#AND THEY HAVE A WHOLE MEDICAL SERIES ABOUT THE HOUSES OF HEALING

[giliath]

Oh my god I commented on some fics by that one lotr writer I’ve been raving about and they responded 🥹 it’s been 10+ years since they were posted to ao3 AND THEY RESPONDED

[evera-era]

heal me. (pt 3)

ellie williams x f!reader pt 1, pt 2

warnings: nervous/cutesy ellie, fluff, yearning, eventual kissing !!

a/n: no mentions of medic stuff this time bc i wanted reader to enjoy life outside of that. also i’m sorry for putting this off, i just wasn’t sure how i felt ab it </3 but here’s the final part !!

“Wow… you really do have the whole collection.” You murmur, lightly grazing your fingertips over the spines of Ellie’s comics.

It was the first time you had been to her house. Well… garage. She wasn’t exactly proud of it either, but it was homely.

“Pretty cool, huh?” She says, watching you. “I’ve probably read it about a dozen times already.”

You smiled, turning and looking at her over your shoulder. She shifts on her bed.

“Didn’t know you were a geek.”

“A- A geek?” She stutters, raising her eyebrows. “Wow, okay. Ouch.”

You both laughed, and you bit down on your lip. “It’s not a bad thing. Geeks are cute.”

You turned to look back at her bookshelf as Ellie’s face flushes. She knew you were flirting with her — it was obvious you were flirting with her — but she didn’t know what to do next.

“Mind if I read the second one while I’m here?” You ask, pulling the sandwiched comic out of its spot.

“Go for it,” She says, pulling her converse off her feet. “You can come sit over here. I mean — if, if you want.”

You grinned, spinning on your heel before plopping yourself on her bed. It was soft, and surprisingly comfy.

“Hey, this isn’t fair.”

“What?” She says, eyes widening.

“Your bed. It’s so nice,” You comment, looking up at her. “How do you just casually have the best bed, like, ever?”

The redhead laughs. “That’s a bit of an exaggeration.”

“I’m not even kidding,” You sigh. “God. I could sleep here forever.”

As you turn the page and begin reading, Ellie can’t help but look over at you. You were inches away from her, on her bed, in her bedroom. And you said you wanted to sleep next to her. It felt surreal.

She swears she could probably die happy right about now.

About ten minutes pass, and Ellie clears her throat. “So, uh, how are you liking it so far?”

“It’s really good,” You say, still holding the book up. “I think I could get into this series… if you’ll let me, of course.”

“Y-Yeah,” She says quickly. “Yeah, of course. Uh, whenever you want.”

You smiled gently before looking over at her.

“Hey, Ellie?”

“Uh-huh?”

“Do you have a girlfriend?” You ask. “Or… boyfriend? Sorry. Should’ve asked.”

Her eyes nearly pop out of her head. “G-Girlfriend. And uh, no, not currently.”

“So you’re seeing someone?” You question.

“No— No, sorry. I meant… that I don’t have a girlfriend.”

“Oh.” You say simply, before returning to the comic. Her head swarms as she tries to figure out your intentions.

Was that was your way of telling her you liked her? Shit, or were you just being friendly? She couldn’t tell. She didn’t wanna read into it wrong.

A few more minutes pass as she looks down at you. “Um… and you?”

“Huh?” You say, looking up from the book. “Me?”

“Y-Yeah. Do… you have someone?”

“No,” You say. “I’d be surprised if anyone even liked me. I mean… I’m not all that. But you? You get to go on patrol and look all badass and stuff.”

Ellie blushes, looking down at the ground. “You— you look good, too. Better. I meant… better.”

She wants to kick herself. Why does she sound so stupid when she wants to flirt back?

Nonetheless, you took the compliment with a smile. “Thanks, Ellie.”

Ellie gives a thin-lipped smile, desperately hoping she was better at putting her thoughts into words. And that she wasn’t a total dork.

The two of you had spent the next few hours in her room. The sun slowly began to lower in the sky, painting her window blinds a pale shade of gray. You had gone through two comics at most, as you had spent half of your time speaking to her instead of actually reading.

“Alright,” You nudged her knee. “It’s your turn to tell me a story.”

“Alright, alright.” She pauses. “I have a good one. It’s about my friend Jesse.”

“Okay. Shoot,” You reply, looking up at her.

You realized that you enjoyed watching her. More than anyone you had ever met.

There was a sparkle she got in her eyes when she was excited about something, and her nose would scrunch whenever she described something she didn’t like. It was cute and adorable and god, you wanted more of her.

“…And so while me and Dina were sledding, he slips and absolutely busts his ass.” At this point, Ellie’s smiling, making grand hand gestures as she explains.

“I’m talkin’ full on, face first into the fucking snow! It was hilarious, and—“

She notices your staring, and immediately clears her throat. “Uh... are— are you okay?”

“Yeah,” You say, pushing yourself up from the position you were laying in. You scoot closer, so you’re hovering over her face.

“Can I kiss you?” You ask, looking into her eyes. When you’re met with silence, you close your eyes, mentally scolding yourself.

“Sorry… was that awkward?” You cover your face with your hands. “That was awkward, wasn’t it? N-Nevermind. I swear I was listening—“

For a moment, you were worried that maybe you had come on too strong. That just as you began to make a new friend, you had pushed her away, in a rather embarrassing manner. But your fears dissipate when you feel the warmth of her hands on yours.

She peels your hands away from your face, holding them gently. Her fingers were nimble, and rather coarse, but her touch is near electrifying.

“Please,” She whispers, barely audible. And before you have the chance to lean in, her lips have already hit yours.

Ellie’s kiss is desperate; it was something she had been wanting to do since she had first met you. And inside, she’s ecstatic, because she never thought you’d ask her to.

Her lips are warm, and encompassing, and her breath is shallow against your face. She goes slowly as to burn this memory into her brain.

When the two of you pull away, it’s quiet. You were worried if maybe you had changed the dynamic too quickly, but then she speaks.

“I… I really wanted that.” She says softly. You smile, nodding.

“Yeah. Me too.”

You turn your head away in an attempt to ease the fluttering in your chest. Ellie’s eyes are still on you, and she reaches out to brush a stray piece of hair away from your neck.

Your eyes land on the comic cover, and you laugh halfheartedly.

“I, um, barely finished it.” You utter. “The book.”

“Oh,” She says, raising her brows. “You… you can take some more with you, if you want. So you can read them.”

You shrug, looking back over at her.

“Or maybe I can just come back over here.” You add. “So I can read them with you?”

Ellie’s heart skips a beat, and she quickly nods. “Yeah. Yeah, that’s— great.”

You got up from her bed, putting the comics back. When you turn around, you press your lips together, looking off to the side.

“One condition, though.”

“Hm?” She says, looking back over at you.

“I come over as your girlfriend… not your friend.” You say shyly. “It’s my only rule.”

Ellie grins, standing up from the bed as well. She approaches you slowly.

“Well… you’re leaving as my girlfriend… aren’t you?”

“Am I?” You smile coyly, putting your arms around her neck. “This your way of asking me out?”

Ellie nods, face flushed. She thought it was cute, and a little funny, that you had casually assumed she went around kissing people she wasn’t into. She considered herself way too much of a loser to accomplish something like that.

You giggle a bit.

“Okay, then. Yeah, I’ll be your girlfriend.”

Her girlfriend. Her girl. Ellie can’t help but feel fuzzy at the thought of it.

It sounded good — it sounded right, rolling off of your tongue. She truly couldn’t wait to have you around her arm, walking with you around town.

Ellie doesn’t say anything else, merely smiles bashfully as you lean in to kiss her again.

And even though she couldn’t be sure of the future, she’s sure that in this moment, she wouldn’t wanna be with anyone else besides you.

[sleepyconfusedpotato]

Take Care of Yourself

After their escape from the Shadow Company's looming hunt for their heads, Ghost, Soap, and Jade headed to the Los Vaqueros safehouse on the outskirts of Las Almas. Soaked by the rain, the Scot needed some help with his wound on his shoulder.

Soap isn't the only one who needed help, though.

Pairing : Simon "Ghost" Riley x Charlotte "Jade" Le Jardin (OC) Word Count : ~ 2700

Warning : Fluff with a slight bit of angst, a touch of hurt/comfort, and good ol' cursings.

Title and story inspired by the song Take Care of Yourself by Maisie Peters

"Soap, where's your wound?" Jade asked the sergeant as she rummaged through her gears. Ghost, Soap, and Jade were standing near the truck they found in front of the church, currently just a kilometer away from Alejandro's safe house on the eastern side of Las Almas. However, now that the Los Vaqueros had been under the Shadow Company's custody, they cannot trust anyone. The three of them were all that they've got.

"Do you have the equipment?" Ghost, who's standing leaning onto the side of the truck asked. 

"Here, fuck… I think the adrenaline shot is finally wearing off." His finger pointed at the bloody makeshift bandage on his right shoulder, sitting on the grass with his back on the side of the wheel. Their whole bodies are wet from the rain, but at least the cold helped with the blood clotting.

Jade knelt down to the ground, observing the wound. "That thing served its purpose, you did great, Soap. Now the bullet's still in there, and we need to get it out and sew it in order to let it heal properly."

"Don't worry." The MI6 zipped out a roll of cloth, putting them onto the grass field to reveal a series of stainless steel tools that Soap could tell were definitely not medical tools. "I can make do."

"Wait, Jade. Isn't that…" Soap nervously glanced back and forth to her and her equipment. 

"Torture devices, yes. But it doubles as a medical kit for emergency situations, which is now." The woman lifted up a scissor, cutting the bloody bandage from Soap's shoulder, revealing the gunshot wound that Graves had inflicted upon him. Soap hissed as she gently peeled the cloth from his skin while staring at the wound underneath. 

"The bleeding has mostly stopped. Now I just need to get it out." She put down the scissor, took her canteen and rinsed the bloody area with water. 

"Aww! Aw aw SHIT!!" 

"Don't be a baby, Johnny." Ghost retorted from beside him. 

"I just got shot, Lt., and it fucking stings like a bitch. Have you ever been shot?" The wounded man grumbled to his superior.

"Many times." He answered, shrugging his shoulders. 

"Beanpole, how about you help me get some lights over here? Don't wanna pull out healthy skin." Jade gestured at the masked man. If he wants to be chatty then at least he could help a little. 

Ghost knelt down as well, pulling out his flashlight and directing it towards the wound. "Now that's better." Jade finally got a good visual clarity, prompting her to touch the skin surrounding it, and opening them up with her fingers. "Alright, Soap. Get ready. No alcohol unfortunately so grit your teeth real hard." 

"Yeah." After the Scot's shaky response, Jade used her forceps to enter the wound, exploring the outsides of the bullet, and took hold of it. 

"Got it. Stay still." As she very, very slowly fished out the bullet, Soap closed his eyes and rested his head on the car, a grimace on his face as he tried to hold in the pain. Ghost only watched in silence as he still held the flashlight up. 

"Aaand it's out." The bullet is finally out of the wound, leaving a little blood trail running down his shoulder which Jade immediately covered with a gauze. 

"Seems intact. You're lucky the bullet didn't burst and broke inside." Ghost reacted to the bullet on the tip of the forceps. "Or it'll be a pain in the arse to find all of them."

"Yeah. All those muscles double as a meat shield I guess." Jade joked as she put the bullet down on the cloth rolls, making Soap let out a broken chuckle.

"All that workout finally pays off." 

"It certainly did." The MI6 then used forceps on both hands to carefully stitch the wound. The wound was not that big, so it only required around 3 stitches. 

As she rolled the bandages around Soap's arm, Ghost started, "We don't know whether the safe house is empty or not. We're on our own."

The ginger responded, "We are. Anyone who points a gun at us, they're hostile. Can't trust anyone unless…"

"Unless?" Soap noticed her pause. 

"Unless someone's still not compromised and corrupted. And if there's one, it's Alejandro." She finally finished rolling the bandages, tidying up her equipment on the floor and putting them back on her gear. 

The three of them stood up, led by the lieutenant, "Alright, let's get inside." 

***********

After discussing about releasing Alejandro from the Shadows, they were now preparing their gears for the battle that was yet to come. Rodolfo had given them all some Mexican Army rations to fill their empty guts. Hours and hours of running and being hunted by Shadows took their energies out to flat battery. Rudy, Soap, and Jade sat together on the wooden crate inside the warehouse, eating away their meal.

Jade was right, if there's someone who is not corrupted, it's Alejandro, and someone close to him.

Much to their surprise, they found Rodolfo hiding in the darkness of the building. He did point his rifle at Soap, but at least he was still vigilant and didn't take anyone as a friendly considering the dreadful situation at hand. The warehouse was packed full with guns and ammunition in all varieties. It's like a second base for the Los Vaqueros. Surely it's smaller in size than the one Graves and his Shadows occupied at the moment, but it would do.

"Where's the lieutenant?" Rudy started.

"Outside. Probably doesn't want us to see his face." Soap answered as he ate the dried beans. 

"Why does he wear that? The first time I saw him in the car, I was truly scared." The Mexican remembered saying that he's afraid of ghosts in Spanish to his superior upon seeing his mask.

"Then the mask served its purpose. It's psychological warfare. The less human you look like, the more fear you can strike upon the enemy" The only woman in the house told them, "Imagine a big, hulking man with a skull face, coming at you in a full on black attire, with a full sets of skills that can end your life in seconds. I would be scared."

Hearing that, Rodolfo sighed, "Glad he's on our side."

"Right. Or probably he just wants to hide his ugly face." Soap retorted, making the three of them chuckle. 

As she finished her rations, Jade tidied up the plastic containers before standing up, "I'm gonna check on the beanpole. You guys eat away." She patted both of the man's shoulders, which were replied with nods from both men, before she headed out of the warehouse's wooden door where Ghost had headed ten minutes prior. 

As she stepped out in the dark of the night, Jade looked up at the Las Almas sky. This will be a long night.

Got betrayed by Shepherd and The Shadows, Soap got shot, they had to survive a town full of people trying to hunt them, and now after only one hour of downtime, the four of them were about to storm the prison to try freeing Alejandro and the Vaqueros.

Taking on a whole garrison of Shadows in the prison compound with just four people? Sounded suicidal of them indeed, but Jade had seen what these people could do. They're trustworthy.

She's not alone anymore.

She's got people to cover her back.

She had him.

Taking a deep breath, she looked around to find out where the man in black went. She looked side to side to see any big, black shape sitting down, but he's nowhere to be seen. 

And so, she started to walk to the side of the warehouse, finally finding the big man sitting down, his back to her. Accompanied by a single lamp above him that barely gave any sort of luminescence, she could see that his mask was lifted up, the skull plate sitting on top of his head, indicating that he's indeed eating. 

One thing she realized, though, she could see him a little bit stiff on the left shoulder. What confirmed her suspicion was the fact that he touched his left shoulder, before rolling them very very slowly like it's painful to move.

Guess even the Ghost himself wasn't invincible from a bullet. 

"Beanpole." Jade softly called to him. Her feminine voice instantly made the man flinch, but not turn around. 

A pause, "Midget. Why are you here?" He said, for once his deep, raspy voice was not muffled by the mask. 

"Checkin' up on you. You really do like sitting alone in the dark." 

He didn't respond with anything. The woman decided to step forward, making the grass crack. Ghost immediately put his hand on his mask, ready to pull it down to wear it, before Jade stopped him, "It's fine. You can keep eating. I promise I won't do anything." Ghost halted his actions for a good five seconds, before putting his hand down again.

Seeing that he's finally relaxed, Jade closed in on his back slowly to where he sat down on the wooden crate. She could see the back of his neck and a little hint of his hair like this, and of course, there's a tint of blood on the junction between his neck and shoulder, just shy away covered by his black collar that was also ripped apart in the area.  

"You're injured." Jade spoke slowly to avoid startling him too much.

"...Just a bullet graze. Bloody shadows." 

"May I?" Jade asked, and she could see him contemplating, before he lightly nodded. Upon his confirmation, she lightly pulled away his torn collar, finding blood still running down the grazed wound. It's angry red in color, especially being covered by his clothes and his gear the entire time. 

Hearing Jade’s huff, the man inquired, "Is it bad?"

"Bad. Even though Soap had a whole bullet lodged in his shoulder, at least the wound was open to the rain to wash it away. Yours were covered by your collar and plate carrier. Infection will suck." He grumbled in response. He surely thought it was nothing, but it definitely needed some attention. 

"You can keep eating while I take care of this. Put off your gears first." Jade spoke to the back of his neck, and seeing that he sighed, it seemed that he didn't mind. Ghost took his gear off, as he tried to lift the plate carrier above his head, Jade could see him struggling to fight the pain on his shoulder and decided to lend a hand. Without a word, Jade helped lift them up. Judging by his groan, it must be a major relief after carrying that much weight on his injured shoulder. 

After putting the gear down, she started by pouring some water to a cotton wool, pulling the collar away, revealing that the wound is even longer and deeper than she thought. It’s almost half his trapezius. This definitely required some attention. "I'm gonna clean the wound. This'll sting a little.” As she lightly pressed on the wound, Ghost's neck tensed, but he didn’t make a sound, albeit him grabbing his plastic spoon harder that it might snap.

“It’s supposed to be painful, Beanpole. It’s okay if you make a sound.” Jade said with a low tone, not wanting to surprise him, still going on in cleaning the angry red wound. This man is a hard ass sometimes. “At least Soap’s not here to tell you you’re a baby.” the woman retorted, making Ghost scoff involuntarily as he remembered telling Soap the exact same thing earlier. 

“Fine,” He finally relented. “It bloody hurts. The only thing that made it right was that I put a knife on the bastard’s neck.” 

“Hmm. And were you planning to let this thing be a secret?” She gestured at the wound she’s currently tending to. 

Ghost only sighed, "I was going to take care of it myself."

Jade huffed softly behind him, “If you fell down from fever because it's not treated properly, I’m gonna have trouble hauling you up, Beanpole. You’re huge.” 

“I’m not gonna fall.” He denied.

“You will if you let this open wound be, which was your plan, isn’t it.” Jade told him off with a slightly louder voice, stopping her hands from cleaning the wound. 

“I’ve been shot many times before, Midget, and I’ll take care of myself just fine.” 

“But that was when you were alone, Ghost.” Hearing her call his call sign instead of the bastard nickname quite surprised him. 

“I know you can take care of yourself just fine. I know that. I think so about myself too. But we’re a team here.” Jade didn’t even realize that her voice sounded more like a worried mother than a colleague. “You’re our commanding officer, and I know you need to take the lead. All this shite happened on your watch, but despite all of that, I need you to tell me if you’re wounded. I will help. We will help.” Ghost had stopped eating now. She’s talking to the back of his head, but he could totally imagine her worried face. From the tone in her voice, he could also tell that she’s not angry. Concerned would be a better word. 

“I’ve been in this thing as long as you, Ghost, and God knows how it fucks someone up, but we’ve got each other now.” She finally got back to cleaning his wound, “You said it yourself just now, ‘no one fights alone’, and that includes this. So don’t fight alone, okay?”

Ghost took a deep breath. He did say that, didn’t he. She used his own words to get back at him.

Not hearing any answer, Jade pressed the cotton with slight pressure onto his wound, prompting him to flinch his shoulder and exclaim in pain, “Ow! What the fuck!?”

“Okay??” 

“Okay! Fine, Mum!” Ghost finally yielded. “I’ll take your word for it.” 

Jade couldn’t help but to scoff at her new nickname, “Don’t ‘Mum’ me, Ghost. I’m just a concerned friend, that is all.” She retorted, fishing the antibiotic cream from her med kit. 

“Oh, so now we’re finally friends?”

“Yes. What, were we enemies? I’m gonna apply some antibiotic cream, your wound is very long. Sheesh.” 

“Tell me something I don’t know…” He got back to eating his rations. He didn’t like pep talks, but hers actually alleviated some of his burdens. Knowing that someone’s got his back, that he has someone to rely on, that he didn’t have to do this alone… it somehow comforted him.

As Jade pressed a little of the content out of the tube, she thought about the man who’s having his back on her. Hearing that he’s been through a lot of things like her, deep in her mind, she’s glad that someone understands her. And all that she did was understand him. If Jade was in Ghost’s position, who has a lot of responsibilities and burdens on his shoulders, she’d want that reassurance too. The MI6 started to lightly rub on the wound, taking note of covering the entire area. 

“Thanks, for having my back.” He continued, “When I heard Johnny’s coming, I thought I’m gonna need to babysit him for a while. But having you here… It makes things easier for me.”

“...Jade.” his deep voice called to her name, not the bastardized nickname, making her flinch in response.

"hm?"

The woman behind him smiled, “A pleasure, Ghost. Cut off a little slack for yourself, alright? You look like the kind of guy who doesn’t take his own advice.” 

A chuckle, “Seems so.” 

After a while, Ghost finally finished eating his rations, just as Jade finished closing up his injury with the adhesive plasters.

“Abracadabra, you’re healed~!” The woman covered the wound with her warm palm, touching his skin lightly, before covering the area back up with the collar. 

