.  Have faith.  They’ve saved the world so many times before.

ALIA: I know.. I’m just.. not used to being this close to the action, ya know?

SIGNAS: Hm?

ALIA: In the past, I always focused on my Research to distract me during the tough times. We tried to create cures for the Maverick Virus or at least find ways to combat it… When my old boss, Dr. Doppler failed to do that, I lost a lot of faith in the world.  Then my next boss, Berkana turned on us as well..

SIGNAS: (nodding) From Laguz Island…  I remember reading up on that.

ALIA: Up until now, I feel like I’ve been constantly on the run from the Maverick Virus.  My colleague escaped with me to a new lab, over in Abel City but… that didn’t work out.

SIGNAS: (curious) What happened?

ALIA: We were only trying to help!  The Great Repliforce War was in full effect, and my old colleague Gate…  He just wanted his enhanced Reploids to join the battle. But… our Superior felt that it wasn’t our place. She did everything she could to sabotage his operation.  Including… threaten my termination if I didn’t comply…

SIGNAS: (gasping, surprised) Oh nooo…

ALIA: I took this job, because I needed a serious change.  But now, all I see is the constant struggle that you guys face against the Maverick Virus! …I’m sorry, but… I just don’t know if I can handle it.

She chokes up and looks away, trying to contain herself.

Signas calmly walks over to her and places his hands on her shoulders.

SIGNAS: (comforting) Alia…  I hired you, because you are exactly the type of person that we need. Especially, right now.  Your analytical skills are beyond top-notch, and I’ve been meaning to put good use to that Research background of yours.  So now is as good a time as any.  Come.  I have something to show you.

ALIA: Hm?

He leads her to his main computer screen and pulls up a halogen image of the DNA Data they have retrieved from Grizzly Slash, Duff McWhalen and Squid Adler.

ALIA: (shocked) This is... DNA!!

SIGNAS: (affirming) Yep.  Here is the DNA Data that X & Zero have acquired from the Mavericks, so far…  Why don’t you and Douglas see if you can make something useful out of it, while we wait for them to wake up??

Alia gasps.

ALIA: (wide-eyed) This is… Wonderful!

SIGNAS: (smiling) You had mentioned your strong background in Research at our interview. So I figured, why does that have to change?

She nods with a brightness in her eyes, which livens up her spirits once again.

ALIA: Ohhh, Thank you, boss!  You have no idea what this means to me.

She can’t help herself and gives him a hug.

SIGNAS: (surprised) Oh! Hahah.  My pleasure.  

He reciprocates the hug, patting her on the back, twice.

SIGNAS: Go ahead. Do what you love, Alia.

He lets her go to work as she happily runs out of the room and heads for the R & D lab across the hall.

He returns to his chair with a smug beam on his face. From nearby, David turns over to Signas and leans in.

DAVID: Hey, what was that all about?

SIGNAS: She just had the first day jitters… Go ahead and send out Frenzy Fox to recover that Energy Cart.  Then, alert me when X and Zero wake up.  With any luck, we can fire the Enigma Cannon tonight!

- cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Infirmary – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Caption: Four hours later, 11:00 PM

Zero stirs awake and rips the energen feeding tubes off of his arms.  He looks over at X in shock, who seems to have been in the same state as him.He quickly sits up on his bed, leans over and shakes X by the shoulder.

ZERO: (shocked) X!  Wake up.

X: (groggy) Hmm? /Oh!

X grows wide-eyed at the sight of an alert, Zero who has fully recovered.

ZERO: How long have we been out, man?  We gotta get that Laser Device!

X blinks and feels his heart race at once. He sits up in bed.

X: (rising, tired) Yeeeah! Ogh.  Let’s go!

Zero stands up and helps X get out of bed.

ZERO: Alright. Come on, man!

They run out of the room.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Corridors – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

X and Zero run down the hallway as they receive a com-link from Signas.

SIGNAS: (o.s, filtered, surprised) Oh! You’re both up. Excellent!  Pop in to the R & D Lab before you both set off on your next mission.  Alia and Douglas have some surprises for you.

X and Zero both look at each other, quizzically.

X & ZERO: Huh?

