miradrawsss

[anki-of-beleriand]

A heart Made of Glass ch.12

Summary: Ten years ago you left Wanda and the Avengers to heal your broken heart. You never stopped being a hero, just as you never stopped being in love with her. But life had to go on.

Now, after all that time, she is back and with her is a young woman needing help and an enemy that may not be as afraid as Wanda to lay a claim on you.

Pairings: Wanda Maximoff x Powered!F!Reader - Scarlet Witch x PoweredF!Reader - Past Wanda Maximoff x Vision

Warnings: Angst, drama, mentions of cheating, fluff, violence, smut, Switch!Reader, internalize homophobia, hurt, comfort, Wanda being a complete mess, anger management issues, jealousy, Requited/Unrequited love, idiots in love, swearing, mentions of alcohol. More tags as the story progess.

Author's Note: This story is a continuation of Dirty Little Secret I was really surprised at the response I got for the story, I did all the tags you guys ask for but if I forgot someone please do not hesitate to tell me. Thank you for the support.

Okay, this chapter had some tricks in it that are surronding Reader and Wanda, this is their story and this time around Reader would need to make the right decision if she wants to get what she wants and what she needs.

Please, do remember English is no my mother tongue so forgive my grammar, spelling and funny mistakes.

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 - Chapter 10 - Chapter 11 Chapter 12 - Chapter 13 - Chapter 14 - Chapter 15 - Chapter 16 - Chapter 17 - Epilogue

Chapter 12

In a different world

The universe started with a spark of bright golden light.

Loki Odinson had seen it several times, he had witnessed the birth and death of multiple universes and timelines that were destined to perish in a myriad of colours that would soon be forgotten. He had sat on the throne, and while he was not a King himself, he could recall the faces of all of those poor souls that disappeared into the nothingness, just as he could remember the beauty behind the first spark of life.

However, what he was experimenting right now was nothing like it.

Whatever, or whoever had decided to intervene had messed up with his own spell and everything had exploded into nothingness. A single spark of red, green and golden then, nothingness. Black spaces that disappeared without any traces left behind.

Loki started at the empty space that was Wanda and Y/N’s basement before he sighed. He sat down shaking his head, a headache approaching just as he thought on the oncoming conversation he would need to sustain with the Avengers.

“Fuck.” The word rolled out of his lips in such a natural way, he could do nothing but leaned back against the wall.

What the hell just happened?

What did he do?

What did Wanda and Y/N do to get this reaction?

The silence soon became deafening, Loki located the book Strange had died trying to recover. He frowned while leaning over to pick it up, the spell was done correctly with all the right wording as well as the right drawings on the ground. So, why did it go wrong? His eyes scanned the pages, re-reading the passages over and over until his heart dropped at one particular line, something he had overlooked the very first time he read that passage.

“…this, however, may be counterproductive if there is a magical or multiversal energy interference, the amount of energy converging at one point may created an unexpected result and…”

Loki knew the rest by heart, he knew there could be troubles but…well, how many energies were involved in the spell? He had counted on those signatures coming from Wanda and Y/N, he had even counted on his but…was there anybody else out there? Was there anybody else at the other side of the multiverse?

“Shit.” Loki stood up fixing up his clothes before flickering his hand to open a portal. He needed to face the consequences of his acts, and the first stop would be the Avengers Tower and Steve Roger’s office.

The former Captain America was going to enjoy telling Loki ‘I told you so’, just before hitting him in the face.

With one last glance to the basement, Loki turned around and left the place.

He never worried to test the energy fields around, or to tap into the timelines flickering in front of his eyes. It never occurred to him that, as soon as the explosion happened, a new singular timeline appeared right before his eyes just to blend itself with the other timelines flickering in front of Loki.

No one but the Watcher could see it, The Watcher stood in the sidelines furrowing his brows and waiting.

The world would either collapse in itself, or it would fix the anomalies by itself.

Either way, he was watching history, and the future of Earth’s Mightiest Heroes.

_________________________________________

Darkness had always been your friend.

You were born in it, and it had been your weapon and your refugee in the hardest of times. That was the main reason you didn’t panic at first, everything around you was filled with the purest form of darkness with a single touch of coldness that sneaked inside your clothes. The hairs on your arms stood up, a shiver went right through your muscles making you groan as you finally experience the pain in your body.

Your mouth opened inhaling deeply filling your lungs with gusts of cold air, your chest contracting itself just before you started coughing. It was then you opened your eyes, and the darkness that you had experienced moments ago was nothing but you woke up from unconsciousness.

The first thing you noticed were different white dots in the sky winking back at you. You tried to grasp a single thought, seeking around your mind for a coherent idea but it was almost impossible to do so when the rest of your body was finally receiving different stimulus in the way of pain and coldness.

“Y/N!” A familiar voice called to your left, you tried to sit up but a single hand placed itself on your shoulder pressing you to the ground.

“Ease there, pal, you were really hurt back there.”

Even if you didn’t get a chance to sit up, your world started spinning around. The voice was so familiar, yet so different to what you were used to; with some reluctance you turned your face to the right and soon you found yourself looking at yourself.

The other woman offered a tentative smile, though the way she was squinting her eyes and the pursed of her lips told you she was just as confused as you were at the moment. Soft footsteps approached you, America Chavez was wearing a single cut on her cheek and a bruised eye, this time around you didn’t let you counterpart to stop you, you sat up to check over the teen kneeling beside you.

“America, are you alright?” Your eyes rolled back for a moment, your knees fell harshly on the ground while you held yourself with a single hand placed on your leg.

“Y/N, please…” America winced lightly glancing at you then at your counterpart. “I think you were the one that suffered the most…”

“It was my fault, actually. So, sorry?”

You blinked a couple of times, shaking your head made the headache worse and the dizziness settled on your lower abdomen. You lifted your face blinking a couple of times before checking America over, the young woman softened her features with her cheeks colouring pink while her lips tried to offer a single smile. You tried to ignore the other Y/N for as long as you could before turning around to settle your eyes on her.

Just like America, she was wearing a single cut on her forehead with her clothes dishevelled but otherwise nothing else. With some reluctance you lifted your eyes looking deep into those eyes that you knew so well.

“This is the weirdest shit I have ever had to live to date.” You finally said shaking your head, “I hope it is the last weird shit ever.”

“Agreed.” Y/N tilted her head furrowing her brows while giving you a quick glance. “Before this happened, I’m afraid I was in your body fighting with someone that got lucky…so…”

“So, that’s why I feel like this?” You cracked smile, your counterpart nodded mirroring the smile on your face. “Okay, got it, so…what the hell is going on?”

America and Y/N glanced at one another then at you, it wasn’t until then that you decided to take a good look at the surrounding area. The place in itself was nothing strange, yet you got a feeling that this was not your universe or even that of your counterpart.

The sky was completely dark filled stars but as you got to observe them above your head you realized there were not your stars. The constellations you had come to know thanks to Natasha and Carol had been changed and were replaced by different forms you did not recognize. With a single frown you lowered your eyes to find yourself in a plain of land filled with dried grass that extended beyond what the eyes could see. It was an empty land, with nothing beyond the darkness of the night without any moon it was hard to actually see something that could give you an idea of your location.

The sound of whistling called your attention, and soon you found yourself being wrapped tightly by two pair of arms. Before you could protest or ask what they were doing, you experience the sharp bite of wind, A cold, merciless breeze that soon turned into a whirlwind that left as suddenly as it had come.

“Wh-what the hell?” Your eyes opened wide, your teeth chattering while America and Y/N leaned back wincing.

“We need to move.”

You furrowed your brows shaking your head, “move where? I can barely see you two, how are we going to see the path or…where the hell are we?”

America sighed standing up, she stretched her hand to you offering a tender smile.

“You haven’t figured it out?”

You stood on weakened legs, your mouth opened ready to protest until you finally realised it. While it was true there was nothing much to see beyond the darkness and the starry night, you could see America and your counterpart just fine. It took you but a few minutes until, you lifted your hand and the shadows followed you giving you a good glance of what was around you.

“We can manipulate shadows, the night in itself is darkness and filled with the main source of our power.” Y/N stated matter-of-factly while standing before you, you nodded curtly feeling foolish for not even thinking about it.

“Are you guys going to tell me what’s going on?”

America grabbed your hand, then turning to Y/N she shrugged also grabbing her hand as well.

“We may as well update her while we continue walking.”

“We saw lights coming from what we think was a village a few kilometres away, were trying to get there until these weird whirlwinds came in and we couldn’t carry you anymore.” Y/N explained shrugging. “We’re guessing once we get to some sort of place filled with civilization we will know more…”

“Why didn’t you try to travel through the shadows?” You asked ready to do so when the warning tone from your own voice stopped you.

“I couldn’t do it without leaving America here, and I have a bad feeling as soon as I tried it…so…” Y/N shrugged looking ahead of her, “I always follow my instincts, they have never failed me.”

The comment sent a sharp pain straight to your heart.

Your instincts had never failed you either.

Nothing else was said after this, the three of you were following the direction America had pointed out but you were just lost not really knowing if this was the right path or just a wild guess. The temperature was dropping even more, soon your teeth were chattering alongside those of America and the other you. You felt a sharp pain through your head, whatever had happened before you woke up had left your body quite bruised and right now all you wanted was to find a bed, an analgesic and something to eat. For a brief moment, an intrusive thought came forward in the form of Wanda, panic rose through your chest and filled your mind but before you could ask anything about her your counterpart spoke.

“I still don’t understand how everything came to be,” she spoke with a tone of voice you were familiar with, you let your eyes wandered around the landscape holding onto every word resounding into the darkness of the night.”

“I remembered when Wanda and I saved America the first time, and then trying to safe her from these creatures chasing her down.” Y/N trailed off with her memories making her falter, with a single shake of her head she continued, “I know I was out for a while, so you can guess how surprised I was to wake up in the arms of someone that wasn’t my wife…”

“Not really.” Your reply was filled with coldness, tension building up in your body, “I have always had the luxury of waking up alone in my bed.”

America winced lifting her head to glance at you, her dark eyes begging you to listen before jumping in whatever discussion you wanted to start.

“Agatha Harkness.” The name reached the inside of your mind with the memory of the file you read on her, not only that, but also the different videos you saw surrounding her story inside of Wanda’s world.

“That was the woman you woke up to every day, Y/N.” America chimed in shyly, she lowered her gaze squeezing your hand tenderly. “She had been dragging Scarlet and Wanda around, draining them of their powers and leaving them defenceless for quite some time, and since…well, since Y/N was under her spell…”

You opened your mouth to speak, you wanted to say something but finding your counterpart’s eyes on you whatever argument you had built inside your mind came crumbling down and soon you were given their side of their story.  Little by little the story started making sense, the building of a different world and the intrusive dreams you were having in the last couple of weeks, the purple and red magic surrounding you on that day as well as the mixed-up realities that ended up with you thrown into another’s body. You had always known that Wanda was special, and powerful, you never imagined just how much.

America had been a part of the plan, of course. Her powers would be very beneficial to someone like Agatha, and your powers would make sure no one would ever find her. Everything was about the most basic reason of all: Power. You pursed your lips disgusted; you were dragged into a confrontation with Wanda because there was a woman chasing after power. You had been running from Wanda for more than ten years, and all it took was this woman to ruin everything.

And now, now you were walking down the darkness of the night with a girl that could travel through different universes and your counterpart, a woman that got the life you had dreamt of a long time ago.

“Life is not fair.” Y/N stated glancing at you out of the corner of her eyes, “but it is what we have, and we must…”

“…deal with it, take what it is being offered and try to be happy with it.” You finished shaking your head.

“Ah, so not everything is lost, I see.” Y/N allowed a single smile to break on her face, you pursed your lips snorting.

“You don’t know the story.”

“But she does, that’s why she told you those very same words, didn’t she?” Your counterpart stopped all of a sudden, you let out a heavy sigh before turning to face her.

America was standing in between the both of you, her brows knitted together with her gaze travelling around the terrain before settling on the both of you.

“Look, I know that you and Wanda had a different experience than mine, I’m glad you did because…” You trailed off holding onto your emotions, “I don’t wish on you the pain I went through…”

For the very first time ever you saw your own face breaking into a broken-hearted smile, with those eyes losing all light and those lips curving into a crooked smile. It was you looking back, and you understood right there and then that you weren’t the only one.

“You forgive her?” You asked with a hint of hope in your voice, you hated how the question left your lips and how your counterpart understood what you meant.

“How could I not if my heart beats for her?” She replied clenching her eyes closed, her hands rested upon your shoulders before you found yourself looking into your eyes. “There is a difference, though, isn’t it?”

“You guys were not together…” You started but she merely tilted her head.

“You know it wouldn’t matter if we were a couple or not, she chose someone else when we have always chosen her.” Y/N squeezed your shoulders lightly. “The difference is that I gave her a chance because I want to do so, you didn’t because…”

“I don’t believe in second chances! If I have done so she would have broken my heart all over again when she went into her imaginary world with Vision!” You exclaimed enraged, surprising Y/N and America.

The other woman furrowed her brows, she was ready to argue back with you and asked questions about the imaginary world. It was quite evident a lot of things had happened in this strange world and Y/N could only imagine the pain and rage engulfing your heart at the moment.

America could see darkness surrounding the three of you her eyes opening wide almost losing into the shadows until her eyes caught glimpses of red and purple right ahead.

“Guys?” America stuttered lifting her hand and pointing to the distance.

You two stopped your discussion turning around to see the same sparkles of red and purple. It was a formation of dusty colouring breaking into the darkness of the night sky, you turned to the left to see Y/N frowning with determination and America shifting nervously from one foot to the other.

“It’s not that far away, I mean it could be at least one kilometre?” Y/N faced you holding onto the previous tension of your conversation with her, you clenched your fist shrugging.

“Looks that way.”

“Are we…” America started but you lifted a hand to silence her.

“Before we jump in to do something I think we need more information, we don’t even know what we are going to find over there.” You looked out of the corner of your eyes; the lights were still gleaming pretty much intensely but you could tell your two companions didn’t want to stay still and do any planning.

“What do you propose?” Y/N asked lifting her chin, “you know pretty well those sparks of crimson are Wanda’s, and we know this woman, this Agatha has been using purple magic. Are you really suggesting we stand here or keep walking in circles?”

“No! All I am asking is to first think about what we are going to do! We’re not even sure where we are much less what we are going to find there.” You asked back lifting your hands in the air and stepping back, the pain you had forgotten in favour of the discussion came back making you winced.

“Look I know you guys think the world of Wanda, and that’s cool, I guess your Wanda,” this time around you pointed to your counterpart trying to remain calm, “she is all love and kindness and that’s fine. The Wanda in world had a total breakdown that enslaved a bunch of people in a reality she created for herself and that microwave she called husband, so forgive me if I’m not going to jump in without any additional information.”

Your tirade echoed through the night, your voice carried by the wind with a dropped in the temperature. The moon that had been travelling with the three of you flickered all of a sudden, and the darkness grew around the three of you. America didn’t miss the flickering lights of crimson and purple, but she couldn’t stop herself from grabbing your hand in hers, the warm she shared with you made you shivered and with some reluctance you lower you stare to her. Even in such a darkness you could see her brown eyes gleaming with emotions.

“You still love her.” America mumbled squeezing your hand tenderly.

You clenched your jaw tilting your head to the side, America bit her lower lip glancing from you to Y/N.

“I don’t know why this has to be so complicated, but she needs you.” America took a deep breath stepping closer to you. “Wanda is sad, and I know she messed up and that forgiveness should not be given just because you feel that way. But she really needs you, she and Scarlet.”

“Look, I don’t know what happened between the both of you.” Y/N stepped in making sure you could not look away from your own eyes. “But the woman I love is out there, being it in this dimension or another Wanda Maximoff would always be MY Wanda and I won’t leave her out there to get hurt. If not for you, then at least do it for me.”

It was in the middle of nowhere, surrounded by darkness and coldness that your heart finally gave in. With a nod, your dropped your shoulders in defeat missing the smile coming from America but never missing the satisfied glance coming from your counterpart. The three of you finally turned to the source of the magic, and without a simple plan you three started making your way to the source.

You were not prepared for what was waiting for you over there.

Agatha Harkness smirked at the woman kneeling before her.

In less than a year she had made it possible to crumble away the legend of the Scarlet Witch while placing herself as the most powerful witch in the multiverse. Her smile never faltered, not even when the world spined around changing into a familiar setting; a place and time Agatha had suffered before but that now she could alter with a single flicker of her hand.

The place was filled with passersby ignoring the presence of the two women; nobody seemed to care that one of them was on her knees with a single neck shackle made of light red and blue tied to a crimson necklace Agatha wore on her chest.

“What do you think about this arrangement, dear?” The dark-haired woman asked, her eyes dropping to the kneeling Wanda who was shooting her a stare filled with anger. “Personally, I think this could be more lively, but don't worry soon enough we will have a show to die for.”

Her laughter was accompanied by a flash of violet, and soon the scene changed and they were transferred to a great marketplace located at the centre of the village. Everyone had reunited around four pillared pyres that were guarded by at least ten knights all dressed in black.

Wanda lifted her face, her ears twitched hearing the sound of angry screams cursing someone she couldn't make out yet. Agatha stirred in excitement; her smile grew until it was a crooked grin with just a hint of madness behind it.

“Here they come…”

The crowd spread around just as four figures came in walking on naked feet wearing red robes and bruised faces. The hatred and fear coming from the crowd was quite evident as the torches and the pitchforks drew wild patterns above the townspeople’s heads. The light of the torches ignited the night, Wanda tensed under the grip of the woman standing beside her, the hairs on her arms raising up while her eyes narrowed to follow the events unfolding in front of her.

The four women were pushed forward, each one of them had a single knight standing behind them with heavy hands they were dragged to the four pillars tied to them facing the crowd. It didn’t take her too long to guess what was about to happen, and what exactly were those pillars; the pyres had been set up to ensure everyone could see the women died. The crowd cheered cruelly, laughing and cursing while the four women glared at the people with more bravery than they actually felt. 

“This was my coven.” Agatha spat out, her hands sparkling with a mixture of red and purple, “they saw my power, they read my intentions and instead of supporting me they dared to try and stop me…”

“I wonder why.” Wanda couldn’t hold the sarcasm behind her voice, Agatha pulled harshly on the ropes holding her neck making Wanda fall on her back.

“You really are more daring than your counterparts, dear. I would be careful, if I were to be honest I don’t need you alive.” 

Agatha caressed the necklace smirking at Wanda, the woman couldn’t hide her anger and the magic that was pulsating inside her was not enough to protect her from Agatha’s anger. Soon Wanda let out a scream of pain, her body twitching painfully until he couldn’t keep her eyes open and all she could think about was the searing pain on her limbs.

“It has been so long since I was just a lowly witch like them, afraid of fire and the angry crowd. I grew to be magnificent, to have power beyond anyone’s imagination…” Agatha continued with his rambling observing with gleaming eyes as the Major of the town stood forward proclaiming the sins of the four women.