Ghost pulled down his mask, before standing up and turned around to face the woman who patched him up. Lifting her head to see the towering figure, she could see his dark eyes looking back at her.

“Thanks, Midget. I owe you for this one.”

She never heard him speak with such sincerity and tenderness before. She swore if not for the dim lighting, he’d caught her cheek turn as red as her hair.

Well, there’s always a first for everything. “You owe me nothing. Anytime, Beanpole.” 

********************

“Soap?” Rodolfo called to the man in front of him.

“Hm?” 

“Did, uh… Ghost and Jade have something between them?” Hearing the Mexican sergeant’s question, Soap couldn’t help the laughter from his mouth; he had to cover them from spitting his food.

“You see it too, don’t you?” Soap responded with a chuckle, “To answer your question, no, I don’t think they had something. We’ve only known Jade about three years ago, during the conflict for Verdansk.” 

“Three years ago?” Rodolfo questioned.

“Yes. The lass were called in by Laswell. She’s fierce, I’ll give her that. However, Ghost wasn’t the kindest person at the time, and there were… trust issues among the group. So he’s the one who started the Midget thingy, and Jade responded fairly by calling Ghost Beanpole.”

The Mexican cooed in acknowledgement, getting back to his rations. “They’re very… compatible together.”

“You’re right on point on that, Hermano.”

------- FIN -------

Hope you loved it! (´▽`ʃ♡ƪ)

[starlightshadowsworld]

Who do you imagine as Jason's father if it wasn't Zeus? Jupiter did not return to Beryl but she caught the attention of another god or goddess.

Sticking with Roman mythology, and those that have shown up in the series. And excluding the rest of the big 3, because why not make this a bit more intresting.

I have a few thoughts about who I'd choose, and how they'd fit Jason thematically.

Because Jason has always been defined by his parentage. I've narrowed it down to 3, I got way to carried to with this I'm sorry 😅.

Jason as a Son of Auster (Minor Roman God of the Summer and South Wind.)

He's someone Jason frequently interacts with during House of Hades. A diety who reminsces on the old days when he was both feared and beloved.

And someone Jason finds kinda annoying, preferring his Greek counterpart.

Definitely fits his whole identity crisis.

And I just love the idea of Jason both loving his father but also two seconds away from wanting to punt him across the sky.

Jason keeps his wind and storm abilities and gains a power over heat and flames.

Which, would definitely add another layer to the identity crisis, because what are you Jason? The storm or the fire?

He bound to service but it's in his nature to be free. And wanting the forgotten to be remembered.

Than we have Jason as a Son of Terminus (God of boundaries and protector of Rome.)

Jason being expected more than any other to be Camp Jupiter's sworn protector and defender.

He wants to see the world but he's bound by duty. And well Terminus is rather strict so Jason's not exactly well liked by other campers.

He'd also clash with his father at times because Jason wants to end traditions while his father lives and breathes by them.

But Terminus is also a kind diety and loves a good loop hole and I think he'd genuinely be proud seeing Jason speak out and follow the rules, in his own way.

The Quest of the 7 is probably Jason's first time leaving Camp and learning that the world operates on different rules.

Jason has his father's abilities of being able to snatch weapons (making him one of the few that can take Riptide from Percy like his father does) and teloport.

He has some control over the earth, mainly stone and he's built a lot more durable and tougher because of it.

During the Titan War, Jason and his father were Camp Jupiter's final line of defence.

And finally, Jason as a Son of Apollo. Even disregarding trials of Apollo I just find it an interesting idea.

Beryl was a performer, she was a star and Apollo kinda has a type.

Jason would belong to both Greek and Roman Camps. He'd have a lot more of a rivalry with Octavian because he's a demigod and he's a legacy.

Keeping with the theme that Roman demigods have different abilities to their Greek counterparts, (See Hazel and Nico).

And that the Romans seem to get the short end of the stick.

Jason's abilities while including archery are more medical based than combat based. He's had to work hard to get to where he is.

He's a good healer (I mean his name does mean to heal) but what many don't know, is that Jason's a lot more profiecent at giving diseases and causing pain.

It's one Beryl and Lupa was particularly fond of, both thinking he could use it against their enemies.

It's not a power he likes to use, and frankly tries not pretend doesn't exist.

But denial leads to negative emotions and next thing he knows he's given those around him the cold.

Granted, he can heal it but now he's considered an ill omen.

It causes some tension between him and Frank at first because Frank really wants to be a son of Apollo and Jason's like yeah... No you don't.

It also gives him a neat parallel to Will, who's abilities are also mostly healing based. And I feel like the Apollo kids would just adore Jason.

Jason shows up at Camp Half Blood and wonders into the infirmary all curious because he's mostly banned from his camps infirmary, unless they really need him.

And Will is just like hey newbie.

Also Jason not knowing Apollo, thinking his dad wants nothing to do with him but defending him infront of the entire Olympian Council, is so him.

Like I said, a lot of thoughts.

[ldysmfrst]

Breaking and Entering (7) - Lovren

Status: Ongoing Series

Chapter number: 7 of unknown

Word count for Chapter: 3,754

Word count for Story: 15,946

Genre: Werewolf

There are no chapter titles, but each chapter will have a name listed that indicates which POV the chapter is from. Mindlinks are in italics. Conversations with their inner wolf are in bold italics.

A little about the author: I am a mother of two beautiful children. One of which is special needs, and on 3/28, they lost 75% of their vision. I started a Patreon if you feel the heart to donate towards helping with the medical costs of appointments, medication, and modifications to the house, which insurance doesn't cover.

Warnings: (I am not good at this, but I will try. Let me know if I missed anything!!) NOT BETA READ!! This story will have a bit of angst, fluff, smut, f/m, and m/m. This chapter doesn't really have a warning, but there are pack dynamics at play (kinda), power struggle, anxiety, and mentions of criminal history and death.

BREAKING AND ENTERING MASTER LIST

LDYSMFRST MASTER LIST

That is it. 

I am out of here. 

I didn't run into anyone else when I made my way to my safe haven on the fourth floor. My mind raced to figure out who the boy with the jade-green eyes was.  

As a high schooler, he holds some kind of power, but it differs from Mitchell's. He reminds me of my father and grandfather's feeling of power before they died. 

All I know is that it gives me chills, and I need to stay away from that little troupe of people: Mitch, his lackeys, Selena, and her terrors. 

Thankfully, for this semester, I do not have a class with any of them. I guess this orientation day was good for something. Tomorrow would be chaos due to a new block-type schedule. I want to understand why this high school has a day of academics alternating with a day of PE, health class, and self-defense. 

God, my week will include places where I will soar and where I will be sore. At least this whole block schedule will give me time to do my homework and hopefully recover. 

On a positive note, PE was an elective course, and I could take swimming, thank god. It would just be me and the water, allowing for a comfortable soreness to take over and another added sense of clarity and calmness.

I am not looking forward to the self-defense class. I mean, I can street fight, but sparing?

Is this how they do it in small towns like this? 

Reaching my little corner of the library, I look down over the quad, my eyes wandering over the students. Absentmindedly, my hand goes to the gauze on my face as I find the boy with the jade-green eyes talking with Mitchell and the other lackey. 

Selena hangs on Mitchell’s arm like an accessory while speaking animatedly to anyone who will listen. I wonder if she knows how much of what comes out of her mouth is filler for a much-preferred silence.

“Whoa!! What was that about?” I say to myself, pressing up to the glass. 

I look around as the whole quad seems frozen in time. All eyes are on Selena, who is now on the ground with the lackey boys hovering over her. 

“I am pretty sure that is because Selena thought she would impress them with her asserting dominance over you via your face,” a voice states as I jump out of my skin. 

Spinning around, I finally saw who the voice belonged to. It was one of the bouncer-looking guys who walked around standing with his hands behind his back. 

“The Healer told Mr. Moores that you were injured today by Selena, and though he cannot come, he asked me to check on you. Are you alright? You should have the healer look at it again tomorrow to ensure it is healing properly.” 

“Damn. Of course, she told him,” I muttered, dropping my hand and looking at the floor. “It still hurts, but it is not the worst thing I have had happen to me.”

Fiddling with the hem of my hoodie and avoiding eye contact, I continued,  “I was in the wrong place at the wrong time. I was blocking her locker and should not have said what I said. Umm… it is really not that big of a deal.”

“Mr. Moores, and the boss, do not like it when violence happens on school grounds. Selena will be dealt with,” he chuckles, walking up to the glass near me. “Well, it looks like she may be getting her punishment now.” 

Following his eyes down to the quad, I see Selena still on her knees, head lowered and shoulders shaking. 

The jade-green-eyed boy stands over her, his whole body tense.

Mitchell stands to the side like he wants to be between them but can’t. He keeps looking back and forth like he is watching a tennis match. 

The other lackey and the terrors hovered around them but kept a decent distance like he was trying to avoid getting pulled in. 

Or is he trying to keep the terrors away?

“Why is she on her knees and is she crying? It's just a scratch. Not like she was trying to take my eye out, unless she missed.”

“Like, I said. Violence is not tolerated on school grounds, Miss Lovern. Now if you will follow me, I have been tasked to bring you Mr. Moore and the boss.”

“No. No, thank you. I have homework already, and I need to get back to the house before any other troubles happen.” 

I walk over to my backpack, which I apparently dropped when startled. 

Mumbling under my breath, “and lock myself in my room before Selena comes after me for this whole thing.”

“I don’t think locking yourself away will help, Miss Lovern. Unfortunately, the boss is insisting. He wants to check on you himself. After all, he is also the reason why you ended up here and not in Juvenile Hall.” 

At that bit of information, I freeze.

“Now, if you will follow me, the office is not that far away,” he says as he directs me away from the glass towards the elevators. With a huff, I start walking. 

Unknown to me, the man looks down to the quad, nods at the jade-green-eyed boy, and then joins me, walking to the elevator. 

“Oh, Miss. This way, please. That elevator does not reach the office we are going to.”

“Excuse me, Mr?”

“Ivanov, Andrei Ivanov but you can call me Andrei. I think I saw you talking with my younger brother Erik?” 

My eyes light up, recognizing Erik’s name. “Yeah, he was the one who, more or less, saved me from Selena and took me to the nurses', I mean Healer’s office. He and I have choir class together.” 

I shake my head, “Wait, wait… Andrei, we are going into the key-card VIP and Mitchell’s lackeys only elevator?”

Letting out a barking laugh, Andrei nods: “I don’t know what is funnier. The fact my pup of a bro saved you from Selena or that you think Mitchell is the one who has the lackeys.” 

He pulls out a small hard plastic key card with an outline of three wolves and swipes it, allowing the elevator doors to open. He holds the doors, standing to the side to allow me to enter first. 

I step in with a nod of thank you to him. I look around the elevator, noting that it's glass and allows one to see all its inner workings. I muttered to myself, “That's wicked, but what is with all the glass?”

“Mr. Dishinko likes to make sure things are going to work. The only way to ensure that is to see how the cogs work. The glass allows anyone to see something not working in the elevator,” he states matter-of-factly as he selects the top floor.

“Just as the glass around this building allows for Mr. Dishinko, Mr. Moores, Mr. Barlowe, and the guard to see the town without any obstructions.”

It doesn’t take long to reach the top floor.

My presence is immediately known to everyone without the doors even opening. I feel several eyes on me.

Glancing around, I spot a few other men in black, and oh, great… it's Jonathan and Rachel. Standing with them near the elevator are two other men dressed in suits. 

One stands slightly behind the other, and he looks like he could be a professor at a University. He is easily as tall as Jonathan, over six feet tall, but he doesn’t have the same broad shoulders. When our eyes meet, I feel a slight tingle of power, but it is nothing compared to the man standing in front.

I stepped out of the elevator at Andrei's gentle push, looked back at him briefly, and cursed him, in my mind, for bringing me into the lion’s den. 

“Miss Lovren,” at my name, my body freezes as the depth of power washes over. 

My eyes snap to the other suit-dressed man standing in front of everyone.

His light brown hair is shorter than everyone else's, leaving his sharp facial features clear to see. His eyes are deep green and remind me of the boy from the lobby and the quad. He is older than everyone else in the room but not old. 

He has that aura of power I have only felt from my father. I have dealt with energy like this before, which has never ended well. 

I immediately go into defense mode. 

I hate feeling like prey.

“Lovren!” Rachel hisses at me, pulling my attention to her. “It’s rude to stare like that. Say hello to Mr. Dishinko, Jonathan’s boss, and well… umm…”

“I am more or less the Mayor of Lunar Ridge, Miss Lovren,” the man smiles, the energy backing off almost like a wave pulling back.

“Mr. Mayor,” I feel the need to bow since he is who he is, “I am sorry if I was rude. I just felt a bit cornered.”

“Ahh, yes. I can see how you would feel that.”

Ding

Jumping at the sound of the elevator, I spin around and back towards one of the outside walls. Putting space between myself and everyone.

My eyes lock with jade green eyes that exit the elevator. At this point, if I had hackles, they would be standing straight up. 

“Mikhail, Aliaksandr, Mitchell, Selena, and Erik. Good, everyone is present. Let's go into the conference room. Rachel, get everyone something to drink on your way in.”

It takes a beat before anyone starts to move after the Mayor. However, the jade-eyed boy and I stand still, eyes locked.

It isn’t until Erik steps between us that I can look anywhere else. 

“Ren, are you okay? Let’s go inside. Come on, you can sit next to me,” Erik says as he lightly takes my elbow and guides me into the conference room.

After some minor pleasantries and everyone taking seats, the connections between everyone are more apparent. 

The Mayor has to be the jade-eyed boy's father as they sit at the head of the table. 

The other lackey sits next to the jade-eyed boy with Mitchell. On the other side sits the Professor man, Jonathan, Rachel, and Selena. Erik follows his word and sits with me at the other end of the table. Standing next to the door is Andrei. 

“Miss Lovren, do you know everyone here?” the Mayor asks.

“No, sir. I know my foster family, of course. I met Erik and umm, his brother Andrei today.” I say, glancing at the brothers quickly before continuing. 

“I know Mitchell also because he is dating Selena and practically lives at the house with us,” I giggle out the last words due to nerves.

Feeling a hand on my forearm, I relax and look at Erik. He smiles at me softly, trying to comfort me. At this point, Erik and his brother seem to be the only relaxed people in the room.

“You know more than I expected after the reports about your nightly wanderings and residency you have taken in the library over the summer,” the Mayor says with a smile as I tense slightly.

“Oh don’t worry. You are not being followed but Jonathan and Andrei have a great team of guards that keep watch over Lunar Ridge, which includes you.”

“Lovren,” Jonathan says, “We are only keeping you safe. And… as your foster dad, I also want to make sure you settle in well and find your home here.”

“Oh…” this revelation shocks me. “Noone before really cared if I settled in. At my age, it's always been more about the paycheck.”

“We actually don’t get a paycheck for you,” Rachel chimes in, which causes my mouth to drop as I look at my current foster family. 

“We heard about your story while attending a seminar. Some of that town’s guards talked about your ability to stand up to higher-ranking members of the city.” Jonathan explained.

“I inquired more, and it seems that your records show that you defy authority, commit crimes, and run away.”

I roll my eyes at him as he announces all of my shortcomings to the room.

“Lovren, I don’t believe any of it.” Jonathan declares with certainty, causing the room to focus on him intently.

“Why?” I ask with eyes narrowed, “What makes you think that?”

“I brought my concern to Stanislav, and we pulled all of your records,” he said, gesturing to the Mayor. 

“We read over everything and discussed your behaviors with Christopher,” When Jonathan said his name, the professor nodded. 

“We all agreed that your reactions would have been acceptable here at Lunar Ridge. Your defiance was towards those abusing their authority. The crimes you were charged with committing were self-defense. You ran away because it wasn’t safe for you to stay.”

Shock. 

That is all that I can feel. 

Looking around the table, I can see different reactions. Most are variations of concern, and they are all now focused on me.

I don’t know what to say, so I sit there with wide eyes and start picking at the sleeves of my hoodie again. I feel Erik shift beside me, leaning more against my arm, which oddly allows me to relax a bit more. 

“Mr. Moores, umm.. Sir.” Erik timidly speaks up. 

“Erik, stay out of this,” his brother cuts in.

Putting his hand up, the Mayor levels Andrei with a look of authority, causing him to drop his head down and to the side. 

“Go on Erik, What is it you have to say?” Jonathan asks with honesty.

“Umm… You have shared some very… ah, sensitive information about Ren, but this doesn’t explain why we have all been brought to the Counsel Quarters.” Erik states while he starts to pick at my hoodie sleeve with me.

“That is true, Erik. We are here to discuss a few things, such as additional introductions, apologies, and arrangements.”

“Hi, Miss Lovren. I am Dr. Christopher Barlowe, but you can call me Chris. I am the second in command for Lunar Ridge,” the professor man introduces himself. 

Then he continues, “If you ever need a sounding board, advice, or help with any of your studies, you can contact me. I am also the Principal for Lunar High.” 

So, the professor is the Principal, and a Doctor is on top of it. Well, that explains how he is dressed and his aura. “Hello, Principal Chris. My friends and professors call me Ren.”

He smiles at the fact that I am still using titles but am open enough to allow him to use a nickname.

“I have been more or less introduced,” the Mayor says. “My name is Stanislav Dishinko. Everything and anything that happens within the town borders gets reported to me. It helps me keep the town safe.”

Reaching into his coat pocket, he pulls out a small device and passes it to me. Once it reaches Selena, her eyes bug out, and her jaw drops as she passes it to Erik, who also seems taken back. 

“You seem to enjoy reading and night walking. While normally this isn’t smiled upon, I trust Jonathan when he says you are a good kid.”

Pointing to the fob I now hold, he says, “That is a key fob that has been coded for the library levels of this building. Winter is coming, and the weather is going to get colder. This will allow you to enter the library when you are out at night. Just remember the guards will also be patrolling at night so that they might check in with you.”

I hold the fob tightly in my hand and smile at the ability to come and go from my safe place freely.

“Hey, Loven, you know me. Mitchell, but you can call me Mitch. I am a senior like you, captain of the soccer team, and I am training to be head of the guard once Jonathan retires.” 

He glances briefly at Selena, “If you ever feel like you are in danger or anyone, and I mean Anyone, makes you feel like you are not safe or welcome here… please come and talk to me.”

Oh boy, that will cause some trouble with Selena, I think to myself. 

Trying not to look at Selena, I can feel Erik’s shoulders jerk as he tries not to laugh. Under the table, I knock my leg into his to get him to hold it together. 

“I am Aliaksandr but I guess you since we are using nicknames you can call me Alek. I am kind of like the brains of the operation. I tend to follow in Principal Chris’s footsteps. I am in charge of the school council and the debate team captain. I am here if you need anything… as your school council president or anything… at all.” 

This time, I take a good look at him. 

He has a broader nose than the others in the town and has long, dark blonde, almost brown hair and fair skin. While his face is on the rounder side, his shirt and shorts clearly show that he works out. What is interesting about Alek is the controlled level of energy coming from his almost white-blue eyes.

It is almost as if he knows that I am sensitive to other people’s energy and doesn’t want his energy to scare me away. This piqued my interest in seeing what he has behind his walls.

The sound of a chair scraping the floor pulls my attention from Alek to the jade-eyed boy. The room is now an eerie silence as you both stare each other down. 

The boy bows at the waist without breaking eye contact, “My name is Mikhail Dishinko, son of Stanislave and Ekaterina Dishinko.”

He holds his bow as if waiting for something. 

My only thought is to return the gesture. Standing from my chair, I curtsy in return, “Hello, Mikhail. I am Lovern. Daughter of the late Stefan and Jovana ermm… Well, I don’t know what our last name was. The police reports never said what it was.”

We both retake our seats, and the room is now more melancholy. 

“Well, we all know I am Erik, and the muscle back there is my big bro, Andrei,” Erik says with a bright smile. “Now that introductions are over, what’s next?”

Looking at Erik, I smile softly and begin to think that having him as a friend isn’t such a bad idea.

“Ah, I think next was apologies,” I say, looking at Principal Chris. “I am sorry, Principal Chris, for causing an incident on the first day of school. I honestly di...”

“Wait a minute,” Mikhail interrupts me, all eyes focusing on him. 

“Why are you apologizing to anyone?” he asks.

Looking at him and then around the room, I notice he is not the only one who seems confused. Even Selena seems baffled. “Why wouldn’t I? I blocked Selena’s locker, she made a comment that I reacted to badly by saying things I shouldn’t have said.”

Looking to the Principal again, “I need to apologize for my actions of disrespecting another student while on school grounds,” then look to Selena, “and apologize to you, Selena, for saying things that I should not have in the heat of the moment.”

“You have honor, Miss Lovren,” the Mayor comments. “That is a rare quality to find amongst people your age and even rarer with someone of your history. I like you.”

“Papa is right, Miss Lovren.” Mikhail agrees but turns a heated glare to Selena. “It seems that you have a grace and poise that not all of us have.”

