#*whatta man starts playing in the distance*

[melanieph321]

Gabriel Medina x Reader - Untamable Part 3/8

Part 1 Part 2

Reader spends the summer with her first love, Gabriel Medina, for him to get a chance to know their three year old son. However, both Reader and Gabriel struggle to keep their feelings at bay.

Enjoy!

You and Gabriel worked out this co-parenting thing nicely. Once you trusted him enough to take care of Nemo by himself, you saw no reason why he couldn't stay in Maresias for the day. At least while you helped your grandmother with the maintenance of her house as it was beginning to fall apart.

"Vovó, what do you even need a golf set for?" You stumbled upon them while navigating through her overflowing garage.

"They were your Avô's. He would've hated for me to get rid of them, even though he never played golf."

"And the second car? Does it even start these days?"

"It just needs a little fine-tuning. Most of the things in here do."

She got that right. There were piles and piles of junk in your grandmother's garage. However, another man's junk was another man's treasure.

"These surfboards, for example." She walked over to where they stood leaning against the wall. "I can get good money for these. They just need a little polishing. Can't your Papai Açúcar help us with that?"

"Please Vovó." You chuckled. "Don't call Gabriel that." 

"What? Is he not your Papai Açúcar? The way he has been treating you and my dearest great grandchild makes me believe that he is."

It's true. In the past, Gabriel's presence in your son's life was only noticeable in the checks he sent you for food and clothing. You weren't complaining, though, since it was a very generous check, enough to pay your rent and your courses at university. But you've come to realize that Gabriel's presence in Nemo's life had more value than money could ever possess

"Well, things are different now." You mumbled. "He's different."

"Yeah right."

"Yes." You made your way over to the surfboards. "I'm sure he would help us sell these. Matter of fact, I'll take them to him right now."

You were already on your way to pick up Nemo. Hopefully, the day went well. You wouldn't know since Gabriel was not the texting type. And it was a bit alarming pulling up to his house, with no one answering the doorbell to the luxurious estate.

Peeking through the castle-like windows, you spotted some of Nemo's toys lying around on the floor. However, no Nemo or Gabriel were anywhere to be found. Your instincts told you to go down to the beach just behind the house, and to your relief there they were, Gabriel, in the water playing with Nemo.

"Hey Rico." You joined the man sitting in the sand, watching them.

"Ah, Amoreco! Come vai?" (How is it going, love?)

Rico was Gabriel's personal trainer, a short but buff man with an aggressive bowl cut. Much like Gabriel's other surfer buddies, he had a back full of tattoos, the meaning of them incomprehensible to you. Nonetheless, he was an old friend of your brother, and like Gabriel, you had known him all of your life.

"Have you come to watch the show?"

You looked towards the water, where Gabriel had gone to put Nemo down, allowing him to splash his little feet. "What are they doing?"

"What do you think?" Rico smiled. "Poseidon must teach his children his ways."

"Huh?"

"Gaby is teaching your son how to surf."

"What?"

"Yes. But first he must get used to the rough ways of the sea."

"Nah-uh! Over my dead body he is." 

You stood and marched down towards the water. There was simply no chance in hell that you'd let Gabriel teach your son the root to all of your problems in life. No chance in hell.

"Gabriel!" You reached the shore as he turned around.

"Y/N? You're early."

"Mama!" Nemo happily squealed. 

You ignored him, your narrowed gaze piercing Gabriel's. "Whatta hell do you think you're doing, teaching my son how to surf?"

"What? I can't hear you?"

Large waves crashed in the background, with more incoming in the distance, the noise draining the sound of your voice. However, Gabriel seemed to understand your distress by the look on your face.

"Get...Nemo...out of the water!" You shouted.

Gabriel did so, grabbing his surfboard that drifted on the surface. "Why, what's wrong?" He walked towards you, Nemo in his arms. Your eyes fell upon his lean torso and the muscles shifting with his every movement.

"You are what's wrong Gabriel. " You said, raising your head.

"Me?"

"Yes, you." You hurried to unhand him your son, his skin cold, teeth rattling. "Look at him. He's freezing." You wrapped Nemo's body in the sleeve of your knitted sweater. He was only wearing a pair of oversized boardshorts. BOARDSHORTS!

"Y/N, relax."

"Don't tell me to relax. For how long were you in the water for? Don't you know that children catch colds easily?"

Gabriel regarded you with concern. He then waved for Rico to bring forth a towel. The man did so in a hurry, handing it over to you.

"I'm sorry Y/N, I wasn't thinking—" 

"Of course you weren't. You never think about anyone but yourself."

Gabriel's eyes widened, shifting back to Rico, who shrugged his shoulders.

"Don't just stand there, help me get him inside."

He led the way, surfboard tucked underneath his arm. Once inside of the house, Gabriel made sure to light the fireplace that burned well into the night, keeping Nemo warm and cozy.

"Do you want something to eat Y/N? I'm about to order us some pizza."

"No, thank you, Rico." You were quite comfortable where you sat next to the fire, perfectly immobile. Nemo sat before you on the floor, watching TV and playing with his toys. 

"How about one for the little guy?"

"He can't have pizza." You frowned.

"Of course not." 

Something about the grin on Rico's lips told you that Nemo has had pizza served to him before. You'd have to take it up with Gabriel, educate him on your son's daily meal plans.

Somewhere in the distance the doorbell rang, followed by a loud commotion in the hallway.

"That would be Sophia." Rico sighed and correctly predicted the entrance of Gabriel's little sister. However, she wasn't as little anymore.

"Y/N, you're here!" The young girl rushed across the living room to give you a hug, her long hair draping over your face like a vail. "Oh my god, I haven't seen you in like forever. How are you?"

"Sophia....you've grown." 

Her hair smelled of lavender and sea salt. A welcoming smell. Sophia was well into her teens now, a disturbing reminder that you were well into your teens the last time that you saw her.

"Yes, I can't believe I'm an aunty now." She said excitedly. "Remember the times you used to babysit me?"

"Please don't remind me."

Although her body had matured, Sophia still had the same babyface and youthful smile, much like Gabriel's. They were each other alike.

"Well, my friend and I thought we'd come over and help my brother babysit Nemo again since it went so well the last time I was here."

"Oh...it did? I had no idea." Your eyes drifted towards the young blond girl standing in the doorway. She was curiously watching you and Nemo. Nemo, who was still in his own little world, playing on the floor.

"Come, Luana, say hello to my nephew. He's really funny." Sophia went to pick him up, twirling Nemo around in her arms until his laughter echoed throughout the living room.

"It's such an honor to meet you, Mrs Medina, I had no idea that Gabriel had a wife, let alone a son."

"Erm....Come again?"

Sophia's friend had dared to enter the room, but instead of joining Sophia and Nemo, she approached you, politely offering to shake your hand.

"It doesn't say much about your relationship with Gabriel in the media. But my sister tells me that the two of you are trying to keep things a secret from the world."

"Your sister? And who is—"

"Lulu, please." Sophia stopped spinning Nemo, pinning him to her hips. "I only said you could come along if you didn't ask so many questions again."

"Right, right. My apologies."

Sophia rolled her eyes but moved on from the subject rather quickly. "Where is my brother?" 

"Basement." Rico said, stumbling back into the living room with a pizza carton in his hand.

"Well, what is he doing down there?"

"Probably hiding?" He chuckled, glancing at you. 

"Well tell him to come back upstairs. He promised that we were going to—"

"I'll tell him." You volunteered, hesitantly so.

"Oh, okay." Sophia nodded. "It's movie night. I was thinking that Nemo and I pick what film to watch, while Rico hook us up with snacks and refreshments. Gabriel was supposed to set up the theater outside. Maybe you can do that as well, Y/N?"

"Erm...sure."

"But..." Her friend squealed.

"Lulu." Sophia gritted. "She's headed downstairs anyway. You'll help Rico with the snacks."

"Fine." She sighed, glaring at you rather stiffly. You didn't think much of it, though, and headed downstairs towards the basement, which was more like a studio, if anything. It was neatly furnished with a number of photos on the walls, photos of Gabriel surfing. There were also loads of trophies, some of them stocked on shelves while others lay piling up inside large cardboard boxes. It was all very impressive, you thought. Gabriel was really living the dream as a professional surfer. A dream that your brother would have loved to achieve.

"Gabriel?"

You came around the corner and found him bent over a table, inspecting a surfboard that lay on top of it. He lifted his head, confirming that it was indeed you that was heard coming down the steps. The last person on earth that he wanted to talk to right now. On top of that, he was still shirtless, sweat dripping down the hill of his muscles as he worked on the board.

"Your sister is here." You spoke timidly. "She says that you've promised her some kind of movie night?"

Gabriel nodded his head. "Tell Sophia that I'll be right there."

"Right." You stood weighing on your heels. "She wants me to help you set up some kind of theater out in the backyard."

Gabriel lifted his head again regarding you skeptically. "She wants you to help me?"

"While yes. Don't you think I'm capable?"

Gabriel snorted his answer, returning his attention back to the surfboard. You kind of deserved it, the cold shoulder that he was giving you.

"Look, Gabriel...." You sighed, stepping closer to where he stood. "What I said on the beach—"

"It's okay Y/N, I know you meant every word."

"I did, but they weren't supposed to come out like that, not in that moment at least."

"Right." He reached for a tool on the wall, something to help smoothen the edges of the board.

"You're right, those words weren't meant to come out at all."

"And still they did." Gabriel rested his hands on the table, regarding you with slight amusement in his eyes. "Y/N, I get that I've done things in the past that would make you not want to trust me again. But if you've already made up your mind about who I am as a man, let alone as a father to our son—"

"I haven't." You shook your head. "I promise that I haven't...made up my mind."

He did not seem convinced. "I don't get it. Why can't I teach my own son how to surf? Because that's the real issue, no?"

Your lips pressed into a thin line. "Yes."

"But why?"

You frowned. "What do you mean why?"

"Yeah, tell me why you suddenly hate surfing so much? You were one of the best surfers I knew growing up."

"Gabriel."

"No, Y/N. I want you tell me why. It can't be because of Nemo's age, the two of us were practically born in the water. And if I remember correctly, didn't your mother—"

"Please Gabriel." You shut your eyes, preventing the tears from escaping.

"Fuck...I'm sorry. I didn't mean...."

You turned your back on him, quickly wiping your eyes with the back of your hands. 

"Hey." Gabriel's hand tugged at your waist, pulling you towards him. "Hey, don't cry."

His skin was warm against your face. He swayed you his arms, the sound of his heartbeat slowly drumming in your ear.

"You miss them a lot, don't you?"

"More than anything." You sniffled. "To think that Nemo will never get a chance to meet—"

"Hey..." Gabriel gathered your face in his hands, your cheeks pressing softly against his palms. "Nemo has got Vovó. He's got my parents, Rico's parents and not to mention Sophia. He's got a whole village looking after him. It's up to you to let them all in."

You got lost in his gaze. Gabriel's dark eyes that seemed to carry an infinite depth. It's what you loved the most about him. That and his gentle touch.

"What?" He smiled, seeing as you were smiling too. 

"Nothing. I guess I just thought of something funny."

"Which was...."

"Nothing, it was just something random."

"Don't leave me hanging now, I want in on the joke." He let go of your face, but did not let you escape from him.

"Well, if you must know, your sister brought a friend, Luana, I think her name was. Nevertheless, she called me your wife."

"She did?"

"Yes, she called me Mrs Medina, which is crazy since that is what I used to call your mother." 

It sent shivers down your spine just thinking about that woman. Especially when Gabriel mentioned her amongst the people to let into your son's life. His mother would never be one of them. Not after the horrors she put you through in the past.

"But you are..." Gabriel said, eyebrows slightly furrowed.

"I am what?"

"My wife."

"Pardon me." You laughed. A gut wrenching laugh that almost made you choke. "I am not your wife Gabriel, we never even...." A flash from your past entered your mind. It was from the day Nemo was born. Gabriel wasn't there, only your grandparents and....Gabriel's mother. 

"I won't let you take him home unless you marry my son." She said, "It is already enough that you've tried to trap Gabriel with this baby. His career will not be shattered by a scandal. You will marry him or I'll see to it that you'll live your life out on the streets where you belong."

The memories from that day came and went, but the pain of his mother's words still carved its way into your heart, posing it.

"Y/N, are you okay?"

You winced with Gabriel's touch. 

He backed off immediately.

"We're still married." You gasped. That day had been a cluster of your dreams, until now.

"It's why I wrote you." He nodded.

"W...what?"

"I thought enough time had passed without the two of you being in my life. I knew that my mother kept in contact with you throughout the years, making sure that you and Nemo had everything you needed. But it was time for me to step up and take care of business myself."

"Business?" You frowned. "Is that all we are to you, business?"

"Come on. You know that's not what I meant."

"But we are." You nodded. "Because you never even cared about us up until now. It was your mother, sending those checks out all along. Not you."

"Y/N, I think you're misunderstanding what I'm—"

"No, Gabriel. I understand perfectly that this summer and those letters were all about you making peace with yourself, not us."

"Hey, at leats I'm owning up to my mistakes."

"Not being man enough is not a mistake, Gabriel. It's a choice. A choice that you made the day you decide to go on tour, surfing, instead of witnessing the birth of your own child."

"Y/N, wait!"

He shouted for you in vain. You returned upstairs with heavy steps, only to be met by an audience who probably heard everything that just unfolded downstairs.

"Amoreco...." 

"Not now, Rico."

It was not your proudest moment, especially seeing the look on Sophia's face when you snatched Nemo from her. You left Gabriel's house with no intention of coming back. You were so rallied up by the fight that you failed to notice the surfboards missing from the roof of Vovó's car.

Part 1 Part 2

[loveshotzz]

you reblogged your whatta man masterlist🤨 dont play w my heart rn idk if i can handle it

I did reblog it! but not cause it’s done :( I was manifesting a good writing night which I think it might be! It’s not done yet, but hopefully within the next weekish. I’ll give you a lil snippet since it’s taking so long 💗

God you hated when Eddie was right.

Hazel eyes and freckles trail along his neck leading to small moles placed like the stars above you on his sun kissed skin and stubbled jaw. His chiseled nose runs down a narrow line with lips tinged pink like his cheeks, the expression on his face going from irritated to flirty in seconds flat.

“I’m - oh my god, I’m so sorry. I’m running late and no one is ever sitting there and I - Are you okay?” Talking a mile a minute, you silently scold yourself for acting like you’ve never seen a cute guy before.