“I just had to find you, Wanda, you and that so-called Scarlet Witch.” Wanda took a deep breath, half hearing the woman while watching with horror as the night above her head flickered from one setting to another.

“It was not easy, you know?”

Agatha flickered her hand to the right and soon Wanda was on her knees watching as the world around her changed. It was like watching a movie in a dome. The world changed to day and night flickering images of Agatha dragging her burnt body through the ground whispering spells that only she could hear. The image soon changed showing the passing of time, Agatha looking around the world and stealing the magic of others while seeking something out of desperation.

She finally found it after more than a century.

Wanda opened her eyes at the familiar setting, Kamar Taj stood under stormy winds and heavy snow. Agatha sneaked around, distracting the inhabitants of the temple by provoking landslides that would certainly have killed innocent people if it hadn’t been by the protectors of the temple. She had enough time to steal a single book.

“Y-you…you stole the..th-e…the Drakhold.” Wanda leaned forward resting her hands on the ground, she was shocked to find the snow under her hands was real and that everything she was seeing was not an illusion but a real event.

Her mind was trying to comprehend what was really happening. Her knowledge of the Darkhold had not been as broad as it had been for Strange and even Loki. But she did know one thing or two about the origins of her powers, Chaos Magic had been called and it gave her the power to bend reality and life in ways not many could access to. The darkness inside her had been contained by her family and her loved ones, but the same could not be said by others, apparently.

“I did.” Agatha finally answered tilting her head, soon the scene changed and they were taken to a place Wanda was familiar with.

Westview.

“Yet, I was still not strong enough, or the only one with powers beyond our imaginations.” Agatha made a face, stepping forward strolling down the streets with Wanda following her. “When the Avengers showed up it was quite evident that people with powers could no longer be hidden. It was my time to shine until you, my dear Wanda, showed up.”

Wanda saw herself in a building in Sokovia, it was a place she was familiar with yet the story that was unfolding in front of her had nothing to do with what she had lived once. Her other self struggled to control her powers, to live her life, to be who she was supposed to be but failed every single time. Agatha had never been too far from those events, and whenever Wanda failed, Agatha would clutch the young woman closer to her. The red and purple magic intertwined without anyone noticing.

“What did you do?” Wanda asked, finding herself in the middle of the square in Westview. It was a beautiful day, with the sun shining right above their heads and not a single cloud in sight. 

Agatha smirked, her eyes changing colours to one of deep crimson, “I finally became who I am supposed to be, and soon my dear I will have all the power to bend the universes at my will. And now, I will finish what I started all those months ago with your pathetic counterpart and you will help me out with this.”

The world suddenly exploded around them, Wanda clenched her jaw closed, lifting her eyes to the sky to see the runes above her head.

“You…” She gritted her teeth, her eyes closing right away trying to gather her thoughts and power to stop the woman standing beside her.

Agatha chuckled darkly, her gripped on Wanda tightened allowing the influx of memories to invade the mind of the redhead. It was a life she was no familiar with, a suffering she had not experiment in the same way but that generate in her an understanding of the mess this world was in. She could see the moment Agatha entered the story, the failures and the almost victories until finally she got what she wanted.

A weakened Wanda Maximoff without anyone in the world to stand by her side.

Power.

And a way to get away with her plan.

“You…you won’t win.” Wanda finally got out; her eyes gleaming dangerously at the other woman who made a face rolling her eyes.

“I already did, dear. You just haven’t realized it yet.” Agatha let go of Wanda stepping away.

The brunette straightened up lifting her arms in front of her, her hands creating a purple mist while the necklace she wore zealously around her neck gleamed with intensity. Those eyes that moment’s ago had been brown, were now a deep black and the world around Wanda trembled under the electric shift of power the witch was gathering around her.

“Now, I have all the pieces in place, in my world…under my rules.” Agatha stated tilting her head to the side, “I will bend everyone to my will…and you, Wanda, will be nothing but a bad memory.”

The sky above their heads changed into darkness, the temperature dropped and Wanda felt the heavy weight of the atmosphere overwhelming her. She could sense her counterpart weakening inside the prison Agatha had chosen for her, her thoughts were still a mixture of memories she couldn’t quite place while the heavy emotions running through her soul threaten to overwhelm. Wanda could read the intentions behind the woman standing before her, she could read the hatred and violence behind those dark eyes. Lifting her chin to the sky, and her eyes showing off her own magic she decided if this was going to be her end, she would face it with defiance.

The ball of energy flickered in Agatha’s hand, the world stood still and the with smirked ready to give the final blow.

Agatha was so concentrated in her final goal, she never noticed she was no longer alone and what she though was illusions of her own invention were actually three people she didn’t think would be a problem until one of them stood right in front of her shielding Wanda from an imminent dead.

You had crossed the protective barrier around the strange town with a single thought in mind. Your intention was to get this over with and go back to your life on Norway, your heart beating fast while your mind protest for the easiness in which you were trying to go back to a life in which you were ignoring the woman that had never left your heart. It looked easy, just do your thing and then fixed whatever mess you were in and then…go back.

But the universe and the Powers That Be decided that it wouldn’t be just as easy as a flickered of your hand.

As soon as the three of you crossed the barrier you were face to face with flashes of memories that presented you with a film of the lives of Wanda and Agatha. The stories of the coven and the search for power, as well as the fall of Sokovia and Wanda’s struggles with her powers and her life.

“This is so wrong.” Y/N stated clenching her fist while stepping forward until she was finally standing beside you, the both of you stood on an empty street hearing the sounds of muffled conversation.

“Any plan?” You finally stated ignoring the piercing pain in your heart, your counterpart shrugged nodding to the darkened street that was flashing a mixture of red and purple.

“I think the best approach is a straightforward one.”

“Humph, so go there and just start fighting?” You replied with your lips breaking into a single smirk.

“Yep, pretty much.”

“That doesn’t sound like a solid plan.” America mumbled unsure, she furrowed her brows turning to you and then to your counterpart.

You turned to America placing a hand on her shoulder, “but it is what we have. You are going to stay here and wait.”

“But…I can fight! I can help!” America stepped back frowning, “I won’t be left behind…”

“I know you can fight, kiddo.” You replied tilting your head, “and that’s why you are staying behind.”

America opened her mouth to protest but Y/N came forth shaking her head.

“You are our backup, America. If anything were to happen to us and Wanda…” Y/N stated dropping her gaze for a moment, she turned to you until finally she locked eyes with America. “You need to do anything you can to ensure Agatha won’t scape, you understand?”

America pursed her lips, a part of her understood the mission but another part wanted to go straight ahead and face the woman that had been chasing her through the multiverse. America clenched her fists before nodding curtly and stepping back. You offered a single smile, your hand squeezing comfortingly the shoulder of the teen.

“There would be time, America, for now just watch our backs.”

“I will.”

“Good then, let’s go.”

You nodded curtly allowing your powers to spread in front of you, there was resistance when trying to reach the shadows and for the very first time you understood what your counterpart meant about your instinct. Everything in your body was screaming danger as soon as you came into contact with the shadows, your body shivered under the piercing weight of a million needles. You clenched your jaw closed stepping into the shadows with a single thought in mind.

Wanda.

Without any hesitation and moving through the invisible obstacles in that universe you appeared right before Wanda and Agatha just in time. Your eyes went black with your right arm lifting in front of you and creating a protective barrier just as Agatha’s hand came into contact with your shadows.

There was a flickering of power, the older woman snarled a curse lifting her left arm in the same fashion and launching a second attack. Your eyes opened slightly only for your shadows to slithered away grabbing the woman’s midsection to pull her away.

The world crumbled for an instant; Agatha was completely shocked to see not only you but your counterpart standing right in front of her. The woman straightened up, sweat rolling down her forehead while her right hand closed around her necklace and her other hand summoned the Darkhold.

“You really are a pain in my behind, but at least I won’t have to go around looking for you.” Agatha stated tilting her head to the side, her annoyance giving way to a confident smile. “Now, how about the two of you are good girls and give up, I would hate to spend my time submitting you to get what I want.”

You spread your feet positioning yourself in a fighting pose, your eyes narrowing slightly while the woman in front of you got her magic ready. But before Agatha could do anything at all, another set of shadows grabbed her arms putting them back making her woman lose her grip on the necklace and the Darkhold, your body tensed when Wanda stood up behind you, her voice quivering slightly as she pronounced your name with reverence and love.

“Hey, I hope you didn’t forget about me, Agatha dear.” Your counterpart said winking at Wanda while flickering her hands away, Agatha grunted freeing herself with a blast of energy and stepping a few feet away.

“Hn, I didn’t expect this.” She stated summoning the Darkhold, the world around the four of you changed, shaping itself in a familiar setting you had come to hate in your mind.

Westview.

Agatha never wavered in her confidence, if anything it seemed to grow the same way her magic was doing at the moment. You took a fighting stance, your shadows flickering around waiting for your command. You glanced out of the corner of your eye, Wanda had been trying to stand up but her knees and feet seemed uncooperative. Before you could offer any help, your counterpart came in wrapping her arms around Wanda while placing her forehead against Wanda’s one.

“Hey, love.”

“Hi.” Wanda replied with easiness, Y/N sighed in relief before placing a single kiss on her wife��s cheek.

“I miss you.” Y/N said softly, your heart shrank with emotion when your mind caught up with what was really happening.

You furrowed your brows, sweeping around the place until your darkened eyes fell on Agatha who was smiling playfully at you, her right hand playing absentmindedly with the necklace.

“Where is…Wanda?” The question left your lips before you could stop it, Wanda and Y/N both glanced at one another before they set their eyes on you.

A sinking feeling settled on your lower stomach, you were afraid of the answer when you realized this Wanda was trying to look everywhere but you. Tilting your head, you finally got a good look at your surroundings where the suburban houses filled out the imaginary world; the Wanda you had come to know from another universe held onto your counterpart tightly though right now her green eyes had been focusing straight ahead of you.

“Where is she? Wanda?” You asked again, this time around there was a demanding undertone that the other woman couldn’t ignore.

“Agatha has them under her control, she is using a powerful and dangerous book, Y/N.” Wanda could tell her answer was not of your liking, she stepped forward ready to join you and her wife in the fight glancing at you out of the corner of her eyes.

“You don’t know where she has Wanda?” You asked again never taking your eyes off of the older woman standing before you.

“I have my suspicions but I’m not sure how to interfere with that.” Wanda winced trying to ease out the pain on her neck, you frowned pursing your lips while taking a closer look at Agatha before your eyes found the same house you had come to know as Wanda’s place.

“Well, then let’s get this over with and get Wanda back.” Your arms stretched to the sides, the silent command spurred into action the shadows around you flying straight ahead to try and get Agatha.

Before your counterpart and the other Wanda could help you out, the creatures summoned by Agatha launched their first attack. A great explosion was heard while you evaded the flashing balls of power sent over by the witch.

The fight soon broke over, you didn’t notice it but the dome surrounding this part of the universe tremble sending waves of energy all through the world until they came into contact with the timeline and America. The young woman lifted her head, her eyes gleaming brightly as she tapped into her powers; bouncing on the balls of her feet she waited. America could hear the sound of explosions and the muffled sound of conversations and screams, she glanced at her hands thinking about the lessons she had been learning in the last couple of months. She closed her fists, opening them again before lifting her face. This people had been putting their lives on the line for her, they had been trying to protect her without expecting anything in exchanged. It was about time she helped them.

With a glance to the sky, America took a deep breath closing her eyes for a brief moment. As soon as she opened them, her lips curled into a single smile.

Time for payback.

The street had been completely destroyed during the fight.

There were no more homes standing up, or nice cosy gardens decorating the suburban setting. The world soon became a mixture of nothingness with the flickering holograms of reality that you could not touch. Agatha had learnt a thing or two since fighting with Wanda, you could see her ability to hold onto her powers while also making use of those she had stolen from your Wanda.

You shook your head hating the thoughts running around in your head, the overwhelming emotions that seemed to try and govern your decisions. You tried to focus your energy on what was right in front of you, the problem you were facing went beyond your own emotions. There would be a time for you to deal with them.

Agatha lifted her left hand above her head before letting it fall fast to her side, the sharp pain of your skin being pierce made you grunted. You could feel the wounds on your arms, your eyes igniting in a deep black that soon went right ahead to engulf the witch in front of you.

At some point, Agatha had become faster than your attacks, she stepped aside flickering her hands and soon two more creatures appeared out of nowhere.

“Is that all you got?” You asked almost losing your concentration when you heard the voice of your counterpart in the back.

“Get away from my wife!”

Agatha smirked grabbing her necklace, tilting her head she settled her eyes on you.

“Oh, dear, you would be surprised with the number of tricks I can bring on you.” Agatha stepped forward, her feet never touching the ground. “I could make your dreams come true; I can be what Wanda never was for you.”

You pressed your lips together taking into a fighting stance.

“You know nothing about my dreams, and I am certainly not looking for a replacement.”

Agatha snorted her hand gripping tightly on the necklace, soon a red mist grew from the space between her neck and chest and the world around her turned crimson. Agatha stretched out her arms and the whole world vibrate around you changing in the blink of an eye.

“Are you sure? I can tell by the pathetic way you are always looking at her, but the way you talk about her that there is nothing else you want more than her…” Agatha’s voice rose above the new scene, your eyes flickered around while your stomach dropped when you realized where she had taken you to.

For a brief moment you could make out the screams and grunts of the fight going on right outside this small world. You took a deep breath trying to get a hold of your powers ignoring the runes glowed above your head a clear sign that this was still being controlled by Agatha. You creased your brows knowing that your options were limited if the other woman decided to use her magic at its full potential. She was playing with you, leading you on and one until it was quite clear she was mocking you by placing you right in front of a memory that had broken your heart at some point.

It was playing in slow motion, the video and the room with everyone just as shocked as you were to see Wanda in the arm’s of another. The passing of time, every single moment that you had suffered the betrayal while facing your sadness alone in a world of pure darkness. Your fit closed, the shadows on your feet stirred violently sensing your anger when you heard Agatha laughing. Mocking you.

“How did it make you feel knowing she was happier with a man?” Agatha purred making sure to be as far away from you as she could. “How did it feel knowing you were never going to be chosen in this world? In this universe? I bet it pierce your soul knowing you were the one destined to be alone.”

“Shut up.”

“I can make it go away, I can help you out…say the words, and I will make sure you get what you want.”

Your knees gave under your weight, furrowing your brows you tried to close yourself to the mocking film playing around you trying to focus on the fight. Agatha chuckled tilting her head, this time around the runes above her head pulsated and the two creatures grew before your eyes attacking viciously at your counterpart and Wanda making sure that your conversation and fight with Agatha wouldn’t be interrupted. Agatha centred her eyes on you, her hand grabbing the necklace while the same video seemed to be on replay.

“She won’t be a problem for you anymore, and after I’m done with you…you won’t have to worry about the pain of your broken heart, dear.” The laughter sent shivers down your back, but it was everything you were waiting for.

Your lips curled into a smile, your right hand twirled clockwise and the shadows broke into waves catching up with the witch. Just as you had located her, ready to give her a lesson, the woman was ready to use the magic Wanda and Scarlet were giving to her to make sure the next stage of her plan could be completed.

It never happened, though.

Your attack never stopped reaching out to your objective, while Agatha tried to return the hit she was surprised by a sudden punch to her face. The punch glow white, and her body bounced back and forth until she lost the hold on the necklace, America Chavez didn’t stop there and your shadows went straight to hold onto the witch to bring her down.

Everything happened so fast, your eyes went from America to Agatha and finally to the object on the ground. The necklace bounced on the ground, and without thinking too much you went right ahead to grab it. The object was warm to the touch, you could tell by the vibrations that magic had been contained between the object and this magic could only belong to one person. You closed your hand around it, you could sense Scarlet deep inside your mind. It didn’t take you too long to recognize the woman that had been haunting your dreams as of late, right with her you could also sense Wanda trying to hide, trying to survive.

“NO!”

The scream coming from Agatha was everything you needed to drop the necklace and stomp on the piece of jewellery creating an explosion that blew you and everyone around you away.

“Humph…” Your mouth opened letting out a shaky breath, your body hurt all over while your eyes got use to the sparkling lights that appeared before them when your head hit the ground.

“Y/N!!” You tried to sit up, a pair of arms held onto you for a brief moment until you were capable of making out the figure sitting beside you.

America had her brows creased; her eyes shone with worry while she tried to hold you up. The fighting was still ringing inside your ears, your counterpart was finishing the last of the dimensional creatures while you could spot her Wanda holding back against Agatha. For a brief moment, panic rose inside you the sudden need to throw up became almost to much just as you leaned forward trying to stand up your eyes looking frantically for the women that had been haunting your dreams and reality as of late.

“They are unconscious…” America started but she could not finish her sentence as you stood up without any warning.

“Wanda…” Her name escaped your lips without meaning to, at that moment with your body exhausted and your mind already carrying the weight of so many memories and thoughts all you could do was staggered forward until you reached both women.

You stood on shaky legs glancing from Wanda to Scarlet, both of them unconscious wearing the same bags under their eyes and the bruises all over their faces and arms. You hesitated not really knowing where you should focus your attention until, as an afterthought you went to Wanda. Turning her to the side you ensure she was comfortable, her lip had a deep cut and her forehead had traces of a scratch that left her with blood and dirt. She looked thinner than you remember, with her face wearing still the same defeated expression she wore to your home all those months ago.

“Wanda.” You said her name again, this time around firmer and demanding, your hand trying to help her out until you heard her exclamation of pain. “Wanda, are you alright?”

The young woman stirred in your arms, her eyes flickering slightly until she opened her lips and let out an exclamation of pain. You put her back on the ground, turning around you could see Scarlet was stirring awake as well while the fight seemed to have no end.

“Y/N…” You turned to see Wanda’s eyes fluttering open, her green orbs looking back at you with sadness and tenderness that had your heart beating a tad bit faster.

“Hey, are you alright?” You leaned in but Wanda looked away helping herself up, you tired to assist her but your body froze for a moment unsure on how to proceed with the woman sitting before you.

“I…I am a little sore.” She replied, her eyes never leaving the form of Scarlet, Wanda furrowed her brows glancing at her hands then back at the other woman. “She…she is…Scarlet Witch.”

Her words trembled as she pronounced them, her face lowered thinking to herself knowing full well your attention was on her. She remembered the moment she had separated herself from the legend, the words of Agatha had haunted her at that moment when she realized there was something inside her giving her powers a deeper meaning. She had hated that idea, and the world that had been created out of it.

When Wanda finally dared to look up she found herself looking into your eyes. Her heart stirred with emotion, the words that wanted to pour out of her mouth entangled around her throat for she knew it was not the time for a heart-to-heart conversation. She wished everything had turned out different, but after her confrontation with Agatha and everything she had discovered whiled trapped in that reality she knew what she needed to do.

