#-were coming from was staying in one spot. Not like the police cars which you can usually hear getting closer or farther.

[fantasykiri5]

mildly freaked out, that’s the second time tonight I’ve heard sirens go off while staying in one spot (unusual, I live right by a police station but every time the sirens go off it’s when the cars are moving fast, and it’s NOT the tornado one, which gets checked every Wednesday at noon, and it's Thursday at 10 pm now) and when they go off they go a couple times but the noise gets cut off each go around, if that makes sense? Like how siren noises have a sort of lull that makes the sound a bit circular, but this one goes quiet before finishing the circle and then starts from the beginning. It’s happened twice now, not sure how far apart as I was drawing, but after the second time (right before me writing this) there was what seemed like a really loud sort of dial tone?? And I think some talking. It was very strange.

If anyone knows of a type of siren that cuts itself off while sounding and knows why it would be in Wisconsin, do let me know because it’s honestly a little freaky.

[chaniceroses]

Bad Boys Ride Or Die: (Armando x Reader) PART THREE

After a hectic day yesterday. You, Mike and Marcus spent the rest of the day making phone calls and writing down names of those who were close to Captain Howard. You are currently  in your living room, you followed suit with not  going into work with Mike and Marcus since you knew that the whole precinct was pretty much against Howard. 

You found yourself looking at a picture of you, Howard and the boys at a summer basketball game of one of his family members. Life had seemed to be so easier to you then, besides the fact that once you had left he was later shot and killed.

“We have your back Captain.”, you whispered looking at the photo. Before you could finish your thoughts you were interrupted by your phone ringing. It was Mike.

“Hey, what’s up.”, you asked, grabbing your purse and looking around for your keys.

“We’re getting ready to head over to the prison, we can come pick you up.”

“No, I’ll meet you there. Heading out now.”, you replied, spotting your keys on the counter.

“Okay.”

You and Mike’s conversation ended. Short and quick, that is how you like it. You’re not much of a talkative person, unless it's something interesting. You went to grab your keys when you noticed once again that your window was slightly up. It kind of gave you the chills but you didn’t know why. You turned around and took a quick glance of your house, scanning the corners and the dark areas. You felt something but also nothing at all.

“I always come by this window, I probably forgot to pull it back down.”, you muttered, shutting it and locking it. You left your home with an odd feeling in your stomach. You weren't sure if it was because you're about to meet Captain Howard’s murderer or the fact that every time you enter your living room, your window is always up.

As you walked to your car, you were stopped by a little kid riding his bike into your driveway. It was the little boy that lives down the street from you, he always comes over to spend time with you when you are home.

“How can I help you?”, you asked, setting your bag on top of your car and walking up to him.

“Why are you coming home late all the time?”, he asked with the softest voice you’ve ever heard. You had a thing for children, well the adorable soft spoken ones. The badass ones you couldn’t stand, you felt that they are demons in children's skin.

“Remember the fake badge I gave you. I’m a police officer, that will happen.”, you smiled, kneeling down to his level. 

“Yeah but multiple times a night?”he asked, tilting his head. You could tell that he was genuinely confused, which made you lost also.

“What do you mean?”, you questioned standing up to brush your pants.

“I see you come home late, sorry for spying. I'm just so worried. I watch tv and I see what happens.”, he replied, lowering his head. You could tell that he was sad but also genuine. You lifted his head and stared at him into his eyes. His thick glasses made his eyes way bigger than they are and younger than he looked.

“You have nothing to worry about, okay, lady bug. Once I'm free, we can hangout. I know that your grandparents wouldn’t mind.”, you smiled. Lady Bug is the nickname that you gave him. You never learned his actual real name but because he stays in your yard to catch them, you decided to start calling him that.

“Okay.”, he smiled, pulling out of your driveway and riding away. You watched as his training wheels wobbled. He had to be around five or six. However, you never thought to ask.

You grabbed your bag off the top of your car and got inside. You weren’t the type to listen to music while driving, especially during stressful times. You felt the need to drive in silence so you can collect your thoughts and create a plan. Just in case Marcus and Mike don’t have one, which you know that they never do.

It makes you nervous and nauseous, which means what’s happening right now may become worse. Your body never lies, so believe what it is trying to tell you. 

The drive over to the prison took a while but eventually you made it. You pulled up to see Mike and Marcus waiting on you near the entrance. The prison was huge, which means those who were in there had to do some pretty horrible things. After parking next to Mike’s car and walking up to them, you could see the hesitant expression across Mike’s face.

“You ready?”you asked, patting him on his back. He looked at you and replied with a “yes” by shaking his head. It was hot outside with a slight cool breeze, however with the sun beaming onto the three of you backs. You were ready to go in with or without him. The walk inside was long. Alarms were going off left and right, which means something just went down. The three of you were met by the security guards.

“Armando Armas.”, Mike said, lifting up his badge. The guard shifted his eyes towards you and Marcus which made you reply by showing yours.

“Follow Me.”, the guard waved, leading you three towards a dark hallway.

The hallway was long, wet and warm. Each door had a small hole that allowed the prisoners to take a peek. Which led you to being cat-called by all types of men: sticking their tongues out, making sexual gestures and cussing at you.

“Ignore them, they’re animals.”, Marcus laughed, turning his head to look at you.

“Oh trust, they’re not bothering me at all.”, you whispered looking at each door that you passed.

After what felt like forever, you Mike and Marcus finally made it to the door at the end of the hallway. Walking in to see several cages inside the room, with a person inside of them. You followed Marcus and Mike as they walked up to a specific cage in the center of the area, in front of a guard’s desk.

“We need your help.”, Mike whispered looking at the guy inside of the cage.

“This must be Armando.”, you thought to yourself. No response, he just looked at Mike with a smirk on his face.An annoyed one at that. You examined as sweat dripped across his forehead and exposed chest. Which allowed his body to glisten.

“What could I possibly help you with?”he asked, annoyingly shifting his eyes from Mike to Marcus. You watched how he was holding on to the poles, revealing the bruises that were on his knuckles. Was he the reason why the alarms were going off earlier?

“I know that you have connections with the Cartel. You were with them.”, Mike continued stepping closer to him, which allowed you to be in Armando’s line of vision. 

You slightly shifted your head towards the guard at the desk, to notice him looking at you guys. He was listening but for what reason?

“She’s with you?”he asked, tilting his head slightly to the side. You quickly turned around to see him looking at you. He was studying your body with his eyes,  shifting the conversation. Which wasn’t needed.

“Look, we can help you if you help us.”, you replied, taking a small step towards the cage.

“I wouldn’t do that if I was you, I bite. I’m an ���animal” remember.”, he smirked, stroking the beard that was on his face. You felt your breath hitched, which made you reply with silence. He caught on.

“Now how the hell did he hear that.”, Marcus answered in shock looking at you and then back to him.

“I hear everything, I know everything.”, he replied, keeping his eyes on you. 

Marcus was right, you could tell just by the way he is acting that he has a big ass ego just like Mike. You hate guys with egos.

“Plus, what are you? A lawyer?”, he continued walking to the back of the cage, keeping his back towards you.

  “No. I’m a-”

“She’s our partner.”Marcus interrupted, looking at you. You watched as Mike shook his head in agreement. It made you feel good.

“Okay well…what does any of this have to do with me?”

“I thought you “hear everything…know everything”, Marcus mocked.

“Do you need my help or not?”, he said, turning around to sit down.

“We do. Howard is being framed by some heavy people, but we have no clue who.”, Mike explained walking up to the cage.

“We know that you know the Cartel very well, since you were in it. We know that you can help us prove Howard’s innocence.”, Marcus answered, following Mike.

You felt that maybe you should say something but you allowed it to be between them three. You watched as he stared at Marcus and Mike as if he had fallen deep into his thoughts. 

“You want me, the person who killed your friend. To help you guys prove that he is innocent.”, he replied, looking around as if he was trying to find an answer.

“I can do that…but what about me?”, he continued. Now he’s looking at you. Hard. His eyes are dark brown and is searching for an answer. He’s leaning his back against the cage with his hips shifted forward, allowing you to not only see the slight abs that he has while sweat drips down it but the print that is trying to make an appearance. You didn’t respond, you didn’t break eye-contact. You just stared at him because you love to challenge men. Especially the dangerous ones.

“There’s not much I can do for now but I can work on shortening your sentence and having you transported and then afterwards we will see.”, Mike answered, looking at Armando for an answer. 

“I can help but you have to be ready, shit may go down.”, he replied, his breathing picking up speed. You can tell that he didn’t want to do it, you could see it all over his body.  He never once took his eyes off of you, even after answering. 

“Well we got our answer.”, you waved off , breaking the staring-contest that was happening between you and Armando.

“You will hear from us when we-”

“Her.”, he interrupted, pointing right at you. “I want to hear from her, and she will be on the bus when they take me to be transported.”, he demanded. 

“Okay.”, you replied, shrugging your shoulders. You watched as Mike and Marcus quickly turned to you in disagreement.

“Hello no, y/n. Not by yourself.”, Marcus argued, shaking his head. “This man is dangerous.”

“So, I’ll be cuffed on the bus.”, he debated, getting up and walking towards the front of the bars.

“Look, we do what we have to do and whatever will work.”, you answered looking at Marcus then at Mike.

“Plus, nothing will go down. Unless she of course wants something too…I wouldn’t mind.”, he smiled, lifting up his hands.

“She’ll be by herself on the bus, we will meet her at the plane and we ALL will be there while he’s being transported. Together.”Mike confirmed looking at you and then at Marcus and Armando.

You watched as Marcus shook his head and Armando smirked in response. 

“Why does he want me to ride with him?”, you thought.

You watched as Mike's phone went off and stood there looking at him while he answered. It was a short conversation because it led with Mike pulling you and Marcus to the side afterwards.

“Dorn and Kelly have something for us to watch. We need to go meet with them.”, He replied looking around and then looking back at you and Marcus. 

“Well let's go.”, Marcus said heading towards the door.

“Be ready. Y/n and some people will be here to pick you up, once I get everything set up.”, Mike said, looking back at Armando.

“Can’t wait…”, he replied sarcastically, leaning his head against the bars. 

You stared at him for a split second and then headed towards the door when you heard Armando call your name.

“What?”, you asked, turning your head slightly enough to where he can see that he has your attention.

“Don’t be late.”, he flirted. You watched as the red light beamed over him, allowing different silhouettes to occur. You knew that he would have a huge ego but you didn’t know that his looks and personality would match up to it. Mike left his hand out to you, to allow you to walk out the door first while Marcus held it.

You could hear the door locking behind you and the catcalling starting up again as you walked down the hallway.

“Y/n we don’t know Armando that well so try to be careful on the bus.”, Marcus suggested looking at you.

“Most definitely.”, you replied, rubbing your hands across your face. You were now second-guessing the decision that you made, even though you felt that it would be best. Armando wasn’t just some normal guy or killer, he was something serious and far more dangerous than the average ones. 

His looks and his personality didn’t help. You thanked God that you’ve been in the game for a long time because if you were freshly new, he would’ve had you the moment you walked in, especially with his accent and the way he carried himself. His energy is strong.

“I know that he’s not just a regular killer because he damn near killed you guys…If we're going to be honest here. However, I know what I am doing.” you added. 

“Well we trust you because Captain did and we trusted Captain. So let's go see what this video is about.”Mike responded.

You guys made it out of the prison and left. The whole time while you were on the road, you kept thinking about him. The way he looked at you, it wasn't the “undressing you with my eyes”kind of look… It was a different kind of stare, you just didn’t know exactly what. He's on  your mind and so is his voice. 

“This should be interesting.”, you sighed while being consumed by silence.

[santaasi]

SHADOWS

pairing: jj maybank x routledge!fem!reader

summary: when emotions take over and shadows are swallowed up, all you need is to find a person who will become your light (based on shadows by sabrina carpenter)

warnings: angst, a little bit of fluff, use of y/n, english is not my first language

word count: 2.3k

a/n: the action takes place after the finale of the first season of obx

We all got nightmares in our dreams

We look for someone to believe in us

And show us the way

And make it okay

The world can be dangerous

EVERYONE IN KILDARE KNEW WHO JJ MAYBANK WAS. A flighty, self-confident blonde, a girls man, the life of all parties, and the honored prince of pogues. You could always buy the best weed from him at the best price, and repair the car as soon as possible. He appears in the police station more often than at home, and all parents pray only that their child does not fall under his charm. JJ Maybank was a walking problem, but despite that he had a heart of gold.

As a child, his mother told him that life consists of white and black stripes, like a zebra. But for some reason, JJ's own life was like a big and long black tunnel, in which fireflies sometimes appeared, illuminating his life. John B, Kiara and Pope were the only bright spots in his life, the most important people who, no matter what, stayed by his side.

But it was only for John B, that JJ was ready to do anything, because their bond had always been stronger than just friendship. They were brothers who had been going through all the problems together since childhood. John B. was by JJ's side when his mother left the family when he was seven. John B. was there when JJ's drunk father beat him almost to death when he returned home one night. John B. was there to treat his wounds, and allocated a separate room for him in the chateau so that JJ would not have to return home. John B. was the one who always believed in JJ, who knew that despite all the words of the people around Maybank, he would not become like his father.

That's why the loss of John B in the storm two weeks ago was another blow to JJ's gut from a life that proved to him over and over again that JJ Maybank was not made for happiness.

There's something so rare in your veins

Not a single thing I would change

And oh, if you only knew how I see you

Would you come alive again, alive again?

But despite how much JJ Maybank treasured his friendship with John B., he couldn't do anything about his feelings for his friend's younger sister, who, like a little sun, always lit his way in this pitch darkness of his life.

Y/N Routledge has always been her brother's most precious treasure. After their father disappeared, John B. devoted himself to his sister, protecting her from everything, promising that he would always be by her side. And now, seven months after Big John disappeared, John B. wasn't with her either. She was left all alone in this big world, which seemed ready to swallow her completely.

The first week after John B. went missing, JJ heard Y/N crying quietly at night, suppressing her screams, burying her face in the pillow. He could hear the sound of her bare feet on the wooden floor and the slam of the screen door when she woke up at the middle of the night from nightmares and went out on the porch to get some fresh air. Every night, Maybank cursed the thin walls of the chateau and John B. for causing her so much pain by leaving. But no matter how much JJ wanted to help her, he was too deeply drawn into the swamp of his own feelings, from which he could not get out in any way.

Y/N wasn't blind to what was going on with her brother's best friend either. She knew how much shit JJ had to go through in his entire life, how many loved ones he had to lose, and she understood that losing John B was another blow for him. She felt how he blamed himself for what had happened, heard how he wakes up at nights from nightmares, asking John B. and Sarah not to go into the storm, saw how only a pitiful shadow remained of the former JJ and it broke her heart.

The girl always admired the strength of JJ's spirit, despite all the shit that happened in his life, he stayed afloat. He raised his head and walked confidently and straight on. He supported his friends, was ready to do anything for them, even go to prison for a case that he did not commit, as long as his friends, his only family remained unharmed.

And JJ Maybank was always there for her. When her heart was broken for the first time, he was there, holding her tightly to his chest, whispering soothing words in her ear. When she was fighting with John B., JJ was always on her side, listening to her outrage. JJ Maybank went to parties with her, dancing with her until the sunrise, sat with her on rainy evenings at the chateau, watching romcoms that he hated, brought her her favorite sweets when she was sick, taught her surfing and listened to all the gossip from her work during their mini spa days at the chateau with such interest, as if Y/N told him about the beginning of the universe. JJ Maybank was always there for the younger Rotledge and it was just impossible for her not to fall in love with him.

She loved her brother's best friend even when he was a complete mess. When he cried on her shoulder after another fight with Luke. When he got drunk and she had to carry him to the chateau. When he was angry at her for getting into all these dangerous things with all the other pogues.

Y/N Routledge loved JJ Maybank in every shape and condition. And she would never change even the slightest detail about him, because for her, JJ Maybank was perfect for who he is.

Y/N was also hurt by the loss of her brother, and she, like no one else, could understand all of JJ's pain, but unlike him, she had the strength to live and move on. She didn't blame herself for what had happened, realizing that John B. had always been too stubborn to listen to anyone, but JJ… He was devouring himself from the inside out. He dug out the grave himself and buried himself with his head. The darkness that had been accumulating in him for so long was finally winning. And Y/N was scared. She didn't want to lose him either. She couldn't lose him.

I need you to understand

Y/N stood in front of the door to JJ’s room, shifting uncomfortably from one foot to the other, doubting the correctness of her actions. They haven't spoken since the day John B disappeared, although they've been living under the same roof all this time, but they were functioning on their own.

After hearing another sob from behind the door, the girl finally opened it, going inside.

It was very dark and cold here, but after getting used to the darkness for a couple of seconds, Y/N began to distinguish silhouettes.

The room was a complete mess: all the clothes from the wardrobe were spread out on the floor, along with books, notebook sheets, rumpled bed linen and glass fragments that glittered in the moonlight. The lamp fell from the bedside table and was lying in the corner.

JJ was sitting at the foot of the bed, his head buried between his knees, and his hands were clutching the strands of his blonde hair in fists. His body was trembling. Even without seeing his face, Y/N could tell with certainty that JJ was trying his best to cope with the hysteria that was punishing him.

"Hey, J, are you okay?" the girl asked softly, quietly approaching the guy and kneeling next to him.

Startled, JJ mmediately raised his head, staring at the girl in shock, as if he had seen a ghost. There were wet marks on his cheeks, and his eyes were swollen and red from crying. More than anything, Y/N wanted to hold him close and comfort him, to convince him that everything would be fine.

"Angel?" JJ asked hoarsely, not believing his eyes. The sound of her soft and gentle voice sent a wave of goosebumps through his body. Her voice. It had been so long since he had heard her voice. "Did I wake you up? I'm sorry... I-I didn't mean to... I-" JJ stumbled through his words, frowning and averting his gaze from the girl.

"Hey, hey, hey... calm down, J," the girl whispered softly, covering his palm with her hand. "I understand, okay? Everything is fine," the girl said soothingly, trying to smile.

I don't mind your shadows

'Cause they disappear in the light

JJ's gaze ran over her face, going over every detail of her appearance that he has memorized over all these years by heart. She looked the same as always, but her gaze seemed to have lost the spark that made his heart beat faster every time. But now all he could see there was emptiness and sadness, which even her slight smile couldn't hide.

All these two weeks, living under the same roof with her, JJ avoided her gaze, afraid to see this look. The look of loss. The loss of a brother that JJ felt responsible for. The lucky charm for all problems in the world is JJ Maybank. And JJ hated himself for it.