“Whoa, whoa, whoa.” Raising his hands up to stop you, the press of your thighs is instant when you see the silver band wrapped around the thickness of his middle finger. “No apologies necessary honey, it was an accident.”

The endearment that leaves his mouth followed by the smirk that tugs at the corners of his lips makes you dizzy. Bending down to grab the stool off the ground a matching chain slips out from under his shirt, the glow above giving you a glimpse at the patch of thick chest hair hidden from sight.

“Besides, it’s not the first time a pretty girl has knocked me on my ass.” Folding his arms across his pecs, he leans against the brick of the bar crossing his legs at the ankles. The black boots that cover his feet look big and menacing despite his disposition.

Biting your bottom lip into a smile,you look up at him through shy lashes and you swear you hear him sigh at the sight.

“Well as long as your okay-“

“Steve.” He offers his name with the kind of smile that shows the whites of his teeth, a spark lighting in his eyes when he sees the way you react to it.

“Well you’ll probably see my face around here a lot.” you start to say doing your best to ignore the way your cheeks feel like they are on fire.

“I sure hope so.” Pulling a toothpick out of his back pocket, he slides it between his lips, jaw clenching when he bites down on the wood while his eyes roam your curves unashamed before offering you another grin.

Giggles bubble past your strawberry flavored lips making his grin widen. Tucking a strand of hair behind your ear, the muscles in your face hurt from how hard you’re smiling.

“I was gonna say, 'cause I live upstairs.” Your voice comes out sweet despite the teasing roll of your eyes as you point to your open window above.

He only breaks his stare to follow the path of your finger before all his attention is back on you. The tension growing thicker when he kicks off the wall. The soles of his boots are loud against the pavement when he closes the distance between you with two long strides. Getting close enough to smell the cinnamon on his breath, and the expensive cologne that lingers on his clothes, you forget all about your date waiting for you inside.

“Eddie’s told me all about you.” Using the tip of his tongue to push the toothpick to the other side of his mouth, his smirk tells you all you need to know.

“That’s funny, Eddie’s told me about you too.” Tracing your tongue over your top lip, you taste the fruit of your gloss as you look up at him from under hooded lids. “Steve.”

[matan4il]

Would you sort of consider this season the first time they ever wrote Eddie following Bucks lead into finding a different relationship. Because looking back and following along now that we know how it happens it seems so.

We start with them being a family unit and clearly they are back again like S2. Then Buck undertakes a secret that seems to put distance between them. Like excluding him because he seems to not tell Eddie stuff. Which turns into them showing us lonely Eddie. Then finally we get Buck and Eddie again and Buck has to ask out a death duilia lol. Then suddenly Eddie has to ask out a girl too. And to be clear during Bucks secret keeping he wasn't dating so Eddie wasn't responding with let me get a girl.

It seems a little like that could have been the next evolution of feelings realization because for once Buck wasn't following Eddie, Eddie was following Buck??

Hi Nonnie, thank you for your ask!

Hmmm. In s2, when Buddie first meet, Buck is technically in a r/s with a woman who sort of is and sort of isn't his ex. Eddie knows about it from the start, even though it wasn't Buck who talked to him about it. Then Eddie starts an affair with the woman who sort of is and sort of isn't his ex. Which puts a certain distance between them. When Buck moves on from Abby, Eddie's already involved again with Shannon, but they don't talk about it until she comes to the station and outs their affair in front of Buck and Chimney.

So I would say... it's not so much whether Buck is following Eddie, or that Eddie is following Buck. It's that their love lives are entangled. That what happens with one influences the other and their romantic get together's and break up's happen very consistently in relation to the other man's. Once they realize THAT maybe they'll finally reach that feelings realization we've all been waiting for since "Whatta Man" started playing, yet Buck failed to figure out what it means... XD

Have a great day, lovely! Find my other ask replies here. xoxox

[tripleaxeldiaz]

me watching 2x01 for the 73rd time and “whatta man” starts playing in the distance:

[outrunningthedark]

hiya! so i didn't follow how things went down when jlh switched maddie's love interest from eddie to chim back in season two, and how the showrunners found out oliver and ryan had good chemistry and everything, could you talk a bit more about that? cause they had a script and everything for season two no?

Hey, Bell! I hope you're enjoying my copious thoughts on all things Buddie. 😊 Back in 2020, Ryan recorded an insta live the night Eddie Begins was going to air. He answered several questions/comments, including one that said "We need a Maddie and Eddie scene." Ryan proceeded to reveal that the original plan was for his character to embark on a relationship with Maddie. Obviously, that never happened. Then, in 2021, Jennifer filmed a short promo for Madney's love story [posted on the show's YouTube channel] in which she explains that "Somebody asked me on the set, they were like, 'What's the one thing that you want to do when you're here as Maddie?' And I was like, 'I want to be Chimney's girlfriend.'" *If* TPTB had an idea of how they wanted to introduce Eddie + Maddie, it never made the first official script, meaning everyone knew very early on in production that the show wasn’t gonna go there. What we saw instead was Buck and Eddie being established as a partnership at the end of Ryan's first episode. 👀 Tim Minear gave an interview last May after the season four finale where he addressed fans' desire to see Buddie go canon. He said "all the conversations that the fans have are conversations that happen in the writers’ room." He then acknowledged the way Eddie was introduced - putting his clothes on in slow motion as "Whatta Man" played and Buck watched from a distance - "may have started it from the jump". Now, everyone has their own interpretation of this quote, but I wouldn't be shocked if Tim got exactly the reaction he was hoping for because he's been contemplating canon!Buddie from the beginning. The very next thing he said is the money quote: "But you can’t plan when actors have chemistry together, and I think that Ryan and Oliver have a ton of chemistry together." Translation: We were not prepared for what we saw when they got in front of the camera. 🤭 - - - - - Ryan's opinion on a Buddie kiss came during the same live in which he spoke about Maddie + Eddie. Someone asked about the possibility and Ryan said "Just a kiss between Oliver and I? Mmm...We'll see what Tim writes." This comment is significant because he told ET Canada the year prior "I don't think we'll ever be a couple. Sorry, guys!" He's always been supportive of Buddie fandom [he decided on the ship name, for God sake], but something happened during the filming of season three for him to entertain the idea... (Was it the Buckley-Diaz family having a three episode arc? Eddie struggling to cope without Buck during the lawsuit? The Kitchen Scene™? Christmas? Dads building their son an adaptive skateboard? Buck trying to get to Eddie underground while Eddie had visions of the family they made? Or maybe...it was all of the above? 😏) Pretty sure I’ve covered everything, but my inbox is always open if you have any other questions! 🤍

[mynameisminhooooo]

They get to spend all of quarantine with their s/o (Monsta X)

Request : Hi!! Could you do an exo and/or Monsta x reaction to getting to spend all of quarantine with you?

Sorry I put in bullet points bc it's felt like it made more sense? Sorry if you didn't like that. I also included what y'all would do. Bc why not¿

Shownu :

Omg this precious little bear was beyond excited to spend quarantine

Like as soon as his manager said plans were cancelled until further notice he ran out of the practice room

"Y/n I'm staying with you during quarantine..."

"Oh. Aight"

Your guy's quarantine consisted of laying in bed from the moment you woke up till 4 pm

As well as making a lot of food

And taking baths bc social distancing who?

Leads to other things 34% if the time, bc why not??

And of course singing together and him teaching you how to dance to all the songs

Cooking with this dude, where do I start

100% chance of making a mess

Would knock over bowls of side dishes while trying to grab a towel to wipe his hands

Just smiled at you when the food is all over the ground

Talking to the other members over the phone during dinner so it was like you guys were all eating together

Taking food to the other members and leaving it on the doorstep

One time they came outside before he was able to run back to the car and he was convinced he was contaminated

You had to spray him with Lysol to make him feel better

Him just being a whole lil bear the whole time

You guys would go on walks when you'd feel couped up too much

Y'all would be that extremely cute ass couple during quarantine

"I'm so glad I got to spend my quarantine with you" he'd say while kissing your forehead

"I love you y/n"

"I love me too, but your cool too"

"That's not funny" cue pout

Wonho :

Would literally be so happy to spend time with you

Hasn't seen you in like 2 weeks because of his rigorous schedule

When he finally gets to you're guy's apartment he'd just drop all his stuff and run to you, wrapping you in the biggest hug

You guys would eat until you couldn't breath

Ordering take out everyday sometimes for all 3 meals

You guys would take an online art class because why not

Video chatting his family and ofc the members to make sure everyone was well and healthy

Calling his mom 3 times a day

Would be the person who stocks up on toilet paper

Disinfecting everything every morning

Singing karaoke every day after dinner

Doing workouts in the living room because you guys gained weight and he wanted to watch his gorgeous figure

You'd help him write lyrics

You guys would try to be productive and do fun things like read at least once every other day

He'd be so happy to spend time with you like omg

Would literally cry when he looked at you sometimes bc he just loves you that much

Your guy's favorite things to do was lay in bed in each other's arms

"I wish we could stay like this forever, I love you so much y/n"

"I love you too, but can you let me go I have to pee really bad"

Your guy's quarantine would honestly be so fun

Minhyuk :

Would honestly act like he didn't want to spend time with you

"I guess I'm stuck with you"

\(-_-)/

"Your so lucky to have me, huh because I bought food"

Supports every small business and buys from all of them so they'd keep going

"I'll have 3 jars of kimchi, 2 bowls of kimchi jjigae, just give me half of everything"

"Minhyuk where are we gonna put all this the fridge is full"

Gives almost all the food to his family and the members

Buys like 2,264 board games

"Hey, you wanna play Monopoly I'll let you win"

Once again \(-_-)/

Fights about the dumbest thing

"I wanted to buy boardwalk!"

Throws your character off the board

Another person who stocks up, but he bought all the ramen

Your guy's quarantine would be so unproductive honestly

Like you guys just sit around playing board games

Listening to music all day everyday

Going for walks when the sun went down

If he sees an animal on the street he is bringing it home for "safety reasons"

"Look y/n this poor pigeon was left on the street"

Did I mention \(-_-)/

"Minhyuk... It's a pigeon"

Dancing throughout the house

He broke the TV while doing a twirl

Blames it on the pigeon, who you guys have name Piggy

Trying on each others clothes

But at the end of the day he'd be so happy he could spend his quarantine with you and Piggy

"I guess your ok to spend time with..."

Kihyun :

He would be so happy to spend time with you

Would be the most precatious person

"Put on gloves y/n"

"I'm changing the channel..."

Would 10/10 spray down everything before you guys touch it

You guys baked a lot during quarantine

Burning almost everything

Would try to make jokes the whole time

They were not good...

He would try to teach you how to hit the highest notes

Him almost breaking the window

Singing together while reading

Would call every member every day to see how they were doing

You guys would try gardening together because you guys got bored

10/10 the type of dude to telling everyone to buy from small business

If he saw anyone in the street outside the window, he'd yell at them

"Get inside!"

"Do you want to die?!"

You guys would people watch

You guys tried everything possible to pass boredom

Yoga, Singing, Staring Contests

If you got sick would literally call an ambulance

"They want to know if you have a fever, are experiencing lethargy, or have a cough?"

"Kihyun I just have a stomach ache"

Would be so relieved when he just found out it was just gas

He would not let you leave the house

"I really care about you, I cant risk you getting sick"

"You do knows there is a 3% chance of death right"

"But I wouldn't be able to see you"

Wow, whatta man

Hyungwon :

He honestly would be one of those ppl who didn't take it very very serious

"You wanna go to the park?"

"We can barely leave our house to get food?!"

"Ok, loser"

Was happy to spend time with you, but he wanted to actually do things with you like go to dinner

He just wanted to spend quality time with you

You guys would just lay in each other's arms everyday watching TV

Blinds closed letting no light in

The members would call you guys because after 3 days of nothing they were worried

"Oh we're fine, we've just been eating, sleeping and watching TV"

You guys would watch watch every variety show they have been on

You guys would try dying your hair by yourselves

"Wow y/n this blue is really nice"

"Blue it was supposed to be lilac"

How???

Shopping online for everything, food, clothes, furniture

"Y/n we need a new couch I just bought one"

\(-_-)/

You guys got erasable markers and literally drew on the wall

But they did not come off...

He would be kind of sad that he couldn't take you anywhere

But being the cutie he is he'd find ways to do cute date ideas at home

Jooheon :

"Guess what I'm coming home for quarantine!!!!"

Literally couldn't wait to hold you in his arms

Would cry when he came home, because he gets to spend time with you for who knows how long

You guys just hold each other and cry

Would follow you everywhere

If you went to get the mail he'd go with, if you needed to run to the store to get food, he's right by you

"Why is the door locked??? Y/n, you alive? Did corona get you???"

"Don't break the door down! I'm taking a bath"

"Ohhh, let me in!"

This little jerk picked the lock

You guys just sat in the tub for like 3 hours talking about what you should do during quarantine

Things you would do together during quarantine include sitting in the tub for 3 hours everyday

Calling his sister every day so he could talk to his cute niece

He would teach you all his rap parts from every song he could

You guys would send the members a goodie package every week with food and toiletries

Because he worried about them

You guys would take online dance class

Because why not???

Tango, Rumba, Foxtrot, Meringue

He would enjoy every minute with you

You're guys little vacation came to a halt when he fractured his fibula after falling down the stairs

He felt bad that you had to take care of him

But he was so grateful to have you by his side to help him

"Y/n you don't have to get up I can go to the kitchen to get a fork"

Could barely get off the couch

"Just please sit hear"

"So like you wanna bang?"

"No, I want you to get better"

After he got injured he just got so sad that he couldn't do anything with you really anymore

"I love you y/n"

"I love you too"

I.M :

He already was used to seeing you basically everyday

The only difference was you guys got to stay home

You guys didn't even have to change your schedule

He was grateful that he was able to wake up to you every morning tho

"Good morning, cutie"

"Why are you so close??"

Would be so nice the entire quarantine

Need him to wash your hair, just yell for him

Need something off the top shelf

He got it covered

There would be days where you guys just laid in bed the whole day though

You had online school throughout this time

"Y/n hang out with me!¡!¡"

"I'm doing homework for my English class"

"But I'm cuter than English class"

*insert pouty face*

Would try to get in your pants every other hour

You'd let him because ofc

"No, not now Changkyunnie..."