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – R & D Lab – NIGHT -----------------------------------------------------------------------

X and Zero walk in to see Douglas and Alia high five each other.

ALIA: Yes!

X: Hey, guys. What’s going on??

ALIA: Oh, I’m glad you’re both up so soon. Check out what we’ve been working on!

They both walk over to their work table, with interest.  They see that five new items in the form of data chips are waiting for them.

ZERO: What is this?

DOUGLAS: Remember how we said I could make new parts for you guys??  Well, this is it!

He proudly displays five colorful chips, before them.

ZERO: (scoffing) Hmph… I don’t need any power-ups.

ALIA: (annoyed) Wait!  We’ve been working on these for the last 4 hours. The least you could do is listen to us.

Zero rolls his eyes and folds his arms, reluctantly.

ZERO: Okaay.  What have you got?

ALIA: I’d change my tone if I were you, because most of them are for you…

Zero jerks back for a second, surprised.

ZERO: What!?

X chuckles as she continues with a scowl.

ALIA: Well, first of all, Grizzly Slash was good for more than just his Crescent slashing abilities.  We were also able to create a Shock Buffer defense out of his DNA Data.

X: (intrigued) Shock Buffer?

ALIA: This decreases the amount of damage taken by half!

X: Ooh.

DOUGLAS: It also keeps you from being knocked back after taking a hit.

ZERO: (nodding) Alright.

DOUGLAS: We were then able to make a Super Recover chip from Duff McWhalen’s DNA Data.

ZERO: What’s that?

DOUGLAS: This makes all energen and weapon refill capsules restore twice as much power than usual.

X & ZERO: (surprised) Whoa.

ALIA: The last three are for Zero, exclusively. Sorry, X…

X shakes his head, paying no mind.

ALIA: This next chip, I think you’ll like. We call it the Z-Saber extend.

ZERO: (attracted) What?

ALIA: With this equipped, your Z-Saber will project a small wave of crescent energy with each slash, increasing your range by about 10%.

ZERO: Wow. Okay, I’m interested…

ALIA: (glowing, excited) Then you’ll Love the next two…  These are weapon items, extracted straight from McWhalen and Kraken’s core DNA.

ZERO: (nodding) Alright.

ALIA: First is Duff McWhalen’s Flying Splasher, which will give you more of a defensive Air-Dash that you can control with directional flight.

ZERO: (shocked) I can fly with this!?

ALIA: Only momentarily. Don’t get too excited. But yes. Your air-dash should be more mobile than before.  And you’ll be coated in a protective layer of the same material as X’s Goo-Shaver.

Zero looks at X.

ZERO: What’s that??

X: It’s like a water-based Plasma. I can’t really explain it, but it’s powerful stuff.  It’s what helped me bring down Squid…

He looks at his buster with slight remorse.

ALIA: Well, speaking of Squid Adler, that’s where this last chip comes from.   We’ve correlated his electric weapon data to interact directly with your Z-Saber, which will give you an awesome striking Electric Blade.

ZERO: Ooh.

DOUGLAS: (smiling) Still don’t want these Power-ups???

ZERO: (bothered, smile) Alright, gimme ‘em. X can have the Shock Buffer and Super Recover though. I don’t want to hog them all.

X shakes his head.

X: No, that’s okay.

ALIA: Huh???

X: I have the Force Armor, and another one on the way. I’m okay.  Really, I think Zero should have them.

ZERO: Are you sure??  All of them???

X: (smiling) I’m positive.  Let’s save the World, Zero.

He puts his fist out for a friendly bump with the most confident and sharp look in his eyes.

Zero gives him a nod and then a fist-bump with a smile.

X runs out of the room, while Zero equips his new power-up chips.

DOUGLAS: Wow!  And here you thought you weren’t getting any of these.

ZERO: Alriight, alriiight.

Zero gets equipped with all 5 of the power-up Data Chips within his gauntlet. Then he looks up with an eager grin.

ZERO: Man! I can’t wait to test out these new abilities.

ALIA: (content) We’ll be right here.  I’ll be on coms guiding you both every step of the way.  Now, go!

She leans up and gives him a friendly pat on the shoulder, but he simply turns around and runs away, ignoring her.