He caused her so much pain, coming to her to heal his wounds after fights with his father or kooks, or when he brought girls to the chateau, knowing full well about her feelings for him... Because he's afraid to admit to her that he's experiencing the same thing. JJ Maybank destroyed not only her life, but also the lives of all the people around him. And he thinks that it would be better for everyone if he just didn't exist.

Y/N noticed how his jaw clenched, and his gaze fixed on the wall became colder and felt a wave of goosebumps pass through her body when he abruptly got up from the floor early. Routledge Jr. could always understand her brother's best friend even without words. This situation was no exception. She understood that JJ's inner demons were devouring him from the inside out.

"Don't do this, Jay. Don't do this to yourself," Y/N whispered softly, trying to fight back the tears that threatened to burst, but her voice trembled treacherously.

"I'm the problem, angel," JJ said without turning to the girl still sitting on the floor. "I am the main cause of your troubles! Wherever I go, I only make things worse! I... didn't save John B.... I'm hurting you... I..."

"Don't do this to me, Jay!" the girl repeated more forcefully, jumping to her feet, wiping away tears.

"I don't care about your shadows! I'm not afraid of them!" Y/N said sobbing, clutching his hand. "I'm here! I'm always there for you! I'll be your light if you need me. But don't leave me… I-I love you."

And listen to me, it's okay to be afraid

Just walk like you're never alone

"I didn't stop your brother, Y/N," the guy continued to insist, whispering, feeling tears accumulate in his eyes again. "He’s not here! And it’s my fucking fault!"

Y/N's hands cupped his cheeks, pressing his forehead to hers, closing her eyes and trying to calm her breath. JJ's hands rested on her waist, pressing her against his body, wanting to feel such a missing and dear warmth to his heart. JJ could feel her thumbs wiping away the tears rolling down his cheek.

"Listen to me, J. It's not your fault," Dana whispered softly.

"It's not your fault that John B is a stubborn bastard who always does everything the way he wants," the girl chuckled softly, feeling tears begin to roll down her cheeks too. She missed her brother like crazy, and she would do anything to have him here with her right now. But here and now, there was no John B., it was just her and JJ, who was damn bad at handling his emotions. So, Maybank and his mental state were more important to her than grief for her brother right now.

"You know you wouldn't have stopped him, so stop blaming yourself," Y/N sniffed, opening her eyes to meet his blue gaze. "It's not your fault."

The guy nodded slowly, holding her closer to him, burying his nose in her neck, inhaling soft vanilla scent of her hair. Y/N felt his body shaking in her arms, as he desperately clung to her, trying not to let himself completely collapse.

"I'm so scared that they won't come back, angel," the guy whispered softly into her neck. "I'm so scared that he won’t come back…"

"Me too, but it's okay," the girl whispered with a lump in her throat, running a soothing hand through his hair. "Everything will be okay… He will return… It’s- It‘s John B, he always returns"

There was silence in the room, broken only by their ragged breathing and the patter of raindrops on the window. JJ lifted his head, gently brushing away the strands of hair stuck to Y/N's cheeks, giving her a soft smile. JJ kissed her gently on the forehead before pulling her to his chest, hugging her tightly. His chin rested on top of her head.

"But we'll get through this together, as we always have. Like we've done it hundreds of times," Y/N said in a barely audible voice, forcing not only JJ, but also herself to believe that someday, everything will come to its senses again.

That someday John B and Sarah will come back and everything will be as before. That maybe someday her father will be found too and she will have a family again. That the black shadows that consumed JJ's life would be replaced by the sun's rays that would illuminate his path. That someday their life will really become like a zebra, and not like a black tunnel from which there is no way out.

But for now, all they could do was hold on to each other tightly, not letting themselves drown in the shadows of grief and loss.

And Y/N Routledge knew for sure that with JJ Maybank by her side, she could survive anything.

And all these voices in our head

Well, they keep screaming louder and louder

But they won't pull us under

thankx for reading <з

this is my first work on Tumblr, so I hope you enjoyed it. feedback always appreciated :з

– your santi ✨

masterlist

[marble-parents-au]

Essentials of Childcare

Cw: momentary homophobia (like one sentence), mentions of shaken baby syndrome (don't worry, Toby is fine), dubious childcare (because the alters don't know much about kids), implied gun violence (Hoodie flashes his gun at a Karen lol) and said Karen implies mental health means you shouldn't have kids (she's wrong btw).

It's been three weeks since Tim found the baby out by the stream in the woods. They've taken turns and tried every way they knew, except going to the police, to find the kid's parents.

Nothing.

So they started on the paperwork. Brian had a friend in the office, a lovely woman by the name of Jessica, who helped them acquire and deal with the paperwork. Now, they were just waiting for the final stamp to say they officially adopted the kid.

They had scrunched together every last penny they had to spare and went out to get anything and everything they would need for him. A camping cot, bottles, milk powder, car seat, you name it.

Tim was currently sitting with the kid in the living room of their small house. It was quiet today, since Brian was at work. It didn't help that Tim couldn't keep a job for long, which meant he was stuck on babysitting duty most of the time.

Toby, as Brian had started calling the kid, was a quiet child. He didn't scream and he didn't cry. Tim had started setting up a schedule of when to feed and change Toby because the kid gave no indication of either of those needs, even if he clearly still had them.

Tim had momentarily wondered if Toby had come as a weird gift or something from the Operator. A quiet, low needs, kid, for two fucked up men to have a family. He'd shaken off the thought as soon as he had it. That would be insane.

A soft tune played on his phone and he got up to go make Toby a bottle, the baby still happily relaxing post-nap in his arm. At least now he was wrapped in an actual soft baby blanket and had several changes of clothes.

The bottle didn't take long to make and soon Tim was perched on an open spot on the kitchen counter with Toby drinking. The first couple days, he'd barely drank anything and wouldn't just take the bottle when it was offered, so Tim had learned to entice him by letting a couple drops drip onto the tiny lips.

Toby had taken fast to their little routine. Eat, burp, change and nap, repeat. He wasn't particularly fussy over it, but there has already been several nights where Tim had stayed up because he couldn't get the little boy to sleep at all. Thankfully, despite his insomnia, Toby hadn't screamed, so Brian had slept just fine the entire night. Unfortunately, staying up so long had caused Masky to front when they'd finally gotten an hour of sleep.

Masky had woken on the couch from Tim's phone chiming a reminder. It read 'feed Toby'. He'd put on the mask, which they stored in the bedside table for him and gone to check where he could hear babbling in the other room. He'd stared at the kid from the doorway, surprised Brian, Hoodie and Tim had decided to keep them.

When he'd gone closer to the travel cot, he'd found the kid, Toby, who stopped babbling and just stared back at them. How was he supposed to feed the kid? Little hands reached up from under the little blue blanket and he had the urge to pick him up.

He was careful, still unsure, and now alone with the kid, assuming Brian was at work. He took the kid to the kitchen to see if he could find anything to feed them. There was a can he didn't recognise and upon closer inspection, he realised it was powdered milk for babies. Following the instructions on the tin, he made it, heated it up to a lukewarm and sat on the floor to perch Toby on his legs before giving the kid the bottle.

With one hand holding the bottle for the baby, Masky checked Tim's notes app. They often left notes and information for each other in there. There's a note with a schedule for feeding, bathing and changing the baby and one that simply explained a couple things from the past week and a half.

Toby finished the bottle just as Masky finished reading. Another reminder on their phone said to burp him, which left Masky wondering how one did that. How much movement would be too much movement? He remembered one of the nurses giving a baby shaken syndrome in the asylum and didn't want to risk doing that.

It was times like these that he actually wished he could force Tim to front, but with how tired their body felt and how far back Tim was, he knew they were beyond tired.

He moved Toby from his legs to lean against his shoulder and tapped his back gently. A little burp sounded not too long after, which made him sigh in relief.

He heard the front door unlock and heavy work boots thud into the house. Brian must be back from work. Toby had settled on his shoulder and even though he didn't sleep, he was just staring at him.

"Tim?" Brian's voice called out. Masky doesn't speak, so he just knocked on the cupboard door behind himself to alert Brian to his position. He'd long since stopped running away from Brian.

Brian stepped into the kitchen carefully, seeing Masky sitting on the floor with Toby. It wasn't uncommon for Masky to perch on furniture like a creature or hide inside small spaces, so seeing him sitting on the floor instead of a chair wasn't odd to Brian.

"Oh, hey Masky," Brian greeted, a tired but still sunshine-esque smile on his face. Brian reached down to pick Toby up off Masky's shoulder, but he turned away to keep Brian from taking him. Brian just chuckled.

"It's okay, I just want to change him, then you can have him back," Brian explained. Another reminder went off on his phone and Masky assumed that was for a diaper change.

He carefully let Brian take Toby and got up to follow his companion to their room.

"Do you know how to change him?" Brian asked as he laid out an old towel on the bed. Masky shook his head, but stayed in the doorway.

Brian put Toby on the towel and grabbed a bag from beside the bed. "Well, come closer and I'll show you. You need to know if you're ever alone with him and need to change him," Brian said, waiting for Masky to stand beside the bed before he changed Toby, explaining what he was doing the entire time. Masky listened intently.

Once Brian was finished, he picked Toby up and gave him back to Masky. He knew the alter was protective of his things and if he was protective of Toby then it was better to let him hold onto him.

"How'd you even find him? If you don't mind me asking?" Brian asked, going to wash his hands before he started on dinner. Knowing Tim and Masky, Brian was sure they hadn't eaten all day.

"Saw floating in river, instinct to save," Masky signed to Brian. Brian nods, "I figured as much. Did you see anyone else around? Anyone who could've thrown him in or been his parents?" All he got was a shake of the head from Masky as his answer.

"Okay," was Brian's reply before he started gathering ingredients for dinner. They spent the rest of the hour in comfortable silence, with Masky and Toby quietly interacting.

Brian then had to explain to Masky how to bathe the baby and showed him how before he dressed for bed.

"You can go out, if you want to. I'll watch Toby for tonight," Brian offered as Masky put Toby to bed in the cot. Masky turned to him with a blank look, not sure if he should.

Eventually Masky had left into the woods and Brian went to bed, the baby monitor sitting on his bedside table so he'd wake up if Toby did.

By morning, the roles were switched, Tim woke up on the couch with a headache and Hoodie stepped out of their room with his hood and mask on.

"Morning Hoods," Tim greeted as he passed Hoodie in the hallway, going to get Toby for a change and then breakfast. Hoodie just gave him an acknowledging nod.

"Are you heading out for work today?" Tim asked as he entered the kitchen. Hoodie had his mask up to his nose, eating a can of something he found in the cupboard. He handed the already made bottle of milk to Tim, who gave a soft thanks and started feeding the baby.

"No, day off," Hoodie signed to Tim, who nods again. "Okay then. Brian and I wanted to go out to get a couple more things for Toby today. Are you gonna come along?"

That's how Hoodie ended up in the passenger seat of Tim's truck while Tim drove into town. He stayed in the car with Toby while Tim got more supplies, the baby held in his arms and the windows open to let the wind flow slightly through the truck.

It was slightly odd to them how Toby wasn't bothered by their masks. He didn't fuss or cry when they switched, just stared at them and occasionally giggled when he could see parts of their faces, like Masky's sideburns or eyes or Hoodie's nose and mouth.

The baby suckled on some of his fingers, so Hoodie pulled out the pacifier they had for him from the diaper bag and held it out for Toby to take.

The backseat opened and Tim put a couple bags in the truck, then he got back into the driver's seat. "You're really good with him," he says, not expecting a reply.

"Want to take him to the park?" Tim asked as he pulled out of the parking lot. A nod is his answer, so he drives out to Rosswood park, the one with picnic tables and other people.

Toby had gotten ahold of Hoodie's mask as they sat down at one of the tables, Tim lighting a cigarette and pulling two bottles of water out for them. Hoodie took the water thankfully, because even if it was winter, it got hot under the hood and mask.

Toby was pulling on Hoodie's mask, so Tim asked, "Should I take him for a bit?" Another nod and Hoodie handed Toby over to Tim from across the table.

"You two shouldn't be allowed to have children!" An older woman yelled at them from another table. She seemed to be out with her grandchildren.

Tim ignored her, watching Hoodie to try and keep him from doing something that would get them into trouble. Hoodie sneered at the woman but thankfully stayed where he was sat.

"It's bad enough they let the gays adopt nowadays but you two are insane. You shouldn't have kids!" She went on.

Tim sighed, "Ma'am, respectively, shut the fuck up." He didn't want to deal with Karens today, his week has been rough enough.

She wouldn't shut up though, going on and on, throwing insults and rude comments at them. Her husband, they assumed, was trying to get her to leave them alone, but she decided to get up and go over to them.

Hoodie stood up, intervening. "Hoodie," Tim said in a warning tone. He stood in front of the woman and just stared her down as she went on. Then he sneered and pulled the hem of his hoody up slightly, flashing his gun at her.

"Hoodie!" Tim called, getting up as well, Toby now happily asleep in his arms. Thankfully the lady finally got the message and backed off.

Once he was sure she wouldn't follow them, Hoodie turned around and took Tim's shoulder. He gestured out at a walking path in the forest and Tim sighed, "Sure, let's take a walk."

Hoodie threw the diaper bag over his shoulder and grabbed their waters with the other hand. Tim walked beside him with Toby still fast asleep. He wasn't sure why Toby decided to sleep while they were outside when he would barely sleep in their house, but it was a relief that he was sleeping at all.

Hoodie led the way to a warmer hideout he used to have out here. It was still decrepit and in ruin, but at least they had a quiet, calm place to feed and change Toby away from people who acted like that Karen. Tim was used to following Hoodie out to these places and didn't mind the dirt. As long as they were safe and Toby was happy, it was fine.

They stayed there until the sun started setting, then made their way back to the truck and back home for the evening. It was going to be a wild ride raising this kid, but they'd make due, they always did.

[jackfrombaskinrobbins]

all fixed up (matt murdock x teen!adopted!reader)

type of writing: headcanons / scenario

word count: 967

request: yes / no

original request: "Matt Murdock patches up a teen reader, and there's just a lot of angst and hurt/comfort. PLEASE LET IT HAVE A HUG AND FOREHEAD KISSES :)) (I'm a sucker for fluff)"

warnings: slight mention of wounds, blood, not too much though i promise!!

dynamic: matt murdock x teen!adopted!reader

characters: reader, matt murdock, quick mention of foggy nelson & wilson fisk

a/n: ILYT!!! also erm hey guys🤓i've been gone for way too long i'm sorry :') but i've had this in my drafts for a whiiiiiiile so i figured it was time to post :0 anyways ya feel free to request i have a bunch to get to but i always like new ones!! esp daredevil oop tee hee

taglist: @nutellani @thecloudedmind @ayohitmanddaeng @fiadh-bell

(fill out this form to be on my taglist!)

-----------------------✰--------------------

“stop it, y/n. just come here for a minute, alright?”

normally matt’s words would be answered with an exaggerated sigh and an eye roll, but tonight was different. tonight was off, and you knew it, he knew it, and he knew that you knew that he knew it. (ridiculous, but true.) it didn’t help that you had wounds to patch up, sore spots all over your body that wouldn’t be going away any time soon – a constant reminder of your mistake.

and yes, as much as matt would deny it, you had made a mistake. a damn big one at that. you should have known better. no matter how gifted you were at defending yourself, no matter how many times you had practiced, it wasn’t enough. nothing would ever be enough. and yet you had stupidly decided to go against a group of kingpin’s lackies, big huge guys who ate kids like you for breakfast. they didn’t hold back, and they beat you up until you were barely conscious, and that’s when stupid matt came and did his stupid thing and saved your stupid ass from stupid death or some stupid thing like that. and now you were here, in this stupid apartment wishing you had just stayed in and done your stupid homework and watched some stupid tv and just stayed out of things for once. 

“i’m going to bed, matt.”

you spoke, too ashamed to face him. but stupid matt always knew, with his stupid heightened senses and the stupid way that he knew you inside and out, ever since he had taken you in a few years before.

“come on y/n. this isn’t something you can sleep off, and you know it.”

and you did know it. so that’s why you sat at the table, a hiss of air escaping you against your will as you lowered yourself down.

“i’ll get the kit from under the sink.”

“matt, really, it’s fine. it’s just little stuff, okay? i’m fi–”

“fine doesn’t smell like blood, y/n. i’m not stupid.”

that earned him an eye roll, which he never saw, but he always knew happened when he said things like that. you watched as he made his way to the sink, opening the cabinet underneath and rummaging around for the first aid bag. A while ago, you had put stickers on it so he could discern it from the other things in there. There were four flower stickers, and one that foggy had given you, with disney princesses that said “together we are strong”. 

matt settled into the chair across from you, exhaling softly. the lights of a police car suddenly filled the dark apartment, screeching sirens accompanying it. you reached for the kit, but matt shook his head.

“no, y/n. i’ll do it.”

you opened your mouth, about to protest, but you could tell he wasn’t going to budge. his stubbornness was something you liked, sometimes. it sure helped when you both wanted pizza for dinner and foggy wanted wings. besides, you knew he would be able to patch you up right, with all the experience he got from helping his father. he had always told you that you were just like him, willing to give anything to protect your honor. but what matt never said was that he was just like his father too, and that if anything, you had just gotten those traits from him. 

“did they get you in the head at all?” he asked, soaking a cotton pad in hydrogen peroxide and gesturing for you to guide it where your wounds were.

“yeah, a little bit. i tried to block ‘em. they just kept coming matt, i couldn’t do anything!” you grimaced as the pad touched the spot on your shoulder where you had been grazed by something sharp.

“i know, y/n. it’s not your fault.”

“see but that’s the issue. it IS my fault, matt!” you spoke, voice getting slightly strained, throat feeling tight. you squinted your eyes to prevent tears from falling, but it was too late. a few landed on his hand, and you turned away, trying to compose yourself. “there was no reason to go out there. i don’t know why the hell i thought it was a good idea. i was just … mad! mad about the way they’re treating everybody in this place, mad about the way they’re screwing over every person they deal with… mad about how they treat YOU, god damn it!”

a moment of silence as you tried to slow your breathing, and for a minute, you didn’t know how he was going to react. he reached into the kit, feeling around until he grabbed a bandage, unwrapping it. you helped his hand go to where it needed to be placed, and once it was, he sat back. only then did you see the furrow in his brow, the deep frown on his face.

“look, y/n. i need you to listen to me, and really hear me, alright? i’m proud of you.”

“come on matt, that’s –”

“no. i’m proud of you. really, really proud. i just … i just want you to be careful, alright? i worry about you. and for good reason, considering all this.” you could see his face start to crack ever so slightly, a quick break in his voice indicating that he really meant it. you moved your chair back, stood up, and hugged him tight, despite a slight lingering pain in your shoulder. after a little while, he kissed your forehead, then patted you on the back. 