“Can you…help me up?” She asked shyly, you nodded curtly stretching your hands for her to take them.

She was cold under your touch, and a little sweaty.

Her cheeks coloured pink, and her eyes glanced everywhere but at you. You felt a piercing pain going through your chest, but you ignored it while helping the other woman up. For a brief moment, you thought she could walk on her on until Wanda’s legs trembled and almost gave up on her. You caught her just on time, her body pressing against yours making your traitorous heart stopped for a brief moment.

“How convenient, Wanda.” Scarlet was on her knees; she had sweat falling down her face breathing hard and glaring at the two of you though her eyes were completely focused on Wanda. “You…you don’t do nothing, yet you get to be with her.”

Wanda tensed in your arms, she took a deep breath while pushing you away taking one step at a time until she was standing before Scarlet. You lifted your eyes to see America just as focused on the two women as you were, the sound of the fighting was till rumbling in your ears but it was almost impossible to pay attention to something else that wasn’t the scene playing out in front of you.

Wanda held herself up, conscious of the hatred inside the eyes of Scarlet.

Inside her own eyes.

“We don’t get to be with her.” Wanda mumbled dropping her shoulders, tears gathering in her eyes as she spoke. “I’ve been trying to make amends but I just…”

“You always failed, and you make it worse.” Scarlet spat out lifting her chin in defiance, her position on the ground was not an inconvenience. If anything, it gave her the power that Wanda couldn’t show at the moment.

“I tried to reach out to her, to make her world and mine…to…”

“I know.” Wanda offered a weakened smile, looking out of the corner of her eyes she could see you had your attention on the both of them. “I tried to do the same. I just…I can’t do it alone, and I’m tired of failing every time. I don’t…”

Wanda swallowed down her tears, she leaned in lifting her left hand until she was cupping Scarlet’s cheek. Red mist appeared in Wanda’s hand, and soon her eyes as much as those of Scarlet were shining brightly.

“It hurts so much.” Scarlet said letting the tears rolled down her cheeks. “I just…

“I don’t want to be alone, and I don’t want to be without her.” Wanda finally said her own tears falling down her face.

You clenched your jaw, looking away for a moment while your chest felt a myriad of butterflies fluttering inside.

“But I can’t keep fighting alone, or divided.” Wanda stated, she wiped away Scarlet’s tears before adding. “I think we need to be one, you saw just how powerful we are together and…”

“You need to fix this, or we would never…”

“I know, but this may not end the way you want it.”

Scarlet drifted her attention to you, her eyes found those of yours and in there you could read everything you had been so afraid to interpret the first time. There was pain and sadness, emotions that broke into her heart in ways you could only imagine, and then there was love. You looked away stepping back under the intensity of such a stare, you missed the broken smile on Scarlet’s face and the defeat she wore while facing Wanda again.

“I know, I think we will cope when the time for that comes.” Wanda nodded in understanding; her hands gleamed brighter than ever while Scarlet placed her hand on top of hers.

“I promised you I won’t give up.”

“Good, then let’s do this.”

The crimson mist grew around them glowing with a bright, red light making you trembled under the intensity of the magic. You could see America kneeling down, her eyes going wide open as they stare the scene unfolding before her eyes.

Wanda and Scarlet were no longer two different entities.

Standing before you was a single woman, her head was adorned with a red crown that made match with the bodice and the black leggings. Wanda stood there with magic coming from her hands, her eyes a deep shade of red that gathered the power you had always known she had in her. The woman stood still for a moment, she glanced at her body and her hands before her face lifted to stare at you.

You tried to hide your expression, your lips parting to speak but not words came out. Wanda hesitated before nodding her feet moving slowly until she turned around making her way to the fight.

“Is she gonna be okay?” America stood right beside you, squirting at the woman now using her magic to help her counterpart in the fight against Agatha.

“I think so…” You trailed off finally realizing that even though the both of them had finally become one, Wanda was still wearing the bruises and the exhaustion on her face.

“Are you okay?” America asked quite concern, you turned to her offering a half smile.

“I will be.” You sighed scratching the back of your neck. “Stay here and be careful.”

“What are you gonna do?” The teen asked slightly scare, you offered her a half smile turning towards the fight that was a tied between the Wandas and Agatha.

“What we came to do, just stay out of trouble and be ready to help us go back home, okay kiddo?”

America doubt there was anything she could do, but she didn’t contradict you. With a single nodded of her head she watched as you ran towards the fight, your shadows already creating a protective barrier around you and Wanda. Something, America though, you probably were not aware of.

_____________________________________________________________

Loki rolled his eyes once more, he was tired of hearing the fight going on in the meeting room while he stood by the window waiting for the right moment to intervene.

The world outside was highly active, Monday had always been one of the busiest days in the calendar and that day was not the exception. The young god leaned forward, his fingertips touching the window while his eyes observed the golden and green lights of the timelines. His eyes soon fell upon the one he did not recognise, a red line that he could not tamper with but that he was certain contained the answers to the questions everyone in the room were posing.

Loki turned around his eyes finding those of Billy who had not leave his side ever since Pietro brought him into the Avenger’s Tower. The young boy had his eyes narrowed, his hands playing with invisible threats only he could see.

For a brief moment, Loki stood there observing the child with growing curiosity. Billy was tapping the air with his fingertips, concentrated in something only visible to him. Loki frowned with his mind already forming an idea of what exactly was happening.

“Billy, what are you doing?” The question was low enough for the child to hear it but not for the rest of the room to notice it.

Billy lifted his face this time around his eyes went wide opened showing off the innocence of his age, but also the brightness he had inherited from both his mothers.

“Mommy always says to follow my instincts.” There was conviction in his tone, his hands tapping still as if waiting for something.

“And, what are they telling you?” Loki knelt to be on the same height of the child, Billy tilted his head creasing his brows before answering.

“Uncle Loki, momma and mommy need my help…look!”

Loki looked in the direction Billy was pointing to, he gasped with his eyes wide open and a smile forming on his lips.

“Billy you are a genius.” Billy offered a timid smile glancing at Loki shyly.

“Really?”

“Yes, and I think thanks to you we are going to be able to help Wanda and Y/N.” Loki could see the excitement in the little boy, he couldn’t help but smile back.

Without giving to much attention to the room, Loki sat right beside Billy closing his eyes before letting his magic to spread around. Billy was slightly confused at first, he had continued working on invisible threads trying to get into contact with them. Now there was something different, with his uncle sitting beside him Billy could sense the magic. He pressed his lips together before sitting down and, imitating Loki, he closed his eyes and just went with his instincts.

_____________________________________________________________

Whatever power she had tried to drain from Wanda and even Scarlet was no longer active to give her the stamina or even the strength to keep up with the fight. She was not even up to sustain the world she had created by tampering on the Chaos magic she could barely tolerate.

Wanda Maximoff gathered her power while circling the woman in front of her, she could feel the hurt she had created for her counterpart had reached out beyond the boundaries of the multiverse and it was something she would not tolerate. Beside her she could sense Y/N, a close shadow that was ready to jump in when necessary to offer protection and support; Wanda couldn’t help but smile.

“You won’t win.” Agatha tried to put up with a fight, she tried to hold onto the last threads of power inside her to get into the fight but she could no longer hold onto her powers for far too long.

You came from behind her your hands wrapping around her wrists while your shadows covered her feet spreading through her legs and body. Agatha was struggling, her eyes going wide open just as she started chanting in a language you did not recognize. Wanda opened her eyes wide, she stepped closer spreading her arms and chanting just the same, the runes trembling right above your head just before a myriad of images surrounded you breaking the darkness before going completely white.

“NO!” Agatha let out a guttural exclamation, her elbow hitting you square in the face but whatever strength she had in her to fight was haltered by your counterpart finishing what you started.

Wanda knew at that moment why she had been feared by Agatha, the power that was held inside her sent electric waves through her body. The power concentrated on her hand, and soon a single jewel showed on her palm while her counterpart continued with the ritual. The runes appeared right above her head, and without any indications, she started chanting as well.

You stepped back falling on your ass, blood rolling down your nose just as you saw the black figured being swallowed by the jewel. There was a moment of flickering lights and then, it stopped. Both Wanda’s stood right in front of the other, the jewel resting comfortably on the hand of Y/N’s wife.

The jewel took into a purplish colour, falling to the ground with a single thump.

The world went silent.

The darkness around you grew, with the stars twinkling right above your head.

Everything was still, with only your hard breathing breaking the tension around your ears. Your body was aching, your mind filled with memories of the past and the present all of them pilling up to overwhelmed you line of thoughts. You closed your eyes trying to forget and wait for everything to be back the way it was in the last year.

But you knew it was just an illusion.

Your world had been shaken up the moment Wanda and America showed up at your doorstep. The fight with Agatha brought back the memories you had tried to forget, it brought with it the truths you were not ready to face. You had always thought that you could outrun your motions, but the world has always taught you this was not possible. Not for someone like you, and certainly not for someone like Wanda.

When you opened your eyes you saw Wanda, your Wanda staring at you, but before anything could be done or said her eyes rolled back passing out of exhaustion. You caught up to her on time, her body falling on yours your face a mask of pure concern just as you ensure she rested comfortably on the ground.

You knew everyone was looking at you, but you decided to ignore them while checking Wanda over to make sure nothing else happened to her.

“Are you alright?” The other Wanda came to you, her voice sent shivers down your back, you didn’t dare to lift your eyes for fear of revealing far too much.

Instead, you nodded taking deep breaths while feeling the ground under your knees, without thinking too much about it, your hand brushed Wanda’s hair tenderly. The attention you were giving to her was something you never thought you would do again. The woman standing beside you shifted her weight and soon she was sitting right beside you; this time around you did turn around only to see her staring at you with big, curious eyes.

“She is still unconscious, but I believe she is no longer two halves of the same person.” Wanda lifted her face to the sky, her lips parting slightly. “Her magic is still erratic, but I believe she would be okay.”

“What about Agatha?” Your question entangled in your throat, scrunching up your nose you decided to conceal your emotions not ready to face the conversation or to address the white elephant hanging around you two.

“She will be trapped in this jewel until you and her decided what should be done with her.” Wanda handed over the jewel, you pursed your lips in disgust before grabbing the artifact.

“The book she had with her, it is the Darkhold, isn’t it?”

“It is.” You nodded this time around locking your eyes with hers.

“Are you taking it with you?”

Wanda broke into an easy smile shaking her head, “it’s not mine but yours. It would be better off in your world, where it belongs.”

“It should be destroyed.” You leaned back resting your hands on the ground.

“It should, but that would be your prerogative not ours.”

Your eyes drifted around the place before they settled on America and Y/N, both of them were engaged in a heavy discussion and you could teel this was the moment America had been waiting for a very long time. The feelings of guiltiness and sadness had been quite evident in her when you two met, right now this was the chance the young woman was waiting for to make amends. To reach for forgiveness.

“So, any idea how we are going to leave this place?”

Wanda nodded leaning back until she pointed to America and your counterpart.

“She is ready to use her powers, I believe she is the only one that can help us right now.”

Not sooner had Wanda said this the world started to tremble, the light of the stars flickered until they disappeared one by one. You straightened up with Wanda standing up as soon as she noticed this.

“I guess…we should try it right now.” You stood up turning to glance at the darkened world, everything was coming in and out of reality with the ground shaking for small periods of time.

“It was a matter of time.” Wanda placed a hand on your forearm, you couldn’t help the tension on your muscles the other woman softened her features stepping closer. “You will be back, and she will need help to recover from this.”

“I know.”

“Are you ready for that?” The question caught you off guard, you knew what was expected of you and what you could do with the woman that had broken your heart at some point.

You could hide behind that excuse until the end of time, but it would run out of any validity at some point. Sooner or later, you knew you would have to face Wanda and decisions must be made. The Wanda standing before you softened her features, her words would made your mind pound with the imminent decisions you would need to make.

“How deep is your anger, and how deep goes your love for you to not face what your heart already knows?” Wanda leaned in and you found yourself in a embrace you didn’t know you miss. Her voice was just a whisper, but it was everything you needed at the moment. “I won’t tell you what to do, but I will tell you my love to follow your instincts. They had never failed you.”

America glanced around the group with a nervous smile.

She glanced at her hands then back at you and Y/N, the words of encouragement were ringing inside her head while she tried to gather the courage to move onto the next step.

“Just think about it, kiddo.” Y/N stated grabbing the hand of her wife, America almost winced at those words because her mind had been a myriad of thoughts since they delegate the task of going back home on her.

You fixed the unconscious woman in your arms, putting her closer to you while looking over at America. The young woman closed her eyes, ready to open the portal when Wanda stopped her.

“Wait, America.” The redhead stepped closer placing her hand on America’s shoulder. “Remember, it is more than opening a portal, is about opening the right one.”

“I know, I know…it’s just…easier said than done.” America pursed her lips, she took a deep breath closing her eyes.

“Then, let yourself be guided by your emotions and what you remember of the place you want to go to.” Wanda squeezed the shoulder of the teen tenderly, and for that brief moment America felt it.

It was vague but it was there.

The same kind of energy she had felt on Wanda and Y/N, it was familiar yet different. She had felt it when she first fell upon that universe, the twins had carried with them a strange kind of energy that seemed to engulf the best of Wanda and Y/N.

America closed her eyes and, without thinking to much, she followed the familiarity of that energy. Her mind bringing over the memories of her time in that land, finally easing out her fears and trusting in the women she had surrounding her.

The young woman clenched her fist, and with a single punch she opened the star-shaped portal.

All of them were ready to go home.

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

[true-blue-sonic]

I think we've long since established that the IDW writers, for the most part, do not understand Silver at all, but I think the reason he seems especially ill-suited for the recent stories they put him in is because of a fundamental misunderstanding of what Silver needs. Silver is not a walking time bomb or a disaster waiting to happen that needs somebody to keep him on a leash, he's just a guy who needs people who actually take him seriously

Yep, this is very accurate. In the Rivals games, Silver knows exactly what he wants, and he is shrewd! He sees through deceit, he can piece together little bits and pieces of things that do not add up, and that makes him one of the very few characters to realise the truth of the situation (Sonic and Knuckles plus Tails and Rouge in the sequel never find out "Eggman" is Eggman Nega). The issue lays with his personality and drivenness, mostly: he comes in guns blazing, and that makes everybody in a game where all characters are constantly stepping on each others' toes anyway not listen to him when he says he needs to talk to "Eggman" first. But that does not make him somebody who needs to be on a leash at all time: he'll reach his goals anyway (where it helps he's basically always right on the money in the games), and at most, someone like Espio and Blaze can offer him guidance and help think up plans. It's not at all the same as him actively needing to be kept in check before disaster happens due to his actions.

I truly have no idea where the idea that Silver is an irresponsible idiot comes from. '06 has been erased from the timeline, and Silver has starred in multiple games afterwards where he was plenty suspicious of the entire situation and far less gullible and trusting. Heck, Sonic Channel literally notes him to be a very reliable person who has something Sonic does not in such a way! And I've written multiple posts about it before, but Silver does not lie. Never! He's always honest, very direct with what he wants, and seemingly surprised when other characters don't immediately trust him for that. And he's blunt and seems to suffer from black-and-white thinking and tunnel vision, but has a heart of gold and never stops fighting for what he wants. If someone mouths him off like Lanolin did, he is going to explode at them. He's not gonna get all droopy and pouty, he's gonna attack Duo right there and get the truth out of him, Diamond Cutters be damned. But the writers seem to envision him exactly still like how they wrote him in Archie, namely as an idiot with zero critical thinking skills who haplessly kept accusing everybody of being a traitor while having only the shoddiest evidence to go on... but now subverted by having him be correct, just without him pointing out anything that supports his case because we can't have the dramatic irony plot die so quickly :)

It is frustrating and disrespectful to Silver, that is all I can make of it.

[bllsbailey]

Here's What Has Dem Pollsters Panicking About Kamala Harris

Like the New York Giants trying to fix their offensive line issues, among other things, Democratic pollsters have been working for years trying to make sure they can nail their projections. It hasn’t been successful. Donald J. Trump wrecked the ship in more ways than one, with two presidential elections where these firms had underestimated the former president’s support. Joe Biden barely won the 2020 race, now an open secret since Democratic donors and party bosses rolled that old man off a cliff in July. At this point in the race four years ago, Biden was ahead of Trump by seven points. Kamala Harris, who was coronated last week after the Biden coup, is trailing Trump by the same amount. 

Harris’ takeover has injected more enthusiasm into the Democratic Party base, and the cash flows back into the war chests. Still, Democratic pollsters are offering a fair warning that Harris’ position, while better than Biden’s, isn’t good. In their models, she’s tied with Trump in the swing states, though methods used to gauge voter preferences show that it’s still Trump’s election to lose. Yet, some of the reasons for their panicking are somewhat entertaining. In short, Democrats still struggle with the low-propensity voters, the folks they view as idiots, coming out of the woodwork during presidential cycles (via Politico): 

So now that Kamala Harris has caught Trump in the polls in her first month as a candidate, it’s left Democrats wondering: How real is her surge?  Here at the Democratic convention this week, some in the party’s professional class are trying to tamp down the exuberance. Officials with the top pro-Harris super PAC said their polling “is much less rosy” than public surveys. Other Democratic pollsters noted that — even if their polling is right — Trump still maintains a lot of advantages.  “It’s still a very tough race, and that feels consistent with everything we know,” said Margie Omero, a partner at the Democratic polling firm GBAO Strategies.  There are plenty of warning signs hidden in the data: A poll commissioned by the Democratic messaging firm Navigator Research and unveiled during the convention showed Harris and Trump essentially tied across the swing-state map. And the candidate characteristics that are best correlated with voters’ preferences — whether a candidate is up to the job, has the right vision and is a strong leader — generally favored Trump in the survey.  […]  One major part of the effort was a lengthy experiment in the swing state of Wisconsin. The goal wasn’t to predict the result of an election; it was to see which voters could be captured by a monthslong survey using multiple ways of finding people, including a door-to-door component — and how that group differs from the voters reached in the typical phone or web surveys conducted over the course of a few days.  The main finding: Standard polls capture voters who are more engaged with politics and consider it more important to their identity. That kind of bias wouldn’t necessarily cause problems in a low-turnout election, like an off year or midterm, because those are exactly the kind of voters who show up. But in a presidential race, when lower-propensity voters also turn out, that could be an issue. And the kind of time, effort and expense that went into getting those voters to participate isn’t scalable in a fast-changing election. 

And these pollsters conceded that the “Wisconsin project” cannot be replicated on the timeline we have right now in the 2024 cycle. Liberals know a tight race breaks for the GOP because this is all about the Electoral College. Second, let’s look at some of these surveys now that RFK Jr. has quit the 2024 race. Mr. Kennedy dropped out last Friday and endorsed Trump; his supporters are likelier to support the former president. We shall see, but the polling issue circles back to something that the political class fails to accept: the Trump coalition is diverse, it's dispersed efficiently geographically, and our system favors candidates who can string together coalitions of this nature.