ALIA: (reacting) Oh…

DOUGLAS: Something wrong?

She combs her hair with her hand for a second and walks over to the monitor.

ALIA: N-no..  I just hope they’re successful on this mission…

DOUGLAS: (smirking) Uh huh.

-cut to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  EXT. NOVIKOVO – Fortress Lab – DAY -----------------------------------------------------------------------

Caption: 9:05 AM - Russian Time

In the solitude of Novikovo, Russia lies a rich, fortified lab, hidden from sight by numerous tall mountains.

X and Zero teleport to the area and take in the sight of his massive fortress.  They land on a cobblestone roof, just before a drawbridge, which leads to the entrance of the fortress.

ZERO: Whoa… This place, is huge.

X and Zero instantly explore the area as they kick-jump up a small wall, which leads to the large drawbridge.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) We can learn lots about Dr. Izzy Glow just from looking at this Laboratory… He is the world leading authority on laser technology. Therefore, the laser he created will be great use to the Enigma. I hope he will willingly give one to us, but… …I heard he is a very stubborn person so this might not be easy.

Zero grins.

ZERO: Well, I can be very stubborn, myself. Come on, X!

X nods and readies his buster

Zero pulls out his saber and slashes at the draw bridge a couple of times, admiring his new orange-tinted extended slashes as he cuts at the bridge a little harder.

X shoots level-1 shots at the bridge until it is forced down to lie flat, before the actual entrance of the hallway.

They both run on top of the bridge, which does not quite reach the hallway entrance. They stop short, when they see that below them is a dangerous bed of spikes.

ZERO: Whooa, let’s steer clear of that.

X:

Yeah!

They both carefully dash-jump inside Dr. Izzy Glow’s Fortress.

-      pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Hallway Entrance – DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They proceed down the red-carpet steps, before a long wall where a Met jumps out at them.

X: (gasping) Haven’t seen one of these in a while.

He shoots at it a couple of times, but his pellet shots are blocked by it’s hard-hat.  After a moment, the met peeks his little face out, while Zero dashes and takes a strike at the air.  His extended slash is able to reach the met from a distance, surprising both him and X.

X looks over to him.

X: Whoa, you get a pretty good reach with that thing.

ZERO: It’s like a complete extra slash! I’m gonna have to get used to that.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Hehehe.

They both kick-jump up the wall before them and spot another met on the other side of the carpeted floor.  This time X takes it down with some carefully aimed level 1 shots, while Zero drops down and leads the way.  Zero runs into another wall and kick-jumps up towards a Guardian drone, which he easily cuts down once it’s shield guard is up.  

They drop down through the opening corridor as they come near a lethal chandelier of spikes.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Whoa, careful!  The platforms above you can’t be destroyed, so you will have to time it just right to get through…

X: (acknowledging) Right!

They both wait and see two spike chandeliers rapidly drop down before them.

ZERO: Damn!  This guy really doesn’t want any visitors.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Told yaa.

The chandeliers slowly rise up, out of sync, but with their opening they dash through and pass the platforms.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Oh no!!

ZERO: Hm??

X: What is it?

Zero slashes another guardian and met down, while Alia speaks.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) There’s another researcher and he’s stuck just beyond that board above you.

X: Hmph!

X transforms into his Force Armor with a quick flash of white light and looks up at the board with a determined face.  He fires a charged plasma shot to the wooden plank, but it is simply absorbed into the mysterious virus-infected board.

X: Whaat?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) It’s just like I thought…  You can’t break through the board unless you use a special weapon.

Zero perks up and sparks his Z-saber with lightning.

ZERO: Allow me!!

He uses his new rising Electric Blade attack, but unfortunately it does not work.

ZERO: What!?

He jumps up and tries to use his Crescent Blade slashes in the air, multiple times, but to no avail.

ZERO: Damn it!

X shoots a charged Goo-Shaver at it, which does not work either.

X: Nothing is working!!!

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Try… Dragoon’s Rising Fire.  You should have it again..

X: (surprised) Really??

X looks up, concentrates and shifts his armor into red and white as he charges up.

X: (concentrating) Shuuuuryukeeeen!!!!

Zero takes cover as X blasts through the wooden planks only to find more spiked chandeliers in his way.