"Yes, now... Pleaseeeeee"

All the members would worry about you because you guys were the youngest and they thought you wouldn't take this seriously

Y'all did though, you only left the house for food

"Y/n am I cute?"

"No, now go to sleep"

"But I love you and I miss you"

"I'm right next to you and it's 3 am"

Bro. Idk why but this drained me I'm gonna write the exo one different bc I literally ran out of ideas of what to do doing quarantine.

[emily-strange]

Growing Pains...

So here it is. The first chapter of my RDR2 Story. I can’t believe I’m doing this….please be kind? But also really happy for constructive criticism! Bit of a long one to start, just to get it all going. 

Any advice on Titles? I’m terrible with them!!

Summary: Emmy has been with the gang since she was a little girl. Her mother moved on, leaving her to be raised by Dutch, Hosea and Susan. Arthur and John are her brothers (argue and she will fight you). Becoming a woman is hard when everyone still sees you as a child. Since the Blackwater mess she’s trying to find her feet while dealing with her new feelings for the gangs resident douchebag. 

Pairing: None yet, eventual Micah x female OC.

Warnings: Swearing, Sexual themes, Minor mention of blood (they’re outlaws after all).

Chapter 1

God it’s good to have Sean back. I know how much he pisses everyone off, but that guy has been my partner in crime since before I can remember. My life lacked a lotta fun before he found himself with us. He’s like my weird, Irish, little brother…. who’s older than me. And hooks up with my favourite aunt/sister/best girl-friend. Yeah, this family is one screwed up party.

“Whatta you writin’ there?” John asks before almost collapsing on me, “You know there’s a party goin’ on right?”. I look around and in fact only see Uncle, the Reverend and Susan still up, chatting around a table scattered with bottle.

“Yes, I’m well aware” I say rolling my eyes. I close my journal before he can catch a glimpse. He’s always trying to.

“You’ve spent way too much time with Arthur” he slurs before taking another swig of whiskey and handing the bottle to me. I take a glug like it’s water. Hell, been drinking the stuff since I was young enough to only have water.

“I like the writin’ thing. Gives me a way to complain about ya without getting in trouble from Hosea”.

John takes the bottle and clutches his chest like he’s been shot, “Cruel, just cruel. I came all the way here from that tree to check on ya” he laughs and points to a tree only a few steps away, “….you were on ma stop before Abiga..”, I can’t help but interrupt him.

“No, John! You’re drunk. You’ll do more damage than good. You haven’t fought in days. Why ruin that!?”. I know I sound shrill but my God, he’s exhausting sometimes!

“Cauz. I’m horn…….nevermind.” he quickly takes another glug of his drink and avoids eye contact until I’m pretty much staring him down, face to face. Idiot boy. I can’t believe that after Jack I’m the youngest.

He finally meets my eyes, “Alright! God damn, I’ll goda bed! Jeesus. From now on ya Emmy Morgan not….ya know…..whatever” he says while slumping down, clearly fed up of being scolded like a child. I hate having to be his brain sometimes. But if I didn’t think for him, he’d of never come home. It was one of my best days riding back into camp after getting him from the station. It was hard but he’s my brother. Blood or not.

I kiss his cheek and hug him around his shoulders.

“Go to bed John,” I mumble into his shoulder “it’ll all look better in the mornin’”. I pull back and he nods before getting up on shaky, drunken legs.

“Yeah, yeah. Night little sister. Just. Please do me a favor?”. I tilt my head to signal him to continue, “Don’t just write about ya life like Arthur. Live it. Ya young.”. He pats my head clumsily and I smile. I quite like drunk John. More often than not he talks more sense than sober John.

I watch him stumble towards his own tent. I can just about see him collapse onto his cot and after a few moments, when I’m sure he won’t stumble back out of it into Abigail’s, waking her and Jack, I turn back to the fire and my journal.

Lord this gang. This family. I’d be lost without them but sometimes feel smothered by them. Dutch hasn’t let me leave the camp once since we got here. Too worried about Pinkertons and O’Driscoll’s. I should be grateful that he wants to act as my pa when mine was so shite, but he isn’t my pa. And I’m not the child I once was. Hosea sees it, John sees it, Arthur….well, Arthur begrudgingly sees it but he sees it nonetheless. Maybe if I get Arthur on side?

I slam my journal with an incredibly audible huff, “Why do I have to get anyone on side. I’m 18 God dammit, nearly 19! Abigail had Jack at my age”. A voice cuts through my quiet and has me jumping out of my skin.

“I wouldn’t model yourself on Miss Roberts if I were you,” Micah comes into view in front of me. Taking a seat on the other side of the fire, “A bit of a ‘loose’ cannon if you follow my meanin’”.

He’s not got his coat on and he’s wearing that red shirt he loves so much. Sleeves rolled up. Why the heck do I keep looking at his arms? His hat’s sat as always on top of his blonde mop of hair.

“Micah” I greet. Somewhat curtly, not that I was meaning to. Still catching my breath from his shock arrival. “I didn’t hear you.”.

He laughs deeply at that and opens his arms in a wide gesture, “It’s a skill sweetheart”. I hate it when he calls me that. I don’t like what it does to me. And it ruins the sweetness of it that Arthur has when he calls me it. But I know asking him to stop will only encourage him more so I keep quiet.

“So”, I whistle out the word, “how much of that did you hear?”. I take a chance and look up at him, only to regret it. He’s sporting that shit-eating grin of his.

“Well, I heard you play mother to scar face aaaand then mutter to ya self about not bein’ a child….bit childish though aint it? Talkin’ to ya self I mean”, Micah huffs a laugh at his own joke and takes a hearty swig of the bottle he’s holding. He holds it out to me and stupidly, I accept.

“Teasing other people about their private thoughts Mr Bell. Also a bit ‘childish’ aint it?”, I finish the bottle and put it down by the log I’m leaning against. I watch him as he pretends to ponder.

“Maybe.” Is the only answer he gives. Well this was well and truly pointless.

We look at each other for a few moments. I hate that smug look on his face! So why can’t I look away?

Thankfully he breaks the silence before it gets too awkward.

“Dutch been keepin’ ya on a short leash?” he asks while throwing twigs into the flames. I’m almost stunned at how normally he asks the question. No mirth or venom. I catch myself smiling, hopefully just before he notices. I clear my throat.

“Um, yeah. He has. He’s worried. But I used to do quite a lot outta camp before, well, ya know”, he nods along with my words “It’s kinda suffocating here sometimes”. I feel guilt wash over me at admitting my plight to another person. Some people would give their right leg to be coddled like this. To be kept safe in camp away from the evils that stalk us. Micah breaks me out of my own thoughts.

“Don’t do that” he says. I look up at him but he’s still staring at the fire. When I don’t reply, only look quizzically at him he continues. “Don’t feel bad for wantin’ more. For wantin’ to do somethin’ other than sew and scrub shit off people’s shoes. Guilt. It’s pointless. A useless emotion. Used by weaker people to keep the better ones down.”.

“You don’t actually believe that right? Guilt. It….the feeling means you’re human….that you care about other people.”, he looks at me then. Dead in the eyes. Unblinking.

“Well then sweetheart. I guess I’m not human”.

What can I possibly say to that?

I clear my throat again and take a moment to ruminate on what he’s just said. I break the eye contact but I can tell he’s still looking at me.

“That’s not true Mr Bell. You’re human. I’ve seen you bleed like the rest of ‘em. Patched you up a bit too if you remember.”. I think briefly of a time before Blackwater, when he came back to camp after a run in with the O’Driscolls’. He’d been slashed on the side by a knife. Nothing too bad but my word did it bleed. I gave him the stiches myself. Been doing that for a long time now. Everyone thought it best to get another person in the know of how to do the basic stuff.

He’d come back into camp clutching his side and shoved everyone away. Saying he could do it himself. Grabbed the needle and thread before dropping the flaps of his tent and getting to work. Everyone let him. I mean, wouldn’t you? In the months he’d been running with us he hadn’t been kind to pretty much anyone. I’d kept my distance. Arthur asked me to and, well he’s my big brother so. But when I walked past Micah’s tent, and I heard him whimper like a dying rabbit. I couldn’t just head to bed.

“Mr Bell?” I called gently, “Mr Bell?”.

I received a strained “what!?” in return. I’ve never really been one to scare easily. Maybe this was my own little version of playing with fire. But I just walked right into his tent. No asking, no preamble. Just, walked right in.

He was sat on his cot, shirtless. He was using his black shirt to try and stem the bleeding and despite the dark colour, I could see it become drenched in crimson. He looked at me, breathless and pale.

“What the hell do ya think ya doin’?!” he said. He wasn’t shouting. Probably felt too weak for that. His mouth hung open and he was almost panting. Sweat beading on his forehead and chest.

Despite my very best efforts, my eyes were drawn to his chest. It looked, firm? Firm and rippled with patches of light hair. Scars were scattered on his chest and stomach but his arms were basically intact. I was pulled from my thoughts by his gruff voice. “Girl!?” he spat as sternly as his condition would muster.

I gathered myself quickly and rushed to his side, kneeling on the floor.

“I’m gonna help you Mr Bell whether you want me to or not so for this once, just hush. I won’t tell anyone that you let me help you and once you’re sewn up I’m gone.”. As I hurried my words out, I took the needle and thread from beside him on the cot. I figured if I did it quickly enough he’d be too slow in this state to refuse. I threaded the needle easily and gently pushed on his chest to move him back a bit. He was warm and clammy under my palms but it wasn’t lost on me that this was my first time touching the chest of a man who wasn’t what I considered ‘family’.

Micah had grunted but stayed quiet. I could feel him watching me.  

I took the shirt away from his side and with as much cold detachment as I could muster, poured alcohol onto the wound from the bottle he’d readied on the floor. He held is breath and despite him trying to be as silent as possible, he groaned in pain. I tried to ignore that horrible noise as I started sewing up his wound. He muffled his groans by biting his lips and punching the cot next to him. I glanced up at his face and his eyes were screwed shut. My God, he looked….vulnerable.

When I was done I fished around the floor for something that looked almost clean to press to his side. I knelt there as his breathing returned to normal and I chanced my luck by letting my eyes wander a bit more from the wound. I took in his stomach, his face, his hands. But in particular, his arms. They looked solid. And at that moment I felt myself blush.

I pushed myself up to standing and looked anywhere but his face. I nodded at nothing in particular and basically ran out of the tent.

That night I came on my fingers to the thought of biting Micah Bell’s strong biceps as he hovered above me. Couldn’t look him in the eye since then. Well until Colter. Had much bigger fish to fry then.

I was brought back to the present when I felt a weight lean against my arm. In my distraction, Micah had moved to sit next to me. Shoulder to shoulder.

“Oooh I remember” he drawled, facing forward, “remember you scurrying away quick as lightening as well” he mused further. He smelled of whiskey and cigarettes. Nothing new for the people around here. But he smelt of something else. Something spicy. Woody? Is that a thing people can smell like?

“I uh, remember you not wanting help. So thought I’d spare you the embarrassment of small talk.” I replied not looking when he turned his face towards me. Leaning in close to my ear.

“Hmm well ain’t that kind”, he whispered and I’m so very proud of the fact that I could keep the shiver I felt from showing. What on earth was happening here.

I turned to face him. “Well I’m a kind person”, I smiled. He pulled back and looked at me like I was a puzzle. Like my face was covered in a maze he couldn’t find a way out from. And while he looked at me, clearly trying to work out his next move. I made mine.

“Well, goodnight Mr Bell,” I proceeded to get up from my spot on the floor. “Thank you for the drink and your lessons on empathy. Even though I will ignore it.” I nodded and before he could respond, I walked to my tent with my head held high. I undid the flaps without looking his way and once I was alone, I threw myself onto my cot.

What the fuck was that?

That night I came on my fingers to the thought of being Micah Bell breathing against my neck.

What the hell am I doing…

[lihikainanea]

how would bill be if he had a dom drop? what do you think would trigger it?

Sweet nani, I hope you know I thought about this all day every day since ou sent it to me. I have so many thoughts on this, and it’s going to be a subplot in one of the longer pieces that I write, but forgive me as I get a few thoughts out on here.

I think, first and foremost, there are probably 2 primary scenarios where Good Dude Bill would get a biiiiig dom drop: when tiger says her safe word, and when she very much doesn’t.

First things first:  the first time tiger says her safe word. She has a safe word and she is 100000% encouraged to use it whenever she needs, whenever she wants, however often that she wants. Bill makes is so clear to her from the get go that he will never be disappointed or upset with her for saying her safe word, no matter how deep or how far along in their night they are. On the contrary, Bill would be really fucking mad with her if she needed to use it and she didn’t. But, on the other hand, the whole point of a safe word is never pushing tiger to the point where she needs to use it. Bill prides himself on knowing her, on being able to read her, on taking care of her, and all of that means that--in his mind, anyway--he should be able to tell when she needs a break long before she utters the word. So when she says her safe word, in Bill’s mind, he was so self-absorbed in his own pleasure that he didn’t notice she was distressed, that she was slipping, that she needed him to stop. And that--oh man, that crushes Bill. Not in the moment, mind you. The only thing that matters in the moment is that tiger said her safe word and that she needs care. She needs to stop, she needs comfort, she needs to feel like she’s safe again, she needs his focus and his help. And that’s what she gets--his undivided devotion, bringing her down and snapping her out of it.

But after? Maybe a few days later? Bill is in shambles. Because the only thing he’s retaining from that night is that tiger felt unsafe with him. felt hurt and distressed enough over things he did, that she needed to safe word. It should never get there. Bill hates himself for it, feels he can’t trust himself anymore with the privilege that she gives him every time she gets small with him, doesn’t trust his own judgment, and doesn’t want to be around her because he’s so scared that he’ll scare her again.

The second scenario, I think, is when he scared her physically and she doesn’t safeword. I wrote something a few weeks ago and my tired brain can’t remember the context of it (but if you do and you liked it/remember what I’m talking about, give me a reblog so I can post it here again would ya?). I had written that little blurb as if he was so angry one time that he actually scared her physically that way, in his anger, and I kind of hate that thought, so I’m taking this a different route.  Let’s say it’s during sex, and tiger is in an incredibly small headspace, and they’re a position where Bill is just fucking huge to her. And normally they both sort of get off on that kinda thing, and tiger was really enjoying it for awhile, but then she started slipping in a bad way. And Bill’s being rough because she begged for it that way, except somewhere along the line her headspace went totally south. And now Bill is being rough with her, and he’s fucking physically massive over her and he’s so goddamn strong, and tiger is terrified. She knows Bill would never hurt her, but she’s not in her right mind. And for some reason, maybe because she’s really just scared into total silence—she doesn’t say her safe word.

