#((left behind. all alone in an empty building. the bones of the facility and more. keeping it running))

[abyssembraced]

Making You the Patron Saint of Something

Patron Saint of Creation

Patron saint of explosions. Patron saint of More. Patron saint of something new entirely. Something unfamiliar, something you can't recognize. Was Frankenstein's monster an abomination or had his like just never been seen before? You're the patron saint of all those new, beautiful things. You're the patron saint of the monsters, too.

~~~~~~~~~~~

Patron Saint of Bones

Patron saint of frameworks. Of structures. Of solidity. Patron saint of things that break. Patron saint of things that are left behind. The bones survive long after the body, the building: what is there left for them, when the rest is gone? What do bones do, with nothing to hold around them? Who holds the bones?

~~~~~~~~~~~

Tagged by: @distrxst (thank you!)

Tagging: Back at it again with tagging Everyone <3 And again, if you have multiple rp blogs, absolutely feel free to do it for one other than the one I tagged!! @bladesfromthedark , @legalbrats , @tazmilyxfamily , @pri-rp , @hopeful-hugz , @quillheel , @musescfmusic , @interdimensional-ship

[save-the-villainous-cat]

Cat’s 3K Series

part 1, part 2, part 3, part 4, part 5

Part Two

The apartment didn’t have a security system.

It was how the hero preferred to live — like a normal person, not like a high valuable player in the game the government controlled. Being as independent, as vulnerable as they could. It was difficult to cut old bonds and drop them completely. The hero was still trying to figure that out but with time they had learnt that the agency wasn’t too keen on letting them go their own way.

Sending them unwanted visitors in suits, checking their health every month, testing their powers regularly were some of the nasty measures they’d taken. It was difficult for the hero to walk into the facilities without having to fight a panic attack. Most of the time they lost that fight (and their mind) in the bathrooms of these buildings.

Which was also why they were under psychiatric supervision and classified as “unstable.” Sometimes the hero thought this was a joke, intended to make them more compliant. But they didn’t find it amusing.

Step by step, they told themselves. One day, they could lead a normal life but until then, they needed to keep it together.

Instead of locking up the villain, the hero decided to handcuff them to their bed. Leaving them alone in a room was too dangerous, so the bed was the only thing the hero could think of. Tying them to something seemed to be a good idea. Bathroom and kitchen had too many utensils to break free. Living room had nothing they could tie them to.

A death glare was all they got in return. That, and blood running down the villain’s torso and into the hero’s fresh white sheets. They’d been injured before, the hero remembered. Who showed up to a fight with a bleeding side voluntarily?

Looking at the stain in the sheets, they cursed in their mind. At least that gave them time to think of something to say.

“Like this position?” the hero asked, pressing their hips deeper into the villain’s. But even the hero themselves heard how thin their voice had become. How their throat had been sewn together. Doing this was illegal already but sending the agency wrong information? Telling them the villain had escaped?

It fried their brain, making it impossible to even think straight. Old panic resurfaced but they put on a tired smirk.

“I’d rather drop dead,” the villain said. For a moment, the hero thought they could detect a bit of the same anxiety the hero felt in the eyes of their enemy. But they found nothing to be there.

Whatever they felt was hidden behind a grim face and a dismissive tone.

The hero slept on the couch that night.

A dreamless night turned into a nightmare when they woke up, finding their bones aching and their muscles burning. Their back cracked. Sighing softly from the relieving pain, they stretched their limbs, only to be greeted with more hurt and without the usually already lacking comfort.

Waking up after a fight was the worst. They felt horrible. Looked horrible. Probably smelled horrible. It was like waking up with a hangover. They swallowed the soreness of their throat and sat up on the couch. With sleepy eyes, they scanned their living room and shockingly, discovered that they could look into their bedroom from here. A soft blush spread over their cheeks. They’d been so exhausted that they hadn’t realised the open door.

Which meant the villain had probably watched them change last night. Oh god.

And as their eyes adjusted to the brightness, they stared at the bed. At the empty bed.

The hero got up immediately, managed to jump over the couch and stumble into their bedroom. Creased sheets were full of blood and there the handcuffs were hanging — innocently, evidently.

“Fucking…” With whatever detective skills they had left, the hero observed the scene and found little droplets of blood here and there on the floor.

They followed them back into the living room and onto the patio. With further inspection, the hero realised the door had been opened. Maybe that was responsible for their sore throat. Impressive, how the villain had managed to sneak past them.

Then again, the hero had been really exhausted.

Once they stepped outside, their heart made a jump when they realised the villain hadn’t come far. They were lying just around the corner, still breathing but obviously completely out of it, thanks to the blood loss. Sighing once again, the hero let themselves fall next to them, pushing them until they turned around on their back.

The wound was nasty. Dirty and probably nearly infected. Red and swollen, dirt around and in it. Really fucking nasty. Enough to make the hero feel weird.

“You stupid fucking—” The hero’s breath hitched when they realised the villain wasn’t responding. Wasn’t even awake.

Hospital wasn’t an option, agency wasn’t an option, letting them die in their garden wasn’t an option. God fucking dammit.

Somehow, they picked up — or better, tried to pick up— their enemy and dragged them back into the apartment. It was nearly midday already and the hero had the never ending feeling that people had seen them there and contacted police already.

But they blocked those thoughts. It wouldn’t help them.

Once inside, they tore the clothes off the villain and started to clean up the big wound with water and alcohol. They discovered that it was a clean shot right through the villain and thanks to the tech the hero had at hand, they found out no organs were damaged. Thank god.

The hero remembered the moment their finger had dug into the villain, twisting and curling, making them scream. Unstable. Maybe the agency was right.

Seeing them like this, bloody and nearly broken made the hero more than uneasy. At times, the villain seemed untouchable. With their cool mindset and actions, they were closer to an efficient machine but this right here was so human, so illogical and painful, enough of it to make the hero feel something.

Defining that something was impossible. Or maybe the hero was afraid of it. They had no fucking clue.

“Okay, listen. You gotta wake up, dipshit,” the hero said. “I won’t have a dead villain in my home, got it?”

The hero tapped the villain’s cheek gently. When that didn’t help, they shook their shoulders.

And when that didn’t help, the hero swallowed and slapped them across the face. They’d closed their eyes but when a groan and a weak curse came from the other, the hero opened their eyes, somewhat content that their enemy was awake.

Frowning, the villain let out another grumble of their throat and stared at their enemy angrily. They needed a second to realise how much they were in pain.

“Don’t get up,” the hero warned when the villain tried exactly that. They pushed their shoulder back down but held their head in place with one hand. They handed the villain a few pills. “Painkillers.”

The villain stared at them suspiciously.

“Oh, come on. I saved you, why would I kill you now?” That seemed logical to the villain and after a few more seconds of hesitation, they swallowed the pills without a problem. The hero lay their head gently down again, finally being able to breathe in and out.

“Sorry but your cute ass has to stay with me for a while.” Why was their voice shaking? “No escape attempts for now.”

The villain huffed and closed their eyes.

“Fucking hate you.”

“I don’t know how to treat wounds, so you gotta talk me through it,” the hero said. They stared at the patio, at the sunny day. Everything was peaceful. Even their heart calmed down.

“Am no expert either.”

“Still,” the hero said. “If they find you, it’s over.”

“What are you talking about?” The villain’s eyes were still closed and the dried blood was still where it had been yesterday. The villain was cute. Pretty, even. They could’ve been drenched in blood or dirt and the hero would’ve been stuck with that opinion.

Sometimes they were a fucking loser in their own eyes.

“Who beat you up like that?” the hero asked, avoiding the question. The villain’s gaze only darkened.

“You, who the fuck else?”

“No, you were already injured when we started fighting,” the hero said.

“You’re not my priority.” Hearing that was weirdly affecting the hero. Their eyes fell to the villain’s wrists. There were red marks imprinted from the handcuffs.

“Fine, asshole,” the hero said. “An answer for an ask. I’m talking about the agency. They’re a bunch of assholes who have the public on their side. They love to use people, love to use heroes and experiment on people. I took you home with me because you were too injured to be left alone. I didn’t want them to find you. They’re dangerous.”

The hero stared at them, eyes narrowed. As if all of this was a trick. But then eventually, they spoke.

“I’m not telling you shit about me.” After that, they tried to escape three more times but the hero managed to drag them inside over and over again until they learnt their lesson.

[minerstatus]

Teyvat’s School for the Gifted

Summary: He's cruel, mean, and sadistic. Lumine cannot fathom why he has the followers he does, but she won't fall into his hands like the rest of them.  It was unknown to her at that time how such a stance would cause the biggest uproar the schools ever seen.

This is the silly drama filled high school/college parody AU nobody asked for filled with Lumine not giving a shit and Childe trying to buy his way out of problems.

Ship: Lumine/Childe

Tags: Highschool AU, Enemies to lovers, Slow burn, Jealousy, lots of side ships.

Status: 5/? on Ao3

Chapter 1

The school located on an island inside the neutral zones between nations is a blessing for anyone without a swimming pool filled with mora. Without money you have to be gifted a vision to attend. That is why Lumine thought she would never be accepted to such a place. Instead cursed to live her life on a small farm on the outskirts of Mondstadt, killing small monsters for money to aid her ailing mother.

She had become quite the prodigy around the area. Her sword work was nothing to be trifled with. Some would even gush about what it would be like if she did have a vision. Then it happened, a strange string of life changing events.

-

 She enjoyed spending her free time sitting under the statue of the seven in windrise. It gave her a reprieve from her day-to-day life of school, killing, then sleep. She polished her blade most days she sat there, enjoying the sounds of the wilderness around her.

 As she sheathed her blade, wistfully thinking about what it would be like to magically summon and desummon it as a vision user, a light began to shine behind her. There was a flash, she thought maybe a vision might appear in front of her. But this was no test or life changing event. It didn’t make sense.

 Wind surrounded her body, lifting her skit in the breeze. She turned, it followed with her. She lifted her hand as a power surged through her. A burst of wind jetted from her palm and sliced across the water. It trimmed the tops off the over grown grasses lining the ponds edge. The wind died down and left her for elsewhere as the light slowly faded out of existence.

 Befuddled, she stared at the palms of her hands. She felt a power emanating from her core. With a trembling arm she raised her palm again, calling forth on the energy. It darted from her as before. Shocked, she tried it again and again, smiling gleefully with each blast of wind. She twirled around, searching for her vision, but came up empty.

-

That is how the first visionless anemo user was born. At first people didn’t believe her. Delusions were not unknown to the common folk of Teyvat. They were a staple favorite of the mafia families across the regions. But she quickly smashed those theories to pieces. Not only was she a poor farm girl fighting to survive, but where on earth would she have the money to afford such a thing. She allowed an inspection of her things and a pat down to prove it.

After the authorities decided that she did not have a vision she was free to do as she wished. That was until the head master of Teyvat’s school for the gifted showed up on her doorstep. The scholarship she was offered would give more money to her mother per month than she could in six months of hunting. She took it without question.

That’s how she ended up here, gawking at the building in front of her. The school defied the rumors. Statues carved from marble, fountains that defied gravity, even the wood it was built from looked impossibly expensive. Heck, the wildlife looked like they ate from golden platters.

The only thing that held her from running right back to the boat was a woman pinning her down with a chemically assisted cheerful gaze. A shiver ran up her spine as she waved her over. She obliged only because her eyes looked a hair away from snapping into crazy land.

“Welcome to Teyvat’s finest Lumine!” She cheered and began to clap.

“Thanks,” She mumbled, intimidated by her nature. She looked like a robot. Sleek black hair, not a strand out of place. Perfectly pressed blazer and pencil skirt in matching shades. Her glasses glistening in the sunlight, even if they were just plain black frames. She hoped not everyone in this school looked or felt this way.

“Follow me and I'll take you to your dorm. Then it’s a trip around campus!” She quipped then turned on her heel. Even her footsteps were a perfect tempo.

They walked through the faculty building, which thankfully looked normal inside. The site quelled her turning stomach. It was into the garden next that, as expected, looked immaculate. They even had a massive sand garden. Back in Mondstadt something like that would be destroyed in seconds.

Eventually they came upon another wooden building with a large ‘girls’ over it. The woman stopped and spun so fast on her heel Lumine almost let out small scream.

“This is the girl's dorm; your roommates are waiting for you inside with your things. I'll be back in thirty minutes for the rest of the tour,” she said, smile never once faltering as she left Lumine to her own devices.

Her roommates were nice, they greeted her in the common room just as her guide stated. Amber was a bit too enthusiastic for just about anything. Barbara was a very cheerful girl but was more reserved. It was a breath of fresh air to see two friendly faces. They led her to their dorm to get settled.

“So, what do you think?” Amber asked as Lumine began to unpack her luggage. Placing her uniforms carefully into her small closet along with her own casual clothing. Her own things almost felt dirty comparted to the schools uniform she was provided. And the room was much bigger than what she expected from a dormitory.

“It's overwhelming,” She admitted.

“You'll get used to it,” Amber laughed.

“Are you?” Lumine began to ask.

“Scholarship,” Amber answered, holding up her vision, “They keep the poor kids together so we don’t infect the rich kids.” She laughed.

“Hey!” Barbara yelled at her. Lips pointing into a pout.

“Except for Barbara, she requested to room with me. She's the exception.” Amber smiled at her friend.

“So, it's exactly how I thought it would be,” Lumine grumbled. This school was probably dripping with rich kids causing trouble for the normal folk, like she expected.

“Some of the students are alright, indifferent you might say. But there are,” Amber held up her hands as air quotes, “those types.”

“Will you guys be in my classes?” She asked.

“Nope, third years!”

Lumine felt her insides twist. Great, now she would be alone on her first day. At least her dorm would be nice. Amber was warm and friendly and Barbara seemed sweet even if she wasn’t talking as much. The pair would only be a year below her so they were still close in age. Hopefully she wouldn’t be moved to another dorm with the ‘adults’ if she attends the next four years after this one.

“You don’t want to be in our year anyways,” Barbara laughed.

“Whys that?” Lumine felt a small smile form for the first time since she set foot on the island. Barbara wiggled her eyebrows and gleamed over at Amber. She turned red in response and threw a pillow at her.

“Stop! Its not my fault!” She shouted.

“It’s gross the way he drools over his desk for you,” Barbara added.

“Mind filling me in?” Lumine asked.

“No!” Amber shouted.

“She has this wolf boy that follows her around and causes trouble. Its adorable,” Barbara said anyways.

“I didn’t ask for it he just did it!” Amber defended herself.

“It's like a comedy slash horror show every day,” Barbara giggled.

“Stop teasing me,” Amber whined.

“Wolf boy?” Lumine asked. Mondstadt had a steady population of people descendant of shape shifters or animals, but she had never seen a wolf before. Most of them were cats. Granted, she did keep to herself and didn’t really mix with the town folk, even at school.

“Half werewolf, half human, grew up in the wild before coming here earlier in the year,” Amber explained.

“He can smell everything, it's awful,” Barbara moaned, “one time I tried to bring some leftovers from lunch and he almost ripped apart my bag looking for it.”

“Sounds like a nice boyfriend,” Lumine said, hiding her smile as she sorted items into her desk drawers. Amber gasped from behind her. She swallowed a laugh.

“H-he's not my boyfriend!” She yelled. Lumine busted and began to giggled along with Barbara. She was interested in seeing the exchanges between the two now.

“Very funny guys, I'll make sure to make fun of your pain in suffering next time I get the chance.” Amber crossed her arms.

“Alright I'll stop,” Barbara waved her hand at her. A sharp knock on the door quickly soured the cheerful mood. The door swung open and Lumine’s guide walked in.

“Fantastic, I'm so glad you are getting along with your new housemates. We must complete the tour now.” The woman said, still as cheerful as ever. Lumine noticed Barbara and Ambers shoulders fell on her entrance. “I'll be waiting out front,” she chirped and left.

“God, Mrs.Lee always gives me the creeps,” Amber said.

“Glad it's not just me,” Lumine laughed as she stood.

“Good luck! See you at dinner,” Amber waved as Lumine exited the room. She heard faint whispers of gossip as she left but knew it was nothing bad, those girls didn’t have a mean bone in them.

-

They walked around campus and Lumine slowly became accustomed to the wildly expensive taste. She was shown the inside of the year one through four buildings, for the fourteen-to-eighteen-year old's. Then the outside of the adult facilities. Mrs. Lee assured the only real difference between the two was the uniform requirement and some extra freedoms.

After taking the tour she felt less overwhelmed, but it was the final stop that really cemented the reality most of the students lived in. It was the cafeteria of the school, but should have been classified as a food court. There was the line for the scholarship students where they could use one of three free meal tickets per day, or a snack coupon, all loaded onto her school ID. Wich was normal, same thing that she had in Mondstadt, minus the dinner.

What was different was the restaurants lining the walls. Everything you could imagine from each region on tap. And the prices were nothing to scoff at. A Fishermans toast was going for ten thousand mora, she could make that for less than three hundred back home. Lines scaled out to the isles as students waited, eager to be robbed for food.

“Lumine!” A familiar voice shouted. She sighed in relief. A distraction to this insanity was required right about now. She carried her tray adorned with less appetizing food from the school over to the table Amber sat at.

“This place is crazy,” Lumine sighed in exhaustion.

“My first day I ran away,” Amber laughed. She placed a spoon full of mac and cheese into her mouth.

“Those prices are more than I make in three weeks back home,” She said as she began to eat. Pleasantly surprised that even the free food was delectable. The pasta was perfectly cooked, cheese sauce an ideal creamy texture. She moved on to nibble at her cookie, baked expertly with a crispy outside and a gooey center. “God,” she murmured, savoring the taste.

“I told you, you get used to it,” Amber smiled sweetly. A book bag slamming down on the table instantly cleared her face. She looked up to see what she assumed was the wolf boy from earlier discussions. Lumine wondered why Amber felt it was bad to have his attention. He was attractive, silver hair and red eyes, giving him an exotic look. His arms were coated in scars and a massive one gashed his face, not a bad look if your into that type. Some of the girls back home would swoon over the attention.

“Why,” She groaned as he pulled out a seat, pushing it right up against hers as he sat a plate of meat and potatoes down. It must have been one of the free creature meals from the school line. He sat, making sure he was as close as physically possible to her.

Okay, maybe that’s why. Lumine began to understand.

He tilted his head like a new puppy, “Why?” He asked, voice thick with an unknown accent.

“We talked about this,” She shoved his chair away. “This is Razor,” She sighed as he sunk into his chair to pout. Lumine nodded and greeted him with a smile.

“I bought brownies!” Barbara sang as she skipped over to the table, “For our new friend,” She handed out the sweets, “And beef jerky for you,” She said as she handed Razor a slim piece of dried meat. He perked up and took it, chewing on it greedily. After the experience with the cookie Lumine thought the food couldn’t get better. But the brownie was smooth decadent layers of velvet chocolate that melted in her mouth. She had to suppress a groan.

There was a pickup of chatter in the room that pulled her from her chocolate induced fantasy. She looked towards the entrance of the café where a group of boys walked in. They were followed by a gaggle of other students, mostly female, all adorned with an expensive accessory or more.

Lumine was an honest person and she did not deny to herself that these boys looked like royalty. They walked with an air of confidence even through the crowd, knowing that the sea of students would part for them. She counted each of their visions, anemo, geo, cryo and hydro. There was a distinct leader to the group out of the four. A redhead who wore his vision on his belt, showing it off by messily tucking in half of his unkept shirt. Like he wanted people to see it, unlike the rest of them that wore them on chains by their side, as did everyone else in the school.

“Don't stare,” Amber hissed. Lumine snapped her eyes to her friends.

“Who are they?” She asked. Amber eyed her wearily before divulging the information.

“Sons of the school's elite,” She glanced back at the group to ensure they were distracted with food or girls before continuing, “The shorter one with green hair is Xiao, the son of the wangshu inn owner. The geo looking guy is Zhongli from the Wangsheng funeral parlor. Blue hair is Kaeya, one of the sons from the dawn winery.” Amber stopped speaking as she got to the last subject. Lumine quirked a brow as both Barbara and Amber swiveled their heads to check on the group again.

“It's not really them you should be weary of though; besides Xiao they are nice. Xiao has always had a stick up his butt,” Barbara added to the conversation.

“Then what is it, why are we acting like we are defusing a bomb?” Lumine asked.

“It's Childe, the redhead,” Amber whispered.

“Childe? That’s a dumb name,” Lumine thought out loud. The girls hissed at her to keep her voice down.

“He smells mean,” Razor added. Amber pulled on his ear.

“I told you not to talk about him,” She growled at him. He grasped her hand in his, forcing her to release.

“But you are!” he argued.

“Thats because we are warning her!” Amber explained. Razors eyes darted from Ambers to Lumines and he resigned himself back to his half-eaten steak.

Amber rolled her eyes and turned back to Lumine, “It’s not his real name, no one even knows his real name.”

“Childe is an awful nickname,” She whispered back to her friend.

“He’s mean, and evil, once he has you in his sights there's no stopping it.” Amber warned her.

“What about his friends? Don’t they say something?” She asked.

“They are rich, us poor folk don’t matter to them even if they act cordial towards us,” Amber told her as she leaned back, “Besides you don’t have a vision, he will probably just ignore you.”

Lumine widened her eyes, “well...” She felt a tint come to her cheeks, “Actually...”

Amber slammed her fists on the table, “NO WAY! YOUR THAT GIRL!” she screamed. Drawing the attention of half the students.

“Show us!” Barbara insisted.

“Ah, I don’t think now is the best time.” Lumine tried to quell her friend's voices but both girls were oblivious to the attention they were attracting. She glanced over at the red head she was warned about to make sure he was still entranced at whatever activity he had chosen.

“Awh comon I wanna see!” Amber whined.

“First anemo user in history without a vision! Don’t hold out on us!” Barbara added.

“Fine! Just stop yelling at me,” Lumine finally conceded. She put her palm face up on the table and gathered a small amount of wind to it. It tinted green with her power as it swirled into a miniature tornado in her palm.

“This is so cool!” Amber gasped.

“It's the same as anyone else,” Lumine said, closing her hand to cease the wind. She was more than a bit tired of people going ballistic over her powers.

“Let's get back to the dorms,” Amber suggested, “We have much to talk about,” She smiled gleefully. Razor whimpered next to her, “fine you can come too,” She sighed. Razor looked up with a beaming smile.

“Boys are allowed in the girls dorms?” Lumine asked as they gathered their trays and bags.

“Only until eight with a strict open-door policy,” Barbara told her.

She hummed in response as the group made their way over to the trash bins. Eyes were on her now, some searching for a vision trinket she didn’t possess. She was the last one out the door when a chill tingled down her spin. She grabbed the back of her neck and turned, expecting a cryo user to be standing there with a smirk on their face.

Instead, she was greeted with sea blue eyes cutting through the crowd. He smirked when they made eye contact. The chill went down her entire body. She glared as the door to the building swung shut, cutting them off.

Shit.

[kareofbears]

plainly in truth, chapter 4/5

“Without you around, it’s sorta like stuff is just kinda…bleh.”

—

Or: hiding, confiding, and misguiding.

read on ao3 or below the cut

Niijima Makoto doesn’t know what she’s doing.

It’s rare, but it happens. Sometimes she doesn’t understand the material in university. Sometimes the trains close down before she can catch the last one. Sometimes she has a breakdown because what does it mean that the system that got her father killed is the same one that she’s working so hard to get into.

But there’s always a way to find a solution—ask the professor after lecture. Call Sae and, as humiliating as it was, ask for a ride home. Convince herself that maybe she’s what the system needed in order to get real change. (She’s not quite there yet.)

She doesn’t know what she’s doing with Ryuji, and the internal tug-of-war is almost getting too much for her.

Makoto can help him; how many students has she worked with to help get them back on their feet? But each of those students she had tutored wanted help—she didn’t need to convince them to focus on school. How do you convince someone to get academic help? Duct tape them to a chair and show them a PowerPoint about how their life can fall apart if they don’t take this seriously? Then she’d be blatantly ignoring his mental struggle, and be no better than the adults who want to push kids through a meat grinder that’s the education system and turn them into mindless workers, existing solely to earn them profit.

Then she can leave him alone. That’s what he wants, anyway, and it’s by far the simplest option.

However, if she leaves him alone, would that mean that she’s still the same person who let Shujin students sell themselves to Kaneshiro? Convinced that they can handle it on their own, but only letting their debts pile higher and higher on themselves until they get crushed?

Sudden laughter and shouting from behind pulls Makoto back to reality. They were all in a heated game of Tycoon, and it sounds like Akira’s been on a winning streak for the past half hour.

She grips the steering wheel tighter, forcing herself to focus on the road and not the whirlwind of thoughts. The highway is nearly empty, despite the sun being high in the sky, not a single cloud blocking its rays. They’re on their way to Okinawa, and it’s her turn to drive.

Makoto may not know what she’s doing, but she can at least do this.

—

Okumura Haru has always had a bit of a guilt complex.

It started with refusing to give her hand to an abusive man for her also abusive father’s business, and it had only escalated even further once she realized that it’s technically her fault that her father had been killed; that one in particular had been crippling. Not only because he died due to her poor decision making, but it was another reason why the Thieves had fallen for Shido’s trap last year.

She respects herself enough now to understand that most of it is misplaced, but it doesn’t erase any of the guilt she still carries today. Far from it—that guilt has only grown to be bigger, looming over her as if it were ready to consume every inch of her body and spit out a bag of bones.

This situation, though, she can’t help but feel that her guilt isn’t quite as misplaced as she likes to convince herself it is.

They were all having lunch at the ferry’s restaurant; it’s small, given how little people want to go all the way out to Okinawa, but it’s still selling ludicrously overpriced coffee and pastries. Nobody seems to mind, though. All of them were sharing one cheese omelette, each with a plastic fork in hand, tapping them against each other to get the best piece and assert dominance like animals at a watering hole.

A way to soothe guilt is to somehow find a way to remedy the situation. Employees of Big Bang Burger have been unionized, her father is now remembered for the man he was rather than the man he became, Sugimura has long since been a problem (how he stopped being a problem, she legally cannot speak about), and Shido isn’t even in the public’s conscious anymore.

But for Ryuji, there is no way to soothe that guilt. Not in a way that matters.

It’s not just because Haru had essentially been the reason why too many people know his secret, but because the secret should have never happened in the first place. She’s his senpai, she was supposed to be the one looking out for him. Ryuji was struggling, mentally and academically, and she hadn’t realized it until it was far too late. He had been there for her, ready to knock Sugimura’s teeth into his throat, but she couldn’t have done the same for him when it truly mattered.

How do you soothe that guilt? Buy out the entire school? Forge his grades? More cram books? That’s ridiculous.

There’s no way to soothe that guilt, she realizes, because the only real way to do that was to turn back time.

—

Kitagawa Yusuke understands pride better than most people.

Without a cent to his name for most of his life, pride was all he had. Pride of being the pupil of someone great, pride of turning money away in the name of art. Being able to withstand enormous pressure and stick to his guns has always been one of his strongest abilities.

They’re in the Okinawa jail, tearing through Shadows and screaming Sophia’s name, over and over again until all of their throats are torn raw. He calls for Goemon, and ice crawls over the narrow corridors of the facility like ants covering every inch of a buffet. They’re all strong, because they have to be, but the Shadows here are cunning; fast and magic-infused, drunk on the strange, thick air that’s bled into every inch of cement in this building.

But pride can be an unforgiving catalyst that can change you from the inside out, like a parasite hijacking your brain stem and compels you to bow down to it. He had refused to see the truth, turned a blind eye to the evils of his sensei, and it made him into a lesser version of himself. It had made him weaker.

A crack of lightning strikes, emanating light so bright that he instinctively raises a hand to block it out. When it dims, any smell of the cold, dry air is gone—in its place is the distinct scent of ozone wafting around him, and a light buzz that settles atop his skin like a second layer. The hair on his nape stands, but Yusuke’s positive it didn’t come from the electricity still buzzing from the ashes of the Shadows.

Ryuji had obliterated all of their foes with one, clean strike.

—

Takamaki Ann can tell that something’s off.

Her toes are buried deep in hot sand, taking refuge under their big umbrella. The sun is just about setting over the horizon, casting an orange glow on her skin, and she idly hopes that she had put on enough sunscreen. They’ve tired themselves out for the most part; some were taking naps on beach towels, some had retired back to the RV where air conditioning awaits them.

Only Akira and Ryuji were left, standing where the sand meets the tide, water lapping at their ankles. She couldn’t hear what they were talking about, but she recognized the look on Akira’s face—with his glasses hanging from his button up, his eyes sparkled brighter than the ocean does, not quite smiling but his lips are curled up as if unable to completely restrain itself. It’s the look he reserves for Ryuji.

She digs her feet deeper into the sand, enjoying the way it tickles her calves. Ann’s been thinking about this whole thing in her head ever since she found out the truth, and something just isn’t adding up.

As absolutely insane as it all is, if she closes one eye, tilts her head, and slams her head against a wall, she can sort of, kind of, maybe understand where he’s coming from. She’s known him too long not to. The whole actively lying to his friends thing is still unforgivable, but the need to hide it? Understandable. She barely scraped by second-year herself with a prayer and English-speaking parents, and even then her grades are nothing to write home about.

Ann could barely believe that Ryuji really thought that Akira would leave him over something as stupid as flunking school, but even that she can understand, too. Everyday, she wants to be a better person for Shiho, and everyday, she goes to bed thinking that she didn’t try hard enough. Ann gets it. Love screws with your brain, swirls it up until you can barely stand up straight, and definitely messes with your perception of yourself. Ridiculous, crazy, but still somewhat coherent.

There’s still one piece in this whole puzzle that hasn’t clicked yet, and it’s been bugging her ever since that night in the cafe.

As perceptive as he is, as smart and observant and unstoppable as he is, as kind and knowledgeable as he is, as much as he adores Ryuji to the moon and back—

Why hasn’t Akira said anything yet?

—

Sakura Futaba knows that something’s off.

As the navigator, she sees everything she needs to make sure her team makes it out of every battle alive and victorious. Necronomicon can see stuff that no one else can, can predict two, three, four moves before it can happen. She eats stats for breakfast and spits out results by second breakfast. She knows her team’s moveset like the back of her hand and then some. Futaba takes this seriously, because if she doesn’t, someone’s not walking out alive.

The best part is that she’s good at this. So good that the eternal worrywart, Joker himself, can still walk out of the Metaverse with a head of thick, black hair.

But something’s been off. She felt it in her bones and that feeling only gets more prominent with every passing Jail—no, not even Jail. With every battle, that feeling only gets stronger in her gut.

When it started is still a mystery to her, but she started picking up on it in Sapporo. Sapporo. Her mom told her never to pray, but by god she’s hoping that it started in Sapporo, because this—this thing, is too big to have missed.

Futaba isn’t sure what it is yet, but she has no idea what’s happening with Ryuji.

To be more specific, she has no idea what’s happening with Captain Kidd, but that’s basically the same thing; Personas are the extension of the user, I am thou, et cetera. The weirdest part is, she knows something’s off, but she doesn’t know if it’s necessarily a problem.

It’s as if Ryuji’s been hitting the gym while they weren’t looking, or giving Kidd a stern talking to. His attacks, which used to be around the same baseline as the rest of the team, is nearly outputting double the amount of damage than the rest of them. His hits are buffed to the wazoo on a level she’s never seen before in any other Persona user, even Akira.

She’s considered bringing it up with him dozens of times. The two of them have to be honest with each other, not because they love and respect each other or any of that bullcrap—it’s because it’s the only way anything can ever function in the team. Between the navigator and the leader, if they ever hide anything from the other, no matter how small, things would never run smoothly. Or worse: it’ll crash and burn.

And then Ryuji comes along and makes them all take a blood oath to never, ever tell Akira a really big secret.