“i’d assume it’s pretty late now. how about you get to bed? we’ll figure out if you need to go to school tomorrow, alright?”

“sounds good. thanks matt. love you.”

“love you too, y/n.”

-----------------------✰--------------------

[blueberrypancakesworld]

Coffee, bread and a kiss

Marc Schrader x girlfriend!reader

warning : fluff, kiss, flirting

Summary : Marc starts his morning on the ward at the computer and the best moment is when the secretary comes in, his fairy godmother, his lover and girlfriend who always brought coffee, bread rolls and something sweeter for him.

Info : Another little story for Marc as the last one was so well received thanks for that and have fun with this one I'm glad you like it so much ;) Ps : I just realized that I always spelled Minks wrong sorry with k and not x ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Another Monday morning in Berlin, a morning that was cool, foggy and without any sun. An uncomfortable morning as Marc and his girlfriend found out when they both woke up and shivered because they had left the window tilted. ,,No, it should be warm,” she grumbled and looked out onto the street, which was now filled with people, cars and work, and she sipped her tea, which at least provided some warmth.

The warming blanket they had both wrapped themselves in had evaporated after the shrill wake-up call they had given themselves so as not to miss work as they were not morning people and liked to go back to sleep, which had led to one or two conflicts.

A warning look from Minks Marc's boss and her superior station manager who followed them every step of the way.

As if they both had nothing better to do, but in the end it was the police you always had to be careful no matter what. ,,Well, you're warming me,” she suddenly heard his voice and a hand on her hip as Marc snuggled up to her from behind and put his head on her shoulder.

She could feel his fingers making little circles and playing with the waistband of her sleep shorts. ,,And you make my day,” she replied, turning around and giving him a kiss, which he returned before she broke away when she heard the pling of her cell phone, telling her that the new documents had arrived, which in turn meant that she had to leave.

Detaching herself from him with a wink, she finished her tea and disappeared into the bathroom before letting Marc in a few minutes later and fetching the car from the underground garage to wait for him. However, she could still see his tiredness and the slight dark circles under his bright eyes that looked at her as if he was still dreaming.

She ran her hand over his brown hair and tidied it up a little, as much as he was a sweetie in the morning, the energy was quickly gone again. But she appreciated his attempts to stay awake, even though he looked like a cute bear who had woken up from his winter sleep.

,,Don't worry, my sleepyhead, we'll be right there,” she assured him and patted him on the cheek before driving the slightly longer distance towards the city center, as they lived in the slightly outer area where they could still afford something.

Turning onto the road to the police station and headquarters, she drove into the parking lot designated for employees and parked in her assigned spot.

She could hear Marc sighing as he ran his hands over his face, but still gave her a smile when they both knew they had to get up. ,,Better now than getting fired,” he said, winking at her and she saw his non-existent enthusiasm, which she shared as the young couple made their way to the entrance.

She greeted the nice woman at the entrance as usual with a ,,Guten Morgen und einen schönen Tag" and turned into the elevator where she felt his hand on hers, one last little touch before she got out or him and he had to go to the floor above her.

Arriving on her floor, she could already hear the sound of paperwork, so she took the small trolley and got the coffee, rolls and file ready, which she distributed to everyone to get the system up and running.

,,And don't forget anything!” she heard her supervisor call out and she almost winced again, which she answered with a ,,Of course not” before getting into the elevator, glad that she hadn't wasted any more of the coffee. Working her way up the lower floors, she was glad when she arrived at Marc's floor and hurried to his room.

,,The dear coffee elf, my pretty savior,” he said and took the files from her, placing the pile of bright paper carelessly on a free spot on his desk before he almost wanted to take the coffee, but she pulled it back.

,,Well, what's the magic word?” she asked with a cheeky grin and saw his smile instantly grow bigger and bigger as he rose from his chair and his hands slowly wrapped around her.

,,As always, my love, hot as coffee,” he joked and pulled her into an intimate kiss, his hands wandering along her body until he finally took the coffee from her as cheeky as he could be in the morning and she held out a bread bun to him with a giggle.

,,Hot, intimate and a total sweet sleepyhead,” she added mischievously and threw him an air kiss which he caught and gave the imaginary heart another kiss and stroked it.

Before she disappeared out of his door to continue her work. He heard the giggles from the room and knew that he would enjoy his coffee before he took the roll with jam.

,,I'll see you at lunch darling!” she heard him call and could swear she felt his kiss on her lips again, his hands on hers and a word of praise at her ear, and a kiss that would move from her lips to her cheeks and then to the back of her hand when he got bored and wanted her attention.

The two of them were a little strange in the otherwise so monotonous and austere institution, but they always conjured up a smile and a kiss on each other's face to get through the day.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

@common-people-rep , @allloudontheeasternfront , @nn-nnenov ,@pinksodaaa , @hanslandasstrudel , @oceansrose2002

[stranger-fanfiction-n-things]

CHAPTER 4: THE BODY

This is an Original Character fanfiction. All Stranger Things characters and content are owned by Netflix and The Duffer Brothers.

a/n: Enjoy!

Warnings: Officer Callahan tbh.

Word Count: 2062

Masterlist

PART I || PART II

Thursday, November 10, 1983 - HAWKINS HIGH 

“Now, the three main reasons for The Civil War were one, disagreements over slavery, two, state vs. federal rights…” 

I stare outside the window watching the trees ripple in the wind, drowning out the history lesson. It’s been hard to concentrate and I can’t think about how heavy yesterday was. From finding Barb’s car, the thing with no face in Steve’s backyard, running to Lucas in the front yard after finding out about Will. The events following after Mom and Erica found Lucas and I on the front lawn feels like a fever dream. I remember being led to the front door, Erica calling out to Dad, Dad questioning Mom about what happened. I don’t know how or who took a shower first, but I know Mom was talking to me but I couldn’t hear anything. 

The shock of something happening to Barb and the police finding Will in the Quarry didn’t sink in until I lay in bed. I couldn’t stop crying. I woke up this morning squished between Lucas and Erica. Lucas lying almost horizontal and practically hanging off my bed while Erica snuggles into my back like a baby koala basking in my body heat. It’s been a few years since Erica and Lucas slept in my bed and I’m sure Mom has taken multiple photos of us all sleeping together. She loves taking photos and videos of us. 

The news of Will spread across the entire town like wildfire. Whispers of fear, concern and condolences echo in the hallways. I don’t see Jonathan which makes sense considering. I saw Nancy this morning in first period. Neither of us talk, both too wrapped up in our own thoughts to say anything. Mom dropped me and Erica at school this morning. Lucas stayed home. He hasn’t said much since last night and the family has given him space to grieve. For all of us to grieve. We knew Will too. 

“Diana Sinclair?” 

I blink out of my stupor, perking up in my seat. Principal Higgins stands at the door looking at me. 

“Y-yes?” 

“If you’ll come with me, please.” 

Everyone’s eyes are on me and I quickly stand up avoiding their stare as I pack up my books. Principal Higgins escorts me down the hall and I wonder what’s happening. I am led to his office. Janice, the secretary is scribbling on yellow legal pad, her plum-coloured outfit matching her eggplant-coloured nails. She smiles at me, magnified eyeballs warm and kind. 

“Hello, dear,” she greets. 

“Hi, Janice.” 

Principal Higgins nods his head respectfully in greeting and guides me to his office where two officers stand. My eyes widen in alarm and I linger outside the office not wanting to go inside. The two officers look at me through the window and I feel my knees tremble. I don’t know what to expect. I mean who does when it comes to being escorted out of class to speak to police officers. I immediately fear the worse. Barb. Principal Higgins opens his office door. 

“Officer Powell, Callahan. This is Diana Sinclair.” Officer Powell and Callahan peer out the door. Principal Higgins looks behind him and notices I’m not behind and smiles patiently. “It’s okay, Miss Sinclair, you’re not in trouble. Officer Powell and Officer Callahan just want to ask you a few questions.” My heart races. That doesn’t make me feel any better.

I wave half-heartedly with a closed lip smile. “H-Hello.” 

“Good Morning.” 

“Hi.” 

They answer at the same time. 

I don’t move from my spot in the middle of the office and the officers don’t move from where they stand. The whole encounter is awkward and I really want to run back to class and forget this ever happened. I shift side to side on my feet, playing with a loose thread on my skirt wondering what we’re waiting for. If they wanted to ask me questions, wouldn’t Principal Higgins have ushered me into his office to talk? Everyone was just standing here like they were waiting for something or someone. My ears immediately perk up when I hear soft clacking of heels walk into the office and I turn my head to see who it could be. My eyes widen and my jaw drops. Mom stands by the entrance wearing a sleek black trench coat with small kitten heels. Her hair is styled in a nice bob and looks freshly done, meaning she just got back from the salon. Principal Higgins walks past me to greet her, shaking her hand firmly and mom smiles her classic southern belle smile at him. 

My heart is beating so loud, I can hear it in my ears. I clutch my pendant tightly in my hands fearing I may pass out from overstimulation. Principal Higgins nods to the officers and they walk out his office excusing themselves past me. I blink realizing I’m still standing in the middle of the room like a deer stuck in headlights. The men walk out the door while Mom lingers waiting for me. She extends her arm and on instinct I walk towards her in a trance. Mom wraps her arm around my shoulder and without a word, we walk out the office.  

Principal Higgins brought us to the cafeteria. It was empty, but I know the lunch ladies were in the kitchen preparing the food for lunch. He leaves us to parade the hallways and Mom and I are sitting across Officer Powell and Callahan. They introduce themselves to Mom and tell us both, that they are here to talk to me about Barb. It turns out Mr. and Mrs. Holland went to the station this morning to file a missing person report and told them mine and Nancy’s name as the last people who saw her. I guess they are going to talk to Nancy next which meant, Mrs. Wheeler was going to come to the school too. I wish I could’ve warned Nancy about what was happening, but I can’t. I tell the officers what happened Tuesday night. 

“So, after this argument—” Officer Powell continued. 

“It wasn’t an argument,” I correct, shaking my head. “It was a…disagreement.” I’ve been talking to Officer Powell and Officer Callahan for the past fifteen minutes answering their questions. Mom sits quietly beside me, listening intently to the conversation. 

“Okay.” Officer Powell said. “After the disagreement, what happened?” 

“I walked home.” 

“You walked all the way home in the middle of the night.” It wasn’t a question. Officer Powell and Officer Callahan both looked skeptical about the thought. It takes almost two hours or more to walk uptown.

“Well, no. I-I got a ride.” 

I can feel Mom looking at me now. At the Wheelers with Barb’s parents, I didn’t get the chance to answer Mrs. Wheeler’s question before Mike stormed inside the house. To be honest, I was hoping I would never have to. Part of me wants to keep Eddie a secret. Not because I was embarrassed of him, the complete opposite. He seemingly was the only good in my life right now and I don’t want it all to be too good to be true. Officer Powell and Officer Callahan glanced at each other, my answer perking newfound interest in my story. 

“From who?” 

“His name is Eddie.” 

“Eddie what?” Officer Powell asks, writing in his notepad. 

“I’m not sure,” I respond, frowning. It never occurred to ask him his full name. The specifics didn’t matter. “He goes to this school and he was on his way home…” I don’t want to say Eddie was on his way from work because he is technically working illegally at a bar downtown and I don’t want to get him in trouble. “He saw me walking past Benny’s Burgers and offered to drive me home.” 

“She must be talking about Munson.” Officer Callahan said to Officer Powell. “Wayne’s nephew.” 

Officer Powell made a face. “Al’s kid?” He shakes his head. 

My eyes dart back and forth between the officers. I may have been born and raised in Hawkins but it didn’t mean I knew everyone in town. Mom and Dad moved to Hawkins from Virginia and we were one of the few families in our neighbourhood who didn’t have grandparents who grew up knowing each other. We didn’t come from generations and generations of Hawkins natives. We are the first in our family to uproot here. 

“You seem like a nice girl, Diana.” Officer Callahan says. “I would keep my distance from Eddie Munson.” 

I frown. “Why?” 

“With a father like Al Munson, take my word for it. He’s trouble.”  

My frown deepens and I clench my hands into tight fists. I don’t like how they’re talking about Eddie especially when the information provided doesn’t have anything to do with what matters. Barb’s disappearance. 

“I don’t think this is an appropriate conversation to be having with my daughter when her best friend is missing.” Mom reminded, her tone hard. 

“Eddie has been nothing but kind to me.” I counter, nostrils flaring. “He drove me all the way across town to make sure I got home safe. That’s more than anybody here has ever done for me.” 

“Do you have any more questions for my daughter about her whereabouts?” Mom asks in her parental voice.

Officer Callahan sits back in his chair while Officer Powell cleared his throat. 

“What happened yesterday?” he asked. 

“Nancy and I went back to Steve’s house to look for Barb and on the way, we saw her car parked in the exact same spot we left it the night before.” 

“When you went back, what did you see?” 

“I don’t know how to explain it, but it was huge, like some sort of animal or something, but,” I pause, licking my bottom lip. “It didn’t have a face.” 

Judgement shoots across Officer Powell’s face. “An animal with no face.” 

“I know it sounds ridiculous but that’s what I saw.” I swallow down the lump forming in my throat and touch my gold pendant on my chest. “I think it took Barb.” 

“We checked the house and there were no signs of any animals.” 

“Did you check the woods?” 

“Check the woods for an animal?” Officer Callahan deadpans. I don’t respond, fixing my chin up. It wasn’t the brightest question to ask, but it was still valid in my opinion. 

“There was no car either.” Officer Powell adds. 

I sit up straight, eyes darting to his. “What? Where did it go?” 

“That’s what we’d like to know, Diana.” He responds, patiently. 

“Nancy and I saw Barb’s car yesterday. I swear to you.” 

“Here’s what we think. We figure that Barb came back last night and then took off somewhere. Has she ever talked to you about running away?” 

I shake my head. “No. Barb wouldn’t do that.” 

“Maybe she was upset, like you, about the fact that Nancy was spending time with Steve.” Officer Callahan surmises. 

I squint at him and his ridiculous deduction. Barb wasn’t like that. I wasn’t like that. Barb and I may have had our worries about Nancy’s relationship with Steve but it wasn’t because of her. It was because of him. 

“I wasn’t upset about that.” I protest. 

“Jealous, perhaps?” 

The subtle tilt of his head conveyed an air of disdainful curiousity as if he were assessing me from a lofty perch. The laugh that comes out my lips is uncharacteristic. The tinge of bitterness and condescension charges the air. I can feel my Mom’s disapproving stare. My manners were unbecoming, I know. But for Officer Callahan to insinuate I am jealous of my best friend for spending time with a boy she likes is comical and proves he clearly wasn’t listening to anything I was saying. There was no motive for Barb to randomly disappear. There was nothing. The only thing that I know is that she is missing and something bad happened to her. 

“No one was jealous of Nancy,” I shoot back, trying to be mindful of my tone. “Not me. Not Barb. No one. I don’t care about Steve. I care about Barb and she’s missing.” 

The officers both watch me slightly taken aback by my firmness. Mom shifts in her seat waiting. Officer Powell closes his notepad, clicking his pen. 

“That’s all the questions we have for you Diana.” 

NEXT -> PART II

[tatjana-fantasy]

Why Little Hope’s most mundane interpretation is still amazing

You know what’s amazing about Little Hope’s story? That even its most mundane explanation – everything being an imagination and nothing more – still makes for a heartbreaking experience. This is why I decided to look through the events of the game from the basic “Anthony walks through the town” perspective, and analyze the various places he visits throughout the game, and why they were important to him. Because I believe this may be another way to interpret Little Hope’s story: Anthony coming to town to say goodbye to every place he loved.

(For the sake of argument, we’re mostly going to ignore everything that isn’t “real.”)

We start at the Bus Crash Site, where Anthony is perfectly greeted by the “Welcome to Little Hope” sign. I don’t think the place itself is actually important, but it does force Anthony to head into town, so I think it’s worth mentioning. Similarly, the fog forces him to stay on his path, which is likely Anthony’s own subconscious, guiding him to familiar places.

(Side note: I think it’s very fitting that Anthony can find Eric’s and Rachel’s car here, a reminder of another horrible accident that took place at the edge of town.)

Eventually, Anthony makes his first stop at the Black Cat Bar. Here, he meets Vince, the only other real person in town. It’s quite clear that Vince visited the bar regularly, but I wonder if Anthony visited it, too. We know that he was only an adult for about two and a half months, so he might’ve shared a drink with Vince during them; but even if he didn��t, he likely knew that Vince was a regular customer, which probably inspired him to visit the bar in the first place.

Afterwards, Anthony follows the Main Road, which is basically the red string of the story that ties all places together. Here, he makes a short detour to a vantage point; I can’t pinpoint its exact significance, but it’s easy to imagine that he had certain spots in town he liked to visit whenever he wanted to be alone.

The first bridge Anthony comes across is the part where the fictional characters in-game decide to split up. It’s like a metaphorical bridge for Anthony that allowed him to sink deeper into the depths of his mind; beforehand, his imagination only went so far to imagine all characters relatively close together, but now that he’s deeper in town, his imagination grows.

Meanwhile, Vince glimpses into Anthony’s story every so often, as if to remind him of the reality he doesn’t want to accept. Fittingly, his first cameo happens at the intersection, which can easily be seen as the intersection between imagination and reality.

Shortly afterwards, Anthony comes across a hut with a gun inside it – which raises some interesting questions about whom the hut belongs to, and consequently, who the owner of the gun is. Because of the book you can find inside, I believe it could be Vince, but it’s hard to say for sure since he doesn’t seem to recognize the gun later. There’s also the possibility that Anthony himself deposited the gun here at some point, but I don’t think that’s very likely.

Either way, Anthony continues to the Little Hope Police Department, which is obviously an important place for him, considering he was briefly imprisoned here and made the Crude Doll. But before we actually get to see him explore the place, we jump to Daniel’s POV – and the question of how real the events outside Anthony’s own perspective are. Does he imagine the other characters visiting these places or does he visit them himself? Personally, I’m leaning towards the latter.

We get a look at the Little Hope Middle School, which Megan likely visited, and the Playground, where one of her drawings can be found. It’s quite horrifying to think that all that time, Megan drew her experiences with Carson, but no one paid enough attention to her in order to do something about it.

Anthony enters the General Store next, whose nostalgic value is shown in the comic, where he mentions that he used to buy comics and candy there. Nearby, there’s also a small shack with some runestones and candles, but similarly to the hut above, the owner is difficult to pinpoint. Was it Vince’s and Tanya’s place to practice their Pagan beliefs? Or was Anthony himself a regular visitor? It’s hard to tell for sure, but I think both explanations are likely.