It takes Bill a beat or two to notice it, but he does eventually because tiger is crying and definitely not in a good way, and she’s almost shaking. Bill stops immediately, pulls out and then takes a big step away from her—creates distance. And god WHATTA GOOD DUDE—he probably does everything he can to appear smaller to her. Maybe he kneels on the floor, crouches up, just anything to not be that looming presence. It takes tiger awhile to snap out of it, but Bill is not laying a finger on her until she says “yes” when he asks if he can touch her. And again—the only thing on Bill’s mind right now is caring for her, getting her back on solid ground. But a few days later, Bill has a mega drop—because he doesn’t ever want her to be afraid of him, and because she let him go too far and didn’t tell him. He’s depressed for fucking days after, the only thing on his mind is that he scared her, that she didn’t know if he was going to hurt her or not. That she was actually scared of him. The thought destroyed him. When tiger gives him some TLC for a few days after, they have a long—and difficult—discussion about their dynamic. She sees how hurt Bill is, how much he hates himself, and Bill is able to explain that he’s so disappointed with himself that he made her feel that. But he’s also able to explain that he trusts her, depends on her, and the whole reason why their dynamic works and is fun is because it’s SAFE—and that he needs to know, needs to trust in the fact that if it’s getting too much for her, that she’ll stop it. He probably asks to stop the rough play for awhile, until his head is right for it.

Basically, I have thoughts and they all fucking break my heart.

[katedoesfics]

Lacuna | Chapter 2

The early spring morning was cool, but the rising sun promised warmth in the coming hours. Still, Kahli shivered in the damp, empty house. She cursed her father silently as she dressed quickly and trudged through the house. She spent most of the evening debating whether to return to Barnarock, but finally decided against it. Even though she was completely alone in Portia, she didn’t exactly have much back home, either. And her aunt was all too eager to get her out of the house.

It was time she get out into the world and make a life for herself. She needed to find purpose, to find her place in the world. She had no idea where to start, but perhaps this was a blessing in disguise. It felt like a slap in the face, but she would make the best of it. It sure beat the long boat ride back, anyway.

She knew she would need to make some money if she wanted to do anything, and though she didn’t have any particular set of skills, her father did leave her with notebooks upon notebooks of sketches and instructions. It seemed she would be a builder after all. At least it would bring in some money.

Her stomach growled. Money for food. And coffee. She desperately needed both.

She stepped outside into the warmth of the sun and took a moment to take in her surroundings. A vast wheat field was spread out in front of her just on the other side of the road. She could make out a few buildings beyond the field, and what looked to be several other fields lush with green grass. She could barely make out the shapes of cows and horses grazing quietly.

To her left was the road back to the harbor. She had a clear view of the ocean, the sun glittering on its surface. Green, rolling fields stretched on behind her house to the distance mountains. And the center of town, tucked in behind its tall walls, was to her right.

She stepped through the gate and casually checked the mailbox, as if expecting to find another note from her father, but it was empty. She sighed, then followed the road through the gates and into town.

It was early in the morning, but people milled about the streets, stepping out of their homes and chatting with one another. A few kids ran down a hill, laughing and shouting to one another with book bags on their backs. Across the plaza was a row of buildings, clearly marked. The first one read A&G, the second read Commerce Guild, and the third read Townhall.

Kahli made her way across the plaza, making eye contact with a few curious strangers. She offered them smiles in greeting, feeling shy and overwhelmed. She hurried across toward the commerce building, trotting up the steps and inside.

A young man stood behind a round desk, and he looked up when Kahli entered. He offered her a smile and a soft hello in greeting. As promised, Presley was waiting, and he immediately approached her.

“There you are! Glad you came by. How ar eyou settling in?”

“Alright,” Kahli said sheepishly.

“Good, good,” Presley said. “Let me introduce you to the commerce guild. We’re the organization that orchestrates trade across the entire Free Cities region. Naturally, this is the Portia branch. We're pretty busy throughout the year. Lots of people comission our builders here. So, if you’re looking to make some money, this is the place to be. Whatta ya say? Up for the challenge?”

“Guess I don’t have much of a choice,” Kahli said.

“Well,” Presley started, hesitant.

Kahli offered him a smile. She had to remind herself not to take her anger towards her father out on anyone else. “I mean,” she started. “I just… I’m not my father.”

Presley offered her a kind smiled. “Well, now,” he started. “There’s a place for everyone here in Portia. If you decide this isn’t for you, I’m sure we can find something else, hm?”

“I’m up to give it a try,” Kahli said. “How do I start?”

“Well, you’ll need to register your workshop with Mayor Gale. Once you do that, you can start taking commissions and earning some money. Come on, I’ll introduce you.”

Kahli followed Presley next door. A short, round man sat behind a large desk, and he stood as they entered.

“Gale,” Presley started. “This Is Kahli, Maurice’s daughter. She got in last night. Here to register with the commerce guild.”

“Ah, yes, of course,” Gale said excitedly. “Welcome to Portia, Kahli! I’m Gale, the mayor of this town. It is truly wonderful to see young people getting involved in the telesis of our society.”

Kahli smiled. “Portia is beautiful. I can’t believe my father never mentioned being here.”

Gale hesitated. “Well, we’re glad to have you here.” He turned to his desk and shuffled through some folders for a moment, then pulled out a few pages paperclipped together. He moved to Kahli and handed them to her.

“Let’s get you set up then, shall we? Just need you to fill out some information here. Here, have a seat.” He gestured to a chair in front of his desk and Kahli sat. She took up a pen and began filling out the information as Gale continued to speak, informing her of the weekly town wide meetings and rambling on about some of the citizens in town.

“You’ll get to know everyone quickly, I’m sure,” he said. “You’ll also see Arlo, Remington, and Sam around a lot. They’re part of the Civil Corps. They’re responsible for keeping Portia safe, though I’m sure you’re familiar with the Corps. And there’s Petra and Merlin at the research center just down the road, next to the school. They’ll be able to help provide diagrams for some of your commissions, so be sure to stop in when you get a chance.”

Kahli finished filling out the forms as he spoke. She signed her name at the end and handed them to Gale. “Petra and Merlin, got it.”

“Well, now,” Presley said. “You’re a bonafide workshop owner! Your father would have been proud!”

“Sure,” Kahli said with a shrug.

“Thanks for your help, Gale,” Presley said to the mayor. “I’ll take it from here.”

“Good luck, Kahli. I look forwad to having you around town.”

Kahli followed Presley back to the commerce guild, listening as he babbled on about the commission process. Inside, they stopped at a bulletain board.

“Commissions get posted here,” he explained to her. “Based on the speed and quality of your work, we make a ranking of the workshops every week. Here, see?”

Kahli bit her lip. “There are other workshops?”

“Yup! Adding yours, there will be five workshops in our jurisdiction. But I bet you’ll be number one in know time, just like your father.”

“Sure,” she muttered.

“Once you’re done with your orders, you can pick up the commission fee from Antoine if it’s from the guild or directly from whoever commissioned you.”

The young man behind the round desk looked up at the mention of his name and waved to Kahli.

“You’ll likely make most of your money through the guild, but you can build and sell directly to the market as well. And since you’re just starting out, I’ve saved a commission for you. Your first one.”

But before Kahli could take the page from Presley, the door opened and a man entered. He immediately sneered at them, then snatched the page from Presley’s outstretched hand.

“Playing favorites are we?”

“Higgins,” Presley said sternly. “Don’t you have enough work to keep you busy?”

“There are never too many commissions,” Higgins said. His gaze narrowed on Kahli before stepping out the door, letting it slam shut behind him.

“That’s Higgins,” Presley said, his jaw clenched. “He’s the owner of the current number one workshop. Brilliant businessman, but I don’t like the way he does things.” He sighed, then turned to Kahli. “I’m sorry, that was the last one for today.”

Kahli offered him a smile. It was starting to seem that her decision to start a life in Portia was the wrong choice to make. Fate, destiny, whatever it was, it was clear to her that this was not the path she should be on.

She opened her mouth to offer an excuse, already planning to leave in the middle of the night like she was never here (oh, how she wish that didn’t make her her father’s daughter…) when the door opened once more. This time, a tall, red headed man entered, and he grinned when he saw Presley and Kahli.

“Hey, Pres,” he started. “I’ve got a job for ya.”

“Well, whatta ya know. Everything happens for a reason, hm? Arlo. Perfect timing. This is Kahli. She’s new in town and I’m sure she’d love to take on a new challenge.”

“Excellent,” Arlo said. “We’re looking to build a bridge to Amber Island.”

“So Gale finally up up the money?”

“Yeah, he figured that place coule be a real tourist attraction, with the haunted cave and all.”

Presley turned to Kahli. “This is a big first project. Think you can handle it?”

“I think that Higgins guy could use a little competition.”

“I like this one,” Arlo said with a grin.

Kahli blushed and pulled her gaze away. “So,” she started. “How, uh, how do I do this?”

“Your father has built a few bridges for us in the past. I’m sure he has some notes somewhere. You’ll need to gather the materials, though. There are a couple ruins here you can use to get what you need. It’ll take a little mining.”

“You’ll build up those muscles in no time,” Arlo said with a nod, his arms folded.

Kahli looked down at her arms. She supposed she was lacking in that area. She blew her bangs out of her face. “What the hell did I get myself involved in?”

Presley laughed. “Nonsense,” he said, pushing her out the door. “I believe in you. Better get to work now, hm?”

“And be careful in those ruins,” Arlo called after her. “I don’t want to have to rescue any damsels in distress.”

Kahli turned to throw a comeback at him, but the door was already closed. She stood outside in the plaza, blinking at the door for a moment, then sighed. So, this was it. This was her life now in Portia.

[geralt-of-baevia]

*Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa starts playing in the distance*

#handsome

[jokers-sweethearts]

Jokers Daughter Fic: The Ousider Pt. 2

@fangirlfreakingout finally got it out, thank you for the love!

Part 1 here

////

Rose and Oswald snapped out of the dream world in each others eyes and looked over at where the doors of his club had been broken down. She saw the gold machine guns move their way through the smoke held by her father and Frost. Before she could do anything she saw Oswald pull a gun out from his jacket and point it at the doors and start to fire. The smoke cleared and she saw her fathers face turn to pure rage and point his weapon directly at Oswald. Rose flung her entire body in front of the man she had only found out existed a few moments ago.

The Joker quickly released his grip on the trigger and put his hand in front of Frost to stop him from firing. Oswald’s eyes widened and his jaw dropped slightly, he stared down at the back of Rose’s head and became enslaved by her scent and her commanding presence. What kind of girl can stop the joker from shooting? Oswald lowered his gun down and continued to stare at the woman in front of him. 

The whole club went into silence as the tension grew, no one dared to make the first move. Joker stared at his daughters eyes, they were like animals. He had never seen that look before, like she would attack him if he came closer. He was impressed but that was stomped by the fact that she had those eyes in defense of another man.

Jerome and Harley soon came rushing through the doors breaking the silence, they hesitated a moment to take in the scene. 

“Rose!” jerome screamed out “Get away from him” 

Oswald broke from looking at her hair and shot Jerome a sadistic glance and snarled slightly. Jerome ran right up to the stage past joker who was still frozen in curiosity. When he got to the stage he grabbed Rose’s arm and tried to pull her behind him, Oswald grabbed his shoulder to stop him. Jerome stared at it and began to laugh.

“So! The birdy wants to fight huh?” he turned to the empty club “Ladies and gentlemen the great Penguin wants to have a bit of a rumble! Whatta say?!” 

Rose saw the look on Oswald’s face turn from anger to dismay for a brief moment, she put her hand on top of his and removed it from Jerome’s shoulder before ripping her own arm from his grasp. When Oswald saw her he got more confidence.

“I believe, Rose” he looked over at her as he said her name, he could taste sweetness as it left his lips “would like to stay.” they locked eyes but it was deeper than the first time. Rose felt like she could be her true self in that moment and Oswald felt like he had finally found someone who could look right into his soul, and he liked it.

“The fuck she does Oswald. Come on Rose we have to go.” Jerome was now sternly whispering to her but she couldn’t pay attention to him, now that she new the dark haired mans name it was all she wanted to think about. 

Suddenly the three of them were separated by the shock of gun shots firing into the air. The Joker stepped in between them and took Rose’s hand in his, Oswald was taken aback by his presence and Joker put the gold tip of the gun to his throat.

“Tell me why I shouldn’t kill you.” he asked his icy blue eyes looking Oswald up and down. 

“Do it Mr. J!” Jerome interjected “Kill the bastard! Here I’ll help!” Jerome pulled a knife from his pocket.

“Shut up kid! Do I look like I need help, huh?” Joker smiled evilly at him, asserting his dominance. 

Rose felt her chest start to tighten up again and her heart rate skyrocket, she felt another attack coming on and wasn’t sure if she could stop it this time. She locked both her hands on her fathers arm and dug her nails into him.

“Enough! Dad stop it” she said, beginning to pant. 

Oswald immediately forgot about the threat posed in front of him and his eyes darted to her. Dad?

“No way, I’m just starting to have a little fun” Jerome raised the knife up and Oswald held his gun at him ready.

Rose slapped the knife out of Jerome’s hand surprising everyone. “I said enough!” 

Joker saw her the goosebumps rise up on her arm and noticed her breathing, he picked up her up in his arms knowing what was happening to her.

“Let’s go.” he shouted at Jerome, picking up his knife, and they started to head towards the door. Before the left Jerome turned around once more. He dragged the knife across his neck gently to send a signal. Oswald pointed his gun and him and mouthed the words ‘bang bang’ and smiled at him.

I fire ignited inside of him, he felt a confidence he hadn’t felt since he rebelled against Fish Mooney. A feeling that he wanted something other than power or revenge. The type of thing his mother told him would happen one day. A thousand ways he was going to get it started to run through his head.

Hours had passed since it all happened, the Jokers club was deserted and the staff was cleaning up the spilled drinks and trash off the floor. Joker and Harley sat in their booth discussing what had happened. After the panic attack Rose fell asleep in the back room. Joker was seething with curiosity and guilt, he wanted to wake her up and figure out what happened and why she ran to the Penguin and not him. Harley rubbed his back to try and comfort him.