X: (reacting) Whoa!!

He quickly air-dashes and holds on to the wall, setting off his thrusters.  Once the chandeliers rise, he is able to kick-jump up the wall and assist the researcher in need.

RESEARCHER: (grateful) Ohh. Thank you!  I was installing Dr. Glow’s enhanced security platforms when this board mysteriously appeared and trapped me inside.

X nods.

X: That’s Sigma’s virus. It’s been awful to us all.  Here.

He pulls out a teleporter ring and offers it to the Researcher.

RESEARCHER: Be careful!  I fear this Fortress is ridden with the Virus.  You’ll need this.

He pulls a Power-cell out from his compartment belt and offers it to X in return.

X gasps and takes it.

X: Thank you!  Where’d you get this?

RESEARCHER: (insulted) We make them!

X: What?

The Researcher takes the teleporter ring and sends himself away.

X makes a confused face as he drops down to an impatient Zero.

ZERO: Come on, X!!!

-      pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Chandelier Trap - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Zero dashes across the hall to a set of ladders.  He ignores them and double-jumps in the middle of the room, narrowly bypassing a chandelier that comes down right behind him.

With the chandelier lowered, X uses the first ladder and then catches up to Zero at the second ladder with an air-dash, while the chandelier rises.

At the top level of the room X and Zero spot a guardian waiting for them at the other side of the rising chandelier.

ZERO: Got this one!!

He fearlessly air-dashes toward the guardian mechaniloid and sets off his new F-Splasher forcefield around his body.  His air-dash is just as short, but he is able to direct it more as an attack, lowering himself right into the mechaniloid as it crumbles under his water-based plasma power.

X & ZERO: Whoa!!

X: Damn, Zero. Are you crazy??

Zero looks at him with wild eyes.

ZERO: After staying in the game this long? - You know it!!

X makes an amused, but concerned face as Zero takes the lead once again.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Spiked Room - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

They both pass the platform to find a spiked floor below them and a series of spiked chandeliers hanging on chains from the ceiling.  

X: Oh man… How should we tackle this one?

ALIA: (o.s, filtered)

You should proceed by stepping on the platforms.  Please be careful.

ZERO: (revved up) You heard her!

Zero anxiously air-dashes to the first chandelier platform after it drops.  Then the next, as they both rise towards the ceiling.

Zero turns around and gives X a thumbs up.

ZERO: See X?  It’s no biggie…  Just do what I do.

X looks in horror and points behind him.

X: Look out!!!

ZERO: Huh??

He turns around to find a small purple Sigma head with devilish horns right behind him.

ZERO: SIGMA! What the- Uaarrrggghhhh!!!!!

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) Heeheeheeheehee.

With no time to react, Zero has no choice, but to dash through Sigma’s head, which dissipates and relinquishes itself into his pores like a ghost virus.

X & ALIA: (horrified, o.s, filtered)

Oh NOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!

Zero glows with a purple aura as he air-dashes to the other side and carefully looks at his body.

X: (wary, worried) ZEEERRROOO!!!!!

The purple aura slowly disappears as Zero stares at his hands and blinks, confused and awestruck.  He keeps his back to X and stands there in silence.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered, scared) Oh, God…

X fights through the chandelier platforms with a determined glare in his eyes as he nears, Zero.

ZERO: It’s… okay.

X lands right behind him.

X: (fretful) Huh?

Zero turns around with his armor looking pristine and glossy, as if he was first created.

ZERO: (surprised) I’m.. okay!!!

He shows X his clean hands, opening and closing them as if they are brand new.  

ALIA: Was it the Shock-Buffer that protected you??

ZERO: Maybe… I don’t know…

He twists his wrists and stretches his fingers, until he unfurls the Z-Buster from his right hand only to find that it has completely been repaired.

X: (worried) What the-

Zero shakes his head.

X: Did Sigma just… repair you???

ZERO:

(wide-eyed) I don’t… know!

He makes a firm grimace of his own as he looks away, trying to focus on the mission.

X: Why would he do that…?  And how???

He shakes his head, a little more annoyed.

ZERO: I don’t, know!!  Come on, we don’t have any time.