Trending on Townhall Videos

[jurisffiction]

literally what is dta about i’m actually asking 😩I read the whole first book and i couldn’t tell you please help

this ignites a lot of other thoughts in my mind (wh. where else would my thoughts be.) about literary genres and fiction/fanfic demarcations because while people do talk about dta as comparable to big fantasy series it really IS a fanfic or at least, secondary/sideline work at heart merely for a) how much context from the original show you’re meant to read into things, and b) how completely centred a lot of the start is on just Dean and Cas and their perspectives on each other. 

a lot of the time when i try to recall separate books I’m like “ha ha what even HAPPENED. nothing happened dean and cas just kept brushing fingers <3″ then im like. samantha you idiot there’s a war on. 

but that’s not what you asked. it has actually been a while since i read book 1 and i’ve only read it once so uh. best guesses here

EDIT: woops this got long. what i would say more succinctly is . dta narratively is about dean being hurled back into the endverse timeline with no hope to return, stuck in an apocalypse which refuses to happen, and has to learn about this entire new world, including twisted layers of multiple deals/plans people have made, to Solve It All before the universe actually deteriorates. dta thematically is about like, you know. choosing on purpose to fight as if you’re gonna win, for love/community/yourself, long after it seems all hope is lost.

anyway uh so book 1 in my mind is like

5x04 The End occurs. Lucifer taunts Castiel, who leaves but discovers canon-timeline Dean is once again back in this time, and he takes him back to Chitaqua. Dean can’t remember anything about his last few months before he was sent here, and everyone who could have done it to him is seemingly gone.

Cas keeps Dean hidden around the camp. All the team leaders died in the confrontation with Lucifer, Cas is the only survivor, and believes the world to be imminently ending, so why let the camp know Dean survived?

Dean gets #outed as alive, and has to pretend to be the endverse Dean. Him and Cas fight over the various constraints on them, where Cas is grieving the other Dean, our Dean is grieving his other life, they’re struggling to adjust and Dean has to learn everything about the camp (so does Cas, because Cas previously mostly opted out and was having orgies instead), Cas has to claim ownership of Dean’s soul to protect him, and meanwhile the apocalypse just isn’t happening.

There’s other signs, like all supernatural activity has stopped, and they can’t find any animals anywhere. Cas does some angel mojo to discover there are literal holes punched into creation, seemingly Lucifer’s doing, as he has a temper tantrum over the world not ending like it was meant to.

Dean and Cas slowly make up, and live together, for ritual blood magic protection reasons. I’m more hazy on this end. I think Dean gets injured ? anyway then he decides to go out on a routine trip, gets bitten by a brownie (was confused myself whether this was the scottish folklore spirit thing or some weird american insect I DO believe it to be the folklore one tho.) and dives headfirst into a ridiculous disproportionate fever, almost dies, and has visions. He confuses this Cas for Godstiel, and attempts to seal a contract with a kiss. THat’s not majorly plot relevant it just makes me want to scream. Anyway then he appears to pull through and the book ends. 

Book 2 is then (I ...think? I get the specifics confused) the events from him recovering from his fever and being read translated hippo porn (book 2 is VERY funny imo), being told the entire camp thinks Cas is fucking him for camp privileges or the other way around, confirming this rumour and officially Fake Dating, telling Cas about the Fake Dating, while meanwhile you’re finding out the original team leaders tried to assassinate Cas, a thread which partially resolves at the end of Book 2 but is drip fed with more and more consequence over the whole thing so far, iirc. 

Then Book 3 is, in terms of bookends, mostly about the fake dating becoming real dating, but also about the neighbouring town of Ichabod, encountering Croats properly, learning more about why Dean’s there, and what other forces are at play. Book 4 is just like. plot being hurled at you while Dean and Cas start a remarkably well-communicated if chaotic relationship at the top of the camp hierarchy. Crowley is there and you start learning a LOT of backstory. 

Like most fantasy series, the world grows as the books go on:

Book 1 is very much mostly set within the cabins only, with most of the plot and discussion firmly scoped on Dean and Cas alone.

Book 2 is about Chitaqua more broadly, how the camp functions and all the characters there, and you learn more about how the apocalypse is-isn’t going, both in terms of the supernatural and like, the current federal regulations regarding trade and how Chitaqua has grown and interacted with other groups. 

Book 3 is about Ichabod, a major neighbouring commune situation, and ritual magic, and psychics and witches and gods.

Book 4 is uh, more of all of that, as they’re mostly trapped in Ichabod, you know more about other camps, you’re sideflashing over back in time to the Roman Forum, and finding out a lot of the characters’ prior lives. 

tried to keep this short woops. anyway they haven’t been home in so long :////

anyway im not a part of the like, very long arc of the original dta fandom from 2014-2016 but i think my gist from reading things from them is a lot of people think dta is “About” like................. choosing to keep your head up and continue despite all odds. The story literally kicks off when the apocalypse fails to happen, with a bunch of sitting ducks waiting to be slaughtered at the end of the world, and they instead choose community and fighting instead of giving up. and this isn’t one narrative — there’s many, many mirrors/foil characters for dean and cas respectively who also go through similar arcs at a personal level. there’s also a lot of themes in it about being a thousand different people over a lifetime, which i cant really articulate here but is wonderful 2 me personally

it’s also just like. fun and funny and i do not regret my time reading it but also it is not for everyone whatsoever !

was this post useful to anyone, even me? no <3

[flutteringdreams-matw]

Out of Time (8)

First/Last

Read on AO3

Word Count: 4108

Previously: "Dan Phantom grew up to be one of the worst ghosts in the history of the Ghost Zone; he destroyed the world, and the ghost zone, multiple times over. In meeting you, he inadvertently created the one ghost powerful enough to stop him. He would have continued to raze the world if I hadn't saved your family, leaving no one left to stop him." Clockwork's smile fell, and dread started to pool in Danny's stomach again. "This paradox is the best shot of defeating him once and for all."

Danny nodded, feeling the crushing weight of his powers and responsibility. "Three outcomes?" he asked, bringing it back to Clockwork's original conversation.

"Three outcomes," Clockwork confirmed, frowning.

"One favourable," Danny finished, closing his eyes. Silence descended on the pair for a few minutes, Clockwork watching Danny's body stiffen as he slowly realized what that meant. "Clockwork," he said eventually in a small voice, looking up at the Time Master. "I'm not… I don't… survive this…. do I?"

Now: Danny meets with Valerie, Dani and Vlad.

Link to the next chapter will be in the replies once posted. As always - please let me know what you think!

---

"Okay, spill," Tucker said, glancing at Sam from the corner of his eye as he worked at the console. The girl in question looked at Tucker with wide eyes. "You've been mopey and distant ever since you came down here. Something must have happened." Sam sent him a weak glare of annoyance. Tucker chuckled quietly as he continued to type in code at the computer. He paused, looking at the screen in thought as he pulled up the shield schematics.

"Any luck?" Sam asked, breaking her silence.

Tucker sighed. "Kind of – I think we have the energy to create a shield of this size, but separating Danny's ecto-signature from his jerky self is difficult. I thought if we just used the sig from the booo-merang, it would be enough, but using that will either keep Danny out of the town or allow Dan to manipulate his way into it." He put his hands under his glasses and rubbed his eyes tiredly. "I mean, it would help if we could get Plasmius' ecto-signature and try and figure out ratios, but something tells me that's an even worse idea at the moment. The only good thing about all this is we know that they have different ecto-signatures. We still have no idea why or how… but the fact they do means we can figure this out." Tucker swivelled his chair to face his best friend beside him. "Now, what's eating you? I could use the break and your presence is dampening my mood."

Sam sent the boy another glare, but sighed as she realized he wasn't going to let this go. "I was upstairs looking at some photos, ran into Danny…" she said, blushing slightly at the memory.

Tucker sat straighter in seat, eyes gleaming with excitement as Sam shifted uncomfortably. "Wait – you told him!?" Tucker exclaimed, gathering a few strange looks from the ghosts in the basement.

"No!" Sam yelped back, her face completely pink from embarrassment. "And would you keep it down?!"

Tucker held up his hands as an apology and gestured for her to continue. "So what happened?"

Sam sighed. "We were talking, next thing I knew he was bringing up Nocturn and…" she trailed off, suddenly crestfallen. "I stopped him before he said anything he was going to regret."

Tucker blinked, mouth opening and closing from the cluelessness of both of his friends. "Let me get this straight… Danny, our Danny, the most clueless idiot on the planet when it comes to his own feelings, was about to tell you how he felt about you and you stopped him?!"

"Of course I did!" she shot back. "He has no idea what he's feeling right now with all of that time energy and the visions going through his head. Didn't you hear what Mrs. Fenton said? He's reliving parts of a timeline where we all died, Tucker. I don't want –"

"To get your hopes up," Tucker finished, pointing a finger at the girl. "Sam, all three of us know how you and Danny feel about each other. I've known longer than probably both of you even realized it. You've been doing this dance for almost two years. If he's finally coming to his senses, regardless of whatever is happening, I think you should be jumping for joy. Or whatever Goths do when they're happy."

Sam sat silent for second before sighing. "I asked him why now," she admitted quietly. "He said he wasn't afraid anymore." Tucker made some excited gestures in victory as she continued. "If Clockwork hadn't interrupted, I'm fairly certain he would have said something."

Tucker watched as Sam looked down, lost in thought. "Sam," he said kindly. "Do you want things to change?" Violet eyes met teal ones as Tucker pressed on. "Danny just told you he's not afraid anymore… so what are you afraid of?"

"Of him not coming back," she said softly, looking away. Tucker's eyes widened as the words tumbled out of her mouth. "He's choosing this moment, the one where he's about to face off a big enemy, to tell me. Why would he do that if he didn't think he'd make it?"

Tucker sighed, annoyed. "You idiot." Sam's head whirled back to her best friend at the insult. Tucker's face was serious, but his eyes sparkled with amusement. "The both of you. Sam – he knows what's at stake. Danny's not trying telling you to fulfill some stupid self-sacrifice ritual. He's trying to tell you to make sure he comes back. Sure he has a bazillion reasons but there's only one person that gives him the hope to fight through anything. He wants someone to fight for."

Sam stared at Tucker as his words sunk in. Tucker sighed as he turned his chair back to the screen in front of him. "Besides, if anything goes down, we're going out there to save his ass. The both of us - not just you lovebird. He's my best friend, I'm not going to let him lose to some jerkface. So stop being a Negative Nancy, go upstairs and tell our clueless Ghost Boy you like him."

Sam smiled, feeling more confident than she felt in a long time. "Thanks," she said quietly. Tucker smiled, not looking away from the screen and waved her off. She stood up, walked a few steps towards the staircase before stopping. She turned back to Tucker with an eyebrow raised. "Did you just say 'Negative Nancy?' What are you… 80?"

Tucker grimaced. "Shut up," he said, embarrassed. "I said what I said."

Sam chuckled a bit, turning, and came face to face with Clockwork. "Whoa!" she said, taking a few steps back. Tucker looked up at the pair, turning to face the mysterious time ghost with a small frown. "Clockwork! Is Danny still upstairs?"

Clockwork's red eyes looked over the human carefully, his face emotionless as ever as he floated toward the ground. "No," he said simply. Suddenly, he sighed. "I'm being summoned," he said, a hint of disdain and promptly vanished.

Sam and Tucker looked at each other in confusion as the world continued around them.

:-=-:

Green light illuminated Danny's face as he flew through Amity Park. He sighed, looking down toward the town; it had taken a lot for his parents to convince Vlad that the town was in danger and had agreed to up security. Now to add some more he thought as he continued to fly into the outskirts of Amity and into Elmerton, just under the shield.

There are only three possible outcomes here – only one of them is favourable.

Danny frowned as Clockwork's words came across his mind once again. It wasn't like he expected anything different; he knew that this battle would be difficult. He was literally his own worst enemy – powers, strategies everything. Well, almost everything. He shivered slightly as he remembered the coldness of Dan's voice threatening him. If there were three outcomes there had to be one of Dan winning. The jerk could take him out; in fact, he almost did a couple times already. There was also a possibility of him defeating Dan – though with the shield around the town and time energy attacking his core, that was looking pretty slim. Resignation filled the teen as he mulled over the last possible option before he shook his head; right now he had to focus.

Green eyes scanned the apartments below as he attempted to find the right building. Valerie's apartment should be around here somewhere. Danny landed onto the roof of the nearest building, crossing his arms in thought as he tried to remember her address. Without warning, blue sparks of energy coursed through him. Surprised, Danny let out a sharp groan of pain as he fell onto his knees, curling into himself. "Really?" he asked, annoyed as more time energy moved through his body.

The last time he had seen Valerie was the funeral. Why did she get to be so free? Why was it his burden? The hunter would pay; If his family was gone, maybe hers should follow.

Danny gasped as the vision left him, feeling ill as he tried to let the vision pass. He breathed hard, putting one hand out to steady himself as he felt more electricity come to the surface. "Not now," he said, pushing back against it. His core responded, flaring slightly as the energy started to dissipate. A few minutes later and Danny was left panting on the rooftop. "Still… not loving this," he grunted, finally regaining his bearings.

A whine of an ecto-gun from his right made him stiffen on instinct before he sighed heavily. His body relaxed slightly, feeling slightly more in control as he still knelt on the rooftop. "Hello Valerie," he said softly, not looking in her direction.

"Phantom," Valerie replied curtly, as she stopped the charging weapon. She floated in full ghost hunting gear, the red and black sled bobbing up and down in the wind. She put the gun in her holster, flying down to the rooftop and retracted her sled. The ghost in front of her still held his position on the ground, making her frown in confusion. "We've been looking for you."

Danny's head whipped up, looking at her through tired, confused eyes. "We?" he asked.

Valerie crossed her arms and cocked her hip. "Yo kid!" she yelled. "I found him!"

A grey and black blur flew upward toward them, landing next to Valerie gracefully. "Danny!" Danielle yelled, running over to her cousin quickly. "You're okay!" She threw her arms around the stunned boy in a large hug.

"Dani!" Danny exclaimed, standing slowly as the girl released him from the hug. Danny frowned worriedly as he looked between Danielle and Valerie. "What are you doing here? Are you okay?"

Valerie rolled her eyes, annoyed. "She's fine, I didn't hurt her," Valerie told him evenly. Dani frowned as she looked between the hunter and her cousin. "She got stuck here when you put up this stupid shield. She's staying at my place to avoid Plasmius."

Danny's eyes widened slightly, still frowning as he looked Danielle over. "How long have you been here?"

Danielle shrugged. "Almost a week," she said nonchalantly. Before Danny could protest, she pressed on. "Are you okay? We saw your fight on the T.V. yesterday. Who was that ghost? Why did you put the shield up? Who were the ghosts that helped you?"

Danny sighed tiredly, crossing his arms. He looked over at Valerie, who was surprisingly content to observe them. "I've been better," he told them cryptically. Valerie shifted and Danny saw her eyes move up and down, assessing him for any lies he may tell. "Had another run in with him last night too." Danny put a hand on Danielle's shoulder. "I'm glad you're here – honestly we could use the extra fire power." The younger girl beamed at him.

"Who's attacking the town?" Valerie asked bluntly, causing both ghosts to turn back to her.

Danny's face darkened. "A really long story," he replied. He caught Valerie's eye as the two teens stared at each other. Danny broke their gaze first, staring up at the shield. "He'll attack again tomorrow and I don't think this shield will last much longer."

Both Valerie and Danielle looked at him worriedly. "Danny, what are you talking about?" Danielle asked, confused. "The shield's been up for days! There's no way it'll break that easy."

Danny ignored her, looking directly at Valerie. "I need your help," he admitted. Valerie looked at him questioningly. "This ghost is something you have never faced before and will not hesitate to take out the town. If my shield goes, for whatever reason, I need you to protect it."

"I always protect the town," Valerie replied with a huff, looking away. Danielle looked at her quizzically, remaining silent as she looked between Danny and her new friend.

Danny sighed. "Valerie," he started, getting her attention again. "Regardless of what you think I am, Dan is much, much worse."

Valerie laughed. "Dan?" she asked. "Really? There are more of you named Danny Phantom?"

"Hey!" Danielle exclaimed indignantly. "I didn't ask for this name! Besides, I like it!"

Danny brought a gloved hand to his face and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying not to lose his temper. "We don't have time for this," he told her urgently. His hand hands flew outward, moving quickly as he tried to press on. "If my shield goes down tomorrow, take whatever weapons you have, and defend Amity Park. You need to destroy him; take him down with whatever means necessary."

Danielle gasped as Valerie looked at him with wide eyes. Phantom never destroyed a ghost in a fight – Valerie had been stopped by him multiple times for trying to do just that. The fact that he was here, almost begging her to do just that was a testament of how desperate he must be. They were silent for a long time, Danny's words weighing heavily. The ghost boy looked away from the two teens in front of him, while all three tried to figure out what to say next. It was Valerie who broke the silence.

"Where will you be?"

Danny laughed darkly at the question. "It doesn't really matter where I'll be," he said bitterly. "If that shield goes down, it means I failed."

Both girls gasped at his tone. "Danny, no!" Danielle cried, grabbing him around the middle. Danny looked at her, surprised. "Let me go with you!"

Danny smiled gently at his cousin and knelt beside her. "It'll be okay," he said reassuringly, hugging her back. "I need you here – Amity Park needs one Phantom that can kick ghost butt." He heard her laugh into his shoulder. Pulling away, he put his hands on her shoulders. "The Fentons are working on a shield to keep Dan out; you should be safe because they have your exact ecto-signature from the last time you were here. If my shield goes down, their shield will go up. I'm not alone in this." He looked at Valerie once more before looking to his young counterpart. "Stick with Valerie. She'll protect you."

Danny stood again, patting Danielle on the shoulder affectionately. Green met green as Danny locked eyes with Valerie once again, the latter finally realizing the gravity of the situation. "Hey Dani," she called. "Can you give us a minute?" Danielle glanced at both older teens apprehensively, Danny giving her a small nod of approval before she agreed.

Valerie waited until she felt Dani was far enough away before she addressed the boy in front of her. "You were right," she said directly. Danny's eyebrows rose in confusion. "About Vlad – I went back after I released you that night… he really is Plasmius huh?"

Danny observed Valerie carefully before letting out a long breath. He didn't look her in the eye. "Does he know?"

Valerie shook her head. "If he does, he hasn't come after me," she told him. Danny's shoulders relaxed slightly but said nothing. "You've worked with Plasmius before, haven't you?" Danny nodded. "Are you going to him next?"

Danny's arm found the back of his neck awkwardly. "Unfortunately," he said. "Vlad might be an insane mastermind, but he is mayor of the town and powerful to boot. The Fentons have already reached out to create a security plan – I'm headed there to ask him to defend the town too. I doubt he would give up a chance to be the 'Saviour of Amity Park.'"