Either way, he explores the inside of the police station next, which must be a painful experience for him. He looks at all the memories he rather wanted to forget, reminds himself of everything he lost. I can’t even imagine how hard that must have been for him!

Exiting the police station, he comes across the Little Hope Bridge, where Tilly Johnson’s memorial makes me wonder about her existence, while Dennis’s band poster reveals more details about the Clarke family. Following the most mundane explanation theory though, this could potentially reveal a very heartbreaking fact about Anthony: That the memorial and the poster didn’t depict his family members, but he sees them anyway, like he can’t stop thinking about the people he let down.

This can also be seen in the Little Hope Graveyard. Because of course Anthony would want to visit his family’s graves; a part of him wants to confront the harsh reality he cannot yet accept.

When it comes to the other graves (like Wyman’s or Abraham’s), I suspect he got inspired here and decided to use their names for his story. It’s also interesting that Anthony comes across Vince right after, because this basically confirms they barely missed each other when visiting the graves of the people they loved.

Continuing to the Woods, I have to wonder about their significance. Sure, the Witch Trial is located here, which is likely a place Anthony was interested in, but I’m not sure if this is the only explanation – especially because the Woods are visited later as well. Is this another red string for the story, like the Main Road? I honestly have no idea, so I’d like to hear your thoughts!

Anyway, after a quick scene on the Main Road where we get a glance at the sewers, Anthony enters the Little Hope Museum. It’s easy to imagine that he used to come here regularly, and in the present, he even visits it twice. The first time, his own mind influenced the things he saw, but his second visit showed him what was actually real. Maybe a part of him knew it all along, so he went back to confirm it.

Following the Main Road, several historical plaques of places and events can be found here, alongside Tilly Johnson’s house and the Execution Site near the Church. The Execution Site is probably part of Little Hope’s historical town tour, while the Church is not only the place where Anthony bumps into Vince again, but also the place Reverend Carson resided. Which is interesting because after a short climb to the Bell Tower, you are free to either explore the church or simply skip everything that might remind Anthony of Carson. It’s the only place that allows that, like Anthony doesn’t want to be reminded of him anymore than he has to. He was probably a regular church visitor, and might’ve confided in him a couple of times, which only strengthens the betrayal he must feel.

Outside Church, Anthony makes a return to the Woods, where he relaxes for a bit and continues on the Dirt Trail, whose significance I honestly can’t tell. However, it does lead up to Mary’s grave, and most interesting of all, the Derelict Building. Since Abraham is properly introduced here, the building has to have a meaning, but what exactly? Was it always abandoned and Anthony came across it one day? Was it a functioning building before? In the flashbacks, Joseph seems to live there, so maybe James used to live there as well? I’m really curious what you think, because I believe there has to be a reason why Anthony wanted to visit this building in particular, I just don’t know what it could be. So, what are your thoughts? :)

Continuing to the Factory and another meeting with Vince, Anthony can find multiple remnants of the past. In the comic, it’s the first building he visits, spending quite some time there, reminiscing of the past and the physical memories it left behind. It’s also obviously the place his father and Vince worked at, so it makes sense that he would want to go there at some point.

From the Factory Grounds, you have to walk quite a bit through the Woods and a small tunnel until you come across the Ruined House, and the Back Yard associated with it. It’s notable that Vince’s old car stands here, like he never moved it away after the fire. And in the Ruined House itself, Anthony finally reaches his destination: Home. Now, he has to decide Mary’s/Megan’s fate, he has to come to a conclusion. But interestingly enough, his own story only ends here if he fails to forgive Megan and/or fails to let his family go; it’s only when he saves at least one person besides Mary that he can continue to the Main Road, where Vince determinantly brings him to his last – and in some ways, first – destination: The Diner. No matter which ending you get, Anthony’s story comes full circle and he leaves the town forever.

Imho, just viewing Little Hope as Anthony wandering around town and nothing more still makes for an interesting, heartbreaking story, and one I personally love – regardless of the interpretation you choose to believe. :)

[eretzyisrael]

by Liel Leibovitz

I’ve spent the last 12 hours speaking to Israelis who were at the Supernova music festival. Their testimonies, as you would imagine, are very emotional. At least one broke down mid-conversation and wasn’t able to continue his recollection.

The attack on the festival outside of Re’im began around 7 a.m. The party was at its peak by then—which meant that by then most people were inebriated. At first, partygoers heard a loud explosion, which they took to be another sporadic rocket attack on southern Israel. But then the explosions grew louder and constant, and kept going for about five minutes. The music stopped, and the police protecting the 4,000 or 5,000 ravers began pushing everyone to leave.

By then, the terrorists were approaching in pickup trucks bearing Hamas military markings.

Shooting began. Many were executed on the spot. 260 bodies have been found, so far, on the site of the rave.

Many of the young men and women started running in the flat expanse of the western Negev desert. Faced with the spectacle of kids fleeing for their lives on a largely flat surface, the terrorists began rounding up the rest of their victims.

Others were captured and bound and kidnapped. “I saw videos with a male getting held by a group of Arab kids. Like, they’re like 16, 17,” one survivor recalled. “They’re kids, but they’re they’re young men already, and they’re holding this guy, and he looks as his girlfriend is being mounted on a bike and driven away from him. God knows what she’s going to experience… Women have been raped at the area of the rave next to their friends bodies, dead bodies.”

Several of these rape victims appear to have been later executed. Others were taken to Gaza. In photographs released online, you can see several paraded through the city’s streets, blood gushing from between their legs.

One survivor who’d returned to the scene later in the day to look for his friends spoke, in a breaking voice, of what he’d seen. Of the bodies, mainly of young women, lying cold and mutilated. Of scantily clad corpses, many of whom appeared to have been shot at point blank. Of cars, perforated by bullets or blown up by grenades.

Some of the lucky ones ran to a nearby wadi, seeking shelter amid the shrubbery. “I felt like they were shooting right above our heads,” one survivor recalled. “I dove into a bush… It felt like the shooting was coming from 180 degrees, all around us. I understood we’re going to be there for at least a couple of hours. And I had nothing on me. And I was like, the only thing I want is a weapon. I want something to protect us.” Eventually, he and his friends, some of them barefoot, decided to risk it and try to reach safety, walking close enough to the road to see it but not so close so that they might be seen. “I said, if we see like army or police cars, we’re going to go to the road. Otherwise, we’re going to stay away. When we saw police and army cars, we knew that it’s a safe place.”

Later, when the gruesome attack was finally over and IDF soldiers managed to subdue the attackers, they searched these trucks and found RPG launchers, high-end communications devices, assorted AK-47s and other mostly Soviet-made weapons, along with numerous copies of the Quran.

[v-era-18]

HoneyBee

Chapter Three: Storyteller

‘We are sure we have the right Storyteller.’ -Optimus Prime

3

Sam was the first to scream once more before grabbing (Y/n) and taking off. The girl was too terrified from the question the Con had asked them to even think about where they were running too. She could hear the heavy pedsteps in pursuit, tears threatened to spill over, but her pride was speaking more on survival.

‘The book of Luna one? What is he talking about?!’

Her grandfather never mentioned such a book to her, and if this con was looking for it they were out of luck because she didn’t have it. (Y/n) knew partly that the two cybertron moons went by many names; two being referred to as Luna one and Luna two. So the first book they’re looking for is in relation to their first moon.

Her legs were starting to burn from all the running, begging for a break she knew they couldn’t get. Sam was keeping up behind her, she didn’t bother to turn around, the only reassurance she needed that the boy was behind her was his panicked breathing.

Conveniently Mikaela decided to turn up a minute later, heading in the direction they were running away from. In an attempt to save her life (Y/n) tried to wave her away, yelling for her to turn around. The other girl didn’t seem to notice and Sam decided on another method; which consisted of him tackling the girl off her bike.

“What is your problem Sam?!”

“Look there is a monster and he just attacked us! Here he comes!“ He helped her onto her feet, just as (Y/n) let out another yelp with the cons entrance.

A screeching of tires cut off the three teens panic for a second. The all familiar black and yellow car sped in knocking the con off his peds in one fell swoop. It drove up next to them, opening the car door in invitation.

“Sam what is that thing-?”

“You have to get in the car. Get in.”

The brunet shook her head, “I don’t want too-“

“Hey!” (Y/n)’s voice cut into their conversation. She was already in the driver's seat, determination taking over her features. “Get in the car! Trust me! They won’t hurt us!”

Mikaela stared at the curly haired girl for a moment. There was a promise within their eyes that gave quite reassurance of her safety. She sighed before jumping in the backseat Sam following in the passenger.

“Go! Go! Go!”

The car sped off, if they weren’t in so much danger, (Y/n) would’ve loved the thrill a whole lot better. Sam and Mikaelas panicked screams filled in for her silent prayer upon her lips.

“Oh god! We’re gonna die! We’re gonna die-“

“If you keep saying that we will!” (Y/n) gripped the steering wheel, it was driving all on its own, but she kept rubbing it with her thumbs in reassurance. “Common I know you got this! Get us out of here! You’re a kick ass driver!”

The words soon died off in her throat as the girl looked at the building in front of them, and the car showed no signs of stopping. She took her hands off the wheel and grabbed Sam in panic. The one person who was keeping things under control lost their sense of safety.

“Oh my god! We’re gonna die!”

Crashing through glass and boxes left her on edge, it was a wonder how much damage the car was taking, while invading the danger behind them. Mikaela seemed to be sick, whereas Sam looked like he was so close to passing out from the series of surprises.

It wasn’t long before the vehicle found a spot for them to hide; the headlights were turned off, with all doors clicked locked so they wouldn’t get out. The two other teens looked at (Y/n) , she was trying her hardest to not grip the steering wheel too tight, her finger covered her mouth, asking them to stay silent.

The police vehicle moved in front of them, passing by before rolling to a sudden stop. The engine started , much to everyone’s dismay. The car sped past the reversing vehicle, putting enough distance in between them before spinning with the car doors open, throwing the teens out.

The shifting of metal sent shivers down her spine. The transformation was different than she imagined when reading, nothing disappointed her; she was enthralled. The cybertronian got into a fighting position before them, and it took a moment for her to register what was actually happening. Sam grabbed her just in time before the black and yellow bot was tackled by the frightening deception.

The teens backed up from the fight, spotting the newfound smaller threat emerging from the chest of the bigger one. (Y/n) let out a shrill after the con ejected a sharp disk in her direction, missing her head by a hair. Mikaela grabbed her by her tee, running off with the mini con behind them.

Sam let out a yell as a result of the con grabbing onto his pants, “He’s got me! He’s got me! He's going to kill me!” Her friend's panic was gut reaching to see, in trying to help she thought of the quickest alternative.

In her backpack she always carried a taser, it was amazing in all of the chaos it made it this far. She raced over we’re the bot dropped them off earlier. Rummaging through the bags she was able to find the small blue taser at the bottom.

Her and Mikaela got back just in time, upon pressing the button, she snuck up behind the threat and struck its backstrucks. An inhuman sound rang out from the enemy, she almost felt bad for it. Key word almost. The thing landed on the ground, before getting right back up and tackling her to the scattered rocks below. She felt something sharp scratch her arm in efforts to get it off.

Mikaela was quick to strike. She started with the arms before fully decapitating the thing before it could do more harm.

“Kill it! Kill it!” Sam shouted.

(Y/n) got off the ground and grabbed onto her savior, Mikaela put her behind her watching as the con withered and whined.

“Yeah, not so tough without a head are you?” Sam taunted.

‘Ow! Ow! Ow! It hurts! Blasted bugs! I’ll kill you for this!’

A snarl made way onto (Y/n)’s face as she translated the words spoken from the cons mouth. “I’d like to see you try!” She got a running start before kicking the head above the fence and beyond, all the three could hear was the pained screeching of their victim.

(Y/n) looked back over towards the two an awkward smile making way on her face. “Thank-thank you for the uh-rescue,” She thanked Mikaela. The girl smiled back in return, placing the cutter on the ground. She turned to Sam and grimaced. “Uh Sam, you might wanna find your pants.”

The boy rolled his eyes before nodding in his direction, “Shut up and come on.” They followed it Until they reached the hill stopping at the sound of loud pedsteps.

(Y/n) wanted to laugh, she wanted to tell the story of how she got here to her grandfather so badly. She could see it running into the patient's room all dirty with bruises and scrapes littering her body as she’d sit on his hospital bed telling him that they weren’t stories. Her childhood self was beaming on the inside, feeling a sense of accomplishment.

She was read-to-educated on cybertronians her whole life. And here she was, her best friend's car standing before them, tall and proud, successfully defeating the decepticon that posed a threat to human kind. She had to be dreaming. But the way she allowed the pull to direct her to the bot, reassured her that this was reality.

“What is it?” Mikaela questioned.

“It’s a robot” Sam answered, he was watching (Y/n) slowly make her way up the hill. It seemed like the robot was waiting-watching for her to come closer. “But like a ....like different you know. Like a super advanced robot. It’s probably Japanese.”

The two watched the robot cock its head to the side, mimicking (Y/n)s nervous mannerisms. Sam nodded in confirmation, “ Yeah, it’s definitely Japanese.”

“What is she doing? Did she forget what just happened a minute ago?” Mikaela asked carefully, her gaze held worry as she watched (Y/n)s proximity.

“I don’t think it wants to hurt us. It would’ve done that already,” Sam shook his head, following his best friend.

Mikaela sent an ludicrous look his way, “Really? Well, do you speak robot? Because they had just had, like, a giant droid deathmatch!”

The boy looked at (Y/n) then the robot, the gears started to turn once the ebbs of panic started to recede. “I think it wants something from us-me and (Y/n) I mean.”

“What?!”

“Well, ‘cause the other one was talking about my eBay page and a book (Y/n) has.”

The brunette wanted to quit at this point, after everything that had happened tonight, she just wanted to go home. “You two are by far the strangest duo I have ever met.”

Sam raced up beside (Y/n), the robot crouched down and was adjusting the jacket on her shoulder gently. His guess was right, the robot had to be friendly, it wasn’t making any threatening moves on his friend.

“Can you talk?“ Sam shouted the question loud enough to hear.

“XM Satellite Radio Digital cable brings you-Columbia Broadcasting System,” The black and yellow bot answered, they were standing straight up now hands on their hips in sass.

“You talk through the radio?” (Y/n) questioned in amazement.

“Thank you, you’re beautiful, You’re Wonderful, you’re wonderful.” The response threw the girl off guard, an awkward laugh left her lips.

“So what was that the other night? What was that?”

“Message from Starfleet Captain-Throughout the inanimate vastness of space-Angels will rain down like visitors from heaven! Hallelujah!”

“Visitors from heaven? What…..What are you like an alien or something?” Mikaela asked for clarification. The bot pointed to her with a nod before transforming once more into the Camaro once more. They expected the vehicle to say something else from the radio, instead they got something else.

The driver's door opened, and out came a figure of a boy. (Y/n) froze her eyes widening in shock as her heart plummeted into her stomach. In front of her was no other than the boy she’s been talking to for the past three days, he was still wearing the same outfit from when he visited the library earlier today. He sat on the hood, crossing his arms as his eyes held something serious.

“Any more questions you want to ask?”

~✯~

The drive was silent to say the least, no one could complain though, they did just survive a fight with two alien robots. (Y/n) looked over at the male in the driver's seat, his scarred hands were relaxed on the wheel, posture straight and focused with their destination. She shuffled in the seat anxiously, she had wanted to say something to the boy-bot-whatever the alien could be addressed as.

This was nothing like the stories her grandfather read to her, she was expecting something else-something more dangerous from the bot that she had spoken with on two occasions now. She had told him so many things in confidence that she hadn’t expressed in awhile-only to find out he was simply sent to protect her. It was a vulnerable position, and she had a feeling it would be wrong in the pursuit of wishing a bit more from him.

“Are you cold?” The voice drew her attention back to the present. Blue eyes locked on her shaken form, they moved up her frame slowly before catching her (e/c) ones in his. Her thighs squished together in retaliation from the attention.

“N-no, just uh-tired,” (Y/n) uttered. He slowly nodded, clearly not believing a single word she said.

Bee pursed his lips together for a moment before speaking again, “If this is about earlier, we're far from Decipticon reach right now. You're safe with me,” He looked in the rearview mirror, seeing Sam and Mikealas curious glances, “You all are.”

“Those two robots really didn't scream safe-”

“Cybertronians,” (Y/n) corrected.

Sam sent her a look, “Cyber-what? No-(Y/n) this isn't time for your little stories! We almost died!”

The said girl frowned, sinking lower in the seat, she was mentally cringing at the fact he thought she was still excited with everything going on,“Sam I don't think they're stories. The fact i knew what a decepticon was a-and how they biologically transform-”

“Biologically?” Mikeala questioned, “You mean-those things are alive-”

“They aren't things! They are organisms just like us! They live lives like us-and just like us they have feelings! You have to watch what you say-not to mention we're literally speaking in front of him!” The girl heaved a short breath, faltering a bit with her outburst.

She really didnt like how she was handling her emotions as of late. She was just so tired, it was always something-always a problem following her ever since last friday and she couldn’t take a break.

Bee sighed into the thick awkward air, “Let's all calm down for a moment. I promise everything will be properly explained by our leader in short time, ” Blue eyes landed on the girl in the passenger seat, she was currently looking out the window-cars passing by. “I appreciate your concern, Storyteller, but our lives and biology are very different in comparison. So I do try not to take anything to offense during questioning.”

(Y/n) paused before turning to him, “What did you call me?”

Bee cocked an eyebrow, “Storyteller-?”

“Yes, that ! The decepticon we faced earlier called me that! You said it was a nickname, but clearly it isn’t,” Her voice was steady with an edge to it.

He opened his mouth only to close it once more, he seemed to be thinking about how to answer her question without revealing too much. “You-you are correct, it isn’t a nickname. I’ll try to explain this the best way I can-to at least ease your discomfort. Your family is known for transferring our history into stories for the next generation. The name storyteller is for the one taking over in the generation to surpass the old-“

“What do you mean ‘surpass the old’?”

Bee paused, sending the girl a sympathetic look answering her question. Her breath caught in her throat remembering her grandfather's old nickname within the community. She was given the name a few months after he died, as a result-she was given the book he once had as well as a blank one to start anew. She didn’t think about it before, but now it made sense.

She was going to cry if this night got any worse.

Mikaela seemed to notice her expression and decided to quickly change the topic, “I have a question,” The boy looked in the rearview mirror, showing she had his attention, “if you’re supposed to be this highly advanced being, why do you turn into this piece of crap Camaro?”