He runs away, while X is left to simply shake it off and continue to push past more chandelier obstacles in a short maze-like descending hallway.

They both wrestle through short spiked chandeliers and a couple of mets in their way, before they find another Researcher who looks hurt, near a tall chandelier.

ZERO: Here, man.

He gives the researcher a teleporter ring and air-dashes above, into another descending set of spiked platforms.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Break the door that you can see below, and proceed to the next room.

They carefully make their way down until they find the door and break it down a combined charge shots.

ZERO: (smirking) Haven’t done that in years…

He runs in to the next room.

-      pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Spiral Staircase - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

In the next room, they come to a flight of stairs which spiral upward seemingly endlessly.

X: (worried) Zero, are you sure you’re okay?

They come across a bunch of spiky mechaniloids and tiny hotarion firefly mechaniloids.  

ZERO: (upset) I don’t want to talk about it!

He slashes the spikys down with an extended slash.  Then he crescent slashes a set of hotarian’s brutally and swiftly air-dashes ahead.

X: (reaching out) Waait!!

X dashes, only to get cut off by another ghost virus of Sigma’s head, which has appeared before him.

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) Heheheh….

X: (spooked) Whoooa!

X blasts him with level 1 shots, but they go right through him.  He frantically dashes around the ghost virus and runs away from him.

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) What’s the matter??

It disappears and reappears before him, as X gets stung by some hotarian lasers in the process.

SIGMA: (v.o, echoing) Are you scared that I might find you? …The real youuuu???

An image of iX appears in X’s mind.

He charges up.

X: NNNNNOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!

X blasts a large Plasma shot, which takes out a set of hotarians in his way as he finally catches up to Zero, who has been halted by aPrism Guardian.

Four poles have dropped from the ceiling, in which three block-shaped laser turrets have taken their positions against Zero and fired their first set of lasers at him.

Zero manages to jump to the far pole and cling to it with his wire-hook, evading the bottom two laser blasts.  However, he takes the brunt of the top laser blast as he attempts to slash it down with his Z-Saber.

ZERO: Auughh!

X: /AAH!!

X blasts down the laser turret that was hurting Zero with a Plasma Shot, while the other two, retreat back into the ceiling.

Zero drops down with a grateful look.

X: You okay?

Zero makes a weakened smile and gives him a silent thumbs up.

Then, three more laser turrets come down in different positions.  X and Zero fire and crescent slash at two pink turrets near them, but their attacks only ricochet off.

X uses his old Aiming Laser, which attackes all three turrets at the same time with a green, red and yellow laser.  The black turret is the only one, which is affected and destroyed.

X: The black turret is the target!

ZERO: Nice, X!!

The turrets retreat once again, and then reappear in different positions.  A black turret is directly above Zero.

He narrows his eyes with a smirk and uppercuts it with an Electric Blade slash.

ZERO: (proud) Yeah!!!

X smiles at his partner, then charges up as he sees them come down again.  This time, the black turret is in the middle, while a pink turret lands directly in front of him.  He jumps on the pink turret and blasts the black one away with a Plasma Shot before it can fire upon him.

The other lasers fire anyway, despite missing their targets and retreat into the ceiling once again.

When they reappear, Zero double jumps towards the far black turret and uses his crescent spinning slashes to annihilate the Prism Guardian.  With his last attack, the entire Security system explodes and the poles themselves are fried out of their sockets, falling down to the ground, pathetically.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Wow! You did it!!

ZERO: (cocky) As if there was any doubt…

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) Okaay, okaay. Easy, boys.  There should be a teleporter at the end of the stair-case.  Proceed with caution.

The two smile as they run towards the teleporter and use it, one after another.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Top Defense Systems - DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

X and Zero teleport into a nice open hallway with an excellent view of the mountains by an open balcony with gorgeous architecture.  But these sights are ruined by spiky mechaniloids which bounce after them on the luxurious carpeted floor.

X: Aah!

X fires level-1 pellets at them, annoyed as they are put down quite easily.  They make their way up a carpeted ramp, which leads towards a very threatening laser cannon.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) His defense system is engaged. It attacks you with powerful plasma. You may be able to neutralize it with your other weapons.

X: Hmm…

He tries his X-Buster, but it ricochets off. Zero’s Z-Buster, as well.