Technically, she doesn’t see an issue with it. It’s more of an unspoken rule than any kind of signed contract, and it’s mostly about Metaverse stuff instead of real world problems. She’s not eagerly telling Akira about her private Pixiv account or anything. But it’s not impossible to think that Ryuji being strong enough to be wearing ten Gilded Vests stacked on top of each other is somehow connected to his very real, very heart-affecting situation. If she really thought it was a problem, she’d tell Akira right away. It’s better to have Ryuji hate her than to have him dead.

But when she sees Akira’s face flash with relief in Akane’s Jail when Ryuji all but annihilates a mega-super-high level Shadow, one that Akira’s been stressing about the entire time since they’ve been here despite him trying his best to act cool about it because he has to be, it’s kinda hard to consider this to be a problem at all.

—

Between Konoe’s attacks and relentless bolts of ions getting shot up every few seconds, the static is so thick in the air that their hairs are all frayed and heading skywards.

The blast from Konoe’s mech, once a symbol of their triumph and had pulled no small amount of whoops and cheers from their throats, is only the first stage of their fated battle. They hadn’t planned for an extra phase, and the only reason they were able to escape was that steam from the busted metal and machinery had given them a few seconds of cover.

All of them are huddled behind a wall, outlined with neon blue that only served to blend them in with the futuristic technicholar that is the Osaka Jail.

“We’re clear,” Makoto announces, voice low as she returns from peeking around the corner. “No chance he knows our location.”

“Thank you Queen,” Akira says, mask pushed far up his head, clear eyes rapidly checking over each of his teammates, nodding. “Good work out there with the mech, now let’s figure this one out. What do we know?”

“Not a lot,” Futaba’s goggles reflect data as her fingers dance over the screen. “If we assumed that his weaknesses would be the same as his mech, then it would be lightning and nuclear.”

“Only if we assume that his physical form reflects his robotic form,” Yusuke points out. “What are the odds that that’s the case?”

Morgana taps his paw on the ground, deep in thought. “High, I’d say. Remember, he didn’t even think anyone could actually get into his Jail. He was worried enough to give himself two forms, but I doubt he’d go much deeper than that in terms of protection.”

“Look, my math might be a little off,” Ryuji starts. “But it’s literally a ten-on-one, right? I vote we kick his ass from the get go.”

Akira grips his arm. “Don’t. It might be a ten-on-one, but I don’t want to be walking out of here with only nine or less. We take this slow, like we always do.”

“...Fine.”

“What I’m worried about is that big sword of his,” Ann says grimly. “It looks like one hit from that thing I can kiss my entire torso goodbye.”

“That’s what I was thinking.” Eyes flickering to Futaba, Akira asks, “Possible defenses?”

“I’m not seeing anything special from it other than it’s huge and sharp and could kill us if he really wanted to, which, he does. So it looks like it’s physical, unless he has something up his sleeve.”

“Which he probably does, because that’s just how things usually go for us,” Ann sighs.

“We’ll go with what we know.” Akira gets on his feet, taking another peek, black coattails swishing around his ankles. With blood-red hands he pulls his mask back down, and they all straighten up. His voice is barely above a mutter, but they all catch every word he says. “Panther, how’s your energy?”

“Nearly full,” she answers.

“Use Concentrate on Queen and Skull on their call, double their magical attack whenever you can. I know it takes awhile to reuse when you’re using it for anyone but yourself, but try your best. Ryuji, how you holding up?”

“Like everything’s zero gravity, leader.”

“Then I want you to do the same with Charge for Fox, Noir, and yourself. Don’t overdo it though—only do it on my call.”

“Got it.”

“Sophie, Morgana: healing duty. Especially for those of you who drain your health like an open tap. Noir, try to get a vantage point and use Milady’s arsenal. Catching Konoe off guard can be what we need. Oracle, watch our backs. Everyone else, on standby. Are we all clear?”

With a nod, Akira takes a deep breath. “Then let’s get this show on the road.”

He takes the first step, knowing full well that ten more are right behind him.

The minute Konoe spots where they were hiding, he takes a slow pace towards them, confident in his own abilities. He swings his lightsaber around him with ease, footsteps heavy and sure.

They take his lethargy to their advantage. “Split!” Akira calls, and immediately they head to where they need to be. “Let’s take this nice and—”

In a split second, the unhurried pace that Konoe was taking dissipates and he dashes forward, a blur to their eyes, heading straight for Ann, who just barely dodges out of the way.

“What the hell?!”

“He’s fucking fast now!”

“This guy’s speed just cranked up!” Futaba yells. “If he could do that without me even realizing it, then who knows—”

“Stay sharp, we know what we’re doing.”

“How on earth are you still so calm, Joker?!”

“Because I believe in all of you.” Dashing left, he brushes his mask. “Neko Shogun, help me out.” A black cat with eyes bigger than his hand materializes from the monochrome mask, and they all suddenly feel lighter on their feet, ready to dodge anything that comes their way. “Queen, Skull.”

“Roger that!”

Makoto scales one of the neon walls, grip strength insurmountable, and runs across the wires that are tied from each platform, boots barely touching the cord, before jumping down. “Johanna!”

An explosion, or something more akin to a nuclear bomb getting set off mere meters in front of them, occurs where Makoto lands, hitting Konoe head-on.

He staggers back, obviously shaken but he recovers quickly. Lightsaber buzzing red, he’s about to strike at her when she hops on the back of Johanna, engine revving. “Lucky us, he’s weak to nuclear.”

Ryuji hops on his feet, hyping himself up. “Not all of us have cars for a quick getaway,” he snarks, before he’s gone, sprinting so fast that he’s nearly a blur to anyone looking his way. Racing behind a wall, he gets the jump on Konoe. “Come on out, Captain!”

A storm brews even without a single cloud over them as ozone reeks and lightning strikes, the deafening sound of thunder makes their ears ring.

“Holy crap,” Futaba breathes.

“Is he weak?” he asks.

“Uh,” Ann says. Konoe uses his lightsaber as a makeshift cane to get himself on his feet, shaking his head aggressively. “Yeah, I’d say he’s weak to it.”

“Comms are set,” Futaba announces. “Noir, can you hear me?”

“Loud and clear, Oracle,” a bright voice chirps in their ears. “Joker, it’s an easy shot.”

“Take it.”

“With your help, Milady.”

The unmistakable sound of a gunshot rings out, and their heads swivel to see if it hit, but there’s no one there.

“What the...?” Ann wildly spins around, eyes widening. “Sophie—!”

Without turning her head back, Sophia instinctively ducks sideways, bits of red locks falling to the ground as Konoe’s lightsaber slices through the edges of her hair, and again when it grazes past her head, and another when it slices through the metal flooring like it was butter.

Panic grips her. “Pithos!” Sophia shrieks, voice high with fear. Blinding light shines from her hands, but Konoe walks into it like it was nothing.

Yusuke grips his katana, and silent as a gust of wind on a winter’s night, cuts through the air in front of him to deliver a myriad of slashes over Konoe. It does little to him, but it’s jarring enough that Sophia can escape where she was cornered.

“He’s very speedy,” Sophia says shakily. “Thank you, Fox.”

He nods, touching his mask in preparation. “That speed is nothing to jest about.”

“And we can’t do anything about it by just standing here! Makoto, back me up here.” Ann throws her mask in the air. “Carmen!”

“Find me an opening, and I’ll handle the rest,” Haru’s voice crackles.

“She’s right.” Akira touches his mask as it burns bright with the strength of dozens, maybe even hundreds of Personas. “She needs cover, and we need the element of surprise. Fox, Morgana.”

“Not a word more.”

“You got it!”

Ann takes a leaf from Makoto’s book, using her whip to grapple herself onto a ledge, running to take the high point behind Konoe, grazing Haru’s shoulder on the way there.

Konoe turns, but before he can take a counter measure, Akira calls out: “King Frost.”

At the same time, Yusuke says, voice loud and clear: “Goemon!”

Together, pillars of ice, meters and meters high surround Konoe, high enough that he can’t see anything past a few feet. But that height comes with a price; they can only make it so thick, and the lightsaber didn’t hesitate to crush it into bits.

“Panther, we don’t have too much time.” Already, sweat begins to pool and roll down Akira’s skin, using up his magic rapidly. “Are you in position?”

“Just—” she hops, heels clicking rapidly against the floor. “—About! Ten seconds!”

“We can hold it. Sophia, stay close on standby.”

“Understood!”

Motorcycle wheels screech next to Ryuji, and he doesn’t hesitate to hop on the back before they’re off again, leaving tire marks where they skirted off. “I swear to god, you play the racing games in the arcade. How the hell else would you get so good at this?”

“Would you shut up?” Makoto snaps.

“Roger that.”

“I’m in position!” Ann announces. She’s almost directly on top of the ice pillar. “On your signal.”

Gritting his teeth, Akira wipes the sweat away. “Hold.”

Yusuke swivels his head to him, knees shaking. “I can hold for as long as you need me to, but I might not be as much use afterwards.”

“It’s fine.” His eyes narrow at Konoe, still tearing through their ice blockade as the pile of shards only gets higher and higher. “Just a little bit longer. Sophia, use the biggest, most pinpoint bless move you have on my word.”

“Yes,” she responds, before hesitating. “He’s immune to it, I’m afraid.”

“I know.” Even Akira sounds breathless, his footing becoming unsteady.

“Joker, you don’t have much left,” Futaba warns. “You better hope this ends things, or we’re gonna have a real big problem on our hands.”

Once the shards of ice have piled high enough that it would surpass Konoe’s height twice over, and despite his hands beginning to turn blue, Akira's grin is wide. “Three—”

Yusuke’s vision begins to blur, but he refuses to relinquish Goemon.

“Two—”

Haru rearranges her finger on the trigger, palms drenched in sweat but they don’t shake. Not anymore.

“One—”

Ann takes a few steps back, sucking in a breath before sprinting forward, jumping straight over the open-chasm of ice and death beneath her.

“Now!”

Carmen releases a blaze of flame intense enough to encompass an entire neighborhood and then some, taking the shards and bits of ice that was piled high on top of each other and turning it into a cloud of fog and hot mist, shooting straight up and turning the visibility of the whole area to zero.

Yusuke crumbles to his knees as Ann tucks and rolls onto the floor, hissing as she feels her ankle twist into something nasty. “Shit!”

Akira staggers back, gripping his head like it hurts for him to stand, but that doesn’t stop him from yelling out: “Sophia!”

“Makougan!”

Like a lighthouse in the middle of a storm, there shines a beam of light so bright, so concentrated into one area, that they all know exactly where to aim their fire.

It all comes tumbling down, a perfectly set-up domino trap; Haru pulls trigger after trigger, bullet shells flying, ignoring the way her shoulder is inching further and further from where it’s supposed to be by taking the brunt of the recoil. Ryuji hops off the bike, crossing his arms in front of him calling two, three, four bolts as Makoto calls another nuclear blast.

From inside the whirlpool of thick clouds, where the fog is most dense, a figure sways, coughing and lurching forwards and back, trying desperately to escape.

“Oh no you don’t! Zorro!”

Wind, so thick you can almost see it, swirls around most of the mist, locking it in and dragging everyone else’s attacks right in the center.

Futaba’s clacking can be heard even now. “He’s losing health fast! Eighty percent, seventy percent, sixty—”

The ground trembles ominously.

“What in the world…?” Yusuke pants from the ground, elbows barely able to keep his torso up.

It happens again, stronger this time.

“Fifty, forty—” she continues, voice small and desperate. “Thirty! Twenty!”

Akira presses his palm against the ground, eyes closed before snapping open. Despite his exhaustion, he compels himself to stand, arms outstretched defensively. “Guard!”

They do so, and a streak of pure light flickers from the inside, before rapidly getting larger and larger until it turns into a scintillating sphere that grew and pulsed, eating up everything in its wake and blowing away the captivating fog. Try as they might, there’s nothing they can do to stand up against a Megidolaon.

Bruised and battered, Konoe stands tall as the Phantom Thieves can do nothing but look up from the ground, energy and options all but dried up until neither was left.

—

“Stop, I can walk, let me up—”

“Panther, stop struggling, your ankle is already too injured to—”

“Fuck! Oracle, does he know where we are?”

“Not yet; looks like that vanish ball Joker threw out gave us some cover but it’ll last for a way shorter time considering he blew through our plan in less than—”

“Whoa, Fox, you’re not looking good.”

“I’m afraid I can’t keep going, everyone. Goemon has reached his limit, but I don’t necessarily need him to keep fighting. Judging by my vision, however, my accuracy might be much lower than usual.”

“Man, shut up and stay down.”

“Sophia? Can you hear us?”

“Yes, but—ow!”

“Okay, stop moving, you’re only going to make it worse.”

“Joker, we still have plenty of items that we’ve accumulated from previous Jails. We don’t have much time before he can find us again, but if we put our heads together—”

“Are you talking about the scraps of grilled corn and the three life stones we have left? It would be suicide. We have to go in, guns blazing. It’s the only way it can work.”

“You’re talking about suicide, Mona, and the ‘guns blazing’ strategy you’re talking about would be literally lead to us serving our heads on a silver platter.”

“So what’s your plan, Queen? I’m all ears, I’m serious.”

“G-guys, stop fighting! We’ve barely got enough time as is. Just let me scan—”

“We’re pulling back.”

All eyes turn to Akira, posture straight despite the sheen of sweat clinging to his forehead. It’s obvious how he was barely able to stand.

Ryuji takes a step forward. “Are you crazy?”

"More than half of us are running on fumes, and half of those people are injured to the point where they can barely keep going. Our plan was shattered like it was nothing, he has a super move that’s so powerful that it tears through our defenses like tissue paper. We’re retreating.”

“Like hell we are! Do you know what’s gonna happen if we leave?”

“We heal our injuries, we get more items, we prepare better this time, and we come up with a better plan.”

“And that gives that bastard—” he jerks his thumb behind him. “The exact same advantage.”

“And what advantage do we have?” Akira’s voice is calm but they all feel the edge to it. “Who can even fight?”

“I can,” Morgana answers quietly. “He takes wind like concrete, though.”

“So can I. However, I can’t do as much as I normally can.” Haru rolls her shoulder, wincing. “I may have dislocated my shoulder earlier.”

“And me, obviously,” Ryuji finishes. “That’s nearly an entire team. We even have support and a distance shooter, and Futaba’s still in this too, so—”

“No.”

“What?”

“I said no,” he says, hard. “Don’t be stubborn about this. You know damn well why we can’t.”

Akira turns on his heel, only the slightest wobble in his movements. “Let’s move out. We only have thirty seconds left before the vanish ball wears off.”

“We’re not leaving.”

“Yes, we are.”

“Is it because you’re not on the team?”

A hush falls on them, and for a second, everyone forgets that they were even in the middle of a battle.

Akira glances back, hair covering his eyes. “What’s that supposed to mean?”

“It means,” Ryuji takes another step forward, chin tilted up. “That you don’t think that we can handle this without you.”

“That’s ridiculous.”

“Is it really? When was that last time you weren’t on the A team, Joker? Does anyone remember?” He glances at the rest of them. “Anyone? No? Yeah, I figured.”

He stares at him. “What’s wrong with you? Why are you acting like this?”

“I just don’t like that you’re implying that I can’t do shit for myself.”

“Ryuji…” Ann tries quietly.

“Yourself?” He faces him, expression blank. “I thought this was about the team.”

“And I’m part of the team, ain’t I?”

“You’re not dragging the rest of them into your petty, nonsensical argument, Skull,” Akira goes toe-to-toe with him, neither one blinking. “That’s final.”

“You know it would be dumb as shit to give that guy even more time to prepare. It’s like Shido—he was the toughest guy we went up against because he gave himself a billion counter measures since he knew we were coming. Konoe barely knew jack but he handed our asses to us. We finish this now or we don’t finish this at all.”

“I’d rather lose the battle than lose my friends,” he hisses. “We’re leaving. Now.”

“You’re too fucking blind to see that this is more than just us, leader,” Ryuji spits the word. “I can do it—no, I will do it.”

Akira grabs the bandana around his neck. “I don’t know what’s gotten into you,” he says through gritted teeth. “But you’re not going anywhere near Konoe.”

But it’s useless, and they both know it—Akira’s far too drained and Ryuji’s far too strong for it to be much more than an empty threat.

Ryuji wraps his fingers around his wrist. “I’ll prove to you that I can fucking do this,” his grip is tight, before forcibly peeling Akira’s grasp from him. “Believe in me. I’m strong, Akira.”

“Don’t do this.” Any anger from his words dissipates, and desperation takes its place. “I’m commanding you, as the leader of the Phantom Thieves of Hearts—do not do this.”

With a wide grin and lightning behind his eyes, Ryuji’s gone, and Akira’s hand is grasping thin air.

“Fuck,” he clutches at his head, body shaking with exertion. “Fuck.”

“Oh my god,” Makoto breathes. “He’s going to fight Konoe alone.”

“Over my dead body,” Akira touches his mask. “Come out, Yoshits—” Before he can finish, a gutteral sound from deep in his throat cuts him off, and he crashes ungracefully on the ground. “God dammit.”

Makoto shakes herself out of her stupor, taking a deep breath. “Alright, we can’t leave Skull. We’ll work with what we have.” Instinctively, she looks to Akira for advice, but his eyes are glazed over. Whether or not it’s from exhaustion or shock from what happened, she doesn’t know. “Noir, range attack. Shoot down the broken limbs from the mech, pray it still has nuclear running through its pipes. Mona, you’ll be on the support. Noir is already down in health, and Lord knows Skull’s going to need it. I’m down energy wise, but I have a good visual from above.” Eyes sliding sideways. “Oracle?”

“Comms are set up, I’m scanning for weaknesses, and Skull’s almost there,” she replies instantly. “If you’re going to join him, it’s now or never.”

“Alright.” Makoto swallows. “Everyone else, stay back. You two—go.” Morgana and Noir dart out.

“Thank you,” Akira says quietly. “I was just…out of it.”

“You don’t have to explain. That was…” she trails off when he looks up at her. His gaze in the Metaverse is sharp, always sharp, but now they’re dull. From knives to pebbles.

“Why did he do this?” he whispers. “What did I do wrong?”

The floor begins to rumble again, and they all lean over the edge to watch the battle playout.

“Everyone’s in position,” Yusuke narrates with a frown. “I don’t doubt Skull’s skill, but even at our full power, Konoe couldn’t be beaten.”

“He’s there,” Makoto says, and Akira watches, perfectly still. “He’s about to hit first.”

Ann leans forward, as they all did, at how Ryuji calls Kidd, voice ringing so loud they can hear it from where they sat on top of a wall. “Can he really do it?”

“Well,” Futaba heaves a deep sigh. “He’s right that this is probably our best shot, considering that we already got Konoe down to twenty percent of his health.”

Captain Kidd materializes, and his cannon is leaning back, glowing with power, and Konoe takes a step sideways, about to dodge.

“But Ryuji isn’t the same fighter that he was before.”

Instead of shooting forward, the cannon is swiftly raised skyward and thunder cracks before lightning strikes Konoe, followed by Ryuji lifting his pipe and slamming it straight into his skull and dodging just as another Megidolaon grows where he stood.

All of them stare, wide-eyed, at the spectacle before them like it was a sporting match; a back and forth happens, where Konoe would use his immense speed and power to try and get the leg up on Ryuji, but he would only hit thin air as he dodges and parries, shifting and ducking with a finesse they’ve never seen before, calling up Kidd and using electricity so potent that they feel can its static. Konoe grips his saber and swings and swings, triple-attack rolled into one but everytime he tries he only gets cut off when Ryuji slams his hand into the ground and calls dozens of wildly waving purple hands, each of them clawing at Konoe mercilessly.

“I knew he was stronger than he was before,” Makoto’s eyes are wide with wonder. “But it's like I don’t even recognize him.”

Ions and plasma strike as lightning meets saber, causing a violent cascade of sparks to fly frantically around the two of them. Bullets ring out whenever Konoe takes a step back, only to send him flying as a mini nuclear blast explodes behind him; Haru’s aim is impeccable.

This dance plays out for a long time, with Ryuji calling earth-shaking attacks and dancing around Megidolaons while Haru finds weak spots.

“Has he grown even faster?” Yusuke wonders aloud.

Futaba is struggling to watch all the data, attention straying to watch the fight. “He’s shaved off another ten percent off his health!”

“He’s incredible,” Ann says, awe-struck. “Isn’t he, Joker? He’s totally kicking his ass, pretty much by himself.”

“There’s something wrong.”

She peels her eyes away from below to stare at him, perplexed. “Things couldn’t be any better.”

Akira’s eyes are trained on Ryuji, on the way he’s limboing, countering every single attack rather than guarding. “I’ve seen his style since the very first day he got his Persona, and I’ve never seen him dodge so fluently. So desperately,” he says, eyes narrowed. “Something changed. And I didn’t notice.”

“Guys, am I crazy,” Morgana’s voice crackles in their ear. “Or is he really, really good at dodging attacks? I’ve only healed Noir this entire time, and she’s not even down there.”

“I just think he’s being cautious,” Haru replies, cocking her gun before continuing her assault. “Oracle? Report, please.”

“Five percent left,” they all hear the grin in her voice. “He’s actually going to do it.”

“Panther.” Ann blinks at Akira. “Help me up.”

She does, pushing his shoulders up until he’s sitting straight. “Needed a better view of him being a badass?” she teases.

Instead of answering, his gaze focuses, irises turning into a bright shade of blue.

Third eye, she registers with surprise. “We already know his stats.”

“I don’t care about Konoe’s,” his brow furrows slightly. “I care about his.”

“Two percent!” Futaba calls gleefully.

Suddenly, air catches in Akira’s throat. “What?” Ann startles.

“His endurance,” his voice shakes so intensely that she almost can’t understand what he’s saying. “His endurance.”

“What? What does that mean? Joker?” He tries pushing himself on his feet, crumbling and spewing obscenities when he can’t. “What are you doing? There’s nothing you can do, and Mona’s already got the healing taken care of.”

“One percent!”

The look in Akira’s eye is wild, and he’s paler than she’s ever seen him—whiter than when he came back from the interrogation room, and it’s enough to make her stomach drop all the way to the ground. “By the time they heal him, it’ll be too late.”

Everyone cheers and they both turn their attention back to the battle below them, where Ryuji summons one last bolt at Konoe, and finally, it’s enough to take him down.

Ryuji turns his back to Konoe, arms raised in triumph and drenched in sweat, immense pride clear on his expression.

It all happens in slow motion.

Akira jumps down, ignoring the protests from above, limping and scrambling towards Ryuji. Behind him, Konoe tries for one last, desperate attempt to win by swinging his saber weakly at Ryuji’s ankles, grazing his flesh ever so slightly.

“No!” Akira cries out.

Despite the cut being as shallow as a paper cut and as wide as a bee’s sting, Ryuji crumples to the ground, all life seeped out of him like he was struck through the heart.

[3pirouette]

Fic: Not One Thing (1/1)

Title: Not One Thing

By: TriplePirouette/3Pirouette

Disclaimer: They're not mine.

Distribution: AO3 Anyone else please ask first :)

Story Summary: Peggy and Steve set things straight after she shoots at him. Set During CA: TFA

A/N: For Steggy Week Day 2: Favorite Moment. Who doesn’t love when she shoots him? I love it. So, here’s the missing scene, because during my re-watch I noticed that the first time we hear him call her Peggy was right after Private Lorraine kisses him. Then we go from her shooting him to the bar after Bucky dies, then right to the super sexually charged “You’re late,” at the Hydra facility. This… fills that in? Maybe? Hopefully.

~*~

“I don’t think one thing, Captain. Not one thing.”

Peggy hightailed it to the ladies’ room after she put the gun down, forcing the emotion welling in her throat to stop before it became tears in her eyes. She took a deep breath as the door swung closed behind her, offering her some much-needed solitude.

She’d been fooling herself, obviously, if she’d dreamed that Steve Rogers was different. If his sharp wit and calculating mind appealed to her, that didn’t change the fact that he was a man, and seemed all too happy to get into the same trouble every man she’d ever met got into.

Hadn’t this been what he wanted, to be just like every other man?

She pressed her hand on each of the toilet stall doors, letting them swing open to be sure she was alone before she set her hands on the sink and tried to slow her pounding heart. She looked up at herself in the mirror and felt the pain morph to disgust.

And yet, she still spent two weeks’ pay on that damn dress.

She thought she’d sent a message last night. She didn’t know how much clearer she could have been.

“Get it together, Carter,” she whispered to herself, pushing away from the sink. She should have known better. She should have expected it. Even the way he stuttered at her after he was caught, calling her Peggy instead of Agent Carter, bringing up fondu… he had no idea how to talk to women, but it certainly seemed to knew how to kiss them.

She might not have been so mad about it, except she was the one hoping to be kissed by him. Dreaming of it. Fantasizing about it. She had been since he was thin boned and she was worried she’d break him if she crawled into his lap to kiss him senseless.

Peggy knew better. She’d been burned before. She shouldn’t have put all her hope in one endearing man.

She turned, pushing her way into a stall and began to unbutton her skirt when she heard the door swing open again.

“Wait, so tell me now!” The soft voice was unfamiliar to Peggy, and she couldn’t see through the stall door. She sat quietly, fully dressed, hoping to be ignored.

“Well,” a much more animated voice started, low and deep like honey, “so I start saying that all the women owe him their thanks, right?”

Private Lorraine.

Anger and frustration and betrayal welled up in Peggy’s throat, and she swallowed hard as quietly as she could, afraid of giving herself away.

“Uh huh, go on!”

Peggy can just about see Private Lorraine preening in the mirror through the crack. “And he’s all cute and nervous, hemming and hawing, so I just grabbed his tie, pulled him back into the stacks, and laid one on him.”

“You didn’t!” the other woman exclaimed, excited and scandalized at the same time.

Peggy rolled her eyes. Lorraine had a reputation around the base, as did most women if the men’s talk was to be believed. She wasn’t interested in lambasting the woman any further, deserved or not. She was, however, quite interested in whatever the woman had to say next.

“I did.” There was satisfaction in her words.

“And?”

“And what?”

“And? How was he?”

“Fine.” She could see Lorraine shrug and turn back to the mirror. “I caught him off guard. He wasn’t into it.”

“No! You can’t be serious.”

Lorraine hummed. “I mean, he’s probably a good kisser, but I couldn’t get him warmed up enough to find out. Carter interrupted us.” She sighed.

“Maybe you should try again.”

She laughed heartily. “Oh, if you saw the way those two bickered after she caught him? No. No way am I getting in the middle of that. Would have been a catch, but I’ll let him go. I’ve still got my eyes set on Washington in the 5th Airborne.”

The two chatted on, leaving the bathroom after getting the gossip out. Peggy just sat for a long, long time.

~*~

“I don’t think one thing, Captain. Not one thing.”

He shook his head, trying to find a way to keep her voice from ringing in his ears.

It didn’t work. He didn’t think he was going to get any sleep tonight.

The connection they’d had was tenuous, at best, and he’d thought it was all in his head until she showed up with that red dress on. When she’d uttered those words, “the right partner,” his heart had skipped a beat, finally feeling on steady ground. Bucky, of course, had a few things to say after she left. What Steve hadn’t anticipated was spilling the whole story to Bucky over another pint, detailing from the first punch he saw her throw at Hodge to the backseat of the car in Brooklyn, from Fondue to the red dress.

“Jesus,” Bucky had laughed, clapping him on the shoulder. “You’re hopeless.” He laughed. “Still the same idiot I left back in the States.”

Steve had looked at him, confused.

“She likes you, stupid.” Bucky laughed, and tipped his head to the door she’d come through now hours ago. “You don’t put on a dress like that for someone you don’t like.”

“She just stopped in,” Steve stuttered. “I’m sure she was going to see other people.”

Bucky had looked at him, hard, and he knew he was kidding himself. Then and there he decided that the little looks, the light flirting, the line he was afraid to cross, absolutely needed some crossing.

Unfortunately, Private Lorraine had crossed a line first, and he was left as confused as when he’d started.

“I don’t think one thing, Captain. Not one thing.”

He couldn’t get it out of his head, couldn’t shake the feeling that he’d well and truly messed up.

Her shooting at him had been a pretty clear sign of that.

“I can hear you thinking from over here.” Bucky moaned from his own bunk. “How am I supposed to get any sleep with you thinking that loud?”

“Sorry, Buck- I just—”

“So, Lorraine kissed you. You know how many guys on base she’s kissed?” He laughed, folding his hands behind his head. “Pretty much all of them.”

Steve leaned back and fluffed his pillow. “I don’t think that makes it any better.”

“No, probably not.” Bucky laughed. “Steve. Just put on your big boy pants and tell her how you feel, ok?” Bucky turned at look at him. “I’m telling you, that red dress means she’s all in and you just gotta let her know that you are, too.”

“Maybe you’re right.”

“I’m always right.”

~*~

He caught her in the hallway outside her office, the building mostly empty for the night as she went to lock it up. She caught his eyes and turned, opening the door again and holding it for him to follow in after her. She shut it and crossed her arms, waiting silently.

He spoke after a long moment. “I’m sorry.”

“For what?” Peggy’s tone was flat.

Steve nodded, hands stuffed in his pockets. “Yeah, I—” He looked down and then back up, earnestness written on his face. “I’m bad at this. You were right, when you said I don’t know anything about women.”

Peggy looked away and then back. “I often am.”

He nodded gain, taking a breath. “She kissed me, Peg, and I froze. I didn’t know what to do.”

Peggy fought hard to avoid laughing. She might not be so quick to amusement if she hadn’t heard Lorraine’s side of it this morning. “So, you kissed her back?”

He cringed, knowing the words that were going to leave his mouth were the truth, but not what she wanted or needed to hear. “Yeah it—it seemed rude not to.”

Peggy did laugh, then. Big, loud guffaws that she couldn’t hold back. “You kissed her back,” she asked through the laughs, “because you didn’t want to be rude?”

Steve couldn’t help it, his eyebrows wrinkled and he shot right back at her. “Hey! I’ve never had a girl grab me by the shirt and kiss me before! I didn’t know what the protocol was!”

Peggy couldn’t help but keep laughing. “Protocol? Proto—” She chuckled, the laughter finally settling down. “You push her away and say no thank you, Steve.” Peggy took a deep, high breath, still letting out little twitters as she gained control over herself.

Steve, however, was still incensed. “Peggy, it’s not funny.”

She tried very hard to not laugh again, breathing in deep through her nose. “Oh, yes it is.”

He stepped forward, getting closer to her. “I’m trying to apologize here.”

She cleared her throat and stood tall. “Yes, yes. You’re…” She took a deep breath, then had to bite her lip again. “You are. Yes.”

“Peggy,” he reached out, taking her hands, and he caused her breaths to stop and her to bite her lip in a different way. “I don’t want to kiss Private Lorraine. What happened was a mistake and I’m sorry you saw it, but… I don’t want to kiss anyone but you. Just you.”

She started breathing again, her eyes bright and holding his gaze. “Steve…”

“You’re the right partner, Peggy. I just… I didn’t think someone like you could be interested in a guy like me in a million years. But when you showed up last night in that dress…” he drifted off, eyes glazing as he remembered and smile blooming on his face, “Well, Bucky says I’m an idiot, but I’m an idiot who got the hint.”

She smiled brightly. “It was quite a large hint.”

“I’m… bad at this,” he confessed, squeezing her hands gently. “I don’t have a lot of practice and sometimes you’re gonna have to just hit me over the head with things.”

She took a deep breath and puller her hands away, sliding them up his arms to his shoulders. “Then let me hit you over the head with this. I don’t want to kiss anyone but you, either. And I’ve felt that way for quite a long time. Serum or no serum, soldier or dancing monkey.” She let her hand play over his collar as her demeanor turned hard. “But I’m no fool, Steven, and if you’re serious, as I am, I won’t aim at the shield next time.”