I can visibly see Selena shrink in her seat under his gaze. Looking between them both, it amazes me that he would be so stern towards his friend’s girl. Glancing at Mitchell, I can see he is just as upset at Selena because he won’t even look up from the table. 

With a sharpness to her voice, Rachel speaks, “Selena, don’t you have something to say for yourself in front of the council? To your foster sister Lovren?”

Nodding, Selena sits up straighter and looks at me with misty eyes, “Sorry, Lovren. I know I have not been the best at welcoming you to our home or to the school but I will try to be better.”

She glances over to Mikhail briefly before continuing, “I am also sorry for calling you a charity case and something my… our parents are using to look good for Mr. Dishinko.”

At that, Selena bows her head down, and to the side, her eyes cast downwards. I watch her and wait for something to happen; that is when I feel a powerful energy sweeping over me.

Looking back at the Dishinko men, I see that they are both watching me closely while everyone else is watching Selena. I can feel my own aura pushing back in response to them trying to keep me from drowning under the pressure. 

I feel a breath in my ear before I hear Erik whisper, “You have to formally accept before anyone will move, Ren.”

Without dropping my eyes from the overpowering men at the other end of the table, I say, “I accept your apology Selena. Let us work on getting along better for the sake of everyone here.”

Now, there is almost an electric crackling in the air between the three of you. The whole table feels the energy pouring through the room. 

Soon, it feels like the wave is going to crash over me, and I abruptly stand, breaking the concentration of the Dishinko men.

“If you will excuse me, I have to go and see the nurse again for my face,” I say as I grab my bag and head towards the door.

“My face is really starting to hurt, and I am getting dizzy from not eating lunch. Ah yeah… so I would love to continue this ermm… discussion at another time.”

With that, I bolted out the door. 

Luckily, the elevator was still on the top floor. 

Once I was inside, just as the elevator doors started to close, I could see Mikhail and Erik come barreling out of the door while calling my name. Unable to catch the door, all they could do was watch me in the glass elevator go down and then watch as I ran off the school grounds. 

((edited on 9/14/24))

Previous / Next

Permanent Taglist - OPEN

@bethanysnow @braveangel777 @danielle143 @elliegrace1999 @skyys-universe

Taglist - OPEN

@firstherohairdostudent

[h8crimesmd]

one: hilson edit idea. do one set to Bang the Doldrums by Fall Out Boy

two: pls give me a fic rec. something with lots of tension.

i'll get around to the edit, but boy oh boy, let me spoil you with fic recs.

These fics have a good amount of tension, so go ahead and check out this post I made some time earlier.

-Complete work, 77,372 words, House/Wilson -

If you want literal tension, this is Thee fic. House and Wilson attend a concert, only for the building to collapse. Lots of whump, hurt/comfort, and slow burn. Beautifully written and I believe the author works in healthcare so the medical aspects are probably more accurate than most. Part 2 (Not Bigger, But Brighter) is a still being updated but if you finish this and want to start reading it, by all means, go for it, its really good.

- Complete series, 150k + words total -

Also literal tension. Wilson is kidnapped and tortured for something that House hasn't done. It's tagged, but TWs for rape/noncon and graphic descriptions of violence.

The whump is amazing, the writing style is so fun to read. I binge-read the whole thing in a day. Wilson and House try to navigate their relationship after the assault, learning to heal and trust each other again. Seems obvious, but it's so well written and very in character.

- Complete work, 11,224 words, House/Wilson -

A different take on the s6 finale where Wilson finds House in his apartment instead of Cuddy. Toxic old man yaoi in which Wilson sacrifices his feelings and House is both intentionally and unintentionally cruel about it. Mildly smutty with a happy/hopeful ending.

Enjoy!

[anxious-ace]

Chronorun Reports notes:

Van Helsing, Jekyll, and Mrs. Frankenstein (Victor's mom) are siblings with Abraham and Henry being twins and Caroline being a few years younger (specific ages will have to wait until my brain decides that doing math is worth it)

(they are all a mix of Dutch, British, and Swiss btw)

(yes this means that Victor is Van Helsing's and Jekyll's nephew)

Van Helsing formed the HOSC to essentially bring light to all of the scientific discoveries that are happening (Jekyll's serum, any supernatural being he encountered, the time machine, Victor's creation, Griffin's invisibility, and more) but not without the house members' consent

Now let's get into the plot- a good amount of people in this universe have powers (almost all of the members of both societies have powers)

They are as follows:

Van Helsing- gains an ability of whatever type of entity he conquers (if he were to slay a vampire he would only get one of the abilities shared within all vamps. Ie teleportation) as well as natural immunity to most (not all) supernatural attacks and anomalistic mastery (or that could just be from his job)

Jekyll- technically he speaks to Hyde through telepathy as well as having telekinesis

Hyde- telepathy like Jekyll (because of course) and the ability to teleport objects and people away from and to him

(Jekyll and Hyde are forced to work together because they are not able to do what the other can as well as the other)

Victor- weather control (I just wanted to reference the movies, I think he would use it to help him animate the creation)

Griffin- now I know you might think that I'm going to make his invisibility his power, but that's not the case. He can however talk to animals, he just doesn't want anyone to know.

Time traveler- let's get the obvious out of the way, he can see any point in time (past present, and future), and it proved very helpful (but overwhelming and contributes to his time blindness)

Sherlock- like the time traveler, he could be obvious (giving him some kind of hyper-intelligence) so I'll give him tactical analysis and the hyper intertellince (or he could not have the ability and just be that smart, I haven't decided yet)

Watson- since he's a physician and royal army surgeon (according to Wikipedia), giving him a healing ability (more so healing others) would be a fair but obvious move. However, I want his medical knowledge to be utilized (meaning he would use actual medical practices instead of relying on powers) so the proper techniques would still have to be used (more so internal and really bad external wounds, broken bones, and deep/wide cuts being examples)

Gwen- now she could be a little difficult (considering the fact she is someone else's oc and I'm a bit scared to ask because it might look like I'm stealing their idea) so I'll move on for now. (she could have enhanced reflexes as it would be really helpful)

Switching gears to more general ideas (I'm looking for a reason to segway into the investigative committee's powers)

Griffin and the time traveler don't use their names for reasons they'd rather not admit (it has something to do with their experiments)

Van Helsing and Jekyll may make it look like they hate Victor (because he's an irresponsible, spoiled, college dropout who can be a bit of a nervous wreck at the most inconvenient times possible) but they're still trying to help him get over everything (and to take some god damn responsibly for once in his life)

Van Helsing and Watson are transcribing past journals, audio logs (the series takes place in the 21st century), and more as a part of the whole "bring light to all of the scientific discoveries that are happening" thing the HOSC does

The HOSC is very queer (not really with each other but you know)

Jekyll is a trans, ace, gay man (maybe Hyde too, he hasn't really thought about it, both he/him though)

Victor is pansexual and nonbinary (he/they)

Griffin is a bi demi-boy (also he/they)

Sherlock seems to be more interested in his work than in relationships (aroace cis man)

Watson is more open to the idea than Sherlock is though, at some point being stated to have said "I think everyone looks nice, does that mean im attracted to everyone? No not everyone, but certain people attract me more than others." (doesn't put a label on gender either but uses he/it/they)

Time Traveler is a theatre kid so he is probably the most open with his sexuality and gender (gay nonbinary dude using they/it)

Again, I have no idea for Gwen as she is not my character (well none of them are, I might have one at some point but thats not what I'm here for) so I either ask the creator or leave her as unlabelled (which might not be a bad idea actually) although the picrew shows her as aroace

Van Helsing might be the only straight one (I say might be because he doesn't know, still uses he/him though)

Now for the Missing person's investigative committee: they are in charge of finding out the who, where, what, why, when, and how of missing person cases

Utterson and Poole started it after Jekyll faked his death, which happened about a week after Van Helsing got back from killing Dracula (so it was like 7 years ago based on Quincey jr's age in the main story)

I'm now imagining a very stressed Van Helsing hearing about his brother supposedly killing himself because his latest experiment went tits up (excuse me while I try not to cry)

Their powers are:

Utterson- since he's a lawyer, giving him something like Holmes' hyper-intelligence (if it's his ability at all) is kinda obvious so some kind of adaptive ability could be fun (body language analysis could be useful)

Poole- super speed to help him with all of his duties (and in case of emergencies)

Mycroft- I kinda want his to be out of the park but still useful in a way, fuck it he can turn off others' abilities either by touching them or snapping his fingers

Walton- some kind of internal GPS for his traveling

Kemp- I tried reading the invisible man wiki to see what kind of doctor he is (he did go to a medical school so that could help) but couldn't really find anything so im going in sorta blind. I'm just going to make him a shapeshifter

Now that that is out of the way, few more things until pride shit

If someone pisses off Mycroft, their powers are just gone for the day (which could be devasting if they piss him off during a very important mission)

Walton being the youngest (younger than Hyde but older than Victor) means he is often the fastest and most agile of the group (until Poole uses his super speed obviously)

He's basically the group's son (at least to most of them, Mycroft might have some warming up to do)

Now, pride:

Utterson- Jekyll's husband (cis bi man, uses he/him)

Poole- unlabeled sexuality (aro he/it user)

Mycroft- like Van Helsing, he might be the only straight one (uses he/him)

Walton- trans, demisexual man (he/them/it)

Kemp- omnisexual nonbinary (they/them)

@mrhyde-mrseek what do you think?

[silkiemae]

The Serpents and the Wings of Night by Carissa Broadbent

There will be spoilers in this review.>

The Serpent and the Wings of Night was far more enjoyable than I expected it to be. It’s advertised as being like From Blood and Ash and A Court of Thorns and Roses, but I was honestly reminded more of the first Underworld movie. At the very beginning of the book, the vampire king Vincent finds a little girl called Oraya in a burning building and decides to adopt her and raise her as his own daughter in a world full of vampires. Much like Viktor and Selene in Underworld. I thought the dynamic between Vincent and Oraya was interesting and well done. I felt really bad for Oraya that she couldn’t see the way Vincent was manipulating her and I’m still wondering if his feelings for her were ever genuine. I want to believe that they were because there were moments where he seemed to truly care for Oraya but abusive relationships like that are always complicated and I feel like Carissa Broadbent did a good job capturing that. I almost wish there was more of it though so that I could have a clearer picture of their relationship. But I do think that based on Oraya’s behavior and defensiveness in Vincent’s favor do a good job conveying what’s left unwritten. 

When it comes to the White Pantheon that make up the gods in this series, I almost wish there was like an Odyssey-type retelling of Nyaxia’s story and that it was at the very beginning of the book. While bits of her story is revealed throughout the story, I always found myself confused regardless and wished that there was better exposition at the beginning of the book. I’d love to read a whole book on the White Pantheon alone tbh, I’m very curious. 

I liked the slow-burn relationship between Oraya and Raihn a lot. I found myself really rooting for them to get together even though I knew it would be idiotic of Oraya to let herself get attached to him when she’d have to kill him. More than anything, I am just so glad that the sex scene didn’t make me cringe out of my skin. Plated Prisoner is probably my favorite dark romance series at this point, but the sex scenes were the most uncomfortable things ever to me. But shockingly, I didn’t feel that way at all here. So, THANK YOU CARISSA. 

I loved reading Oraya kick everyone’s ass. I love that she gets her ass kicked constantly but never gives up. Like that girl gets her shit wrecked throughout this book but gives as good as she gets. 

Now for the things that I didn’t like. As fun as I found reading about Oraya competing in the vampire competition, it was sort of ridiculous that she was allowed to compete at all. Everyone believes her to be human and while at the end of the book it’s revealed she’s half-vampire, nobody but Vincent even knew that. Maybe Nyaxia realized when she made her blood vow, idk. What about the defanging vampire children because the parents don’t want them to rise up and seize power until they’re ready? Do their fangs grow back? Ibrihim was hobbled and it seems like his leg never heals. I thought vampires could heal if they drank enough blood? Why is Oraya allowed to leave the Moon Palace to meet her dad and get special poisoned weapons? If the Moon Palace is supposed to provide for its contestants why doesn’t it provide these weapons for her? Why doesn’t it provide medication when she’s injured? Why are contestants allowed to request to leave when they’re too badly injured? It feels like the rules consistently change and while that’s acknowledged in text, a lot of it doesn’t make sense imo. At one point we’re told only one person can win the Kejari then we’re told that sometimes two people survive it yet, Oraya had to kill Raihn anyway? 

I feel like the world building could've been way better as well. The Bloodborn vampire curse is confusing, the difference in each vampire house wasn't explained well enough at the beginning of the book so I was confused by all the vampires and why they hated each other. I was confused if there were other continents beside vampire world. Idk there were things that could've been described better. 

And the only other thing that made me kind of mad was the bullshit Raihn does at the end. I understand why he does it, and It’ll definitely make for a very interesting hill to climb in book 2 but oh my god I’m so mad at him but I also still really ship him with Oraya. 3.5 stars.

[hahahahahangst]

Spite (Be The Young 40)

TW: [suicidal thoughts, self h*rm, violence, s*xual assault]

Other tags: [sister fic, canon-level violence, dean is an asshole, angst]

All chapter titles are song titles, some of them translated from Italian songs. We start from the first season and make out way through the series. I will occasionally break canon✨ .

Summary: Emily Reed, born and raised in Portland, is preparing her admission papers for Stanford, medical school. One night, a fire erupts in her house. All that is left is a letter and a name: John Winchester.

"After reading this whole letter, call John Winchester. [...] He’s your real father."

MASTERLIST

Spite

Ah, those who don’t die always show up again And I see you but you’re already dead At your funeral’s party I said a prayer For the bitch you confused me for I hope it still lasts Was she worth it?

She couldn't see anything, the light shining too bright, and she couldn't hear anything anymore. The whistling sound quickly became too loud to hear anything else. That was it: Lucifer was rising and there was nothing they could do about it. They had failed. 

She tried looking for Dean with her hand, she was sure he was on her left but she couldn't find him. However, everything went quiet. 

She assumed she was dead, but her assumptions fell very quickly.

“Folks, quick word from the flight deck. We're just passing over Ilchester, then Ellicott City, on our initial descent into Baltimore…“ She uncovered her ears and opened her eyes. 

Plane. She was on a plane. 

Next to her, a stranger. She shot up, looking for Sam and Dean. She turned, nervous, attracting the attention of several passengers and flight assistants. Sam and Dean were nowhere to be found. With a roaring sound, the plane dropped several feet and she fell messily on the seat as the lights went out and the oxygen masks fell from over her head. She looked out the window and saw a bright flash of light erupting from a building to the sky. 

After falling for almost a minute, Emily had pretty much surrendered to the fact whatever had happened to her, however she arrived on that plane, it was all soon over. She was going to die. 

Destiny proved her wrong again, like a bad joke. The place stabilized and soon, they landed in Baltimore. Sam and Dean were still missing.

Nervous, she went through baggage collection and started dialing Dean's number. 

Off.

She tried Sam's.

Off. 

She kept walking in the crowd, trying to blend in.

She had to get out of there before someone noticed she had no ticket or boarding pass. 

What if they were still in Ilchester? What if they were dead? 

She tried calling again. 

Nothing. 

Twenty minutes had passed, she was sitting on a set of stairs behind the airport, trying not to attract any attention. 

But Sam and Dean could not be dead, right? Whatever pulled her out of that room must have pulled them out too. She called again. This time, it started ringing, but nobody ever answered. 

“They’re okay.” Said a familiar Italian voice behind her. Emily turned, startled. Ramiel was covered in blood from head to toe. Emily stood up and ran up the stairs to assist him as he fell back, in pain. 

“Dude, what happened to you?” She helped him sit on the stairs. It was weird seeing him not as composed as usual: his shirt was ripped and his jacket was also completely trashed. 

“They found me. But I ran, Emily, I came straight for you.” 

“So you didn’t pull me out of that room?” 

“No, it wasn’t me.” He touched a wound on his arm that wasn’t healing itself. “Cazzo.”

Emily took a closer look at his wound. “I’m sorry, Miele, there’s not much I can do- I don’t have any of my stuff with me.” 

“Oh, don’t worry about me, amore, I will be fine.” He smiled. Emily smiled back. 

“Can you wait for me here?” She stood up. “I’ll go back inside and grab something for you to wear so we can go back home.” Ramiel nodded and Emily walked around the corner and back in the airport. With the little money she had left, she bought Ramiel the cheapest outfit possible and then she got a first aid kit. She walked back to him trying to call Dean again. It went straight to voicemail. 

“Here, I got you something to wear- it’s definitely not your style, but at least you won’t attract anybody’s attention.” She passed him the plastic bag she was keeping the clothes in. Ramiel started taking off his clothes. “Woah, man!” Emily turned around. “You’re not gonna even wait for me to stop looking?” A second of silence gave away to Emily that Ramiel was thinking. 

“This is not my real form, I have no shame of my vessel’s body.” He commented. 

“Well, that’s not something you usually do, you know.” She said, looking the other way, waiting for him to wear all his clothes. “By the way…“ She began, unsure. ”...you chose a nice one.” She paused. “Vessel, I mean.” 

“Yeah, I can tell women are very attracted to me.” Answered Ramiel. “Men too, actually.” 

“Well, can’t really blame them. You done?” She briefly turned around to see him confusingly look at his new clothes. “Do you want me to take a look at that?” Emily pointed at Ramiel’s arm.

“No, it should heal itself soon. Thanks.” He stared at her. Emily sighed and walked towards him. She took his arm. 

“Yeah, no- sit back down, Clarence.” 

“Who’s-” 

“Ramiel, I said sit.” She repeated, stern. Ramiel sat back down on the stairs. Emily opened the first aid kit and started cleaning his cut. “Why is it not healing?” 

“I’m too tired. Running out of grace.” Emily kept medicating him, in silence. She felt Ramiel’s green eyes on her, studying every single movement of her hands. “You would have been an amazing doctor.” Emily smiled but kept her silence. When she was done, she stood back up and exhaled.

“Let’s find a way to go back home, come on.” She pointed to the airport. Ramiel started walking down the stairs. Emily hurried in front of him again and they lined up at the car rental. The queue was huge due to lots of flights being canceled. Apparently, the beam of light that was released when Lucifer was freed had been read as terrorism and all flights were grounded. 

“I can’t believe I ran out of minutes now.” Said a familiar voice, a couple of people behind them. 

“We were dumb lucky to land before they grounded all flights. My phone’s dead by the way.” Another familiar voice. Emily turned around.

”...wait, I got a lost call from her.” The first voice was Dean’s. “-where is she?” He clicked on his phone and Emily’s phone started ringing. The familiar ringtone alerted both Sam and Dean, who finally saw her. They looked around and moved to Emily’s spot in line, making not one but several old men cuss at them. 

Promptly ignoring the insults, they all kept moving in line.

“Are you okay?” She asked to Dean, checking his whole figure. He nodded.

“I’m actually- My back is a little sore.” Said Sam, raising his eyebrow. “You know, from being thrown around like a puppet.” 

“You should be thankful it’s only sore. I could have done much worse.” Emily’s expression and tone became angry despite her voice being low to not attract anybody’s attention. 

“What about-”

“Shut up, okay? You fucking had it coming.” 

“Why is he dressed like that?” Asked Dean, interrupting the quarrel and pointing at Ramiel. 

“He fell into a lion cage.” Joked Emily. Ramiel, confused, tilted his head to the side. 

“No, actually- I was never in a lion’s cage, it was the angels.” He explained. 

They had to be in line for one more hour, and Emily and Sam lost no time bickering for most of it. Dean, annoyed, just stared at them. He knew full well that it was just a show, because none of them, him included, could not say what they really thought while they were in the middle of the crowd.

Eventually, they managed to rent a car and started traveling towards Sioux Falls. “We’ll stop for gas and food in Cleveland and in Chicago, what do you say?” Asked Emily, starting the car. Nobody answered. Ramiel slightly nodded, Dean was clearly already about to fall asleep and Sam was promptly ignoring her. ”...I’ll take it as a yes.” She turned on the radio, annoyed. The music segment lasted until Cleveland, where Dean finally woke up from his nap and took Emily’s place in driving. She moved in the back, with Ramiel. 

Nobody dared open their mouths, not wanting to acknowledge the elephant in the room.

Emily was almost falling asleep, unconsciously falling on the angel’s shoulder when Sam finally talked. 

“Guys, look-” 

Emily blinked, trying to wake back up fully, realizing she was almost on top of Ramiel, as Dean cut his brother short. “Don’t say anything.” Emily blinked again. Maybe she didn’t hear it right. “It’s okay.” 

“What?!” Said Emily, sitting straighter and immediately forgetting about anything else. “Okay?!” She repeated, upset.

“That’s what I said, yes.” 

“None of this is okay! WHAT WERE YOU THINKING?” From the backseat, she leaned in between the brothers.

“I was trying to do what was right!” 

“YOU LET LUCIFER OUT OF THE CAGE!” 

“I was tricked into doing it.” 

“BY THE DEMON WE TOLD YOU NOT TO TRUST!” 