Valerie took off her helmet, her long hair dropping to her waist as she regarded the ghost in front of her. Neither teen spoke for a few moments, just staring at each other from across the rooftop. "I've seen that look in your eye before," she said softly. Danny looked at her, confused. "During the Ghost King attack - you took my mask off in front of my Dad. Back then, I thought you wanted me out of the way to trick the town. I went looking for you afterwards, to kick your ghost butt back to the Ghost Zone… but you were gone for almost a week afterwards." The two teens locked eyes again. "You're going to face this…Dan, aren't you? Just like the Ghost King." Valerie shifted her tone into an accusation. "You're not here for another team up, you're here in case that ghost wastes you."

They stood in silence for a few minutes after that, before Danny wordlessly nodded. The dark skinned girl was taken aback by his honesty, how much older and tired he looked in that moment. He was injured, almost begging for her help. Snow white hair moved softly in the wind, making his green eyes spark with determination through whatever he must be going through. He was the reason she became a ghost hunter and vowed to destroy... willing to risk his afterlife for a town of humans. She didn't understand –couldn't understand - but regarded him with determined eyes anyway.

"Okay Phantom," she assured. "I'll protect Amity Park and Dani from anyone who wants to hurt them. If that shield goes down, I'll go after this Dan with whatever I got."

Danny's entire body relaxed as if a weight was lifted off his shoulders. Valerie observed him carefully as he masked any uncertainty he must feel in her presence. "Be ready," he told her before teleporting away.

Valerie stood tall as she scanned the shield around the town. The mantle was passed – all she had to do was wait. It wasn't until Danielle came back to the rooftop and asked her what's wrong that she realised she was crying.

:-=-:

Clockwork sighed heavily as he watched many Observants fly off in different directions. He moved slowly, hovering feebly as he made his way inside of the Observant Tribunal Headquarters. As he entered, many more Observants flew about, often yelling about the 'end of the world.'

"Clockwork! There you are!"

The Time Master sighed again as an Observant came into view. The large eyeball seemed to be more accentuated by the deep black collar of his robe. Clockwork kept his staff on the ground, holding himself in place as the Observant came toward him.

"Is there any news?" the Observant asked desperately.

"As I have told you the previous seven times you've summoned me here – no," Clockwork replied firmly. "There has been no change to the time stream, nor the events that are to come."

"Are you sure Clockwork?"

Clockwork scoffed irritably. "If I could see past a paradox, believe me, I would have told you by now." He gestured to his appearance. "Or at least make myself younger – these trips are becoming tiresome."

The Obersvant's eye narrowed. "Your powers are fading – just like ours." When Clockwork didn't respond, the Observant continued. "So this is truly the end of time? The boy will lose and Dan Phantom will rule the world once more?"

Red eyes rolled in exasperation. "How are you so sure he'll lose?" Clockwork asked, ignoring the question. "He's beaten him before."

"Because of your interference!" the Observant snapped. "Even you can't stop a paradox Clockwork! Once these two face off, your powers will be locked until it is all over."

Clockwork turned his back toward the Observant. "I know my role during a paradox," Clockwork said dangerously. "The next twenty four hours will determine the pathways to the future. Will the Observants face the future head on or run away like the cowards they are?" Clockwork looked up at the Observants flying frantically in every direction. "How many times have you all asked me to intervene to save the timeline? How many times I've refused? You have no right to lecture me when I only interfered because the Observants asked." Clockwork pressed a button on his staff, engulfing him in a blue light. "I will be there when Time recovers, as I have been for centuries – regardless of what happens in this paradox."

The Observant scoffed at Clockwork's tone. "Your fondness of the boy has clouded your judgement," he accused.

Clockwork's red eyes narrowed as he looked back toward the Observant. "My fondness has done nothing," he replied coldly. "Danny Phantom will face his future self once more and once it is all over, I will return to my duty as the Master of Time, regardless of the outcome. You, however, will continue to be blinded by your fear and hatred." Clockwork looked up at the frantic ghosts one last time in disdain before he disappeared.

:-=-:

Dan's eyes were closed as he felt more shadows appear in front of Amity Park. His army was growing, made more powerful by his undeniable rage he felt for his younger self. How has the boy scraped by so easily, Dan thought angrily, eyes opening as he flew upward. He could see the shadows at the shield, ready to attack once he gave the signal.

The boy still had twelve hours left before they attacked. He observed the shield calculatingly, trying to find a weak point to destroy any pitiful resistance that the humans of Amity Park would attempt.

Danny will rue the day he locked me in that infernal thermos.

:-=-:

As he touched down in the Mayor's office, Danny grabbed hold of the closest solid object he could find and doubled over, gasping. His vision swam slightly, vaguely seeing a mass of ghosts attacking the shield as he tried to desperately focus on the task at hand. He felt the sparks of electricity run through his body again, grimacing at the now common event.

"It's about time, Daniel," the annoyed voice of Vlad Masters brought him into focus. Vlad turned at his desk, glaring at the young ghost. "Now, care to tell me what the hell is going on?" Danny said nothing, not quite catching his breath. He fell onto his knees, transforming back into Danny Fenton in the process. Vlad's face shifted from annoyed to concerned quickly, standing up slowly as he regarded the boy in front of him. Danny blinked rapidly, shaking his head as if he was trying to focus, panting from exertion. Vlad could sense the exhaustion the boy felt from where he stood, and sighed heavily. The man walked over to the wall and turning his hand intangible, he stuck it through, pressing a button. In an instant, the wall parted, revealing a steel blue safe. Vlad opened it and pulled out a small black pouch with Phantom's logo on it.

Finally making his way over to the teen, Vlad knelt in front of Danny. "Here," he said gently, helping the boy into the armchair that he was currently gripping for dear life. Once seated, Danny deflated slightly, finally starting to calm down.

"Vlad?" Danny asked, confused.

Vlad frowned as he watched Danny closely; the young half-ghost's breathing finally became normal, but was still quite weary. "Daniel," Vlad said softly. "You've had the shield up for four days now. It's exhausting your core; if you keep this up –"

"I know," Danny said, cutting him off. "But I need to keep them out."

Vlad's frown deepened at the boy's insistence. "What's going on?" Vlad pressed again.

Danny sighed heavily. "Apart from an evil version of me from the future trying to kill everyone I care about and the end of time?"

Vlad blinked, nonplussed, before regaining his thoughts. "You mean to tell me that the evil ghost that's been causing havoc both here and the ghost zone is you? Goody two-shoes Danny Phantom?" he asked incredulously.

"It's a long story," Danny replied ominously, looking away. "A lot had happened."

"Really? Did someone steal your thermos?" Vlad asked sarcastically.

Danny's head whipped forward and glared at the man in annoyance. "More like an explosion killed my friends and family, got sent to live with my cheesehead arch-enemy, asked you to rip out my ghost half who went crazy and merged with your ghost half and destroyed the world," he told the older man darkly.

Vlad blinked as the boy's words sank in, leaving a small silence in its wake. "And you know this how exactly?"

"Clockwork."

"The Master of Time?" Vlad asked incredulously. "You do get around, don't you."

Danny ignored him. "I stopped him once," he continued. "In an alternate timeline. But he exists out of the time stream-"

"Creating a paradox?" Vlad surmised. Danny nodded. "How far in the future are we talking here?"

"10 years."

"Meaning he also had my powers for 30 years," Vlad mused. He looked at his rival young again, noting how rigid the boy was in front of him. "How did you beat him last time?"

Danny looked away slightly, avoiding the question. "Vlad…" the younger half ghost gripped the arms of the chair harshly. "If the shield goes down… I need you to protect the town."

"Daniel?" Vlad was worried at the sudden shift in tone. Steely blue eyes watched as Danny shifted tiredly, grimacing at some unseen force wracked his small frame.

"Promise me," Danny said, looking at the older hybrid desperately. "He'll go after my parents, Jazz, Sam, Tucker. If I'm not strong enough-"

"Not strong enough? Daniel what on earth-" Vlad stopped, wide eyed as he realized what this was. "Daniel, no - I don't care what infernal complex you may have, but facing that ghost the way you are now? That's suicide."

"It's the only way," Danny said softly, shaking his head. Vlad scoffed at his tone. "Vlad, he basically has my ecto-signature. There can't be two of us in one time stream. The only way time can move forward again is if I face him."

"Alone?" Vlad sneered. "Contrary to what you believe little badger, the world does not rest on your shoulders."

"Vlad," Danny started, letting out a large breath. "He has an army – look at me. You and I both know I have no chance alone. Mom and Dad have a plan, so all I need to figure out is to get past to face him - just to make the time lines restart. When that happens, hopefully we'll figure out how to destroy him once and for all."

Vlad raised an eyebrow, questioningly. "We? Are you asking for my help?"

"Dammit Plasmius!" Danny exclaimed, stunning the billionaire at the outburst. Vlad took a few steps back at the sudden volume. "You think I want this? You think I like knowing there's an evil version of me waiting to destroy my friends and family and me? You think I wanted to come here today to beg you to save my family?" Danny's eyes lit up green in frustration. "Fine! I'm begging you, please: When my shield falls; protect my family and friends okay? Happy?! Do what you can to destroy him. You hear me? Whatever it takes."

They sat in stunned silence for a few moments, Danny's chest heaving from his outburst as he started to calm down.

Vlad recovered first, swallowing slightly.

"You said when," he said quietly. Danny looked away from the man. "Danny, you said when your shield falls. Not if." Danny stayed quiet, confirming Vlad's suspicions. The white haired man sighed, resigned to the boy's decision. "You have my word."

Danny deflated, nodding in acceptance. A heavy silence enveloped the room, neither half-ghost speaking. Vlad moved tentatively toward Danny, kneeling next to the boy once more. "Here," Vlad told him. He offered the small pouch he took from the safe to the teen. "I had these created after our run in with the Ghost King."

"What are they?"

"I call them Ecto-Enhancers," Vlad explained. "Think of them like an energy drink." He unzipped them and showed the teen three syringes, all glowing neon green. "They'll give your powers a bit of an extra boost when you're exhausted or hurt. It'll give your body a chance to recover if you're using a lot of energy. Only use them for extreme circumstances; use one every few hours." Danny nodded, taking the pouch. Vlad stood up, turning his back to the teen. Silence descended on the pair once more for a few minutes before Vlad broke it. "Daniel…" he started, before sighing, shaking his head. "Are you sure about this? Facing him?"

"Not like I have a choice," Danny mumbled. Vlad heard the teen grunt behind him. He turned to see to boy standing. "I should get going. Thanks for the Ecto-Enhancers."

"Danny wait," Vlad said, stopping the younger halfa in his tracks. They stared at each other for a second, neither speaking. There was so much Vlad wanted to say to the boy; they were so similar and yet so different. Eventually, Vlad broke the silence with a sigh. "Be careful."

A look of confusion washed across Danny's face briefly before it changed into a sad, guarded mask. Vlad saw it now; Danny's reserved acceptance of his fate, the understanding that he'll probably never make it out of whatever disaster awaits him. A small nod was all Vlad got as Danny transformed and flew out of the office.

[stony-ao3-feed]

Three Little Words; or, Five Times Steve and Tony Didn’t Actually Apologize + One Time They Did

Read it on AO3

by elwenyere

“First of all,” Tony said, “and I need everyone to hear this on multiple levels: how dare you?”

In the branching timeline, Thor has to restart Tony's heart, and Steve hears that Bucky is alive. Some things go differently, and some things stay the same. For starters, Steve and Tony are still terrible at saying those three little words.

Words: 3336, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Thor (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Vision (Marvel), James "Rhodey" Rhodes

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Getting Together, First Kiss, POV Alternating, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) - Alternate 2012 Timeline

Read it on AO3

[ao3feed-stony]

Three Little Words; or, Five Times Steve and Tony Didn’t Actually Apologize + One Time They Did

by elwenyere

“First of all,” Tony said, “and I need everyone to hear this on multiple levels: how dare you?”

In the branching timeline, Thor has to restart Tony's heart, and Steve hears that Bucky is alive. Some things go differently, and some things stay the same. For starters, Steve and Tony are still terrible at saying those three little words.

Words: 3336, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Thor (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Vision (Marvel), James "Rhodey" Rhodes

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Getting Together, First Kiss, POV Alternating, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) - Alternate 2012 Timeline

source https://archiveofourown.org/works/27200845

[luna-almighty-god]

Guardian Angel N°13 [Nyx]

Hello, this is chapter thirteen! The drawing is mine, please don't take it!

This story is obviously not canonical, please do not refer to it if you are looking for canonical information.

Have a good read!

===

First Chapter

Previous Chapter

===

[He was born to kill.]

It wasn't a lie, or a depression, or just a quick remark made in haste. It was simply a statement of fact. A statement about what his life had been like, both before and after he was born.

He was born to kill. He had been raised to kill. And Nyx often retained a bitter laugh when he saw the people around him looking at him with pity, looking at him as a poor little thing who had been given no choice.

Plum had also looked at him for a long time like that. Plum was like all those unconscious people who looked at him and said, "The poor child, tortured by his parents, locked up in the dungeons, forced to do things he doesn't want to do!"

That was a lot of misunderstanding about Nyx.

Because Nyx wasn't an idiot. Nyx knew he had a choice.

And his choice naturally went in favor of his parents. His parents, whom he wanted to make proud and protect, no matter what.

“Nyx, are you listening?”

Nightmare's voice was deep, intimidating. Enough for his son to fold before him, lower his eyes to the ground:

“Yes, father. I'm all ears.”

The master of misfortune left his throne, his tentacles waving nervously, contrasting with the inexpressive face of their host:

“I don't care what happens to the other colored bastard. But he'd better not be in my way when I'm facing Killer.

- I understand, father. I'll take care of it.”

Nyx squealed, however, when an appendage grabbed it by the throat, to better press it against the wall on its back. Nightmare came closer, almost sticking his face close to him, the pupil crackling with a dangerous, devastating glow:

“Don't disappoint me.”

He released his son and left the room. The young skeleton fell to the ground, grimacing slightly, and massaged his throat.

He could have run away. His magic was unimpeded, he could teleport himself safely out of the castle, see his pencil retrieved and open a portal to another AU. He could do it easily, just as he knew he could hide from everyone, even his parents.

A spell to camouflage his magic. A spell to camouflage his emotions. A spell to teleport him.

He had everything he needed to escape, to get away from here.

But he chose to stay.

[He'd always had a choice.]

*** ***

Color threw himself into a frantic race, too exhausted to use his magic. He succumbed to despair, despite all his fervor and courage... He succumbed, exhausted and terrified, as he watched in the distance as his beloved Killer tried to defend himself against Nightmare.

“Killer!”

He tried to call, to show his soul mate that he was there for him, but his voice was too weak, much too weak.

And tentacles pinned him to the ground.

He hiccupped, a grimace of pain escaping him as he felt his bones cracking all over the place.

“You're the one who caused Father so much trouble...?” Nyx questioned him as he quietly joined him, looking intrigued.

Color coughed, felt the pungent taste of blood fill his puck without being able to retain a reply:

“Haven't you had enough brats?! I have to save Killer! Let go of me!

- I can't grant your request, father is counting on me.

- He's using you! He doesn't see you as a son, but as a tool! Open your eyes!”

The appendages tightened him a little more, aggravating the already large cracks, while Nyx's pupils took on a slight golden glow, as if he had been amused by Color's words. Color, trembling with rage, tried to struggle:

“You don't have to follow Nightmare! You have a choice! You don't have to stoop to this guy's whims just because he's your father!

- ... whim?”

Nyx's tone had changed, as had his pupils, which were slowly turning red:

“I think you're a hypocrite, you who begged Killer to come with you, pretending to love you tenderly.

- Because I love him ! I take care of him!

- But you knew the consequences. You knew it would destroy Nightmare. You knew he'd want revenge. But I guess hurting him was a fabulous bonus. Everybody wants to hurt the nightmare master.

- Because he's a vile being!”

The grip tightened more violently, wrenching a terrible howl from Color who was pushing back his tears as hard as he could.

Nyx's voice was darker:

“It's because everyone else does what you do that my father became like you. It's because of you that he sank. It is because of you that he is unhappy.”

A stream of magic concentrated over Nyx, finally materializing a deep black Gaster Blaster.

Color's soul missed a beat.

Nyx rumbled coldly:

“I have made my choice.”

The blaster charged into a morbid crackle:

“I'm going to make him happy. I'll make both my parents happy.”

Color petrified and broke out in a cold sweat. His wide-eyed eyes moved sharply towards Killer out of instinct, as if to call for help or simply to capture one last time the image of his lover. And frightened, he saw Killer on the ground, about to be finished off by Nightmare.

He hadn't been able to save his lover. This realization finally broke him, tearing bitter tears from his cheeks, which rolled down on his cheeks, before blending into the cloud of dust that became his body when the energy beam pulverized him.

The explosion was harsh, the earth trembled. And Nyx, imperturbable, put his scarf back on properly.

He had made up his mind.

His parents came first. Before everything else.

*** ***

The portal was similar to the last time: a worrying, bluish vortex that hinted at another world, a dark and dangerous future.

Nyx hated this vision.

He had fought to change the course of things, and now he learned that his timeline still existed?

But he should have known better. If his timeline had been erased, he himself would have disappeared, wouldn't he? To tell the truth, he didn't know anything about it, he didn't have enough knowledge to prove anything.

All he knew was that the two timelines shouldn't mix any more. Otherwise his parents would destroy everything he had forced himself to do for them.

...even though... did it still make sense? Making a difference had to help his family. But he'd changed things for another timeline, not his own.

He hadn't fixed anything.

“Damn... (sighs)”

He gritted his teeth, feeling his fences crack again as he approached the gate. If his efforts were useless, what was he to do? How was he supposed to act?

Dream, Error, Cross... they had counted on him. They trusted him.

But they were wrong from the beginning. They were the ones who misled him.

“SHIT!”

A magical flow escaped him, twisted the space around him, made his already feverish body tremble as he did not perceive the slightest change from the portal. The portal that seemed to taunt him with malice, as if to tell him "if you had closed me earlier, you could have lived a sweet life of lies, unaware that your timeline still existed.

He gnashed his teeth, ignoring his soul that had become painful, and made a Gaster Blaster to shoot at the portal. But the ray of magic did nothing, not even a little bit of damage to the wormhole. And if Nyx was tempted to do it again, he was stopped by the sensation of a very familiar magic, an aura that stood behind him and that he would have recognized among a thousand.

He turned pale, his throat dry, and shivered when a hoarse voice rose behind his back:

“Do you really think the gate will close like this?”

A weary, sarcastic voice, broken by the cries, tears, the tumults of life.

Febrile, Nyx turned around gently, his pupils reflecting all his anxiety. As he thought, Nightmare stood there. The Nightmare of his timeline.

“... Hello, Father...”