“There won’t be a next time,” he replied quickly and seriously, taking her hips in his hands and pulling her close.

Peggy smiled just a bit, looking into his eyes, hopeful. “Promise?”

He smiled back as her hands slid around his neck. “Promise.” He lifted one hand, letting it push a strand of hair back behind her ear. Their breaths mingled for a long moment, and Steve spoke quietly, a half-smile on his face that Peggy couldn’t decipher. “So, does this mean that I can kiss you now?”

She rolled her eyes at him. “If you don’t, I shall have to really hit you over the head.”

He moved almost before she finished speaking, slanting his warm lips over hers. It was mere seconds before she was melting under his kiss. A little unpracticed, a little unsure, but what he didn’t have in technique he made up for in enthusiasm. If she’d had any doubts before, she knew now: he hadn’t been lying, he didn’t want to kiss Private Lorraine. Steve wasn’t just a fine kisser, he was a lovely kisser.

And now, he was all hers.

[bailey-whalieee]

Till the End of the Line

Nothing could cure the problem she had inside her head, except maybe two super soldiers.

Request: stucky x reader where the reader is under the weather but tries to hide it from them w loads of mind numbing fluff :) @colourforanamee​

Pairing: Steve x Reader x Bucky

Words: 3562

Warnings: PTSD, drowning, torture, panic attacks, angst, & fluff.

✮

It’s been six weeks since the avengers lost one of their best teammates. It’s been six weeks of Steve and Bucky being on constant edge because they miss their girlfriend. It’s been six long weeks of them missing her laughter and jokes.

Y/n had been taken by hydra and S.H.I.E.L.D. had no information on it. So, of course, what did the avengers do? They all worked day and night to try and find out where the hell they had taken her.

Six weeks ago they had nothing and now they were twenty-five minutes away from the bunker where she was being held. Anxiousness filled them to the brim. None of them had any idea what they were going to walk into. It only furthered Bucky and Steve’s worry.

What did they do to their girl?

Was she going to be okay?

Would she still be herself?

“ETA about seven minutes now. We’re landing about five miles away from the facility,” Tony announced, “let’s get our little ray of sunshine back!”

Bucky peered up to Steve, a worried glint covering his eyes. Steve grabbed his hand in reassurance before saying, “it’ll be okay, Buck. Let’s go get our girl back.”

✮

She screamed until her throat became raw.

Y/n’s throat bled for weeks after that. The first week was absolute hell and no matter how hard she tried to withhold the screams they always escaped.

Now, nothing even came out if she opened her mouth to shout or scream. They really enjoyed hearing her beg and plead. It was sickening how much blood she watched drip onto the floor.

They broke her. Scarred her.

Y/n didn’t even want to look at Volkov. He was the master-mind behind the whole project. He captured her, tortured her, watched her scream, writhe, beg, plead.. And not once did he even flinch.

He wore this noxious smirk that made her cringe every time she glanced towards him. Volkov was an evil man.

At first, Y/n put up her front and refused to be scared of the man for the sake of her team. Then it took an absolute turn for the worst. The methods of torture he practiced on her were from hell itself.

But, Volkov’s favorite was the water chamber. It consisted of drowning and suffocation. The iciness of the water would force her breaths to be short and slowly the tank would fill up until full and then the real fun would begin. Y/n’s first time in the chamber traumatized her.

She punched at the glass and struggled in the restraints. Y/n learned to fear water after the recurrence of the chamber.

Her arms were strung together by a rusty chain. She hung loosely in the air of the hydra building. Y/n was used to the constant aching her body forced her through. It became the norm for random parts of her body to shake and shudder from the pain.

After the second week, Y/n’s hope began to dim and fear overthrew her mind. She was just a scared little girl who wanted nothing more than to go home.

“Hmm.. My little pet, they seem to be trying to steal you back from me. We can’t have that can we?” Volkov growled, throwing out commands left and right at the hydra soldiers.

Y/n’s head cocked to the side and a smirk found its way on her war battered face. “They will always come after me. You’ll lose. Dogs like you always lose,” she croaked out, letting out a broken laugh.

An angry snarl drew from the hydra officer’s mouth and he began to shout, “kill them! Fucking murder them all! I want to see his brains splattered on the ground! Do it!”

The soldiers were dropping like flies. The avengers were out for blood and it was blood they were going to get. They wanted her back and no matter what it took, she was leaving that hydra facility, even if it meant murdering every single son-of-a-bitch in the building.

Volkov’s realization tumbled down on him, leaving a bitter taste in his mouth.

“You know.. Y/n.. My little pet, you do know what this means, right?” he cocked his eyebrow making eye contact with the frail woman, “I always get what I want and Y/n, I want them to see life leave your eyes as those worthless avengers struggle to save you. If I can’t have you, no one can, little pet. I mean that.”

Her face fell. The sudden awareness hit her square in the face.

“No, no, no, no..” feebly flew from her mouth as a chamber was lowered below her feet.

His cackle suddenly filled the room, “and you know what’s going to be the best part? They are going to watch you suffer and drown, while I escape forever haunting you.” Her feet sank into the cold glass encased prison.

“Please don’t do this. You don’t have to do this,” she pleaded, her hand banging against the glass, “don’t do this- You’re better than this! Please- I’m begging you, don’t do this!”

The intensely chilled water slowly added up in the bottom of the chamber. She cringed and harsh breaths escaped her lips.

He rolled his eyes, “no I’m not. I’ll never be better than this. I quite like being like this. Goodbye, my little pet. Lock the perimeter, and get me the hell out of here.”

A nauseating feeling settled deeply in her stomach. What if, this time is the last time?

The water was now knee height and panic set in. Volkov had fled. The team was probably right outside the barricaded perimeter. And Y/n was going to die, alone.

“NO! Dammit! Not like this! No! NO!” she pounded on the glass, screaming once more. Tears flew down her flushed cheeks. The water only continued to fill the encasement and further her screaming. “Please, no..”

The door flew off the hinges and the avengers filed in. One by one, they each came running in. Relief flooded Y/n’s being until she saw the horrified expression on each of their faces. The water was barely past her chin and the exhaustion of trying to stay above the water began to set in.

Her small fists striked the chamber, trying to break the glass. “Y/n! Honey, I need you to stay calm! We are going to get you out of here, okay sunshine?” Tony gave her a small smile.

Tears welled up in the woman’s eyes. She tilted her head towards the tops of the chamber trying to gulp down the last bits of oxygen she had before the water completely filled the tank.

“Please, help me. I can’t do this aga-” and the water finally filled the tank to the brim. Fear overran logic at this point.

Everything blurred and she could hear their panicked voices and see their crazed movements. She tried to remain calm for their sake, but all she could feel was ice cold the water was. She let out a scream through the water and thrashed against the restraints.

Y/n wanted out.

She wanted to breathe.

Then a familiar metal fist came crashing through the chamber and the water flooded out. Gasps forced themselves out of her mouth as oxygen finally refilled the tank. She fell limply into Bucky’s arms, as he pulled her from the overflowing chamber.

“You’re okay, dollface. You’re okay, baby. You’re safe now,” he shushed, patting the small of her back.

She heaved the water that forced itself down her throat. The group let out a breath they didn’t even know they were all holding in.

Steve and Bucky crouched down comforting the gasping woman. A strangled cry escaped her as she leaned into their embrace. They didn’t even care that she was soaking wet, Steve and Buck just wanted to hold her.

They took in her appearance. Her clothing had been ripped in different places and there had been a sudden change in her weight. She was small and her skin clinged to her bones like she was a skeleton. Her eyes were dull and no longer holding life. She looked half dead..

“Oh thank the gods,” Steve muttered holding onto the shivering girl, “I’m so glad you’re okay.”

Y/n basked in his hold. She wasn’t okay, but right now, Y/n felt like she had nothing to fear.

“Where’s the son-of-a-bitch?” Tony growled, looking around the emptied facility.

“H-he escaped,” she rasped out, everyone wincing at how painful her voice sounded.

Steve shook his head, “he will pay for what he did, honey. Right now, we need to get you back to the quinjet before you get hypothermia.”

Bucky shrugged off his M-65 field jacket and placed it on Y/n’s shoulders. The jacket practically swallowed her. She opened her mouth to protest, but he immediately cut her off, “shush. We got you back, I’m not losing you to hypothermia, Y/n.”

Y/n was squished against Steve’s chest with Bucky following closely beside him. She just wanted to go home.

✮

When they arrived back to the jet, Steve and Bucky wanted an immediate evaluation from JARVIS. Y/n was given new clothes and a warm blanket from Natasha, who gave her a soft smile.

“Well, Ms. Y/L/N is suffering from malnutrition and a condition called hypoxia, which can be dangerous if not treated. She needs oxygen as soon as possible, her oxygen is too low for her body,” the AI system paused, “unfortunately, Ms. Y/L/N is also suffering from Post Traumatic Stress Disorder.”

She refused to look at anyone in the room after the diagnosis. Y/n kept her eyes trained on her hands. The silence was deafening to her, she had driven herself mad in the dungeon where Volkov kept her.

“What’s the fastest you can get up back to the tower?” Steve asked, his forehead creasing with worry.

“Forty-seven minutes, Captain.”

PTSD. A monster that both Steve and Bucky knew very well. “Dammit,” Bucky muttered to himself, settling next to Y/n.

Y/n’s eyes were getting increasingly heavier and the waves of tiredness came stronger each time. She didn’t want to fall into sleep though. Steve was taking note of the action seeing as she would refuse to shut her eyes and fall asleep.

He took a seat next to Y/n laying a soft hand on her back. She flinched at the touch, but calmed when she realized it was just Steve.

“You can fall into sleep, sweetheart. We’ll always be right here to catch you,” he reminded her, running his hand up and down her spine.

She nodded, “just scared.”

“I know baby, but we’ll be right here. Don’t you worry about a thing because we gotcha’,” Bucky smiled, kissing her forehead, “now lay down on Stevie’s lap and rest.”

Her face held hesitance and she looked towards the captain for affirmation. He rolled his eyes and opened his arms wide, “come’ere.”

Y/n’s head fell softly into his lap and Bucky situated the blanket around her, making sure she was comfortable. Steve’s hand weaved itself in her hair, running through the mess trying to calm the apprehensive women in his lap. Bucky was tracing patterns on her exposed calf that had been battered and bruised.

The team counted their lucky stars. Y/n was safe and back with the men who loved her most. This is where she belonged. This was her family.

Soft snores erupted from the girl who was snuggled in the captain and sergeant’s lap.

“We got our sunshine back and they got their whole world back,” Natasha whispered to Tony, admiring the sleeping trio.

A soft grin fell upon the billionaires lips, “you bet your ass we did and I’d do it all over again for our sunshine. Always.”

✮

It had been months of mental and physical rehabilitation. Months of sudden panic attacks because of random loud noises and flashbacks. But, Y/n put every effort forth to get better and to become her old self.

Some days were harder than others, but she learned to live with the difficulty. The triggers were becoming easier for the team to recognize and help prevent. Y/n’s life had just started to become normal, she was able to join missions and kick ass once again.

Steve and Bucky had never been so proud of their girl. Even through the hell she suffered, Y/n continued to persevere and put effort forth to get better.

Y/n first solo mission had gone great until a familiar ugly face popped back up. The mission itself was simple, get the vile, and get the hell out. Simple. Easy.

That was until Y/n found Volkov’s little hiding place and she saw him. She finished the mission, but the woman was on edge. Her core had been shook and when Y/n entered the jet, she lost it.

The memories, the cold, the chamber, it all came flooding back and all the repair she did to withhold the torture, burst. Like an ugly hurricane it came back and it flooded her mind.

She kept herself in check once she left the jet and finally arrived  home where the team awaited eagerly.

“Sunshine!”

“You’re back! How was it?”

“Did ya miss the thrill?”

“Sweetheart, what’s wrong?”

Steve could read her like a book and Bucky could too. They read her every emotion as soon as she stepped off the jet and onto the hangar. The anxiousness radiated off of her and it fogged her mind.

“I’m fine. It went fine. Here’s the vile,” she muttered, tossing Bruce the vile, “I need to take a shower.”

She pushed through the group of eager super humans and headed towards the bedroom she shared with Steve and Bucky. Her body was on fire and the stealth suit kept sucking the oxygen out of her.

Y/n eventually peeled the suit off and headed towards the shower. Steve and Bucky had reached their bedroom and could hear the water running. It calmed them slightly.

“Maybe she just had a rough mission back?” Buck muttered, running a hand down Steve’s spine.

Steve sighed, shaking his head, “I hope so..”

Y/n stared at the water. It taunted her. She had yet to actually step into the shower, but she continued to have an internal battle with it. “C’mon Y/n, don’t be a sissy. It’s just water. It’s just water.”

Finally gaining the courage, Y/n felt the water’s temperature and shockingly it was warm. Her hands gripped onto the railing and steaming hot water washed over her aching body. The first month of rehabilitation, Steve and Bucky would coax her into the water keeping her at bay because of the PTSD and anxiety.

It was sweet and both of them had no complaints, only love and compassion for her.

The water trickled down her face and body, numbing the memories forever stamped into her brain. Y/n wished she could forget. She wanted to forget all the screaming and begging, but she would never forget.

Steve and Bucky sat on their bed, hand in hand, soft smiles on their faces. Bucky pressed a soft kiss to Steve’s gruff cheek.

“Told ya it was just a tough first mission back,” Buck smirked, ruffling the Captain’s hair to which he rolled his eyes.

“For once, I’m actually glad you were right,” Steve grinned, a light pink hue appearing on his cheeks from the affection. Bucky snickered, laying his head on his shoulder enjoying the warmth the blonde was giving off.

Y/n got so lost in her thoughts that the water had grown cold. A ripple of goosebumps erupted spreading all over her body. Air caught itself in the back of her throat as the water grew colder and further reminded her of the lonely hell she once lived in.

And suddenly, Y/n lost the ability to even hold herself up. She crashed down onto the tub-floor in a heap of sobs and gasps. Her mind was thrown into the chamber and she was no longer with Steve or Bucky. Water poured over her shaking body.

“STOP IT! NO! STOP!” she shouted, her fists bangining against her skull.

The shouts could be heard from outside the door, clearly. It made Steve and Bucky immediately run and practically break down the bathroom door. They found her clutching her knees to her chest, tears running rampant down her cheeks, and begging to be spared from whatever the hell was going through her mind.

Bucky grabbed her drenched body out of the shower and wrapped her in a towel, hoping to calm her. She thrashed in the towel and his arms.

“No, no, no, no.. No more! I don’t want it! I don’t want it! Stop!” she pleaded, sobbing.

“Y/n, baby! Hey-hey-hey! Stop, you’re going to hurt yourself! What’s going on, doll?” Steve grabbed her wrists to prevent her from hitting her head.

Her breaths came out ragged and harsh. Bucky pulled back the sopping wet hair that stuck to her face so they could look at her properly.

“Sweetheart, you gotta calm down. I know you’re scared, but honey, Stevie and I need you to breathe,” Bucky shushed, holding her close to him.

She trembled and tried to focus, but failed.

“I can’t. I can’t do it. I can’t,” she repeated, gasping on the oxygen. Her face began to pale and tears welled up in her eyes. “I saw him- He was there. I just- What if he saw me??” she sputtered, fear coursing through her veins, “oh my god! He saw me- I don’t wanna go back, please- Bucky, Stevie don’t send me back!”

“Doll, Stevie and I aren’t going to let anyone take you away from us ever again. You know that? Darling, I can promise that you are safe here. I need you to focus, Y/n. Focus on breathing,” Bucky coaxed, cupping her cheeks in his hands.

Her shaky hands found themselves on Bucky and Steve’s chest, focusing on their breathing. She calmed the war in her mind and finally began to breathe normally again. Tears continued to leak down her cheeks, but Y/n gained control of her breathing.

“It was the water.. The water was super cold and then I saw him today and it all came rushing back,” she whispered looking at the two men.

Steve engulfed her in a warm hug not caring about how damp she still was before peppering her head with kisses. “You are so strong and both of us are so proud of you. You are the strongest woman we know and despite it all, you remained the sunshine in the darkness. Doll, we love you and your progress is getting much better!” he praised, kissing her once more, “and listen to me, no matter what we are always going to find you and we will always love you, even if it means going to hell and back to find you.”

A broken smile appeared on her lips and her eyes got continually watery. “You really mean that?”

Bucky chuckled, wrapping his arms around her waist, “of course we do, doll. You’re absolutely extraordinary and beautiful and strong and gorgeous. No one deserves to go through what you went through, but you did not once give up. You have no idea how proud of you we are.”

Y/n leaped into both of the men’s lap wrapping her arms around them. They immediately savored the closeness and love.

“C’mon sunshine, let’s get you in a shirt and then we can cuddle and watch that movie with the little yellow bear in it!” Steve smiled before securing the towel and throwing the women over his shoulder, making sure to carefully do it.

“You mean, Winnie the Pooh?” she scrunched her nose at the captain.

A load of giggle fell from her lips as Bucky made a series of funny faces towards her. Y/n began to forget about the horrors and focus on the two wonders before her. Steve and Bucky. The two men who would sacrifice anything to make her happy.

“Lift up your arms, dollface,” Bucky instructed softly. He tugged the red henley over her head, where it flowed down to about mid-thigh. “Look at how adorable she is, Stevie? What an adorable little doll,” he gushed, his fingers running along her jawline.

“Oh I know, Buck. She is just stunning,” Steve admired.

Bucky hoisted her in between the two of them. Y/n was squished against the two soldiers, but she didn’t mind it one bit. They were both radiators and put off so much heat, she thoroughly enjoyed the heat.

“Stevie, Buck,” she whispered, grasping each of their hands.

Steve paused his search for the movie and gave her his full attention, Bucky doing the same.

“I love you guys. Till the end of the line.”

[comfortablesilencebk]

CHAPTER 01

Flying itself never bothered Y/N, it was always a freeing feeling to see the world beneath one's feet and feel the air on her body, this however is different from the other times Keigo took her for a flight. They are about 50 feet in the air, beneath them the city and streets. It is a pretty nice view and Y/N would enjoy it, if she wasn’t hanging in the air and trying not to let go of her bag or Keigo, while he tries to break his speed record. It’s the first time since months, maybe even years, that he flys her somewhere. Now that he’s a famous pro hero, people would recognize them and he never intended to put Y/N under the blinding lights of the press. At least that’s what he says. Y/N thinks she just became too heavy and tall for him, too fly her around like he used to when she was a child. She doesn’t mind it particularly because it only shows that she’s getting stronger but some nights she misses their little trips around the city.

„Hawks! Hawks, I’m gonna fall! Slow down!“ she yells, panicking and trying not to glimpse his grip as he takes a sharp turn right, almost crushing her into a building. The man above her only laughs and starts flying downwards for a landing. They land on an empty parking lot near U.A High and Y/N tries not to fall, while catching a breath. Maybe she doesn’t miss flying that much, she thinks to herself and watches him stretch his arms before turning her head back to the ground. The more she trains her quirk the safer she feels walking on the earth, knowing there is always something beneath her feet.

„You used to like flying,“ he says in an amused tone and even though she can’t see his face, she can hear his smile. Keigo is still smiling and he doesn’t even try to hide it. Just because he doesn’t like her plans for the future, doesn’t mean he isn’t proud of her and what she has accomplished. His chest could explode by the thought of his little Dove growing up and taking matter into her own hands. The man has to hold himself back not to pull her into a big hug.

„Not like this,“ she replies and takes the bag he's holding for her. The girl straightens her uniform, loosening the tie, so she could breathe freely and brushing her brown curls. “How do I look?“ she asks with a worried look on her face. Now that she’s only a few streets from U.A, the anxiety starts creeping up. It’s normal to be a bit excited or even nervous, it’s a new chapter in her life after all, Keigo told her but somewhere deep inside she’s still afraid everyone could see straight through her.

„Like a wingless chicken and now say UA,“ he grins and pulls out his phone to take a picture. His attempt to light up her mood fails but Y/N doesn’t have the heart to show it.“You should probably go. You don’t wanna be late on your first day, eh?“

„Right,“ she says but doesn’t move a bit. Y/N is still nervous and even a little afraid. What if no one will like her? What if the teachers recognize her? U.A is the best school in Japan, Y/N could fail and - no! Failure is something she doesn’t even dare to think about. She’s powerful enough to beat them all, even Todoroki and Yaoyozoru or whoever thinks they’re better. Y/N has formed herself into something powerful with tears and bones and she’d rather do it all over again than to look back.

„Dove, everything will be fine. You’ll do great.“ After the years they have spent together, Keigo can see past her mask whenever she’s nervous or uncomfortable and even how to calm her down. He lets one of his feathers fly in front of her nose, which let’s her crack a smile.“Let’s go.“

Keigo escorts her until they’re only a couple of streets away from the facilities. That’s where their ways part and Y/N walks alone towards the gates. Her mind is trying to find something she can think about other than all the things that could go wrong and so she just stares at the cherry blossoms. They have been her favorite thing about this world she entered years ago.

Being late has its advantages, Y/N notes and tries to calm herself down. There are barely any people in the hallways and she doesn’t have to choose a seat because there is only one left anyway. Just stay positive and calm, she reminds herself. Right behind a blond boy, who seems in a bad mood is the last free table. Y/N takes a seat and looks around the classroom. Only one door but the windows can be opened and the classroom is located on the second floor. 20 students, 7 girls and 13 boys. She recognizes Todoroki, who’s sitting in the back and Iida, sitting in the front. The pink girl and the yellow haired boy seem friendly and Y/N decides to talk to them later. If she survived this far she can surely make some friends, right? It was Keigo who taught her how to be charming and friendly, after all.

„Hey, I’m Sero Hanta,“ says the boy next to her, as he notices her looks, and offers her his hand, which she accepts with a smile. The boy has a bright smile on his lips and pitch black hair. His elbows look somehow weird but Y/N can’t see what they are.

„Takami Y/N, nice to meet you.“

It turns out that Sero is actually pretty nice and funny, she notes. He likes old action movies and sweets. Listens to music she doesn’t really know and taps with his foot. His open type and bright smile reminds her of Keigo. They keep talking until the bell rings and someone rolls in the classroom. A man with long black hair and a weirdly long scarf. Y/N doesn’t know him but Sero recognized him immediately. The underground hero Eraserhead or rather Aizawa Shouta.

„You know, Aizaw Sensei can erase someone’s quirk with his eyes! So cool right! What is actually your quirk? I can shoot tape from my elbows, how about you!“ Sero also talks a lot, Y/N realizes as the class gathers outside after changing into their gym clothes and he immediately ran towards her to keep chatting. The girl is a bit surprised that he came back to her, to talk and how friendly everyone seems. Y/N was the last girl to come out of the cabins, still a little anxious that someone might see her change, but as she finally came out she found Momo waiting for her so she wouldn’t be alone.

,,I can control bones that are in the ground and recreate my own,“ Y/N explains and smiles nervously. Her quirk might sound creepy to some and isn’t quite flashy. Pulling out bones of dead people or animals is not really a quirk of a hero, little girls look up to. It’s rather a quirk to cause harm but Y/N swallows the thoughts and memories.

„Does that mean you can create an army of skeletons?“ asks the blond boy from earlier and looks at her with big eyes. He’s standing right next to Sero and another boy with spiky red hair. They don’t seem disgusted by her, letting her relax a bit until the little voice she choked so many times to death murmurs a „not yet“ into her ear.

„You can talk about your quirks later.”

They all turn around and fall silent as Aiwawa Sensei appears behind them, his look as tired and bored as always. His voice is monotone but it somehow calms Y/N down and it’s not exhausting to listen, unlike many other people she met in life.

Y/N likes their first exercise. She worked hard on her abilities and now she can show off her quirk in a good way. Show them that she’s more than the things that they used to say. More than a murderer they want her to be.

„How far can you throw a ball?“ Sero asks as they watch the angry blond boy, whose name apparently Bakugou is, throw one of the baseballs over 705 meters. He doesn’t seem proud or happy about his score, only annoyed as if the whole exercise is just a waste of his time. This alone wouldn’t bother Y/N but it’s the way he looks at her when she answers.“Maybe 500 meters?“ He gives her a look that almost screams she’s too weak to even be in this class. Like she’s the one wasting everyone’s time. It makes her blood boil in a way she hasn’t felt in a long time. She won’t justify to an arrogant boy why she’s here. He's no one, yet she has to say something.

„Congratulations, you can throw a ball. Go play fetch with a dog.“ she murmurs to him and watches how his face turns from scorn into angry, giving her satisfaction.

„At least I can use my quirk useful. What do you want to do with your bones? Use them as chopsticks?“

Y/N has to admit, it’s not the best idea to start a fight on their first day but something about him makes her fingers twitch. She also doesn’t realize that he listend to them earlier, all she wants, in that moment, is to wipe away this stupid look on his face. The stupid boy seems to see through every facade she put up and hit her right where it hurts. First he thinks she’s taking up space and now she’s useless! “Breaking the bones in your body seems useful to me.“ Y/N regrets the words as soon as they fall off her tongue. This is exactly what she didn’t want, them to think she’s a thread.

„Takami! Bakugou!“

Both of them step away from each other and turn to Aizawa, who’s standing right behind them. The look on his face is terrifying and covers even the fact that most of the other students were watching them too.“I really don’t care if you hate each other but if you disturb my class one more time, I’ll expel you immediately.“ He doesn’t even bother to wait for their apology, not that Bakugou wanted to apologize anyway, and starts walking towards some other sports equipment.

„Can you really do it? Break someone's bones?“ Sero is still next to her, whispering while the man explains their next exercise. He doesn’t seem scared but rather surprised and Y/N wonders if he’s just hiding his fear.

,,No,“ Y/N answers with a low voice and notices how the boy next to her loses tension. She can only hope, her classmates won’t be afraid she might be a threat.

Y/N and Bakugou don’t talk for the rest of the day but that doesn’t stop them from comparing in every way possible. Bakugou would look provocative at her, whenever he scores higher than her and Y/N can’t hide her wicked smile whenever she gets a better score than him. He doesn’t even want to be better than the rest of the class, only better than her.

The classes ended quicker than Y/N thought and even though Aizawa Sensei told them he'd expel the student with the least points, no one was sent home.

By the time she steps out of the facility and checks her messages, Hawks and Kanai have already spammed her phone.

> From: Keigo

> 09:57

> Who‘s your new teacher? Are they nice?“

>From: Keigo

>11:49

> Found any friends? Just be yourself :)

>From: Keigo

>13:21

> Please, eat enough! And drink water!

>From: Kanai-San

> 13:27

> I hope you have a great first day! Don’t overthink too much and have fun. PS. Don’t overdo yourself and listen to your body

>From: Keigo

> 13:47

> Kanai is coming over tonight and wants to cook. Told him you want fried chicken :)

It takes Y/N about 2 hours to get home and thanks to Sero the train ride is just half as boring and long. He keeps telling her about the comics and mangas he reads and Y/N has to promise him to pick up at least one. By the time she enters the apartment, the whole area smells delicious and she can hear Keigo and Kanai talking. They end their bickering as she enters the kitchen to find the two men cooking. Well Kanai is cooking, while Keigo just sits at the breakfast bar and plays with one of his feathers.

„There she is! The next pro hero in its glory!“ The man with the red wings jumps off the barstool and walks towards her, to give her a welcoming hug. Y/N can feel her muscles relax as she puts her arms around him and inhales the cologne they gifted him last Christmas.

„Tell us everything! Who’s your teacher? Did you find any friends? How was-“ Keigo is being interrupted by Kanai, who hits him with a wooden spoon on the hand.

„Let the girl breathe, you chicken!“

Y/N takes the opportunity and sneaks into her room, to catch a breath. Her hand clungs around the door handle, as she closed the door and let the room fall silent. She catches herself staring at the mirror on the other side of the room. Her cheeks are glowing red from the cold air and her brown eyes have a happy shine in them. She looks strong, healthy and even happy. There is no visible evidence of the past. Y/N can no longer hold back a smile as the realization hits her. She’s a U.A student! A real student who goes to classes and eats lunch with their friends! She is becoming a hero, has potential friends, a home and even people she can call family. Her smile quickly turns into silly giggling. She has never been this happy.

index • next chapter

———————

I hope you like the first chapter and tell me your feedback! :) ❤️ ~ mars

[hopingforromanoff]

Embracing the Silence (Third Part to Radio Silence)(Natasha Romanoff)

*The GIF is not mine, I found it on Google. If it is your’s and you would like me to take it down just let me know :)*

Natasha Romanoff x Reader

Words: 2,252

Warning: Panic attacks and I think that it.

Requests are open, so feel free to send in requests and I will do my best to get them posted ASAP. 

A/N: Hey guys!! This is the third and final part of the Radio Silence series. I can’t thank you guys enough for all the love and support I have received on this story! This was only ever supposed to be a one part story so I can thank you guys for what it has become. Anyway, I’ll stop rambling. I hope you enjoy!

My Masterlist

Part One Part Two

_____________________________________

A loud buzz rang out through the crowded factory, signaling the end of your shift. The halls filled the chatter of workers eager to return home to their families. You slowed your pace, allowing them to pass you. You weren’t in a rush to go home, nothing there was waiting for you, nothing but an empty apartment. 

You slipped into the bathroom as you passed it. The bright fluorescent lights doing nothing for  bags under your eyes. You were a shell of your former self and your eyes lacked the sparkle that was once found in them. Your eyes caught movement in the mirror, your coworker coming into view as she left the stall behind you. She made small talk with you, asking what your plans were for the weekend. She mentioned taking her two children into the city, a treat for their father bailing on them again. Her cropped red hair bounced as she spoke. She reminded you of Natasha in certain ways, but with so much more innocence. Tears started to prickle in your eyes, you missed her but this was for the best. 

“Have a good weekend, Cas, I’ll see you on Monday” she smiled as she left. In the last five months you had never gotten used to that name. You doubted you ever would, that wasn’t your name and this wasn’t your home.

 It wasn’t until after midnight that you left the factory. Your feet had began to ache in hour four of your twelve hour shift, and by now they were throbbing with every step you took. Your clothing soaked the moment you stepped outside, nothing stopping the cold air from seeping into your bones. Water splashed up onto your ankles as your cheap sneaker found every puddle along the way. Rain poured down on the street as a heavy fog settled on the town, each building wrapped in its embrace. 

A lone car sped past you, it’s headlights briefly lighting up the cracked sidewalk beneath your feet. The yellow New York license plate caught your eye; you couldn’t go too far from your home. The sound of footsteps echoed behind you. You were trained well enough to know they weren’t yours. Warning signs went off in your mind as you quicken your pace.  You felt a presence rapidly gaining on you. As you glanced over you caught a reflection in the dirty shop front window, a knife shining in the streetlight.  

A hand grabbed your shoulder as you reach into your pocket, your hand touching the cold metal of the pepper spray can. Your keys hitting the soaked ground with a splash. Pain spreads through your back as you hit the ground with a loud thud. Sweeping your legs, you knock your attacker to the floor beside you. You scramble for your keys and jump to your feet. Your back meets the hard red brick face of the building as a large hand wraps around your throat. 

Using your free hand you clawed at his arm that was strangling you, your other hand blindly searching for the trigger of your pepper spray. Angling your body as you could, you sprayed it directly into the attacker’s face, at the same time your foot violently met his crotch.

Your eyes burned as your wobbling legs carried you in the direction of your apartment. You had reached the corner when a voice sounded behind you “You can run as much as you want Y/N, but we will always find you”. You instantly froze, no one here knew your real name. This wasn’t just a spontaneous act, it was a planned attack and Hydra knew where you were. 