“Hey, don’t pretend you weren’t sneaking out with me, okay? YOU WOULD HAVE FELL FOR IT AS WELL!” 

“Yeah, BUT I DIDN’T!” 

“Hey, hey!” Dean interrupted them. “Enough, okay? Talk like normal people or shut the fuck up. I’m tired.” 

Emily reached in the front seat to turn up the radio volume. Dean slapped her hand. “Stay in the seat.” 

“What am I, five?” Emily tried to lean forwards again. This time, Dean used his right hand to push her back. 

“I said stay in the seat!” 

“What’s wrong with you now?” She scoffed. 

“I guess I’m just a little pissed off, you know- We just jump started the apocalypse-”

“We?!” She repeated. Dean ignored her. 

“...Cas is missing- I honestly don’t care about your babysitter’s club drama. We’ve got bigger things to solve.” 

“Right, of course. There’s always something else, isn’t there?” 

“Come on, don’t start again with the nobody loves me crap, I swear I’ll crash the car.” 

“Fuck you.” She said, angry. 

“Emily, come on-” Tried to say Sam. 

“Fuck you especially.” Emily turned her attention outside the car.

“Cool.” Said Dean, sarcastic.

[digitalbusinessavanade]

Hidden Secrets Behind Crystal Therapy

A member on the lay Catholic women's group we belonged to was talking about how inappropriate work out plans for me and start to give a talk for the Catholic school about crystals. The talk was to the parents of the high school students. Placing stones on, or maybe the Earth is extremely clearing. In citrine crystal meaning where a crystal has been used for a rigorous healing session, I will sometimes bury it assist you to the Earth's healing energy to clear it. Be sure to mark the spot, however, as memory can become a tricky component. The people who bought my old house probably had a few surprise gifts if they ever dug in the backyard.

Before may get begin using Clear Quartz healing crystals during healing sessions, it is crucial to choose or have the crystals select from you. One particular the easiest ways to discern which healing crystals become the right ones for of which you be touching is to get open the vibrational frequency of the crystals themselves. There are a few market . are skeptical on endless of rocks. However the powers of gemstones and crystals, are even recognized by modern losing fat. You may not know may are utilized in watches, lasers, computers, perfectly as in potencies. Regardless with the backing of science, they still have yet to prove or dis-prove the incredible to promote physical healing in human body. One way to look advertising is like this: For anybody who is battling a long-term illness with regular hospital care, crystal healing alongside your regular medication and therapies may help focus your optimism, provide better experience of well-being and help you cope more favorable. Or think of it this way: Investing money in little involving crystal is certainly not but a whole waste of time, in addition to a way for self-proclaimed crystal therapists to scam cash off innocent and naive (and also desperate) users. Acupressure and Reflexology: Each of these involve applying pressure to certain points on the human frame. Acupressure refers to points on entire body needs and Reflexology refers to points in the hands and feet. Each of the points matched to other body parts. So for example if just have stomachache you can rub the stomach point on your foot(which located about 2" below the foot of your big toe or hallux.bottom of your foot, not top). By just applying pressure, as almost as much ast you can take, for a couple of minutes these items most of that time period relieve the stomach inflammation. Unfortunately, a few obvious methods too many stones open to list all of these books in dropped an engine series of articles. To enlighten yourself further on the powers of healing gemstones, and what gems widely-used for; may very well look into purchasing a healing gemstone book. They'll help for you to definitely further understanding of healing gemstones. Which, as you might have already learned is a vital step in utilizing their healing strengths.

[captainmalewriter]

Stranded Finale

Check out part four to this series here!

Weeks had gone by since Coal had been stopped by Grey and Drew. Now Coal was living inside an old fish tank Drew had laying around his garage. They had sealed the glass tank several times to ensure Coal couldn't escape. While Grey and Drew continued living their daily lives, Coal had essentially been reduced to the role of a house pet. But no matter how hard Coal protested, he had no choice but to accept it.

As for Grey and Drew, the two men had plenty of spare time to work on their own projects since the big fight. Grey used the time to properly heal Jessie's wounds from all the fighting. Grey refused to go into a hospital in fear of getting found out. So he took the role of medical expert himself. It was a slow process, but Grey had successfully healed Jessie's body. He had to, after all, he felt bad for letting Drew's best friend come into harm's way. Once Jessie was fully healed, Grey was back to all smiles with his human host.

Drew, on the other hand, had his hands full with figuring out a proper rocket design to get the aliens back home. It was winter already, and they still couldn't figure out just right the formula for space flight yet. Drew had mixed feelings about the whole mess. Between the frustration of making progress and the sorrow of helping Grey leave, Drew just couldn't find the inspiration to put his best effort forward.

So instead of forcing himself to work on spacecraft science, Drew decided to take another jab at figuring out alien technology. They had brought home the salvaged parts from the shipwreck along with the two USB drives Coal had on him. Drew was too freaked out to dissect the technology when there was a murderous man twice his size pressuring him, but now that Coal was locked up, Drew felt much more at ease.

It still took Drew a long time to figure out regardless. Grey tried to pitch in wherever he could, but social sciences were his specialty, not computer programming. But with enough time and effort, Drew was able to crack one of Coal's USB drives. It had an encrypted message stored on it. Drew gave it to Grey to translate it. The message read:

To my friends Date, Nickel, Aero, and Bin: I'm writing to you all from the planet Earth in the Milky Way galaxy. Remember our dear acquaintance Grey? He rented out a spaceship and took a joy ride to the tiny water planet. I hitched a ride with Grey and I've successfully landed on Earth on star date 070.040.XXX. While I was away from home, I've been busy preparing for my master plan to take over Earth. I've already taken over a human male to use a host and I have prepared a virus that'll allow us to take as much human currency as we desire. Once you all arrive on Earth, feel free to take your pick at whichever human you want. I personally recommend a strong male, as we'll be needing the strength to overpower the humans. Their technology is inferior, but with our intellect, we'll be able to easily overpower them. I request your assistance in taking over Earth, we will live luxuriously as the supreme overlords of the human race. I patiently await your arrival. Signed, Coal.

Grey and Drew stared at each other in utter horror. They both needed a minute to process what they had just read. Grey realized that it was his old childhood bully, Clay Fired Coal, who had followed him to Earth. Drew had to cope with how dangerously close Coal had gotten to sending off the message. Had Grey not arrived when he did... there was no telling what would happened if that transmission got sent off.

Grey pocketed the two USB drives to take back home with him. After unlocking the contents of one of them, Drew was too scared to find out what the other one contained. He'd rather live in ignorance.

With Coal's USB drives out of mind, Drew had returned his attention back to the drawing board. Grey was able to help out more now that Jessie's body was healed too. They used Grey's original spacecraft as a base for the new one. That was the easy part, the hard part was finding human machinery that could replicate the horsepower of alien machinery. They had to find a way to do that without burdening the spacecraft with excessive weight.

The design and manufacturing process was slow. Although it was a complex design that needed delicate, step by step building, both Grey and Drew were deliberately taking their time with it. Each day meant one step towards completing the spaceship, even if that step was as small as finding the right screws they'd need. The next day would then consist of buying those screws.

This was their building process for the next month and a half. Their working speed had slowed to a crawl. Both Grey and Drew knew why they were acting that way, but neither wanted to admit it. They both wanted to spend as much time together as possible before Grey left. They spent Thanksgiving together, they went snowboarding together, they cuddled during the long winter nights together; anything a couple would do, Grey and Drew did.

But unfortunately no matter how slow they were going, the spacecraft did eventually get built. The test launch was a success, and now Grey had everything he needed to return home the next day, December 31st.

The two spent well over an hour fucking the night before Grey's departure. Even the sex they shared, they took it nice and slow to avoid it coming to end. But even that too, after a certain number of kisses, hip thrusts, and moans, had to come to end. Grey and Drew laid in bed in each other's arms, covered in each other's cum. Neither of them slept that night either, instead opting to enjoy the little time they had remaining in each other's warm embrace.

Then, the morning sun had come and filled the room with light. Drew felt himself get teary eyed, for he knew the time to say goodbye was coming soon.

The two men rolled out of bed and got dressed in their winter gear. Then with both the spacecraft and Coal on hand, the two left for the mountains. Grey needed a high altitude launching point to ensure he'd have enough power to get home. It had taken them most of the day to get there after deliberately stalling yet again, but they got there. They had driven most of the way up, but the last piece had to be done by foot. Drew parked the car and hopped out. Grey did too, but he let out a sigh as he did so.

"You ready to go home?" Drew asked.

"No."

The two men then hiked the rest of the way up the mountain range. Neither man could look at the other in the eyes. They weren't ready to say their farewells, but it was what had to be done.

They made it to the top of the mountain, the highest point they could go. Drew set up the spacecraft while Grey secured Coal inside. Once all the preparations were complete, the two men found themselves staring at each other with a tender gaze.

"I guess... this is goodbye..." Drew started.

"Yeah..." Grey sniffled. He was visibly fighting back tears. "I'm gonna miss this planet... I'm gonna miss this body... And I'm gonna miss you, Drew..."

The two men gazed into each other eyes, then they both went in for a long kiss on the lips. The kiss lasted seconds before Drew pulled away. He held Grey's face in his hands. He then wiped away the tears in his eyes.

"C'mon my love, give me a smile, I want my last memory of you to be a happy one,"

Grey obliged, and smiled from ear to ear. Drew couldn't help but smile too, Grey's goofy grin always brought out the joy in him even on his darkest days.

The two had delayed the inevitable long enough. Drew stood close to Grey as he slithered out of Jessie's body. He caught Jessie as he fell forward unconscious, while Grey skittered down into the driver's seat of the spaceship. Grey wasted no time in powering up the engine for flight. The spaceship hovered off the ground slowly at first, but once it got a foot off the ground, the turbo blasters kicked in. The spaceship then took off into the night sky.

Tears rolled down Drew's cheeks as he watched Grey fly further and further away. Then, just before Grey had disappeared into the atmosphere, the clock had struck midnight. It was the new year, and the townsfolk below were celebrating. They were launching fireworks into the sky, and Drew cried happy tears at the sight of it. Grey got to leave seeing the one thing he came down to Earth to see, and he did so in the most glorious way possible.

"I'LL ALWAYS REMEMBER YOU, GREY HOWLING GREY!!" Drew shouted out at the top of his lungs. Grey had disappeared into the sky to go back home, never to be seen again.

...Meanwhile, Drew drove back home with a disgruntled Jessie in the passenger seat.

"Fuck man... my head's killing me..." Jessie said in a low voice.

"There's some ibuprofen and water in the glove box," Drew said in a stoic voice. Jessie noticed it and turned to him.

"Man, you're in a bad mood today. What's up with you?"

Drew hesitated before answering. He then just shrugged and said it was nothing.

"If you say so... Hey, Drew, is it New Year's already? I could've sworn it was the 4th of July yesterday... What happened to me?"

Drew took his eyes off the road for a moment to look at Jessie. Drew's heart fluttered at the sight of him. It was the same handsome face and toned body Drew had long loved since his teen years. But without Grey inside of him, Drew felt at odds with his emotions. Jessie, his best friend, was back to normal. Yet, Drew longed to see Grey again, even if it was just for one more minute. Drew got teary eyed again just thinking about him.

"It's a long story... I'll tell you all about it once we get home," Drew refocused his attention back on the road. He wiped away the tears with his sleeve before the waterworks started again. Drew then took a deep breath before speaking again.

"You believe in aliens, Jess? Cuz boyyy are you not gonna believe me when I tell you this one..."

[dreamwritesimagines]

Twisted 28 - Sunlight [Spencer Reid x Reader]

A.N.: Thank you so much for your wonderful support my loves! Here’s the next chapter, I hope you will like it as well, and please let me know what you think of it! ❤❤ Ily, kisses! ❤❤❤

Series Masterlist

Warnings: Murder, serial killers, violence, manipulation, mentions of sex, drinking, smoking, hospitals, medicine.

Word Count: 4400

Summary: Survival makes people stronger.

Everyone’s voices were so muffled that for a moment it felt as if you were under water. It came and went just like the warmth, just like the comfort—

One moment there, the other moment far away, and anytime you tried to reach through that haze, you were pushed back into the numbness.

You could swear at some point your father was there too. You were still at the cabin, in that dress, sitting across from him by the chessboard, and then back at the weekend house where your sister was chasing you around the piano, your mother calling out for you to stop running, then someone pushing you into the lake by the cabin before it changed again and your father handed you a knife.

If this is hell, I’d like to talk to the manager.

But eventually, it all came back to you. There was this heaviness on your hand, your chest and ribs hurt terribly and your forehead kept stinging as you tried to open your eyes to meet the bright lights of the hospital room.

Ah. You weren’t in the woods anymore.

You had made it after all.

The constant beeping of the machine caught your attention for a moment before you looked down to see Spencer’s head resting on your hand, his fingers entwined with yours. Your mother was by the couch, her eyes fixed on the ceiling with a crumpled tissue in her hand and Mina was resting her head on her shoulder.

“Mom?” you rasped out and your mother’s eyes whipped to yours, Mina sat up and Spencer’s head shot up.

“Oh thank God!” your mother jumped out of her seat to come to your beside and pressed a kiss on top of your head, making you wince. “Oh thank God you’re okay…”

“Hey,” Mina wiped at her eyes and cleared her throat, “Welcome back brat.”

You smiled and turned to Spencer who was still holding your hand tight, watching you with bloodshot eyes.

“I know,” you said, “No eyeliner right?”

A small sob mixed with laughter rose from his throat and he pressed your hand to his lips, swallowing thickly.

“Hi.”

“Hey professor,” you tried to smile but you were in too much pain to do so, “Is there like…a morphine button or-?”

“I’ll go get the doctor,” Mina rushed out of the room and closed the door behind her, and your mother pulled back.

“How do you feel honey?”

“Like I crawled out of hell,” you said, “Is- is everyone okay?”

“Everyone is fine.”

“Where’s Lily?”

“With Kenzie and Nolan, outside.”

You let out a breath and turned to Spencer.

“You figured it out?” you asked, “The note?”

“Ophelia, yeah,” he sniffled and nodded fervently, “Cabin by the lake, we were on our way there when—” he stopped talking as if remembering it was way too heavy on him and you squeezed his hand.

“How did I….” you looked between them, “Survive? Erica shot me.”

“The helicopter,” your mother said, “We sent it with a medic and a sniper just in case.”

“You sent a helicopter with a medic and a sniper?” you repeated, “Mom, that sounds like a joke.”

“Well I’m glad you find it funny,” your mother wiped at her eyes again, “Because you’re grounded for the rest of your life.”

“Okay,” you shot a look at Spencer, “Ignore this.”

“No, not even your boyfriend can help you right now.”

“They still like you, no worries,” you explained and he shook his head slightly, reaching out to touch your cheek as if trying to prove to himself that you were real.

“I thought—“ he started and blinked back the tears, gritting his teeth and you rubbed your thumb over his hand.

“I’m fine,” you said and lifted your head when the thought hit you, “Wait what happened to Lincoln?”

A shadow crossed Spencer’s eyes and your mother flexed her fingers as if she wanted to throttle someone upon hearing his name.

“That monster is currently handcuffed to a hospital bed,” she said, “But not to worry, we put ten guards in front of his door, and I will make sure to ruin his life myself.”

“He survived?”

“Barely,” Spencer said through his teeth but before he could say anything else, the door opened and a doctor stepped in. Even you could hear Lily’s very loud protests, Kenzie trying to shush her and you smiled slightly before turning to the doctor who was checking the file in her hand.

“Hello Y/N,” she said cheerfully “Nice to see you awake, for a moment you had me worried we wouldn’t get to meet. So, we have head trauma, a bullet wound, broken ribs and blood loss. Were you trying to fill out a bingo of dangerous injuries or…?”

“Go big or go home doc,” you nodded and she raised her brows.

“Should I put in a psychiatric evaluation in here as well then?”

“Yes please,” your mother pinched the bridge of her nose and you heaved a sigh, making a face.

“Pain?”

“A lot.”

“Let’s see what we can do about that,” she said and Spencer stood up.

“Can I see her chart please?” he asked and she took almost taken aback before showing him the chart.

“I’d like to change these two meds,” Spencer said and started listing off his suggestions while you watched him with a smile on your face.

“Spencer,” you said, “Please let the nice and smart lady do her job.”

The doctor grinned at you, “That’s alright. Is there anything you would like to ask me?”

“Two questions. One, when can I go home?”

“We’d like to keep you under observation for a couple of days, depending on how fast your body shows progress to heal.”

“Okay. Can I smoke here?”

“Oh Jesus Christ,” your mother threw her head back, Spencer just stared at you and the doctor blinked a couple of times.

“Since this job taught me never to take any question as hypothetical,” she said, “I’m just going to answer it. No, under absolutely no circumstances are you allowed to smoke here.”

You curled your lips, “It was worth a try.”

“We’ll give you some really good painkillers, don’t worry,” she winked, “I’ll let the rest of your family in and see you later.”  

She walked to the door and opened it, and soon enough Lily rushed inside but as soon as she leaped at you, Kenzie caught her mid-air like a troublesome cat.

“No, what did I say outside?”

“But mama—“

“It’s okay Kenz. Hi bug.”

Kenzie gave you a teary eyed smile and slowly set Lily down, and she hugged her teddy bear before taking a step towards you, nibbling on her lip.

“Does it hurt?” she pointed at the stitches on your forehead and you tilted your head.

“Just a little, sweetie.”

She carefully put the teddy bear beside your bed and grinned at you.

“Mr. Chocolate Chip Cookie will be your friend here,” she patted the teddy bear’s head and you let out a small laugh.

“I really appreciate it bug, thank you,” you said and held the teddy bear in your lap before you turned to Nolan. “Hey man, thanks for the helicopter.”

“Thanks for the almost heart attack,” he replied and fixed his bowtie, “You keep me young with all this panic and adrenaline. Honestly Y/N, never do that to us again, please.”

“I’ll try my best not to get kidnapped by a maniac again,” you stated, “Besides, mom already grounded me so…”

“Good! No jet for you for a while young lady.”

A nurse came in to inject the painkiller into your IV, and you smiled at the sight of your family fondly, then cleared your throat.

“Hey, not that I didn’t miss you guys,” you said, “But um…can I talk to Spencer for a moment?”

Kenzie and Mina exchanged looks and Kenzie lifted Lily up.

“We’ll be right outside,” she said and walked to the door. One by one they left the room and your jaw dropped when you saw Mina squeezing Spencer’s shoulder before she left as well.

“Well, something changed,” you commented and Spencer came to pull a chair next to the bed before he reached out to hold your hand.

“She was the first one to talk to me when we landed,” his voice still didn’t sound so strong and you frowned.

“What did she say?”

“Go there and bring my sister back.” Spencer said and ran a hand over his eyes, “Based on the profile, I thought he’d already—“ he couldn’t even finish that sentence before he kissed the back of your hand, “I thought I lost you.”

“Nah, cigarettes will kill me, not serial killers,” you reached out to push a curl out of his eyes, “I thought you knew that. All looks and no smarts, aren’t you?”

He scoffed a shaky laugh and you licked your lips.

“What happened there?” you asked, “I heard gunshots after Erica shot me, is she—“

“Dead,” Spencer nodded, “She was shot right there.”

You could feel the goosebumps on your skin, “And Lincoln?”

“I was going to kill him,” Spencer said, “If I got there first, I would’ve.”

“Spencer you don’t mean that.”

“I do,” he told you, a dangerous light gleaming in his eyes, “I do mean that.”

You heaved a sigh, now easier thanks to the painkillers, “Yeah well, I guess I know the feeling.”

“Um- the team is outside as well by the way,” he said, “Luke and Garcia has been here the whole night, and I’ve been instructed to tell you, word by word, no amount of pastries will excuse the worry you put them through.”

You grinned, the tired haze of sleep crashing on you, “Ouch, I’ll have to try harder I guess,” you said and yawned, making Spencer smile.

“Rest a little,” he said, “I’ll stay right here, okay?”

You nodded and leaned your head back to the pillows, then closed your eyes.

                                                 ***

You were given the permission to go home after a week because your mother insisted on keeping you there until she was convinced you wouldn’t drop dead all of a sudden. Surprisingly enough, she didn’t raise hell when you told her you would be staying at Spencer’s place for a while, and for once, Mina agreed with you.

You really needed to ask Spencer what had happened while you were gone, in detail.

It was strange, but your sleep was much less disturbed after you had returned from the hospital. When you were in hospital you had just assumed it was because of the meds they had given you, but now, sleeping with Spencer in his bed, there was still no sign of any nightmares.

With you, that was. Spencer was a completely different story.

You still had to be careful because of your ribs and the doctor had told you to be careful with how you slept, so the moment you moved a little in your sleep and felt the pain shooting through you, you made a face and reached for Spencer’s side of the bed only to meet an empty spot. You opened your eyes, and carefully sat up in bed, trying to hear whether there was any noise to signal he was coming back to bed but there was none, so you slipped out of the bed and walked to the living room.