Zero then tries using his crescent slashes, which work like a charm as they completely destroy the large laser cannon.

X: Nice, work Zero.

They look up and come to find that the whole hallway above them is riddled with these laser cannons.

X: Oh man. We have our work cut out for us.

ZERO: Then let’s get started!!

Zero double-jumps up, ignoring the ladder right by them and kick-jumps off the wall to reach the next floor, only to get knocked down by a large Plasma Blast.

X carefully climbs up the ladder and creates a forcefield out of his C-Shot, immediately destroying the laser cannon.

X: Hmph, That’s what you get.

X dash-jumps over Zero and dashes ahead.

Zero shakes his head with a smile as he gets up.

ZERO: Whatever..

He dashes after him, up the ramp.

With X’s C-Shot forcefield, he runs through a hotarion and easily kick-jumps through two defense systems on the wall, as he reaches the next floor. Then, his radar suddenly perks up.

[RADAR]: Light Capsule above.

X: (gasping) Really??

His C-Shot forcefield dissipates when he looks up and finds a small nook near the ceiling.

X: Ooh.

Zero catches up with X, to see him distracted by another power-up.

ZERO: While you’re busy with that, I’ll clear the path ahead.

X: (nodding) Alright, bud.

He air-dashes towards the wall above and sees a laser cannon before him.  X simply fires C-shots in a rapid fashion, cutting away at the cannon as it fires it’s plasma at him.  At close-range, X persistently dodges with side-dashes and nearby close calls until the cannon is destroyed.

X: Yes!!!

He walks into the hidden room and stands before another Light Capsule, surprised to see him again so soon.

DR. LIGHT: (smiling) This is the final program for the Falcon Armor. Analyze this arm upgrade and store it into a secure area with Alia’s help.  Once it is successfully uploaded, your Falcon Armor will be complete.

X smiles.

DR. LIGHT: With the arm part equipped, you can maximize the attack power of your original shot and fire a piercing laser as your Fully Charged shot. Unfortunately, you won’t be able to charge the special weapons in this armor, but luckily you still have the Force Armor for that. As this armor specializes in mobility, you might find that this is all you need.  

X makes a thoughtful nod as Dr. Light disappears.

X: (at ease) Hmm… It seems that Dr. Light was concerned about balancing my power-set, after all.

He steps inside the capsule to receive his upgrade.

-pan down and across the hall-

Zero has destroyed a set of defense cannons within the hallway, and is dropping down into an open room, where more plasma cannons await him.

ZERO: Hey Alia.  Any idea how close I am to Dr. Glow??

He swiftly advances towards the wall and double jumps with crescent slash attacks as he ascends through the corridor with kick-jumps.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) You’re very close, actually. Dr. Izzy Glow’s room is above you, about 30 clicks away. There are several plasma defense devices installed on the way, so keep using your C-Slash!

ZERO: (smiling) Got it!

He ascends up the stairs and chips away at the cannons ahead of him.  As he kick-jumps up the long vertical hallway, X catches up to him with a C-Forcefield of his own.

X: Hey.

ZERO: Hey!

They both take their sides on opposing walls and proceed to plow through Dr. Glow’s defenses, until they reach the top floor and find the gateway to his chamber at last.

X gasps as they run through the gateway.

ZERO: This is it, man. You ready?

X: (nodding) Let’s save the World, Zero.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. FORTRESS LAB – Izzy Glow’s Chamber – DAY ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

A siren immediately goes off, as the two intrude on Dr. Glow’s private space.  From there, the lights go out dramatically as Izzy Glow makes a colorful appearance with a teleport that has a firefly glow.

The lights go back on, but so does the device to his laser cannon, which he seemed to be working on, before they barged in.  It sparks omionously amidst the dim light as he scowls down at them in mid-air.

IZZY GLOW: (unamused)

What a graceful entrance…

X: This laboratory is so badly infected by the virus. There was no other way for us to enter.

IZZY GLOW: Hmph!

ZERO: Dr. Izzy Glow, will you do us a favor?