A yell left all three teens' lips as the car skidded to a stop. Out of all the questions Banes could have asked-it had to be that? The sounds of horns blaring increased (Y/n)s anxiety as she slowly dared to look over seeing the boys' pissed off expression.

“Get out.”

‘I try not to take anything to offense huh?’

The response was quick, Sam and Mikaela got out quickly, however when (Y/n) tried to unbuckle her seatbelt it only tightened. Bee looked over at her, only seeming less irritated.

“You’re good. I figured you might wanna watch this.”

The girl gulped nervously, “Watch what?”

Bee didn’t answer, he sped off leaving Sam yelling in frustration and Mikaela flustered. She would’ve laughed at them, but decided it wasn’t the best time to make jokes on the situation. The brunette did just get done insulting Bee, what did she expect to happen? A part of her thinks it was a way of her throwing a jab at him for making (Y/n) upset. However she dismissed it completely, they weren’t close, plus she bet the girl only valued Sam in some aspects.

The girl let out a yelp as they soon were riding on two wheels, she quickly grabbed onto the boy for balance, trying her hardest not to be pressed against the car door. Bee chuckled, wrapping an arm around her securely before the car landed on its other pair of wheels once more.

A gasp left (Y/n)s lips as the worn out leather soon moved a bit underneath her, gone was the worn out material, soon was a brand spanking new black leather with no cracks in sight. She looked around taking in the new paint job she could see on the hood and the new interior she’d see in commercials and movies.

“Oh sweet honey,” Left plump lips, she smiled looking in the boy's direction/only he had changed as well. He was now sporting a leather jacket, a plain white shirt and black ripped jeans. He had a simple leather necklace with the auto bot insignia as a pendant. “This is amazing! You guys can do this at will?!”

Bee nodded, a coy smirk on his lips as he rolled up next to the other two teens staring at the car with dropped jaws. He opened the door for them, a cocked eyebrow displaying to ask if the brunette had anything negative to say. She didn’t, the two of them quickly got in the backseat, Sam holding a look of excitement.

“I’m so glad he chose me as his owner.” Witwicky started as he proceeded on the highway. Bee coughed a bit, then slowly broke out into a laugh. Sam and (Y/n) looked at each other in question, “What’s so funny?”

“You thought-you thought I was choosing you?” A chuckle left the black hairs lips in mirth. Blue eyes latched onto (Y/n)s, they softened considerably as if he was replaying the memory of that day specifically. “Sorry to break it to you Sam, but she was supposed to take me home. I just accidentally sent out the wrong message.”

“Wrong-wrong message?” The boy questioned.

“Are you saying……are you saying you chose me?” (Y/n)’s voice lacked confidence behind her words. She truly wanted the car-Bee- to be hers the moments she laid eyes on him. Yes, she gave him to Sam because he saw him first, but she hadn’t expected Bee to choose her as his driver.

Bee hummed, answering her question, “Although my mission was to watch over both of you- I figured (Y/n) would be a more suitable owner since she would believe the situation we’re in more than you would,” Sam frowned a bit causing Mikaela to give him a pat on the back out of sympathy, “Don’t get me wrong your a good owner-things just-didn’t go as planned.”

“Do you still want me as your owner?” (Y/n) uttered without paying mind to the question, it wasn’t till after the sentence was spoken that she recognized how bad it sounded.

“I’m sorry forget what I said-“

“Yes I do.”

Was a simple response to cut off her following statement. Her face felt hot and her stomach doing flips, she had to focus on the window to calm her racing heart. The answer led to the end of the quick discussion, it felt a bit weird knowing that Sam wasn’t picked and she was.

(Y/n) found it ironic how she was so bitter with the fact her friend had the car the whole time only to find out he wasn’t supposed to have it in the first place. Well him, to be more specific. She was still trying to wrap her head around tonight, so many things were pulling up on top of eachother and she was so tired. Her eyelids felt heavy, her body warm against the new leather seats that transformed before her eyes.

She was sure a few minutes of shut eye wouldn’t hurt.

Transformers OST - Arrival To Earth

(Y/n) was startled awake an hour later from a loud sound vibrating the car. Her first instinct was to scan her surroundings for danger, she instead found blue eyes watching her curiously from the driver's seat. Bee offered her a kind smile before watching the scenes unfold in front of them.

She looked out the window, Sam and Mikaela were out the vehicle watching each ‘meteor’ arrive and crash on earth one by one as they passed overhead. (Y/n)’s trance returned, her inner child was beaming, watching the arrival of heroes she looked up to when she was little felt like a dream.

Bee leaned over her, eyes scanning her face with a pleased expression, “You look like you’ve been waiting for us your whole life” he whispered softly.

The girl turned to him, eyes sparkling in triumph, “Read, learned, waited, dreamed-!” She bit her lip looking outside once more as the final meteor crash landed. “Yes, I’ve waited for this my whole entire life. And trust me when I say-none of this has disappointed me.”

The words left the bots spark thumping a mile a minute, this girl-this girl was something else than he had ever experienced before. Out of his experience with humans, never had he felt so enthralled, and so decomposed during a mission. He viewed humans like any other human, they were to be protected.

However (Y/n) started to cause the mech to entertain an idea that's foreing, almost too tabo to even utter out loud. So instead of thinking further on his feelings he decided to take in his charges' expressions.

(L/n) was a dreamer-that he could clearly tell. From the way she gazed through her telescope outside her window, to the way she read novels on the school front steps. These were things he'd gathered about her within the two months of watching her and Sam. Sometimes he'd be tempted to join her on her endeavors, maybe that's why when he pulled up at that drivers dealership he wanted her to pick him out of the other vehicles.

“Bee? How many more of you are there?” The question had the mech zone in back of her, she was still staring in wonder, the enchantment in her eyes never left as they stared at each other.

Bee hummed in thought, “You'll see soon enough,”

Sam and Mikaela quickly made it back inside the vehicle, the two teens were flabbergasted seeing alien lifeforms arrive on earth-unbeknownst to them a certain girl was beaming in the front. Bee made haste to their location, resulting in the growing tense atmosphere within the vehicle. It wasn’t long before they arrived in a secluded area within an alley.

All three teens got out of the vehicle, Sam hid behind the two girls as a group of vehicles emerged from the mist. The one vehicle that caught (Y/n)’s attention was the large red and blue semi truck with signature flames. The group took a step back as each alien began to transform before them.

A gist of a smile made way on a certain girl's lips for she couldn’t believe her eyes. Sam and Mikaela back towards Bee while (Y/N) stood in place as the leader transformed, his blue optics landing on the subjects of their mission on earth.

“Are you both Samuel James Witwicky and (Y/n) (M/n) (L/n)? Descendants of Archibald Witwicky and (GG/n) (L/n).” The Prime spoke in an authoritative tone.

“They know your names?” Mikaela uttered.

The two teens shared an apprehensive expression before turning back to the bot before them.

“Yea.”

“Yes sir.”

Sam shot (Y/n) a look with how she addressed him. The girl simply shrugged in response. What did he expect? It was a habit when she was nervous.

“My name is Optimus Prime. We are autonomous robotic organisms from the planet Cybertron.” Optimus introduced himself.

“But you can call us Autobots for short.” The green mech chipped in from the left.

“Autobots,” Sam breathed before turning to his childhood friend, “(Y/n)-I’m starting to believe those stories you used to tell.”

The girl grimaced, she wasn’t surprised he didn’t believe them-but she didn’t expect them to actually meet the Autobots so close.

“Yeah, well I literally told you the history of the planet. You probably didn’t care because you failed history in the fourth grade.”

“What’s crackin’ little bitches?”

“My first lieutenant. Designation, Jazz.” Optimus gestured to the bot behind them.

“This looks like a cool place to kick it.”

(Y/n) tried hard to bite back a laugh. ‘That’s a whole black man talkin’’

“What is that? How did he learn to talk like that?” Sam was baffled with the way the cybertronian was speaking in earth slang.

“We’ve learned Earth's languages through the World Wide Web,”Optimus informed smoothly, “My weapons specialist Ironhide.”

“You feeling lucky, punk?” Ironhide aimed his cannons towards the three teens.

“Very.” The Afro haired smiled. Sam pulled her back, noticing she was getting a bit too close to the heat the cannons were letting off.

“Easy Ironhide,”

“Just kidding. I just wanted to show them my cannons.” The weapons specialist defended lightly.

“Do you have anymore-“

“(Y/n)!” The other two stressed.

“Fine! Staying quiet!”

“Our medical officer, Ratchet.” The Prime continued introductions.

Ratchet obviously chose the right vehicle to turn into for the job. Even if (Y/n) wasn’t told what position he held, she would’ve put the pieces together. She was sure not many cybertronians who weren’t in the medical field would’ve transformed into an ambulance.

“There’s an odd combination of pheromones going around. The boy's pheromone level suggests he wants to mate with the female-while on the other hand the female wishes to mate with the other female.”

(Y/n)'s jaw dropped as she shot her head to her right spotting Sam sporting the same expression, only it wasn’t for her. It was for Mikaela.

“Y-you-you like girls?” Sam questioned hastily, he couldn’t believe his ears. After all these years of knowing the girl from a distance there were no rumors of her being in the closet or bisexual.

Mikaela took a nervous glance towards (Y/n), her eyes scanning her face expecting disgust or even a look of distane-however she didn’t find any. The ladder was simply looking at the other in a calculating look.

“Well….that would explain this past week,” the girl laughed awkwardly, “And here I thought you hated me.”

The brunette's heart dropped, “Hated?! How did I give that impression?!”

(Y/n) flinched considerably, she didn't mean to offend the girl-her longing stares throughout the week seemed to be rather territorial rather than being flirtatious.

“H-hey let’s talk about this later! H-how about that,” Sam interjected.

It would be for the best, she was just outed in front of everyone. (Y/n) knew Ratchet wasn’t trying to be disrespectful, on their planet reading pheromone levels was a way of seeing who was seeking whom and who were partners.

“You already know your guardian, Bumblebee.”

“Bumblebee?” The name rolled off (Y/n)’s lips.

The name was quite fitting, Bee must've been his nickname so they wouldn’t have a mouthful when meeting for the first time. Or rather it would've been odd for a human to hold that name.

“Check on the rep Yep, Second to none!” Their Guardian started to show off, punching the air, before pointing in the girls direction.

The other Autobots noticed the action, but didn’t speak on it.

“I thought he could talk? He was talking fine in the car” The girl questioned in confusion.

This caused the black and yellow bots' door wings to drop considerably.

Ratchet stepped forward, “His vocal processors were damaged in battle. I’m still working on them.” He proceeded to point a laser at the scouts neck cabling causing the bot to wheeze and let out a mechanical cough.

The girl frowned seeing the mech's discomfort. She thought back to the library and the mark on the left side of his neck. She was right, it was a battle wound.

“Why are you here?” Mikeala went straight to the point for the other two teens.

“We are here looking for the AllSpark. And we must find it before Megatron”

(Y/n) froze, her heart dropping as her ears faded out from the words uttered from the Prime before them.

Megatron. Did he just say-Megatron?!

“Mega-what?” Sam questioned.

Optimus taped the side of his helm, displaying a horrific display of the planet the girl so longed to visit when she was little. The planet that was alive before the Decipticons started the war that would soon come to the planet's demise.

“Our planet was once a powerful empire, peaceful and just. Until we were betrayed by Megatron, leader of the Decepticons,” Optimus’ voice was grim, his optics locked on the girl seemingly frozen at the display of his broken home. “All who defied them were destroyed-“

“Not just destroyed,” her shaky voice interrupted. Mikaela turned to her, taking in the way the girl's hands shook at her sides-her breathing uneven, “Their sparks were ripped from their chests. Torn limb from limb in front of him as he heard many plead for mercy that he wouldn’t give-“

“(Y/n)! What the hell-?” Sam was interrupted as his friend continued.

“Mass herds of neutral bystanders of cybertronians weren’t spared-sparklings weren’t spared! The war consumed their planet, and the All Spark was soon lost as well,” (Y/n) turned to the Prime, tears pricking the corner of her eyes. “But he was also lost, right? He lost himself among the stars trying to find it? That’s what my grandfather hypothesized.”

Optimus held her gaze for a moment, sending her a sympathetic look. “I’m afraid not, our dear storyteller. Although I wish it were true,” he turned to Sam, leading her to do the same, “Megatron followed the Allspark to Earth, where Captain Witwicky found him.”

“My grandfather.” Sam laughed ironically.

Nothing about this is fucking funny.

“It was an accident that intertwined our fates. Megatron crash-landed before he could retrieve the Cube. He accidentally activated his navigation system.”

“The coordinates to the Cubes' location on Earth were imprinted on his glasses.”

“How’d you know about his glasses?” The boy questioned.

“eBay.” The Prime answered simply.

A shaky inhale caused all to turn towards a very angry female throwing her ripped flannel to the ground.

“No-no. I can’t do this! I’m going home-“

“What?! (Y/n) you most definitely can’t leave you know more about them than I do-“

“Samuel Witwicky, for this past week all you’ve done is bring me into your fucking shit and I’m tired of it!” She exploded, “I told you not to sell those glasses, and not only that pee paw Witwicky frickin’ discovered a whole terrorist that’s going to kill us all!”

“How do you know that?!”

She froze, tears of frustration and anxiety falling as she took in her friend's words. He never listened to those stories. If he did he would’ve been just as afraid as she was right now.

“Are you-are you serious?!” She hollard, this caused a few mechs to take a step back. They honestly hadn’t expected this reaction from her, from what they had gathered previously is that storytellers from the (L/n) line were more calm and rational.

“I told you this story so many times! You never listen to me!” (Y/n) choked on her own tears in fear, she had been scared of that mech for years. Hiding underneath her bed, crying to her grandma when she thought she saw the silhouette of his tall stature. Sam wasn’t getting it. “And now we’re going to die! No one ever listens when I warn them about this.”

Silence took over for a minute, the girl was so overwhelmed she needed a moment to think. All the burdens from the past week had stockpiled on her shoulders needed to be released, but she hadn’t expected it to result in her crying.

Bumblebee seemed to grow still as he watched fat tears rolling down his charges face. He felt a twinge in his spark from the expression of fear she was displaying. Didn’t she understand he was her guardian? Didn’t she know he would keep her safe even if it meant losing his life?

Sam awkwardly stepped forward, he knew he was on thin ice with his friend as is-he didn’t want to make things worse.

“I-I’m really sorry (Y/n) don’t cry-“

“Jealousy-that’s what pops said it was.” Was the words that left the burnetees lips.

(Y/n) paused and turned to Mikeala, her eyes were puffy and red-her hands still shaky.

“What?”

“He was jealous he couldn’t be a Prime-so he betrayed his own brethren. His wrath knew now bounds, sires and creators were not safe from his fury as he vanquished each obstacle that stood in his way,” Mikeala waved her hands around in dramatics, causing Sam’s face to contort.

“ Decipticons who betrayed him had their helms on metal stakes within the areas he had conquered. The cube our heroes had fought for is lost to the stars and he seeks to find it-we as humans are not safe if he arrives! Their kind walked this earth before-and they shall walk here again.”

The girl turned to the other speechless, Mikeala approached (Y/n) before taking her hands and giving them a reassuring squeeze.

“That's how you told the story in sixth grade, correct?” The brunette smiled in confidence, “I might have gone overboard with the dramatics-you were always better at doing that.”

“Y-you remembered my warning,” (Y/n) stammered in shock , “Everyone said I was crazy-”

“Look at them,” Mikeala gestured to the Autobots surrounding them, “Do you think I-we think you're crazy? You did what many are afraid to do,and that's warning people of the impossible they couldn’t even imagine.”

The girl whipped at the others eyes gently, before continuing, “I remember that day, I sat in the front as I watched you get scolded after finishing for telling ‘lies’ by Mrs. Nelson-that bitch-'' The two laughed while Sam cracked a smile, “I thought she was so stupid to assume you were lying-mainly because you were a star student in each class! Why would you lie like that? Especially because you were so frightened by what you were saying.”

“(Y/n),” Mikeala cupped the girl's face wiping a stray tear away. The action felt motherly and intimate causing goosebumps to spread, “if anyone can help them, it’s you.”

(Y/n) broke away, wiping her hands down her face in frustration, “You don’t understand, if I we fail-no-If I fail we all die-“

“But what if we don’t?”

“That’s the thing I don’t know!” (Y/n) turned to Optimus,the Prime was listening to the conversation patiently. “Listen, I'm sorry! You have the wrong (L/n)!”

Optimus shook his head, “We are sure we have the right storyteller.”

“How are you so sure?”

“So many questions and so little time.” Ironhide spoke to Bumblebee in the cybertronian language.

(Y/n) wiped her head towards the bot, “So little answers leads to so little patience,” she quipped in the same tongue.

Sam and Mikealas jaws dropped, they both couldn’t fathom how the girls vocal cords and tongue could speak it so smoothly without issue.

Jazz started laughing, “Do you still think we have the wrong one?”

“You just spoke in their language-!”

“I’m fluent in many languages-”

“On earth!” Sam pointed out, “That was intergalactic tongue right there! That shouldn’t be possible-”

“You simply just gotta speak with your throat and roll the tongue per sicily-'' She Paused seeing her peers' reactions, “Okay I see your point. But the matter is-I'm not walking into that death trap!”

“Think about it this way,” Mikeala said, “You'll be a legend, just like in your stories.”

(Y/n) smiled bitterly, “And do you know why their ‘legends’?’ Because they die-either from victory or defeat!”

Sam licked his lips glancing at the other bots around them, he locked eyes with his childhood friend, “Pops told us both about legend’s. Not just you,” He stepped forward , causing the girl to glare at him with a guarded expression.

“The one thing he told us the most-is that we can’t tell the ending. We both don’t know how this ends,” Sam offered a reassuring smile, this time there was genuine affection behind his words, “You’re they’re Storyteller. They’ve been waiting for you just as you have for them.”

“You can determine your own ending if you so desire.”

The girl looked around at the autobots surrounding them, her eyes rested on a certain black and yellow one. He was watching her patiently, she felt the support behind those optics-a promise of reassurance.

A sigh left her plump lips as she looked up at the night sky, “Well if I’m going to die-,” she turned to Optimus , a wobbly smile on her face , “I might as well die a hero.”

Sam laughed in victory, “So you’ll help?!”

(Y/n) nodded, for the first time in her life, she could finally take on the challenge her nine year old self wanted to achieve. She faced the autobots' , determination flashing within her iris.

“Let’s go be Legends.”

[mischievouslittlecreature]

Part 19: In the Bleak Midwinter

Fandom: Peaky Blinders

Pairing: Tommy Shelby x Grace Burgess x OC

Summary: Tragedy, the kind in which neither of them will ever fully recover, finally strikes.