Of course he was there. Cradling a cup with steam coming out of it in his hands, staring into the darkness as if he was lost in his own mind.

“Spencer?” you said softly and he turned his head, snapping out of his thoughts.

“Hey,” he said, trying to smile, “Why are you up?”

“I could ask you the same question,” you tilted your head before you went to sit beside him and he ran a hand through his curls.

“It’s not important.”

“Nightmares?” you asked and he nodded silently.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Maybe later,” he murmured, “How about you? Any pain? Do you need an ice bag?”

You shook your head, “Nah it’s fine,” you said, “It doesn’t hurt that terribly.”

“And your nightmares?”

You shrugged, “No nightmares. I mean—at least not like the earlier ones. Not where I’m turning into him.”

“Trauma works differently in everyone.”

“I don’t think it’s the trauma though,” you said, “I think it’s because…because I know now.”

He raised his brows, his whole attention on you, “What do you mean?”

“It’s not in me,” you said, “It’s just—it’s just not. I don’t think it ever was. My father killed people because it made him feel powerful. It wasn’t like that with me, back at the cabin. It was survival. For me and people I care about, that’s all. It doesn’t make me evil.”

That seemed to pull him out of his thoughts and he smiled.

“No it doesn’t,” he said, “You’ve never been evil. Even when he tried to turn you into that.”

Even your heart felt light, despite the pain in your ribs and your smile widened.

“I know he’s not dead but…”

“He’s locked away. Same difference from now on.”

You paused for a moment, “Speaking of,” you said, “I was thinking I could go and see him for the last time.”

He frowned, “Why?”

“I don’t know. I think it’ll help me put this whole thing behind me.”

“Are you sure that’s a good idea?”

“I want to see the look on his face when he realizes his small project failed,” you said, “Trust me. There’s no way he can get to me, not anymore.”

He rubbed his thumb over your hand and you leaned back to the back of the couch, still keeping your gaze on his handsome face.

“You don’t have to come with me,” you said, “If it’s too much.”

“It’s not that,” he rasped out, “Officially, I might not be allowed in.”

“Why not?”

“I’m leaving the BAU.”

You blinked a couple of times, gawking at him, then sat up straighter.

“What?”

“I can’t anymore,” he averted his glances from you to look into space, nibbling on his lip, “Y/N, I was out of the city when they called me to tell me you were missing, that you were most probably taken by the copycat. And for the whole time until I found you…” his voice cracked, “Lincoln’s profile, before we even knew that he was Lincoln, it all suggested that he…killed his victims without spending any time with them. I thought—“ he sniffled and cleared his throat, “I can’t do that anymore. Imagining you like all those victims…”

“Spencer, I’m fine.”

“But you weren’t,” he said, barely moving his lips, “Back there.”

Ah. The woods.

“That’s what your nightmare was about?” you asked and he heaved a shaky sigh.

“I couldn’t save you,” he said, “You died there, and I couldn’t do anything, I was too late—“

“Spencer,” you reached out to touch his cheek, “Hey, look at me.”

He turned his head so that his eyes would meet yours and you dragged your fingertips over the slight stubble on his cheek.

“You weren’t too late,” you told him, “And I didn’t die. Okay? I’m right here. Don’t leave the BAU because of me, do it only if you want to. I’ll be with you either way.”

He blinked back the tears and nodded. “I want to,” he whispered, “I can’t anymore, and I want- I want to be here. I’ll just…I’ll focus on teaching, and the team can consult me whenever they need to, but I need to be here.”

“And you’re sure about that? It’s not some…heat of the moment decision?”

“It’s not,” he said, “I’m positive.”

“Alright,” you smiled at him softly, “Okay then. I guess instead of talking about gruesome murders and copycats who were after me, we can be one of those boring, cliché couples who bicker about…I don’t know, dirty dishes in the sink, or how you forgot to put down the toilet seat or-“

“Your hair in the drain.”

“I’m going to pretend like you weren’t waiting for the opportunity to bring that up.”

He let out a teary laugh and wiped at his eyes before he pulled you closer and carefully wrapped his arms around you so as not to hurt your ribs, burying his face into the crook of your neck. You brushed your fingers through his curls, as if trying to prove to him that you were there, that you were alright.

“I love you so much,” the confession left his lips in a whisper and you could feel the burning behind your eyes as you raked your nails over the nape of his neck gently.

“I love you too,” you murmured, “God, you have no idea how much.”

                                                      ***

The BAU, upon your request, fixed a meeting with your father for the next week.

And throughout that week, everyone tried to convince you to change your mind. Your mother had made a whole scene during brunch, telling you that it was as if you liked torturing yourself, but you knew deep down that you had to talk to him for the last time.

Seeing your father after what felt like a life time, especially after everything that you had been through was strange at the very least. You didn’t have any goosebumps, you didn’t have that nervousness messing with your head, you didn’t feel like you were under the threat of being attacked any time, and most of all—

You didn’t feel like he was stronger than you. At all.

You lit a cigarette in the interrogation room, then flipped the cap of the lighter and turned your head when the door opened and your father walked in, chains dangling from his handcuffs wrapped around his ankles. He stared at you for a couple of seconds as if he didn’t expect to see you there and let out a breath.

“Petal…”

“You should sit down,” you said, exhaling the smoke and a guard helped him sit down across from you.

“We’re right outside, miss.”

“Thank you,” you said and watched as he straightened his back, his gaze focused on you.

“You look…” he trailed off and you raised your brows,

“Hm?”

“What did they do to you?”

“Ah I guess your outside source ending up dead gets you a bit behind on the news,” you said, “Erica is dead, Lincoln is never gonna see the sunlight again, and your whole project to turn me into your legacy with the help of them failed terribly.”

“I’d never allow them to harm you like this.”

You rolled your eyes, exhaling the smoke.

“But you fought your way out, didn’t you?” he asked you, “Looks like my training helped you after all. Even if you refuse to see that.”

“Did you seriously think I’d become like you?” you asked back, “Did you think Lincoln would manage to turn me into you?”

“Honey, Lincoln was going to be your companion at best, your first kill at worst.” he said and you clicked your tongue.

“Oh, that was your plan all along?”

“Some part of it, at least. I knew they wouldn’t be able to handle you, but I thought you could decide what to do with them. Could you kill Erica at least?”

“Didn’t get the chance.”

“You should have,” he said, “You would see, Petal.”

You twirled the cigarette between your fingers, staring at him for a couple of seconds.

“I keep thinking,” you mused, “You know what I said to Mina and Kenzie when they first told me they wanted to have a baby?”

He tilted his head, “Hm? What?”

“I asked them if they lost their minds.”

Your father pulled back slightly and you shrugged your shoulders.

“Because I mean… Kenzie’s parents are assholes, and there’s you,” you motioned at him, “Not that anyone else could take the cake on being a messed up parent when you’re in the picture.”

“I take offense to that.”

“I don’t care,” you said, “But then it hit me, back at the hospital. I was looking at this whole mess from the wrong perspective.”

“Which is?”

“They had a point,” you said, “Back then- before all this I mean, I thought when someone decided to have kids, their first priority was to be the perfect parent. That’s stupid, it’s impossible to be the perfect parent, our own parents mess us up in one way or another. But I get it now.”

“You get what?”

“The first step is being better than your own parents, not starting out perfect,” you said, “That’s why every generation is different, we’re all trying to be better than our parents, and some of us actually succeed.”

“And you think you’d be a better parent than me, is that it?”

“Shouldn’t take that much of an effort to be honest.”

“Are you…?” he motioned at you and you scoffed.

“No,” you said, “No, but what happened back there made me think. I’ve been living my whole life so convinced that you messed me up beyond my own control, beyond saving, but that’s not completely true, is it? I mean, just because you’re in my past, doesn’t mean I’ll have to include you in my present.”

“But I am in your present Petal.”

You pursed your lips together, then gestured around you. “Debatable. Nolan is buying this whole place, did you know that?” you asked, “All your guards are on our paychecks, so it should be harder to…use them to contact outside. We control everything that’s happening here, and there’s nothing you can do about that.”

He blinked a couple of times, trying to catch up with your train of thought.

“And you think that will be enough to put me behind you?”

You shook your head, “No, I don’t think it’s that easy,” you confessed, “But it’s a start.”

He moved his hands on the table, the chain rattling.

“I raised you.” he said, “I’m inside your head, whether you like it or not. You’re my legacy—“

“I’m my own legacy, you fucking idiot,” you said with a small chuckle, “That’s who I am. Just because your expectations of me will not leave me, doesn’t mean I’ll let them haunt me.”

“And you think that will be enough.”

“I will never see you again,” you tilted your head, “Should make things easier, to be honest.”

He smiled, “But you already hurt people,” he said “You know how it feels now, don’t you? That fire? Now you know what you’re capable of.”

You thought for a moment.

“Yeah,” you said, “Yeah I do. Now I know that if it ever comes to that point, I’m capable of protecting myself and my family. It doesn’t make me a monster, it makes me a survivor. Me and mom have that in common, after the shit you’ve pulled.”

He stared at you and you took a last drag of your cigarette, then checked your wristwatch.

“Well I should go. You may have all the time in the world, but I actually have a life, so…”

You stubbed your cigarette and walked to the door but as soon as you opened it, he said your name, making you stop.

“You can’t escape from this,” he said, “Even if you never see me again, you still won’t escape, you know that, right? Why do you think I chose you and not your sister? Even when you were a child, you had…something in you. Something dark, something dangerous.”

The idea was very familiar to you. You had been saying the same thing to yourself for many years and hearing it from him for what felt like a hundredth time was supposed to make you feel bad, you knew that. If it were any other time before your kidnapping, before saving yourself in that cabin, before surviving everything your father and his followers had put you through, it would probably have more effect on you.

The last time he had done that, you had ended up in the stairs, shaking until Spencer had found you.

But it wasn’t that time.

It was as if something had clicked inside your head after everything, and your father’s words held no strength in them.

“Come on honey,” he told you, “Some people are just born twisted.”

A small smile pulled at your lips and you raised your brows, looking at him for a couple of seconds, etching the sight of him in chains into your memory.

“Maybe,” you said and took a step towards him, opening your cigarette case to pull out the small jasmine flower out of it, then put it on the table, eyes locked to his before you leaned in slightly.

“But I wasn’t.”

With that, you turned around and walked out of the interrogation room for the last time, ignoring the way he was yelling your name. Your smile widened as you made your way out of the building, your heels echoing in the halls before you stepped out, the fresh air filling your lungs.

“Hey,” Spencer greeted you, leaning back to your car and reached out so that you could step into his embrace as he pushed your hair out of your face, “How did it go?”

“As expected,” you stood on your tiptoes to press a kiss on his lips and he heaved a sigh.

“Are you okay?”

“Yeah,” you said “Yeah I feel like…he’s gone. He’s gone, I’m here and I’m free and I know myself now. I finally woke up from that nightmare, for good.”

He smiled and brushed his lips against yours, “That’s a good start,” he commented, “What do you want to do now?”

“I’m open to suggestions,” you said and he tilted his head before he held up your keys.

“What do you say we drive away and never return here?”

You let out a small giggle and wrapped your arms around his neck.

“I like that idea,” you said, “Let’s drive away and never return.”

Chapter 29 

[aro-is-gay-af]

The Midnight of Despair | Volturi Kings x fem!reader | Part 3

I reckon, that if you’re reading Part 3, then you know two previous ones. In case you didn’t read them yet: Part 1 | Part 2

Thank you for all warm words and praise! It means world to me. 

I also love this series, folks! I need to admit, I did get addicted to it a little, so I thought it’d be great to set updates schedule. It won’t be precise, but you can expect another part roughly in two weeks time from now. 

As per usual, sorry for any confusion and grammatical mistakes. 

Warnings: Rape (mentioned), Depression, PTSD, Forced Pregnancy, Blood

Word count: 6200

No summary this time. Also, this one has very sweet parts in it!!!

ENJOY!

The next day, you had your appointment with the doctor. A doctor was apparently a woman and you were sure the kings were paying her something extra for the visit to be immediate. Unfortunately, she didn’t know any English, as she was a local gynaecologist. Your mates didn’t want you to feel uncomfortable in any way, so before the visit, Aro asked you, who you’d like to be the translator for you.

The ideal situation would be a woman, but you didn’t trust anyone in the castle, except the kings. For this reason, your first shot was Aro, as he had already seen your memories. There was nothing that would shock him, you also didn’t need to hide anything from him and you knew, he was the best at dealing with others. You figured it’d be an ideal solution and you had to admit to yourself that you simply wanted him to accompany you.

The whole visit took place in your room, which meant a lot of carrying the necessary equipment, but more mental comfort for you. In those two days, you managed to get quite settled in and didn't want to leave the castle. You felt safe and secured in your suite. Kings seemed to notice that, as it was Marcus, who proposed, it would be a great idea to have an appointment without the need of leaving your room.

While you both were waiting for the doctor to come, it was the first time you had seen Aro with brown eyes. He looked really out of place. You shared this thought with him, by saying you prefer when his eyes are normal. That’s what it took. Two days, to consider red eyes normal. As usual, he was polite and revealed to you that he also hated the colour, let alone the lenses.

When the doctor finally arrived, you were already a nervous wreck. Aro tried to distract you, asking questions mainly about your house in Forks and whether you had already spoken to Bella about family heirlooms. He succeeded for a while, but it couldn't last forever, could it?

The lady was extremely kind and gentle. The truth was, it was hard to hide how stressed you were about this visit. You didn't want anyone to touch you, not when you weren't ready, and this time you definitely weren't. Despite the doctor's initial efforts, you were unable to shake her hand in greeting. She only smiled sadly, as if understanding perfectly what you were going through. Aro assured you beforehand, for he had not told her anything and only if you wanted to, you should share your trauma with her.

The doctor, seeing your nervousness, decided that you should talk first. While she asked you questions, you noticed that she chose her words carefully and only then did you realise that she was also stressed, but in her case it was probably Aro's presence that made her uncomfortable. Although Aro tried not to impose his presence on her, you understood why it might overwhelm the doctor. You felt confident being in the same room with Aro, while she probably sensed danger, even if she could not rationally explain it to herself. You promised yourself that you would try to learn at least the basics of Italian before the next visit.

She needed to ask you about exactly everything since, unfortunately, you didn't have any medical records with you - neither from the obduction, nor from the subsequent visit to the doctor, where you confirmed the pregnancy. You made a mental note to tell Bella about it, so she could send your documents, along with the things she was supposed to take from your house.

Aro was great in his translator role. Of course, you were still looking at the doctor, while answering the questions, but Aro’s voice, at least, soothed your shattered nerves just a little bit. When the questions started to get more complicated or more intimate, Aro used such words as to not make you feel uncomfortable, while still conveying the meaning.  The more difficult part started, when you had to describe the situation from the hospital and how long it took for the bleeding to stop. Every word seemed linked to a particular image or smell from that night, until finally, you were unable to say anything at all.

The doctor was very understanding, probably having already guessed what exactly was your weird behaviour all about. You didn't say anything directly, you only described the situation from the hospital and then told her the details of this strange bleeding after the rape. Mainly because the doctor was very concerned about it. She explained to you that it was definitely not normal, even if you had wounds inside.

The worst part, however, was the examination. You didn't even want to think about whether you would have to undress, but it turned out to be unnecessary. The doctor had a great intuition, even if she herself was under a bit of stress. You told her that, indeed, you had been to the check-up before and that was how you found out you were pregnant. And that the doctor then checked if all the wounds had healed. The lady didn’t discuss the issue, for which you were very grateful.

After the interview, the doctor told you to lie down on the bed and only pull your blouse up, high enough for your belly to be visible. You didn't feel comfortable with this, but you preferred this way to undressing from the waist down. This was the first time you didn't feel comfortable lying on that bed. You knew that once the visit was over, everything would return to normal, but it wasn’t meant to become a memory you would return to with pleasure.

As it turned out, your first trimester was long over. The pregnancy was about 14 weeks old and that would explain the slight curving of your belly. Before the appointment, you were not sure if you would even look at the monitor to see the baby, but you did. You could not deny yourself this. The room fell silent and you could not tell what you were feeling.

The doctor pulled out some kind of a strange device and after a moment, you could hear the baby's heart. You glanced in the direction of Aro, who was obviously alarmed by your face. You grimaced, too overwhelmed to say anything to him. Up until this point, you were sure that the decision, if you should terminate the pregnancy or not, would be fairly easy. Now, you were certain that nothing in your life could be simple enough.

 *

 Over the next few weeks, your day usually looked the same or similar, yet you managed to do something completely different every day. You were glad you had so much to do, because you didn't have time to think about what had happened. You didn't want to analyse it over and over again. The kings respected your choice - unless you yourself mentioned the traumatic events, not a single insinuation or implication about it fell from their lips.

Your days were filled with various activities. Every day you spent at least some time with each king in private - you knew you needed this to create and strengthen your bond. To keep you from being inundated with information, you learned something new from each of them about vampires and their lifestyle. After all, it was supposed to become your lifestyle in the nearest future. You discovered that thinking about your transformation caused you far less anxiety, than any memory associated with rape. Even after you learned that it more or less consisted of burning alive for a few days.

During your time with the kings, you tried not to show the insecurity you had acquired about your body, and yet, you were sure they knew anyway. However, the time spent with them was what you treasured most. With each of them you did something different, as you wanted to know what they like to do in their free time. Marcus, as he had promised on the first day, taught you Italian for two hours every day. It was not easy, but after a few weeks of intensive course and communicating in broken Italian, not only with Marcus, but also with the other two, you were able to maintain basic conversation.

Marcus was a great teacher, but that wasn’t the only reason why you loved spending time with him. He was the one who had the most time for you - he wasn't as busy as Aro or Caius, and besides, he had countless amounts of patience. He wasn't tired of your constant questions, not only about vampirism, but also about his past. You would often sit for hours in the library or in the gardens, which, by the way, were breathtaking. You both loved books and your only regret was that you weren't able to read most of their vast collection. Marcus assured you, you would have all eternity to do so. You could talk with him endlessly, as these conversations were truly effortless – even the most difficult topics seemed simple and uncomplicated.

You were surprised to learn about a gift of his. Your human mind was unable to comprehend it in the full sense of the word. Mostly because of this, he was the one to explain to you, what your bond even was and how exactly it worked. You have learned that after your transformation, you will feel the bond even more strongly. It is not often that one person has as many as three matches and is able to feel the bond while being human. Marcus explained to you that for now, both your mind and body are only subconsciously sensing the presence of the mates, as it’s impossible for human senses to do anything else.

It was so remarkable to you that you discussed it for hours. You also learned that the bond can be broken, as it is not forced in any way. However, this would be emotionally painful and very few vampires would choose to take such a desperate step.

One afternoon you were spending time in the garden again. You loved being outdoors, but for your own safety you did not go outside the castle grounds. Together, you decided that it would be safer to do only after your transformation. Besides, you didn't want to go anywhere. You were safe under the watchful eye of your mates and Renata, who, apart from the time spent with the kings and in your room, followed you in a constant manner.

The gardens were gorgeous and you wondered, who was taking care of all those magnificent flowers. You were strongly convinced that this was exactly what Eden might have looked like. You and Marcus had your favourite bench. You spent a lot of time outside, especially on sunny days. When you first found out why sitting in the sun might be a problem, you couldn't take your eyes off Marcus. He shimmered brilliantly, but your eyesight couldn't stand it for too long, because of the blinding effect. The gardens, however, were fenced off and inaccessible to the common passer-by, so you were safe to stay, as long as you wanted to.

“I asked Aro recently, if vampires can be killed in some way,” you began cautiously, not wanting to scare him away from this conversation. No one had talked to you about it, however, it still crossed your mind what state Marcus was in when you first saw him. You were willing to swear you looked exactly the same after your mother died. Now, knowing what all the mating bond was about, you were convinced that Marcus had lost someone dear to his heart.

As per usual, he smiled gently at you.

“I'm sure his answer was sufficient, my dear. What are you aiming at?” he asked, looking at you obliquely.

You took his hand in yours. With Marcus, physical contact was as easy as a conversation. He, however, never initiated any touch. He waited for you, just like he was waiting now, to reach for his hand or gently grasp his arm. The only movement he allowed himself was to stroke your hair every now and then, but only when he was absolutely sure you were willing.

“I wanted to ask what happens to the bond, when the vampire…is no longer here,” you said bluntly, not taking your eyes off him. Your understanding was unique. Marcus was gentle in manner, patient and extremely caring towards you. In no way did you want to ruin, what you had built over those few weeks.

His smile turned into one of the saddest you've seen on his face. By the time he answered, you regretted asking at all. You didn't want to cause him pain. You squeezed his fingers in your palm.

“Until you came to Volterra, I was sure that a vampire could only experience this special, unique bond once in a lifetime. I did experience it, yet this story does not have a happy ending,” he said, with utmost sadness in his voice.

Your heart ached, as you watched his suffering and grief. You had asked the question unnecessarily, but now there was no turning back. You continued to stroke his fingers, holding his hand securely in yours.