IZZY GLOW:

(stubborn) My work is not for Maverick Hunters! I’ve never trusted your approach. Therefore, I will not cooperate with you.  However, I do find you both fascinating… No one has ever managed to analyze the infamous X and Zero…

X: Doctor!  We don’t have time to argue with you.  Please, understand.

IZZY GLOW: (shaking) My body… has already been infected, too. I realize these thoughts may be wrong… But it’s too late to change now…  Soon, I’ll be one of the Mavericks…

X: Noo!!

ZERO: Brace yourself, X!!

IZZY GLOW: It’s time…  I’ll have to learn about you two through battle. Now…  Put me out of my misery!

X: DAMN IT!

ZERO: LET’S GO!!!

Zero runs towards Izzy Glow and instinctively uppercuts him with an E-Blade, which violently shocks the stubborn specialist.

X reluctantly switches to his new Tri-Thunder power with a frown.

X: (v.o, thinking) Alright, Adler…  You’re gonna help me save the World after all.

Izzy Glow teleports away from Zero, only to get blasted down by X’s Tri-Thunder, which covers the room in three currents of power.

IZZY GLOW: Caaauuughhh…

X shakes his head.

X: This is unfair..

ZERO: (firm) We have a job to do, X!

He dashes towards the Firefly and slashes at him in a combo.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAGGGGHHHHH!!!!!

He teleports away, swiftly and angrily.

IZZY GLOW: Take this, you foul Hunters!!

He shoots out a sophisticated Firefly-shaped laser, which directs itself down towards X.  When X dashes away, he directs it to Zero, who powers up and defiantly air-dashes above it with an F-Splasher.

The F-Splasher reaches Dr. Glow’s legs and stings him as he teleports away.

Zero proceeds to use his 2ndjump to stay airborne and Crescent slash him on the back on the way down.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAAAAGGGGGHHHHHH.

He teleports over to the wall and juts out his bottom-light, which he powers up.

IZZY GLOW: Get AWAAAAAYYYY!!!!!!

He fires a powerful green laser at them, which knocks them both down.

Then he swiftly comes near them and teleports away, faking them out constantly as a form of defense.

ZERO: Agh!  What the Hell is with this guy!??

X: He doesn’t know how to fight, Zero. We’re forcing his hand!

ZERO: (aggravated) WE NEED THAT LASER!!!

X: (torn) I KNOW!!!!

Izzy Glow floats above them and blasts his bottom Prism Laser at them vertically.

ZERO: NO!! I refuse to feel guilty.

He dashes away and uppercuts him again with an E-Blade.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAAIIIIHHHHH.

ZERO: You’re not cooperating, and told us you’re becoming Maverick.

X shakes his head with tight, closed eyes, holding back some tears as he charges up.

X: I can’t believe I’m doing this… I’m sorry Doctor… but WE HAVE TO PUT YOU OUT OF YOUR MISERYYYYY!!!!!

He unleashes a charged Tri-Thunder, which creates six currents of lightning around the room.

IZZY GLOW: AAAAAAAAAAHHHHHH.  

He tries to evade the thunderbolts with swift teleports, but gets shocked three times and falls to the ground, smoking.

IZZY GLOW: (panting, hurt) To die at the hands of the Notorious X & Zero… Is this my cruel fate..?

X: It doesn’t have to be!!

He shakes his head, huddling over, in pain.

IZZY GLOW: (obstinate) No…  I’m too far gone…  But if I get out of this alive..  I’m coming after what’s left of this planet and tormenting everyone you Love!!!!!

ZERO: That’s it!!

Zero runs after him as Izzy Glow unfurls his last desperation attack.

IZZY GLOW: Prism Shot!

He spreads his arms out to create lights across the floor, where a multitude of green light-balls attack them from all directions.

X: Aghhh. No..!

Zero grits his teeth and electrifies his Z-Saber once more.

ZERO: It’s time to /DIE!!!!!

With a final uppercut from his Saber, he slices Izzy Glow in half and absorbs his DNA instantly.

Zero gasps as he feels a new power enter his veins.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) You got Izzy Glow’s Chaos Flasher from his DNA Data! His weapon chip is the Will Laser, which X may use.

X sniffles.

X: (regretful) I don’t care.  I just wanted the Laser Device for the Enigma...  Why does it always have to come to this…?