Word Count: 6,418

Notes: I am so, so sorry in advance for this one, guys. Warnings for depictions of canonical major character death, blood, polyamory, and violence.  

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Chapter 4: I'll Break Your Heart

“What the fuck is that?” Lucy asked. Tommy looked up from where he’d been fumbling with his cigarettes, following her gaze to the two trucks parked outside the betting shop. His brows pinched. “Are those coppers?”

Cocking his head, Tommy narrowed his eyes. “That’s not normal.”

“No. It isn’t. You think it has to do with the Russian business?”

“Maybe,” his eyes darted to the betting shop down the road. “Right. Listen to me. I want you to go home.”

“What? Are you serious?” she bristled. Tommy sighed.

“Lucy, if things go bad…I don’t want to have to worry about bailing you out of jail too.”

She crossed her arms over her chest. “I’m not leaving you to face down a bunch of coppers on your own.”

“I won’t be on my own. I’ll have Arthur and John with me. They should still be at the stop,” he huffed at her unconvinced expression. “Lucy, love, please.”

Her jaw clenched at the idea of being left out of the action. “I’m not going home. But,” she quickly added, when he opened his mouth to argue, “I’ll stay out here, watch what happens. If they take you to the station, I’ll wait outside for you.”

Tommy closed his mouth, looking her up and down, then nodded. “Don’t try to interfere.”

“Okay.”

He squeezed her hand, and turned away, heading towards the betting shop. Shoving her hands into her pockets, she chanced one last glance at the trucks parked on the edge of the street before turning away, slipping down an alley and zigzagging her way around until she was at a spot where she could watch the front of the betting shop without being seen. It didn’t take long for the coppers to file out of their truck, breaking down the door to the shop and bursting in, shouting. Lucy thought that she might have heard what sounded like Esme screaming, and it took nearly all of her self control not to rush across the road to help.

A moment later, they marched Tommy out. His eyes scanned over the street until he spotted her peeking out from the alley. Their eyes met, and he shook his head once, barely undetectable, to the silent question in her eyes. And much as it killed her, she did nothing as they shoved him into a truck and began to drive away.

Melting back away into the darkness of the alley, she began to walk briskly to where they’d left the car, starting up the engine and fumbling at the wheel. Her movements with the car were clumsy and uncoordinated as she drove it down the road towards the police station. Stupid thing. She had never been good with driving cars. The tires squealed as she brought it to a stop close to the outside of the station and shut it off, wincing at the sound and thankful that no coppers seemed to have noticed. There was a reason why Tommy never let her drive.

Opening the door, Lucy hopped from her seat, leaning up against the side of the car after closing the door behind her, pulling her watch from her pocket to check the time. Her teeth bit into her bottom lip nervously, weighing her options as she tucked the watch away. Trying to storm into the station probably wouldn’t be the smartest of moves, but the idea of any number of terrible things they could be doing to Tommy inside while she just stood out there helplessly made her stomach clench. Trying to stifle her jitters, she pulled a cigarette from the worn case she kept them stored away in, lighting it and letting her thumb swipe along the white stick anxiously. The heel of her right foot began to tap rhythmically against the cobblestones. She had always hated the feeling of not knowing what to do.  

Come on, Tom. Come on. Please be okay.

She had just finished her first cigarette, mind weighting between the options of having a second one or just saying fuck it and just storming into the station anyway, consequences be damned, when the door flew open and Tommy rushed out.

But the sight of him did little to reassure her like it usually did. His face was ashen, eyes wide and panic-stricken in a way that made her blood run cold. He spotted her, standing by the car, and ran across the street to her, rushing around to get into the driver’s seat of the car.

“What happened?” she asked, cigarette dropping from her fingers to be forgotten on the cobblestones as she climbed into the car, barely getting her door closed before they were taking off down the road. “Tommy?”

Still he didn’t say a word, eyes focused straight ahead, mind clearly very faraway. In some dark, terrible place, if the drawn look on his face was any indication. 

“Tom, what did they want?” she tried again, keeping her voice gentle so as to not spook him anymore than he already was. Tommy rubbed a hand down his face before returning it to rest with the other upon the steering wheel. The car was traveling almost concerningly fast; barreling down the streets with enough speed to cause the entire to make a noise of complaint.

“Hughes wanted to talk to me,” he said it just as she was beginning to wonder if he hadn’t heard her, his voice tight with fear. It made her a chill creep down her spine. Tommy was rarely scared; at least not like this.

“What did he say?”

He swallowed roughly, in a way that looked painful. Eyes still focused straight ahead at the road.

“He said I’m not to see Ada again. Or they’ll kill her.”

Lucy raised an eyebrow. The death threat was certainly not good, but it didn’t seem to be the type of thing to elicit such a fearful, frantic response from Tommy. It took more than death threats to rattle him.

“And then he told me to check under Charlie’s pillow.”

It felt like some sort of icy, terrible thing had reached into her chest and locked its cold fingers tight around her heart, constricting until it tightened painfully in her chest, practically leaping into the back of her throat with fear. 

No, please. Not their boy. Not their sweet little boy.

“What did–what did he mean by that, Tommy?”

“I don’t know.”

“Was that supposed to be taken as a death threat, or–”

“I don’t fucking know, Lucy!” he snapped, and then immediately seemed to recoil in on himself, wiping at his lips with his hand. “Sorry,” he apologized, voice much softer. Lucy scooted a little closer to him, pressing her shoulder to his in what she hoped would provide some sort of comfort. Though whether it was for him or for herself, she couldn’t be sure. 

“It’s alright.”

“If anything happens to him, Luce…”

“It won’t,” she hoped that she sounded more confident than she felt. “Arrow House is safe.”

“I want you to make double checks on all of the staff. Their backgrounds, their current associations. Just to be sure.”

“Okay.”

Neither of them said much else as the car bounced along the road in the direction of the mansion. Lucy’s heart beat like a great drum inside her chest, the pounding hard and loud in her ears as she fought back the growing panic in her throat. By the time Tommy brought the car to a screeching halt outside Arrow House’s doors, she felt as though her lungs weren’t taking in enough air, throat too tight with worry to properly drag in oxygen. 

They both jumped from the car, not bothering to remove their coats as they raced through the house and up the stairs towards Charlie’s darkened room. Lucy made a tiny sound of relief at the sight of the little boy sleeping peacefully in his crib, not even stirred as Tommy started to riffle around under his pillow. His hand pulled away with a little slip of paper clutched in his fingers. Lucy peeked over his shoulder, fingers twisting together. It was a business card for a crematorium. And scrawled on the back, in looping black ink, it read: Charles Shelby R.I.P.

Tommy started to pace, back and forth across the floor with the card still clutched in his hands. Charlie began to quietly make noises in his sleep, stirring as if sensing their distress. Lucy shushed him gently, reaching out to lightly stroke a hand over his soft head of hair. Tommy joined her a moment later, bending down to check on the still sleeping boy before tearing himself away again, going to the wardrobe and pressing both hands against it, head bowed.

“Is everything all right?”

They both started at the sound of Grace’s voice from the doorway. She looked between them curiously, joining Lucy at Charlie’s crib, glancing down at the baby.

“Yes,” Tommy said, which might have been more convincing had he not sounded so out of breath. “Everything’s fine,” he went to her. “Everything’s fine,” he repeated, touching Grace’s shoulder. Grace looked at him, expression perplexed. “Yeah,” he sounded like he was trying so hard to convince himself. Grace glanced at Lucy from across the crib, and must have seen something in her eyes that begged her not to ask. At least not right now.

“You promised, Tommy,” Grace said, voice low and gentle, but also firm as she turned back to him. There was a pause. A space in time where there was nothing but silence and Tommy’s heavy breathing. Lucy’s fingers were still trembling a little as she continued to stroke them through Charlie’s feather-soft hair. More to soothe herself than the baby who had already settled back in peaceful, deep sleep. “I trust you,” Grace finally said, the weight of the words heavy in the dark room. Tommy made a small noise, barely anything more than an exhale of breath, and pulled Grace into his arms, hooking his chin against her shoulder as he hugged her tightly. From over her shoulder, his eyes met Lucy’s, and something passed between them. Something that she could not entirely describe. An understanding. A fear that was better left unspoken.

“I trust you, Tommy,” Grace repeated softly as he pulled away.

“Yes,” he took a step backwards, until his back hit the wardrobe behind him with a thump. “He’s fine,” he gestured to Charlie. “He’s fine.”

Charlie stirred under Lucy’s hand, and roused, letting out a few tiny cries. Lucy hushed him, leaning more fully over him and running her hand along his small back. 

“Hush, sweet boy,” she whispered, and he settled once more. Nodding to herself, taking some comfort in the knowledge that he was okay, she straightened from where she’d been crouched over the crib. Tommy’s footsteps thumped away as he headed for the door and she went to follow him, his hand smoothing over her arm for a moment as they took a step into the hall. But Grace was still lingering at the crib, staring down at the baby, and they paused at the realization that she hadn’t followed them. 

“Grace,” Tommy called to her, taking a step back into the room. “Grace,” he reached out a hand to her. “We gotta go,” he whispered, ushering her towards the doorway of another room. Lucy followed Grace, glancing over her shoulder to see that Tommy had paused, just standing there looking at Charlie’s crib.

“Tommy,” she murmured, and he seemed to startle back to life, head turning to look at her. Lucy gave a little jerk of her head. “Come on, love.”

Wetting his lips, he blinked hard, then nodded, approaching her until she could grab his hand. He clutched at her fingers tightly, squeezing. 

∗ ∗ ∗ 

Lucy adjusted the neckline of her dress, fingers smoothing along the deep red fabric. It was simple, but elegant, sleeveless and leaving most of her back exposed. A little loose flowing in the top, but cinched in severely at the waist by a black cord that tied at the small of her back. The material was soft against her skin. Swinging her hips back and forth to watch the way that the near floor length skirt swooshed with her movement, Lucy smiled softly to herself, snatching up the gold, dangling earrings she’d set out, embedded with glimmering red garnets. She slipped them expertly through the holes in each ear and fastened them, fluffing her red curls one last time before she opened up the jewelry box sitting on her vanity, fingers running lightly over the huge red stone that gleamed up at her from its space settled in the divot made for it within the box.

She bit her lip, then immediately let it go and glanced up into the mirror to make sure that she hadn’t ruined her lipstick. The jewel was so beautiful, she was half afraid to touch it. Scooping it up by its golden chain, she held the necklace up to the light, watching as the red hue of the garnet seemed to deepen. It was heavy and cold against her chest as she locked the chain around her neck, allowing the massive gemstone to rest just below her collarbone.

Sitting down in the little chair in front of her vanity, she scowled slightly as she slipped her feet into the heels she would be torturing herself with for the rest of the night. Ugh. It wasn’t fair. All the men got to wear flat dress shoes that didn’t inflict pain on them.

Standing, she checked herself over one last time in the full-length mirror, smoothing a hand down her dress, nodding to herself. All she had left to do was tug on the black gloves that went up past her elbows and snatch up her little clutch. Before leaving the room she grabbed the black fur she’d flung over the back of the chair, draping it carefully over her shoulders to keep her warm. Stepping into the master bedroom, she found Grace just finishing getting ready herself, adjusting the way that the huge blue sapphire laid on her chest while Mary touched up her hair. She was more comfortable letting the staff help her get ready. Lucy still hadn’t gotten used to it; preferring to just do it all herself.

“Hey,” she smiled over at her. “Are you almost ready?”

“Just about,” Grace smiled over her shoulder at her. “Thank you, Mary,” she dismissed the housekeeper, who nodded at them politely and headed for the door. Lucy took her spot behind Grace, wrapping her arms around her and kissing the back of her neck.

“You look pretty.”

“Thanks,” Grace giggled, turning around to face her, stroking a gloved hand over her hair. “So do you.”

Lucy looked at the floor bashfully. “You don’t think it’s too obvious with us wearing near matching necklaces?” she asked, glancing down at the garnet resting coolly on her chest.

“Who cares if it’s too obvious. You aren’t taking it off; it looks marvelous on you,” Grace stroked her fingertips over the deep red jewel.

“People might talk,” Lucy warned. It wasn’t like they had been all that incredibly subtle as of late anyway. Grace just rolled her eyes fondly. 

“Let them talk, love. What they have to say is of no consequence anyway,” she kissed her, lips firm and leaving no room for argument in her statement, and when she pulled back it was to smile that beautiful smile that left a dimple in her cheek. “Come on. Tommy’s probably waiting for us.”

She looped her arm with Lucy’s, beginning to tug her towards the hall, eyes sparkling joyfully. With a breathless laugh Lucy let Grace pull her along, the pair of them giggling quietly to each other as they descended the staircase, making their way to the front door. Grace went to sit in the backseat of the car, pouting when Lucy pulled away from her to go sit up in the front.

“There’s plenty of room for the three of us to sit in the back.”

“Only if I sit on your lap, love.”

“I wouldn’t be complaining.”

Lucy laughed, shaking her head. “I think that the prospective donors would have something to say about that when we roll up to the venue.”

Grace continued to pout a little, but let her go with a peck to the cheek. Getting settled in the passenger seat with her clutch settled in her lap, Lucy twisted around to look at Grace in the backseat just as Tommy strode out the front doors, walking around the car and opening the door to slide into the space next to Grace, greeting her with a kiss and wrapping his arm around her. His eyes darted to meet Lucy’s as the car began to drive away, brows furrowing into a rather put-out expression.

“What’re you doing all the way up there?” he asked, pouting in a rather similar way to how Grace had moments earlier. Lucy huffed and rolled her eyes fondly.

“Am I the only one of us who has remembered the importance of subtly?” she laughed. Tommy narrowed his eyes, leaning forward and taking her chin in his hand so he could kiss her.

“I don’t give a fuck about subtly when you’re over there looking like that, love.”

Lucy snorted, but let her fingers twist in the soft material of the white scarf he had thrown over his shoulders, pulling him closer for another kiss. He grinned at her in a way that made him look almost boyish as she let him go, leaning back against Grace, who was beaming brightly as she watched them. 

Grace had gone all-out with the venue. The ballroom was on the ground floor of an expensive hotel. With gorgeous crystal chandeliers, waiters carrying trays of drinks, and elaborate floral arrangements, it was the type of high-brow event they had only ever been able to dream of hosting before. Lucy smiled pleasantly as they passed a few men dressed in expensive tuxedos hovering near the entryway, their hats bobbing as they nodded politely. She tried to hide her pout when Tommy handed over his scarf at the coat check. She had quite liked how it looked on him. 

“You really do look nice,” Tommy whispered into her ear, hand ghosting along her waist, eyes clearly appreciating the view of her bare back. Lucy felt herself flush. She hadn’t been wholly sure about the dress when she picked it out. Her back was heavily marred with scars. Most of them old and faded, but still prominent enough to not go unnoticed against her fair skin, and she’d been nervous about putting them on display. But Grace had been overwhelmingly encouraging when Lucy had tried it on for her when they’d gone dress shopping together, and it was so difficult to bring herself to say no to her.

It was comforting to know that Tommy also clearly approved of how she looked in it. 

“Thanks.”

She followed him and Grace out to the main ballroom, Grace soon peeling off from them to go chat up some potential new donors. Lucy remained closer to Tommy, not entirely comfortable enough to be left on her own in a sea of unfamiliar faces. Both of her lovers were notably better than her at this; flashing charming smiles and engaging in empty small talk all in the name of securing a donation. Stretching up on her toes to examine the faces in the crowd, she spotted several other Shelby family members milling around, mostly chatting with each other rather than venturing out into the gathering of strangers surrounding them. 

“Tommy,” Grace popped back up beside them, tapping him lightly on the arm. A heavy-set man was behind her, smiling through a thick mustache at them. “He’s the leader of the Birmingham City Council,” she introduced.

“Hello, Tommy,” Danny smiled.

“Hi, Danny,” Tommy shook his hand.

“Miss. Winters,” Danny turned to her.

“Nice to see you again,” Lucy shook his hand warmly, relieved to finally be conversing with a familiar face. The two men began to chat about business while Grace’s smile remained in place, but the expression in her eyes was taken aback.

“You know each other?” she asked. Danny stammered out an explanation, before quickly pivoting to a congratulations regarding the wedding. Grace’s smile, which had begun to fade, bloomed back into full force as she nodded her thanks. Next to her, Lucy noticed that Tommy had gone very tense, eyes focused straight ahead. Following his gaze, she felt her blood go cold at the sight of Hughes and another man who she recognized as Patrick Jarvis, MP, striding through the entryway. Lucy felt her heart rate skyrocket, palms growing clammy. What the fuck were they doing here?

She could distantly hear Danny take note of the priest and MP’s arrival, excitedly explaining to Grace who they were. Hughes’s eyes landed on them, zeroing in on Tommy from across the ballroom. Lucy felt her stomach turn, throat dry as she swallowed. 

“Did you invite them, Grace?” Tommy asked, not taking his eyes off of Hughes, as if they were locked in some kind of twisted staring contest. 

“Their names sound familiar,” Grace admitted, eyes narrowed. “They were recommended by the Lord Mayor.”

“Oh. On your ‘best people of the city’ list, eh?” Tommy said bitterly. Lucy could barely bite back the sound of disgust building behind her lips. Danny made an offer to introduce them that Tommy waved off, already beginning to march towards them.

“That’s all right, Danny. I’ll introduce myself,” he said. “You stay here,” he added, glancing at Lucy when she made a move to follow him. She tried not to let her shoulders sag too much in relief.

“Happy to,” she watched him walk away towards the slimy priest with her heart in her throat. Spotting a waiter from the corner of her eye, she snagged a glass from the tray he was carrying and took a bountiful sip of the liquor it contained. Danny made small talk with Grace for a moment more before excusing himself with a good natured smile to say hello to someone he recognized across the ballroom.

“What was that about?” Grace asked, as soon as they were alone.

“What was what about?” Lucy asked innocently, taking another sip from her drink.

“You know what.”

She sighed, rubbing at her brow with her free hand. “Nothing for you to worry about. Really.”

“You don’t like Hughes.”

“I’m an ex-Catholic, Grace. I don’t particularly like priests in general,” her eyes scanned over the guests surrounding them, looking for any other unexpected faces. “Oh, shit.”

“What?” Grace asked, expression turning from curious to alarmed. But there was no time to explain. The dark haired, extravagantly dressed woman was already making her way towards them.

“Russians,” was all Lucy had time to get out in explanation. Grace’s eyes grew wide. “Just play nice. It’ll be fine,” she forced a smile onto her face. “Hello, Tatiana.”