You threw the door to your apartment building open with haste. You waited a second for the elevator before deciding that it would take too long. You bound up the four flights of stairs two steps at a time. Upon reaching your hall, you could the sound of your neighbor fighting with her boyfriend, this happened nearly every night. With shaky hands, you slide the key into the door and pushed it open. 

You slid down the wall beside your tiny single bed. Your ears began to ring as your fingers ran over the rough, stained brown carpet, your chest tightening. “Now is NOT the time for a panic attack” you whispered to yourself. You had to get out of here before they found you again. 

You took a few deep breaths before pushing yourself off the floor. Returning the entrance of your home, you pulled a bag out from the cramped closet, dumping it on the dilapidated sofa. White fluff poked out from the ripped green material. Digging deeper you pulled out a box and upon opening it, the screen of your phone reflected the image of you. A bruise forming around your neck and your cheeks streaked with mascara. The phone stirred memories from within you, you hadn’t seen it in months. Not since you left, not when Tony could so easily track you with it. Throwing the phone into the bag, you began to rapidly fill it with as much as you could. The zipper caught as you tried to close the bulging bag. You jumped as a door slammed in the hall. Forgetting the jammed zipper, you threw it over your shoulder, some it’s contents falling on the floor. 

Panic bubbled up in you again when you slammed the car door behind you. You couldn’t drive like this, but you didn’t have a choice. If you didn’t, you were too close to your attacker and he would find you vulnerable. You turned the key in the ignition, taking a slow, deep breath and pulled out of the deserted parking lot. You clutched the steering wheel and the ringing in your ears began to dissipate. Tears continued to fill your eyes as you drove, your vision even more obstructed by the pouring rain outside. 

When you were a few miles from your apartment you spotted a dark alley on the outskirts of town. No one was following you, and you were out of sight so you pulled in. Your hands found the discarded bag on the seat beside you, you dug in for your phone. Upon pulling it out, you flicked it on. When the screen lit up, it flooded with hundreds of texts, calls and voicemails. You ignored them as you hit Natasha’s name.  

After waiting a few moments, you were sent to voicemail. “Natasha, I need you” you hiccupped into the phone. “Someone’s after me, I can’t do this alone, I miss you” you cried, hanging up the phone. You tried her again and again but were met with no better luck. You tried Steve, Bucky and everyone else you could think of but found the same response. You continued to call as you pulled back on to the road. 

It was around five a.m. when you pulled into the Avenger’s facility. The place was deserted when you reached it, none of Tony’s flashy cars adored the driveway and no lights lit up the building. Steve and Bucky should have been awake for their morning run by now. The specs of sunlight began to streak the sky as you stopped the car and got out. It was eerily quiet when you pushed the door open, no security system stopping you. 

The farther you walked into the building, the more dread you felt as a thin layer of dust covered much of the furniture. When you entered Tony’s office, you spotted Clint sitting at the computer, alone. You called his name, and he sprinted at you, lifting you in the air, embracing you. 

“Jesus, Y/n we missed you. Where did you go?” Clint spoke after a few minutes. 

“Where are the others?” you ignored Clint’s question. You could sense his hesitance. 

“I was home with Laura and the kids and Natasha called to say they thought Hydra had taken you. They all went to find you, and I haven’t heard from them since. That was a week ago and I came here to see what was going on. I only got here a few hours ago.” You pulled away from Clint and began to pace the room. 

“I managed to track the Quinjet, I was gonna head there and see what I could find, if you want to join me?” you instantly agreed to help Clint and he sent you up to your old room to retrieve your uniform. 

Nothing much had changed in your apartment, a few blankets scattered on the sofa and some boxes of mac and cheese lined the counter. Natasha never was much of a cook.

 Your pillow sat in the middle of your unmade bed, pulled over to Natasha’s side. She always did like to cuddle while she slept. You realized in that moment the mistake you made. You were selfish, you didn’t think about the impact you leaving had on her. You broke her and now it was your fault she was captured. Streaks of sunlight peeked through the curtains, catching the black leather of your combat suit sitting nested among the clutter on the huge brown dresser. You wasted no more time pulling up your suit, grabbing  your knives as you left.

The flight to the Hydra facility was a short one, especially if Clint was flying, not that you minded this time. Upon landing, you spotted the other Quinjet nestled against the entrance to an evergreen forest. You made quick work finding the team footprints and began to track them into the wooded area. All was silent except for the sporadic snapping of twigs and squelching of your boots on the muddy forest floor.

The forest thickened for a moment, You felt sharp thorns lightly tug at the skin on your hands. The scent of stale water wafted through the air. Before long, the treeline gave way to a clearing and in the middle sat a gigantic building ominously staring down at the two of you. It had soaring walls and windows lined most of them. You took in the serene look of the building, a facade to hide the vile creatures that lurked within it’s shadows. 

Finding a back entrance, you and Clint took care of the agent guarding it and quietly slipped inside. You searched the building for what felt like hours, you had managed to avoid encountering too many agents for the most part and the ones you did, didn’t live long enough to inform others about your presence. After sometime, you and Clint came across a large room filled with smaller holding cells. You could hear Steve and Tony bickering about something softly and you chuckle to yourself. You quickly found your team and ran to them, informing Clint to find a key. You had to see her. 

Your fingers intertwine with Nat’s through the metal of the holding cell. 

“You came back” Nat whispered with tears in her eyes. 

“I’m gonna get you out of here, baby” You promised, taking in her face. In had been a long time since you had last seen her and she was still just as beautiful as the day you met her all those years ago. It was in that moment you knew you never wanted to be away from her again. Catching a guard enter the room you broke away from her. The two of you struggle for a moment before you sink your blade into his abdomen. Nat smiled at your brief victory but it didn’t last long as bullets hit the wall behind you, narrowly missing your defenceless team. 

Without even thinking, you reach down, pulling a gun from the lifeless body’s thigh holster. With precise aim you bury the first bullet in the agent’s shoulder, the next bullet finding its target between his eyes. Nat gasped from behind you. Realizing what you had done, your now shaking hand dropped the gun. 

A chill ran through you and you felt light-headed like you were going to faint. You sank to the ground as your heart began to beat faster and faster. As you fell, you spotted Clint sliding the large metal gate to the cell open. Natasha skidded to a halt beside you, falling to her knees and pulling you into her lap. Natasha shushed your cries as she ran her fingers through your hair. 

You weren’t sure how long you sat with her, but after sometime she scooped you up in her arms as the team began the walk to the jets. You were thankful she was carrying you because you weren’t sure you had the strength to walk by yourself. When you reached the Quinjet, she sat at the back with you. Your fingers tangle in her silky red hair as she whispered in your ear about how much she missed you. You leaned up, placing your lips on top of her’s, the warmth and passion of her lips met yours as you disappeared into the comfort of her love and strength.    

A wave of calm washed over you, and you knew you could get better. Therapy was in order and a lot of it. However, you didn’t doubt you could make it through, you had an amazing family there to help you. You needed them and they needed you.  A blanket of silence fell upon the jet, something that would normally terrify, however this time you found yourself embracing the silence. Maybe silence wasn’t always such a bad thing... 

A/N: I figured I would make the end super fluffy since I put you guys through torture in the last two parts. Anyway, thank you for all the support and I hope you enjoyed this mini series! Let me know what you want me to write next, I will write for pretty much every MCU character!

Tagging the people that asked for a part three: @messuhp @caws5749 @xxxtwilightaxelxxx @toastybbb @justagirlnotathreat @cdc-1996 @carol-thirteen

[whump-only]

jackson meets his new master

Ok so here’s the deal. I wrote a whole epilogue to this, but it was too boring. So I’ll just tell you the set up. Helen has just purchased Jackson, a BoxBoy. Helen’s intention is for Jackson to live with her drug-addicted son named Alex, help him around the house, and make sure he doesn’t overdose. 

tw: slavery, mention of electric shock, drug abuse / overdose mention, hunger / starvation mention, memory loss 

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

Jackson watched the trees and houses fly past the car window. He was certain that being in the passenger seat of a car was something he’d experienced before. But of course, no memory arose. Instead, there were only flickering sensations, snippets of sounds, that he could almost see in his peripheral imagination, but never focus on directly, without them slipping away. This sort of deja vu always made him feel like he’d been hollowed out. Like he was just a shell. It was for the best, of course. Memories were painful. Memories caused him to want things that were gone forever, burned away. There was a relief, a detached weightlessness, to simply living in the present. Moment by moment. Jackson. Jack. That’s my name. This is my life.  

“I’ll be dropping in every few days, to check in on you boys,” Helen said, still staring ahead at the road. 

“Yes ma’am,” he said, evenly. She’ll be checking to make sure I didn’t make any mistakes no doubt. His neck prickled at the memory of the shock that had seized his body. The collar would be used for ‘misunderstandings,’ she had said. She’d also said that if he really screwed up, she’d send him back. Back to the facility. That would be the end, the real end. They would kill him. Or worse. Jackson clenched his jaw at the thought of the boys who’d been through three erasings.

Well, he wouldn’t let it come to that. Just don’t screw up. Just follow the rules. It was worse that the stakes were dizzyingly high. Helen was trusting him with keeping her son alive… Jackson felt queasy. I just won’t fuck it up I guess! Just follow the rules. Follow the rules. Jackson pictured himself checking his master’s breathing, positioning him to not choke… 

It was certainly strange. But there were some promising aspects to this arrangement. The cooking, cleaning, he could do that. Simple. Helen had mentioned that Jackson could eat half of what he cooked, which was almost too good to believe. Plus, he was going to have space away from Helen. She seemed fine enough, but maybe a little too… controlling. If he could gain her trust, and the trust of her son, then perhaps he could do his work in peace, relatively pain free. He would mind his business, do as he was told, and maybe they would give him time to himself… time to plan your escape! Jackson shook away the intrusive thought. The collar felt heavy on his shoulders. 

Jackson moved to slowly put another couple of goldfish in his mouth. Helen had thrown the bag into his lap, given him permission. But he sharply remembered her scolding him for gulping down the water too eagerly earlier. So he paced himself and chewed slowly, even though the goldfish were so wonderfully salty and he’d been in that box without food for at least a day (and who knows how long it’d been since they fed him before that). He could feel the collar with every swallow. 

“This will be quite nice. I’ll finally have time to focus on my work,” said Helen. Jackson already felt useful. This was a good sign. 

“Yes, ma’am. I really hope I save you time,” he said. He knew anything beyond a simple ‘yes ma’am’ was a risk. His quick tongue had gotten him in trouble more times than he could count… but it had also been his best defense. Besides, a little bit of kissing up usually went a long way with types like Helen. 

Helen looked at him quizzically for a moment, but he noticed the corner of her mouth twitch up. Jackson smiled. 

“Tell me. I’ve been doing all the talking this afternoon. What are you thinking about in there?” said Helen, now looking back the road. 

Damn it. Jackson hated open ended questions like this. They were so hard to get right. 

“I was thinking… I hope Alex likes me,” Jackson said, watching for her reaction. It was true.

Helen just said, “Hm.” Her mouth was tight. Jackson felt a spike of panic at the thought that he’d said the wrong thing. 

“I hope so too,” she said finally, and Jackson exhaled quietly. Jackson almost felt there was a calm between them, a fragile trust. They sat in silence and Jackson watched as the clouds began to turn a vibrant pink at their bottom edges. It had been so long since he’d seen the sky. 

After a while, Helen began again, “So I suppose I should tell you. That collar of yours comes with a real handy feature. It will alert me if you ever set foot outside of Alex’s apartment. So no walks around the block, or grocery runs, or anything like that.” 

Well fuck. “Yes ma’am. Don’t worry, I have no intention of— of leaving, ma’am,” Jackson said, trying to make the words sounds deliberate. 

“I know you won’t Jackson. You’re a good boy... We’re here,” Helen said. 

They pulled into a lot and Helen jumped out of the car and motioned for Jackson to follow. Jackson decided to hold onto his Goldfish bag, and Helen either didn’t notice or didn’t mind. There was more mud and litter than grass as they walked up to the tall, brick building. Helen led him up a stairway that had quite a strong odor of piss. 

“Kind of a damn shithole, right? Maybe I’ll let you clean out here...” she muttered to herself. 

“That would be nice,” Jackson said absently, observing the flickering light of the hallway. 

“Alright. Here we are. 130B. This is Alex’s place. Your new home sweet home.” Helen pressed a small flip phone into Jackson’s hand. “Remember the rules. This has my number, and emergency response. Call me if there’s trouble. And I’ll call you sometimes to check in. Pick up, won’t you?”

“Yes ma’am.” Jackson held the phone tightly. 

“One more thing,” Helen fished a dispenser of Narcan out of her pocket. To Jackson’s surprise, she took the Goldfish bag, dropped the dispenser in, and then handed it back. She winked at Jackson and Jackson instinctively twitched his face into a smile. 

“Just like we talked about,” Helen said, and Jackson mimed putting it up to his nose. Helen smiled, widely this time. 

Helen suddenly began pounding on the door and pressing the doorbell over and over.

“ALEX, wake up! Aaaalex!! Aaaaalex!!” Helen shouted. The sudden noise was jarring to Jackson, who stepped back in surprise.

Suddenly the door swung open. There stood a pale boy with a shaved head and a scowl. Earrings dangled from his ears. This must be Alex. My new master.  Alex moved to slam the door shut again but Helen shoved herself in. 

“I’m your mother, damn it. Let me in,” she hissed. 

“Leave me alone,” came the reply from behind the door. Alex continued to put his weight into closing the door but Helen pushed back. 

“Help me here!” Helen looked at Jackson angrily. Jackson quickly pushed up against the door and leaned in. It finally gave, and they stumbled into the apartment. Jackson immediately smelled rotting food. 

“Listen up, Alex. I brought you... well sort of a live in servant. A BoxBoy. His name is Jackson,” said Helen, putting a hand on Jackson’s back. Jackson forced a weak smile. 

Alex put his head in his hand. “Mom. Get the fuck out, please. I told you to stop babying me. Take him with you, I don’t want someone in my fucking apartment”

“You clearly can’t take care of it yourself. And you look like a fucking skeleton for fucks sake. Jackson is staying,” Helen said, raising her voice.  

“No, he’s not fucking staying...” Alex and Helen began to shout over each other. 

As they argued, Jackson looked around. The sink faucet was dripping slowly into an enormous pile of dishes that spilled out and filled the entire counter. A TV was chattering in the other room. On the table lay empty pizza boxes, an ash tray, wrappers… a book! Jackson’s heart raced and he looked away quickly. Calm down idiot. I’m not allowed to… I couldn’t even… if I wanted to... 

“—Or else I’ll cut your allowance!” Helen shouted and suddenly the room went quiet except for the blaring TV. Jackson felt them both staring at him. Jackson kept his face carefully calm, pulling the emotions down into his center, away from the surface. 

“Fine,” Alex hissed. “I’ll babysit your little fucking slave.”

“Good,” Helen said sharply. She suddenly softened. “He’ll be a real help around here. You’ll get used to him. Alright, I’ll come by in a few days to see how you’re getting along. Please answer when I call you.”

Jackson clutched his cellphone, but realized she had been talking to Alex. 

“Alex. I love you honey,” she said. Alex glowered at her. 

Helen left and closed the door behind her. Jackson felt suddenly vulnerable. 

Alex sighed. “Come here,” he said, motioning for Jackson to follow. Alex led Jackson into the bathroom. 

“What are you holding. Give me that,” he said and grabbed the cell phone in Jackson’s hand. Jackson gripped it tightly but Alex wrenched it away. 

“Please sir, I need that! Please. Please give it back…” Jackson begged, and reached for the phone, but Alex just turned away silently and held Jackson back with one hand. With the other hand, Alex flipped open the phone and began hitting something on the keyboard. Alex then slammed it shut and muttered, “Classic. Well I’ll be holding onto this then.”

“Oh,” said Jackson dumbly. Was giving Alex the phone against the rules? It was definitely against the rules. It hadn’t even been one minute and he’d already screwed up. Jackson cursed himself. Oh god, if Helen finds out…

“Sit here please, Bone Crusher,” Alex said, motioning towards the toilet seat. Jackson blinked. 

“Sorry sir?” said Jackson, not quite sure he’d heard correctly over the ringing in his ears. 

“I think I’ll call you Bone Crusher,” said Alex, with a smirk. Alex patted the toilet seat. Jackson took a seat, for once speechless. Alex left the room and Jackson focused on breathing. Jackson could get the phone back. Helen would never know. 

Alex returned and was holding a pair of fuzzy pink handcuffs. This was really not good. 

“Wrist please,” said Alex, flatly. No no no, this is ridiculous. 

“Alex. I won’t be able to—“ Jackson said desperately. 

“Eh eh. Call me King Charles the Third. Wrist please,” Alex said. 

“Wait— King Charles the Third, I—“ Jackson held his arms to his body tightly, but Alex grabbed his arm. 

“Don’t pets listen to what they’re told? I was asking nicely,” said Alex, his voice now low and threatening. 

Jackson shakily held out the wrist that Alex was holding. Alex clipped a cuff around it and pinched it tight. The metal was digging in, despite the fluffy decoration… Alex then yanked the cuffs, pulling Jackson onto his feet and down to the floor. Alex then secured the other cuff around a thick piece of metal on the radiator. 

“King Charles the Third. Can I please make us dinner first?” Jackson tried again. If Jackson could just start helping Alex, Alex would see, Alex would realize how useful…

“Hmm...” Alex stood up, tapping his chin. “Tempting but no. Can’t have you spying on me, Bone Crusher.”

Jackson started, incredulously, “I’m not a spy—“ 

“That’s what a spy would say,” Alex said simply, smiling to himself. Alex raised his phone and the shutter sound went off. He took a picture of me? Jackson was suddenly conscious of his body. He didn’t even remember what he looked like. What if he sends it to Helen? Jackson felt numb. 

“Nighty night,” said Alex. 

“Goodnight?” Jackson replied instinctively, but before he even finished, Alex flicked off the light and closed the door. 

Jackson’s head spun as he processed what had just happened. He lost his phone. His name was Bone Crusher? What the fuck. Alex, his new master, hated him. Alex was mean. He was chained here. What if Helen calls? What would she do if I didn’t pick up? He felt breathless at the thought of her activating the collar as a way of getting his attention. Would it be worse if she found out the phone had been taken? There was no way of knowing. What if I slowly waste away here, and then Helen comes back to find us both dead? Or worse, she finds me alive here, but him dead out there?

Jackson suddenly remembered the Goldfish. He’d dropped them without realizing, near the toilet. He stretched out and grabbed the bag with the tips of his fingers, and then brought them to his chest, hugging them close. What’s the point of having the medicine if you can’t fucking reach master if something happens? Jackson sighed. This was not going as planned. But hey... Jackson fished his fingers into the bag, past the Narcan dispenser... at least there were crackers in this package still. 

Jackson lowered himself, trying to get comfortable. The tile floor was cold. He was still in the same t-shirt and shorts from the facility. He curled up. At least the cold was numbing. He let the crackers dissolve in his mouth as he listened to the muffled sounds of the TV outside. 

[jacetorress]

JACE ISAIAH TORRES  ⁏  thirty-four  ○  security for lux & elias morgan’s right hand man  ○  downtown.

❝ APOCALYPSE BOY, YOU WON’T DESTROY ALL YOU TOUCH. YOU ARE MORE THAN YOUR DARKNESS AND MORE THAN THE DEATH YOU CARRY IN YOUR HANDS. ❞

⇨  aesthetics ⍮ the scent of fire and gasoline, a tall stature adorned in all-black attire, ghosts of bruises staining calloused skin green, an old punching bag in the corner of an old office, a towering figure shrouded in darkness as they linger in an empty church, bloodied noses and busted knuckles, a scuffed zippo lighter in a pack of marlboros containing only one cigarette, black shirts with the sleeves rolled up to the elbows, a sly smirk under stormy dark eyes, a sniper on the roof of a deserted building, the roar of a 1967 chevy impala engine, & a crumpled, worn family photo stuffed inside a wallet.

ALOHA !!! waddup, angels ?? it’s me, back at it again with another character bcos i have zero self control so here i am !! i’ll save you all from having to put up with my pointless babbles and get straight into it. as always, pls feel free to hmu on ims or discord ( chrissie.#9606 ) for plots and connections !!

FUNDAMENTALS.

full name. jace isaiah torres.

current age. thirty-four.

birthday. january 2, 1986.

gender. cisgender male.

pronouns. he / him.

nationality. british.

religion. raised roman catholic but no longer practices.

hometown. knightsbridge, london, england.

past residence. oxford, oxfordshire, england.

current residence. downtown, crystal city, united states.

sexual orientation. heterosexual.

romantic orientation. heteroromantic.

education. attended oxford university for a year before dropping out due to his mother’s passing.

occupation. security at violet, & elias morgan’s right hand man.

CONNECTIONS.

birth mother. katherine torres. †

birth father. alexander torres. †

step-father. nicholas carmichael. †

full blood siblings. none.

step-siblings. none.

maternal grandmother. julia monroe. †

maternal grandfather. andrew monroe. †

paternal grandmother. elizabeth torres. †

paternal grandfather. michael torres. †

maternal aunts. none.

maternal uncles. peter monroe.

paternal aunts. lucilee monroe, & miranda monroe.

paternal uncles. benjamin torres.

PROFICIENCIES.

spoken languages. english, & spanish.

negative traits. cunning, unfeeling, arrogant, cynical, & temperamental.

positive traits. astute, debonair, adroit, resolute, & adept.

strengths. sophistication, etiquette, professionalism, resourcefulness, integrity, delegation, honest, strong-willed, responsible, calm, practical, & a jack-of-all-trades.

weaknesses. impulsive, hot-tempered, stubborn, insensitive, judgmental, & by the book.

skills. skilled with firearms and other weaponry, hand-to-hand combat, lock-picking, carjacking, knowledge of automobiles, knowledge of the law, tracking people down, & excellent critical thinking and problem-solving abilities.

talents. piano, retaining information, memory recall, & marksmanship.

APPEARANCE.

eye colour. dark brown.

hair colour. dark brown.

height. six foot.

weight. 70 kg.

build. both tall and considerably broad, he is toned with an evident definition in his muscles.

scars. too many to count at this point.

tattoos. tba.

piercings. none.

glasses. n/a.

prominent feature. sharp, angular jawline.

MISCELLANEOUS.

zodiac. capricorn.

element. earth.

house. gryffindor.

myers briggs type. istj-a.

alignment. true neutral.

enneagram. type five.

temperament. choleric.

intelligence type. linguistic.

character label. the opaque.

past mental disorders. post-traumatic stress disorder, insomnia, & alcohol abuse.

current mental disorders. mild post-traumatic stress disorder, & insomnia.

addictions. alcohol, & tobacco.

vices. lust, wrath, & pride.

virtues. temperance, charity, & diligence.

allergies. n/a.

diet. carnivore.

accent. british.

dominant hand. right.

blood type. ab positive.

felonies. none.

vehicle. black 1967 chevy impala.

BACKGROUND.

TRIGGERS. car accident, death, domestic violence, drugs, violence, blades, stabbing, blood, & murder.

Born into a world of tenderness and light, Jace's arrival into this universe was a moderately placid one. The instant he opened his eyes to the world, he was a cherished and adored baby boy. This was how the young boy assumed his life would continue to play out: showered with affection and admiration, given endless love and support by both of his parents. With his father, Alexander, a renowned criminal lawyer and his mother, Katherine, an equally as esteemed neurosurgeon, the Torres family were respected, affluent and forefront in their community. Always hosting charity events, attending fancy galas, prominent figures at every fundraiser, the Torres' seemed as normal as just about any aristocratic London-based family. One might just say that Jace was destined for greatness — primed for success. Of course, all eyes of the extended Torres family were on the boy, watching and waiting to see how his story would unfold. Would he follow his father’s footsteps? Or his mother’s? The idea of him paving his own path had failed to cross the minds of them all.

     From a young age, Jace had been incredibly intelligent and adept, his keen perception proving to extremely surpass that of his age. He was able to captivate others with both his appearance and his capabilities. Those in his company hung off his every word, often discovering themselves enthralled by a charming and sincere young boy. Regardless of his family’s secured position in society and their abundance of riches, Jace never looked for much more than their approval and their devotion. It is perhaps this fact alone that makes the next chapter in his life one of those unbearable moments that seem to live on for the rest of eternity, an emotion so overwhelming that it lingers in your bones until the end of time — rattling them every so often to remind you of the pain. The tenth instalment in the story of Jace’s life is what he would nowadays refer to as the beginning of the end. All of the light and love that he had encountered throughout his life up until that point had only been leading him to the tragedy and devastation that would prevail from that day henceforth. The night that Jace had been sat down by his mother and told that his father had met his fatal end in a horrific car accident was the same night that Jace lost a piece of himself. A ten-year-old boy endured his first heartbreak then. And, unfortunately, the torment refused to cease. Jace’s existence prior to the horrendous atrocity that altered the very fabric of his nature endured for what would now seem to him a fleeting period in time. Yet, throughout those ten years of normalcy, every transient second aided in concocting the basis for all that was to come.

     Within the span of a single year, Katherine had found herself in the clutches of what Jace would grow to describe as a vulture; a man of a lower class who latched onto his mother — leeching off her riches while abusing her in the process. Soon, this man, Nicholas Carmichael, became Jace’s stepfather and things only dipped further south afterwards. Nicholas drank copious amounts of liquor, ran around behind Katherine’s back, smacked at Jace for defending his mother and the list went on. He manipulated Katherine, made her pick a side, tore her relationship with Jace asunder. Nicholas was indeed an angry, offhand man who often resorted to acts of violence toward both Katherine and Jace. During this time, and within the blink of an eye, Jace turned hostile and indifferent. It was as if he had transformed into a polar opposite version of what he’d always been — metamorphosing into an alternate version of his old self. Once a sheltered child who knew nothing but warmth and consideration, Jace was soon neglected, discarded and left to fend for himself. It was enough to turn him into a colder, less vibrant boy who soon became void of emotion and attachment. He picked fights with his stepfather for the sheer kick he got out of it, rebelled against his mother and found his once soft heart hardening as a result of years of enduring torment at the hands of Nicholas.

     Unfortunately for Jace, he’d stepped out of line one too many times and aged eleven, he found himself sent off to an all-boys boarding school. In one way, he was thankful to be shot of the horrid creature who claimed to be his stepfather. Yet, on the other hand, he spent sleepless nights worried about the mortality of his mother. All in all, though, his time spent in the educational facility was a positive one. He made friends, excelled in all of his classes and extracurriculars. For the years that Jace boarded at the school, his life seemed to be steering him down the right path. Once he graduated, he’d decided to follow the same path as his father: criminal law. He felt it was the right thing to do in order to honour his father. Jace wound up attending Oxford University where he resided in a dorm, visiting his mother on the weekends. However, as all good things do, they come to an end. In Jace’s case, his few years of bliss and contentedness arrived at a rather abrupt halt, taking a severe nosedive. He was nineteen when he learned of his mother’s passing and, ultimately, lost control of himself and of his path in life. He dropped out of university, moved back home and spent many months alone and aimless; desperate to find answers behind his mother’s suspicious death. Of course, Nicholas was nowhere to be seen. He hadn’t even had the decency to show his face at Katherine’s funeral. One thing was for sure, though: he’d walked off into the sunset with the Torres fortune, presumably never to be seen again. The details outlined in Katherine’s autopsy report had been vague and nobody seemed willing to help Jace in his search for answers. Though that did little to deter him from continuing to hunt for the truth behind his mother’s death. Without a shadow of doubt in his mind, Jace knew deep down that Nicholas had been responsible but with no evidence, the idea of justice being served seemed to drift further and further out of reach.

     Eventually, after years of fighting and persisting with his mission, Jace was able to uncover concealed elements of Nicholas’ background. As it turned out, the man was involved in gang activity and played a prime roll in drug trafficking throughout the streets of London. Though, still failing to get his hands on any kind of proof of Nicholas’ involvement in Katherine’s murder, a twenty-three-year-old Jace began to ponder if he should continue down this road. Tracking down his stepfather had consumed Jace whole, rotting him from the insides out. For so long he’d been holding onto an immense amount of resentment and wrath that he’d become bitter, hostile and obsessed. He knew it would only end in disaster if he continued to cling onto his vendetta and so for the following year, Jace pressed pause on seeking the truth. At least, until he’d happened upon a new lead that indeed confirmed his assumptions about Nicholas’ role in Katherine’s death. This was the break that Jace had been desperate for — the fuel that added flames to the fire within his belly. With new information and a penchant for revenge, he set off on his previously abandoned purpose.

     Admittedly, it had taken Jace months to successfully unearth the exact location of Nicholas and when he did, he wasn’t entirely sure what to do with the information. Still, he set off for New York City with plans of confronting the man. Part of Jace wanted nothing more than to make his stepfather suffer, to subject Nicholas to torture as appalling as what Katherine had undoubtedly endured. Another part of him wanted to reveal all the little details that he’d uncovered, to tell him he knew what he’d done and watch his stepfather wince in objection and pathetically string one faux apology after another. Neither of these scenarios played out in the end. Instead, Jace’s first encounter with Nicholas after all this time had an entirely different outcome than he’d anticipated. Managing to tail the older man to Lux, Jace decided to linger around outside in the hopes that Nicholas would make an appearance. As fate would have it, only a mere hour had passed and there he was, leaving the building alone; having been removed from the vicinity for hassling one of the dancers. As Nicholas made his way to the back of the club, Jace followed in the shadows. Stood at the edge of the establishment to watch his stepfather from afar, Jace considered the endless possibilities that had entered his mind the second he set eyes on the man who’d destroyed his life.

     When Jace eventually approached his stepfather, the look that claimed Nicholas’ face was one of incalculable shock and Jace couldn’t help but feel a twisted sense of pride in how his sheer presence brought about such dismay in the other man. He had to admit though, that it sent a strange twinge of nostalgia mixed together with dejection down the length of his spine. Jace had a collection of cruel words and obscenities he so desperately wanted to hurl the older man’s way. Alternatively, he opted for asking a question that had been haunting his warped mind for almost a decade. “Tell me, Nicholas. Why did you do it? Why did you murder my mother?” The inquiry almost made the other male tumble out of his shell even after he admitted that yes, he had been the one to end Katherine’s life and lacked even a shred of remorse. There was something in Nicholas’ blasé tone of voice that triggered an immediate rage deep within the pit of Jace’s stomach, bubbling and bubbling away, rising up and up until the only colour he could see was red and unfortunately for Nicholas, he was on the receiving end of Ross’ explosion. Moving in a flash, before he knew it, Jace was invading Nicholas’ personal space and the small blade he had been carrying was sunk into Nicholas’ abdomen.

     Finally, once Jace had recoiled and his fists that had been balled into the fabric of Nicholas’ jacket eventually unfurled, his dark eyes took in the sight of the elder man’s towering figure collapse to the ground beneath him. Dropping his gaze to his hands, Jace noticed the way that the colour slowly began flowing back into his knuckles that had been white from the thin skin stretching tightly over the protruding bones. Flipping over his uncurled palms, Jace noted the way his hands trembled only marginally less than he expected they would be. It was the shrieking resonating in his ears that brought him to divert his attention toward Nicholas who was writhing around on the ground as a result of his suffering and loss of blood. Jace knew he had to get out of there — that he had to leave before he’d give anyone the chance to flock toward the screams and clap their eyes on his guilty face. As he backed away, watching the actions of his decision unfold, the feeling inside his gut was different than he imagined it would be. He had made the decision to kill Nicholas, there and then in the heat of the moment and it was a gradual and torturous death. A death inflicted by him deliberately, no matter the fact that it wasn’t premeditated. Lacking the desire to stick around and witness Nicholas’ final screech, Jace ran and before he even had the chance to allow any sort of repentance to seep into his body for what he’d just done, a gathering of men stepped out of a dark alleyway in front of him just footsteps away from the scene of the crime. There was something about the way in which they emerged from the darkness that caused Jace to immediately cease in his footfalls and as he briefly surveyed the area he realised there was nowhere left for him to run — there were too many of them and although he tried to fight them off, he was vastly outnumbered.