He walks over to Izzy Glow’s remains and picks up his weapon chip.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) It looked like a quiet Laboratory… but the inside was in complete ruins.  The Sigma Virus has caused total disorder everywhere… In order to fix the situation, we need to make good use of Dr. Izzy Glow’s Laser Device.

At this moment, she teleports Douglas and their Recovery Team – Rho, Frenzy Fox, Freeze Alopex and Frostbite into the room.

X looks at them, awestruck.  Their surviving teammates are as focused as ever as they go right to work at dismantling the laser device with Douglas’ help.

ALIA: (o.s, filtered) We’ll finish taking the Laser Device back to the base.  Thank you for your help.  We’ll meet you at the Hunter Base.

X nods and powers down into his base armor, feeling a sense of relief for the first time in a while.  Maybe they were going to win this one, after all.

-fade to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Caption: December 6th, 1:00 AM – 2 hours later…

X, Zero, Alia, Douglas, Signas, Hector, Kirk, Dave, Lucas, Rho, Frenzy Fox, Freeze Alopex, Frostbite and Lifesaver all look at the Main Monitor with hope in their eyes.

Displayed is a schematic of the completed Enigma Cannon.

DOUGLAS: At last!  The Enigma has been completed!!  It’s old, but we’ve reinforced it with those devices… It should work fine…  Well, we’re ready!

Everyone nods as a group as they all look ahead at the screen with anticipation.

SIGNAS: The time has come at last! We are going to launch the Enigma.  The fate of the Earth depends on it.

Alia calculates her figures one last time.

-pan to-

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  EXT. NEW MHHQ – The Enigma Cannon - NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

On the right side of the base, we see a bird’s eye view of the upgraded cannon, pointed at the sky.

ALIA: (o.s) The energy, the power, the angle… everything is clear.

-      pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  INT. NEW MHHQ – Control Room – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Signas clenches a fist as he makes his fateful command.

SIGNAS: All right…  This is it.  /FIRE!

-pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  EXT. NEW MHHQ – The Enigma Cannon - NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

SIGNAS: /FIRE!!

We see the Enigma Cannon /fire a powerful blue blast from a close angle.

SIGNAS: /FIRE!!!

We see a side-angle view of the same fateful blast.

SIGNAS: /FIRE!!!!

We see a final back-angle view of the cannon as it blasts it’s huge wave of energy into the sky.

We follow the giant blue wave of energy into Outer Space, where it collides with the Space Colony, Eurasia.

-pan to-

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

EXT. OUTER SPACE – Eurasia - NIGHT

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

The Space Colony is struck by the blast, which does severe damage to it’s front and side.  The blast erupts into a brilliant flash of light.

-Fade to White-

SIGNAS: (o.s) Did we make it? …Did it get crushed apart?? Alia, give us the report.

ALIA: (o.s) …Negative! We only destroyed 62%!!

Jeers from the Hunters can be heard.

HUNTERS: (o.s, layered) Damn it!!

HUNTERS: (o.s, layered) Shit!!!

-fade in-

We slowly see that the Eurasia Colony is still fully operational, with only a chunk of damage done to it’s frontal and side regions.

ALIA: (o.s, disheartened) We have merely made it change orbit… and delayed the time of impact…

-pan to –

-----------------------------------------------------------------------  NEW MHHQ – Control Room – NIGHT ----------------------------------------------------------------------- 

Alia winces at the screen, and looks down feeling hopeless.

X’s mouth is agape, as he stares at the screen in disbelief.

Signas looks at the screen with a dogged, unwavering glare, while Douglas makes a confused, crooked look at the screen with a slight grimace.

ZERO: Curses!

Zero looks down with closed eyes, while the other Hunters console each other.

Frenzy Fox and Freeze Alopex give each other a saddened hug, while Rho bends down to hold Frostbite in consolation.

Lifesaver takes a deep breath, lets out a sigh and leaves the room.

DOUGLAS: The Enigma was not successful?

SIGNAS: (confirming) No…

He makes a firm grimace.

ZERO: Now what…?

-Freeze frame. Grainy Effect.-

The failed Hunters all look down in defeat and despair, while X stares at the screen with a determined face.

-Fade to Black-