He watched his progenitor in silence. The emotions were multiple and contradictory: apprehension, fear, joy, relief, shame... So many things the young skeleton would have preferred not to feel.

Sometimes, he would have liked to be devoid of emotion, to tear out his soul like Ink, to become just a vulgar doll unable to feel, and therefore to suffer.

But he was too afraid to do so. Another of his faults: talking a lot, but not acting.

“So you betray me to the end... ?” Nightmare grumbled.

A weary reproach. This Nightmare had gotten used to people turning their backs on him. Nyx knew it, and it gripped his soul with an acidic guilt:

“Father, I ...

- Ink has already told me everything. So you have fun changing a timeline for your own pleasure?

- I-I just wanted to ...”

But a laugh interrupted him, and he shivered at the sight of Nightmare's broad smile. How long had it been since he had smiled?

Nyx swallowed as he approached:

“You are my son! As selfish and manipulative as I am! No matter what your reasons are, laudable or not, you're still a great speaker!”

The drawer did not dare to move, held his breath when his father was a few inches away from him:

“What now, Nyx? Now that you know you've created another timeline without influencing ours? Now that I'm here, now that I've found you? Now that you panic, assailed by doubt? What are you going to do?”

And while he was talking, his tentacles were slipping, wrapping themselves around Nyx's legs, reaching his waist and then his arms.

“Past or future? You want to change things, you're gonna have to erase your past. So take advantage of having me on hand to kill me, closed the portal. Do the job to the end!”

Nyx felt pressure on his body, felt the appendages squeeze harder, hard enough to hurt him without breaking his bones.

“Father, I...”

The physical pain was nothing compared to his mental suffering. He imagined listening to his father, killing him in cold blood, doing the same with Ink. He imagined getting rid of the dust, closing the portal forever, and starting his life over in that timeline.

He imagined doing all this, and a deep headache took him, accompanying the terror that gripped his soul.

His pupils turned blue and he couldn't control it:

“I can't...” he blew, a sob caught in his throat.

Nightmare lost his smile, frowned as he examined his son, trying to read him:

“.... Why? You're happy with our versions of the past, though. Much happier than with us anyway.”

Nyx looked down, on the verge of tears:

“For the same reason I have sacrificed so much so far... because I love you...”

The tentacles suddenly dropped as Nightmare widened his eyes. How can you not be surprised when the son you have tortured for years tells you that he loves you? Especially when, through your fault, said son is filled with negative emotions, addicted to poisoned apples?

Nightmare burst out laughing so much it seemed laughable to him :

“Do you love us? I don't know if that still makes you a worthy heir, but if it allows me to make you obey ...”

He sneered and came and patted Nyx's cheek, just like one would do to a dog:

“So listen to me. You've done a good job on this timeline, it's time to make it all pay off.”

Nyx gave him a confused look, to which Nightmare hastened to reply:

“We're going to get rid of our alters.”

Nyx froze with fright, understanding without difficulty the purpose of this manoeuvre: to eliminate the past versions in order to take their place ... To eliminate the versions with which he had befriended ...

The Ink and the Nightmare of the past. Those who had made the effort to change, to improve themselves, who had built a family life, with whom he had created this 'secret club', those with whom he had drawn or shared meals, those who had given him real attention, who had worried about him, who had housed him, supported him...

Nyx's pupils turned grey.

He nodded slowly.

“I'll do anything for you, Father.”

*** ***

PaperJam nervously triturated the bottom of his shirt, anxious as he watched his parents whisper with concern. The young skeleton, as soon as he had seen his progenitors returned, had understood that something terrible was happening, and he could only apprehend the continuation by seeing Ink close to a nervous breakdown.

Walking away from the kitchen to get out of the house, Jammy took a breath. He had been able to discern Nyx's name in the conversation. It wasn't hard to understand that something had happened to his friend, and the child couldn't accept it.

He loved Nyx very much. The cartoonist was kind and gentle, paid him a lot of attention, but always seemed so sad ... not to mention that crisis he had had the other night, and the way he had thrown himself on the black apple.

And then... he had called Ink "dad".

Slowly, the pieces of the puzzle were coming together in PaperJam's mind, and he wrinkled the arches.

He had to find Nyx. He had to find Nyx right away.

He concentrated his magic, blew... and opened a portal. A proud smile lit up his face : he had been able to use his parents' advice ! Normally he would have bragged about it to them, but right away he couldn't say anything. He suspected that they would not let him go.

He took a new breath, prepared himself for all eventualities, and crossed the gate with a determined step.

[He had to find his big brother]

===

Next chapter

You can support me on my Utip or on my Ko-fi account !

===

Credits =

Dreamtale ->  Joku

Killer -> Rahafwabas

Color -> Super-Youmna

Paperjam -> 7GoodAngel

[telesthisia]

HANDY DANDY RP PLOTTING CHEAT-SHEET FOR PRINCESS ZELDA (A Link to the Past)!

Want new-and-exciting plots for your character? Long to reach out to more of your followers, but don’t know where to start? Fear not! Fill out this form and give your RP partners both present and future all the of juicy jumping off points they need to help you get your characters acquainted.

Be sure to tag the players whose characters YOU want more cues to interact with, and repost, don’t reblog! Feel free to add or remove sections as you see fit. Template here.

mun name: Amber!!  ooc contact: My DMs are always open for mutuals and non-mutuals alike (I think at least, if not don’t be afraid to send in asks either I try my best to get to them ;v;)! I do have a personal blog but weeps.... me no longer active on there. And a twitter but weeps once again, it’s an oc twitter despite my yellings of off topic things. MY DISCORD TOO!! Though my activity is very inconsistent somedays I’ll be on others not so much! Don’t be afraid to ask for that uvu 

who the heck is my muse anyway?

HOHO!!! For those who never touched The Legend of Zelda in their lives, I’m sure it’s pretty dang confusing to see more than one design of both Zelda and Link, I’ll try my best to explain this! The series follows a very, very convoluted timeline filled with plotholes, as such the Links and Zeldas we see throughout different titles of the game are actually reincarnations who are destined to seal away whatever darkness may threaten the lands known as Hyrule.

The Zelda I play as is the princess of Hyrule during a point in the timeline known as “Downfall Era” where the Hero of Time in OOT lost against Ganondorf in the final battle; Ocarina of Time is the reason for why there’s multiple timelines with each having their unique era depending on the choices in that game. The Downfall Era is known for having games known as A Link to The Past, Oracle of Seasons, Oracle of Time, Link’s Awakening, A Link Between Worlds, Triforce Heroes, The OG Legend of Zelda, Annnnd Adventure of Link! The Zelda I play as comes from A Link to The Past as well as the Oracle series and I guess Link’s Awakening despite having no appearance. The events of A Link to The Past and Oracle Series has deeply affected my Zellie in that she suffers from unspoken traumas as well depression. See, before the events of ALTTP there was a war known as the Imprisoning War, that war ended where the seven sages seal away Ganon. Peace reigned for a while until a series of plagues and droughts struck which affected the kingdom. It wasn’t until the antagonist of the game, a wizard by the name of Agahnim, would put an end to the misfortunate blighting Hyrule with his magic, gaining favor with the king. He was able to worm his way into court and from there act on his plans in breaking the seal to the sacred realm where the triforce and Ganon rest. Doing so, he must capture the seven maidens who are descendants of the seven sages and sacrifice them in order to break the seal and well, guess which princess happens to be one of those seven maidens? Suffice to say, he was successful in breaking the seal with Zelda being the final sacrifice. Here we find out that he’s actual the alter ego of Ganon (don’t question it too hard) and we also find out she’s not dead! Hooray! But she is trapped in a plane known as The Dark World, once the sacred realm corrupted by Ganon’s greed. So as all LOZ stories goes, Link saves the day. Happily ever after, right? Well... no, see unlike in the game where the ending is happy and everyone who died is alive I follow both the 90s comics and Himekawa manga where those who died in the games did not come back to life. This includes Zelda’s father, Link’s uncle and some of the maidens. It’s very bittersweet in that, the day is saved and Ganon is gone forever but at the cost of loved ones no longer coming back. 

Well... Ganon comes back! In the oracle series! Two years after ALTTP, Twinrova tries to resurrect him by using the blood and body of Princess Zelda, meaning she can actually die this time around. But Link saves the day once again. Which leads us today, the main verse of the blog which is a year after Oracles and three years after ALTTP! NOTE: That my smash verse more or less follows this timeline I have in place for this blog. 

things you should know

I sound like a broken record but. She’s a glass canon of sorts. Where she’s very powerful thanks to blood of the seven sages, the light force, and having hylia’s blood in her veins. As such, she’s very powerful and her magic super potent which is why so many people wanna sacrifice for dark rituals... BUT!! She has super power health issues that affects her magical stamina and body as such she can’t even use half her powerful magic and this upsets her greatly. It’s a small headcanon of mine because in the games and manga, she doesn’t really do much despite being a powerful magical princess. Keep in mind that ALTTP came out before the retcon that is Skyward Sword and before they decided to add more to Zelda’s abilities throughout the course of the series... so my brain went to: she’s powerful but can’t use magic too much due to poor health. It worked!! Before smash came along but I swear I’m not at all salty. To be fair, it was my fault for assuming things but imagine: glass canon Zelda. It sounded super cool at the time! 

She represses a lot if only for the sake of her nation and to appear as a good leader for her people. As such, she’s almost always calm and has a gentle smile on her face despite radio static sounds resounding in her thoughts. Give her time, she’ll open up and show you her playful side! 

She’s been surrounded by death considering before ALTTP, during ALTTP and kinda with Oracles if you count Twinrova, as well as having a connection with the spirit realm due to freaky PSI powers. So, she doesn’t really have a negative view on death and has actually gained that edgy romanticist view as the result of her life experiences. She’s very much someone who likes to live life to her fullest as the result... and well, it doesn’t help that she’s aware of her short life span thanks to her future vision. Something she won’t reveal to anyone more than likely as to not worry them. She’s more or less accepted her fate... speaking of which

She hates fate/destiny/etc but accepts whatever happens because again clairvoyance has proven that there’s no changing what’s been planned. So, she doesn’t bother fighting against it. But, what impresses her are those who manage to overcome destiny, something that Link does sometimes which is why she looks up to him. He’s that variable that the future can’t keep track of due to how ever changing he is. 

 She loves exploring creepy places, ruins, caves, and dungeons that are scattered throughout her kingdom, for both history and the spooky aesthetics of it! So if you see her outside the castle she’s more than likely getting ready to explore some spooky place. She’s almost always wearing her cloak but there are rare moments where she’s not either ;v; she’ll always go by the name Elle... worth mention she doesn’t bother hiding the mark of the triforce on her right hand.

Speaking of which, only people from the capital known as Castle Town and even some from Kakariko village as well know of the princess’ appearance. Various small towns throughout the land of Hyrule however, only remember her appearance from ALTTP where her hair was a more golden blonde rather than the platinum color that it’s taken from the various fear and stresses from her life. And also, she’s more freckly due to not wearing coverup when outside the castle. Ok well,,,,, here’s the best side by side comparison I have...

If you ask her what the light arrows are, she’ll look at you funny. She comes from a time where silver arrows are a thing :’) the few things that can defeat Ganon

Closet romantic, as in she loves love and wishes for a romance of her own but when it comes to her own feelings she’s an idiot due to repressing feelings.

what she’s been up to:

main verse: Which is during the events of Skyward Sword, as such she’s no longer in Skyloft nor does she have the full knowledge that she’s Hylia but Zelda is suspecting that there’s a connection there. She does not know how to wield her magic as it comes and goes in spurts. She’s seen throughout the Surface so she can be anywhere! Even in other timelines due to using the Gate of Time, we can just say that something screwed up causing for her to end up in another time period or even verse! LOZ series is pretty flexible in time travel.

where to find her:

Graveyard + Sanctuary: It’s a soothing place to visit and also to pay respects to the fallen in ALTTP. 

One of the three provinces (my rendition of Hyrule is a little bigger than the in game map so don’t be afraid to add places that aren’t in ALTTP but in other titles, I know I tend to do): aka anywhere in the fields, she’s a woman plagued with wanderlust and doesn’t like being confined to one place

Kakariko: the villagers who know her true identity are hella nice to pretend that it’s not the princess but Elle! Guards tend to be here after a certain time though, so to avoid them she always avoids going to the village when it’s nearly sundown

Ruins, catacombs, abandon shrines etc: again she likes creepy or historical places or both! 

Haunted Grove: Well... it’s haunted! So :’)

Castle: it’s possible to meet her here too! Whether as princess or someone sneaking either out of the castle or back into it. 

current plans:

Lead her kingdom to the Golden Age, something her father tried to do before his demise. While wishing to see Link once more. 

desired interactions:

I would love the usual adventure threads!!! 

FRIENDSHIP!! She needs friends, pls!! 

ENEMIES!! It’d be fun to write a more angry Zel who doesn’t get along with someone! 

ROMANCE!! I’m a sucker for cuteness ;v; and slow burn ;v; 

HORROR AU!! HORROR AU!!! 

Creepy gothic threads of Zelda running into a creepy cryptid in a gothic castle on a stormy night.... this is very specific but listen, cries... 

Comfort thread ;v; 

things that bother me:

People who know she’s the princess right off the bat ticks me off ngl. A-ok if you muse is unaware of her otherwise! 

PEOPLE WHO KNOW THAT SHE’S FROM A BLOODLINE OF A GODDESS AND SAGES DHSJAKJADB no one really knows that the royal family actually did descend from gods, unless your muse is an immortal and is aware of the events that goes on they shouldn’t know this fact. The only thing the public is aware of is how the royal family have mystical powers different from the population. 

uhhhh that’s about it? Mostly metagaming pft, not too much bothers me now that I think about. 

tagged by: i pirated it ;v; from myself! 

tagging: whomst ever! i recommend doing this since it’ll help a ton with those who still are unsure with your muse but feel too nervous to ask questions.

[kiwi-strawberry-banana]

So, was spitballing ideas with @thewiglesswonder about skekGra and urGoh, so here is a more concise timeline and my thoughts on the two:

379 trine seems to be the length that skekGra and urGoh were banished before Rian and friends came upon them. We also know that there is some time between the show beginning and the movie ending, as well as the fact that the Great Conjunction happens every 999 and one trine. So, making a guesstimate, it is likely that 400 trine passed between when skekGra and urGoh were banished and when the movie takes place.

Which means that the two had around 500 trine between becoming divided from the Urskeks and being banished.

I bring this up because of the known plans we have seen skekGra and urGoh implement. They had extremely detailed puzzles, ranging from Lores puzzle in the Vapran Capital (which I will return to in a moment), to the extensive puzzle that was hidden in the Caves of Grot for the Duel Glaive.

(For the Duel Glaive trials, I know urLii says that Mystics can't fit through to reach the Duel Glaive, but he never said anything about Skeksis being unable to reach it. Or perhaps skekGra and urGoh made the entrance smaller after hiding the Duel Glaive. Whose to say.)

Now, think about it; how would skekGra, a banished Skeksis, not only be able to put multiple extensive puzzles that lead to tools specifically used to end Skeksis rule, but put them in locations that are heavily populated with Gelfling?

Because, skekGra and urGoh made many detailed plans before seeking out the Skeksis and Mystics, before their exile.

Think about it; skekGra may be popular as the crazy, goofy grandpa that lives in the desert with his husband, but skekGra is still a Skeksis. He was once the Conqueror, and as he says himself:

"They called me the Conqueror when I was young, from sea to sea my victories were sung..."

"...Vile and cruel deeds, from which I was famed."

We have seen from multiple Skeksis that they will not hesitate in killing, such as with skekVar and skekMal, but to have one that is famed for his cruel deeds? That puts skekGra on a completly different level from the other Skeksis in multiple ways.

So, think about this: You're the Conqueror, doing your Conquering thing. Killing and maiming your way across Thra when suddenly a vision hits. Now, you meet with your Mystic half. You want to reunite, but you're no idiot. The Skeksis are cruel, violent, and won't take kindly to becoming Urskeks again.

So you, as Conqueror, make several plans. You're a famous Skeksis, so it's easy enough to secretly put a rock golem under the All Maudras throne, and you're so feared that no Gelfling would dare talk back to you. Perhaps you put various other clues and plans in other places for Gelfling to find, plans that have yet to be discovered.

But that isn't enough and you know this. You need something great, something grand, something to use against the Skeksis if needed.

Somehow, you get your hands on the Crystal Shard, the one that is meant for the Crystal of Truth. There is no way the Skeksis will just let you put the missing shard back, however, and you're smart enough to know that, despite your strengths, there is no way you could battle through every single Skeksis.

So instead, you take that shard and put it into the hilt of a blade, a large one. The Duel Glaive. It is perfect, especially against the Skeksis. If they won't listen to reason about reunification, you can use force. You are the Conqueror, after all.

But something goes wrong. One way or another, the Skeksis discover the Duel Glaive, as well as who owns it. They don't know of the crystal shard hidden in the hilt, but they know it is dangerous and must be destroyed. If that happens, you will never be reunited with your other half. So instead, it is hidden away, and you are forced to make your pleas with the Skeksis.

Or, perhaps you try and use the Duel Glaive against the Skeksis, try to force them down so that you may reunite the shard with the Crystal, so you may be reunited with your Mystic half to become an Urskek once more.

Either way, things go wrong. Horribly, horribly wrong, and you are exiled.

You won't be killed, but you must be careful. As a fugitive, there are too many risks in being out in the open, so you go into hiding with your other half. With him, you learn that it is, in fact, the Gelfling that will be the answer to your problems.

So, you must wait until your plans are discovered and messages are found and hope that, perhaps, the Gelfling will listen.

There are likely some timeline issues with my theory, especially given that the timeline is... Honestly, kinda confusing, but my main point is both skekGra and urGoh are not only fairly intelligent, but also more than capable of making detailed plans and waiting hundreds of trines to see those plans come to fruition.

They are not to be trifled with.

[purrincesscatitude]

Can you explain about the women from the gas station in call down the hawk? The ending confused me! Who do you think it is?

**NOTE I wrote this before I was finished the book, and now I’m closer to finishing it and I realize that we get told this all, like, 3 chapters after I had paused to write this ALL OUT I thought I was being SO CLEVER and now I just feel like an idiot, but whatever it took me 25 minutes to explain this and I’m not deleting all that WORK**

ANON I am so sorry this took me so long to answer; I have been moving through this book very slowly but AT LAST I have an answer for you:

Liliana is the next visionary. 

Like with most major plot points in Stiefvater’s writing, it takes, like, 20 chapters after her first appearance in which we finally have enough pieces of the puzzle to see the shape of what’s to come. And it takes until Chapter 61 before we get what was, for me, the AHA piece of knowledge that brought it all together. 

So in Chapter 61, when we see Parsifal having his final vision, we’re told that visionaries 1) move through time and are constantly reentering the world at different ages in their individual timelines and 2) hear everything in time all at once, and so does everyone around them. 