“When one of the vampires connected by mating bond dies, it does not mean that the bond disappears. It exists, but only on one side. It cannot be cherished, it cannot be repaired in any way. It isn’t reciprocated. What remains are the memories, and they are the only reminder of what the bond really meant, when it existed,” he explained in a distressed voice, slowly and carefully.

Holding his hand, you laid your head on his shoulder and sighed heavily.

“I'm so sorry this happened to you,” you whispered after a moment, feeling tears stinging under your eyelids. Even now, you couldn't imagine losing any of them and you couldn't possibly envision the amount of pain Marcus had gone through.

He embraced you carefully and gently hugged you to his side.

"Don't fret over it, cara. I've made my peace with it. However, that doesn't mean I've forgotten. I still miss her, after all these years," he said with longing in his voice, stroking your shoulder gently.

After a long moment of silence, you were in a genuinely poor condition. Tears dripped down your cheeks and your breathing quickened. Not only because of the pain Marcus must have gone through, but also because of your own yearning. You had come to terms with the death of your parents, but you missed them so much. You wanted to have them at least a little longer. Now, standing on the verge of immortality, you wished you had spent more time with them.

Marcus placed a kiss on your hair.

“Sob it out, dear. Nothing helps the soul more than honest tears,” he whispered, and you were ashamed, because you should be the one providing comfort for him. However, the memories were too fresh and you couldn't hold it back.

Once you had calmed down a bit, he handed you a handkerchief to wipe away your tears.

“I wish I could change my memories. Even if it was only for a brief moment to be able to forget that I will never see them again. To be able to forget what this…this monster did to me,” you whispered, snuggling tighter into his shoulder.

You heard his sigh and his embrace around your shoulder tightened.

“You have been terribly abused, cara. No one deserves such a fate. The most important thing now, is to get on with life. Our loved ones would not want us to dwell on their deaths,” he said, as wise and thoughtful, as ever. The hatred towards your abuser was palpable in Marcus’s voice.

“You are so good to me. I don't deserve this,” you whispered after a while, your voice swollen with emotion. He only smiled indulgently.

“You deserve the very best, dear. I've already lost one mate. I won't let anyone hurt you.”

“I’m sure she would be proud of you,” you said with compassion, after another moment of silence.

“I’m not quite certain about that,” he said, placing another kiss on the top of your head.

But you were sure. You were also sure, you would do anything to prevent Marcus from experiencing something like this again. You knew all too well the taste of grief.

 *

 You truly had little time to think about the rape and pregnancy at all. If you weren’t with Marcus, it was Caius who loved to kidnap you, so he could spent some private time with you. Caius was the complete opposite of Marcus – absolute chaos, you could say. You had no idea how the brothers even got along. You had already noticed that Marcus rarely spoke, while Caius was rather impulsive and liked to discuss things in detail. However, until you started spending time alone, you had no idea what he was really passionate about.

It turned out that his greatest passion was art. He would show you countless paintings he himself had painted throughout the centuries. He could talk for hours about types of paint and how to mix colours properly. Although you were not very good at painting, you tried to learn a little with Caius’ help. When he was alone with you, he was still abrupt and impulsive, but in a charming way. He never imposed himself on you and you discovered that annoying him was really great fun. So banter and frequent teasing were the order of the day.

You often spent afternoons and evenings with Caius. He taught you how to paint, but not only. Art history was his passion and you loved to listen to him tell stories. His voice was mesmerising and hypnotic. He also eagerly answered all your questions about vampire race. You listened about the horrible children of the moon and how Caius singlehandedly had almost slaughtered them all. He warned you that after the transformation you would be violent and impulsive, that you would have nothing on your mind but to satisfy your thirst. This frightened you slightly, but at times when things got weird or dangerous, Caius assured you that you would always have full support of your mates. You never doubted that. You knew they would help you to grow accustomed to your new life.

Caius loved every variety of art you could name. When he asked you for permission to sculpt you, you were so surprised that you made a strange sound. He said that, of course, he wasn't going to overstep your boundaries and you yourself would choose some beautiful casual attire, so he could portray your beauty in sculpture. All you had to do was dress once as he asked and stand in the right pose. He remembered every detail of your posture, including your facial expressions. Often, he would sculpt you, while you would talk about insignificant things also learning how to sculpt...well, things that didn't resemble anything. Yet, you wanted to be as good as he was.

You were in your nineteenth week, when he invited you for a long painting session. His studio was huge and consisted of nothing but breathtaking works of art. You were decorating some random sculpture that you had never seen before. Caius also loved contemporary art, so you could go wild. Taking classes with him was better, than any therapy. You could smear paint on everything - the canvas, the sculptures, yourself, and even him, because he was usually in a good mood and you could enjoy it. He never showed you even a trace of anger, and you, fooling around with him like that, were genuinely pleased and happy.

When you finished, the room looked rather bad, not to mention the clothes or your hair. Caius would never have appeared that way to the guards, let alone on trial, but with you it was different.

“I wanted to show you something,” he said, wiping the paint off your cheek.

You took his hand. Caius, like Marcus, did not invade your personal zone, unless you specifically gave permission. However, carnality and touch were important to him, and so, once you were more comfortable in his presence, he liked to show you affection by stroking your cheek or your back, and intertwining his fingers with yours, when you held hands. You didn't mind his cold skin – by now you were accustomed to it, as three of them had similar body temperature. You were the hottest here. Literally.

You walked slowly to another room.

“I didn't tell you, but I finished craving” he said, and you could hear the excitement in his voice. You smiled at him. That was the main reason why you had agreed to have yourself sculpted in the first place. You wanted to get close to him on a level, which was inaccessible to do in any other way.

“Before you show me, will you tell me as to where you even got the idea of carving me?” you asked, amused. Caius was much taller than you, you had to slightly lift your head to look him straight in the eye.

At first, he smiled archly, but immediately his smile softened. He pulled at the material that covered the sculpture, so that it fell to the floor. You were simply speechless. The woman, who stood opposite to you was over four metres tall. The sculpture was made of marble and the woman looked, as if she was an actual person. There was something elusive about her. Her face, thoughtful yet serene, her hair flowing freely over her shoulders onto her back. She was clad in a fine fabric that flowed in waves down to her bare feet. She looked nothing like you and yet, you two looked exactly alike.

You had no idea that you started crying. The woman was beautiful. You could feel the power and dignity emanating from her, and on the other hand, she seemed to you as if... fragile and ephemeral. Caius had captured in this sculpture all the feelings you had been feeling, without even knowing it.

You felt his hand on your cheek, his fingers gently wiping away your tears along with some paint, which remained on your face.

“I thought I would like you to see yourself through my eyes. Exactly as I see you – without a single flaw, yet with all your imperfections. I don't want you to be unable to look at yourself, because of what this animal did to you. I don't see it. I only see you, [Y/N]. The real you. Beautiful and fragile, yet powerful, without inhibitions or scruples. Capable of anything.”

The words were trapped in your throat. You wanted to say something, but you were sure, that as soon as you were going to open your mouth, uncontrollable sob would come out. You looked first at Caius, then at the woman carved in marble, then back at Caius. He only smiled gently.

“Who we are – we decide that ourselves. No one else does. To me, you are beautiful. Pure. Never think otherwise, dolcezza.”

Without warning, you hugged him so hard, that it hurt. You forgot that his skin was different from yours. He embraced you without hesitation, even though you were all covered in paint. You wept, cuddling into his chest, as he soothingly stroked your hair and back.

Once you had slightly calmed down, you looked up at him. His blond hair looked like a halo over his head. He amazed you in every sense of the word.

“Thank you. Thank you for letting me see this,” you whispered poignantly, and then went straight back to hugging him.

“There's nothing to thank you for, my lovely [Y/N]. I would like you to accept yourself as you are. Because you are truly magnificent.”

 *

 The only person you talked straightforward about pregnancy was Aro. Was it because of his gift? Most likely, and you simply felt you could trust him. From the moment you first found yourself in his arms, the bond between you two only strengthened. Also, a memorable visit from the doctor was also significant, and then, together with him, you went through the documents that Bella had sent you. To say he was furious, was an understatement. Yes, Aro saw your memories, but the reports were written from a third-person perspective. And the other evening was really awful – you couldn't stop crying because you couldn't block out the flow of memories.

You were close with each other; close enough for you to try to overcome your insecurities, to talk about how you really felt about this whole situation you found yourself in. It was far from easy, but Aro was a really patient specimen. In the course of these talks, you discussed practically everything. You knew that every scenario had to be worked out and discussed, because there were many different options of the outcome.

Despite many conversations, you were still unsure about keeping the baby. You didn't know if you wanted to, if you would be able to raise it and then tell it that it would forcibly have to become a vampire. After the doctor's appointment, things did not get any easier for you. You heard the heart and knew that the child was not to blame for its father’s actions. You were raped, but this child had nothing to do with it.

So you waited. You waited for a miracle to decide for you or for the baby to move when you were thinking of having it removed. It’d be a sign not to do it. However, nothing of the sort was happening and fate was not deciding for you. Aro convinced you that, even if you decided to have an abortion, there was nothing wrong about it. No one would blame you for it. The only person to blame here, was the monster who raped you.

You hadn't decided what you would do about the pregnancy, but you and Aro knew what would happen, if something went wrong. For your mates, it was your health and life that came first. Aro assured you of that a thousand times over. Because of this, if anything went wrong with the birth or if there were any complications, you were to be changed immediately. Also because of this, Aro talked to you about all aspects of your transformation. He was the one who introduced you to what transformation actually looks like. He didn't scare you with the pain you were about to go through, but only gave you the facts. Facts that you needed to know.

When you weren't talking about such serious matters, Aro also loved to spend time talking to you, but about different topics. He seemed to know all your thoughts, but you were still able to surprise him. He explained to you, that the human mind was more disordered and chaotic, than vampire one and that he certainly didn't see everything. Your brain chose the memories, often associated with strong feelings and emotions, which were meant to be remembered. You were joyful about this, because you could talk endlessly and he kept finding out something new about you. And you kept finding something new about him. You knew from the first moment that he was extraordinary, and the more you talked, the more you became certain about it.

Besides, Aro adored dancing. You were not convinced about this form of activity, but it was the intimacy of this act that convinced you. In his arms, no one was able to hurt you. You felt safe and, after many attempts, quite confident in your movements. He literally beamed, being able to teach you to dance and to be so close to you. You found nothing in his eyes but the infinite adoration he had for you. When you found out the reason behind this, your heart almost broke with sorrow and compassion.

“I must confess something to you, cara mia,” he whispered, holding you securely in his arms. It was evening, you had long since been prepared for sleep. He found your long nightgown to his liking, when he came to check how you were doing and if you needed anything. You rested your head on his shoulder. There was no music, he was the one giving the rhythm to your movements, yet it was the most wonderful dance you had yet had the chance to dance with him.

“Do tell, please,” you said, trying not to lose the rhythm. You were tired, as throughout the day you sorted through the things Bella sent you from Forks. In addition, you worked with Marcus to sell your house, because you were, after all, a little concerned about what hands your family home would pass into.

“I have been bound over the centuries to both men and women. My ex-wife, Sulpicia, whom you know and, to the best of my knowledge, whom I permitted to leave, was my faithful companion, basically from the beginning of my immortality. However, until now, I did not know what it meant to have a true mate.”

He tilted you gently, wishing to look into your eyes. You continued to sway to a non-existent rhythm, completely oblivious to your surroundings. You furrowed your brows.

“Are you serious?” you asked in a whisper, not wanting to ruin the moment. The light emanating from the candles, illuminated half of his face. He smiled, and you were unable to take your eyes off his red irises.

“Yes, my dear. I have waited over three thousand years for you. I must tell you, that I could wait another three millennia, only to see your beautiful face,” he said affectionately, holding you tighter against him to stroke your flushed cheek with his fingers.

Your eyes welled up with tears and he slowly bent down and kissed your forehead.

“That's enough for today, cara mia. You must rest well. Caius has something planned for tomorrow, but he didn't want to reveal what, under any circumstances,” he said amused, giggling under his breath. You loved when Aro was in a good mood, because then you were in a good mood too. Before he walked you to bed, he wiped away your tear. You squeezed his hand in yours, then climbed onto the bed. He covered you carefully with a duvet and stroked your hair.

“I'm glad I came here,” you whispered, looking into his eyes. “I never want to leave you,” you said with force. He smiled softly at you and stroked your hair once more.

“We will always be by your side, [Y/N]. Good night, cara.”

His voice so soft and tuneful that as soon as he snuffed out the candles, you drifted off to sleep in an instant.

 *

 Apart from the fact that almost everything was going great and your mental state was in constant improvement, your relationship with Bella had severely worsened. In the beginning you talked every evening. She still couldn't understand why you were selling the house and why you wouldn't, at least, want to visit Forks. After a while, you got fed up with explaining it to her. There were an awful lot of things she wasn't happy about and she didn't hide it. She kept criticising the Volturi without knowing them and having no idea, what they were actually doing.

You loved her like a sister, but because of that, she could annoy you exactly like one. Because of her pinching remarks and your lack of patience, you called each other less and less. You didn't want to keep getting annoyed and you were tired of explaining things to her. Besides, you didn't like that she didn't say a single good word about your mates. You at least tried to accept Edward. Suddenly, what he did to her was all forgotten and you couldn't understand it. You didn't know, what was happening to your sister and your stay in Italy didn’t exactly make things better. You still hoped that once you saw each other after the transformation, you would be able to explain it all to one another. You didn't want to lose Bella, the last person you considered family.

So you talked less and less or not at all, and when you did, you avoided difficult and sensitive topics. It was not like with Bella at all and it made you anxious. You were at ease with each other, almost always, and you didn’t get why she was so bitter and hateful towards your knew, chosen life. Especially, because partially your presence right then, in the trial chamber, was the reason for her to be alive at all.

Shortly after Caius presented you with your sculpted self, you were to spend the whole day together, the four of you. These were the days you loved the most. Although you cherished the time spent with each of your mates separately, the presence of all three put you in an ecstatic mood. You usually spent your afternoons like this – there were still a lot of things to do and solve, and a lot of trials to carry out.

Being in Volterra for so long, you learned a lot about the existing laws and how to enforce them. You knew that kings were not flawless, but it was logical to you that keeping the entire vampire world in line, required some sacrifices. Some greater than the other ones.

You usually sat down in the study, where you had ended the very first day, at a round table. You listened to the discussions and arguments, but also just spent time with your mates. You often sat on Aro's lap or tried to calm Caius down, when he became too agitated.

You were extremely excited since the morning, because they promised you a whole day outside. It wasn't often that all three of them wanted to spend time with you in the gardens, so you couldn't restrain your exhilaration. However, there were also days, or rather moments, when, under any circumstances, you could not leave your room. Such a moment was to occur today, after breakfast. You slept for a long time, almost until eleven o'clock. When you ate your breakfast, it was Renata who informed you that it was time to eat. Of course, you knew what it was about.

The only situation, in which you could not leave your chamber, was at lunchtime. Not yours, though, but the lunchtime of all the vampires, who inhabited the castle. For your own safety, usually for about two hours, you were not to leave and to occupy yourself with whatever you wanted. The only two hours, in which Renata or anyone else was not around you. Not many people knew about your stay in the castle and because of this, the kings decided that Renata should eat with the rest of the company.

You did not consider it strange in the slightest. Of course, you tried not to think about the fact that people would die, but you knew that they were chosen at random. Which meant that they could just as well have been run over by a car or they could have died in a fire. You did not think about it. You were just enjoying your two hours of freedom. Sometimes you sunbathed on the balcony, prepared your outfit or just played on the computer. These were little things that still reminded you of being human.

This week, when Renata told you that she would be gone for a while, you were already enjoying a long soak in the bathtub. The home spa was one of the favourite things you and your mum liked to do together. You poured hot water into the tub, applied a mask that you had prepared yourself with a few ingredients and relaxed.

Since you had no idea when, you were no longer afraid to look in the mirror. Sure, your body shape was far from ideal, but at least you weren’t terrified to look. You weren’t terrified to acknowledge that, yes, your body was raped, but you were recovering from it. And that you started to think that your body didn’t cause any of this.

After some time you spent in the bathtub, you felt a little dizzy. It wasn’t exactly a good sign, so you figured it’d be wise to get out of the tub. When you rinsed yourself off with clean water, you stood up, and that was the moment of terror. The room immediately started spinning, like you were on roundabout for the last forty minutes. You felt nauseous, but there was nothing near you to which you could cling to. You managed to step out of the tub, on the marble step, and then you felt it. Pain, excruciating pain, suffocation. Streams of blood went down your legs and before you fell onto the ground, you could only see white marble floor all covered in sanguineous blood.

[rheawritessometimes]

{ Childe x GN!Reader }

{ Summary } Childe gets an owie while sparing. Series Masterlist

{ Warnings } Violence, Swearing, Angry Reader, Injury, Physical Intimacy (Kissing).

{ Notes } Hurting Childe just a little because he refused to come home for me. Lost the 50/50. Reader is a sword user. Reader is suggested to be the Traveler. Self-indulgent again because all my writing is. This one is a real trainwreck but I didn't want to go too long without posting. Something better than nothing? Masterlist

{ Word Count } 2,404

Meeting Childe at the Golden House every week had been your routine for a while now. Right after you had defeated him the first time, he immediately begged you to train with him and you gave in, unable to bear those puppy-dog eyes. And the entire week he spent pestering you about it.

The whole fiasco with Osial had been put behind the both of you. It was probably true that you were too quick to forgive Childe, but he was just so charming. Not to mention he often paid for your meals, suggesting going out to eat after your sessions or if he saw you around the harbor. On a few occasions, you had been out eating with friends or on your own and found he had picked up your tab.

Since Liyue hadn't been destroyed and you got free food out of it, you really weren't all too upset about the situation. The Snezhnayan was actually pretty easy to get along with when Fatui matters weren't involved. He made you laugh too, so you supposed you could tolerate the once-weekly sparing sessions with him.

Childe called it sparing, but normal people didn't spar with actual weapons and fight like they were going to kill their partner. At first, you had tried to convince him it would be much better and safer for the both of you to use practice weapons instead of sharpened blades and arrows. He was quick to decline, saying something about both of you being competent enough not to get seriously hurt. You thought about refuting that on the basis that he had yet to beat you even once.

Even so, every week you found yourself pushing through the doors to the chamber Childe was always patiently waiting in. You'd never gotten there before him and wondered if he intentionally came early. You wouldn't be surprised if that was the case, he probably paced the room plotting his seemingly unobtainable victory.

The hydro vision paired with his combat experience and skill made him a difficult opponent, but he didn't seem terribly good at strategy. He might have been careless because it wasn't a real fight, but somehow you doubted that. He seemed the type to always give it his all. It could be that was his problem, since his loss usually came due to his exhaustion. Maybe if he didn't spend so much energy trying to show off he'd actually be a proper challenge.

"You're finally here," Childe proclaimed dramatically, voice echoing off the walls, "I thought you might have gotten lost on the way or something. Was starting to worry I'd need to go out and rescue you."

"I'm fifteen minutes early, Childe. How long have you been waiting?" you asked dryly, raising your eyebrow questioningly. You took a moment to shrug your adventuring pack off your shoulders and drop it near the door. You rolled your shoulders, relieved to be free of the weight.

"Ahah, anyways, we should get started. I have some business to attend to today," he responded, indiscreetly ignoring your question. It shouldn't have been very surprising that he didn't wait for your response before sending an arrow flying in your direction, but he'd always waited for you to signal you were ready before starting in the past.

Materializing your sword out of habit more than anything else, you raised it to block the arrow with the flat of the blade. The arrow bounced off the metal with a weak dink, clattering to the ground. If you'd reacted a moment later it would have pierced you.

You shot Childe a dirty look, irate from the cheap shot. He responded by grinning wider and taking aim again. You silently promised that he would face your wrath shortly.

Advancing towards him, you swatted the arrow flying your way with your sword. A bow would be less effective at close range, so you intended to close the distance. The redhead laughed, a hint of nervousness creeping into the sound at the pace of your advance. Or perhaps it was the building rage in your eyes.

The bow dematerialized, now Childe held dual hydro-blades in his hands in anticipation of close combat. Once in range, he immediately swiped at you with a blade. You stepped back out of the way, quickly bringing up your sword to parry the next slash coming from the opposite blade.

Childe seemed encouraged by you backing away, a smug look crossing his face. You furrowed your brows, he was so unthoughtful. He insists on using real weapons, shoots at you before you're ready, and now he has the audacity to get cocky.

You raise your blade to swing down at him and he catches your sword on crossed hydro-blades. He lets out a little huff of air, not expecting you to strike with such force, but his arms hold steady. You swiftly draw your blade back to slash at him again. Thorough training has you swiping at him with practiced ease while Childe is forced to switch to the defensive.