“He’s bad news Harls. That rookie piece of shit Cobblepot. How the hell did she even find out about his place?” the Joker grinned his metal teeth together just thinking about his little girl near him. 

“Oh Puddin, maybe we did rush things. Jerome probably freaked her out.” Harley said

“They’ve known each other for years.” Joker growled at her “Don’t be ridiculous.”

“Not like how we presented him.” she snapped back

Joker took a deep breath and leaned back chugging his drink. “Well what do ya want huh? Want her to wind up with the Penguins crew?”��

Jerome listened off in the distance to what they were saying, he became infuriated that Harley would even question him. He wanted to march up to her and prove he wasn’t something to be doubted, but knew what those consequences would be. He had spent all these years getting close and plotting. He was going to get into the clown family. He snuck over to the door of where Rose was sleeping. He heard footsteps behind the door and walked right in.

“A knock would be nice.” She said sitting at the vanity when she saw his reflection walk in the mirror.

“After all these years? C’mon I don’t need your permission.” he clapped back laughing

“Like you didn’t need my permission to come see me perform? Or to grab my arm?” Rose was recovered from her anxiety attack and furious at the events of the night. She felt betrayed by her parents for lying to her, forcing what they wanted on her, and most of all interrupting what was happening at the Oswald’s. In order for her to stay calm she just kept picturing his fingers on the piano.

“I mean it’s a club I came to have a good time and you just happened to perform! As far as the birdy goes, I saved you.” Jerome walked up behind her.

“I didn’t need saving, I was very content there.” Rose stood up to keep distance between the two of them. Jerome got the hint that this wasn’t going anywhere.

“Rosie...Rosie....Rosie......” he danced around her name like he used to when they were kids. “It’s your birthday so I’ll let that slide, we got history so don’t act like I’m the big bad wolf. You knew this was going to happen one day.” he said confidently 

“We have history as friends. I went along with it for my parents.” Rose was speaking in a way that even surprised her, it was like those few moments with Oswald gave her strength she never knew she had.

“Oh c’mon beautiful...” Jerome walked over to her. “Don’t pretend.” he started to reach his hand up to her but she stopped him with hers.

“Leave please.” she walked back over to the vanity and started to light candles.

Jerome clicked his tongue against his teeth and made his way to the door. Before he left he looked at the clock on the wall, 12:01. 

“Ah see that? Ain’t your birthday anymore. So now I won’t let the attitude slide.” he shut the door and waited outside for a moment. He felt a weird sensation in his stomach. For a brief moment he thought he should go in and apologize, then he thought about how it wouldn’t help, then how it would, his mind was racing. He was thinking about how to make you happy instead of himself. He put both his hands on his abdomen. It was strangest thing he had ever felt, all this plans and strategies seemed to disappear from his mind, he touched the part of his hand where Rose had placed hers and traced it with his opposite fingers. His heart was beating and fluttering in a sensation he wasn’t used to, a smile covered his face only this time, it was genuine. 

Rose stood in the empty room going over the events in her head again, she started to hum ‘bye bye blackbird’ once again and think about Oswald. Oswald, Oswald, she couldn’t stop saying his name to herself. She went back into the same dream world she had been when she was on stage with him.

Oswald sat at the empty counter of his club. He had called butch to come fix the door. Butch was surprised at how happy Oswald was despite the destruction and no customers. Oswald sat there tapping his fingers on the wood of the bar. He couldn’t help but smile because he still had the scent of her perfume in his nose. Rose....Rose... Rose... her name echoed in his head just like the song she sang. Out of all the songs she could have known and he could have played, they met at that one. He was determined to find her. The Joker’s daughter, for anyone else that would intimidate but Oswald felt like he was lost when she wasn’t around and he had only known her for a few moments. His life was lit up in a way it hadn’t been since he was a child with his mother. He wanted to find her, play songs for her, introduce her to his mother, treat her well. He wanted to love her,

Butch headed outside of the club to make sure the door was opening and closing right when he heard a voice call his name. He turned to see his old pal, Johnny Frost.

“Jesus johnny ya scared me a bit. You know it’s bad for you to be here.” Butch said

“I know.” Frost said calmly. “But I need help, on behalf of the old days before we found out respective bosses.” 

“Ah hell johnny... you know what Cobblepot would do if he found out I was helpin Jokers guy? I mean I got respect for ya but...”

“Actually.” Frost cut him off. “This will help your boss in ways you couldn’t imagine. And save someone whose very important to me.”

[threeorphanpilgrimage]

Chapter 80 - Reactivity

Clementine rolled over yet again and saw Sarah was still asleep, then turned away and stared at the window. She was relieved to finally see clear signs of the sun rising but still felt dawn couldn't come soon enough. This night had been one of the longest of her short life, with Clem repeatedly trying to fall asleep only for her racing mind to keep her awake with questions she didn't have answers for.

How could she be in love with Sarah? Clem kept trying to rationalize it as not possible. She was drunk last night, except she hadn't been, she had barely drunk any whiskey. She couldn't be in love because she didn't know what it felt like, except it was just like Patty had described, like lightning. Why would she fall in love with Sarah now and never before? Clem didn't know, she just knew that she had.

Every waking moment Clem's head wasn't filled with frustrating questions were ones filled with thoughts of Sarah. The loving concern in her voice when she spoke, the look she made when she worried, the way she'd tease Clem when they played chess, all of it Clem couldn't stop revisiting, searching for some clue that perhaps Sarah was in love with her as well. It was utterly maddening for Clem and made worse that she couldn't even turn her head without risking becoming captivated by Sarah's beauty.

Her sweet smile, those soft big brown eyes, that gorgeous hair, her ripe skin, those strong arms and toned legs, all of it was utterly intoxicating and Clem had to resist the urge to pull back the covers for a better look at Sarah's sleeping form. She couldn't even look at Sarah's face for more than a few seconds before feeling an overwhelming urge to kiss her on the lips. And feeling her breathing beside her, Clem wanted nothing more than to just reach out and touch Sarah, but didn't.

Suddenly it didn't feel right, it was different somehow from all the other times she had held Sarah in the past. Anytime she inched closer to make contact she suddenly remembered Mick, and how he had forced Sarah to kiss him, and how horrible it was for her. Anytime she stared at Sarah for too long she thought about when she was in the bath and thought Jet was watching her, and how awful that made her feel. Clementine suddenly understood why people did these things, how their urges compel them to act in a way that hurts the same people they desire, which just left Clem feeling ashamed because no matter how hard she tried, she still couldn't banish these temptations from her own mind.

Probably the greatest urge Clem struggled to resist was waking up Sarah and just saying 'I'm in love with you' to her face. The longer she tried to deny it the more certain Clementine had become. Now, with the sun coming up, Clem realized she would have to make a decision on whenever to tell Sarah or not. She had tried to hold onto the hope that Sarah was in love with her too, that she'd tell her and suddenly everything they had would become greater than it had ever been before.

But anytime Clem tried to entertain the hopeful notion of her and Sarah being in love together, something else would rise to the top of her mind. Jet said people usually don't have crushes on ten-year-olds. Devlin didn't like Patty the way she did because he couldn't like girls that way. Patty said her friend became angry at her when she dared to tell him she didn't love him, and they couldn't be friends after that. Is that how Sarah would act if Clem told her she was in love with her? Is that how Clementine would act if Sarah told her she wasn't in love with her?

These questions tore at Clem with every passing minute, picking at her every unpleasant thought like fingernails picking at scabs. The mere idea that this revelation could possibly end their friendship made Clementine feel sick. She kept telling herself she couldn't risk telling Sarah how she felt, but no amount of rationalizing could change Clementine's actual feelings. Like Patty had said, being in-love changed everything, and even in the few hours since that change, Clem already felt this horrible weight upon her as she contemplated denying her feelings to preserve what she already had.

Turning her head again, Clem watched as Sarah stirred under the covers. Seeing her roll over in place, Clem's chest-tightened as she watched Sarah blink her eyes.

"Sarah," whispered Clem. "Are you up?"

Sarah didn't answer immediately, instead only yawning softly. Clem tried to think of what to say next when she heard a couple of dull thuds in the distance. Sitting up, Clem could see it was dawn now, but looking out the window there wasn't a cloud in the sky. Just then there were a couple of loud cracks that sounded like they came from inside the house. Panic shot through the girl's veins like electricity as she heard a sudden stomping sound charging right towards their door.

"Clem?" mumbled Sarah. "What's that—ahh!"

A thunderous crashing filled the room as the door burst off its hinges and a tall man wielding a long rifle came charging in. Sarah screamed as he rushed to the bed and yanked the covers off with a single sudden swipe of his hand, leaving a nearly naked Clem to rush into Sarah's trembling arms for whatever meager privacy and comfort they could provide. Sarah was choking back panicked sobs while a paralyzed Clem could only stare at the rifle barrel pointed at her head.

"Jesus…" Clem heard the man say, too afraid to even look up at his face. "You're just kids." His voice sounded surprised, but before Clem could get a good look at him, there was another voice calling from outside.

"Ethan!" she heard someone unfamiliar yell. "Whatta you got?"

"A couple of kids!" yelled the man as he turned away and moved to the door.

"There's another one in here," called the other voice. "Just… round them up and bring them downstairs; I'm gonna search what's left of the house."

The man, Ethan presumably, turned around. Clem was surprised to see he didn't look much older than Patty or Anthony. Dressed in a shabby pocketed vest that hung off his slender frame while he held a rifle, Clem couldn't help thinking he looked like a sickly Byron. His eyes darted downward at where Clem was lying with Sarah, then he averted his gaze. "Get dressed," he said, sounding flustered. "Then wait outside."

"Wuh-what do you want from us?" croaked a terrified Clem as she clung to a still sobbing Sarah.

"We're not here to hurt you."

"Wuh-why are you here?" blurted out Sarah. "If… if you don't want to hurt anyone?"

"I said we're not here to hurt you." Clem shuddered as she saw a heavier man with a shotgun walk past the door. "Now get dressed." Ethan stepped out of the room and Clem darted to the dresser. She put on her clothes as fast as she could, barely able to thread her legs into her pants while her hands were shaking so badly. Slipping a shirt on and grabbing her bracelet, Clem spun around to see Sarah struggling to put her pants on. Approaching her, Clem could hear Sarah crying as tears streamed down her face

"Are you okay?" whispered a trembling Clem.

"No," she whispered back through her tears. "Wuh-what's going on?"

"I… I don't know," admitted Clem.

"I… I just wanna wake up," cried Sarah as she rubbed her head. "I… this can't be happening. I… I feel so sick… I…" Sarah snapped her head forward suddenly and puked onto the floor. "I… I'm sorry," mumbled a quivering Sarah through her own spittle.

"It's okay, it's okay," insisted a terrified Clem as she guided Sarah onto to the bed. "Just get dressed." Clem rushed over to the dresser and grabbed Sarah's glasses. She passed them to her friend just as she finished putting her pants on. Taking the glasses, Clem was disturbed by how badly Sarah's hands were shaking.

"I… I'll get our shoes." Clem hastily scooped their socks and shoes off the floor just as Sarah reached over to the other dresser. Clem watched as Sarah hastily stuffed the folded note Clem gave her and Anthony's necklace into her pockets. Putting her shoes on, Clem suddenly tried to think if there was anything she should take with her, but couldn't concentrate long enough to think of anything. Instead, she found herself just staring at Sarah as she put her shoes on.

"I'm in… I… I mean… I love you." Clem shot forward and turned her head just in time to kiss Sarah's cheek instead of her lips.

"I—"

"Hey!" Both girls gasped as they heard the man outside shout. "If you're not out here in the next ten seconds I'm coming back in there."

Clem hurriedly tied her shoes before rushing outside, guiding Sarah by the hand as she did. The second they stepped outside, Clem noticed Jet sitting on the floor, his face racked with terror and his arms wrapped around himself.

"Okay." Clem turned her head and the first thing she saw was that long black rifle in Ethan's hands. Looking up, she saw a stern look on the man's face, but also noticed a hint of apprehension tugging at the corners of his eyes. "All three of you, go downstairs, slowly."

Clem forced her wobbly knees to start moving, practically dragging Sarah forward. Each step was followed by two more behind them, one from Jet, and the other from Ethan, the man holding them hostage. The sound of those feet on the hardwood stairs was sickening, and the faint scent of vomit from Sarah was making Clem feel even worse. With every single step, Clem was terrified that she would just collapse and the only thing that kept her standing was the fear of what would happen if she did.

"You three, go sit on the couch."

Clem found herself gravitating towards the couch without thinking. She sat down on the end of it and immediately felt Sarah sitting down beside her, her whole body shaking and her eyes wide open in terror. Clem squeezed her hand and wrapped her free arm around the girl. Looking over at Jet, she could see him shuddering in fear too. Before Clem could say anything, Sarah reached over and grabbed Jet's hand, and then he almost immediately moved his free arm around Sarah and grasped Clem's hand, providing her with a much-needed shred of comfort.

"We're not going to hurt you," assured Ethan, a bit of guilt hanging in his voice as he spoke. "Just stay still and this will—"

"Who are you going to hurt?" Jet asked suddenly, barely able to control the fear in his voice. "You keep saying you won't hurt us, but then why are you here?"

Ethan looked at Jet, then turned away. "We're just here to square some business, not hurt children."

"Yuh-you are hurting us," stuttered Sarah, trying her best not to cry. "This… this… this hurts. I'm… I'm so scared and…" Clem felt sicker as she heard Sarah struggling to breathe.

"Well… just be patient, and it'll be over soon."

"What will?"

Before Ethan could answer, the front door creaked open. Clem watched in distress as Sin came walking through, his hands raised in the air as he was lead forward by a man with a short gray beard and a pistol. This was an older man, maybe older than Sin, and his wrinkled dark skin just made him look like he dried up in the sun one day like a raisin.

"Jet!" Sin said as he laid eyes on the boy.

"Granddad!"

"Easy now!" instructed the older man in a stern but non-threatening voice as he placed a hand on Sin's shoulder. "Like I said, no one is gonna hurt him, and if you just cooperate this will be easier for everyone, all right?"

"Cooperate with what?" Clem found the fear in Sin's voice disturbing; she had never heard him sound so frightened.

"I'll explain in a minute, as soon as everyone's here." Not long after the man said that, Clem spotted Devlin out of the corner of her, creeping closer from the kitchen door. She briefly thought he was raising a gun, only for him to move close enough for her to see his hands were also raised in surrender as he was marched into the room at gunpoint by a short woman with a bandana wrapped around her head.