Starting with that first point: let’s look back at Liliana’s appearances up to that point. 

In chapter 32, it’s implied that Liliana may not have been a teenager when Shawna gets her in the car (Shawna thinks of her as a woman, ex), but she is a teenager after the car crash. In chapter 57, this is confirmed: Dabney notes that the woman in the house with Olly and Mags looks “a lot like a more mature version of the old ladies’ new tenant”, who we know is Liliana based on 1) how Liliana’s chapters are written (from a close third perspective on an unknown and otherwise unimportant stranger) and 2) the catatonic state of the old women after the episode, which is eactly what happens to Shawna in the car. So Liliana is moving through time, and reappearing after visions as a different age. 

Your question is, specifically, “what happened?” which brings us to part 2. 

It’s explained to us that visionaries hear everything all at once, across multiple times, when they’re having a vision. This not only affects them, but everyone around them. Hence, Parsifal secludes himself when he’s having a vision. Otherwise, he may kill someone. 

Shawna, before the crash that most likely kills her, notes that “then there was all this sound. A cacophony of every sound of every kind and every volume screamed in the minivan. It was a decade of sounds layered on top of each other.”

AKA, exactly what happens to outsiders when a Visionary “visions” in front of them. 

So to finally answer your question, this is what happens in Chapter 32: Liliana, an untrained visionary, has a vision in the car with Shawna. Not only does this physically affect Shawna, but because she’s in a moving car, most likely dies from injuries sustained from being in direct proximity to a vision, and then getting in a massive car wreck. Liliana walks away, a decade younger, emotionally distraught from what is, to her, as an untrained visionary, a traumatic and inevitable experience (aka killing everyone around her…like what Parsifal does, like what they all seem to do), to continue her journey to DC. 

TL;DR: Liliana is a visionary, has a vision in the car with Shawna, and kills her as a consequence of both visioning and also distracted driving. 

Now, a fun extra bit, is that we can also confirm that not only is Liliana A Visionary but most likely the NEXT Visionary for the moderators. Because in Chapter 40 we’re told that she’s looking for Hennessy. A dreamer, a Zed. And she’s now in the same geographic region as Farooq-Lane. As Hennessy. The convergence point of Washington DC.  With Parsifal dead, and the Moderators already on the hunt for the next one….it seems like too good a coincidence that they’re all in DC. And by “too good a coincidence” I mean not one at all because THAT was a lesson from the Raven Cycle.  

[sw-fixit-of-the-week]

by Jen425

Shadow Warriors AU. Padme is given a choice, follow her heart or protect the Republic...

And she chooses the Republic.

And in doing so, she saves it.

…After all, shattered minds may reveal more than you even knew was there.

(Note: This story is actually a collection of shorter stories that all occur in the same universe and tie into each other. For the purposes of this post, I incorporated all of the tags, categories, and warnings in the collection, and marked it at the highest rating. However, the stories range from fairly light g-rated pieces to incredibly dark and violent works. I encourage anyone interested to browse all the stories in the collection and review their tags and ratings.)

Rating: Mature

Warnings: Major Character Death, Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con

Categories: F/M, Other, M/M, F/F

Characters: Dooku | Darth Tyranus, Padmé Amidala, Darth Maul, Savage Opress, Ahsoka Tano, Asajj Ventress, CT-21-0408 | Echo, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, Bail Organa, Jedi Council, Obi-Wan Kenobi, Yoda (Star Wars), Mace Windu, Plo Koon, Shaak Ti, Luke Skywalker, Mentioned Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, mentioned Rey (Star Wars), Mon Mothma, CT-7567 | Rex, R2-D2 (Star Wars), Sheev Palpatine | Darth Sidious, Cut Lawquane, The 501st, Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Leia Organa, Han Solo, Father (The Clone Wars), Jar Jar Binks

Relationships: Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi, Ahsoka Tano & Asajj Ventress, Ahsoka Tano/Asajj Ventress, Anakin Skywalker & Ahsoka Tano, Anakin Skywalker & Bail Organa, CT-7567 | Rex & Anakin Skywalker, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker & Mace Windu, Padmé Amidala & Bail Organa, Cut Lawquane & CT-7567 | Rex, CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555 & CT-7567 | Rex, Padmé Amidala & Mon Mothma & Bail Organa, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Mace Windu, R2-D2 & Anakin Skywalker, Padmé Amidala & CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, Anakin Skywalker & Luke Skywalker, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Luke Skywalker, Luke Skywalker & Ben Solo | Kylo Ren, Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker | Darth Vader, Padmé Amidala & Obi-Wan Kenobi & Anakin Skywalker, Anakin Skywalker & The Council, CT-21-0408 | Echo & Anakin Skywalker, CT-21-0408 | Echo/CT-27-5555 | Fives | ARC-5555, 501st Legion & Anakin Skywalker, Dooku & Anakin Skywalker, Darth Maul & Savage Opress, Dooku & Yoda

Additional Tags: Shadow Warriors AU, Episode: S4e4 Shadow Warriors, Angst, Padme chooses the Republic, Dooku has a horrible plan, War, prisoners of war, I struggle with Padme's POV, I'm Sorry, Introspection, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Angst and Hurt/Comfort, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Protective Obi-Wan, Padme made her choice even if it will haunt her forever, Dysfunctional Family, ...pretty much defines Star Wars in two words, Anakin and Padme are as subtle as a brick to the face, And they know it, Lightsabers, Jedi Culture, A not-so-happy reminder that Dooku used to be a Jedi, Pre-Femslash, Spin-Off, Pre-Relationship, Torture, Psychological Torture, Mind Rape, The only rape is mind rape, Anakin Skywalker Needs a Hug, Anakin Skywalker: Infinite Pain, Force Visions, kind of, Mortis (Star Wars), Anakin is not in a good place right now, Minor Padmé Amidala/Anakin Skywalker, Anakin is betrayed up until he find out what HE would do to HER, Poor Anakin, I Can't Believe I Wrote This, all those character tags except the first two are for Mortis, (duh), The Author Regrets Everything, Aftermath of Torture, Hurt/Comfort, This is probably a fix-it, but right now it's just making Anakin's life worse, Anakin has a crappy life, Why do I do this to him?, Eventual Fix-It, Why Did I Write This?, Anakin Skywalker knows he has issues, Anakin Skywalker is not in a good place right now, Anakin uses his brain, ...Kinda, Anakin is still in a really terible place right now, and lying to everyone about the extent of it, Angst with a Happy Ending, Kinda, Anakin still needs that hug, and he's still failing at Jedi-ing, Mentions of murder torture genocide and all the other things Vader did, and some very subtle obitine, I Wrote This Instead of Sleeping, Again, Multiple Times, Tags Are Hard, Hugs don't count if you're the one giving them, Yelling at the Council is fun, Jedi Code, Child Soldiers, General Ahsoka, The Jedi are stupid, Anakin calls the Council on their shit, Anakin is lying to himself again, Ahsoka deserves none of this, neither does Anakin, Suicidal Thoughts, ...but they're very brief, breif mention of, Clone Rights, Umbara, Zygeria, Terrorists, I really hate the Council, Ecxept Obi-Wan, And Yoda, ...sometimes, The start of the Fix-It, Fix-It of Sorts, Anakin is starting to consider actually SURVIVING his fight with Sidious, It's slow going, Anakin works best when he knows how to protect his family, Anakin Skywalker Has Issues, he's trying, He's also trying to protect Ahsoka from his issues, He's failing, Ahsoka is Anakin's daughter, Anakin is a good dad, the Big Reveal (not), Sheev is a creep, and Anakin is questioning everything again, but that’s not entirely bad, how much was Palpatine’s fault?, Anakin doesn’t know, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, Hardeen arc, fighting with Dooku and Magna gaurds is the last thing Anakin needs, Force exhaustion, Obi-Wan is trying, but he tried hard in Canon too, Past Mind Rape, Anakin isn't doing well here people, Setup, a lot of setup, Anakin still being in that horrible place right now, Delegation of 2000, Clone Rebellion, Mace Windu hates Anakin, and Anakin knows this, Artoo is awesome, Force-Sensitive Clones, and droids, Artoo and Fives are Force sensitive. fight me, Clones are way more aware than the Jedi, and the 501st would like to join me in hating the Council, Except Plo Obi-Wan Shaak ti and sometimes Yoda, Alternate Universe - Anakin Skywalker Doesn't Turn to the Dark Side, Fix-It, Suicide Attempt, Human Disaster Anakin Skywalker, The 501st love their General, ...s, I still hate the Jedi, Order 66, ...Kinda, Force-Sensetive Fives, Final Battle, these tags are a mess, time-travel, (kinda), Anakin's extra-weird Force Visions, Scenes that I wanted from TLJ, Alternate Timelines, Brief suicidal thoughts, Forgiveness, It's harder to forgive yourself, Force Ghosts, Slight breaking of the fourth wall, This was supposed to be crack, it's NOT crack, Post Fix-It, Past Suicide Attempt, After Many Hours of Meditation, Mace Windu Has Discovered that the Jedi had been cruel to Anakin, and continuing down that path would lead to someone's death, how is Ahsoka so well-adjusted, Ahsoka Tano-centric, Ahsoka Tano Needs a Hug, Anakin is tryiNG, Anakin Skywalker ALSO Needs a Hug, Anakin calling bullshit, Windu not being terrible, Anakin is very literal, This is why I like writing out of order, jedi politics, the jedi treated Anakin like shit okay?, What is this?, The Never-Ending Council Meeting, (Don’t worry this isn’t its only appearance), Anakin finally GETS that hug, Cuddling & Snuggling, Platonic Cuddling, Healing, Healing takes time, Complicated Relationships, Conversation with a capital C, Jedi Apprentice references, Anakin is STILL not in a very good place right now, Padme is trying, Anakin is just a mess, Ahsoka is wonderful, honestly this normalcy is so wonderful for Anakin right now, and then he gets work shoved into his lap, Anakin is a shipper, Sith Shenanigans, Anakin Does. Not. NEED THIS!!!!!, Dooku is an ass, Anakin is an Idiot, but he's not exactly thinking straight here so..., Anakin is a mess, Kind of..., Crack Treated Seriously, council meetings, shady politics, Nightmares, Recovery, Mind Rape Aftermath, I accidentally made the same thing happen twice, when clones act like Jedi something is Wrong, happy endings, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, except Grievous and Palps, but who actually cares about either of them?

[xbaepsae]

to the hilt

“In your mind, you run through a list of different scenarios and outcomes of tonight. Every one of them ends with Jimin at the end of your gun barrel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun before that.”

[jimin x reader]

genre: criminal/assassin!au, angst

word count: 4.7k

a/n: so, this is a reupload! i just loved this fic too much not to post it again. i did add some things, but the plot hasn’t changed (nor has the ending). if it’s your first time reading it, i hope you enjoy! xoxo

There were many times when you questioned why you decided to choose this profession.

Not that you didn’t like killing people, for a good reason of course, but it was draining and left you without much of a personal life. You didn’t mind that, though; relationships and people were a hassle anyway. Besides, you were good at your job—the best in your division, in fact. Your skills are impeccable. So, you aren’t surprised when you get a phone call at six o’clock on a Saturday morning from your boss, Kim Namjoon. This is a normal occurrence; Namjoon always tended to call you at the most inconvenient hours, ordering you to do something.

You pick it up, sleep still heavily weighing your eyes and voice. “Hello?”

“Y/n?”

“What?”

“I need you to come in as soon as you can.” You groan but tell him that you’ll be at the office in twenty.

You arrive feeling much better than you did earlier, but still tired from being woken up so damn early. A part of you was used to the random calls, but you still hated it. Swiping your ID at the front doors, you walk into the lobby of your supposed building; but after being in this occupation for a while now, you knew that this scene was simply a façade.

Walking to the elevators, you step inside and press the button for the ground floor. After a few minutes, the doors part to reveal a dimly lit passageway. You leave the elevators and walk to where you know Namjoon would be. You vividly remember your first time walking into this space; you were surprised, and a bit terrified, to find something so well hidden in your city. If people knew about this place, who knows what they would say.

“Y/n,” Namjoon greets you the moment he sees you, a coffee in his left hand. He’s standing at a table in the middle of the room, papers scattered all around him.

“Please tell me you have a good reason for dragging me out of bed at this ungodly hour,” you say before taking a seat.

He cracks a smile, “Always.”

Namjoon moves to stand in front of you, picking up a folder. He stares at you for a moment before handing it over. You take it immediately, scanning the contents inside. As you look at each page in the folder, you don’t show any emotion—you don’t want your boss to catch a thing you’re feeling, not that you’re feeling much at all.

“So… what happened with this one?” you finally ask after looking through everything.

“Obviously, as you can tell from the folder, we don’t have much of a record on the guy… but we have some accounts—mostly those who’ve worked with him before and past lovers,” your boss explains. “But if someone ever hands us a case, it doesn’t really matter what the specifics are. We just do it.”

You nod because it was the truth—the details are worthless. If Namjoon received anything from anyone and handed it to you, you did it without question. “What exactly is it?”

You’re asking about the mission; what does he want you to do.

“They want him dead.”

Figures. That’s usually what they hire Namjoon and his people to do. You are used to it by now. After finding this detail out, you don’t question anything else and open the folder again. Looking at the small photo paper clipped to the first paper, you stare at the name neatly typed underneath the photo and smile a bit internally.

Park Jimin, you think to yourself, you’re mine.

***

The way that the club smelled made you want to gag.

All you have to do was take a good look around. The huge masses of people—young and old—grinding their sweaty bodies, mixed with the alcohol and lust that hung like an overcast in the air, was disgusting. There wasn’t even anything sexy or sophisticated about the place to begin with. Everything looked cheap—from the rotting walls, to the booths with no cushions. You are almost positive there was nowhere safe to sit. But then again, you assume that’s why people actually came here; not because they wanted a great experience, but because everything was as cheap as it got.

You are a bit surprised that no one has decided to call the cops yet on this dump, or why the cops never bothered to press charges to the place; there currently has to be multiple health code violations. Also, everything that happened here was downright illegal. Then again, it’s not like you really care anyway. You are on a mission—find whoever this Park Jimin guy is and kill him. The task should be easier done than said, especially if he came to a place like this.

With this particular case, and like most cases that Namjoon gave you, you weren’t given a definitive timeline to have the deed done. This was a good and bad thing; good, because you had more time to work with the situation, but bad because you had no idea when you’d finish. Normally, most of your jobs are a few days at most. The longest case you were given lasted a month, but that was because you had to get close to the individual. But with this one, you hoped things could be done tonight.

Honestly, you are tired. All you really want to do right now is go home, drink a glass of your favorite wine, and then go to sleep. But no, you’re here—surrounded by idiots.

To help you run into Jimin, Namjoon tracked his top ten location’s—including the place he lived. But it wasn’t your style to completely ambush the guy; you wanted to meet him by accident. Thus, you donned on your slinkiest black dress and came here. But of course, you didn’t forget your sleek gun, well concealed in your clutch.

You continue to walk deeper into the club until you reach the bar. There are no signs of Jimin anywhere and you hope that you chose the right night to show up. Taking a seat, you wave the bartender over and order a basic rum and coke.

“Here you go,” the bartender smiles, “I’m Yoongi, by the way.”

You flash your widest smile, “Y/n.”

For the next few minutes that it takes you to finish your drink, an easy conversation forms between you and Yoongi. You smile and laugh at everything he says, the entire situation acting as pure entertainment for you.

“Don’t you have other customers to attend to?” you ask, realizing that he’s been in front of you a little too long.

“There are other bartenders you know.”

You raise a brow, “Is there?”

“Of course,” he smiles, “I’d rather attend to you all night, if you don’t mind of course.”

You return the smile, feeling flattered that Yoongi seems to like you so much. The two of you jump into another conversation and he tries to get you to order another drink, which you attempt to decline as best as you can. You planned on being sober tonight. “I don’t think I can drink anymore, honestly.”

“Come on,” he moves a glass towards you, “just drink it.”

But your shake your head, “I’m good, Yoongi.”

“It’s on the house—” Yoongi begins to say, but suddenly stops when he lifts his eyes to stare directly behind you. Instantly, you feel something change and a strong aura fills the air around you.

“If the girl says she’s good, she’s good man.”

You can feel the hairs on the back of your neck stand up at the voice; it wasn’t the deepest voice you’ve ever heard, but he spoke in a slow tone that was both sexy and terrifying. For a moment, you can only look at Yoongi’s face—the way his lips tighten up and eyes narrow. His whole demeanor changes, and long gone is the flirty guy you were just having an amusing conversation with.

“Chill, dude,” Yoongi says, backing up a step. “Y/n and I were just talking.”

Behind you, you can hear the man scoff and take a few steps, “It didn’t look like that to me.”

He takes a few more steps until he circles around to your right, leaning with one arm against the bar countertop. As your eyes focus on him under the dim lights, your lips part slightly at what you see. He is adorned in all black, tight fitting clothes that accentuates his lean but muscular physique. The sleeves of his button up are rolled up past his elbows, revealing veiny arms and silver ring clad hands. You take in the rest of him, from his tousled dark hair to his rather pump lips, and you’re speechless. You only look away when he catches you staring for a moment too long.

“It didn’t look like y/n was enjoying your company much,” he begins again, and hearing your name leave his lips makes you shiver. “She looks uninterested.”

“You don’t know anything.”

“I know a lady in distress when I see one.” Just like you did moments before, he gives your body a once over. However, unlike your reaction, he’s bold and smirks when his eyes reach your own. He even stretches out his hand, “The name’s Jimin.”

You momentarily tense; this guy was Park Jimin—the guy you’re supposed to kill?

He looks a bit different from his photo; but as you move to your eyes back to stare a little more at him, you realize that he’s definitely matured since the picture was taken. Damn Namjoon for not getting an updated photo of him. And you aren’t sure why, but you place your hand into his. Immediately, he brings your hand up to his lips and presses a gentle kiss on the back. You blush instantly; not expecting for him to do that at all. During this entire moment, from your peripheral vision, you notice Yoongi make a face and then walk away.

“Guess he wasn’t that interested in you,” Jimin says, a gorgeous smile lighting his face.

You shrug, “I think he was just trying to pass time.”

“Or get a little action.”

“That too.”

“So, what brings you to this quaint, little place?” he asks you, taking a seat on the barstool beside you.

You laugh a little, “I’m not sure if I’d call this club quaint, but I’m just passing through. You?”

“I drop by every so often to see what’s new,” Jimin begins, “and you’re definitely the prettiest little thing I’ve seen in a long time.”

Just as you’re about to become putty from his smooth words, you remember who you are and what you’re here for. Instead, you smile and play along. “Really?”

He nods, leaning in, “Definitely.”

“I’m sure you’ve seen prettier girls, Jimin.”

“Not a chance,” he moves even closer, only a few inches away from you now.