It gives you a sort of satisfaction to see his expression change to one of worry, it was your first time seeing such a look on him. You had no intention of actually hurting him, but it was nice to scare him a little. Maybe after this, he'd take the dangers of sparing with actual weapons a little more seriously. But probably not.

You're hardly thinking when his hydro-blades finally fail to parry your blows, the flat of your blade slamming into the side of his chest resulting in a soft crack barely loud enough to reach your ears. A look of surprise crosses your face when he lets out a pained grunt, what had happened finally being processed in your mind.

Immediately you drop your sword, ignoring it as it clatters to the ground before dematerializing. You were internally relieved to see his hydro-blades dissipate too, it would have been terribly unsportsmanly of him to stab you now. Stepping forward on instinct, you pause as you realize you're not exactly sure what to do.

Childe clutches his chest as he coughs a few times and a flood of panic washes over you. If you broke his ribs, his lungs could have been punctured. That would be bad.

"Fuck, that hurts," he huffed out before he attempted to gingerly sit down, right in the middle of the Golden House. Childe winced at the movement, but he managed to settle, leaning on his arms for support. His breathing was heavy from the strain of sparing and you felt extremely guilty, broken ribs had a tendency to hurt terribly and pain would flare up with every breath. At least he seemed to be breathing okay, so his lungs were probably intact.

"Let me get something to ease the pain," you said hastily, jogging towards the door to grab your bag. Your first thought was to numb him up before bringing him to Bubu Pharmacy to get some proper help.

"Aw, are you actually worried about me?" he cooed teasingly, maintaining that signature annoying grin despite the pain that followed him speaking. It was easy to ignore him as you rummaged through your bag for something useful.

It crossed your mind that it would be exceedingly difficult to get him all the way back to Liyue if you gave him anything strong. That limited your options rather greatly, adding that on to your lacking medical knowledge and limited variety of resources left you with fewer options than you would have liked. He probably could make it back without any anesthetic but it would be slow and you'd feel terrible for it.

Even with your lack of selection, you were thankful to have some knowledge and materials for this sort of thing, adventuring made you better at improvising and you learned a lot along the way. Taking everything into consideration, you decided it would be best to go with something topical. You could make a salve to numb up the area and then hopefully drag him to Bubu Pharmacy.

"I'm really sorry, Childe," you apologized, "I didn't mean to hurt you."

"Oh don't worry about it, this isn't the first time I've broken my ribs. Probably won't be the last, either," he replied with a laugh, which caused him to wince. You only frowned at him as you pulled out some plants to grind up. A rock would have worked, but you kept a mortar and pestle for this kind of thing after realizing you'd be doing it often.

You were soon mashing some leaves and a few petals into a paste, with some water Childe so graciously provided. Having a hydro user around was rather convenient when practicing field medicine.

"Whatcha makin'?" Childe asks after a short period of silence, leaning over to get a closer look. You wonder if he's actually curious or if he just can't tolerate the quiet. It seemed the two of you were always talking when you were together, save for when your sparing got too intense to spare the breath.

"A salve to numb you up so I can drag you to Bubu Pharmacy," you responded, still mostly focused on getting the paste to the right consistency.

"What? No, I can't go. I've got work to do," he argued, moving to stand up now.

You were quick to grab his wrist to prevent him from getting up, furrowing your brows. Childe paused, waiting for your explanation.

"You have at least one broken rib, whatever you need to do can wait," you told him sternly, maintaining eye contact. He turned his gaze away from you to hum in contemplation. He knew well enough that giving injuries time to heal was important, but so was his job.

"Fine, I guess what I was supposed to do today isn't that important," he relented, leaning back into a comfortable position once more. Childe had a feeling that if he had insisted on working you'd have found a way to stop him anyway.

"Can you take off your shirt?" you asked, trying to sound as casual and not awkward as possible once you were satisfied with the consistency of the paste. You would have offered to allow him to apply it himself but you figured it would be less painful this way, plus you'd need to bandage his chest afterward, so it didn't make much of a difference.

"Oh my, you're not usually this bold," he teased, reaching to begin undoing the clasps holding his jacket together. His remark made you decide against offering your assistance despite the awareness that even just wriggling out of the jacket probably hurt. It's okay to be a little petty sometimes. As a treat.

Once his torso was bare you shifted your position to be a bit closer and examined his side. There was already the beginning of bruising, but it would get much darker by tomorrow. You ignored the scars and other bruises that were present, very aware of the fact the redhead would tease you for staring if you looked any longer.

"I promise I'll be gentle," you assured, "But it'll probably hurt a little."

Childe just hummed, waving off your warning, so you gathered some of the salve on your fingers. You silently wished you'd had gloves that weren't absorbent with you so your hands wouldn't grow numb later.

It was a quick process of spreading the paste over his ribs, but his eyes remained on you the entire time. You couldn't be sure if he was just interested in what you were doing, but it surprised you that he remained entirely silent.

"It'll take a little while to numb up. I'm going to bandage your chest for support. This will hurt more," you informed him, dragging your pack towards you to dig out a roll of bandages.

"Don't worry, I'm a tough boy," he laughed in response, and you could only smile and shake your head at him. You had faith in his strength, but that didn't stop the guilt you felt over being responsible for his pain. It did make you feel better when he started reminiscing on past injuries he'd sustained in battle once you began bandaging him. How he could look back on them so fondly was a mystery to you.

At first, you were mindful to touch him as little as possible while you were wrapping the bandages. They needed to be a little tight to provide support but you tried to ensure they put as little pressure on his ribs as possible. Unfortunately, your fingers started to grow numb and you hadn't realized you'd been bandaging too tightly until Childe let out a soft grunt of pain.

"Fuck, sorry," you apologized, quickly unraveling the last section of bandaging to rewrap it more loosely.

"Don't worry about it," he said, thinking for a moment before adding, "But, if you want to make it up to me, a kiss would make me feel better."

Pausing in your ministrations, you looked up to see a cheeky grin on his face. You raised a brow, giving him an entirely unimpressed expression. It wasn't entirely uncommon for him to flirt like this, trying to get a reaction out of you. But as you reached one hand up to gently grab his chin, it was his turn to become flustered.

Leaning up, you pressed a chaste kiss to his cheek before moving away and releasing your hold on him. You patted his cheek twice, giving him an amused grin.

"You're welcome."

"Hey! That doesn't count!" Childe immediately whined, pouting at you. You could only laugh at his playful antics as you finally finished wrapping his chest.

"You're cruel, you know that?" the Snezhnayan grumbled, eyebrows still furrowed as he continued to pout. He really did seem like a spoiled kid at this moment and you laughed again, causing his frown to deepen.

You knew his demeanor was all theatrical, but as you stared at his expression you found yourself leaning towards him again. You gently pressed your lips to his, smiling into the kiss when his hands eagerly flew up to your face. You indulged in the kiss for a few moments, smirking when he followed you as you pulled away. Putting a hand on his shoulder, you halted his attempt to continue.

"You can have another kiss once you get checked out at Bubu Pharmacy."

-

If you read all that, I'm sorry lol. I wanted to spend more time on it but I don't want to take too long posting things. Anyways, if you have any better ideas for what I should write send them in. Please.

There's a part two now: Part 2

[ohbae-me]

oh my goshhh I just saw the pregnancy headcannons and oml I cant😫

Can I request somefor a couple other brothers? Lucifer, belphie, and Levi??

I love your writings btw 😊❤️

Thank you so much! I hope you enjoy these as well 🥰

Lucifer;

When MC first tells him, he's just going to kinda stare at them in shock for a good 5 minutes

Internally, he's thinking about his own father, his relationship with Satan, and how unsafe the house is for a baby. But when MC places a hand on his cheek, he snaps out of it and gives them a tender kiss. If MC is by his side, it can only be perfect.

Really loves shopping for baby items? Can't help but picture his future with MC and baby as they shop and it warms his heart

The brothers have always been in charge of keeping the human safe, but Lucifer demands much stricter security measures for them throughout the entire pregnancy. He wishes he could do it himself more, but unfortunately it's not as feasible. However when he's around, he tends to hover over MC, not letting them strain in anyway.

Hes always been softer with MC, especially in private, but he just can't keep it to himself as easily once they're carrying his child. He will be much more likely to show PDA, especially lovingly rubbing their tummy as he speaks with them

Works hard in the early stages of the pregnancy so that he can take time off near the end. He wants to spend as much time with MC as he can in the last couple months.

Will do whatever he can to keep them healthy and comfortable, and is extra cautious about his own schedule and work habits now. Attends every single doctors appointment and would drop everything if MC needed something.

That initial fear comes back when MC goes into labor, but he stays calm for their sake. Almost gets kicked out of the delivery room because he's being snarky with the nurses since his MC is clearly in pain and they need to do something about it right this second.

But when he sees MC holding their child and smiling up at him, he thinks he might actually cry he's so happy. Lots of forehead kisses for MC and baby.

Leviathan;

Thinks MC is joking and is expecting Mammon to jump out and yell GOTCHA at every second.

Literally takes him until the first ultrasound to finally get it though his head that he's going to be a father. He's going to be a dad?! Has a full on panic attack when they get home. It's probably going to take a lot of comfort and reassuring from MC to calm him down.

MC manages to find lots of animes about families with babies and he finally starts coming around and getting excited. He is terrified, but knows it'll be okay with MC there with him.

Always in awe of MCs baby bump once it starts showing. Cannot keep his hands off of it. Honestly, he's going to talk to the baby more than he talks to MC. He reads it TSL, tells it about his favorite games and series, and how much fun they're going to have as a family soon.

Buys all sorts of games and series for children. He's so excited to teach his kid all about his interests! The brothers are going to constantly complain about how many Akuzon packages are being delivered, but when they see the cute baby stuff and MCs belly they drop it. Honestly they're buying just as much for the little one, such proud, doting uncles!

He's not as overbearing during the pregnancy as some of the other brothers, but when he's alone with MC he talks a lot about their future family, his worries, his excitement and his love for MC and their unborn child.

Is both terrified and in awe when baby starts to kick and move around. After he's sure MC isn't hurt, he tells all his brothers that his baby is going to be the super strong protagonist that can kick everyone's butts.

Goes very quiet when MC goes into labor, he's terrified and anxious and doesn't really want to have to experience this part, but he really wants to be there with MC and to see his baby. He hates that he can't help more than just holding their hand through it and is definitely crying, but he holds them tight and tells MC how amazing and strong they are.

Is still crying when MC passes him their baby, and holds it more tenderly than any of his most prized merchandise. He knows then that there isn't anything he wouldn't do for this little one.

Belphegor;

Is shocked when MC tells him, but is actually one of the quickest to come around to it. He's all smiles as he kisses MC and tells them that they need to go tell Beel, then the rest of the brothers right away.

He's a family person, and starting a family with MC is one of his favorite dreams

Hates to admit it, but while he's nervous about it, he has a good family that will be there to help if they ever needed it. Knows this baby will have the most protective uncles and be the most spoiled child in all three realms.

He's so smug about it and takes any chance he can to rub it in that MC is pregnant with his child

Becomes very delicate with his nap cuddles. He doesn't cling so tight for fear of hurting them, and likes to have an arm over MCs middle, keeping his human and child safe and close.

Buys MC a pregnancy pillow and regrets it because now that pillow gets more cuddles than he does. But will buy so many pillows, blankets and soft things to keep MC comfortable throughout the pregnancy.

Hums soft lullabies to their belly when he thinks MC is asleep and is surprisingly diligent with making sure the nursery is all set up for baby, and making sure the house in general is child safe

Is the most calm during the labour, soothes MC and keeps them as comfy as he possibly can. Has Beel handy with some comfort snacks and ice chips if MC needs it. His smile and gaze is nothing but loving as he watches MC bring their child into this world

Adores his child the second he gets to hold them. He never thought it was possible to love so much and was proved wrong with MC, then all over again with their baby. Will definitely only let Beel hold them at first, but is actually really happy that all his brothers are there too.

Solomon;

Can't stop grinning and hugging and smooching MC when he finds out. He had never planned on starting a family until he met MC, and now he feels like it's the best possible future for him.

Definitely passively aggressively rubs it in to all the brothers any chance he gets, and is way too smug when they get jealous and annoyed

Definitely looking up protective spells to keep MC safe and potions to help ease any symptoms NC might suffer throughout the pregnancy.

Reads lots of books on parenting with MC, and really enjoys shopping for baby items together. Also signs them up for those birthing and parenting classes

Gives in to MCs pleas to please take genuine cooking lessons from Barabatos after he offers to cook MC some weird food he heard was good for baby development. MC just begs Barbatos to make it instead because they don't trust it at all even after the cooking lessons

Doesn't hover too much unless they are visiting the Devildom. Then he makes sure he's always holding their hand or is close by in some way.

Teaches MC any magic he feels would be useful to them and baby. Healing spells, protection spells, funny ones to make baby laugh, etc.

Finds them the cutest house in the human world, big enough for all the guests they will inevitably have as well and becomes the ultimate house husband. Minus cooking. He'll make sure everything is clean and tidy, that the nursery is out together and ready, that MC attends all their appointments. Especially towards my the end of the pregnancy, Solomon makes sure that MC can relax and take it as easy as possible before baby comes.

He is very prepared for the labor. Hospital bag ready in hand and he helps MC get to the car, timing contractions and gives the doctor a perfect medical history when they check in. Has MC in the comfiest clothes and keeps them so calm through the whole thing. Talks them through it and praises them while they push.

Is ecstatic to finally hold his baby. His smile is huge as he rocks the little bundle of joy. He picks out all the features that are identical to MC and himself and can't believe that they made something so beautiful together

[fijiangecko]