     How Jace had managed to defend himself against the others, able to hold his own and give as good as he got, was beyond him. In the end, he pegged it down to sheer luck. Despite such a fluke, he was far from being out of the woods. Having witnessed the murder of Nicholas and how Jace had been able to stand his ground against the group, the eldest of the group of men had stepped forward to explain that he could use a young man of Jace’s stature and expertise. This was precisely how a then twenty-five-year-old Jace wound up entangled with the Berk-Morgan family. Initially, he was hired as a security for the same club that he’d slaughtered Nicholas outside of. After quite some time as an associate, he befriended Elias Morgan; soon becoming a confidant and someone the other trusted. Of course, the trust was mutual. And this has brought him into the position of becoming Elias’ right hand man. Now thirty-four, with nine years of experience under his belt, Jace is worlds away from the man he used to be. A shell of the man he used to be. Simply put, Jace has resigned himself to the reality that happiness is never going to be an emotion he will feel in his heart. He is closed off and secluded. He is mysterious and holds everyone in his life at arm’s length, afraid to let them in; only permitting people to see what he wants them to see and know what he wants them to know. His life is full of a myriad of memories soaked in blood and torment. A plethora of crooked dealings and immoral acts. But this is his life now and he isn’t prepared to give up the good fight – not after everything he has gone through just to be exactly where he is right now. A fighter has always lived inside of Jace Torres.

WANTED PLOTS.

give me all of the connections from friends, frenemies, enemies, hookups, exes, rivals and everything else in between. added bonus if there’s angst or drama. if you have anything in mind feel free to throw it at me, i’m open to the majority of things and have zero triggers so come at me bro !!

[lynnsfics]

Coffee Stained Confusion Ch 8

<Last Chapter                           First Chapter                               Next Chapter>

~~~

“Sergeant Barnes,” FRIDAY’s voice came from the GPS device Bucky held, “we found a facial recognition match. It came from an apartment’s video doorbell from 2 blocks southwest of here. It appears she entered the building approximately 5 hours ago. I’ll scan through the rest of the footage to see if she left.”

“Thank you FRIDAY.” Bucky looked at Sam, “If she’s still there then we may stand a chance.”

“Scan complete. She left the building, but not by choice. The video feed shows three men appearing in a van. I did a search on them and discovered they’re with HYDRA.”

“When was this?” Sam asked. 

“About 4 hours ago,” FRIDAY replied. 

“Oh God, I knew we should have gone after her sooner,” Bucky said, his feelings of guilt evident. “Did you scan the van’s license plate? 

“Yes, but the van was reported stolen a few weeks ago, so that didn’t lead anywhere. However I have linked to the cameras on the streetlights, so if it passes any I’ll be alerted.”

“Thank you, FRIDAY,” replied Sam. “We should go check out the apartment, see if there’s any clues that can help us out there.” 

“Good thinking, Sam. FRIDAY, keep the facial recognition search active too. Just in case she goes somewhere.” 

The drive to the apartment was spent in tense silence, broken only by the sound of Bucky tapping his fingers on the steering wheel. 

“Will you stop that?” Sam asked angrily, finally losing his cool.

“Look, I don’t know what you want me to do, but I’m stressed. It’s our fault she’s in this situation in the first place! Don’t you even feel guilty?”

“No, I don’t feel guilty, because we didn’t get her involved in this. She has pyrokinetic powers from HYDRA. She was clearly involved in some shady stuff before she met us. But that doesn’t mean I don’t want to help her. She needs our help, obviously. That’s why I’m doing this,” he paused, “But I can’t focus on what needs to be done with your awful tapping, okay man?”

“Fine, you’re right. And I’m done with the tapping,” Bucky said, putting the car in park. “But only because we’re here.” He stepped out of the car and immediately took a step back. The smell of smoke was overpowering. 

“The door’s been knocked clean off its hinges. Whoever did this wasn’t worried about being discreet. Look like typical HYDRA work to you?”

“Not at all,” Bucky replied, observing the scene. “Which means one of two things. They’re either desperate or they don’t need to worry about getting caught.” 

There was a couch in the room with burn marks streaked across the back. A mirror sat in the corner, a residue of black smoke sitting on its surface. The floorboards were laiden with ash, with boot prints occasionally dotting it, leaving behind a pattern that spoke of fear.  A trash bin lay on its side, ash spilling out, and that’s when Bucky realized. She had been trying to leave behind clues that she’d been taken. It was a message.

“I’ve received an update on the facial recognition search, but I don’t think you’ll like where she is.” FRIDAY’s voice came from the GPS. “There’s been a murder of another S.H.I.E.L.D. double agent, and she was seen there just twenty minutes before the crime. He died of burn wounds.” 

Bucky went pale, “I knew this would happen, Sam. They’ve turned her into a weapon. Who knows where she’ll be now and whether we’ll be able to find her.”

FRIDAY chimed in, “I’ve actually been able to track the van from the scene of the murder and found it parked outside a building just about a half hour from here. That was the last place she was spotted on camera.”

“Well then,” Sam stated, “it won’t be as difficult to find her as you thought.” 

They pulled into a grove of trees a half mile from the facility. Far enough to not be spotted by security cameras but close enough to make a quick escape. Sam cringed as the gravel road crunched noisily under their feet. The rain had stopped, leaving behind a dewy petrichor reminiscent of a spring afternoon. 

“If you want to be found you might want to walk a little louder.” Bucky grumbled.

“Hey man, I’m just trying to quicken up the pace so we can go save your girl.”

“She’s not,” Bucky blushed slightly, “she’s not my girl.” 

“Uh huh,” Sam said, “and you just happen to feel so bad about this because-”

Bucky interrupted him, “Because I’ve been there before! I’ve felt the guilt of being turned into a weapon. No one should have to go through that,” he whisper-shouted. “She’s an incredible person, but that’s all the more reason why she shouldn’t be with me. I don’t do relationships, not anymore. I don’t want someone to be put in harm’s way because of their connection to me. Now come on, we need to get there before she gets hurt even more.”

Hiding in the underbrush of the thicket outside the facility, Sam observed the security measures that HYDRA had put in place. “Look, there’s only two guards outside the door. If you can get us inside, we’re set. We shouldn’t have any trouble getting past them.”

“Getting in is the easy part,” Bucky responded, “it’s getting out that’s the tricky part.”

~~~

You awoke from the nightmare, blinking the sleep from your eyes. At least, you thought it was a nightmare, but one look at your surroundings told a different story. As you opened your eyes the clean bright light blinded you, forcing you to squeeze your eyes shut before slowly reopening them. 

“Well, our little soldat is awake,” Alicia laughed. “I hope you enjoyed your, uh, shall we say rest?” 

“What did you do to me?” The anger you had felt before was building up again. Glancing at your wrists you saw you were no longer in chains. You could burn this place down to nothing but ashes. After what they did to your family, it would only be fair. 

“Oh, don’t worry. What we did to you was nothing compared to what you did to Miss Berlioz. See, our sources found out she was a double agent. And it seems that Elaine just couldn’t take the heat.”

Your voice was weak, “What,” you took a deep breath, “What are you talking about?” “You’re so inquisitive. I always liked that about you. You’ll see soon enough.” She clapped twice and a screen appeared in the wall. “We thought that by seeing your full potential, you’d be more, well, more willing to work with us. I’ll be back in a bit. Let me know what you think of the movie.” She smiled and walked out of the cell, the door blending in with the rest of the cell once it closed. 

You looked at the mirrored walls and instantly knew it was two way glass. You shuddered, realizing there were probably at least ten HYDRA agents watching you. Without warning the screen started to play what appeared to be security camera footage of an empty alleyway. A woman in civilian clothes appeared on screen. 

“Yes, Director Fury. I have the files. I’ll be there in an hour.” She put the phone back in her pocket. The sound of glass cracking was heard in the background and the woman whirled around and faced the screen. “Who’s there?” 

You stepped forward out of the shadows, the fire in your hand glowing white with heat. Before the woman on screen could react you pounced into action, grabbing a fistful of her hair, effectively setting her head ablaze. She cried out in pain as you latched onto her wrists. When you finally let go, the bone was exposed through charred flesh.