“Miss. Winters,” Tatiana said in her thick Russian accent, dark eyes looking her up and down. 

“Please, just Lucy is fine,” she gestured to Grace. “Grace, this is Duchess Tatiana Petrovna. Tatiana, this is Grace Shelby.”

“A Duchess?” Grace’s eyes grew round with excitement. “Truly?”

“Yes,” Tatiana smiled in a way that was more like a bearing of teeth. “You’re Mr. Shelby’s wife?”

“I am.”

Tatiana’s eyes darted between them, lips settling in a smirk. “I see.”

Lucy busied herself downing the rest of her glass, setting it on the tray of a passing waiter.

“Lovely sapphire,” Tatiana was commenting to Grace when Lucy turned back to them. “Where did you get it?”

“My husband gifted it to me,” Grace smiled sweetly. 

“Hm. It just looks familiar, is all.”

“You think it’s Russian?”

“Quite possibly,” Tatiana’s eyes slithered away from Grace to focus on Lucy. “Yours isn’t,” she remarked, eyeing the garnet resting on Lucy’s chest. “I wonder if that fact holds some significance?” 

Lucy raised an eyebrow. “Other that I prefer garnets over other gemstones?”

Tatiana giggled. “Just an observation,” her eyes glittered with mad mirth.

In the sea of the crowd, Lucy spotted Tommy shouldering his way towards them.

“Tommy,” Grace called to him. She nodded to Tatiana, introducing them. Tommy took one look at the Russian, seemingly unsurprised at her presence as he nodded in unenthusiastic greeting and cleared his throat. Lucy met his eyes from across the little circle the four of them had formed. He looked annoyed. Clearly whatever chat he’d had with Hughes and Jarvis hadn’t gone well. Grace raised an eyebrow at his lukewarm reaction, an analytical edge entering her eyes as the conversation continued. The eyes of the spy she had once been, darting between the three of them, clearly trying to puzzle out their connection to the duchess.    

“You should have kissed my hand, Mr. Shelby,” the sudden entitlement in Tatiana’s voice took Lucy by surprise, her chin lifted as she thrusted her hand out towards him. 

For a moment, all three of them froze. Grace’s face went stony. Even as the smile remained on her lips, all of the warmth was sucked from her eyes, as if swallowed up by a vortex. Lucy glanced between them anxiously, suddenly itching to have a cigarette between her fingers, its smoke filling her lungs soothingly. Tommy stared at Tatiana, eyes cold. 

“Forgive me,” Lucy didn’t miss the subtle layer of sarcasm in his voice, before he dipped his head and pressed a kiss to the back of Tatiana’s gloved hand. Tatiana held eye contact with Grace the entire time, lips set in a smug smirk. Lucy rolled her eyes. Grace looked like she was fighting back a scowl. 

“She was asking about my sapphire,” Grace said when he had pulled back.

“I thought I recognized it,” Tatiana crooned.

“She said it was Russian. My husband has business in Russia. Perhaps you know about it, Tatiana?” Grace was clearly feeling things out, trying to piece it all together. Lucy swallowed, suddenly aware that she may be about to come to some very wrong, very bad conclusions.   

“Well, tonight is not a night for business, eh?”

Lucy winced at Tommy’s response. Could have been worse, she supposed. Then she took a look at Grace’s face. Could have been better, too.

“Is that why you were in the concert hall for ten minutes?” Grace demanded. Her voice was light and cheery, a smile still in place. But the blue of her eyes was that of storm clouds building in the sky. Lucy felt her shoulders draw into themselves like they always did whenever Grace and Tommy fought or bickered. It wasn’t often, but it never failed to make her feel awkward; wanting to help them smooth over whatever was bothering them while also fearing that any attempt at interference on her part would only make things worse. 

Thank God they never fought because of her. She was pretty sure that she would actually die from the mortification and guilt of it if they did.  

“I think people are ready for dinner now, Grace,” Tommy tried to side-step, but the damage had already been done. 

“No, no. I’m not done pumping people for money.”

Lucy felt her brows fly up at the wording.

“What is ‘pump for money?’” Tatiana asked with what was clearly mock confusion. 

“It’s what I do everyday,” Tommy said self-deprecatingly, looking like he hoped that the ground would open up and swallow him whole.  

“Fuck it, I need a cigarette,” Lucy muttered, fumbling with her clutch. Just to cut the tension before it killed her. She pulled one out and lit it, inhaling the smoke, grateful for the distraction. Much better.   

“You know each other, do you?” Grace finally went in for the kill, looking between Tommy, Tatiana, and Lucy pointedly. 

“Not like that,” Lucy muttered quietly, looking at the floor, hoping that would somehow help to diffuse things. It didn’t. Grace just continued to go back and forth with Tatiana, each statement growing more aggressive than the last. From the corner of her eye, Lucy saw Tommy make a gesture to someone she couldn’t see. She wondered if he would forgive her if she bolted and left him to be fought over by the two women. She shot a glance his way, waiting until she caught his eye. He took one look at her face and narrowed his gaze.

Don’t you dare, he said to her, silently. Lucy huffed, just barely discernible enough that only he would notice.

Fine. But know that I only endure this awkwardness because I love you.

“All right, enough,” Tommy finally declared. Oh, thank you. “Ada,” he called to his sister, who came swooping in to whisk Grace away to talk to a Dowager. She went a little unwillingly, and with a promise to Tatiana that they would be speaking later.  

Lucy stubbed out her cigarette, sighing miserably. She so did hate it when Grace was upset. 

“Going to the factory tomorrow is a mistake,” Tommy said to Tatiana once they were alone. Or as alone as they could be in a crowd of people. Lucy shot a surprised look his way.

What’s this, now?

He looked back at her levelly. I’ll tell you later.

“Nevertheless, we will go,” Tatiana seemed unbothered. “Also, my uncle ordered me to seduce you to give us an advantage. But with a beautiful wife like that it will be difficult, no?” her eyes darted to Lucy. “Perhaps your little Red Demon here can give me some pointers,” she smiled, honey-sweet. Complete with bees ready and waiting to sting. 

“Tomorrow is a mistake,” Tommy soldiered on, ignoring her statement. Lucy watched them go back and forth on the issue, digging her hands into the soft dark fur that surrounded her shoulders. This evening had not gone at all like she had hoped it would. 

“I would fuck you for the cause. What do you think of that?” Tatiana was asking Tommy.

“I think you should not drink vodka with champagne,” he said in a dark voice, beginning to walk past her, hand out to gently brush along Lucy’s back and guide her with him. She let out a breath of relief.

“Does your wife know that the sapphire she is wearing has been cursed by a Gypsy?” Tatiana called to them, giggling. They both froze. Lucy felt her face pale. Tommy turned back around to stare at the duchess. 

“What did you say?” 

“Nothing on Earth would make me wear it,” Tatiana said, suddenly deathly serious. Lucy felt her heart rate spike. Even as Tatiana turned away from them, melting back into the crowd. Tommy looked at her, face drawn and eyes suddenly fearful.

“Maybe…maybe she was just mad at you for rejecting her,” Lucy whispered. But even as she said it, she knew that she didn’t believe it. Tommy’s throat worked as he swallowed. A heavy, dark blanket of dread had been tossed over both of them. Springing into movement suddenly, he snatched her hand, half dragging her with him as he took long, hurried strides across the room to where Grace was chatting with Ada.

“Grace, listen to me,” Tommy grabbed her by the shoulder. “Look, I can explain. Go away,” he swept a hand at someone who had been coming up to talk to them. Grace tried to pull away from him. A gong was struck, the sound reverberating throughout the room as a man announced a toast to the king, and that dinner would be served in the next room.    

“For once, you shouldn’t have to explain,” Grace said softly under the man’s toast. 

“Love, please,” Lucy begged, keeping her voice down. They’d get the necklace off of her. Just to be safe. Then they would have Polly look at it. Or maybe Esme or some of her kin. To make sure it was safe before Grace wore it again. 

“You look beautiful,” Tommy said, reaching for the necklace. “But you need to take this off.”

“Why? Because you think it would look better on her?” Grace asked, and while it was clearly intended to come out as angry and bitter, there was a twinge of sadness to her voice that made Lucy’s heart twist. 

“Of course not,” she said.

“Grace,” Tommy seized her tightly by the shoulders and pulled her in close. “Look at me, fuck these people, eh. Fuck ‘em. I need you to be alright,” his voice grew more desperate. “I need you, Grace. I need you.”    

Grace’s face changed as he spoke, expression softening. Stroking a hand down his chest, she lifted it to touch his chin, guiding his mouth to hers as she kissed him. Lucy took a step backwards so as to not look suspicious. Most of the guests had already started to file towards the doors to the dining area. 

“Damn you, Tommy Shelby,” Grace smiled, chuckling as she kissed him a few more times. Lucy let out a small breath of relief, shoulders relaxing, smiling as she watched them. They were okay. It was all alright. 

Walking around them, she brushed close to Grace for the briefest of moments.

“Love you,” she whispered to her as she did, continuing to move so that she was standing a little behind Tommy. Grace looked up at her from over his shoulder and beamed, blowing her a small, subtle kiss that made Lucy giggle, trying to hide it in the fur she still had wrapped around herself.  

“Shall we go inside?” Grace asked, still smiling. 

“Yeah,” Tommy took her hand as they began to walk towards the doors on the farthest end of the room. Lucy fell into step a few paces behind them, on Tommy’s right.

It would haunt her forever, how she didn’t see the man storming towards them until after he had shoved past Polly. Until after he had raised the gun in his hand, the words, “for Angel!” bellowing from his lips to be joined by the crack of the gun firing at Tommy and Grace.

There were people screaming, but she couldn’t really hear them. Her mind didn’t even catch up with her body until she was already kneeling on the floor. The blood pouring out of Grace’s chest was hot against her hands even through the material of her gloves as she pressed down against the wound. Tommy’s voice screaming for an ambulance, screaming for help, was but an echo. He had Grace cradled in his arms, as the three of them sprawled out there on the cold, hard floor. There was vengeful, rageful roaring somewhere, and the squelch of blood and bone being crushed and splattered. Vaguely, she figured that some of the Shelbys must have dealt with the assassin. It was the only reason why they weren’t all dead. 

There was the clatter of heels and a whirl of pink skirts as Polly raced towards them, as she took Tommy’s hand for a brief moment. He said something to her that Lucy couldn’t hear over the ringing in her ears, and then she was racing away from them.

The blood continued to pour out onto Lucy’s hands.

Grace was clutching Tommy tightly. Her lips were parted and pale, eyes wide and clouded with pain. She was trying to say something, but Lucy thought she heard Tommy gently shushing her. Telling her to save her strength. One of Grace’s hands looped around Lucy’s arm, holding onto her.  

It could have been eternal hours or simple minutes that they laid there. The blood had run down to pool onto the floor, staining Grace’s dress and Lucy’s legs. Even staining Grace’s beautiful blonde hair. Lucy’s arms were shaking with the force in which she was pressing down on the bullet wound.

Please…

Grace’s skin was frighteningly pale. Her breaths rattled shallowly in her chest. 

No, please…

Lucy felt Grace’s grip on her arm go slack.

No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, nonononononononono…

Her head lolled backwards, blue eyes going dark and lifeless.

A strangled sound left Lucy’s lips, pressing down even harder on the wound. As if it would make any difference.

Someone was saying her name, touching gently at her straining arms, trying to pull them away. Her head snapped upwards, ready to snarl at whoever it was attempting to drag her away from Grace.

Any viciousness within her died at the look on Tommy’s face.

She’d seen him upset plenty of times. Too many to count. She’d seen him grief-stricken. And heartbroken. And so wracked with trauma he could barely form words. None of it compared to the expression currently molded onto his features, blue eyes a chasm of endless devastation and agony.

Her brow knit as if in confusion. Not entirely understanding until the part of her brain that was still in denial started to catch up to the rest of her. Processing that there was only one reason why Tommy would look like that. 

She didn’t even realize it when she started to tremble, arms slackening where they’d been pressed to Grace’s chest. 

Tommy still had an arm cradling Grace, but the one he had reached out to Lucy cupped the side of her face, thumb catching the first tear to roll down her cheek.

On her first sob, he let go of her face to wrap his arm around her and pull her close until she was resting her head on the spot where his shoulder met his chest. Lucy flung her arms around him, burying her face in his shirt, hand fisting with the back of his suit jacket. Clutching at him as she finally started to cry. She could feel the way that his body tensed as if trying to contain his own sobs, the arm he had around her squeezing so tightly it was almost hard to breathe. His face buried in her hair, and she could feel the wetness of the tears he was trying so hard to hide against her scalp.

As they sat there, on the cold, blood drenched floor and wept into each other, it was like she could feel a great splintering; ripping its way across their entire world and bringing it all crashing down around them. And all they could do was hold each other and cry as they clung to Grace’s dead body in their arms. 

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[starshine-wagner]

Midnight Dip

Pairing: Danny Wagner x F!Reader

Summary: You can't sleep on a hot summer night, so Danny comes up with an adventurous alternative.

Word Count: 1,600

Warnings: swearing, non-sexual nudity

A/N: This is a re-upload to move it from my old blog to my current blog.

The sheets were too sweaty on that humid summer night. Your childhood home lacked air conditioning, so you and Danny were damned to a week of staying as far away from each other as possible in bed.

Clearly, the big fan on your ceiling did very little to aid the cause. Your boyfriend's big body tended to take up a majority of the space, so it was no help that you couldn't cling onto him like usual. Thus, you were resigned to the edge of your mattress in the sweltering heat.

You tossed and turned for what seemed like hours, though in reality it was probably just under one. Unsticking your legs from the sheet, you headed over to the bathroom to splash water on your face and try to reset for a better night's rest.

Not wanting to wake Danny, you waited until the door was shut before turning on the light. Once on, it lit the room in a yellow-ish hue and started the humming of the shower fan.

You opened the squeaky closet door to find a rag made from one of your old beach towels. You were pretty sure it used to be Hello Kitty. Now, it just looked like a mess of colors and old makeup stains despite being fresh out of the laundry.

You wet the rag, squeezed out the excess water, and put it up to your face. Sweet, momentary relief.

You contemplated just bringing the wet rag into bed to rest on your forehead, but you hated the idea of waking up with a damp spot beside your head. So, you dabbed yourself in a last bit of coolness and tossed it into the hamper. You went to open the door and head back to bed, but before your hand even reached the knob, it was opening.

"Hey baby. You okay?" Danny's sleepy voice asked as he leaned against the door frame, arms crossed. Normally you'd want to jump his bones when his muscles looked that good. But right now, in the heat, you had negative interest in getting even sweatier.

"Yeah, I just couldn't sleep. It's too fucking hot," you complained.

"I know. Next time we're coming back with a window AC. I'll install it myself."

"Please..." you replied, placing your hands on his cheeks. He smiled softly into them, his dreary eyes blinking ever so slowly.

The two of you shuffled back to the bed and attempted to get comfortable once more. He grabbed your hand and kissed the back of your palm before placing it back by your side. After a minute or so, Danny spoke up.

"Idea."

"Mhm?"

"You're nowhere near falling asleep, right?" he asked, rolling on his side to face you.

"Hell no."

"Perfect. Go put on some pants and meet me by the front door."

Confused, you questioned him. "Danny, it's like, after midnight. Where're you trying to take me? Everything is closed..."

"Don't you trust me?" he asked with a mischievous pout.

A few minutes later, Danny was revving up his car in the driveway. You hopped into the passenger seat and reached to turn on the air while Danny put a location into Apple Maps. The genius he is, he angled the phone so you couldn't see where you were going. It wasn't until the two of you turned down Great Neck Road that you realized where he was taking you.

"Wait, are we going to the beach?" you asked.

"Maaaaybe..." he said, squeezing your thigh with his free hand.

You'd told Danny countless stories of nights spent at the beach when you were in high school. When everything closed at 9pm, the shore was always open and practically begging for stupid teenagers to do reckless shit.

You'd told him of the time that Mark set off a firework on accident and the police got called. You'd told him of the (several) occasions on which you'd fallen asleep with your best friend on the beach only to wake up with the sunrise and a hoodie full of sand.

"I figured we might as well add a little memory to the late-night-beach collection." The side of his mouth turned up a little bit into the tiniest smile. "But if you'd rather, we can ju-"

"No!" you cut him off, "This is a great idea. I'm honestly honored that you remembered..."

"Of course I remembered," he reassured you, rubbing his thumb on your bare skin. "Call me crazy, but I think we should go in." Despite admitting to the craziness of the idea, he sounded completely serious.

"Like... in the ocean? Now? In our clothes?"

"I mean, we don't have to wear our clothes..." he said, wiggling his eyebrows. You smacked his shoulder at the heinous suggestion of skinny dipping in the ocean.

No way in hell were you letting seaweed get up your asscrack.

"Okay, I mean we can wear our underwear if you want, but I feel like we'd want dry clothes to ride back in, no?" he suggested.

"Damn. You're right. What if someone else is here? I don't want to be caught half nude by an innocent bystander who probably knows my Dad..."

The two of you inspected the parking lot and scanned the shore as best as you could. Luckily, the moon was near full and the light reflected off of the sea just enough to make out any other visitors.

"Y/N, we're the only ones here. Everyone else has air conditioning and is happily asleep. Probably cold, even."

You knew he was right. Damn those people.

So, that's how Danny convinced you to strip down to your underwear. You ran (as best as you could in the shifting sand) hand-in-hand towards the water's edge, which was just about at high-tide.

You weren't sure why, in all your years of living by the beach, you never dared to enter the ocean in the dark of night. It seemed so much more intimidating, more ominous... more sacred, even.

"Okay, on the count of three," he encouraged. "One, two, THREE!" On three, he practically dragged you into the waves with him. You yelped just a little, but were silenced when a wave covered your head and cut you off.

"FUCK it's cold!" he whined. All you could do was chuckle as you pulled him closer, this time using your body heat for good. You wrapped one arm around his back while your other hand toyed with his necklace. It was obsidian, you thought. With a black cord tying it around his neck.

"I want one of these," you told him, eyeing the jewelry.

"You can have it, if you want it, baby." Always the giver.

"No, I want my own. That way we can match." You peeked up at him in the moonlight through your wet eyelashes.

His curly hair was mostly held together in the quick bun he'd put it in, but a few strands clung to his forehead. You reached to move one behind his ear as he stroked your cheek with the back of his hand.

"You know you're so beautiful, right?" he murmured. You blushed. "Are you sure you're not a siren?" He knew how embarrassed you got whenever he complimented you, and you hid your face in his chest. "I'm serious, Y/N." You placed a small kiss on his chest as a form of acknowledgement and thanks.