"Both of you, just stand over there by the fireplace," instructed the bearded man, always keeping a wide cushion of space between himself and his hostages. "We don't want to hurt you if we don't have to, but—"

"Ahh!" Clem turned her head in time to see Anthony being tossed past the front door. He was immediately followed by a tall woman with broad shoulders in a long trench coat. There was a raw intensity in her dark eyes as she glared at Anthony and her hand moved so fast Clem barely saw the woman snapping at his shirt collar. "Get up!" She growled as she yanked a disoriented Anthony off the floor. "And get over there with the others!" She shoved Anthony forward towards the fireplace, causing him to nearly trip onto the floor again before Devlin caught him mid-fall.

"What happened?" asked Sin as Devlin helped Anthony regain his balance.

"She… she head-butted me," he mumbled, sounding woozy.

"Dammit Fan," said the bearded man. "I—"

"Don't start with me Sayid." As she pointed at the bearded man, Clem could see the woman was wearing body armor under her trench coat. "This little fucker tried to bite me on the way in," said Fan as she pulled a sawed-off shotgun from under her coat. "We should have just stormed this place guns blazing in the first place instead of listening to you."

"If we had we'd have three dead children on her hands right now," noted Sayid as he eyed the couch.

"Wait, where's Omid?" Sarah blurted out suddenly.

"Who's Omid?" asked Sayid.

"He's—" Sarah went silent as she heard what Clem also heard; Omid crying in the distance.

"Hey!" Ethan raised his gun as Clem and Sarah instinctively jumped off the couch.

"You have to let us go to him!" demanded Clem.

"Sit down!" repeated Ethan as Fan raised her shotgun.

"You don't understand, he's…"

Everyone turned to see Patty cradling a sobbing Omid in her arms as she slowly entered the room, a rather apprehensive looking slim man with a gun following behind them.

"I'm sorry it took so long," the man said to Sayid. "But she had… him."

"It's all right." Sayid turned to Patty, who could only stand there in terror as she clung to a still bawling Omid. "Just stand over there with your friends."

"Let us take him!" demanded Sarah.

"He's scared!" yelled Clem.

"I'll just—"

"Just stand over by the fireplace," Sayid ordered Patty. "No one's gonna hurt your baby but I'm gonna have to insist you all kept your distance from each other right now."

Patty reluctantly moved over to the fireplace, doing her best to calm Omid while the big man Clem saw earlier came marching back in from the kitchen, a shotgun still gripped in his hands. Getting a better look at him, she could see he had an unkempt black beard and a filthy flannel shirt that matched the worn and torn jeans he was wearing. Although he was heavier looking than the others, he still didn't appear well-fed, with his sleeve seemingly dangling off his arms.

"You find anyone Oscar?" asked Sayid.

"Nah, there was seven of them, just like he said."

"Actually, there was eight." Sayid gestured to Omid, who was still whimpering softly in Patty's arms. Clem was surprised to see this seemed to disturb Oscar as he his vicious scowl suddenly was replaced with a look of shock.

"You two," said Sayid as he turned to the slim man and the woman in the bandana. "You keep watch outside and yell if you see anything. Already we see that we were given… incomplete information; we can't rule out there might be more people here."

"Got it." The woman gestured to the man and they quickly headed back outside, leaving the group with their remaining captors; Ethan, Oscar, Fan, and Sayid.

"What do you people want from us?" asked Devlin as calmly as he could.

"It's the farm, isn't it?" concluded a nervous Patty. "Just let us go and you can have it."

"They want us alive," realized Sin. "Because they know they need someone to maintain it."

"What we want is justice for one of our own," announced Sayid. "Now—"

"Which one of you did it!" barked Oscar, prompting Omid to start crying. "Which… which one of you…" Clem watched in disbelief as the unbridled hostility on his face suddenly mutated into a look of tearful regret. "Which… which one of you killed Pedro?" Oscar barely managed to say before turning away in tears.

"We… we don't know what you're talking about," muttered Patty.

"Don't lie to us!" bellowed Oscar again, which provoked a hysterical squealing from Omid. "He knows what you did! He wrote it all down in his log! It… was the last thing he ever wrote."

"Although he left out a lot of details," noted Ethan. "He mentioned seven people, but not that three were kids and that there was also a baby here."

"He didn't have time," argued a blubbering Oscar as he looked at Ethan. "Writing all that shit in code while… while… while, dying, he… he didn't have time."

"If you people don't want to hurt kids, then you should know I'm only seventeen," announced Anthony, his usual bravado overshadowed by the quaking fright in his voice. "I—"

"Tried to bite me," reminded Fan in a stern voice.

"And so you can stand right there!" dictated Oscar.

"Stop yelling!" pleaded Patty as she tried to comfort the hysterical toddler. "He's upset enough as it is." Clem felt sick as she listened to Omid cry so hard he could barely breathe. She turned and directed an angry glare at Oscar. Much to her surprise, he actually looked ashamed in response.

"Why don't you just let me do the talking?" Sayid looked at Oscar, who then wandered off into a corner. "We found Pedro a few days ago, not far from here," explained Sayid in a calm voice as he looked at everyone standing in front of the fireplace. "He was just walking around as… one of those things."

"I'm sorry for your loss," spoke a sincere Devlin. "But if Pedro really did write down everything in his log, then he must have written that we let him go; we didn't kill him."

"Bullshit you didn't!" yelled Oscar in a forced whisper.

"Pedro said you people let him go," informed Sayid. "He also said he started feeling sick right after he left this place."

"What?" asked Sin in surprise.

"He looked okay when he left," recalled a nervous Devlin.

"We can't help it if he got sick after he left," added Patty.

"Don't bullshit us," stated Fan. "Pedro was fine before he came here, then right after leaving he starts feeling dizzy, then tired, then he passes out and—"

"And he wrote every bit of it down," said Oscar, practically crying now. "That… that last part he wrote… he was so scared he couldn't even use the code… he said he… he knew he was going to die." Oscar suddenly leaned on Fan as he began sobbing loudly.

"Get ahold of yourself," insisted an irritated Fan as she shoved Oscar off.

"He told us," cried Oscar. "He said he wasn't ready. We should have listened to him."

"You people poisoned him," accused Ethan. "He was just a boy, he never hurt anyone."

"He fucking shot me!" retorted Patty.

"Liar!" bellowed an angry Oscar.

"I can show you the scar!" insisted Patty as she found herself rocking Omid after Oscar's latest outburst caused him to start crying again.

"Is that why you poisoned him?" asked Sayid. "He nearly killed one of you?"

"We didn't poison Pedro," stated Devlin.

"We couldn't," argued Sin. "We only fed him vegetables we grow in our field, and he would have noticed if we put anything in them."

"This the same field you're keeping your latest victim tied up in?" asked Fan. "Or was he the last person who came here before Pedro?"

"That's just a walker we found in a city," informed Clem. "We leave it out there to scare away the birds."

"A likely story," scoffed Sayid.

"Have you ever tried to grow your own food?" asked Sarah.

"No, but—"

"Then what the hell do you know about taking care of a farm?" accused Sarah in a forceful tone. "I used to have to chase away crows every morning and after every meal just so they wouldn't eat everything out there."

"And you people don't have any issues with tying up someone's living corpse just because you can't be bothered to deal with birds?" asked Fan. "Hacking people up just to use as a scarecrow doesn't strike me as sane."

"They're not people," argued Jet. "Not anymore."

"Yeah, I imagine a cult who'd write a book about dicing up corpses to ritually smear yourselves with their innards probably would think like that," said Fan in a judgmental tone as she looked at the four accused. "That another one of your tricks? Hoping if your poison didn't finish Pedro off he'd follow those suicidal suggestions you gave him? Or do you sickos really just believe in that nonsense? Which one of you wrote that disgusting thing anyway?"

"I did." Fan raised a single eyebrow as she looked over at Jet. "And do you really think I'd go through the trouble of typing and printing over fifty pages just to trick someone?"

"Be a pretty good way to sell your little commune's dogma, dressing it up like it's an actual guide," reasoned Fan. "Or maybe it's just an elaborate way to sell your lie, trick other survivors into killing themselves to eliminate possible competition. It is printed, so I doubt that was the only one you printed."

"I printed those to help people," retorted Jet. "And everything I wrote in them is true."

"Really?" scoffed Fan, almost laughing at Jet. "Those things don't notice people if you just paint yourselves with their blood?"

"Nope."

"Prove it."

"I'll walk outside and cover myself in that walker's blood right now if you want!" challenged Jet. "And it'll forget I was ever there!"

Fan opened her mouth to speak, but said nothing. Jet stared angrily at her and Clem noticed her confidence melted away as she turned to Sayid suddenly for answers, who appeared just as confused as she did.

"I know what it sounds like," spoke Devlin as he looked at Sayid. "I thought they were crazy too when they told me about it, but it absolutely does work."

"It's the only reason I've stayed alive for so long," interjected Clem. "How many other kids have you seen still alive who are as young as me? People as little as me don't stand much chance against walkers if they notice you…"

"We put that guide together to help others survive, and we gave it to Pedro because we thought his people could use it," explained Devlin as he turned to look at Sayid. "We're just a group of people trying to stay alive. I imagine you are too. If you weren't, you wouldn't have thought twice about just killing us in our sleep." Sayid didn't respond to Devlin.

"This… this can't be right," stuttered Fan, sounding conflicted.

"Fan…"

"It's some sort of trick Sayid."

"Fan."

"It has to be!"

"Fan!" Sayid glared at Fan, who grimaced in response but said nothing. "Regardless of that… revelation," Sayid said to the others. "You have to understand, from where I'm sitting, I'm still wondering about what kind of people would tell a boy they'd let him live, then kill him."

"We didn't kill Pedro," stated Devlin.

"We spent a lot of time arguing about it, and in the end we decided to let him go," added Patty as she adjusted her grip on Omid.

"If you were arguing, that means some of you wanted to kill him," reasoned Sayid. "And that means, you didn't have to elect to kill him as a group; just one of you could have done it, maybe behind the others' backs."

Sayid's words were followed by a tense silence. Being held hostage was traumatic enough for Clem, but the revelation that one of the others could have been responsible for murdering Pedro added an entirely new level of panic to this entire horrifying ordeal.

"We just want justice for Pedro," informed Sayid, sounding unsure for the first time since he started speaking. "And, if one of you was willing to commit murder behind their allies' backs, then I imagine the rest of you might be relieved if he wasn't amongst your numbers anymore."

"Or her," said Oscar as he eyed Patty.

"I think it was him," Fan gestured to Devlin. "He seems to have an answer ready for everything, and he doesn't even sound that worried compared to the others."

"I am worried," assured Devlin. "Worried what you people will do if I raise my voice or say the wrong thing."

"Devlin voted to let Pedro go," argued Jet.

"Which means some of you voted to kill him," concluded Sayid.

"No, we all agreed to let him go in the end."

"Then why did you single him out as voting to let Pedro go?" Jet opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came out. "I've been watching him carefully," said Sayid as he gestured to Anthony. "He didn't look as surprised as the other three when Oscar said Pedro was dead, and he's been real quiet this entire time."

"I'm quiet because I don't want to get shot," spoke a nervous Anthony. "And hearing your guy died isn't as surprising as waking up to be taken hostage."

"What about the older guy?" suggested Ethan. "He seemed pretty insistent it'd be impossible to poison Pedro earlier."

"I didn't say it was impossible, I said he would notice," corrected a nervous Sin. "It's just common sense."

"You were also the only one who said anything when Oscar told you Pedro was dead," recalled Ethan. "My momma always said the guilty dog barks."

"Your mother was a fool!" retorted Sin a harsh voice. "If I had killed Pedro then why would I be surprised to learn of his death? I'd be the one person who would have expected this."

"Maybe you knew we'd know that and faked being surprised to throw us off."

"This is absurd!" barked Sin, practically fuming as he looked at Sayid. "You… you don't know me—you don't know any of us! You just come in here, take us all hostage, and demand one of our heads for something we didn't do!" Sin glared at Sayid. "You don't care about Pedro, none of you do!"

"You shut your fucking mouth!" demanded Oscar.

"This is all just a show—a flimsy pretext to serve as justification for taking our farm."

"We're not doing that," insisted Sayid.

"Wait, what?" asked Fan. "I'm sorry, when did you make that decision?"

"I knew it," scowled Sin. "You just wanted our farm. I'm sure Pedro described it carefully; how else would you have known you had the right place to knock in the doors of?"

"We had expected something quite… different from what Pedro described in his journal," said Sayid. "But we just want justice for him. Help us find out who killed him, and we'll leave."

"Leave?" repeated Fan. "But, that field—"

"Isn't ours, and we're not thieves," stated Sayid.

"We need it," insisted Ethan. "This wasn't the plan."

"The plan was we'd find out what happened to Pedro," insisted Sayid.

"Are you willing to tell Octavius that?" asked Fan. "That we came back empty-handed because you cared more about Pedro's killers than the rest of us?"

"Octavius put me in charge of this outing for a reason," retorted Sayid. "We're not avenging one child by starving four others."

"So what the hell are we doing?" asked Fan.

"We find the one who killed Pedro and leave, with them."

"And what happens to them?" asked Devlin.

"They kill him." Sin looked down at the floor, then looked up suddenly. "Take me."

"Granddad!"

"You're confessing?" asked Sayid.

"Yes, the others had nothing to do with it."

"I knew it," proclaimed Ethan.

"You don't know shit," retorted Fan. "He's obviously lying."

"How'd you do it?" asked an unconvinced Sayid.

"What's it matter?" retorted Sin with a shrug.

"It matters because I'm not condemning a man on what sounds like an obvious lie," insisted Sayid.

"Why not?" challenged Sin. "You've taken a bunch of innocent people and their children hostage, what do you really care who you bring back? Just so long as you have someone to show for your dead."

"Grandad stop it!" pleaded Jet.

"I'm old… I have less to lose than anyone else here."

"Granddad!"

"Is it possible, however unlikely, whatever happened to Pedro was a coincidence?" suggested Devlin as he raised his voice. "Like Sin said, he would have noticed if we put anything in his food, if our guide misled him he surely would have written that in his log before he died, and like Jet said, we can prove to you everything in it is true if you want."

"It still seems like quite a coincidence," concluded Sayid. "That he just died right after he left the people who had reason to kill him."