The End of It All

Vampire!Katsuki Bakugou x Witch!Reader

WC: 6k+

Warnings: Cussing

Angst - breakups and makeups

A/N: I wrote this over two years ago and just found it. If I decide to edit it I’ll post that one on my AO3, or if people ask me to post it here I can <3

~~~~~~

The idea of a calamity had never even crossed their minds until a couple of days ago. Everything seemed to be harmonious between the humans and the supernaturals, but never in a thousand years could they guess just how wrong they were. In a matter of days, war had broken loose between the few humans who knew of the other world, and the extremists of the supernatural that wanted only bloodshed. The Negotiator was notified immediately, and brought a group of friends onto the scene. It only spiraled from there.

Mina and Uraraka sobbed into one another as it dawned on them that very soon everything they loved could be eviscerated, while Kaminari and Kirishima attempted to soothe them as the night went on. Midoriya and Iida ran around searching for books that could possibly lead to a solution, but there was no manual on how to fix the destabilization between the supernatural world and the human one. Todoroki sits in a chair by him lonesome, contemplating if he should leave, while Katsuki has the same thought on the opposite side of the room as he leans against the doorframe.

“Do you think we should try (Y/N) again? She might pick up this time,” Iida flips through a tome as he speaks, eyes glancing at Midoriya.

“I don’t think we should. Last I heard from her she was going to visit the harpies, and if her phone went off during that meeting then we could be royally screwed. They could have a solution, so I think it’s better if we just have faith and-” “Have faith?! That’s your shitty advice?!” Katsuki growls from across the room, a deep scowl decorating his features. “We all know damn well that (Y/N) could have ditched us and left the world for dead! She’s a fucking witch and doesn’t give a shit what happens to the rest of us as long as it doesn’t fucking bother her!” His fangs started to grow as he spoke. During his little outburst he had walked over to the table and slammed his hands down, putting more emphasis on the cuss words than anything. “She. Doesn’t. Give. A. Shit. About. Us.”

“You shouldn’t say that about her, Bakugou. We know you have a past with her, but that doesn’t mean she’s going to forget about the rest of the world. She’s not that petty.” Iida is calm as he speaks, making sure not to make eye contact with the vampire, as it could set him off even further.

“You see her as a friend, and I see her as a lover. She’s a completely different person, I can promise you that.” A low growl had escaped Katsuki’s lips after he spoke, but his ear twitched as he sensed movement outside. Looking out the window, he saw no branches move, but a bright light shone through it.

Todoroki gets up and inspects the outside of the estate, careful to not move the curtains too much. He didn’t want any uninvited guests knowing what room they were in. As he stared outside the glass, he could see an alchemy circle burned into the grass with your figure lying in the middle of it. Your body is in a fetal position, as if trying to protect something. Upon seeing this, Todoroki bolts out of the library without saying a word and goes out into the cold night. Katsuki runs after him to see what was going on with the rest of the party in tow.

The stream of people watched as Todoroki made no hesitation to pick you up bridal style from the ground and carry you back to the house. In your hands is an old book; its sides were ripped apart and there was a lock preventing it from being opened. The bind had decorative gold inlays, but no title. As of now, Todoroki did not care for the book, but the girl he carried in his arms.

“She’s breathing,” he looked to Uraraka, “and will most likely need medical attention.” With nothing left to be said, he walks briskly into the house and finds the nearest couch. Uraraka follows him and starts to check on you and perform a series of healing spells.

Kirishima, Mina and Kaminari walk back inside and sit near the other three, but make no move towards them.

“Is there anything we can do?” Mina’s quiet voice pierces the thick coat of silence around them.

“Right now I don’t need anything, but stay put just in case there is an emergency,” Ochako’s eyesight don’t leave your figure once. The party of four sits behind nod silently and watch as she works..

Outside, Iida and Midoriya are trying to figure out what the alchemy circle means. Not everyday does someone use such powerful magic to teleport, let alone a witch who prefers not to use alchemy at all. They carefully examined the etchings in the ground, the symbols older than anything they’ve had the chance to work with. Katsuki stood a couple of feet away, also trying to figure out where the fuck (Y/N) teleported from.

“Well this symbol means ‘ancient’ and this one over here means ‘creature’, but there’s one in between…” Midoriya pulls out his notebook and starts to sketch the symbols down.

“This is definitely from a different plane of existence, but I’ve never seen it. Is this from her personal dimension?” Iida spoke.

“No, it’s not. Her sigil phrase would be ‘nisi rogatus non transient’ and her keyphrase is ‘fiducia’. Plus there aren’t enough swirls in the alchemic circle to fit her personal taste,” the blonde grumbled. His eyes fixed over the old text, but this language was way before he turned into a creature of the night.

“Did (Y/N) use alchemy way back? I haven’t seen her use it in decades,” Iida ponders out loud.

“Doesn’t matter. Shouldn’t you be fucking figuring out what this shit means?” The two nerds nod and walk quickly back into the library where they begin a whole new search. The vampire slowly approached the living area where his once lover was lying on the couch with a fairy over her form. A glow erupts from Ochako’s hands as she tries to wake you up. Again, Katsuki leans against the door frame, eyes carefully watching what was happening.

He couldn’t help but feel concerned; he never truly got over you, no matter how poorly he acted. Remembering everything you had, everything you lost and the times he wished he had spent with you only caused his cold heart to clench in pain. What if I had been there when she asked? Would things be different? Does she still care? His mind raced with a thousand different thoughts. This was, afterall, the first time he had seen you in almost a century after one of the worst breakups to ever exist. 

Long story short, he was more focused on hunting rather than your relationship, so you decided to give a dangerous alchemic spell a shot after having no one to talk sense into you. Bakugou doesn’t know what kind of spell you were trying to cast, but he does know that it caused some sort of damage to your magical force. He wasn’t there during the ritual, but showed up at your hut months after the disaster. You had looked sick, as if death’s grip was starting to drag you down into hell, and before letting him speak you told him to leave, and never come back. After hours of screaming and bickering, he left. Not once did either of you try to speak to the other, but you both knew you were in the wrong. Katsuki wasn’t there for you, but you blamed him for your dangerous actions, which was in no way his fault. 

Nothing brought him joy after that; not the hunt, not the warmth of another. Nothing. For almost a century he felt empty. Katsuki wanted nothing more than to embrace you in his arms once again. Take you away from everyone and keep you to himself, but he knew that it simply wasn’t going to happen. He knew he had fucked up and is now trying to find a way to fix it. Not in a century had he been this close to you, and it was slowly taking away his life force. For all he knows, you’re in a coma caused by the harpies and have no way to save the world - or you found a way to save the world and sacrificed yourself. Either way, someone has hell to pay.

“Bakugou!” Ochako breaks his train of thought, her eyes screaming concern. “I need ice, her ribs are broken.” Standing up straight, he swiftly walks to the kitchen and retrieves the ice, taking a plastic bag and some paper towels.

“Thank you,” the round faced girl was sweating at this point, tired from healing but knowing that she couldn’t stop anytime soon.

“Guys! We found out what (Y/N) was doing!” Midoriya races into the lounge, holding several books within his arms. “She was trying to make contact with the Great Ones!” He flipped open some of the books, showing different languages and sigils.

“Why the fuck would she do that?! Wasn’t she going to see the harpies?” No one needed to look to understand who was speaking.

“I contacted the harpies, and they said she did speak to them, but only for a short time. They didn’t have anything that could help, so she left in a hurry.” The green haired male put his books down on the nearest surface and flipped through a particular book. “They did say that she bought some mandrake liver, which is odd considering it’s very expensive and very hard to come by, but I guess if she made contact with the Great Ones it makes sense. No one has been able to talk to them in years, not after they cut themselves out of the supernatural. If (Y/N) actually talked to them, then she is the first person in a millenium to ever see or speak to them. It’s a miracle she’s even alive.”

“Yeah, they almost fucking killed me.” You start to rise from the couch, rubbing your temples as you do so. “Think I could get a glass of water, my throat is fucking killing me.”

“You’re up! And so quickly!” Izuku stared in amazement at the girl who not only escaped death, but talked to some of the oldest beings in the universe.

“Yay, lucky me.. Can I just get some fucking water? Don’t mean to be rude, but I can feel my broken ribs and my dry ass throat so a little help would be appreciated.” Dry as ever, you spoke to no one in particular as you lean back into the couch and press the ice bag into the ribs that are broken. “Could someone grab me some rat tails, lavender powder and milk from the toad? Should fix these ribs real quick…”

“On it,” Mina hops up from her seat and runs off to gather what you asked.

“How are you feeling? Besides the ribs and headache.” Ochako reaches for your hand, taking it into her own.

“Pretty good, actually. Great Ones offered some knowledge, albeit for a price.” Peeking an eye open, you gaze at your peers. 

“Did you find the answer?”

“What ‘price’?” The negotiator and the vampire spoke at the same time, both asking valid questions but concerned about different matters.

“Cool your jets, besties,” fangs bared, Katuski growled at the thought of being “besties” with a fucking nerd, “I need to heal up before I start spilling the details.” Just then, Mina runs back into the room, all three ingredients in hand along with a mortar and pestle. 

“I got the stuff! What do I do now?”

“Now, you hand it all over and watch a witch work her magic.” Your greedy hands swipe the contents of a healing elixir and begin to mash everything together. Tediously, your fingers throw components into the mortar, then pressing them together with the pestle makes a liquid in which you drink in one big gulp. The group watches as your ribs emanate a sickly light, making the room glow in a mysterious manner. After about five seconds, it stopped and you stood up to stretch.

“Much better, now how about we go into the library so we can examine this,” you wave the torn book, “and figure out how to save the world.” Moving forward, you give them no time to answer. It gave them no choice but to follow you.

“Would you at least answer my damn question?” Katsuki remains in the doorframe, unmoving from his comfy position..

“How about you move out of my fucking way, and go to the library like I said? Maybe you’ll get your answer there, huh?” You shoulder check your way out of the lounge and into the library.

After everyone takes their places in various spots around the library, you begin to speak.

“I want to apologize for being so late, after I said I was only going to the harpies. Turns out, they don’t have much more information than mine and Midoriya’s libraries combined. Right as I was about to leave, Tokoyami said there might be one more group I should go see. He pulled me into his private room and gave me the liver of a mandrake as well as a page from his personal grimoire. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing, but it was the alchemic way to reach the Great Ones. We talked for a short time after it about how to approach them and what would happen if they did or did not decide to help. Knowing we’re getting short on time, I did the ritual right there in his room, and low and behold I was taken to a dimension far outside our normal planes of existence. It was cold, dark and dank with a stench that rivaled the odors of giants. My senses were being attacked in the most foul of ways, but that was the least of my concerns as I was met with the eyes of not one, but three of the Greats.” You shudder at the memory. “When they spoke it was deafening. I felt like I was going mad, or at the very least I was losing all sense of control. They knew why I was there, and decided that it would be more beneficial to help me, as what is going on now also affects them.” You cast your gaze downward, whispering the next sentence. “They agreed to tell me what to do only if they were given a sacrifice-”

“EXCUSE ME?!” Bakugou roared from the other end of the room. “YOU TOLD THEM YOU WOULD SACRIFICE SOMEONE?!”

“Kacchan-”

“YOU DON’T GET TO SPEAK, DEKU. SHE IS GOING TO SACRIFICE SOMEONE! SHE DECIDED TO TRADE ONE OF US OFF FOR THE ‘GREATER GOOD’! THIS IS WHAT YOU GET WHEN YOU ASK A GOOD FOR NOTHING WITCH FOR HELP! I TOLD YOU IT WAS A MISTAKE TO ASK HER FOR HELP!”

“I NEVER SAID IT WAS GONNA BE ONE OF YOU.” The commotion stops. All eyes are now on you. “I never fucking said it was going to be one of you, I didn’t even finish what I was saying…” Your eyes look down at the shaking in your hands. 

Todoroki reaches forward and takes your hands in his own, stopping the tremble that has overcome you. “Go on.”

You take a deep breath in, “Like I was saying, they asked for a sacrifice of a magical being, but one of great power so the balance in the cosmos would be right. I tried to ask them what the requirements were for ‘great power’, but I received no answer. Instead, this book,” you put it down on the table, “appeared in my hands. Next thing I knew, I was on the couch…”

“So you don’t know how to unlock the latch on the front?” The green haired boy slides the book to himself, examining it with a sense of importance.

“No, but I have a feeling I’m the only one that’s going to be able to open it.”

“Why is that?”

“I mean, I’m the first person in forever to even see one of the Greats, let alone live from an encounter with them. If I’m not able to open it, then no one can.”

“Okay, well are there any keys that you have on you now? Maybe it’s the same one as your house key or lab key?” You shrugged and pulled out a set of keys from your pocket. Immediately you noticed one that hadn’t been there previously.

“Or the one that just happened to appear…” Inserting the key, and twisting it releases the metal strap on the bind of the book. It makes a soft clicking noise as it opens. Greedily, you opened up the pages to see what they held, only to find them blank. “What the fuck?” Aggressively, you flip through the whole thing until you find one page where a plethora of information was held.

“Is that it?” Iida was peaking over your shoulder. In fact, the rest of the party had gathered around the table to see what was going on. Well, everyone except the blonde haired, red eyed vampire.

“It has to be. This is the only marked page.”

“Well, it seems to be in celestial. Can you decipher it?” You cock your eyebrow and turn to Iida.

“Is that a question?”

“Hey, less flirting, more reading,” Kaminari spoke.

“That wasn’t flirting, but not like you would know.” He jolts back at the sudden attack, feigning a hurt look. Small chuckles could be heard around the room, but they died down as everyone anticipated your analysis.

“It’s a ritual with both alchemic and abjuration magic,” your eyes continue down the page, trying to make sense of all the scribbles, “but it looks like there’s only one ingredient.”

“Let me guess, a sacrifice.” Red eyes bore deep into your figure as Katsuki spoke.

“...yeah.”

“And where the fuck are you going to find some ‘great magical being’?” His teeth are showing as he scowls once more. It may have been years since he’s seen you, but he knows what you’re thinking.

The knuckles on your hands start to turn white from the frustration that was building in your chest. You weren’t intending on telling everyone how you were going to let yourself be sacrificed in the name of Great Ones. You wanted to keep it a secret from them, but Katsuki could see right through you.

“I don’t know.”

“FUCKING LIAR!” He crosses the room with lightning speed and wraps his hands around your neck, crushing you into a nearby bookcase. Your vision is white for a split second, but returns to see a face with nothing but disgust across its features. Gasping for air, you attempt to pry his hands off of you, but it wasn’t worth trying as you knew the kind of strength Katsuki possesses. “I know what you’re planning to do! You want to kill yourself because some old ass supernaturals want you to, but I’m not gonna let that fucking happen.” He slams you into the bookcase once more after seeing your eyes start to drift off. “Do you hear me?!”

“Bakugou, get your hands off her now!” Iida, Todoroki, Kaminari, Kirishima and Midoriya run over to the scene and start to restrain Katsuki. They struggle to pull him back, but after a few seconds of letting you go, your whole body drops to the floor and your lungs start to gasp for oxygen. While you are coughing, Mina and Uraraka latch onto your sides and help you up. Now sitting down, you cough trying to catch your breath.

“What the hell were you thinking dude?! You didn’t even let (Y/N) fucking speak?!” Kirishima’s speech was a low growl, his eyes turning from the normal black color into a more yellow, dog-like eye.

“I’m not going to let her fucking die because she thinks she is self righteous. She’s not more important than any of us, and if she thinks so I’ll kill her myself.”

“How do you know that?! How do you know that she wants to sacrifice herself?! How do you know that she thinks she’s better?!” Kiri stops, waiting for an answer. When none presents itself, he continues his rant. “You don’t know what is going in her head! So stop assuming you know stuff that we don’t!”

“Kiri, stop before you make a fool of yourself.” Gently, you put your hand on the shoulder of the raging werewolf. His eyes fade into the black abyss they once were. All eyes were now on you, “Katsuki’s right. I was going to sacrifice myself…” several gasps were audible in the thick silence, “but not because I think I’m better than anyone here. We all are powerful in our own regard, but I’ve been alive for twelve hundred years. If anyone of us is going down, it’s going to be me.” Scoffing, Katsuki barges out of the room, unable to deal with the level of bullshit he just heard. It wasn’t that he didn’t believe he was powerful, or anyone else in the room (he wouldn’t say it outloud), but he couldn’t believe that you were willing to give up on yourself to save the world. Did you not see how important you are? Whether you knew it or not, he cared about you and he didn’t plan on letting you die anytime soon.

The tension built itself around the room as the still airwaves remained unchanged. Not even breathing could be heard. Standing up from the table, you put the chair back into place and made a grab for the book, but someone stopped you. 

“No,” green eyes bore into your own, “you’re not taking it. We’re locking it up. There has to be a different solution.”

“There isn’t! We’ve talked to everyone we possibly could have and no one else thought of anything! For fucks sake Midoriya, I had to talk to some ancient beings to get a hold of this spell and almost died because of it! I’m taking what’s mine!” With both hands, you yank it from his grasp.

“I said no (Y/N). We’ll find another way. There has to be another way-”

“There’s not! What is so hard to understand! The clock is ticking and it’s only a matter of time before it all turns to shit, might as well fix it now and get it over with!”

“(Y/N), just give me the grimoire. Don’t make this any more difficult than it needs to be. No one here wants you to die, and we’re not going to let you! Just pass it over.” Conflicted, your white knuckles loosen on the rough leather and place it down on the table. Without looking at anyone, you make your way to a spare room and sit on a bed, thinking about what else there was to do.

Hours passed as you thought about the end of it all. There is no other way for this to end. The fucking Old Ones said that this way the only way possible, so it has to be right? We exhausted all other resources: the scripts from Alexandria, my personal collection, Izuku’s personal collection and the harpies. None of us had anything. Your foot was tapping against the floor anxiously. If I could just get the pages from the book and get back to my place then it could all be over. None of them would have to worry anymore. It’s been a couple of hours… maybe they’re asleep. If I take it now and make a run for it, I’d have at least a couple hour head start. Then I wouldn’t have to worry about someone trying to stop me…

With a gameplan in mind, you stealthily make your way out of the room, creeping around as silently as possible. Passing a few other rooms, the snores of several companions reassure your suspicion. Now was the time to strike. Trying your damnedest not to make the floor creak, you tiptoe through the house to the library. You’re assuming it’s still there, but they could’ve removed it. Too busy focusing on trying to make a sound, you didn’t realize the pair of blood red eyes that closely follow.

Upon reaching the library, your eyes land on the old leather cover that lies exactly where you last remember. Swiftly taking it from its place and reaching for its key, you took the latch off and ripped the single page from its binding. As you did so, a knocking noise was heard from the entrance, but looking at it didn’t give you an answer. Everything was where you left it, but the uneasy feeling of eyes on you causes a thought to cross your mind. Am I being followed? Shoving the spell into your pocket, you glanced around one more time to make sure no one was there. 

“O custos revelare,” voice barely above a whisper and clutching the necklace of the triple goddess, the knowledge of Katsuki’s watchful eyes on you entered your consciousness. Great, just what I needed. How the fuck am I supposed to leave now? Maybe if I trapped him somewhere that he can’t be heard, or if I place a silencing spell? No, he’ll still be able to get someone’s attention. Best shot I got is to lure him out of earshot from the others and place a trapping spell, but that requires time… Fuck! What the hell am I supposed to do?!

Quickly trying to recover from the stream of thoughts, you make your way to the attic. This should be far enough from the others. If he screams up here they shouldn’t hear him, especially with all the fabric. Now how do I get the circle in place? ...goddamnit why the hell can’t my brain think of something? Abjuration? No, that’s later. Conjuration? No. Divination? No. Evocation? No. Necromancy? What the hell, no! Transmutation is a no go as well. That leaves alchemy, enchantments and illusions. Alchemy takes too long, so that’s out of the question, and Katsuki can easily overpower my enchantments. So illusions it is.

Katsuki watches as you stumble your way up a couple flights of stairs, trying so hard not to alarm anyone of your presence. He couldn’t help but feel amused at your little act. You just look so cute acting like a rogue trying to steal their first jewels. On the other hand, he couldn’t believe that after the outburst he had and Deku’s own freakout you still were going through with your plan. Do you not care about him? Do you seriously not realize just how important you are? Of course he’s gonna stop you; the minute you stormed off he knew there was a plan being formulated.

Shattering glass littered the stairwell as the nearest window blew inward. Immediately, Katsuki checks for intruders and looks down the stairwell to see that the other windows have been broken in as well. Peering up, he doesn’t see your figure any more and begins to panic. With his enhanced speed he runs downstairs and starts to sniff out anything suspicious.

Leaving the crystals in their place to keep the illusion going as long as possible, you could care less about making much noise. Bolting up to the attic, you shut the door behind you and took out a pocket knife, working on a trap, or abjuration, spell. The intricate carvings were taking longer than you thought, and the panic of being caught was causing you to slip up.

“Shit! Fuck!” There’s no time left! Once again grabbing the necklace of the goddess, you start reciting a simple fire spell and start to burn the lines into the wood floor, being careful not to burn the house down.

“Adolebitque imperium.” A small flame danced around the floor, as if following a line of gasoline. It wasn’t even a flame, but looked like the end of a stick of incense. The small embers made their way around the room, carving out sigils and words. Trapping a vampire was tough enough, but with Katsuki’s strength and will it was going to be even worse.

Back downstairs, Katsuki stalks the main floor, careful not to alarm something that could be in the house. His nose isn’t picking up on anything out of the ordinary, but he got the feeling that it was all a ruse. Looking around more only confirms his suspicion as he noticed no other windows were broken, and when he got back to the stairs those windows were put back.

“That sneaky little-” his feet pound on the ground as he makes his way to your location. “I can’t believe she- what a little- UGH!” He fells dumb. He knows your magic, but he couldn’t even figure it out on first glance - not like he used too, that is.

Reaching the top of the stairs and closing the door, he tries the doorknob, but to no avail. 

“(Y/N) open the door.” No response. He waits a few seconds until he tries again. “I swear to fucking God (Y/N), open the goddamn door or I will break it down.” Pressing an ear to the door, he listened to double check he was in the right area. After hearing some shuffling on the other side, his fists pound against the door. “I can fucking hear you, you know!” When no response came, again, he grabbed the door knob and snapped it off like it was a candy cane. “I’m coming in so don’t fucking attack me!”

You stand by an opened window, wind softly blowing through your hair and the moonlight highlighting your face in all the right ways. If only someone had a camera, this shot could make “Time” magazine. Katsuki’s breath was taken away at the scene; you looked so serene and just as beautiful as the day he met you. Although his heart wasn’t supposed to be beating, he felt as though it might leap out of his chest and run into your arms. You turn slowly, to face him with the ripped pages gently folded between your fingers.

“Hand it over. We both know I’m not letting this happen.” He inches closer in the room, about a foot away from the carvings on the floor. You just need to provoke him further, but the look in his eyes was killing you. They weren’t like anything you’d ever seen come out of Katsuki; even in the most intimate of moments. They screamed desperation but remain firm.

“It’s the only way, and you know it.” Eye contact hasn’t broken once since he bust the door open, but it only intensified as you speak.

“I don’t fucking care if it’s the only way. You are not dying for this, for these people! We both know what kind of shit the world puts us through and you want to put your life on the line for them. For those BASTARDS!” Screaming, he moves another few inches forward, eyes pleading for you to give in. “WHAT HAS THE WORLD EVER DONE FOR YOU?! BESIDES PUT YOU DOWN AND BEAT YOU TO THE CURB?!”

“It showed me you. Didn’t it?” The question startles him. You were the calm to his storm, the yin to his yang and yet… he didn’t want to admit that the world actually did him good.

“No. I gave myself to you. I wanted to be with you. I loved you. I still love you. Can’t you see this is fucking killing me?! Can’t you see that I just want to be with you?! CAN’T YOU SEE THAT I WANT YOU BACK?! THAT I WANT TO WAKE UP TO YOU WITH ME EVERYDAY?! WHY THE FUCK CAN’T YOU-” He didn’t realize he had closed his eyes with rage, and that you had made your way across the room to him. In the middle of his rant, you placed your soft hand on his cheek, caressing his face. Instinctually, he presses his cheek further into your touch, opening his eyes to meet yours. It felt like he had just had a sip of water after a centuries-long drought; this was something he didn’t acknowledge that he needed so badly, but now that it was happening he only wanted more.

“That day that you left, I was broken. For years I was only half the person I once was, and it was because I didn’t have you. I thought that you hated me, and never wanted to see me again…” 

“I could never hate you,” he grabbed your wrist, “not after everything we’ve been through. Not after our sleepless nights of talking, the years of moving around and the fact that you’re the only person I’ve ever been myself around.” He sighs, the whole ordeal becoming emotionally taxing. Not once did he ever open himself up to anyone; not after you. It was hard enough for you to crack him, but once you two were through, he built up walls of steel. “I never stopped loving you. You are the only one for me. You’re the only person willing to put up with my bullshit and able to control my temper. Even if you are a damn witch, you’re my damn witch.”

Tears start to haze both of your visions, but you give in, letting them cascade down your cheek. Heart clenched, ready to burst, you enveloped yourself in his scent, embracing him like your life depended on it. He quickly returns the gesture and places his head in the crook of your neck. The two of you stayed like this for a moment before gently rocking back and forth. Slowly, you inch him closer to the abjuration spell.

Goddess, what have I done to deserve this? Why do I have to be the one fucking person he loves but also the one person that can save everyone from certain doom? Why am I just getting him back now, right before the end? Crying harder, you push yourself further into his chest. He didn’t take this as “out of the normal” because he thought you were still crying over him; that’s not saying you weren’t, but other thoughts were on your mind. Your body still moves closer to the circle, pulling Katsuki with you. What the fuck (Y/N). You could’ve just placed the circle and left, but no. You had to stick around and make everything 1000 times harder.

The sound of wood burning turns Katsuki’s attention to the ground, where he sees the sigils recarve themselves into the floor. He was flabbergasted, the breath knocked right out of him.

“(Y/N)...?” His voice was weak as he spoke, as if pleading for this to be a dream and not the hell he was about to go through.

“I’m so sorry. I wish there was another way but there isn’t and I just-” He releases your hug, his body going rigid as he starts to piece it together.

“You tricked me… after everything I said and did, you trapped me. You’re gonna fucking kill yourself and you trapped me here so I can’t stop you.”

“There’s no other way. The Greats said that it had to be a powerful magic user, and we both know Izuku, Iida, Todoroki and Uraraka don’t make the cut. The harpies don’t have anyone as powerful as me either and it doesn’t look like we’ll be finding anyone powerful within the next couple of days. I can end this now. The panic, the worry; it could all be over with tonight.” You step out of the circle, grabbing the instructions from your pocket and holding them to your chest.

“You decided that instead of staying with me, you’d rather die. Am I hearing this correctly? YOU WOULD RATHER NOT EXIST THAN BE WITH ME?!” He ran up to you, but the invisible barrier holds him from reaching your body.

“Don’t. Don’t make this about you. This is about more than just us and it is definitely about more than what we had forever ago. I’m fucking sorry neither of us got our acts together in time, but the balance of nature needs to be set anew. If I had known that you still loved me, that you still cared for me, then yeah, this whole situation might’ve turned out differently. But the fact that it took us almost 1000 years to get our shit together and talk to each other says a little something. Maybe we’re both too headstrong to be in a relationship. Hell, that’s how the last one ended! So don’t you dare make this about you, because there are so many other people that I love and want to look out for than just you. The world is counting on me because if I don’t do this, then the world as we know it won’t be in existence within the next few days.” You turn to the window, taking a deep breath and slowing your rapid heart rate.

As you approach the window, you mutter “revertetur in terram suam” and the forest around the house transforms into the inside of your bedroom. Once more, you took a deep breath to ease the pain of leaving everyone behind.

“Tell them I love them, and I did it for the best.” You walk over to Katsuki and rip off your triple goddess necklace, offering it to him. “I know you’re not religious, but it’s a piece of me. So you don’t forget.” Reluctantly, he reaches out and takes it, examining it with a furrowed brow.

“I would never fucking forget…” it was barely audible, but it made your heart flutter.

“I love you, Katsuki. Even if it seems like I’m betraying you, I want you to know that I hope you find someone who loves you and can crack that barrier over your heart.” Walking over to the portal, you utter one last sentence, “Please take care of yourself,” and then you’re gone.