Running your hands down his muscly arms, you mentally thanked him for suggesting you leave your clothes in the car. Even this short time in the water was making you a bit chilly coupled with the slight breeze off the waves.

"Shall we get dried off then?" he suggested. You nodded, but not before pulling his face into yours. You kissed him slowly, sacredly. You kissed him like he'd be gone with the sunrise. You deepened the kiss as he ushered for you to wrap your legs around him. Your lips made their way from his mouth to his jaw and, eventually, his collarbones.

"What was that for?" he asked, once he caught his breath.

"Just because. You love me so well."

"Hm. You're right. I do love you." Danny scared you a bit when he suddenly swept you off of your feet and into his arms, bridal style. It was a bit tricky wading up to the shore with the waves coming against his back and you in his hands, but he somehow made it. You dodged the dried seaweed in your path and padded back to the car.

Once you were both clothed again and settled under the interior car light, you looked him in the eyes.

"Thank you, Danny." You could tell he was about to argue and say it was no big deal, but he caught the sincere gratitude in your eyes.

"You're welcome," he reassured with a kiss to your forehead. The two of you held hands on the center console the whole way back home and snuck back inside like two 15-year-olds trying to avoid waking up anyone else in the house.

With little giggles and sush-es, you made your way back to the bathroom to squeeze the water out of your hair and get the sand out from between your toes.

Finally back in your bed, the heat wasn't so damning anymore. You weren't sticky from sweat, but rather from the salt water that lingered on your skin. The dampness of your hair kept you cool as you lulled off into a deep sleep beside Danny.

His hand found its way to your chest and stayed there until morning.

[speedyartist30]

The man in the lightning (end)

apartment. With a low groan, Jay rolls to his side and pushes himself up to stand while trying to ignore the glass falling out of his hair.Halfway into standing, he drops to his knees with one arm wrapped around his ribs while the other keeps him from falling over.

"Your ok, your fine. Just stand up."

With the support of the wall, Jays forces himself up on his feet and makes his way to the hole in the wall knowing he can't stay there with that thing terrorizing everyone. Summoning his power, he took a deep breath and jumped out of the apartment and into the fight.

Running toward the police who were desperately trying to put the monster down with their guns but unaware that they are just making it more angry. The monster makes its way towards the crowd of people who are trying run away from it but a group of officers stand in front of it and they all start firing.But the bullets bounced off it like it was made out of steel. With a loud screeching magenta, lightning circled the monster as it charged at the them, knocking the police out of the way as if they weren't there.

The leader out of the group was the last one still shooting, so the monster grabbed him by the head and tossed him into the air.

Seeing the officer falling out of the sky and screaming blood, murder Jay jumps up and catches him and takes him to his crew, who are all staring at Jay with pure shock. And with a calm voice which has some authority behind jay told the leader of the group. "Evacuate this area and get out of here. Now" And without waiting for an answer, Jay takes off down the street toward the monster. In a matter of seconds Jay catches up to it and spots chancing after people and throwing cars that some of them left behind. On the ground was a little girl no older 4 or 5 crying as people ran past her trying to get away from the monster.Grabbing a truck the monster launches it into the air and it's about to fall right on the kid. Tearing through the street Jay grabs the girl right as the truck was about to crush her. Sliding to a stop, Jay looked down at the little kid in his arms, making sure he didn't hurt her when he grabbed her, he was met with brown teary eyes staring back at him.

Makalo:”Jay!!! Over here!!!!”

Looking up, Jay sees Makalo and Ethan running his way with a drone flying over Ethan's head.

Jay: “What are you two still doing here? It's not safe.”

Makalo: “We saw what happened on the drone camera, so we came to see if your ok.”

Ethan: “And I think I know how you can beat that monster.”

Jay: “Ok, what is it?”

Ethan: “Based off what you said about your first fight with it, you said that it was like it absorbed your power but it let you go right. I think you need to give it what it wants.”

After hearing Ethan's idea, Jay frowns in confusion while Makalo yells... Makalo:”WHY WOULD HE DO THAT!!????!!”

Ethan: “Because if I'm right, then that thing has a limit to how much power it can hold. If it didn't, then it would of never let Jay go.Jay, you're going to have to give that thing enough power for it to super pass it's limit so it will overcharge and explode like...like a battery!”

Understanding what Ethan was saying, Jay devised a way to execute this plan until he felt a small hand squeeze his fingers.Looking down, Jay forgot he was holding the little girl and tries to hand her to Makalo, but the kid whines and tries to grab his neck. And with a reassuring smile and soft voice, Makalo tells the girl...

"Don't worry, we are the good guys." and with that the girl let, Jay handed her to Makalo, then took off in a blur of golden light.

Seeing the Monster trying to attack the remaining people left in the area, Jay makes himself glow as bright as possible to get the monsters attention (which he did) and yells. “HEY! YOU WANT MY POWER, THEN COME AND GET IT!”

And with that, they both clash with each other, trading hits as they tear through the city in bright sparks. Unknown to the monster, Jay was luring it toward the telephone pole as he manipulated the electricity through it. Standing on one of the poles, jay stares the monster down as it dives toward him and jumps at the last second. The monster misses and slices through the wires. Grabbing the wires, Jay jumps on the monster and places a hand on its head and lets the electricity and his power fuse together as one as it surges through the monster's body as it screeches in pain. Noticing the change of color of the monsters' skin, Jay sends more power into the monster even when the electricity starts to turn off in the buildings around them.

With one more roar from the monster, everything went silent. Standing up, Jay can steam coming off his body as he lets go of the wires. Looking up, he sees Ethan's drone in the sky and he can hear Makalo and Ethan screaming and cheering. Makalo: “THAT WAS AMAZING BRO! FOLLOW THE DRONE BACK WE ARE GOING HOME!”

Following the drone back to Makalo and Ethan, they give Jay his clothes to blend in when people started to come back outside.

Makalo: “Tonight was so crazy. I don't think I'm going to sleep tonight.”

Ethan: “Same here. I'm just glad that thing is gone.”

As the three of them walk towards the house, Jay speaks up.

Jay: “Thanks for helping yesterday and tonight you both helped me without even knowing me so thanks.”

Makalo: “No problem man, that's what friends are for.”

Ethan: “I'm not gonna lie to you. I was very suspicious about you but what I saw today made me realize you're not a bad guy at all.”

Hearing those words made Jay feel light. He didn't really hear nice things about himself, let alone call him a friend.

Makalo: “OH!!! I wanted to ask this earlier but I forgot. Do you want to stay at our house like as a new roommate?”

Surprised by the question Jay Replies

Jay: “I don't know, I don't want to bother you guys…”

Ethan: “Don't worry, you won't be not with this loud hyperactive beast in the house( he points at Makalo).”

Makalo : “HEY!!!!!!”( Hey punched Ethan in the arm)

With a soft smile that can easily be missed on Jays face he says "ok."

[fancyfeathers]

@istgtumlrifyoudothisonemoretime asked a question

Asgsdhagagfd ok so I haven't seen the movie too buttttt William's cape and style matches ghostface alot. I think it'd be funny of he was out murdering evil nobles like that. What's worse is seeing your abusive father being gutted to death and thinking youre next. Only to reveal after a long and frightening chase that its the man whose been courting you. Ok so alternatively in a horror movie I think 🩰 has amazing running ability and can put up a good chase. Louis and Albert's darlings would be more interested in playing detective. I think that Louis darling would have a more "beat him while he's chasing me" approach. Albert's Darling is just busy trying to solve the mystery

Okay I actually watched scream on the plane and while I am not a huge AU person, this fits so well in the modern AU

Like I could imagine that Louis’ and Albert’s darlings are college students, probably english and theater majors respectively, at the same school that William teaches at and William’s darling has a part time job working at a coffee shop near the campus, so the three of them becoming friends would not be difficult. I can imagine Louis’ and Albert’s darlings being roommates and visits William’s darling after her shift and like getting dinner together or spending the night at one of their places. Louis and his darling would probably meet when she needed to get something she left in William’s classroom and Albert’s darling and him would meet when he is having dinner with her family about a business deal since in a modern AU her family would be old money and business tycoons.

So I am imagining the three darlings getting together one night and talking about, and in another post for a modern AU, William’s darling ends up getting engaged to him after receiving quite a bit of help from him with her career and really felt like she could say no. So I am imaging the three of them talking about her engagement and then Albert’s darling gets a call from her mother and her friends think it’s nothing until they see how terrified she looks as she drops her phone as screaming comes from the other end of the line before the call is cut…

“Hey are you okay?”

“My… my parents were killed.”

The three of them are resolved to silence until Louis’ darling calls the police and after consoling their horrified friend, the police come and the three of them are questioned and soon the police leave and they are left alone again.

The next day, while Albert’s darling stays home with William’s darling, Louis’ darling attends her classes and then when she was going to go ask William for a copy of the notes for her friend, she notices something strange on his bag which practically blends in perfectly with the dark leather, dried blood.

She tells her her friends about what she saw and they try to shrug it off as nothing until William and his darling are at his and his brothers’ house and she is taking to Louis and spots the tiniest drop of blood under his shirt sleeve and when she asks him about it he hesitates before telling her it’s just from nicking himself with the kitchen knife when he made dinner, but then when she checks her phone to check a news update on a murder earlier that night. After that she excuses herself to the bathroom to text her friends about it and they tell her to leave right now, so when she leaves the bathroom she tries to tell William that she has to go cause she promised she would go on a run with her friends early in the morning and while she is grabbing her coat she didn’t even realize she left her phone right by William, allowing to see the notifications from her friends who are definitely onto them. He acts like nothing is wrong when he takes her out to his car to drive her home, that is until when he is just sitting there, not starting the car. Then when she goes to ask him what’s wrong, he just apologizes before he slams her head against the dashboard, knocking her out cold. Of course when she wakes up she is safe inside but of course she cannot leave and her phone is gone, but William will take care of her for the rest of her life.

Then when her friends notice her absence and begin looking into her disappearance and then one night on campus, the two darlings of Albert and Louis go snooping around William’s classroom at night, looking in her desk and office, and while they didn’t find a lot they did not find their missing friend’s phone, it’s broken though.

“Did anyone tell you it is rude to look through other people’s belongings?”

They almost screamed when they heard William’s voice coming from the classroom’s doorway.

“Oh we are so fucked.”

[independentzaun]

Family issues and Zombies

Modern zombie Apoc starter for @cold-blooded-candy

((Quick few back story notes just so we have something to reference (if I got anything wrong here feel free to let me know I’m entirely willing to change and adapt). Silco adopted Jinx. Tried to adopt Vi, but couldn’t get it done in time. Vi blames Silco for being a homewrecker, and doesn’t know Silco tried to keep the sisters together. They do not have a good relationship at all. Vander is dead (car crash/accident), and things were complicated between him and Silco ala estranged spouses. Most of the bad stuff got blamed on Silco be it true or not, Vander is why Silco has his scars/bad eye. There’s a lot Vi doesn’t know/understand, and neither Vander nor Silco ever told her all of it. Silco has an arrest record for one reason or another. Silco has currently gotten separated from Jinx (who has Sevika with her) and everything is going to hell because zombies. With that, here we go.))

It would be easy to assume a man in his forties who was perhaps inching closer to fifty than he’d like to admit would have problems moving through town on foot while avoiding zombies. That assumption would be very wrong with Silco moving through a neighborhood he knew like the back of his hand. Silco had boots on that had seen him through a hundred punk shows, protests, and late night excursions. A heavy black leather jacket that went down to his hips, and a vest under it with a “nazi punks fuck off” patch on one side and another patch that said simply ACAB on the other. He hadn’t worn the vest in a few years not having had the opportunity to go to a show, but looking into his closet with a mix of frantic worry and the cold mindset that had gotten him out of so many bad situations before Silco simply hadn’t been able to resist grabbing it. Thankfully it still fit perfectly as did the rest of his outfit, and the backpack strapped to him that was perhaps half full didn’t impede him all that much as he moved.

His bad eye currently covered with an eye patch not wanting to take the chance that one of his decorative contact lenses would fall out Silco stalked through an alleyway. He’d spent practically his entire life in this town, and it showed as he took a side cut here or hopped a fence there or climbed up a fire escape only to move across the roof tops for a few buildings. A life spent with the first few years being chased by police or shop owners, the racist skinheads he’d fought more than once trying to grab him, or even just having fun with a friend running around all made it easy for the man to avoid zombies and get to where he was going with little issues. A shortcut through an abandoned apartment building did lead to one short deadly moment during which a zombie turned around growling in front of the window he needed to go through. Without hesitating for a second Silco simply shoved the makeshift spear he’d made out of a baseball bat he’d carved down, and a butcher knife attached to it with a few leather straps as well as duct tape and glue through the zombies face into it’s skull destroying the brain and kept going. It wasn’t something he enjoyed, but Silco had already seen more than enough examples of just what could come from allowing a zombie to live and get close to you to know he couldn't allow that.

Eventually he got to the college Jinx was supposed to be having her first semester at praying that she was still there, and with Sevika by her side. Pulling out a solar powered walkie talkie he hissed into it. “Jinx! Sevika! Are either of you there? Come in...Fuck!” Clicking it off Silco shoved it back into a cargo pocket on his pants, and continued through the college. There had been a disastrously high amount of zombies roaming around here near the start of the infection, but by now most had either died or left or gotten distracted and simply stayed in one building or another with nothing prompting them to do anything. Spotting the building that had the store for necessities and text books and snacks Silco frowned before heading that way figuring it was as good an idea as any. Slipping into it he glanced around hissing out Jinx’s name, and then Sevika’s before heading towards the food section first. Food, and then first aid was his plans. At some point however Silco heard a foot step and spun around pulling out the knife that had been sheathed on his belt as he’d put the spear down to scavenge. Blade very clearly held in a steady grip that spoke of a willingness to use it Silco paused for a moment realizing who was there, and turned his head just a touch to get a better look at her with his good eye.

“Vi?...Of course…” He shouldn’t be surprised. If anyone could survive this shit it was Vi, and as much as he felt that immediate rush of anger and resentment rising up there was also weirdly a faint small tiny hint of relief deep down inside not that he would ever admit it. Glancing past her to make sure she wasn’t followed he put the knife down by his side and took a breath shaking his head. “Look we don’t have time for a long conversation, or yelling. Not with the biters around so making this quick I got separated from her. Sevika should be with her and I need to find her…” Lips tightening a bit his scars twitched before he spoke again. “I suppose. We. Need to find her. Now we have our issues, but we both want Jinx safe and whole.” What ever issues he had with Vi. With the daughter he’d tried so hard to keep side by side with Jinx, but had failed and instead of keeping his family whole and together had seen it split. There was no doubt in Silco’s mind that here and now in this wasteland of death if there was one thing they shared it was that need to ensure Jinx was safe.

“So either we can work together, and not get in each others way or we can keep stumbling over each other as we look for her and risk pulling the biters down on us.” The knife slipped into it’s sheath as he stared at her. “Because I’ll never stop looking for her. So what’s it going to be Vi?” The woman was, he was sure, smart enough to know two people together was far safer than one. At least assuming the two people could trust each other enough to work together, and Silco knew quite well you didn’t have to like someone to work together. There was of course a soft growling sound from somewhere be it in the back of the building, or outside. Still far too many zombies, and too much risk to stay where they happened to be at that moment for long.

[ghost-wolf34]

Peter Hale finds his mate.

Chapter five. Derek apologies

Peter growled out when he felt her bite him, bonding her to him. He felt his eyes go red as his fangs stayed, he soon pushed away from his now marked and bonded mate. "I will come back for you. You are mine." He told her in a deep tone, due to his wolf shining through.

He pressed one last kiss to her lips, before walking away from the porch shifting into his beast wolf form and howling. 

As he disappeared into the forest again, he could now stay in contact with his mate and now feel what she was feeling. 

Shauna didn't know what to make after all of that, she smiled a little as she gently touched the mate spot that was now healed with a mark. 

She covered it up, just as Derek had just pulled up up the house and got out of the car.

She stood there calmly as he walked up to the porch, she didn't really say anything as she let him speak first. "I figured you'd be here waiting. Look I'm sorry about earlier, I was upset and irritated. I shouldn't have snapped at you like that, this isn't your fault." Derek told her. 

Shauna knew that Derek was upset and irritated back at the police station, and she couldn't blame him since her brother, and their friend technically Scott's friend Stiles went digging up on his property for Laura's body. 

"You don't need to apologize Derek, but I do understand why you were upset and frustrated. The boys shouldn't have been on your property digging up your sister. And I understand that your mad about the whole thing with the alpha, even though neither of us could or can control that." She told him. 

Derek nodded his head. "Which is why, I need your help to figure out who it is and stop them from killing anyone else," he told her, knowing she probably wouldn't like it but they had to stop the alpha somehow by someway. 

Shauna nodded her head biting back her feelings. "How exactly are you planning on stopping the alpha and figuring out who they are?" She asked him, knowing she probably wasn't going to like that answer. 

"You know how. It's the only option, I'm sorry Shauna but I can't let your mate go around hurting people. As for figuring out who they are, we find clues and try to figure it out. You have more of a connection to it then me or Scott do. At some point it will show itself to you." Derek told her. 

Shauna gave him a hurt look. "You are not seriously going to use me as bait, to figure out who my mate is. Just so you can kill kill him." She told him hurtfully. "I'm sorry but I want no part in that." With that she started to walk away. 

"You can't walk away from this Shauna, this is your fight too." Derek told her, watching her as she walked off and left through the woods making him sigh in frustration. She was so stubborn and irritating.

At the McCall house

Shauna walked inside and went straight up to her room, he ignored Scott and Melissa who were asking her if she was alright since she had been out most of the day, and it was now evening outside. 

As she walked upstairs, Scott could sense something off with her but wasn't quite sure what. "What's gotten into her?" Melissa asked Scott with concern. 

"I'm not sure." He said as him and his mom both heard her door slam. Scoot looked at his mom, hearing her sighing. 

Shauna slid down her door once it was closed, she wrapped her arms around her knees and cried silently, as she sat there thinking about her mate Peter Hale. 

She soon looked over at her window feeling eyes watching her, she stood up and looked out her window seeing glowing red eyes watching her. 

Peter watched Shauna up in her room at the McCall house, he could sense her pain and sadness. He had been off in the woods when he had felt something wrong with his mate, so he followed her scent and followed her to the McCall house. 

He let out a small howl telling her to come to him, he waited for her to come out of her room and to him knowing that she wouldn't resist his calling to her.

Shauna heard his howl, which made her smile, as she just looked out her window at him. Before grabbing her backpack and putting some stuff in it. 

Shauna then carefully climbed out the window and onto the roof, before quietly but carefully landing on the ground and running over to where he was standing.