"I don't know what else to tell you," confessed Devlin. "Maybe he caught something, some nasty sickness that's broken out amongst all the dead bodies. Maybe he had some kind of condition, like an aneurysm. Maybe… he cut his foot on an infected's teeth, like an already dead one just lying in the dirt, and he didn't even realize it, and… that killed him."

"Could… could that happen?" asked Ethan, sounding worried. "I mean, if they're dead, like for good, wouldn't it not work anymore?"

"You think you can't catch a disease off a corpse?" scoffed Fan.

"If it was that simple, then why have none of us ever died from fighting those things except when they bite us?" retorted Ethan. "Even that one scratching me that one time didn't do shit, it's only the bites."

"I always figured it was something in the salvia, like rabies," said Oscar.

"When have you ever seen one of them salivating?" asked Sayid.

"I don't get close enough to their mouths to check," retorted Oscar.

"Can they even salivate anymore?" asked Ethan.

"They still eat," reminded Fan with a shrug.

"Yeah, even after you blow them in half and they don't even have a stomach anymore," added Ethan. "No reason to think they need whatever gland makes you salivate anymore either."

"Then how the hell do the bites kill people?" asked Oscar.

"Who's to say?" answered Sin. "Everything we know about the walkers conflicts what we thought we knew about the world. I speculated it could be something reacting with the calcium in their teeth, and it might also be in their bones, but none of us ever stopped to test it."

"There's been enough death as it is, and I'm sorry to hear there was another one, especially with someone so young," Devlin told Sayid. "Let's not have anymore."

Sayid sighed as he rubbed his face.

"You can't seriously be considering just going," objected Fan.

"We can't just kill someone without evidence," concluded Sayid.

"We have evidence," insisted Oscar. "Pedro himself—"

"He wrote he was scared, and he didn't know what was happening," stated Sayid. "Just that it might have been the people who let him go who did something, but he wasn't sure."

"But—"

"That's what he wrote," repeated Sayid. "He wasn't sure."

"They have to have done something," insisted Fan. "That guide in Pedro's pack, they could have laced it with something."

"With what?" asked Sayid with a wave of his hand.

"What about that wine we found in his pack?" asked Fan. "That easily could have been from here, they could have poisoned it."

"Wine?" repeated Anthony before looking at Patty. "Didn't you give him a bottle of wine right before he left?"

"Is that true?" asked Sayid as he looked at Patty.

"Yeah, I gave it to him as a going away gift," said Patty.

"And you told him to try it," recalled Jet. "Even though he didn't drink."

"It was just a suggestion," insisted Patty. "I figured it might help with her nerves after what happened."

"She did it," concluded Oscar.

"It would make sense," realized Ethan. "She did say Pedro shot her."

"Jesus Christ, I just gave him a goodbye gift," stated Patty. "How the hell would I go about poisoning a bottle of fucking wine anyway?"

"Anti-freeze," Clem said out loud without thinking. "You… you told me it tastes sweet, and that your dog drank it not knowing it was bad, and it killed him."

"She gave him the red wine," added Devlin. "What color—"

"It's red," finished Sin. "That's the color of the anti-freeze she uses in our vehicles."

"Patty," spoke a shocked Sarah. "You—"

"No!" denied Patty loudly.

"Really?" asked Clem in disbelief. "You didn't poison Pedro?"

"I swear to God I didn't!" spoke a heartbroken Patty as Omid started crying again. "Jesus Christ Clem, haven't I always been honest with you? Have I ever lied to you once since we became friends? Even once?"

"You… you haven't," realized Clem.

"I think we've heard enough," insisted Oscar as he grabbed Patty's arm, prompting Omid to start screaming.

"No!"

"She didn't do!" protested Clem as she jumped off the couch.

"Sit back down!" yelled Ethan.

"You're gonna make me drop him!" Oscar let go of Patty but refused to move away from her as she grabbed hold of Omid. "Jesus Christ at least… at least let me put him back in his crib?" Patty pled to Sayid. "He's scared half to death and he's needed a diaper change since he woke up. Just let me do that, just let me change him and put him to bed. You said you wouldn't hurt him and that's all you've done since this has started."

Sayid looked at Patty for a moment, then turned to Oscar. "Go with her and watch her, carefully."

"Got it." Oscar turned to Patty, carefully raising his shotgun before looking down at Omid. "Where do you keep the diapers?"

"Over there, in the closet," said Patty. "I'll show you."

"Slowly," urged Oscar as he followed behind his Patty, his shotgun aimed at her back.

"We don't know she did it," Devlin whispered to Sayid.

"She didn't," whispered Clem a little louder. "I'm sure."

"You both sounded sure she had a minute ago," noted Sayid.

"We were wrong," stated a guilt-ridden Jet.

"Patty's a good person," insisted Sarah.

"I can tell you people don't want to believe one of your own would murder a boy," spoke an emphatic Ethan. "But it's looking like she wasn't as good a person as you thought."

"We don't know she killed Pedro," insisted Sin. "The wine, if you still have it, we can find a way to test—"

"I made sure to pour it out after we found Pedro, in case it was poisoned," informed Fan. "Good thing I did."

"You can't just take her away like that," Devlin stressed to Sayid. "Not without knowing for sure."

"I haven't decided anything yet and I'm not gonna do anything hasty," reassured Sayid. "When she gets back we'll—"

"Hey, drop it!"

Clem stood up on the couch and spun around in time see Oscar raising his gun as Patty whipped out something in front of him with her free hand.

"Oscar!" said Fan as she aimed at Patty. "What—"

Patty turned and spit something at Fan. Landing on the floor at the woman's feet, Clem could see it was a metal ring attached to a straight piece of metal.

"Get the fuck back, all of you!" ordered Patty as she held out the grenade in one hand while clutching a whimpering Omid in the other. "You try anything and I drop this, then we're all dead!"

"God dammit Oscar!" said Ethan as he abandoned his post at the couch to join Fan.

"I told you—"

"She just grabbed it the second she opened the closet," defended Oscar as Sayid joined them.

"You should have shot her!" said Fan as she kept her gun trained on Patty as she inched towards the couch, Omid crying every step of the way.

"And risk killing the baby?"

"Better it than us!" Patty reached the couch and immediately shifted Omid towards it.

"Quick, take him," whispered Patty, not even trying to hide the terror in her voice. Sarah grabbed Omid and Patty immediately hurried away from the couch and took several steps towards her attackers.

"That's far enough!" ordered Fan as she placed herself in front of the others and aimed right at Patty.

"You know how this works?" taunted Patty. "The second I let go of the handle, the fuses starts and then a few seconds after that you'll all be dead."

"You with us," reminded Ethan as he aimed his gun at Patty.

Clem noticed the downstairs closet was still open and remembered there was a pistol still stored in there. Seeing Patty stand before four armed people with nothing but a grenade in her hand, Clem felt compelled to act. As the others slowly inched towards the front door, Clem started creeping towards the closet.

"Just drop it!" ordered Oscar.

"No you dipshit!" yelled Fan. "That's the last thing we want her to do!"

"Seriously, how do you think you're gonna get out of this alive?" Ethan asked Patty. "Even if you do drop that grenade, it'll kill you too."

"Better than just me like you fuckers wanted!"

"And risk all your own people's lives as well?" challenged Sayid. "You could just as easily get them killed as well with that thing."

"If you're you so worried about our welfare, fucking leave!"

"Not without Pedro's killer," demanded Oscar. "If you really gave a shit about your people you'd come along quietly."

"I didn't fucking kill Pedro!"

"Someone did," insisted Sayid.

"And if we come back empty-handed, or don't come back at all, the next group of people sent out here isn't gonna bother with all this talk," informed Fan with a sinister smile. "They'll just shoot you."

"Fine, you want someone so bad? Take him," Patty gestured to Anthony as he neared the front door.

"Patty!" exclaimed Sarah.

Clem watched as everyone turned to look at Anthony and saw her opportunity. She inched along the walls and started moving towards the closet.

"If anyone here killed Pedro, it was him," accused Patty as Clem reached the closet. "I don't know how but it's just the kind of thing he would do." Clem placed her hand on the pistol. "He was the one who kept saying we had to kill him, over and over again."

"I said we don't want him leaving or he'd bring a bunch of his friends back to kill us," corrected Anthony as Clem grabbed hold of the pistol's magazine next. "If anyone ever listened to me, we wouldn't be in this mess."

"Son-of-bitch!" Clem looked over to see Fan staring right at her as she removed the pistol and its magazine from the closet; she raised her shotgun.

"No!" Clem held up her hands as there was a deafening bang.

"Ahh!" yelled Patty after darting in-between Fan and Clem. Clem watched in horror as blood was pouring down Patty's left arm, and then Clem noticed the grenade bouncing across the floor as its handle popped off.

"Shit!" Patty kicked the grenade towards Sayid's people as everyone started running. Clem only made it a few steps towards the front door when there was a deafening explosion and Clem stumbled, the gun flying out of her hands as she did. She was about to stand up when there was a second, even louder explosion and Clem felt something slam her back onto the floor.

Everything became silent except for a horrible ringing that made Clem's head hurt. Pulling herself off the floor, everything felt like it was moving in slow motion. Clem saw the legs of someone running out the front door as she stood up. She looked over her shoulder and turned away as soon as she saw the black smoke pouring out of the now flaming kitchen. Trying to run from the flames, Clem stumbled and found herself painfully colliding into the ground again.

She could feel the heat from the flames behind her and before she could stand up again, felt something pulling on her arm. She looked up to see Jet helping her to her feet. She saw his mouth move as he said something, but couldn't hear it over the ringing in his ears. Instead, she followed his lead and went sprinting for the front door. It almost felt like the door wasn't getting any closer no matter how fast she ran, but then suddenly Clem burst past the threshold.

The morning sun was blinding, but only for a second. After her eyes adjusted, Clem felt a rumbling under her feet and turned her head just in time to see Anthony's truck smashing through the gate. The faint noise of another engine suddenly became audible over the ringing, Clem hurried around the side of the house to find the Brave idling in place. She raced for the door when someone jumped out in front of her.

"Where's Jet!" she could barely hear Sin yell over the ringing sound.

"Jet? He's right—" Clem turned around to find there was nothing behind her. She started running back around the house without thinking, compelled to find Jet. She burst around the corner in time to see Jet leading a wounded Patty out the front door. She was about to run to them when Oscar and Fan came bursting around the opposite corner.

Oscar immediately charged forward and shoved Patty onto the grass while Fan grabbed Jet by the arm. Clem watched in horror as Oscar aimed his gun at Patty, then Jet yanked himself out of Fan's grip. He threw himself on top of Patty and wrapped his arms around her.

"Get him off of her!" yelled Oscar as kept his gun aimed at the pair. Fan stepped forward and grabbed Jet with both hands but couldn't dislodge the boy from Patty, only managing to drag them both a short distance in whatever direction she pulled.

"Shit, by the—" Oscar was silenced by a burst of gunfire that erupted across his chest. The man went flying onto his back as Jet stood up. He led Patty back into the house as Fan turned to fire at Clem. Clem ducked behind the corner of the house and only then spotted Sin standing beside her, firing a machine gun. He recoiled suddenly as he was struck by something she couldn't see before stumbling into cover behind the side of the house.

Clem could see blood oozing from small marks running across his right arm and chest, and he dropped the machine gun on the grass as he fell to his knees. Her instincts taking over, Clem grabbed the gun with both hands and raised it just in time to see Fan running around the corner. She pulled the trigger without thinking and the gun kicked upward, causing a series of tiny explosions all the way up Fan's vest as she hastily stumbled backwards out of sight.

Clem hurried around the corner and saw Fan crawling across the grass in pain. She lined up the gun's sights with the woman's head and pulled the trigger, but nothing happened. Before Clem could figure out what was wrong, she saw two other people burst past the far side of the house just as Fan rolled over onto her back and aimed her shotgun at Clem again. Clem felt frozen in terror, unable to move, then felt herself flying backwards.

"Into the RV!" she heard Devlin yell as she felt him pulling her by the shirt collar. Clem came to her senses and started running for the Brave's door. She burst past the threshold so quickly she collided with Sarah coming out.

"Clem!"

"Sarah!"

Clem tossed the gun aside and hugged Sarah.

"Sarah, drive!" ordered Devlin as he dragged Sin into the Brave.

"No, where's Jet!" exclaimed Sin as he tried to break free from Devlin's grip.

"And Patty!"

"We can't wait! Go!"

"But—"

The sound of gunfire followed by loud metal bangs cut through the conversation. Clem found herself hitting the ground on instinct as Sarah dove into the driver's seat, keeping her head down as she slammed her foot onto the gas pedal. The Brave shot forward as the horrible noise of shots erupting on its exterior continued to sound from the direction of the house. Clem could hear glass cracking as she looked up in time to see Omid standing at the door for the bedroom.

Clem jumped off her feet and ran forward, grabbing the boy as she carried him into the bedroom. Clem dropped down as she heard more bullets rattling against the Brave's exterior. "Stay down," whispered Clem as calmly as she could to a crying Omid. "Okay, just stay right here, and it'll be okay," she said as she heard more shots. "It's… it's a game, just stay right here, and you'll win." Clem said while forcing a smile onto her face. "Okay? Look, you're winning! You're such a good boy!"

Clem's forced enthusiasm seemed to slightly ease Omid's concerns. It was then she noticed the gunfire had stopped. Carefully she got off the floor and headed over to the back window. Gently easing up to it, Clem peered outside, and found herself heartbroken at the sight of their home fading away into the distance, a pillar of black smoke rising out from it and into the sky. Everything they had built had nearly disappeared from view when Clem felt a sudden sharp pain across her right side.

There was a metal ding that sounded like it came from inside the room and Clem clutched her side as the pain intensified. She suddenly noticed a small hole in the plastic that Patty had set-up to replace the back window that she could swear wasn't there before. As the farmhouse disappeared from sight behind the trees, Clem turned around to see Omid on the bed now, staring at her.

"Kem-men-dine," he said, sounding worried.

"It's okay." Clem reached out a hand, which caused Omid to recoil in fright. Looking down, Clem saw blood staining her own palm.

"Kem-men-dine!" Clem saw blood gushing from her side before collapsing onto the bed. "No! Kem-men-dine!" Clem tried to tell Omid she was okay, but couldn't. Instead, she could only stare helplessly into his quivering eyes as everything went black. Just before she passed out, Clem found her mind gripped by the terrifying image of dying, then returning as a walker that would kill Omid.