You squeezed your eyes shut, not able to bear seeing what came next. Bile rose in your throat as you continued to hear the screams over the speakers, until finally a sickening thud was heard. You opened your eyes to see yourself on screen standing over the body, almost burnt beyond recognition. The footage shut off, leaving you alone in the cell with your thoughts.

~~~

Taglist:

@sydneyisnotawriter

I hope all of you are staying safe and staying home! Like always, likes and reblogs are appreciated! Let me know if you want to be added to the tag list! Love you all <3

[lostinthewiind]

Can I request a Luz smut

Yes, you most certainly can. OH BOY, I’m excited to write this. I’m slowly starting to write more and more smut, so lemme know what you think! I’m always open to constructive criticism and ways to improve my writing.

Warnings: ***SEXY TIME***

Shower Buddy

Letting out an exhausted and relaxed exhale, you tilted your head back and let the warm water of the shower run over your face and neck. The hot water felt heavenly, and since it had been a while since you had showered last, you were thrilled to be able to rinse off all the blood and dirt from your skin.

Somehow, the regiment had arranged for the company to stay in an actual hotel with real beds and running water. You were sure they were trying to make up for all the bullshit they had put Easy Company through, what with Bastogne and Foy; but despite the fact that the facilities were slightly run down, you were willing to accept the apology. 

At that point, someone could chop your leg off and you would forgive them if they gave you a hot meal and a few hours of rest. War had really lowered your standards. 

You were so caught up in your thoughts that you didn’t hear the bathroom door slowly creak open. It wasn’t until the shower curtain was pulled back and a pair of calloused hands found their way to your waist that you realized you weren’t alone anymore.

There was no need to panic, though. You knew exactly who had decided to join you, and you weren’t bothered by it in the least. In fact, you welcomed the company. 

“Hello.” you cooed as a pair of lips made contact with your shoulder blade. “You know, I was almost done. You could have just waited a few more minutes and then you could have had all the warm water to yourself.”

“I’m an impatient man.” George Luz’s voice was rough and raspy in your ear, sending chills down your spine and giving away the fact that he had just woken up. “Besides, I get lonely in the shower by myself. I much prefer having a buddy.”

Your head dropped back and landed on his shoulder, your head turning so that you could reach his lips with yours. You felt his stubble on your cheek, but you didn’t mind. You preferred George when he had gone a few days without shaving and his hair was longer and fluffy; he looked rugged and undeniably irresistible. 

“Here,” you spun around in his arms, wrapping your hands around his neck and switching places so that he was standing under the shower stream instead. “Feels good, doesn’t it?” you ran your fingers through his brown locks. 

“It does,” he smirked, his palms running down your sides and landing on your ass, his fingertips digging in and squeezing the flesh there. “However, I know a way to make it feel even better.”

You looked up at him, catching the glimmer of suggestion in his eyes. “I bet you do.” you chuckled. “Don’t we have to be at a briefing meeting in like an hour though?”

George backed you against the tile wall and placed his hands on either side of you, trapping you in place. “You give me too much credit, darling.” he began peppering sloppy, open-mouthed kisses to your collar bone and jaw. “It’s been way too long since the last time I’ve had you. I won’t take long.”

“Oh,” you rolled your eyes. “That’s romantic.”

“Isn’t it?” he flashed you a wide grin as his fingers ghosted over your skin, moving in between your thighs and tickling the sensitive skin in a way that he knew drove you wild. 

You let out an involuntary moan as your eyes fluttered. “Okay,” you breathed out, your knees growing weaker as he inched his way closer to your folds. “But it’s gotta be quick.”

“That shouldn’t be a problem,” he chortled, his head dipping down so his mouth could lick and kiss at your breasts. “God, you’re so beautiful,” he muttered into your pliable tissue, two of his fingers pushing inside of you and his thumb rubbing rhythmic circles over your clit. 

“George…” you moaned out, your body suddenly feeling everything and anything. You could feel the cold tile on your back, the hot water on your right side, George’s tongue on your nipple, and his fingers curling inside of you. 

Realizing that you were the only one getting any pleasure, you dropped your hand down and grabbed hold of George’s already hard shaft. The man before you jerked slightly at your touch, but his tantalizing actions didn’t falter for even a second. 

The tip of George’s magic tongue slid along your wet skin as he moved his face back up to meet yours. “Am I doing good?” he searched for validation, always wanting to know if there was something better he could be doing to make you feel good.

“Y-yes…” you nodded, your words airy and barely audible over the running water. “Very good.”

George smiled sweetly, the animalistic hunger for you dropping from his expression for a fleeting moment before he returned to attacking your neck. His teeth grazed over your shoulder as he sucked the areas where he had already left hickies earlier. 

“It’s a good thing our uniforms cover most of our skin.” George admired his work as he pulled his fingers out of you, leaving you with a horrible, empty feeling. “Otherwise, the guys would be asking questions.”

“You could just stop giving me hickies,” you suggested, your hand continuing to massage his erect member. “That’s an idea.”

“A terrible idea.” he scoffed. “They remind me of our time together. I like leaving my mark on you.”

Your lips parted slightly before you collided with his mouth. “That’s possessive,” you spoke in between desperate, rough kisses. 

“It is.” his hand looped under your knee and lifted your one leg up, wrapping it around his hip as he lined himself up with your entrance. “I don’t like to share what’s mine.”

“I’m yours?” your body shook with anticipation of the coming initial wave of pleasure.

“Yes.”

Your eyes darkened as you peered up at him. “Prove it,” you demanded.

“Gladly.” his hips thrust upwards without warning and he pushed himself deep inside of you. He let out a guttural growl as his hips slapped against yours, the moisture from the shower making the skin on skin contact much louder than it would normally be.

Your grip on George tightened as you struggled to keep yourself standing upright. Your ankle hooked around him tighter and you pulled him flush against your body; you wanted to feel every inch of him, inside and out. 

“Fuck, I missed this.” you savored the moment, knowing full well that it would probably be a long time until you got to have sex again. “I missed you.”

“I’ve been here the whole time.” George reminded you, his teeth capturing your earlobe between them and nibbling. 

“Not like this.” you moaned as he pulled out before slamming back into you again. “Not inside of me.”

George’s fingertips dug hard into your ass, lifting you up as much as he could while making sure you wouldn’t slip. “Inside of you is my favourite place to be,” he admitted as he gradually quickened his pace. “Now shush darling. It’s time to stop talking and start screaming.”

You felt a rush of pleasure course through you at his dirty, tempting words. You loved nothing more than when George dropped into his needy, in-charge persona. It made you swoon to no end and turned you on in a matter of minutes.

Your arousal was present in all areas of your body as George began focusing all of his energy and attention into pushing you further and further toward your climax. The only sound in the steamed-up, muggy bathroom was the running water, your sweet moans, and George’s deep growls. 

“Harder,” the plea slipped from your lips as your nails dug into George’s shoulders.

“My fucking pleasure.” he bit down hard on your shoulder to add some pain to the pleasure and pounded aggressively into you. Your body jolted upward with the force, your back sliding along the wet tile wall. 

Adjusting your body in his arms, George shifted your body to his one arm and dropped his free hand down to your clit, massaging it in large, frantic circles. “Come for me, baby.” he could sense your approaching orgasm.

The ecstasy was building in your core, the small pulses of pleasure transitioning into tidal waves of euphoria. You were close and you knew that if George kept dominating you like he was, you would completely unravel and melt in his arms in no time.

“Don’t stop,” you begged, your hands switching to his cheeks and cupping his face. You stared deep into his eyes, your mouth hung open, your breathing erratic. “God, you fuck me so well. Please don’t stop.”

“I won’t.” he was unable to form a cheeky remark as he too neared his own orgasm. “I’m not gonna stop. Fuck, you’re so tight and wet. You feel so good.”

You could feel yourself beginning to tip over the edge. “George.” you moaned. “I’m gonna come. I’m gonna come so hard.”

“Let go, baby.” he gave you permission to succumb to your body. “I’m not far behind.”

With George’s encouragement, you screwed your eyes shut and let yourself ride out your orgasm. Your back arched against the tile wall as your whole body flooded with a deep and suffocating pleasure. You were unable to form words, but you had to release some of the overwhelming stimuli somehow, so you let out a loud cry. 

The sound of you falling apart in front of him — because of him — was all George needed to reach his own climax. With one final, haphazard thrust, the company radioman pulled out and collapsed into you, his body pressing you hard into the tile.

“God, I love you.” he attempted to kiss your neck as his body shook with his orgasm, but all he could manage was planting his open mouth onto you. “Fuck…fuck…you’re a fucking goddess…holy shit.”

You let out an exasperated chuckle at the disorganized thoughts that were spilling from his mouth. As he finally came down from his high, George pressed his forehead to yours and ran his hands soothingly up and down your sides — a drastic change from the frantic clawing he had been doing there only seconds before. 

“Told you I’d be quick.” he cracked a smile as his chest heaved, trying to catch his breath. 

“I wish I could relive that over and over again.” you played back the best fuck of your life over again in your head. “I don’t think I’ve ever come that hard before.” 

George pressed a kiss to your nose. “You have no idea how much that boosts my ego.”

“Oh, no.” you feigned worry. “Like your ego needs any more boosting.”

George let out a laugh as he pushed away from the wall and stepped back under the water, his hands flattening his hair down. “Okay, down to business.” he reached for the soap. “We have a meeting soon.”

“God, I don’t think I can handle a meeting right now.” you exhaled. 

George’s left eyebrow cocked upwards, a devilish smirk spreading across his face. “We’ve still got half an hour. Round two?”

“That’s the best idea you’ve had in a long time.” you stepped toward him and ran your hands up his chest. “This time, take me from behind.” 

“God, I love you.” 

[lazywriter7]

shades of happiness

Summary: Part of the journey is the end.

Steve Rogers considers his many possible endings, and chooses one.

Warnings for major character death

It’s always been the shade that caught his eye the quickest.

In a set of pastels, blocky and chalky-soft and colour staining on his fingertips – always the pop of red towards the end that his gaze drifted to, where it lingered. The colour that could change the very way you looked at things – like when sunrise lit the tenements of Brooklyn in rose-gold-cinnabar, gleaming off bicycle pedals that used to look dusty and camouflaging the cracks in sour-cream building walls, clothes left over on the lines at night flapping gently in the wind – like filtering it all through this shade could alter reality itself.

(Reality, that makes one of six–)

Steve had a weakness for it, for red. Any time one of his paintings looked a touch too dull, like the colours had been leached of their potency, like everything was too drab, too still (too dead), his brush strayed towards the red tube of paint. A dab here and a highlight there, and it was like the painting became a new creature – vivid and kinetic, the richness of the hue enhancing the brighter shades of yellow and orange, adding depth into the darkness of browns and blacks. It was always on his palette, he couldn’t imagine picturing a world without…

“Steve.”

He shook with it, the startlement. He blinked his eyes. Peggy smiled at him from across the diner booth, chestnut-hair shining in the light and victory suit as perfectly pressed as when he’d first met her. “You were gone there, for a while.”

“I was.” Steve said, and there was something about that that wasn’t quite right. Spoken too lightly, frivolous and easy. Lacking the import that words like that deserved.

But Peggy seemed to pay that no note and only smiled wider. Steve was braced for the breathstopping, jawbreaking clench of longing the sight brought – the corners of her quirked lips, the dip of her lower lip where the skin always seemed to be chapped and flaking. The carmine slash of her lipstick.

Red.

“Nice place, isn’t it.” Peggy tilted her chin, dark eyes flitting over the light fixtures and checkered décor.

It’s very seventies, Steve wanted to say – the foreignness of the thought prickled at him. It was… it was out of place, in this picture-perfect scene, out of time, because he’d never have known to have the thought if not for pop-culture and watching movies about the seventies in the futu–

So something else escaped his tongue instead. “Sometimes, I’d think about if I was just imagining it too… too sunny. Too bright. What would’ve happened if I’d never gone down in the ice.”

A shining image, through rose-tinted glasses. There was something about that too, which rattled at the shadowy edges of his mind; tinted glasses, tinted glasses and dark eyes–

(Dark eyes, bare for the taking. “Liar.”)

“Was the end of war. Couldn’t have been all sunshine and roses.” And for all of his heartache, he’d gotten to skip that part, hadn’t he? Hadn’t had to live with the aftermath. Bombed out streets, diners that were looking a lot emptier, hollow smiles and haunted eyes, empty chairs at the kitchen table.

Except he did live with it, just not at that particular time. Steve cleared his throat, dry to the bone, something like ash lingering at the back of his tongue. “I had to… had to carry on, for five years after. At times, it was harder than the ice.”

But Peggy only smiled on, uncharacteristic, shine of white teeth like something lacquered over. “Have some water, dear, you sound parched.”

The light seeping through the windows caught in his eyes, near-blinding. Steve raised a hand to shield them – was the sun setting? “Must’ve been hard for you to go through that all alone, after the war. Don’t know how you managed it.”

When he’d blinked the spots out of his eyes, the diner seemed faded – though still bathed in coloured light. Peggy had stopped smiling, though her eyes were still kind. “I wasn’t alone.”

Of course. For all that it had gotten dimmer, the world also seemed clearer at the edges. Like a hazy picture beginning to resolve, showing all its grainy details, cracks in the wall. Steve breathed in the stillness, breathed in the dust. “How’re the husband and kids, Peg?”

Peggy blinked, dark lashes batting through the stillness. She wasn’t wearing a ring. “Steve, I don’t know what you’re–

No, the sun wasn’t setting. But the dimmed light had gone awfully red, casting shadows across Peggy’s cheekbones, creeping across the diner table that was somehow too solid and yet not enough under Steve’s numb fingers. “Peg.”

“They’re.” Peggy hitched a breath. Cast in unearthly scarlet or no, she still looked like Steve’s best dream. “It hasn’t happened yet, but… they’ll be. They’re.. doing really well.”

Behind her glossy locks, Steve could see the diner fracturing – jagged shards of light cleaving through the vinyl booths, checkered floor, white tiling on the counters. His breath was shaking along with it, sucked clean out of his chest like an asthma attack of old, fingers digging into the table– “I never stopped loving you.”

“Me neither, darling.” The words sounded thick in her throat, but Peggy wasn’t crying. She leaned forward, cupped her warm palms over his whitening fingers, “Always.”

Then why. Why did they have to, why couldn’t this be–

(“I needed you. You said ‘together’, and–”)

“You’ve worked so hard. Been… unmeasurably brave, done so much.” Peggy’s eyes glistened with the warmth of a thousand setting suns. “I couldn’t be prouder.”

“I could… I could do it again. Here.” Work at it, at belonging to this time again. It couldn’t hurt as much, couldn’t claw at his throat with the hollowness of it more than the first go around. “With you.”

“Oh, but sweetheart.” Peggy raised soft fingers, leaned enough to ghost them over the back of Steve’s neck, catching at the flyway strands of a haircut she’d never gotten to see. “You’ve already done your time someplace else.”

The light blazed, and the world winked out.

~

 The air pumped through his chest, hard and heavy, throat dry with gasping. His hands were braced on his thighs, view obscured to the gap between them – sweat-slick fringe whipping in his eyes when he bent over and tried to regain his breath.

“Sloppy, sloppy.” A voice teased – Steve jerked his head upright and saw red.

Not the long, straightened sheet of locks he’d gotten used to during D.C.; not even the braid she’d started putting her hair in in the past five years when her roots started growing out. No, Natasha’s hair was scarlet, violently red – and done in the short bob he’d grown to know when they’d first met, and when they trained the Avengers at the compound together.

Which was where they were now, maybe – there were mats under their feet and the training equipment around them looked halfway familiar; somewhere in between what had been in the SHIELD barracks and the Avengers facility gym. On the wall behind, off to the corner of his vision: the edge of a logo set into the plaster gleamed metallic under the afternoon light.

(“That’s what we do, right? The A-vengers? We lost, we–”

“You giving up on the fight, Rogers?” Natasha stretched her hands above her head, jet black leather-and-Kevlar creaking with the motion; rolled the joints in her neck, hair clinging to sweaty skin. “Misery of existence getting you down?”

It was a sharp, sharp jab – Steve heaved a breath and laughed with it, laughed till his eyes were faintly blurring and his chest hurt. Straightened up, meeting twinkling green eyes that he’d thought once upon a time, were cold and unreadable. “You’re not getting off that easy, Romanov.”

“You sure?” Natasha mocked, and the affection of it was raw salt and soothing balm all at once. “You’ve been looking pretty bummed lately. Maybe you should go back to bed, rest those old, creaky joints.”

Steve’s feet were moving – he’d fallen into the dance, the pattern, unaware of even making the first step, the two of them circling each other around the ring. How many times had they done this? He should’ve… he should’ve kept count.

“It’s always the same with you millennials. Life is hard, it always is.” Steve’s gloves creaked as he flexed his fingers, boots gleaming cherry red just at the edge of his sight. The old uniform – now that was a different touch. “Don’t know about you, but I’ve got plenty in my life to get outta bed for.”

“Oh yeah, I’ve heard this one before.” Natasha didn’t roll her eyes, the gesture far too pedestrian for her – and Steve knew that, now and during the course of… ten? Ten years. “The future isn’t really that bad, the internet is such a useful resource, do you know how dangerous polio used to be–”

Oh, but it was far more nuanced than that. In moments, that yawned long and crushingly heavy, the future seemed nothing more than a wasteland. And yet, here was a friend grinning at him from across the ring, and his breath shivered in his chest with the realisation, a truth sitting in his chest too simple to ignore – “I’ve got more than that.”

(“You trust me, right?”)

Natasha stilled. Behind the shield of banter, the fond, biting grin – Steve could see now that her eyes were too bright. Gleaming with a layer of something liquid and unspilled, eyes reddening – streaks crawling in from the corners, overwhelming the whites. “Yeah?”

“Chatting with Mr. Patel at the bodega three miles away. Helping Wanda control her powers.” It was like feeling the dark give way, lightness stealing in – till his vision was wrecked with it, till keeping his eyes closed was no longer an option. “Morning runs with Sam. Sparring with you.”

Natasha’s smile settled into the crinkles of her eyes, a colourless drop leaking out the side and vanishing into the curve of her cheek. Her voice was ever-so-slightly hoarse, and in that moment more tempting than any Black Widow act she’d ever put on. “You can keep this, if you want. Keep all of this.”

The Avengers logo blazed on the wall behind her head, the corner of the A obscured by her curls. It felt, for a second, that his knees might give way after all.

Steve stayed standing. “You can’t.”

There was something trickling down from Natasha’s temple – a thin line of scarlet mingling with the trail of tears. He didn’t know how close to the truth it was. He’d never gotten to see the bod– he’d never gotten to see her go. His voice cracked with the thought, a cleaving strike right down the middle, “I can’t do this without you.”

“Steve.” There was a gentleness about her, a sense of care he’d never deserved. “I did what I had to so you could.”

“Is that…” No matter how many times he cleared his throat, the rawness wouldn’t subside. An open wound, every word flecked with the pain of it, “Is that why you…”

“You already know why.” Did he? The nose of the Valkyrie, heading straight for the Arctic shelf. Natasha’s mouth curled slightly, an affectionate smirk as if she could read his mind. “Serves you right for setting such a good example, hmm?”

“Besides, I had a job.” She said the words like she said so much else, point blank and matter-of-fact – because that was who she was. Not the masks, or the deception, or even the fights. She was duty, and a commitment to it unflinchingly made. “And a debt to repay.”

A debt to repay. The words struck something, grasped for something – past the skin of his chest and aching muscle, through the defences of his ribs and right down to his unenhanced, beating heart.

(Not red this time, no. Hearts were blue, blue and white like the hottest part of a flame; heat and weight slammed down into his palm, metal burning a circle into the skin.

“Liar.”

Burning regret, and a debt that couldn’t be cast away.)

Something slipped into his hand, warm fingers working their way into his own gaps. Steve squeezed against the pressure, breath escaping just a fraction more lightly. “Did it hurt when you went down?”

“No.” Natasha said simply, and the press of her hand against his was not a lie. Reddened as they were, her eyes still looked peaceful. “It was nice. Like a warmth in my chest, of… getting to throw aside all that my life had been used for, and choosing what it was going to mean.”

It means everything. A hero, when it counted the most for everyone. A friend, when it counted the most for me.

“It didn’t feel like that for me, the ice.” The world was hazing around them again, soft and crimson. His fingers curled in harder, held on tighter. “I knew what I was doing was right, but… it didn’t feel like that.”

“Well then.” Natasha tilted her head one last time, light gleaming off the devastating line of her jaw, eyes teasing like he’d remember her best. “What’re you waiting for?”

A breath, brushing past the stillness. Like conviction finally emerging again, settling into its long-worn shoes.

The world blazed bright. Steve let go.

 ~

 When Steve came back to himself, the universe was in stasis.

It felt like he could see all of it, spanning wide, even though his eyes were only confined to this place, this instant. This battlefield, sprawling on the grounds of a compound he’d once called home.

It was all silent, all still. Ash caught in mid-air, immobile. Weapons thrown and not yet landed. Snarls on unmoving faces, bodies contorted into the fight, friends and enemies all stretching around about him. Frozen in time, and Steve a man out of it.

Something glimmered at the corner of his vision – an exhale fleeted from his lips, a solitary breath among thousands that had been paused midway. The Time Stone shone dully among the gaps of his fingers. But it was only a spark of green amidst a sea of red; the Reality Gem blazing next to it, eye-searing.

Steve could not move his fingers. They twitched a little, but stayed firmly wrapped around, entwined through the scratched-up, faded metal fingers of an Iron Man gauntlet.

Steve lifted his chin, and stared at Tony’s face, frozen inches away from his.

(It had been a split-second decision. Lying on his back, holding a broken shield, tasting the blood through his teeth; catching a glimpse of Tony’s face through the debris, as he looked at someone out of view – at Strange, maybe.

Catching a glimpse of that resolution stealing over his face, grim and ruinously beautiful. Watching the tussle between him and the Mad Titan, watching as Tony Stark outsmarted and outgritted a foe yet again.

“I…am…”

Steve’s fingers twitched. A magnetic pull, a phantom sensation of lifting something that had never felt this light before.

Mjolnir plowed through the air, smashing into gold and titanium-alloy. Tony’s face contorted in agony, breath stuttering – but it served the purpose, the weight of the hammer pulling him forward several, crucial inches. Steve could feel the dirt under his fingernails, the watery shake of his arms as he pulled himself up one last time – dragged his knees over the ground to close the gap. Reached out, and this time he wasn’t too far away. This time, he caught the hand and held it tight.

Please, he thought, fingers clammy against warm metal, Tony’s eyes wide and so close and ash dusty over those lashes, please, as his skin brushed against the warmth of the gems, scorching points of contact.

Please, as the world froze and blazed red, and reality splintered with possibilities in his mind.)

 That had been a second ago.

“Thank you.” He whispered, sound barely escaping the ash, the hoarseness, the throttling gratitude. The Reality Gem shone on like a constant, Time a quiet counterpoint to the side.

He had the time now, so he took it. Several selfish seconds, of staring at the brown eyes so inescapably close to his, the ones that had spat contempt at him and offered a home to him and widened in betrayal at his actions. Steve memorised it all, like a painting he’d never be able to put to page – the blood-crusted mess of Tony’s hair, the silver in his eyebrows, the gaunt hollows of his cheeks, the resolute tilt of his chin. The brightness of him, the tenacity, the inability to walk away – like red still lingering in the sky long after the sun had gone down.

Steve’s breath felt thick in his throat, blood and air all congealed to one. With the hand not trapped in the gauntlet, burning over the Stones – he brushed his knuckles over the warm, hard gristle of Tony’s jaw. A stolen touch, the last thing Steve would ever take from him again.

(“I will miss you Tony.”)

“Please.” Reality flickered around them. The Gem glowed, nanites stirring under Steve’s palm, like the faintest tickle, a warm breath huffed over skin. They peeled out in layers, withdrawing from Tony’s ashy skin and flowing over Steve’s hand – welcoming streams that trailed static electricity till they encased him from wrist to fingertip.

The Stones followed, five throbbing points settling below his knuckles. They still felt lighter than the phantom weight of an arc reactor, chest-warm and leaden in his palm.

Steve’s was a life mired with regrets. But in this, insular instant – the only thing he regretted was having to let go of Tony’s bare hand.

One snap, and the world came back to life.

  It was like feeling his atoms implode, the burn beginning from the tips of his fingers and scoring past muscle, sinew, nerve – the blood in his veins on fire, working up his arm and charring everything in its path. His eyes rolled to the back of his head, ground rushing up to hit his spine–

“What. What the fuck, no, no, fuck, no, Steve–”

Something gurgled at the back of his throat. Steve stared up at the sky, unseeing – until his vision was filled with something too familiar, hair and face and eyes looking down, so deeply embedded into his psyche that he couldn’t not recognise–

“T..Tony.” There was warmth at the back of his neck, warmth separate from the burn carving through the right side of his chest. Like someone was clasping his neck, bracing it – like Steve’s stolen touch did not matter, because Tony would always give everything freely away.

“I had it, I had him, why would, Steve, Steve–”

Parts of Steve could still feel the serum kicking away, fighting desperately in its last stretches – I can do this all… I can do this –

“Tony, I…I am so sorry.”

Tony’s face stared down, lips clamped down tight like his teeth were biting through the skin on the inside. There were streaks of shining moisture on his cheeks, clear tracks running down the grime. His voice rang like iron. “No. No. Not good enough, Rogers. I don’t accept this, I can’t–”

“What’s her name.” Steve whispered it on a rasping breath, and Tony’s voice broke off. “Your… daughter. Tell me her name.”

“Morgan.” More liquid, welling up at the edges of those eyes, where the laugh lines usually sat – Steve ached to reach up and brush them away.

“Thought.” The next words were unbearably hard to get out, the burn flickering at the hollow of his throat. Steve struggled through it, single-minded, like every asthma attack, every bully’s fist, every bullet and hit that had ever threatened to keep him down and never succeeded. “Thought tha… that was a… fella’s name.”

“We’re rich and eccentric, it works out.” The words flitted out heedlessly, like Tony’s lips were moving and he didn’t particularly care what came out.

We. Once upon a time, that might’ve rung hollow in Steve’s chest, a pang of longing. Now it nestled there, warm and soothing and protected from the burn.

“Steve.” Something hit Steve’s cracked lips, tingling there – if he flicked his tongue out, he might taste water and salt. “You can’t give up like this.”

But I’m not. This wasn’t like losing faith, like walking away in the middle of the journey. This was finally staggering to the summit, and seeing your destination over the horizon. This was adding that final fleck of paint, that dab of red, to make the picture all worth it.

The hold shifted from Steve’s neck to the back of shoulders that were almost insensate, another arm cupping around his waist – till Tony had hauled him right up, and pressed him close, dark hair brushing over the tip of Steve’s nose. His voice in Steve’s ear was barely above a whisper, barely a question. Maybe it wasn’t even meant for him. “Why.”

The reactor dug into Steve’s sternum, a circle of glowing warmth. It felt nice.

The world was falling away, breaths slowing and heart drifting to a stop, and it felt nothing like the ice.

“I was looking for a happy ending.”  

[artbysarah98]

Because of You - BTS SOPE One-shot

Masterlist

A/N - I wanted to test out something new aside from my When we're young... series and came up with this idea. This is a one-shot about Sope from BTS. It's not a BOY x BOY relationship, but a story about their friendship.

How J-Hope actually ended up here, he didn't know or at least not all the details. Neither did he know what had actually happened in the last few months. What he did know is that it all changed when he met him and that his name is Suga. The events between them happened so fast that he couldn't explain it, but he didn't want to either. They went from complete strangers to best friends in a matter of hours. On top of that, he was glad that after months of being alone he had finally gotten himself a friend again. Why he was alone you wonder? Or why did he think he was alone? What made him think that?

Well, J-Hope had somehow ended up on different planet Earth. The timeline of this version of Earth was completely different from the timeline of the version that he knew. The planet Earth he was on now is set in a post-apocalyptic world somewhere in or after 3047, which J-Hope had seen on a rather old-looking newspaper. The newspaper, however, didn't describe what had happened to the Earth that he was on now, but there was one thing very clear to him for as far his eyes could see on that first faithful day. He was all alone in the once busy city streets of Seoul. Not one sign of life was to be seen on the streets.

There was one thing that confirmed to J-Hope that he was on a different planet Earth and that was a news item that kept replaying on all the billboard screens, or at least the ones that were still working, throughout the shopping center of Seoul. This news item showed a very long list of all the victims that he died on the first day of the BTN13 virus, which he then found out was the cause of the state the city was in. To his shock, his own name, Jung Hoseok, was on this list. Even though he was very much alive at that moment. After J-Hope had overcome the shock of that, he tried to think back to what had exactly happened to him as few things flashed through his mind.

What J-Hope could remember from the travel between the different planets Earth is a very blinding white light and feeling like he fell down for miles but never hit the ground. One moment he was walking through the busy city streets of Seoul and the next he was on a deserted copy of the scenery where he just had been. He remembered that he had seen schoolkids running past him, probably on their way back home since that was 3.30 pm, and an elderly woman who needed help with crossing the street. Being the helpful young man he was he had offered the elder his help before continuing on his way to a friend of his, Namjoon. He knows now that Namjoon is a friend who he would never see again. J-Hope hadn't seen the traffic lights going to red and was shaken up from looking at his phone by a honking horn from a car. His fight or flight reaction made him freeze up in fear. He saw the car getting closer and closed his eyes waiting for an impact that never came. When he opened his eyes again he was completely shocked by his surroundings. He was no longer about to get hit by a car but in a completely white endless space. He felt like he was floating for a second before he realized that he was actually falling down.

Since the white light was so bright and he wanted to brace himself for the impact of falling on the ground he closed his eyes again. After a few minutes, he again didn't feel the impact he expected to come. So he opened his eyes and was shocked once again. Now he was back on the street he was on a few minutes before, however, when he looked around to take in what has happened he was greeted by the most awful and devastating sight he had seen in his life. Windows were smashed in and billboard screens were flickering because of the fact that they had been smashed in as well. Busses and cars all stood empty on the street and some were stripped of almost every part that they had. The city looked like a ghost town everywhere he went that day in his search for answers as to what has happened and if he had a way of going back. His search for answers was cut short as soon as he had found that newspaper, but his search for other humans always continued. He hoped that someday he would meet someone who might be able to help him. That turned out to be Suga.

The first week he had very high hopes of meeting someone else again and started his days cheerful, but as the weeks turned into months he lost his hope and cheerfulness. After a good three months, he stopped his entire search for other human life and focused entirely on his survival in what he called his new home. As days turned to nights and back to days again he traveled through Seoul in search of something to eat and a new place to spend the night. Today he ended up in a hotel in the shopping center of Seoul. To his surprise, the elevator was still working. He had grabbed a random key from behind the reception and went to the room that the key belonged to. On the way to his room, he passed a cabinet with a vase on it.

'What an ugly vase,' thought J-Hope before continuing to his room. He opened the door and didn't even look around the room. He went straight to the bed and as soon as he laid down he fell asleep.

In the middle of the night, J-Hope was wakened up by a loud crash and sat up straight in bed. Even though he expected it to be an animal like all the other times he heard sounds in a building. Despite knowing that, his curiosity got the better of him and he decided to check out what it was. He took his key with him as well as his self-made 'flashlight' and went onto the hallway. He looked first to the left, nothing was wrong there, and then to the right. There something was off. The vase that had stood on a cabinet he passed earlier that day lays broken on the floor.

Next to the vase were a pair of feet. He followed to feet all the way to the face of the person they belonged to. J-Hope was so shocked that he let the flashlight in his hands fall and lost his ability to speak. After three months of searching through Seoul for human life, he stood face to face with a young man around his age. The man also wore a look of shock on his face.

"So I'm not alone after all," said both men at the same time.

They looked at each other before speaking up at the same time again, "What do you mean alone?"

They both laughed awkwardly and warily the young man extended his hand for a proper introduction which J-Hope hesitantly, but gladly accepted.

"My name is Min Yoongi, but you can also call me Suga," said the young man is now known as Suga.

"Jung Hoseok, but my friends call me J-Hope. Or at least they used to call me that," said J-Hope sounding hopeful and sad at the same time while shaking hands with Suga.

After the introduction, J-Hope proposed to go back to his room and turn in for the night as they would talk more in the morning. Suga was hesitant as first feeling uncomfortable with sleeping in a room with a man he didn't know, but something about the hopeful smile on J-Hope's face made him accept. The next morning they woke up and again were quite shocked by the fact that there was another human in the same room as them. Not another new human but each other. They both had some food left to make some sort of breakfast off and started talking. J-Hope first told Suga his story and how he can to be here. Suga didn't believe him at first, which was completely understandable, and J-Hope showed him proof in the form of a photo that he had taken of the screen that showed his name as one of the first deaths caused by the BTN13 virus. Somehow electricity still worked due to windmills and solar panels in some places so J-Hope used those facilities to charge his phone with his charger. A charger that still worked after traveling from one world to another. Suga looked at him in shock and said that he found it impossible.

"So am I, but yet here I am in a world in which I'm supposed to be dead," said J-Hope. Suga couldn't deny that fact and accepted his explanation. Suga started telling his story, "The BTN13 virus came somewhere in the winter of 3046 and very quickly infected the whole world. People who were infected were recognizable by coughing, fevers up to 40 degrees and higher, very shallow breathing and pain on the lungs, and these are just some of the symptoms. People had to start working from home, in the beginning, to slow and stop the spread of the virus, but after three months even that didn't help anymore, and slowly the numbers of deaths rose to millions across the world. The world fell into a total panic and started stealing to survive. In hopes of being safe from the virus. None of that mattered now as I look back on it. After three more months, I was the only one left alive in the world, well, until today."

J-Hope could see that Suga was starting to cry and pulled him into a bone-crushing hug. Suga was startled at first by the hug but soon cried his eyes out on J-Hope's shoulder. After he calmed down a bit he picked up his story and told how he saw all his loved ones, family, friends, die one after another. Yet he had gotten none of the symptoms and felt healthy while others were slowly dying. He came to the discovery that he was immune to the virus and that has saved his life. Suga also told how he had spent his time traveling through Korea for other humans who were also immune. J-Hope was impressed and at the same time devastated by his story. The biggest shock of Suga's entire story was how he wanted to kill himself on this day, tired of being alone in the world, but that meeting J-Hope had saved him from doing so.

That day was almost three months ago now. The men were now the best of friends and they discovered that J-Hope was also immune to the BTN13 virus because Suga was a carrier of the virus and J-Hope never showed any signs of being affected in the first days after their meeting. A fortunate discovery as they feared he would meet the same fate as his other self that belonged to this world, originally. Suga even vowed to J-Hope in the first few weeks after their meeting to die with him when the moment would be there.

They were now on their way back to the hotel they met at. It took J-Hope some convincing, especially since Suga wanted to kill himself there, but gradually finally accepted his request to watch the sunset from the roof of that hotel. J-Hope laughed while thinking back to that day. Suga noticed his laughing and asked, "What is so funny?"

"Nothing, I was just thinking back to the first day that we met and how scared you were to spend the night in my room." Suga stopped in his tracks making J-Hope turn around. He looked at Suga who looked a little grumpy. Suga tried to defend himself and said, "I was not scared. I was uncomfortable with sharing a room with a man I didn't know at all."

"Luckily that changed. Now you can't seem to let go of me while we're sleeping. I always need to break myself free in the morning," said J-Hope smiling a smile so bright that he showed all of his pearly whites and looked at the sun. He changed to a very hasty expression, "We have to run now otherwise we will miss the sunset."

J-Hope started running to the hotel leaving Suga, who was flustered by his companion's suggestive comment on his sleeping habits, behind. Suga grumbled when he noticed that J-Hope ran off and chased after J-Hope while calling out to him, "Wait up, you know I can't run that fast."

After running three blocks they finally arrived at the hotel. Suga took this at a time to catch his breath while they were waiting for the elevator to come down. They waited and waited but the elevator didn't come down. J-Hope came to the realization that the power had gone off and they didn't have time to put it back on if they could.

"Probably a fuse in the fuse box. We'll check that later. Come on, we have to take the stairs," said J-Hope and started running up the stairs three steps at the same time. Suga grumbled even more now and let out a sigh before going after J-Hope. Totally exhausted Suga came up onto the roof and said, "Why did we have to meet in a hotel with over 50 floors?"

"Don't be such a grumpy grandpa and look up," said J-Hope, "We are still on time for the sunset."

Suga looked up when he heard that and saw the most beautiful colored sky. He could see that the sun was almost ready to set. Suga looked around and saw two chairs tucked away in a corner.

"What are you doing?" asked J-Hope looking confused at Suga as he walked in the opposite direction of the sunset.

"Well I am not going to stand while waiting for the sun to set," said Suga to him as he walked up to him with the chairs in his hands. J-Hope laughed and took the chair that Suga extended to him. They both took place on the chair and looked at the sun while enjoying the warm evening breeze.

The men were sitting and watching in silence waiting for the night to start. The silence between them was not uncomfortable anymore as it has been in the beginning. Back then they didn't know what to say or do in a situation like that but know they knew it didn't matter as long as they enjoyed their time together. Sometimes a silence like that said so much more than a conversation that continued for hours.

They enjoyed the last rays of sunlight comfortably in each other's company. They both looked at each other and knew that they were glad to have found each other. Exactly at the same time, they said, "You know, because of you, I'm not alone anymore."

They looked at each other in shock and fell silent. They couldn't believe their thoughts were still so in sync as the day they first met. After that, they both started laughing and J-Hope said, "I'm glad that you didn't kill yourself that day," making Suga look at him with a warm smile. "Me too," said Suga, "Otherwise I would have never met such an amazing friend again and I'm glad that you are immune to the BTN13 virus like me. I don't think I could have watched another friend die without killing myself the second he died."

"Well, luckily you don't have to do that," said J-Hope, "What do you want to do tomorrow? We could go to the beach!" Suga laughed and turned back to the sunset and said, "We'll see that tomorrow. For now, let's just enjoy this moment."

J-Hope also turned back to look at the sunset and with a smile on their face knowing that they had gained a best friend for life in this strange post-apocalyptic world with them as the only two humans left alive.

A/N - I hope you enjoyed this Sope one-shot as the word says this story will not get a sequel.

[sweetcatmintea]

Imitation

Flash Fiction Friday! (Well, flash fiction 4:15am Saturday but you get the gist.) There was no prompt this week so I decided to jump headfirst into a vague idea I had XD The execution is a little clumsy but I hope you enjoy none the less! (I might revisit it when I have developed my skills more) This one is supposed to be creepy :3 Feedback is appreciated!

Words: 2952