Clem didn't know how long she drifted in the darkness until she opened her eyes again, just that the brief time she did was the most terrifying of her life. She wasn't even sure what she was looking at, just that there was light again as she blinked. As her eyes adjusted, Clem felt relieved to see she was in her own bedroom. For a moment, she thought that everything that had transpired had been a nightmare and she was finally waking up. But as everything came into focus, she realized she was in the bedroom of the Brave, not the farmhouse.

Sighing as she suddenly felt the weight of their situation bearing down on her again, Clem tried to sit up when she felt a shooting pain in her side. Looking down, she saw her shirt was missing and there was a bundle of bloody bandages wrapped around her waist. Disturbed at the sight of her own injury, Clem tried to reach over to grab a shirt, only to discover her left wrist was tied to the dresser.

Reaching over to untie herself with her free hand caused her side to ache, but Clem gritted her teeth long enough to undo the rope. As she slowly stood up, her side throbbing the entire time, she could hear people talking in the next room. Heading over to the door, Clem was surprised it just didn't slide open. Applying force was painful, but she managed to crack it enough to find there was a rope wrapped around the handle on the other side. With a little careful prying with her fingers, Clem managed to pull the rope over the top of the handle and get the door open.

"Kem-men-dine!" No sooner had she opened the door than was Omid rushing up to meet her, his usual look of excitement replaced with one of overwhelming concern.

"Omid! No!"

Clem looked up to find Sarah, a gun shaking in her bloodied hands.

"Sarah?" said a shocked Clem. "Are—"

"Oh thank God!" Sarah put the pistol away and rushed forward to hug clem. "You're alive! You're—"

"Oww!"

Sarah hastily let go of Clem. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry," babbled Sarah. "Not just about that but—"

"You tied me up, so if I… died, I wouldn't kill anyone else."

"How do you feel?"

"Bad," admitted Clem as she clutched her side. The pain had only gotten worse since she stood up. "It… it hurts really bad and—"

"Here." Sarah rushed over to the counter where there were unrolled bandages and pill bottles were strewn about.

"Take a painkiller," ordered Sarah as she placed a pill in one of Clem's hand and a bottle of water in the other. "Then go lie—"

"Someone's coming!" Devlin's words sounding from the radio on Sarah's waist sent her scrambling back to the driver's seat while Clem hastily swallowed the pill. It was then Clem noticed Sin lying on the couch, bandages running up his right side while his left hand was bound to a short rail running over the edge of the counter. She going to take a step closer to examine him when she heard something.

"Kem-men-dine," said Omid. "Hum-bee."

Feeling too weak to do much else, and still confused to what was happening, Clem decided she could at least keep Omid happy. She shuffled over to the closet and took a can of pears from inside.

"They've stopped," Clem could hear Devlin yell from Sarah's radio. "I think they're watching us." Clem did her best not to think about what was happening. She walked over to the counter and grabbed the can opener, finding herself instinctively avoiding moving any closer to a still unconscious Sin. Struggling with the can opener, she couldn't get the can to open no matter how hard she tried, her hands just too weak and shaky to apply any actual force to the device.

"Kem-men-dine." Clem turned around to see Omid clutching a bag of freeze-dried ice-cream. "Ah-bree."

"Sure," spoke Clem in a weak whisper as she took the bag. "You deserve a treat." Clem tried in vain to open the bag with just her hands, then finally just dug out a pair of scissors. Even using the scissors proved difficult, her grip so weak she could barely move them, but eventually she cut off the top of the bag and managed to retrieve a broken piece of vanilla ice-cream.

"Here you go Omid." After bending down as much as she could before the pain became too much, Clem offered the morsel to Omid. "Have some ice cream." Clem tried to fed Omid but he closed his mouth and turned away.

"What's wrong? I thought you were hungry?"

"Kem-men-dine hum-bee." Clem tried again to feed Omid the ice-cream, but he wouldn't eat it. Eventually, just holding it out in front of him, Omid took the ice-cream from Clem's hand. Clem expected him to just eat it himself, but instead, Omid stepped forward and held the piece up over his head. "Kem-men hum-bee."

"You… you think I'm hungry?" Clem took the piece back from Omid, which seemed to please him. Chewing on the piece of ice cream, Clem was pleased to see Omid smile again, and she couldn't deny tasting that sweet dessert helped her feel a tiny bit better. "Thank you," Clem told Omid.

"Lub-yoo," said Omid, a hint of optimism returning to his voice.

"I—"

"It's Anthony!" Sarah went rushing out the door and Clem went shuffling after her. She paused as she heard a loud moaning coming from the couch and turned her head expecting to see the worst. She watched in terror as she saw Sin slowly rise from where he was sitting, then turn and look at Clem. He looked pale and tired, but he wasn't a walker. Clem inched over to the railing and untied his hand, then the pair headed towards the door together.

Stepping outside, Clem saw they were parked on a severely cracked old asphalt lot surrounded by long buildings lined with doors. Looking out near the road, Clem could see a sign that read 'Economy Inn' and realized this was the meeting point they agreed to if they ever got separated. Looking back down, she watched as a familiar old truck with a camper on it pulled into the motel.

"I can see him!" announced Sarah as she approached the truck.

"Anthony, are you okay?" asked Devlin as Anthony stepped out of the truck. "Did you get hit?"

"No, I'm all right," assured Anthony, sounding nervous. "I was half-way to Tulsa before I remembered we were supposed to come here if the shit ever hit the fan."

"Where's Jet," croaked Sin as he approached Anthony. "Is he with you?"

"It's just me. Jet ain't with you guys?"

"Patty's not here either," added Clem in a sad voice. "We… we left them behind."

"Shit…" sighed Anthony. "Then there ain't anything we can do for them now."

"No!" protested Sin. "They… they refused to shoot Jet, I saw it. They wouldn't shoot children."

"It sure looks like they shot that one," noted Anthony in a grim tone as he pointed at Clem.

"After I shot them," informed Clem. "I saw it too, Jet dove on top of Patty so they wouldn't shoot her."

"He's just like his mother," mumbled Sin, sounding on the verge of crying. "Always throwing himself at those in need."

"They wouldn't shoot him," said Clem. "And he ran back into the house with Patty when Sin shot one of the people attacking us."

"That doesn't mean they're still alive," argued Anthony, sounding hurt as he did. "We… we need to go back to Tulsa, before those people come looking for us."

"We need to wait for Jet," dictated Sin.

"And Patty."

"I had to unlock the Sunseeker to get that machine gun, so the keys were already in there," explained Sin, sounding desperate. "Jet would know to head for it and could drive it out of there."

"Fine, then he'll probably go to Tulsa; I barely remembered to come here as it is," reasoned Anthony. "Ain't no point waiting here while those people could already be on their way."

"Patty was hurt," announced a saddened Clem. "She'll need help."

"Yeah. If they come here first we need to be here to help them," realized Sarah. "Otherwise… Patty might not make it to Tulsa."

"We… we need to head back and just find them," insisted Sin, sounding desperate as lurched towards Devlin, eyeing the scoped rifle he was holding. "We've got guns, we could reload the machine gun. We need—" Sin gasped as he clutched his side.

"We need to wait here," instructed Devlin as he stopped Sin from stumbling. "We leave now and Patty and Jet come here while we're gone, they might come looking for us and find God only knows what in the process."

"And you need rest, a lot of it," Sarah told Sin before turning to Clem. "Both of you. I… I bandaged the wounds the best I could but… I don't know if I did everything right, and, if you keep moving around…" Sarah turned to Anthony suddenly. "Can Sin stay in your camper? He needs a bed to lie down on and we'd have to step over him if we used the fold-out one in the Brave."

Anthony sighed. "Sure, why not?" he said with a weak shrug.

"I… I should have been behind him," mumbled a tearful Sin as he shuffled over to Anthony's camper. "I never should have let him out of my sight."

"Just rest, like Sarah said," instructed Devlin before handing Anthony a radio. "Keep an eye on him, get him whatever he needs, keep us updated if anything happens. Sarah, you do that for Clem and Omid. I'll keep a watch on the road and call if I see anyone coming."

"Got it," said Sarah as she handed her radio to Devlin. "Come on Clem," she said as she grasped Clem's hand. "You need to be in bed"

"Kem-men-dine?" Clem saw Omid say as he walked across the pavement. "Hum-bee?"

"I'm not hungry," assured Clem as she limped back towards the Brave. "But thank you."

Hobbling along the side of the Brave, Clem was disturbed by all the bullet holes now running across it, including a couple going through the windows. Climbing back up the stairs was difficult, even with Sarah's help, and by the time Clem reached the bed, she felt exhausted. Her every action was a small ordeal now and Clem could barely summon the strength to move as she lied down on the bed.

Sarah retrieved a new radio and switched it on. Setting on the dresser, Clem recognized it as her own, two of the faded floral stickers still clinging to it even now. Sarah then went to great lengths to prop up pillows just the right way so Clem could at least sit in bed comfortably and then carefully tucked her in. Clem was grateful for Sarah's love and concern but felt uneasy as she realized just how helpless she really was right now. She even found it difficult to summon the energy to thank Sarah.

"God, I… I was so scared when I found you on the bed," recalled Sarah as she scooped the bloodied sheets off the floor. "I… I thought I lost you and… and…" Sarah dropped the sheets and started crying into her hands.

"I… I'm sorry," spoke a choked Clem as she reached out for Sarah.

"I… I can't believe this is happening," sobbed Sarah as she caressed Clem's hand. "It… it feels like a nightmare. I… I just want to wake up."

"Me too…" croaked Clem in a whisper.

"Kem-men-dine." Clem could see there was no hiding her distress from Omid as he crawled across the bed towards her. Clem motioned for him to come closer, and he curled up beside her as she wrapped an arm around him. "Lub yoo," spoke Omid, sounding tired as he settled in for a nap.

"I love you too." Clem looked over at a still sobbing Sarah. "This… this is my fault."

"No it isn't," assured a sniffling Sarah.

"I never should have mentioned the anti-freeze," realized Clem. "She… she was right, she's never lied to us since I talked to her about that gun she brought into the Brave that one time. Ever since then, she was always there for us, always honest to us and... I didn't believe her," sobbed Clem. "Now… now she's probably dead, because of me. And Jet, and Sin, and me, and the farm… it's all my fault." Clem looked over to Sarah, hoping for some kind of comfort, but instead, she saw Sarah doubled over in grief. "I'm sorry. I'm so—"

"It's not your fault Clem," assured Sarah. "We all thought she did it for a minute there. Everything we've been through together and… all of us were scared enough to believe the worst for a minute… all of us. If… if anything, this is my fault."

"How is it your fault?" asked a confused Clem.

"If we just killed Pedro, like Anthony, Sin, and Patty wanted, none of this ever would have happened."

"We don't know that."

"Don't we?" refuted Sarah. "They said they found his notebook after he died, and it told them how to find us and how many of us there was. If we had just killed Pedro before he left, then they'd never know we had anything to do with it."

"It would have been wrong to kill him," stated Clem.

"He died anyway," dismissed Sarah.

"We had no way of knowing that."

"But we did know letting him go was a huge risk and… I said we had to do it anyways."

"I said we had to let him go too."

"Only because I made such a big deal about it."

"It was my choice, so if you're wrong, we both are."

"I… I just can't believe all this," admitted Sarah as she shook her head. "Everything we worked so hard for… we barely got to even taste it. It… it all went up in smoke, literally."

"I don't understand why there was so much fire," mumbled a confused Clem. "One grenade did all that?"

"I think there was still a propane tank in the kitchen from where I boiled water a few days ago. I... I should have done it outside, but it was so hot…" Sarah sighed and rubbed her head. "Maybe… maybe it'll be okay? You said they wouldn't shoot Jet, and Sin said the Sunseeker already had the keys in it, and they were so busy shooting at us while we were leaving, Jet and Patty could have gone through the house and climbed out one of the windows facing the driveway."

"Yeah, they could," said Clem, a tinge of cautious optimism in her voice. "Jet's smart, he would have done that instead of trying to go through the flaming kitchen."

"And, after they get here, we can all go back to Tulsa, there's still a ton of food we left behind."

"It'd be enough to last us until the next spring," realized Clem. "And we all know a lot more about farming now. We could probably start a new one, maybe somewhere further away this time."

"And I think you and Sin will be okay," assured Sarah. "The shots that hit him were really small and I don't think any of them hit his major organs. And the one that hit you just kind of nicked your side. I think you only feel bad because of shock, which is what happens when you lose a lot of blood at once. Once you've both had plenty of time to rest, then—"

A gunshot rang out across the area. It sounded so close that Clem could swear the shooter was just outside.

"Devlin, what is it?" asked Sarah as she grabbed the radio.

"I don't know," he reported. "I can't see anyone."

"It… it was me," said Anthony, his voice shaking. "It… it was… Sin. He… he turned."

"What!" exclaimed Clem.

"I… I just walked in to check on him and he wasn't moving… and then he lunged at me."

"Did you get bitten?" asked Sarah.

"No I'm okay but… Sin's dead."

"No…" Clem felt her heart breaking as those last two words echoed in her ears. "No… that… that can't be. He… he was okay. I… I just saw him."

"Jesus…" said Devlin over the radio. "Anthony why… why you don't take watch for a while, get out of the camper. I'll… I'll find a spot to bury him… we… we owe him that."

Clem found herself crawling to the nearest window with whatever strength she had left. She didn't want to see what she was about to see, but felt compelled to witness it. Clem watched in utter despair as the now lifeless body of the man she had come to care for be carried away. His skin sickly and unnatural like a walker now, a hole in his head where Anthony shot him, and an expression of feral aggression forever frozen on his face as he was carried into the shade under a big tree beside the motel.

Watching Sin's body be carried away, Clem moved her hand down to her own aching side. She held it there for a second, wincing as even touching it was painful, and then she started crying. She cried so loud that is literally hurt her already injured side, and yet she couldn't stop crying. She could hear Sarah begging her to stop, and Omid sobbing beside her, and yet Clem couldn't stop crying. Instead, she cried until she literally couldn't breathe anymore, finally passing out in exhaustion. But this time as the world faded from view, she welcomed the darkness.

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[geralt-of-baevia]

gOD this fucking man. Like, JEEZ

*somewhere in the distance Whatta Man by Salt-N-Pepa starts playing*

MR. CAVILL will see you now