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Amber’s head hurt. Noises swan in rings, spiking and convulsing behind her eyes. Thin, stiff sheets covered her dead arms, scratching along her body with each stinging breath. Hospital sheets. What? She pushed her hands to move. There was a disconnect. Her body lagging sluggishly behind her conscious control. Cold metal brushed her knuckles. A cot? Was she in hospital? She didn’t remember having an appointment. She didn’t remember sleeping either. There was, nothing. Not amnesia nothing. She knew who she was. Right? Yes. She was Amber Welsh. She lived with her par- wait, no. She moved out. She lived alone. What was she doing before the nothing? She was… She was on her weekend. Saturday? She didn’t work on Saturday. She was on her weekend and was taking Roo for a walk. She always walked Roo on Saturday. Roo was her dog. A big Newfoundland. He was almost as big as her. Intimidating. She could walk alone with him. Where was Roo now? Did they finish the walk? She could remember starting it, kind of. But it’s blurry. Routine mashed each Saturday together. Was she hit by a car? Or, mugged? Is that why she was here? Where was Roo? Was he waiting for her at home?

Her eyes were heavy. Not the heavy of an all-nighter. Heavy like they’d never open again. God, her head hurt. Her ears were ringing. A shrill tone all around her, dulled occasionally by intermittent thunder claps. Her body was too numb. Was she injured? She couldn’t tell. Were her parents on the way? The hospital knew her well enough to call them. Her face felt injured. Not by pain, but a gut feeling. Her brain knew, even if she didn’t. She didn’t know how it knew but she didn’t doubt it. Her bones ached distantly. It wasn’t until she heard metal sliding against the cot frame that she realised she couldn’t move her arms. What the? Slowly, laboriously, she peeled her eye lids open. Nausea rolled with the action. Oh god. Greyish black smeared cloud-like over her eyes. She blinked the grey away until only darkness was left. Her eyes were dry. And crusty? Maybe? She raised her hand to wipe the sleep residue away only to have it jerked to a stop. Straining against the blur, she eventually made out the glint of handcuffs. Her heart jumped, awkward and shuddering. Her vision swirled as her pulse raised. It was drugs. It had to be. Why else would she be waking… like this? Somebody drugged her? But why? Unable to lift her head, she scanned the room. It was swaying? No. That was the drugs. Her vision was wavering, doubling, snapping back to clarity for a torturous heartbeat before mercifully blurring once more. 

There was a cot. A cot she was cuffed to. Then a tube, connected to a bag. Above her. Oh, An IV. Tiles on the floor. A candle flickering by the door. It seared her eyes. Too bright. Nothing else. A small, sparse room. A hospital room? With no windows. Much like a basement could never perfectly mimic a bedroom, this place was faux. If she’d been injured, she would be in the closest hospital. She knew what it was like in there. She knew what it was like in almost all of the local medical facilities thanks to a particularly bad break last year. This was not one of them. She was not in a hospital. Her brain was languid but it reached the logical conclusion. She was not safe. Panic spasmed through her. More instinct than anything, she pulled frantically at the bindings. Writing and squirming, the cuffs slid around her sweat slicked skin, refusing to release her. She almost screeched when it jumped over her thumb, peeling off a sheet of skin in compensation. She was out. Dumb luck. Pure dumb luck of hyper-flexibility set her free.

Amber hauled herself up. Legs sprawled in front of her. She couldn’t feel them either. As though she’d fallen asleep awkwardly, all she could sense was pressure. For that, she was grateful. It made pulling the IV from under her skin painless. Her stomach flipped and her hands shook, but she was unrestrained. It was hard to keep her head straight. It was almost like she was wearing a motorcycle helmet. The slightest movements sent her teetering to the side. Where had her balance gone? There was something wrapped around her face. Bandages? Dulled fingertips traced the fabric grain. Though her fingers could feel her, her swollen, paper mâché skin couldn’t feel them. She had to get out of here. Praying her body would wake up, she swung her legs over the cot. Where was the floor? With only her faulty vision to guide her, she staggered up. Pressure told her she was dragging her bare foot, not lifting it. Her movements became mechanical. Lift. Step. Lift. Step. She had to get out. Stumbling to the door, she steadied herself. She turned the handle painfully slowly. She couldn’t make a noise. They might come back. The storm roared on, dominating the quiet click.

More darkness. No movement. No nurses. No patients. No visitors. She didn’t want more proof. She’d never wanted so badly to be wrong before.  Half sliding, half shuffling, she pushed her body to move into the corridor. The weather must have knocked the power out. There wasn’t even the familiar buzz of electricity in waiting. Would she be able to hear it though? Over the drug’s ring? It was hard to say.

As she crept along the darkness, her body gradually returned to life. Pins and needles attacked her muscles and her knees threatened to give out. She couldn’t stop shaking. It was cold too. Cold tiles. Cold air. Nothing but a paper gown to cover her. What had they done with her clothes? Did they have her phone? She hadn’t backed up her photos…

Candle glow spotted the corridor, creeping under cracks in doors. Still no windows. Was she underground? That meant out was up, right? A hundred scenarios ran through her fear addled mind. She got out so easily, what if they’re waiting for her at the exit? Like it’s some perversion of a test? Would they kill her? Drug her again? She didn’t even know if she still had her kidneys, too afraid to check. She’d notice that, right? Wouldn’t they have left her in an ice bath or something if they were organ snatchers? The front of her gown was sticky with warm, then cool. Was she bleeding? She couldn’t tell. She didn’t want to touch anything. The risk of infection was too great. She couldn’t smell blood, but she couldn’t smell much of anything under all of the bandages.

Footsteps clattered down stairs. Someone was there. Multiple someones. Oh god. Don’t let them see her. First handle in reach, she lurched into the room. No candle. No light. No noise. Empty. Thank god.

Click clack click clack.

Footsteps getting closer.

She slid down the wall, huddling into herself. Oh god oh god ohgodohgosohgod. Please. Please let them pass.

Click clack click.

Closer.

She held her breath. Tears burned, bitten back. Heart stopped. She waited.

They were right outside the door.

Oh no. Please.

They continued.

Click clack.

Going.

Click clack.

Going.

Click clack.

Gone.

She shuddered, choking on silent sobs. She had to get out. Her body wouldn’t move. She couldn’t leave. What if they saw her? If she just stayed put, she wouldn’t risk running into anyone. They were going to catch her if she stayed. She’d be a sitting duck. Come on, move! She wasn’t dying here. Amber crept out of the room. Slowly. Carefully. Quietly. She couldn’t see them in the dark but that meant they couldn’t see her either. She had the advantage of silence. She would get out.

Every movement, she froze. Every sound, she hid. Amber padded as quickly as her lagged body could move, inching through the building. She found the stairs. All she needed was a window. It’d be on the next floor. Surely. Basement, then ground level, right? One step at a time, she felt her way upwards. She couldn’t see her hand in front of her face, let alone the stairs. Not even the smear of the bandages lumped under her eyes. She reached the turning platform. Halfway there.  

“What do you mean the thing’s fried?”

A voice. A voice in front of her. She couldn’t get down. Not in time. Panic fuelled stupidity, Amber froze. Back pressed into the wall hard enough to leave brick indentations.

“kxxxxrt What I said. The whole thing. Might as well have been struck by lightning.” A walkie talkie. He was practically on top of her, muttering curses to himself. Amber was sure he could hear her heart pound. He paused. His warmth tingled her cold skin. Please.

He swung around.

“Okay. Sure. I’ll see if I can rig something up in the meantime.”

And left.

Amber couldn’t take much more of this. If her heart didn’t give out, her legs would.

-

There were no windows on the next level. Just another long, winding corridor and more candles. She wanted to blow them out. Reduce the space to darkness again. But they’d notice. She had to keep her head. Just keep going up.

Hiding. Moving. Hiding. Moving. The hazy repetition made her want to throw up.

More voices. Hiding again. Praying the candle wouldn’t betray her shadow to them. Her skin itched. The face she couldn’t feel. It was starting to wake as well. Bandages were course against her dry skin. Vaguely, she thought of heat stroke. It was similar. Burnt skin that begged to be scratched and picked at. Head too light and too heavy. Stinging and pulling at every twitch. Wind rattled through the building while glass grinded against concrete in her ears. Was this what dying felt like? A powerful dizzy spell sent her to her hands and knees. All of her will power was occupied with keeping her stomach from spraying its contents everywhere. Numbness was better. She looked around, trying to find something, anything, to ground her under the candle’s wavering light. At the end of the room, there was something to focus on. A cage. This, she had seen before. Other rooms she’d ducked into were similarly furnished. Some with cots. Some with desks. Unlike the others, this one had something in it. Morbid curiosity spurred her to creep closer. The black mass barely moved, save for a steady rise and fall of its body. It couldn’t be. She held the candle closer. A familiar collar looped the bars. Roo. Why was Roo here? He was curled, turned mostly away from her. Why was he wearing a Victorian collar? What had they done to him? She tried to whisper his name. Slurred crackles died in her throat. Her mouth wouldn’t form the letters. Wake up Roo. She reached blindly into the cage to cup his muzzle. That usually did it. Her fingers found his ears, trailing down bandages. Had they hurt him? Her hand brushed something it shouldn’t have. Clammy, tacky, skin. She ripped her hand away. Oh god, what have they done? The candle shook in her grip as she unlatched the cage, sliding the door open. She held it to Roo. He rolled his head towards her. Oh dear god. Roo wasn’t looking back at her. His eyes were, sliding and unfocussed, but the rest wasn’t him. A patchwork of bandages weren’t enough to cover the pale, freckled, skin pulled tight over a rough amalgamation of a skull. The top jaw too short for Roo’s face, sitting limply over his protruding underbite. Jesus, no. Purple slashed and stapled tongue just visible under the blunted incisions. This was so wrong. The nose was wrong. A cute button nose that was too loose and too open and too human to pretend to be his. Black fur tufted the outskirts of the bandages, tangling with metal pins and, vanishing within the bandage perimeter.

It was an awful thing to stare into the eyes of your dog only to have a poor imitation of your face staring back.  

Roo growled. Too drugged to do more than twitch, he snarled quietly at the stranger. Amber put her shaking hand against her own face. She didn’t want to know. She had to know. Still itching numbness, she passed over the metallic lumps lining her skull, exploring the mass under her eyes. She’d thought it was swelling. She’d hoped it was swelling. They’d been much more liberal with her bandaging than Roo’s. The entirety of her muzzle was wrapped. Only dampness hinted at what lay at end. Please, no. She trailed down. Down to the lips. Soft and stretchy. And the teeth. Long, sharp, dripping. Hanging over her far too short lower jaw. Oh god. Down further to the lump of wet flesh lolling to the side. Her tongue. Her too long tongue. What did they do to her? Tears and vomit rolled inside her. She didn’t even know if she could barf. Christ. What was she going to do? She had to get them out. Both of them. Like hell she was leaving Roo. He didn’t recognise her but that was okay. She could deal. She’d been through worse, right? Right? He was too drugged up to bite her. Too drugged to move. Oh god oh god oh god. She could lift him. She had to remember that. She liked to boast that she could carry the massive dog before. Now was certainly the time to prove it. When they get out, then what? Was the damage fixable? How was she going to afford the fees? Godgodgodgodgod. What if the vet decided on euthanasia? That wasn’t going to fly. She was going to fix this. They’d probably want her on a talk show or something. Then everyone would know what happened to her. She’d have to relive tonight over and over and over. She didn’t want to be a spectacle. It didn’t matter now! She had to get out. She had to MOV-

Click clack. Click clack.

Amber snuffed the candle. A reflex. She ground the wick into the tiles. Please let the smell go. The steps stopped at her door. Nonononono! Amber closed the cage and flung herself back, as far back as she could go. Why now? She’d gotten so far. The door clicked open. A shape peered inside. A woman illuminated by another candle. Someone stood behind her. Amber was trapped. There was no escape. Jesus Christ PLEASE. The woman hummed.

“I thought I had a candle in here?”

“Maybe.” The other voice didn’t sound particularly interested. “Someone probably took it. You know Jerry is the biggest baby in the dark. It was probably him.”

The woman sighed. “Probably. Jerry’s always bending rules. Can’t he just grow up? (Or be fed to the pigs?) Whatever. I’d better light a new one.”

“The box is upstairs.”

“Really? Ugh. Let’s go. Sooner we do this, the sooner we can eat.”

No way.

As quickly as they appeared, they were gone. But they were coming back. Amber didn’t have time to breath or cry or process anything. They had to move. Now. She stumbled to the cage, gathering Roo in her arms. Come on come on come on. She heaved backwards, his dead weight almost toppling her over. An ear to the door, she had to be certain no one was there. Coast clear. Amber hauled Roo down the corridor, praying the entire way. Praying that no one came out. That the lights stayed off. That Roo stayed silent. As far as she could tell, no one knew she was missing yet. Good.

Her arms were rubber when they reached the stairs. Please let this be the way out. There was no way she could have carried Roo up without his body thunking against the steps. They had to slow down. Her face itched. She sat on the stairs, the bulk of Roo in her lap. One step at a time, she shuffled backwards. More than once, her foot slipped, almost sending them both tumbling down. Almost there. Roo sagged limply against her, just the rise and fall to prove he was alive. Please, let them get out.

She paused as light leaked above them. Listening carefully.

Nothing.

Nothing yet.

Go quickly! They reached the top step. There was no time to breath. This hall was filled with candles. Amber’s darkness was extinguished. Twin shadows stretched around the corner, dancing in the flickers. OH GOD. No time for gentleness, Amber grabbed whatever she could reach of Roo, bolting into the closest room.

A window.

A WINDOW.

Amber was at it in seconds. Tears drenched her bandages when it slid open. No noise or locks or catches! They were getting out. It was a tight squeeze. She shoved Roo through the gap butt first, apologising silently at the thud.

The door clicked.

She threw herself into the night. The fall jarred her body, knocking the air out of her lungs. At least she managed not to land on Roo.

“God damn it! Who left the window open!?”

Grabbing Roo, Amber rolled back against the building. More footsteps. A man looked out. Lightning deepening his scowl. Don’t look down. He stood over them, glaring at the clouds for all the trouble they caused him. She could do nothing but look on in horror, begging for one more miracle. He slammed the window shut, disappearing from Amber’s view. She didn’t waste time. Scooping Roo up, she bolted, awkward and stumbling, into the storm.

They were going home.

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Tag list

@inkovert, @snobbysnekboi, @kainablue, @i-rove-rock-n-roll, and @goblin-writer

[ff15trashgoldenslumbers]

Aqua

Thanks to the blessing of @mintfoxmimi  I was able to create a story of her Octo-bros. They’re so cute and if you have seen the beauty that is her artwork, please check it out!

14K words so please let me know if it crashes

~

Early morning, super early morning. You never understood why you needed to be here for early mornings. At 6 in the morning, no one was up and only you and a handful of people were in the building at this awful hour. Still, you couldn’t really be too upset, at 6 in the morning, with the building empty, and only the night shift lights on the building looked absolutely lovely. The huge glass windows of blue giving you the idea of what it was like to be underwater with all these wonderful creatures.

Working early morning shift for data entry at Insomnia’s Aquarium did have its perks. The large Aquarium was named after the fabled city that was supposed to have been lost to the ocean’s depths thousands of years ago.

“Morning, Sweetie.” You called, moving to your desk stuffed away in the back area of the “storage” facility of the back offices holding bay. Your desk the only one there, as it was the smallest one, but you were surrounded by moveable tanks of wonderful creatures in a tropic-like environment.

The area was more of a holding area for some of the creatures that were brought in from the beach. Fish, crabs, smaller injured mammals, all of them so lovely. But the one that drew you the most was the little one that was placed directly before your desk. He was bought in about 3 weeks ago.

At first, you believed him to possibly be an octopus, at least that was what was documented in your data, but as the others inspected him. It was strange, from the waist below, beautiful dark blue tentacles that look like the night sky, that same color traveling up his back and littered his arms, up to his neck. But everything from the waist up looked like a human, aside from the pointed ears. Huge beautiful blue eyes, when awake would look to you doing your work. All of this packaged into something the size of your hand if not a little bigger.

“You’re so beautiful.” You’d find yourself cooing to him, while he watched you, or while he slept. Mostly while he slept, he loved to sleep.

You looked up from your cell phone on your lunch break, chowing away at some of the sushi from the cafeteria. Was it wrong to eat sushi in an Aquarium, was this blasphemy? Only to smile at the little hands pressed against the side of the glass and large adorable eyes.

“Morning, well afternoon Sweetie.” You smiled, as he yawned, turning a smile to you. “Are you hungry? They had those little-fried fish you like, so I snagged you some.”

You watched as he moved himself up through his tank, pushing the lid open. He was smart as an octopus, that was for sure.

“Hold on, hold on, let me get the bowl.” You giggled, reaching into one of your side drawers, pulling out a small little bowl with a cute cat print you bought from home. Leaning over your desk to his tank as you scooped in the little guy and some water to place on your desk.

Making certain he was comfy, you removed your headphones, and turned your phone to the small octopus/man so he could watch the show you were watching. Handing him a piece of grilled fish, watching as sharp little teeth crunched into bone and fish before reaching out small hands for another piece.

You had to admit you loved your little lunch dates.

“Y/N, you still back here?”

You looked up from your computer, only to hear the call of one of the night guards, Loqi. “What time is it?”

“Burning the midnight oil?” He chuckled.

“I didn’t realize it was that late.” You yawned softly.

Loqi huffed, before noticing the company at your desk, “Is it all right you got that thing out?”

You turned to your little friend, who was rather engrossed in the movie on your phone, “He gets pouty when I put him in his tank. I don’t think he can hear the sound, and I don’t think he can read the subtitles.” You explained. “Also don’t call him a thing.”

Loqi let out another huff, flipping his hair, “Whatever, put the little guy away, I’ll walk you out.”

You smiled softly, standing to stretch, “All right, Sweetie, let go.” You held out your hand, at first the feeling of his little tentacles on your hand made you squirm, but now it was actually like holding a handful of noodles. Not that, that was normal either. “I’ll be in tomorrow.”

Large blue eyes looked up to you, before small arms wrapped around two of your fingers, his tentacles following their lead, wrapping around your hand and wrist in a hug, as you moved him to his tank before your desk.  Placing your hand in the water, before lowering him to the little clamshell he would circle up in.

“Night Sweetie, I’ll see you tomorrow.”

*

“You’ve got a friend!” You gasped.

Typically when you came in, you had a couple of hours to yourself before your company woke up, but today you were greeted by not only a little navy Octomer, but a little blonde one.

“Hi, little one.” You cooed, sitting down to look at the two. The other one was a little smaller their your ‘Sweetie’, his tentacles more of sandy blonde, much like his hair, with adorable violet eyes. “Oh you have little freckles too, aren’t you a cutie.” You giggled, as he hid behind the navy one. “Are you shy, it’s fine, I won’t hurt you,” You smiled, noticing his large eyes looking to the small shark in the tank beside them.

You stood, moving over to the tank, pushing it out the way and replacing it with a tank of sea stars,  “And I promise to not let anything else hurt you.”

“Y/N?”

You turned, who was here this early in the morning, normally you’d get at least four hours before someone decided to come into your corner of the holding tank, only to find your manager. “Hey, Aranea.”

The woman spared a glance to the two little ones in the tank before you, “I see you met the other one. They found him on the beach yesterday.”

“Really, aren’t they cute?” You smiled, looking to the two staring at the white-haired woman.

Aranea curled her lip slightly, you could tell she was trying to hide her disgust, “If you say so. Hey, the big boss said that you never RSVP to the party two weeks from Friday. It’s all hands on deck.”

You groaned falling into your chair, never really one for partying much less with work associates, “Do I have to?”

“I mean if you want to deal with the council.” She replied as you slumped against your desk.

“Ugh, what’s the dress code?”

“Black tie.”

You gave another groan, only to feel your supervisor pet your head in sympathy, she hated these things possibly more than you, and then the sounds of her heels click away as she returned to where the people were. “I hate these things.” You moaned softly, your chin resting on your folded arms, as you looked to the tank before you, only to find the new blonde one alone.

“Wha?” You gasped, eyes darting around the tank. “Sweetie? Where’d you go?”

You nearly jumped from your skin as you felt something wet against your arm, only to find your little navy one standing there. His sparkling large blue eyes almost seeming to draw you in like a whirlpool. When it dawned on you, you didn’t know if he could live out of the water!

“Sweetie! Oh no!” You gasped, scooping him up, before putting him back into his tank. “Are you okay?” You asked as he wrapped around your hand, refusing to release, normally by now he’d have let go to climb into his bed of a shell. No matter how much you shook him, he refused to release your hand, and you were worried the suckers might start to bruise considering the grip he had on you.

“All right, all right let me get the bowl.” You called, as you reached into your drawer pulling out the bowl. “We have to keep you moist. I don’t know if you can live outside of water for very long.”

Scooping up some water, you placed the little navy one in the bowl, only to follow his eyes to his friend still within the tank. “Do you want to come out too, Sunshine?” You asked, your wet hand going back into the tank. You didn’t chase after him, preferring for him to come to you.  

You laughed, as those sand colored tentacles reached out for you, slowly inspecting you before one by one they wrapped around your hand allowing for you to pull him out. Placing him within the bowl beside the navy one, making a mental note to get a bigger bowl and to remember to bring in a towel.

*

“Whoever made office parties mandatory should be shot into space.” Aranea huffed.

You giggled softly, wearing your own dress of navy blue, it reminded you very much of your little friend downstairs, stuck in the tank. You made certain that you would stop by and provide him and the little sunshine with some of the grilled kippers at the buffet before you left.

All eyes turned to the stage within the room, as one Ardyn Inzuna, owner of the Aquarium took the stage. It wasn’t often that anyone saw him, but you could recognize the man right away.

“Welcome everyone.” He called in that same flamboyant manner, at every mandatory party, as all eyes within the room turned to him. “I know how hard it is that we are all to show up to work during our time off…”

You tuned out, he would draw on for the next 15 to 20 minutes, and most of the info never mattered to you. You swirl your cup of champagne, eyes darting to the large octopus in the tank beside you, swimming alongside the fish. Those lucky ones, not having to worry about their “Owner”  droning on and on about numbers and new tanks, and…

“What?” You turned.

Ardyn chuckled, “Yes, we’ve come across. Not one but two scientific anomalies, half man, half octopus.”

Your eyes widen as your heels clicked against the floor as you stepped forward to better view the large screen behind Ardyn, showing the two little ones in the tanks just below your feet.

“To better understand them, we have the honor of some of the worlds best marine biologist and animal studies,” Ardyn replied, his golden eyes twinkling in delight. “On the morrow, we will be hosting a Dissect party in a private event, that will be broadcast to the public at a later date. We are excited to be a part...”

Your little ‘Sweetie’ and ‘Sunshine’ flashed before your eyes, held out and pinned down on a metal table, while doctors cut into them. You felt sick! Only coming to as you heard a crash and your feet become damp it seemed that you had dropped your glass.

“You all right?”

You hardly heard Araena as you turned rushing to the bathroom. Locking the single stall behind you, as you held onto the sink to stable yourself. Your legs felt weak and you wanted to throw up. They were...they were going to kill them.

You knew that he was different, strange something new. But they were going to kill him! Did they not see that they were extremely smart creatures! Did they not know that Sweetie liked his fish without any veggies. Did they not know that he liked to curl up with all his tentacles around him like a blanket? Or that Sunshine had the cutest smile! Or that he really liked the camera function of your phone. Or helping the best he could, even if it made things wet?

Did they not know that they both deserved to live!

You didn’t even think it over twice. Looking at yourself in the eye through the mirror, you knew this plan would get you fired, but you refused let those monsters to hurt them. Taking five minutes to think up a plan, as you couldn’t really escape with a tank, you calmed yourself, took a deep breath and moved back out to the party.

It was easy getting through the crowd, as you needed to get to the employee break room. Shuffling through, you begun tearing apart cabinets, digging through for tupperware that you were certain came with the building. Finding a jar with a lid, one that would hopefully be big enough to fit them both, you turned going back out to get through the party and get your boys.

Only to be halted at the man that delivered your bad news as you quickly put the jar behind you.

“Oh hello, Y/N is that correct?”

It always did put you off that he could recall your name, “Yes, sir.”

“Are you feeling alright? Highwind mentioned that you came over ill.”

You nodded, “Yes, sir. Just got a little overheated, all the excitement.” You smiled, trying to inch beyond him. “Was there anything you needed help with?”

Ardyn smiled, stepping rather close, “No. Was there anything I can assist you with?”

You blinked suddenly feeling absolutely terrified, “No..no thank you, sir.”

The smile that appeared mostly teeth moved slightly closer, before he backed up, holding out a hand, “Well keep up the good work, since you’ve been bought on board things have been a lot easier.”

You reached out taking the hand, it was so cold, “Thank you, sir.”

With that, you quickly ran back out to the crowd of co-workers. You may have looked strange holding a jar, but at least you were away from him. He always reminded you of a shark, but with the sharp teeth sharks actually swimming around you, you felt a lot less threatened than being in that man’s company.

You floated around the floor for a bit, the music a mixture of jazz and polka. Strange but then again so was Ardyn, making certain that no one saw you, you ducked out into the hall, and quickly made your way to your “office”.

“Sweetie! Sunshine!” You called, tapping on the glass with your nail. You knew they hated that, but your little navy one was such a hard sleeper. “Sweetie! Sunshine! Please wake up.”

You unscrewed the lid of the jar when you saw little blonde tentacles climb out the clam a piece of seaweed held in his hand. Was he using it as a blanket? How adorable.

“Focus.” You growled at yourself, as you put the jar within the water. “Sunshine, please get Sweetie, we have to go.” You called, as you begun to dig through your desk, finding anything you worried about leaving when you got sent to jail for theft.  Only the bowl that they sat in to watch t.v. on your phone.

Shoving the bowl into your purse, you turned back, finding the both of them within the jar. Standing on tippy-toe you grabbed the jar, before putting the lid on.

“This will be rough.” You called wrapping the jar within your sweater and shoving it in your purse.

“Don’t be suspicious, don’t be suspicious.” You whispered softly to yourself as you moved through the halls. You’d have to go out the main entrance, as all the others were locked for the night. Cursing to yourself, as you saw a guard on duty, only to smile as you noticed that it was Loqi.

“Hey, Y/N. You ducking out early?”

“Yeah, gotta get up bright and early tomorrow.” You smiled, turning your body to hide your bag.

“All right, let me just check your purse.” He called, holding out his hand.

You must have taken a little too long, as he rose an eyebrow but you still held it out. Waiting nervously, as you watched him take out your sweater and your little bowl.  Wide eyes watching as he unraveled your sweater from the jar. He would see them! He would see them, and you’d be reported. You glanced around trying to find something to hit him over the head with. If you were already going to jail might as well put up a fight!

Shame you really liked Loqi.

“You’re on one of those juice cleanse?” He asked, holding up the jar full of water.

You blinked, it was empty, “Uh, I brought some soup. It’s safer in the jar than tupperware you know.”

Loqi nodded, wrapping it back up for you tightly, “Be safe getting home.” He called, handing you your purse. “Have a good weekend.”

“Thanks, see you later.” You smiled, putting your purse on your shoulder, walking out the door.  Once the automatic doors closed behind you, you broke into a sprint around the corner, opening your purse as you pulled out the jar. “Sweetie? Sunshine?”

Slowly they came into view, almost as if a screen was being pulled over your eyes. You smiled, pulling the jar to your chest, as you giggled, tears in your eyes, “I was worried, you guys. Come on. Tomorrow I’ll take you to the beach so you can be released.”

You stood, moving to make your way home the jar held tight to your chest.

The beach by work was too close, and you were worried that the might come back to shore to look for you. You could release them by your apartment, and maybe they might come to visit you every so often. If you didn’t have to skip town.

You more than likely would have to skip town.

Once home, you filled up your bathtub, unscrewed the jar, and allowed them to fall into the tub. Laughing as they finally had enough room to rush around, seeming to be playing a game of tag, only for your ‘Sweetie’ to pop his head out the water, holding up his hands to you.

“Tomorrow you’ll be able to do this back in the ocean Sweetie.” You cooed, holding out your hand as he quickly wrapped around it holding it tightly nuzzling into your palm. “You too Sunshine.” You giggled holding out your other hand, as he wrapped around it both of them giving you a hug.

You must have dozed off sitting on the bathroom floor in your evening dress, leaning over the tub, watching them play. Since that was where you woke up, only to find a towel under your head and your robe placed over your shoulders like a blanket.

Yawning you stood up, only to find the two of them missing, and little water puddles leading out the room. You quickly stumbled to the door, on fast asleep legs, looking around finding the water trail headed towards your living room. Moving around the corner only to stop, as you noticed four very tall figures in your living room, silhouetted by the light from outside.

You moved to go back into your room, only realize you left your phone in your purse on the couch! The couch these four tall men were talking before.  Besides you couldn’t call the police, you just stole from your job!

“What do we have here?” A deep voice called.

You gasped, feeling something wrap around your ankle, before being drawn into the living room, holding you upside down in the middle of the circle of men. You did the only thing you could think of, you screamed.

“Gladio, cut it out, you’re scaring her!”

You were dropped, rather hard, but you scrambled to your feet, grabbing the nearest item, a three wick candle. “Who are you! Get out of my house! I’ll scream!”

“Please….”

You held true to your word as something black moved towards you, letting out a scream, only to have it stopped, by something over your mouth as you dropped the candle. You glanced down with wide eyes, only to find a large tentacle there, another muffled scream escaping you.

“Y/N please.”

You turned from the black tentacle to the being coming closer, he looked familiar, plus he knew your name. Glancing back to the black tentacle, you noticed that it was actually a picture of the night sky, navy blue, with little specks of white. Following the tentacle, up the body, you were greeted to the top half of a young man. A very handsome young man, that looked like, “Mm-tee?”

A smile grew on his face as he released your mouth, “Are you okay? Gladio can be a jerk.”

You blinked in confusion, before reaching over turning on the lamp beside you only to gasp.  The two small little ones you had grown to care for were suddenly huge, and much much more handsome. You looked at the other two in your apartment you had never seen before.

One a handsome man, tall and lean, standing on beautiful violet tentacles that appeared to have a leopard pattern to them, his shoulders covered by a purple cloak that held seashells. That same violet as his tentacles moved up his arms and back, to form a pattern around his eyes like glasses. Beautiful green eyes piercing into you.

While the other was much big, full of muscle and just as handsome. His tentacles a dark grey, with a lovely design of what look to be scales, maybe feathers. A dark pattern the same kind on his arms, and bare chest. His dark sunset eyes, glaring heavily at you.

“Sweetie?” You called, holding out your hand, finding a hand within it, larger and sharper but still one of comfort. Reaching up to stroke the side of his cheek with the back of your knuckles, as you always did when he was smaller getting the same fluttering eyes as if he were to fall asleep. “Sweetie, you’re so much bigger, and you can speak.” You giggled.

You figured if you were dreaming you might as well go along with it. Only to turn as you felt something slide around your arm, finding a golden freckled tentacle there, reaching for your hand that was holding Sweetie’s.

“Sunshine.” You cooed, release your Sweetie, to stroke his face too, smiling at that huge smile you got as he nuzzled into you, only to turn to the larger men? Octopi? in your living room. “Are these your friends?”

The larger one moved forward, towering over you as you shrink back, “Anything we can help you with human?”

“Gladio lay off.” ‘Sweetie’ huffed, moving before you.

“Noctis, she was holding you, prisoner.” The purple one stated.

“Noctis?” You called, as Sweetie turned to you with a smile. “Is that your name?”

“Yeah.”

You smiled, “That so beautiful.”

The blonde held your hand tighter, “I’m Prompto, but you can keep calling me Sunshine if you want.”

“Oh but Prompto is a pretty name too.”  You cooed, only to gasp as the purple one moved forward, he was so silent.

“Are you aware of who it is that you hold prisoner, human?”

“Prisoner?” You squeaked out. “No, I was going to take them to the beach tomorrow. I promise.”

“Noctis has been missing for weeks, and we find him here, were you the one that kidnapped him?”

“Knock it off Ignis.” Noctis huffed, his tentacles wrapping around you, it felt some much different than when he was small and it was on your hand. This time you felt the wet cold sensation all over your body. “She’s been the one taking care of us.”

“Taking care of you?” Those green eyes shifted back to you. “Is this true human?”

You swallowed too afraid to speak.

“Y/N.”

“What was that?” Ignis called, as you both looked to Noctis.

“Her name is Y/N.”

Ignis nodded, “Pardon me, Y/N, is that correct?”

You nodded back, “I...I didn’t once think about taking them out of their tank at work, I thought they were safe but after tonight I had to do something.” You muttered.

“What happened?” Prompto asked sliding his hand in your own again.

You shook your head, tears in your eyes, “They, they were going to dissect you, I couldn’t let that happen. I don’t care what happened to me. I knew I had to do something to save you.”

Four pairs of eyes glanced around the room, taking in this sudden news.

“What’s going to happen to you?” Noctis asked, his tentacles wrapped tighter around you.

“I’ll more than likely go to jail. I did steal you.” You giggled, drying your eyes.

“Come with us.”

“What?” You called, only to gasp as you heard a loud pounding on your door.

“Open up.”

“No!” You gasped, stepping from Noctis’s embrace, glancing to the door then the men, “You have to go, I don’t know how you got in here, use that to get out. I’ll stall them.” You felt something snag your arm, pulling you back, only to find a navy and blonde tentacle on your arms.

“Not without you,” Noctis replied.

“Noctis, Prompto you have to go.” You called, pulling their tentacles from your arms, but each time it was replaced with another, frustrated tears in your eyes as your desperate pleas were ignored.

Between the tugging, your crying, and the pounding at your door, your heart in your ears, you could feel yourself becoming unraveled. “Please Sweetie, Sunshine go.”

Noctis huffed turning to the large one, “Gladio.”

“You’re the boss.” He stated.

You felt even stronger tentacles wrap around you, lifting you off your feet. Watching Ignis pour something on your hardwood floors and then a blue glow.

WET!

You were wet! You were soaking wet, and you couldn’t breathe! You were underwater and starting to panic, you weren’t that strong of a swimmer, and the moonlight looked like a little spot, you couldn’t make it! You were going to drown!

You let out a muffled shriek, as you felt something against your lips, only to find that it was Noctis, pressing his lips to your own, and something, warm travel from your lips down to the tips of your toes then back up.

“Breathe”

You took a breath, you were breathing underwater, “How?”

“Magic, come on.” He called, pulling you from the large one’s tentacles to his arms, cradling you close as he began to swim in a direction.

You were lucky that he was holding you, as anything outside of an arm's length from you was pitch black and rather frightening. You tried to pay attention to anything else aside from the scary darkness of the sea at night.

“Oh, oh, excuse me. What’s your name?” You called, to the large one from Noctis’s arms.

Those beautiful sunset eyes blinked in confusion, “Gladiolus.”

“Gladiolus, your markings are amazing, are they like a tattoo?” You smiled, cradled in Noctis arms. “I don’t know a lot about Octo-mers but you’re all so wonderful.”

As you allowed Noctis to move you through the water, you took in the others around you, only to find that one of Prompto and Noctis tentacles were wrapped around one another. Glancing to Gladiolus and Ignis as well, finding their own linked.

“Is that so you don’t get lost?” You asked.

“Hm?” Noctis asked, looking down to you in his arms.

“Do you hold each other tentacles to not get lost?” You repeated.

“Nope, we just do it because we like each other.” Gladiolus chuckled.

“Oh, are you married?” You cooed, hands to your chest.

“Married?”

“Um, it’s what you do when you’re in love and want to spend life with them?” You tried to explain.

“So are you and Noct married?” Prompto asked.

You blinked, “No.”

“So can we get married?” Prompto beamed.

You giggled, “Sunshine, marriage doesn’t work like that.”

“Then how does it work?” Ignis inquired.

“Well you normally give them a ring, and then before everyone, you profess your love for them, and you’re together for life.”

“So a mate?” Ignis stated.

You shrugged, “I guess.”

“Then to answer your questions, yes.”

As they moved you through the water, you found that it wasn’t as much a nightmare as you believed. The sea was calming and their idle chatter was rather nice to hear, you had started to drift off when suddenly you all were stopped. You glanced forward, watching as Ignis held his hand against something, pushing hard, there was a slight shimmer.

“Y/N, wrap your arms around me,” Noctis replied, as you wrapped your arms around his neck. “I’m sorry.”

You began to ask what, but suddenly you were being pulled, your ears popped and your stomach dropped but you clung tightly to the OctoMer, feeling one of his tentacles wrapped tighter around you. It felt like you were being tossed around for hours, but in reality, it was only seconds. You peeked open an eye that you weren’t certain of when you closed, only to shut them as a wave of nausea washed over you and a blinding light. You turned burying your face within Noctis’s neck, the pattern there cool on your flushed skin, even underwater you felt as if you were burning up.

“That barrier is to normally keep humans out,” Ignis explained. “Your sickness should be fine in a few hours.”

“Where?” You groaned, not daring to look anywhere, out of fear of food coming up. You felt a comforting hand, on your back, hearing Prompto cooing softly to you.

“Insomnia,” Noctis replied.

You wanted to gasp, the fabled city? There was no way.

“We should get you home Noct, your Dad’s going to want to know where you’ve been,” Gladiolus stated, as you all begun to move again.

As you hung tightly to Noctis, a golden tentacle rose, to your hand on the back of the navy Octomer’s neck where your hand rested. You smiled taking the tentacle, peeking your eyes open, attempting to view the city, but you felt so dizzy. You wondered if The Bends also happened in reverse.

You weren't certain if you had fallen asleep or simply fell into a trance, because you suddenly felt Prompto remove his tentacle from your hand, with a soft whine from you at losing one of your anchors to not passing out.

“Are you still not feeling well?” Ignis inquired, as you nodded your head in Noctis’s neck. “Here, Noct, I’ll take her to the infirmary, we’ll meet you later.”

You felt yourself being moved from Noctis’s arms of Ignis, you turned holding out your hand, eyes still closed. Only to smile as the back of your hand brushed against his cheek. “Sunshine?” You called as a tentacle wrapped around your arm before you felt the freckled cheek against your hand.

“Iggy will take care of you.” Prompto smiled.

You turned towards the shoulder of the Octomer holding you, “Thank you Ignis.”

With that you allowed Ignis to take you away. Your head resting against his shoulder.

“I’m sorry.” You whispered softly, almost uncertain that you had said anything at all.

“Whatever for?”

You whined weakly, your head was killing you, “If I had known that they had friends waiting. I wouldn’t have been so selfish and would have thought to bring them home sooner.”

Ignis gave a soft hum, “We can not change the past, but I will thank you for taking care of them while they were on land.” He glanced down, you had gotten your color back, but he still understood that your head must have been killing you. “It’s been some time since we’ve had a human here almost 800 years. I will see if we can delay you meeting the King until morning.”

“All right.” You whispered, before gasping. “King?”

*

The next morning you found yourself being flitted over by mermaids left and right. Flipping up your dress to look at your legs, and running fingers through your frizz ocean hair, and placing little seashells all over you all while giggling and asking rapid-fire questions.

After the third skirt flip, you couldn’t blame them, you were the fish out of water here. So you allowed them to touch at your legs and answer any questions they had about them or the land above.

Gladiolus had come to gather you, along with Prompto to meet the King, when you were told that you were actually within his Citadel. Having stayed the evening, and were treated so kindly

“Oh, oh am I fine enough to meet the King?” You asked, looking at your soaking wet dress, now littered with seashells and a netting type of skirt to make your dress appear longer. A seastar in your hair, attempting to keep it styled, and not floating away as it was obviously tempted to do. “I feel that I should be better dressed to meet him.”

“You’ll be fine, you look pretty.” Prompto smiled, holding your hand, pulling you through the water.

You allowed them to pull you through the water, up into a grand throne room, that was dry. You suddenly felt how heavy your dress was now soaking wet, along with your hair, only to gasp as you felt one of Gladiolus’s large hands on your shoulder, and then the feeling of wet leave you leaving you rather dry.

You giggled softly, “Thanks.”

“Y/N?”

You turned forward seeing an older man, with the same navy blue tentacles as Noctis, only a lighter shade possibly from age. That’s when you noticed that Noctis was standing, can you call it standing when they’re perched on their tentacles, beside him and Ignis beside him.

“So you are Y/N,” The elder man called, “I want to thank you for saving my son and Prompto.”

You gasped eyes darting to Noctis, “Your son?”

The elder man chuckled, “Yes, my Son Prince Noctis.”

You sputtered softly, before shrieking out, “Sweetie you’re a Prince?!.” This got you a chuckle from Prompto and Gladiolus at your sides, a raised eyebrow from Ignis and a smile from Noctis and the King. “Oh my goodness, I am so sorry Your Highness, if I have known that he had family waiting I would have thought to bring him back sooner. I am so sor…”

The King chuckled louder, something that felt kind, “Please no need to worry, you were not aware. It is not often that we are graced with a human. My son has explained that you risked quite a bit to bring them home.”

You smiled softly, looking to Noctis and Prompto, “I would gladly do it all again.”

“Please come forward.”

You moved from between the two at your sides, moving towards the throne, only to gasp as he unwrapped a tentacle holding a black pearl necklace. “Your Highness?”

“As a thank you for returning my son safely, this will allow you access to and from the city without the nasty after effects.” He replied with a wink placing the pearl in your hands. “Are you feeling better now?”

“ Oh yes very much.” You smiled bright, bowing, “Thank you, Your Highness!” Only to turn towards Noctis has he held out his hand, you reached out taking it.

“Well I do not wish to keep you, Ignis had stated you weren’t able to view the city last night, Please go enjoy.”

“Thank you, Your Highness.” You smiled, as Noctis moved forward, Ignis after him,  moving you towards the others.

As they moved you back underwater, you couldn’t help but smile at the pearl within your hand, only to find Noctis before you.

“I can put it on if you’d like.”

You smiled handing him the pearl, before turning around. Smiling as he placed the pearl around your neck, it hung just right, right above your collarbone. You turned back to the other before giggling, “You never said you were a Prince, anything else I need to know?”

Noctis flushed slightly.

“Y/N did you want to go out?” Prompto asked taking your hand.

“Is that okay, if you guys don’t have to do anything else more important.”

“We’re in charge of watching you,” Gladiolus stated.

You smiled, “Whatever is easiest for you, I’ll enjoy. Oh, Gladiolus, what did you do back there, when you made me dry?”

“Anyone here can do it, we need moisture to stay alive on land.” He explained. “So we can draw moisture from surrounding sources if need be.”

“There’s so much, I want to know. You all are amazing!”

“Stick around and we can show you,” Gladiolus replied, as he motioned toward the guards to open the door.

You nodded softly, “I’ll have to hold you to that. Oh, and Ignis, thank you for taking care of me last night. I was unable to thank you last night.”

Ignis gave a soft nod in your direction as the large doors were opened all the way.

“If that’s...Oh my!” You gasped as the doors opened.

You knew you were underwater, very far underwater! But it was so bright and beautiful and warm! All of the building appeared to be made of coral and a smooth volcanic rock of dark blacks and greys. It hardly looked any different than a city above the waves, only more magical.

You honestly couldn’t wait to be shown around.

*

You were exhausted, that more than likely didn’t cover it. You were tired but in the best way possible! You honestly couldn’t remember the last time you felt this alive and happy.

Currently, you were seated on a balcony, well more on Prompto and Noctis’s tentacles as they had wrapped around you in a loose embrace, looking to a cloud of jellyfish overhead.

“This place is so beautiful.” You smiled, put that old shabby aquarium to shame.

Noctis leaned forward his head resting against your shoulder as Prompto mimicked him.

“You can stay, with us,” Noctis replied, only to draw back, as he felt you flinch.

“I...I don’t know if I can.” You whispered softly, fidgeting with your fingers.  “I am a human, I don't even know how long I can stay here even with your magic.”

“I bet King Regis can work something out,” Prompto stated.

You shook your head, “I would like to stay, but I have an entire life on land. Granted it might be in jail.”

“So why not stay?” Noctis asked.

You shook your head again, you didn’t know how to explain it, that you were scared. So you did the only thing you could think to do.

You sat in silence.

*

“The king has given you citizenship, should you ever need someone to bring you back, come here and use this,” Ignis explained handing you a veil of water.

“Thank you, Ignis.” You smiled softly, standing on the beach just outside your apartment building in the middle of the night. You looked to the men before you, only to find that one was gone.

“Don’t take long to visit.” Prompto whimpered.

You nodded weakly, “ Oh Sunshine don’t cry.” You called moving out into the water, hugging him tightly.

“Do you really have to go?”

You squeezed him tighter, only stepping away when you felt him start to wrap around you, you knew that if you had allowed for him to get you tangled up, you would allow for him to drag you back, “I promise to come visit soon. I’ve got to do some damage control here and the first moment of free time I have, I’ll be there.”

Prompto went to reach out for you again, only to have Gladiolus to grab his arm.

“You should get going.”

You nodded softly, your hand going to your new necklace, as you watched the men move further back into the inky black water. You quickly rushed forward, “Can you, can you tell Swe...Noctis that I’m sorry.”

The silence you got before they disappear under the depths made your heart hurt.

As you returned home, you were stopped by security. It also turned out that the knocking at your door that night was security from your building getting the wrong apartment, as they were after someone smoking in the apartment on the floor above you. You got a nice little gift card for the disturbance that night.

When you managed to get the nerve to get into work on Tuesday, as of Monday you chickened out and call out sick, you weren’t surprised to be the only one within the building as typical at 6 in the morning. Most of your morning was spent staring at the empty tank before you. You remembering your little sweet Noctis curled up, only to awaken just before lunch. Enough time to point out what he wanted on the menu and then he’d wait for you to come enjoy your lunch dates. Even when Prompto showed up, you found that you would often spend time speaking with them and not getting your work done. The little sunshine seemed to really be interested in more what you were doing than food most of the time.

You found yourself staring at the empty tank when a hand touched your shoulder. You let out a scream before turning to the amused face of your supervisor.

“Aranea, geez you scared the hell out of me.” You gasped, as she tried stifling a chuckle.

“Sorry, I’ve got some questions to ask you.”

You removed your headphone, “Yeah what’s up?”

“Loqi said you left a little after the party, did you see anyone come in here?”

You shook your head, “No, I ducked out about 10. Why what’s up?”

The woman sighed, “Seems your little boyfriends were kidnapped.”

You stared, they didn’t know it was you, “What?”

“Yeah, we reviewed the tapes, but the systems so old back here. With all the tank glowing we got nothing but a huge blur. We’re getting a new key system installed and moving you upstairs for your safety.”

You swallowed, “When did they go missing?”

“We didn’t know until Saturday morning when they came to get them.” She explained. “Whelp Ardyn’s pissed but what else is new. You be careful leaving after dark, I don’t want anything to happen to you.”

“I will.” You called, as she left your area.

They didn’t know, none of them knew anything about you taking them. None of them were aware that you were the reason they had gone missing. You were off the hook.

“Oh man.” You gasped, holding your heart.

The hours at your work slowly started to blend to days and those days into weeks. It wasn’t that you had forgotten your promise to go back and visit, you just weren’t certain if you could. Noctis didn’t even come to tell you goodbye.

So when you came home early that Friday, you couldn’t really say that the curse that left your mouth upon entry to your house was very ladylike. Sitting in one of your large salad bowls on your coffee table was Ignis and Gladiolus. At least tinier versions of Ignis and Gladiolus, much like Prompto and Noctis it appeared they had a smaller size.

“Oh my...How did you get in here?” You gasped moving before the table, sitting on your knees to look them in the eye. Seeing they had filled the bowl with water and seemed to be doing rather well all things considered. “How are you?”

Ignis reached out a tentacle motioning towards the pearl around your neck.

“Oh, are you here because you want this back?” You asked, reaching up to remove it when you felt Gladiolus tentacle against your hand stopping you. “Is this because I haven’t been back?”

Stern green eyes glared at you, as he crossed tiny arms over his chest with a tiny huff.

“I...I want to come back, but I hurt Noctis. I didn’t think I was welcomed.”

Ignis let out a scoff, wrapping a tentacle around your arm before he began to glow.

“Wait, wait, let me change!” You called, pulling back, you must have overestimated your strength, as well as thrown Ignis for a loop when you pulled, as he went tumbling out the bowl with wide eyes as he latched to your wrist. 

“Oh, oh I’m sorry, I’m sorry, Darling.” You called, cradling Ignis stroking his cheek like you use to do with Noctis and Prompto, unaware to his adorable blush. “I'm used to the two of you being stronger.” You replied carefully placing him back in the bowl. “Let me change real quick and we can go.”

You had changed within a nice black swimsuit you had purchased a little bit ago but never had the chance to wear it. Moving back into the living room, as you held out your hands for the two. They were a lot heavier than Noctis and Prompto that was for use, but you held them close as you felt that familiar magic wash over you and you became wet.

Almost immediately, you felt lips against your own, and that magic swirl through you allowing you to breathe underwater. Smiling as Ignis moved back. “Thanks.”

“Shall we get going?” Ignis replied.

You blinked, noticing the pink blush on his cheeks. Only to gasp as Gladiolus swam around you, pulling you into his arms as you wrapped your arms around his neck. Allowing for him to carry you to the Kingdom.

You had to admit that you really did enjoy the power of the pearl around your neck, as getting through the barrier this time was a lot smoother and you didn’t have to deal with nausea.

“Gladiolus I can swim now.” You offered, worried that you were taking advantage of his kindness.

“You’re fine.” He replied holding you in the crook of his arm.

As you were moved through the city you had to admit that this place still took your breath away it was so beautiful. You weren’t certain if it was due to the fact that it seemed so magical that if you blinked you’d think it was a dream.

Once inside, Gladiolus finally set you down, only for Ignis to take your hand within his own and move you through a part of the castle that you recall being where Noctis’s room was. Coming upon a door he knocked a few times before pushing open the door.

The room was rather beautifully decorated if a little junky, but then again you were sometimes finding yourself cleaning out his tank when it got a little junky of the snacks you would leave for him for over the weekends when you couldn’t make certain he was eating. In the center of the room, sat a very large, very beautiful bed, with navy and sunshine tentacles, fast asleep.

“He’s been like this since you left,” Ignis explained, releasing your hand, as Gladiolus shut the door behind you.

“Granted the guy is always sleeping, he’s been super mopey, Prompto too.”

You pulled your hands to your chest, letting out a soft coo as you floated forward, “Oh Sweetie, Sunshine.” You turned looking to Ignis and Gladiolus making certain that it was okay, only to get an encouraging look.

Moving over to Prompto first knowing he’d be easier to wake up, you sat down on the bed, reaching out as you stroked his cheek, “Sunshine, Prompto?”

Violet eyes fluttered away, as he uncurled himself from Noctis, sitting up as he gave a stretch as he yawned. “That sounded like Y/N.” He muttered, rubbing his eye, as his tentacles waved about, getting used to moving and untangling from Noctis.  Only for his eyes to turn to you, as he blinked twice before letting out a sound of joy.

“Hi, Sun, Epp!” You let out a shriek, as all arms and tentacles wrapped around you pulling you forward, as he nuzzled you.

“You’re here! You’re here!” He cheered, as you giggled. “Did you just get here? How did you get here? Are you going to stay?”

You smiled, hugging him tightly, but it was a lot easier to avoid crushing him almost like he was doing you at the moment. “I’m sorry, I came back so late.”

Prompto gave you that bright smile, “Noct’s going to be so happy. We’ve been bored without you.”

You turned toward the still sleeping Prince on the bed, “Noctis.” You felt Prompto release you as you reached out, softly running your knuckles over his cheek. “Sweetie, Swet...Noctis.” You called, watching his eyelids flutter softly, his tentacles starting to stir. He was always so hard to wake up, so you moved forward, pulling his head to your lap, as you stroked his cheeks. “Noctis, wake up please.”

He seemed to be really fighting it at first, but slowly those blue eyes opened to you. Only to close as he nuzzled into your hand.

“Give me five more minutes Ignis.”

Ignis chuckled, “You’ll find that this is not me.”

Those blue eyes opened again, only to find you above him, “Y/N?” He called his tentacles moving up at the same time he reached for your face. “Y/N, you’re here.”

“Noctis.” You cried, your tears blending in with the water. “Can you forgive me for being so late?”

You quickly found yourself being pulled into another embrace, as Noctis buried his head into your neck. Only to smile as you were engulfed by Prompto again. You weren’t certain of how long you were settled within that embrace, but you had to admit that forever was not long enough.

“Y/N is there a length of time of how long you will be joining us?” Ignis asked, approaching you all on the bed, with Gladiolus now that the emotions were out the way.

“I can stay until Sunday evening. I have work on Monday.” You explained, still being clung rather tightly by Noctis and Prompto.

“Work, I thought you were fired,” Prompto replied.

“No, I guess they didn’t realize I was the one who snuck you out. It wouldn’t have worked if you guys didn’t do that neat disappearing trick. Granted I was very, very tempted to hit him over the head with something if he found you guys.” You giggled.

“Will you come back this time?” Noctis asked, his head within your lap, as you stroked his hair.

You flushed softly, reaching up a hand to stroke at Prompto’s head as well resting on your shoulder, “I figured you were upset at me, I didn’t mean to leave for so long, but I can come on weekends now if you’d like me to.” You offered. “I can come Friday after work and stay all weekend. Is that all right?”

Noctis pouted softly, “I saw you more when I was on land.”

You giggled, “But this way I can actually talk with you.”

“Don’t be spoiled Noct. Not often a lady will even put up with you.” Gladiolus chuckled.

Noctis wrapped his tentacles around your leg, holding you close, “But Y/N loves me.”

You smiled running your fingers through his hair before turning to Ignis, “I’ve wanted to ask, why are you within smaller form when on land?”

“It’s easier on our bodies, being within our original forms it can be draining. Typically on dry land, we can last possibly 3 hours or so. Being within smaller forms, allow for us to stay moist longer.”

“But you lose your ability to speak?” You inquired.

“Yes, it's more difficult in that form.”

“Amazing.” You beamed a hand running over one of Prompto’s freckles tentacles. “You all are so amazing!”

When you were dropped off this time on the beach late Sunday evening in a secluded grotto you had to admit you couldn’t remember the last time you were this relaxed.

“I’ll normally get home about 3, I’ll leave the bathtub full for you, or would you prefer the living room? I can leave the t.v on.” You offered, wadding the water.

“Whichever is easiest for you,” Ignis replied. “I hope you don’t mind that Gladiolus and myself will be picking you up.”

“Of course not.” You beamed, as you walked over to Noctis and Prompto. “You two be good, and don’t cause Ignis and Gladiolus too much troubles.”

“No promises,” Noctis replied.

You giggled shaking your head, before leaving forward pressing a kiss to his forehead and then Prompto. “I’ll see you Friday.”

You watched as they sputtered, then as Gladiolus wrapped a tentacle around the both of them, pulling them after himself as he dove in the water quickly followed by that flash of magic that meant they were going home. Now you had to figure a way to get out of this grotto.

You had to admit you were rather enjoying yourself now. You made it through boring weekdays only to have weekends full of fun waiting for you. There were even a handful of times that you would have someone take you home long enough to either call out early Friday morning or early Monday just to return back to the sea.

It easily became a second home, and you actually started wondering if you should take them up on the offer to stay forever.

You glanced toward the boring tank before you with the colorful fish, you never thought that you would think an aquarium boring, but to actually be able to touch and have the fish swim beside you was a lot more beautiful than watching them swim in circles all day more than likely bored out of their minds.

As a violet fish fluttered by you couldn’t help but giggle, when you first slipped and called Ignis Darling in his large form. You were extremely embarrassed and tried to back peddle but he only chuckled telling you that he rather enjoyed it, and was starting to feel left out because you constantly referred to Prompto and Noctis as Sunshine and Sweetie.

As another school of fish rushed by you looked to the scar on one of them, you nicknamed him Gladi Jr, not that you would ever tell your Gladdy Baby under the sea. You smile recalling as you held one of his tentacles as he bought you to Insomnia, stroking at the scar there, this lead to you asking all night how he got each of the larger ones, running a careful hand over them as he told you the stories.

A smile blossomed over your face, as you slowly thought about it, you really did care for all of them and honestly, the days without them were boring. You pulled up a word file, as you begun to search for the correct format and wording. You’d put in your two-week notice after you got back from your four day weekend.

After all how many girls got to say that they got to actually become a mermaid.

As you came home, you almost couldn’t contain your excitement, you were going to be meeting an old friend of Noctis this weekend, from the neighboring Kingdom of Tarabene. Stepping into your apartment, you smiled at the blonde head peeking out of the bowl, watching t.v.

“Hi, Sunshine.” You cooed, stopping long enough to press a kiss to his forehead, watching his little tentacles curl up to his face embarrassed as they always did as he turned a bright red. “I’ll be ready in just a minute.”

You raced to your bedroom, putting on the attire that the seamstress underwater made you for the visit of the visiting royalty. It looked very similar to a swimsuit but with a netted dress overlay. You may have got stuck in the off the shoulder top for a moment, but that didn’t stop you from racing back into the living room. Only to stop and grab a few jars, shoving them into a bag.

“Ready, Sunshine!” You called, moving back into the living room. Holding out your hand as Prompto climbed into it, you pulled him to your chest, as you felt the familiar pull of magic and then water rush around you. Purring as you felt Prompto’s lips against your own, pushing the magic into your lungs.

“Everyone’s waiting.” He smiled, pulling you into his arms. “What’s in the bag?”

“I brought some of those seaweeds that Iggy like, and Noct’s grilled fish. He’s been whining about it.” You smiled, as he moved you to Insomnia. “Plus your chips and Gladdy some gladiolus.”

“Huh?”

You giggled, “Remember how I said, he and Iris were named after land flowers. I found some fake ones so that he can keep them in his room.”

Prompto smiled, nuzzling into your shoulder, wrapping two of his tentacles around you, as he pushes through the barrier. “You’re too nice.”

“Only for you.” You smiled, waving to someone swimming by. Seems a lot of people knew of the human that hung out with the Prince and his mates. “Has Noctis friend arrived yet?”

“No Lunafreya and Ravus are supposed to show up later tomorrow,” Prompto explained, moving beyond the guards that were expecting the two of you.

“Oh good, I wanted to ask if someone could help with my hair, the current just loves sweeping it away.” You giggled, trying to smooth down your hair, only for it to float back up. “I don’t want to embarrass you all tomorrow.”

“You could never.”

You turned smiling at the three approaching you, “Hi everyone.” You cooed, as Prompto released you, allowing for you to float over, pressing a welcoming kiss to each of their foreheads.

You recalled how they found it strange at first, you figured that with each of them having to kiss you in order for you to breathe underwater a kiss to their cheeks or foreheads wasn’t too strange. When you noticed they never worried about kisses on the cheeks or forehead, it was mostly when you were going for their mouth that they flinched away, you found yourself very confused.

“Are you worried I’ll eat you?” You giggled playfully one visit. Only for them to explain, that it was one thing to press their lips against your own in order for the spell for you to be underwater, it was strange that you seemed to go towards their poison sac located in their mouth on your own.

After explaining it was how humans showed affection, it was easily agreed that you had free kisses to every other part, but to warn them if you were going for their mouth. The kisses started off friendly, but you had started to wonder just when exactly all of these motions started to develop an undertone of romance.

“What’s in the bag?” Gladiolus asked.

You giggled, playfully swatting the dark grey tentacle reaching for the bag, before pulling it to your mouth to press a kiss against one of the scars, “That’s for me to know. Noctis, Sweetie is your Dad around I wanted to talk to him about something.”

Those blue eyes widen slightly, “About what?”

“I don’t want to get any hopes up before I talk to him, but I promise to let you all know by the end of the weekend.” You smiled, as you begun swimming towards “your room”. You only called it that, because aside from the throne room, it was the only room in the entire citadel that was dry and King Regis had it made for you specifically for your visits.

As you stepped beyond the bubble, you smiled feeling Ignis take your hand as you become dry.

“So what did you bring?” Gladiolus asked, moving to your bed, pulling you to his lap with his tentacles, wrapping his arms around your waist once you were seated.

You began to pull out the treats you brought along with you, all the while realizing that this was exactly where you wanted to be. This was home, something of a comfort. Life on land wasn’t bad, but under the sea with them, was perfection.

Plain and simple.

*

You were nervous, you were so nervous. You honestly didn’t believe that you were supposed to be standing, floating beside Noctis and the others. You went to move but found a tentacle wrapped around your ankle dragging you back between Noctis and Ignis.

You swallowed nervously, only to feel a tentacle slide into your hand. Judging by the smooth feeling and the strength of the hold, you knew it to be the freckled one of Prompto, moving your hands behind your back you gently squeezed it, thanking him for the comfort as the doors open.

You heard Gladiolus chuckle as you gasped at the duo moving into the room. A young man with almost pearl like tentacles, a stern gaze of dual purple and blue eyes. A cape over his shoulders. While a woman beside him, wearing a white top and what appeared to be a jellyfish bottom, that almost appeared to be a beautiful ball gown.

You didn’t mean to stare, it was a horrible habit you got into from working at the aquarium. But did mer-people not understand that they were absolutely beautiful and your heart could not take it! You weren’t even certain has to how long you were staring only to feel Noctis tug you forward.

“Y/N, this is Lunafreya,” Noctis replied.

“Hello Y/N.” Lunafreya smiled, holding out her hands.

You reached out without even noticing what you were doing taking the others hands, “Hello Lunafreya.” You replied, she was even pretty up close, “You are absolutely beautiful.” You gasped only realizing what you said after it had slipped out as you flushed.

Lunafreya giggled, as she held your hands tightly, “You are as well. I was just nervous to say so.”

You smiled, as you turned looking to the man with the stern gaze, “You must be Ravus, it is an honor to meet you.”

That duel gaze sent another glare to you, only to nod softly before turning back to Regis.

Lunafreya leaned in, “That means he likes you.” She smiled, before gasping as she turned to dig in her shawl, before pulling out a blue flower. “A welcome gift from Tarabene, I would love for you to visit.”

“I would love to.” You smiled, as she placed the flower in your hair, happy that it didn’t float away.

This weekend actually solidified your need to leave the land behind. Here you weren’t just the little data pusher that was constantly looked over and forgotten about. Who spent her nights alone, and weekends ordering out while sitting on the couch watching old movies.

No beneath the sea, you were someone important and actually had friends and people who cared about you and loved you. So when you finally got a moment with the King, you almost couldn’t control yourself.

“Your Majesty.” You called, approaching him in the throne room, as he was in and out of meeting all day. “May I have a moment of your time?”

“Of course, Y/N.” He smiled, as Clarus moved over touching your arm to dry you out.

“Thank you, Mr. Amicitia.” You smiled, trying to calm your nerves as you moved before the King your hand wrapped around the pearl he had given you the first time you came to Insomnia. “Your Highness, I want to request if I...if it would be all right with you that I come to Insomnia.”

Regis blinked, “Of course, you are always welcomed, not just on weekends.”

You shook your head, holding tightly to the pearl, “What I mean is, I would like for Insomnia to be my home if that’s okay.”

Regis rose an eyebrow sparing a glance to Clarus beside you, “Just to make certain that I understand, you wish to live with us?”

“Yes, Your Highness, since meeting Noctis and the others, I have had the most fun, and I think, no I know that this is where I want to be. That is if you will have me.”  You replied, your gaze held to the floor, afraid of rejection, you didn’t mean to ask this way but suddenly your nerves got the better of you.

Only to look up as you felt a tentacle underneath your chin, “Are you certain?”

You swallowed, before nodding, “Yes, Your Majesty.”

Regis smiled, waving you forward, before taking your hand, “I am happy to hear this, I have not seen them all so happy since you’ve come along. I won’t be able to change you into a creature of the sea, but I can prolong the spell that allows for you to live with us.”

You smiled, not able to stop yourself, as you leaned forward hugging him tightly, “Thank you!” You suddenly seemed to realize what exactly it was that you were doing, as you backed away, only to find that Regis had embraced you back.

“We can do it whenever you’re ready.” He smiled.

“Oh in two weeks, I want to make sure all my ties on land are done. So that they don’t come looking for me.” You smiled.

“Of course,” Regis replied. “Clarus, go get the boys, I’m certain they’ll enjoy this news.”

Clarus reached out placing a hand on your head with a chuckle, “I’m happy to hear you’ll be joining us.”

“Thank you Mr. Amicitia.” You smiled, as he turned to go gather the others.

The result of your staying was actually meet with quite a bit of squeezing, and on Prompto’s end tears which got you crying.

“This will mean that we can visit each other.” Lunafreya cooed, her hand stroking your face, to remove your tears.

You giggled, only to turn as you felt Noctis’s tentacle within your hand, you pulled the tentacle to your lips, pressing a kiss to it. It still confused those that were not within your little circle as to what a kiss was, or meant on land but after a brief explanation, it went over pretty well.

“Something wrong Sweetie?” You cooed, only noticing that his tentacle was curled around something. Holding out your hand, you were surprised to see a ring. “What’s this?”

Noctis flushed, “Figured if you were staying, then…”

You blinked, before finding three more rings in face, when it dawned on you, that conversation you had when you first were brought underwater. “Are you asking me to marry, you? All of you?”

“A recognized union of partners in a personal relationship,” Ignis stated quoting a book you had bought down for him and Gladiolus as they seemed to enjoy human literature.

You glanced to the black bands before smiling brightly, “Of course. Nothing would make me happier.” You smiled, as you slipped the bands onto your fingers. It felt heavy just a little, but it was a pressure that felt fine.

“Y/N,” Lunafreya called floating over to you, “What is marriage?”

*

You were counting down the next two weeks, as King Regis had stated that he was giving you an underwater mate ceremony the same day you got your permanent spell to breathe underwater.

Aranea kept asking if you were sure you wanted to leave, and that where ever you were going to take her with you. While Loqi appeared to rather indifferent, but you found a cute little charm on your desk from the man, wishing you luck in your future endeavors.

So on your final day, you took your time, glancing to the beautiful fish that you wished you could take with you. Maybe you could sneak back in and take them home. As you were staring at the large sea turtle you hardly noticed the man step beside you, only to gasp as you noticed it was Ardyn.

“Beautiful aren’t they?” Ardyn inquired, his gaze never turning from the turtles.

“Yea...yeah.”

“I’ve been told that today is your last day.”

You nodded softly, “Yes sir.”

“A shame, such smart women as yourself is hard to come by. You will be missed.”

“Thank you, sir.” You replied, pulling out your phone, you’d be late getting home. “It was nice working for you, Sir.”

“Yes, of course, Y/N.” He smiled holding out his hand.

You reached out, taking his hand, only to flinch as something wet and slimy surrounded your hand, that familiar of tentacles underneath. You gasped, as you pulled away,  only to see red tentacles appearing from underneath his long black and white trench coat.

“What are you?” You gasped, pulling back, managing to back away from him.

“Don’t be that way, My Dear. I am aware that it was yourself that had taken the prince. Now, why don’t you be a good little girl and tell me where exactly you took him as it would not be well if you returned him and his little friend home.”

You shrieked, as you saw one of those red tentacles going toward your neck. Smacking the tentacle from your face, and stomping on the one going for your leg, as you raced out the building. Ducking out a fire exit as you all but ran home, racing into your apartment, as you noticed all four of them sitting in various arrays of your kitchenware.

“We need to go. Now!” You cried, as you begun to strip yourself of your attire, showing your swimming suit underneath. Reaching out to pull all of them your arms, as you felt that pull and then wetness.

You panted heavily against Noctis’s lip, as he pushed air into your lungs.

“Y/N, Y/N please calm down,” Ignis called stroking your back. “Tell us what’s wrong.”

You panicked, eyes darting around the sea, finding a strange comfort in the inky blackness. You also figured it could be the familiar tentacles, keeping you floating as you were in such a panic you had forgotten to actually float.

“There’s someone.” You swallowed trying to clear your mind to get it out.

“Someone?” Prompto asked, as Noctis scooped you in his arms, and begun to move you towards Insomnia. “What does he look like?”

“Red hair, gold eyes.”

Gladiolus huffed, “Don’t recall anyone like that.”

“Where did you see him?”

You knew you were panicking, you knew you were scared, you didn’t know why but unlike everyone else you’ve met, he was horrifying, “At work.”

“It was your last day, so you don’t have to worry,” Noctis replied, as you bypassed the coral that signaled you were closed to the entrance.

“No, he was an Octomer.” You cried this stopped everyone. “Noctis he was after you.”

“Y/n who was this man?” Ignis asked.

“Why I believe she is referring to me.”

All of you turned as if a screen was pulled from before the man. Only for Gladiolus and Ignis to move before you in Noctis arms.

“Ardyn.”

The man chuckled, removing his hat that managed to stay with him even underwater, giving a mock bow, “Y/N I guess I can forgive you, after all, you did bring me back to that which you have stolen from me.”

You gasped, they moved so quickly through the water, you weren’t even aware that Ignis nor Gladiolus had moved until Noctis and Prompto were given an opening to dash toward the entrance of Insomnia.

“Close your eyes and don’t let go,” Noctis stated, one of his tentacles wrapping around your waist another to your hands allowing you to hold onto him, as you buried your head within his chest.

You didn’t feel the tug or pull of the barrier, but instead, Noctis stopped, alongside Prompto, both of them covering you, before remaining very still. It felt like hours before you peeked an eye open before you was the ocean, calm and quiet. But you felt the arms around you, and the tentacles curling around you, moving with the current. They were camouflaging you from Ardyn, but they were so close to the barrier, why didn’t they just go in?

You let out a gasp, only to feel something cover your mouth, as Ardyn swam by his gold eyes looking around trying to find the three of you, a rather nasty gash on one of his tentacles. But what happened to Ignis and Gladiolus! You tried not to think about it. You held your breath as the red Octomer swam by, but still, the three of you sat in silence, waiting to see if he might circle back, it was best to wait until Gladiolus and Ignis came to get you.

You stayed huddled within their embrace, trying not to twitch or move too much out of fear of breaking your cover. Only to smile as you saw two figures approach the barrier, poor Gladiolus had a nasty scar on one of his tentacles, and Ignis was bleeding from a gash on the left side of his head. Both of them carrying weapons you hadn’t seen them wielding prior.

“Where’d he go?” Gladiolus hissed looking around.

“Better yet let’s find the others,” Ignis replied. “They wouldn’t go into the barrier  out of worry that he would follow them in.”

Prompto was the first to remove the camouflage, showing he was the one to cover your mouth, as he waved the others over.

“Are you all fine?” Ignis inquired checking everyone over, happy to find that everyone was fine, one of his hands to your back. “Y/N?”

“Just a little shaken up, we should get inside and let my dad know about this.”

You held tighter to Noctis’s tentacle, eyes scanning the inky blackness of the ocean only to let out the call too late, as a red tentacle wrapped around your wrist, pulling you from Noctis arms. “Noctis!”

“Y/N!” Noctis yelled, his hand latching to your own holding on for all it was worth only to feel his fingers slip as you were yanked back to Ardyn.

You honestly never felt the full strength of a tentacle around you, the others always held you so gently, even Gladiolus who you had watched easily snap rocks in half with hardly a flick of his tentacle ever put strength behind the appendages when he held you. Now to have just one wrapped around your torso, trapping your arms to your side, and coming up to rest in the center of your chest, the tip caught in the chain of the pearl around your neck. Pulling just enough to cause the chain to dig uncomfortably in your neck.

Yet all of this was ignored for the slight burn that begun to appear on your chest where the tentacle rest in the opening of your swimsuit.

“Let her go!” Noctis barked, a blue sparkle in his hand as a trident appeared.

You let out a shriek, as the pressure increased around your torso as Ardyn begun to speak.

“After all I did to get you there, this little human ruined everything.” Ardyn hissed. “She plucked you right from my grasp, and returned you home and even has pardon from the King.”

You went to scream as a hand grabbed your chin turning you to Ardyn, but the pressure he had on your body only allowed a squeak. Even as you viewed his eyes turn back and inky, the same coming from his lips.

“And since you’ve ruined my plans for the throne, My Dear, I feel it only fair that I ruin your chance of happiness and joy. Were you to ask to join those under the sea?” He chuckled, his grip on your chin holding you in place as he leaned forward, his lips going over your own.

You tried not to inhale as you felt the slimy ink you believed to be a poison tried to move beyond your lips. Only for a tight squeeze of your body to become your undoing. You inhaled against your wishes as the black ink was forced down your mouth, as he pulled away.

“Didn't you know, My Dear, humans are bound to drown.” He chuckled, a string of black poison connecting the two of you, only to break as your vision begun to fade.

Ardyn narrowly avoided the trident coming toward his chest, only able to barely deflect it away but damaged the tentacle holding you causing him to release you and the two that came up to defend him.

Noctis stabbed again alongside Ignis, as Gladiolus quickly swooped in to grab you, putting you out of harm's way, just as a third trident appeared.

“Noctis!” Regis called appearing with Clarus and Ravus.

Ardyn growled, with nearly half of his tentacles not working, he wouldn’t be able to outrace them, but how, how did they know he was here? His eyes turned to the little blonde one, flushed and red from swimming into the Citadel. Tridents pointed at his neck, he held up his arms, a glare going to the being rushed into the barrier.

“We’ve been looking for you, Ardyn.”

*

It turns out that Ravus and Lunafreya’s visit was actually due to the fact that Ardyn had been seen around the area, and with the Octomer banned from both Insomnia and Tarabene, it was cause for alarm. As he had attempted on Lunafreya’s life, so with him behind bars for the moment all focus turned to you.

Any other Octomer would be able to expel the poison within their system, but a human wasn’t heard of. The large mark on your chest and your ragged breathing seemed to only cause more fear than hope. Not to mention since you were poisoned you hadn’t woken up and the spell had disappeared allowing you to breathe underwater. If not for Gladiolus having immediately placing his mouth over your own, trying to suck out the poison and keeping your breathing, they would have lost you long before they got you within your dry room.

It wasn’t uncommon for someone to find Noctis and Prompto within their smaller forms circled up near you, or resting just above the black mark down the center on your chest. Often times, Gladiolus or Ignis would have to go in and remove them to make certain that they stayed wet enough, only for them to take post at your bed when the younger two were not there.

It was during one of the rare moments that all four of them sat around your side when Lunafreya came rushing in. Holding a veil of something in a sparkling blue.

“I got it where they oceans meet, it supposes to be a cure for mer-people.” Lunafreya replied, not wanting to add that she wasn’t certain it would work with you being human.

Pouring enough in her hands, she softly pressed the water within your chest, only glancing toward you as you inhaled deeply but still remained unconscious. A soft hand pressed against your chest that glew a soft blue, slowly the glow moved up through your throat and out your mouth where you hacked up black with a soft cry rolling to your side.

The large angry dark mark on your chest never seemed to disappear as you wheezed weakly, when Gladiolus rolled you back to your back, so you didn’t move into the poison you had vomited up.

“Y/N are you with us?” Lunafreya called, adjusting you to sit up slightly in case there was more for you hack up.

You gave a weak cough, hardly opening your eyes as you let out a small laugh. Only to look down as you felt something on your chest, only to find Noctis and Prompto within their smaller forms clinging tightly to you looking up to you with large eyes.

“Sweetie, Sunshine.” You cooed, hardly getting your arms up around them to hug them to your chest, pressing a kiss to their forehead as they hugged you tightly, small tentacles wrapping around your shoulders as they nuzzled into your shoulders soft whines in their chest. “Don’t...cry, I’m...sorry.”

You gave what you hope was a smile, as you felt them shake their heads against your neck with soft whines and huffs.

“How are you feeling?” Ignis inquired, leaning forward, as you unwrapped an arm from around Noctis and Prompto to stroke his cheek with the back of your knuckles with a soft call of ‘Darling.’

“Like I’ve been hit by a bus.” You muttered weakly, only to giggle at the confused look you got. “Where’s Ardyn?”

Gladiolus stroked your head, “Don’t worry about that right now. Get some rest.”

“Gladdy-Baby.” You stroked at the large tentacle resting against your waist,  feeling the slight tremble of the scared appendage giving it a soft squeeze. As a soft gasp leaving you as you realized how dry the two in your arms were, you moved to hand Noctis and Prompto over to Ignis. “Come on you two, you’ll dry out in here. How long have you been here?”

You felt the two dig little fingers in your shoulders, as tentacles wrapped around your hands with little frustrated huffs.

“Please, I’ll feel better knowing that you to get some sleep, and get wet again.” You offered, as you pressed kisses to their foreheads. “I’ll be here.”

Two pairs of eyes looked up to you, as you smiled weakly with a soft call of “Promise.” Seeming satisfied, the two pressed little kisses to your lips, nuzzling against your cheeks.

“Here.” Lunafreya smiled, reaching out taking the two from you.

“Get some sleep, I’m not going anywhere.” You smiled stroking their cheeks as they huffed reaching for you. “I’ll be right here, I promise.” Watching Lunafreya leave with the two younger ones, before collapsing back to the bed with a sigh.

“You okay?” Gladiolus asked leaning over you.

“Yeah, yeah just sleepy.” You whispered softly allowing for Ignis to adjust you. “No wonder you all are so strange when it comes to kisses to the mouth, but I’ve never been poisoned by any of you.”

“We’re not constantly doing so. Why should we waste if we’re not going to use it.” Gladiolus replied, stroking your right hand, where his and Ignis rings rested.

You hummed softly, feeling Ignis’s hand stroking your hair, and Gladiolus caressing your cheek. This was its own heaven, your eyes fluttering shut at being pampered this way, almost drifting to sleep.

“This doesn’t change you wanting to stay?”

You smiled opening your eyes, “No, I love you guys, I’m fine staying if you want me to.”

“Of course,” Ignis replied, stroking your hair.

“Then I’ll stay forever.” You giggled before the slight dizzy sensation returned. “I think I’m going to take a nap, don’t stay too long, I don’t want you to dry out.”

“We’ll stay until you fall asleep.”

Over the next couple of days, as you got your strength back, you found your room being filled with just a few things that you required from your home, mostly some cooking ware so that Noctis and Prompto didn’t dry out when they came over. You figured you’d have to give up electronics, but having the others with you, you wouldn’t really need the distraction.

“It's possibly a side effect from the ocean cure and the poison. We’ve never used it on a human.” You recalled Lunafreya explaining.

While the large dark mark on your chest hadn’t disappeared, you found that you’ve developed a very similar texture of the Octomer skin, among your arms and legs, almost as if you were wearing gloves and fishnet stocking that matched the mark upon your chest. You also found that you didn’t require a kiss from the others in order to breath underwater.

Not that, that stop them.

If anything it increased the kisses, as now you didn’t have to worry about being poisoned should you kiss them. You had become a better swimmer still unable to keep up with your husbands, but they never really seemed to mind carrying you around.

“Hey Y/N are you ready?” Prompto called, as you turned to your smaller husband.

“Yeah.” You cooed, having got distracted, after the long wait of you getting better and then the wedding you finally were able to keep your promise to Lunafreya about coming to visit. “You are all aware that the bachelor party is supposed to happen before the wedding right?”

“Bachelor party?”

You giggled shaking your head, “Nevermind, I guess we can count this trip as our Honeymoon.”

You were meet with more confused stares by your husbands.

“It’s uh a time for newlyweds to celebrate by themselves.” You attempted to explain, taking Ignis’s hand as he began to move towards the barrier of Insomnia.

“Celebrate our marriage, I assume?”

You nodded, “Yeah, among other things, but I’ll tell you that when we get a hotel for the night. So how long will it take to get to get to Luna?”

“We can take as long as we want,” Noctis replied, taking your other hand.

You smiled, as you felt the barrier part to allow you to start your journey. It would be a fine one.