And you find yourself leaning in the slightest bit, eyes looking into his. You try to figure out what’s going on in his head, you’ve always been pretty good at reading people, but all you notice is how dark his chocolate irises are becoming. 

In your mind, you run through a list of different scenarios and outcomes of tonight. Every one of them ends with Jimin at the end of your gun barrel, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have a little fun before that. He was hot, and you can’t remember the last time you’ve been fucked; and you can already tell that sex with Jimin would be amazing. And just as you’re about to make a suggestion to him, it seems like he reads your mind because suddenly, his lips are on yours.

The kiss is hot, burning your lips, but you want more; you need more. So you lift your lips off of his and trail your lips against his jaw to whisper a few words into his ear. You can feel him smirk against your hair and before you can kiss each other again, Jimin is walking you both out of the club and hailing down a cab.

***

Sunlight streams through the window as you open your eyes, looking around the unfamiliar room.

You move your eyes over to the space next to you, seeing a peacefully sleeping Jimin, and everything from last night becomes fresh in your memory. Biting your lower lip, remembering the way his rough hands felt against your skin—and how he whispered the most seductive words as you reached your high—causes a small smile to form along your lips.

Last night was definitely one of the best sexual experiences you’ve had, probably ever. You can barely recall how many times you came undone, and the way your body aches is the most delicious pain. But you think about Namjoon and your job, and you shake the excessive thoughts away.

What a waste, you think, staring at his handsome face. If you weren’t on a mission to kill him, you would definitely consider spending another night with Park Jimin.

You get out of bed and slip your clothes back on. You move quietly, careful not to wake Jimin up. You grab your clutch, discarded onto the floor, feeling the cool metal of a gun through the thin fabric. And as you turn around, ready to whip out your weapon and shoot, you realize that he’s awake. Your eyes widen, and you tightly hold your clutch close to your chest.

“Where are you going?” His voice is deep from sleep.

And suddenly, you don’t know what to do. “I was… I was leaving.”

“Why?” When you don’t say anything, Jimin kneels on the bed and grabs your hand. He pulls you back to the place beside him. “Stay.”

And before you can argue, or pull out your gun, he kisses you and begins to peel your dress back off your body. Immediately, his hands latch onto your breast and you moan from the sensitivity you’re still feeling from last night.

“Jimin,” you say, already feeling wetness pooling at your core, “please.”

He smirks at your neediness, which you hope is distracting enough. And you get your answer as Jimin pulls your underwear down your legs. As he begins to slide a condom on, you lay back onto the bed and realize that the time is just not right yet.

You’ll get the job done, soon.

***

“How’s the case with Park Jimin going?”

You’re back in that dimly lit ground floor, sitting before your boss. “Good, so far.”

During all of your missions, you always had a mid-point checkup with Namjoon—unless, you managed to get the job done within a few days. Normally, your checkups were quick and he would dismiss you within half an hour. But today, you’ve been sitting in front of him for nearly twice as long and he hasn’t even spared you a single glance. From the moment you arrived, he ordered you to take a seat and started pacing back and forth in front of you. Also, normally, you never feel this anxious around him; you two know each other well and it’s never been like that.

But you can feel that something is off today.

“Y/n,” Namjoon finally looks up at you, “it’s been nearly two months since I gave you his folder.”

Internally, you’re feeling sheepish; foolish that Namjoon is talking to you like you don’t know how to do your job. But you do—you know how to do your job damn well… it’s just that it’s been difficult. You voice this thought to your boss.

“It’s just talking me a little longer this time,” you tell him.

“And why is that?”

You furrow your brows, “Park Jimin is… distracting.”

And you aren’t lying. The last two months that you’ve been around him, he never leaves you with a single opportunity to put a gun to his head. It’s frustrating that you don’t know how to get around him. Just when you think that you can finally move onto the next case, he gives you that look—one filled with lust and sinful promises—and you can’t say no.

“Do I need to assign this to someone else?” Namjoon says. “Perhaps to Jeon Jeongguk?”

“Hell no,” you immediately say. “There’s no way I’m going to let that little punk get the satisfaction.”

Jeongguk was also in your division, and an absolute pain in the ass. Granted, he wasn’t half bad at this criminal-assassin stuff but got way too cocky about himself. You could barely stand to be in the same room as him for more than a few minutes; and if he were to receive your case, it’d be embarrassing.

Your boss laughs, “Good. You are the best, after all.”

“I’ll get this done, Namjoon,” you promise. “Just give me more time.”

Thankfully, he nods and says you can leave now. You breathe a sigh of relief and walk to the elevator doors. You make it five steps before Namjoon calls out your name. Turning around, you ask what he needs.

“I don’t typically give you a time limit with these things, I trust you,” he says, “but I ask that you get this done as soon as you can. I have other files I need you to get on.”

You tell him that you understand and get out of there as fast as you can. Once you’re in the elevator, you bang your head against the metal wall. And once you step out into the lobby, your phone begins to vibrate in your pocket. Pulling it out, you see a string of new text messages from Jimin.

07:36 PM | Jimin: are we still meeting for dinner?

07:36 PM | Jimin: my place?

07:37 PM | Jimin: actually, i’ll just come to yours lol

07:38 PM | Jimin: i’ll be there in 10

You don’t reply, choosing to pocket your phone instead. Walking out of the building and down the few blocks to your apartment, you suddenly feel a lot of pressure to get all of this over and done with. What is wrong with you, y/n?

This whole thing with Park Jimin has become excessive. Yes, the sex was mind blowing but Namjoon was right—there are more cases to be dealt with. You can’t be dealing with this one forever. So, as you near your apartment, noticing Jimin’s car parked right outside, you decide that tonight’s the night. You’re just going to get it over with.

You take the stairs up to the second floor of the complex and push your door open. Jimin makes himself known to you instantly and captures your lips in a kiss. You instinctively respond, closing the door behind you. And as the two of you move further into the hall, he backs you up against a wall and smiles against your lips, “I’ve missed you.”

“I missed you, too,” you lift your lips off of his with a final peck. “Hungry?”

You try to act as normal as possible, just so he doesn’t think something is off about you. And thankfully, he doesn’t seem to. “I’m starving.”

Kicking off your shoes, you walk into your little kitchen and notice that Jimin has already set up everything for dinner—plates, utensils, drinks, and food. You turn around to give him a confused look and he simply laughs. “I thought we were going to cook together?”

He shrugs, “Couldn’t help myself.”

“Well… thanks,” a smile slowly grows onto your face.

The two of you quickly take a seat on your island barstools and dig into the food. As you take the first bite, your eyes widen with surprise—it’s delicious. You voice this thought out loud to Jimin, feeling really impressed that he made really good food.

“I learned from my mom, so you should thank her,” he tells you, to which you laugh.

“I’d love to,” you say without thinking. And instantly you regret it, tensing up. God, y/n why’d you say that. You’re implying that you’d like to meet his mom. Idiot. “She taught you well.”

“Next time, I’ll make you another dish that she taught me.”

You look down at your food for a brief moment, suddenly feeling sick to your stomach, before looking back at Jimin with a smile, “Sure.”

Jimin finishes eating before you do and tells you that he brought over a movie for you two to watch. And as he goes to set it up on your TV, you finish the food and clean up a bit. While you do the dishes, you suddenly feel his arms circle around your waist. You’re startled at first, before you ease into his embrace.

“I thought you were going to put on the movie?”

He leans his head against the curve of where your neck meets your shoulder. “I already did.”

You laugh, “Okay, well, you can go ahead and sit down. I’ll be there in a minute.”

But Jimin doesn’t move, and only seems to be holding you tighter. “Y/n… can I tell you something?”

“What?” you ask, rinsing a dish and putting in on the rack. He’s quite for a moment and you figure that whatever he had to say, isn’t that important. And then he moves his lips close to you ear.

“I love you.”

You freeze. You stop breathing.

“What?” You shut the water and immediately turn around to face him. Lifting his face up with your hand, you stare into his eyes and feel tears threatening to spill. He can’t love you. Why does he love you? If only he knew why you even crossed paths with him in the first place at all—you’re going to kill him. You’re a killer. Someone like Park Jimin cannot love someone like you.

“I love you,” he repeats his words, bringing a hand up to caress your face.

“Why?”

“I know that we’ve only known each other for a short time, but these last few weeks with you have been the best weeks of my life. I love you, y/n,” he says, and you let a single tear fall. Jimin wipes your tear away, eyes searching yours. “Please say you love me too.”

You shut your eyes tightly, sighing, “Jimin…”

“Please,” he begs, pulling you into a kiss, “please.”

He kisses you harder, pulling your bodies together. You feel yourself giving in, losing yourself in him. Jimin pulls his lips away from yours after a moment, before moving to press a kiss along every plane of your face—your cheeks, nose, forehead, and eyes. He begs you again to say those three little words back to him, and you don’t know what comes over you… but you do, and it changes everything.

“I love you, too.”

***

You’re a fool. An absolute fool.

Another month has gone by and Park Jimin is still alive. But not only is he alive, you can’t imagine your life without him anymore. It’s a scenario you never anticipated to happen when you formulated your plan in that club so long ago.

That simple love confession from him has turned your whole life upside down. Now, you don’t want to complete your mission anymore. You physically can’t bear to think about putting a gun to his head and pulling the trigger—you just can’t. It’s absolutely ridiculous and if Namjoon could see you, he would be so disappointed. But you haven’t bothered to pick up any of this phone calls in the last two weeks. The thought of talking to him is too much.

You know that you can’t avoid him forever; eventually, you have to answer his call. A part of you believes that you can just get away with this, but Kim Namjoon isn’t an idiot and he knows where you live. However, you have been thinking about ways to get out of this situation. You’ve thought about running away with Jimin. That should be easy, right? The two of you could just leave and never look back.

“What are you thinking about?” Jimin interrupts your thoughts.

“Nothing,” you smile, pressing a kiss against his lips.

It was nearly noon already, but neither of you have bothered to leave his bed yet. Your main reason is that it’s just easier to pretend everything’s okay here; you two can just be Jimin and y/n. “It can’t be nothing if you look so stressed.”

You move to straddle his hips, keeping him from saying anything else. “I’m fine.”

This strategy seems to distract him enough, and he suddenly places his hands on your bare thighs. He rubs from your knees, up to the edges of your underwear. “If you say so, my love.”

And you let yourself forget everything as you kiss him again.

***

You wake up when you realize that the spot beside you is empty.

Never has Jimin woken up before you. You’re always the first one up—you had to when you were still on that mission to kill him. But this particular morning, you’re alone in bed and his apartment is dead quiet.

Concern gnaws at your insides and you call out his name, wondering where the hell he could be. Before you get out of bed to go look for him, you reach into the bedside drawer next to you and pull out the gun you still kept around. For a moment you wonder if Namjoon got tired of waiting for you to complete this mission and sent someone over. But before you can think more about that, you hear someone enter the room and you shove the gun underneath you pillow.

You look towards the intruder and nearly collapse from what you see. “Jimin?”

There at the door, with a gun in his hand, is the man who confessed his love for you. He’s still dressed in the clothes he fell asleep in last night—a simple white tee and boxers—but the expression on his face is anything but familiar.

“You’re awake,” he says, walking closer to the bed.

“What are you doing?” You stare at him, confused.

The gun spins once, and then twice in his hand. “What does it look like, love?”

You rack your brain for an answer to this confusing image before you, but you come up with nothing. Why does he have a gun? Where did he get that from? In your internal debate, you watch as Jimin steps closer and closer to you.

“Why are you doing this?” you ask, but he doesn’t say anything. “How long have you been planning this?”

“Don’t think you’re the only one with secrets, y/n.”

Your heart stops—is he talking about your mission? “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

Jimin merely laughs, but the sound emanating from his mouth is cynical and borderline demonic, “Cute. Are we playing the lying game now? Oh wait—we’ve been playing it since that night in the club.”

“You knew who I was?” you hiss, mentally kicking yourself.

“I’ve always known,” he cocks his head to the side, running a hand through his dark hair that has grown considerably long in the months you’ve known him. “This game we’ve been playing, y/n, has been fun… but I think it’s time to end it. What do you think?”

“Who the hell are you?” you ask, wondering where is the Jimin you’ve come to feel so much for.

“Who the hell are you?” he retorts and then says, “ten.”

As Jimin begins to count backwards, he reaches eight and you pull out your own gun from underneath your pillow. “I should’ve pulled the trigger that morning.”

You aim straight at Jimin, and he does the same to you.

He frowns, “But you didn’t, did you? Seven.”

“I was beginning to fall for you,” you say, brushing your messy hair back.

“That was your first mistake… six.”

A sigh leaves your lips, “Tell me Jimin, did you ever care about me?”

“Five… of course I did, y/n,” he looks into your eyes and you see emotions swirling in them, “I meant it when I told you that I loved you. Every word.”

“So, let’s stop then,” you try to reason with him, “I didn’t go through with my mission because I’m in love with you.”

Jimin doesn’t look away from your eyes, “You know we can’t do that… three.”

“And why is that?” You can feel your heart squeeze tightly in your chest.

“Because this is who we are, my love: killers.”

And then all you can hear is his soft voice whisper one before a gunshot goes off.

[borderlandscast]

music meme: zylus and daltos

1) when i’m with you by mystery skulls

i think i mentioned this one in one of their respective posts but this is a really upbeat song despite the lyrics. mind potential spoilers at the end for future fic. it’s subject to change as i flip flop between ideas.

they both entered a romantic relationship very cautiously after many eventful months of friendship (including several attempts at being boarded by pirates where they both saved each other from being shot in the face, five attempted counts of matchmaking by arsenal and the other frigate members, one by bebopvox and so on).

the two squabbled and bickered a lot but it was mostly in good fun.

2) bad blood by bastille

HOO BOY BABEY, THIS ONE HAS BEEN ON THE LIST FOR A LONG TIME. it’s the main song that ‘this town ain’t big enough for the both of us’ is set to, and the vast stretch of time spanning since their last meeting.

just imagine the last ten seconds of the song being that moment larry robert drops daltos onto the platform, and once the dust and sand clears, zylus and daltos finally get their first, good look at their former (and future) flame.

3) fun (feat tove lo) by coldplay

this song holds a very special emotional spot in the playlist, notely for being one of the few to really wrench at the heartstrings. i headcanon this song taking place at the very end of ‘tlvh’.

‘we said forever, forever always, we could have been lost, we would have been saved, now we’re stopping the world, stopped it in its tracks, nothing too’s broken to find a way back, before it’s over, before you run, didn’t we have fun? but then, maybe we could again?’

you know on that road trip at some point, zylus and daltos probably end up holding hands while watching the sun go down.

4) vacation by superfruit

here’s a relentlessly optimistic song since these two deserve some happiness in their lives. they wouldn’t be very good at a vacation, mind, given that they both get restless very easy. that’s to say that they don’t balance each other out.

zylus is easily anxious and full of fussy sensibility while daltos cycles through practical confidence and peaks of insight and idiocy.

5) sit next to me by foster the people

a song i’ve had on repeat in my personal playlist. the epilogue’s coming along at its own pace but i’m also entertaining starting one of this au au’s (not a typo) side fics. future zylus and daltos open a vault, and against rythian’s many warnings, daltos goes inside (how and why, idk, he’s a bigger idiot than he thinks) and takes the place of his past self at one of the most critical points in his personal timeline: the moment just before the frigate crashes on pandora.

the result is him choosing to ditch and let zylus deal with the resulting mess, going on to a ridiculous roadtrip of epic proportions as daltos soon realises that he’s free to roam pandora as he pleases. he then facepalms since he left the frigate with only the clothes on his back, very few personal belongings and not enough food and water.

after several blunders, he finally gets himself sorted. he also tackles the mystery of how he can get home and surviving until then. that is, back to his original timeline so he can reunite with his own zylus.

(look, daltos misses zylus a lot for multiple reasons, the main one being that he’s never spent any longer than half a day not seeing the guy in his peripheral vision or just having zylus at hand to just verbally shitpost and have zylus predictably respond by being a) scandalized, b) blushing, c) facepalming, d) resignation galore, e) sighing, f) laugh, or g) pick one or cycle through a mixture or all of the previous, order be damned.)

daltos will do anything to go home, even if it means bending the timeline to his own selfish desires.

it’ll feature a lot of self reflection on postcards. sometimes you just gotta make do with whatever’s on hand, even while drunk on discounted rakk ale.

hope y’all enjoyed this sneak peek into my creative thoughts.

bonus

rcvr (feat debbie gibson) by big black delta

listen to the song first, since most of it is a very possible argument between the two. take a big guess as to when it’s set, and you’re probably right. i had this on repeat for a lot of the initial writing so it’s included as a bonus on this playlist just for that reason.

[stony-ao3-feed]

Three Little Words; or, Five Times Steve and Tony Didn’t Actually Apologize + One Time They Did

Read it on AO3

by elwenyere

“First of all,” Tony said, “and I need everyone to hear this on multiple levels: how dare you?”

In the branching timeline, Thor has to restart Tony's heart, and Steve hears that Bucky is alive. Some things go differently, and some things stay the same. For starters, Steve and Tony are still terrible at saying those three little words.

Words: 3336, Chapters: 1/3, Language: English

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply

Categories: M/M

Characters: Steve Rogers, Tony Stark, Natasha Romanov (Marvel), Clint Barton, Bruce Banner, Thor (Marvel), James "Bucky" Barnes, Sam Wilson (Marvel), Wanda Maximoff, Vision (Marvel), James "Rhodey" Rhodes

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark

Additional Tags: 5+1 Things, Canon-Typical Violence, Hurt/Comfort, Fluff and Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Mutual Pining, Idiots in Love, Getting Together, First Kiss, POV Alternating, Avengers: Endgame (Movie) - Alternate 2012 Timeline

Read it on AO3

[ao3feed-stony]

Infinite Messaging to the Endgame

by Misscar

They say that the best way to communicate in an emergency is via text message. A giant purple alien bent on wiping out half of the universe’s population with the help of six infinity stones qualifies as an emergency. This fact is even more apparent now that Laura Barton is currently trapped in a timeline where that happened because the Avengers (read: Tony and Steve) never mended fences. Now the last remnants of those Avengers are trying to fix what happened. What’s going to be easier, stopping Thanos from wiping out half the universe with the infinity stones, undoing the damage he already caused in another timeline where he succeeded, or getting that timeline's Tony and Steve to get their shit together? Two timelines, one mission, and an infinite amount of text messaging.

Part three of the Use Your Words universe. Sequel to I Hope You Have Unlimited Text Messaging and Text Messages from the Edge of High school. Although you can continue reading without having read Text Messages from the Edge.

Words: 2124, Chapters: 1/?, Language: English

Series: Part 5 of Use Your Words

Fandoms: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Captain America (Movies), Agents of S.H.I.E.L.D. (TV), Spider-Man (Tom Holland Movies), Thor (Movies)

Rating: Teen And Up Audiences

Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings

Categories: F/F, F/M, Gen, M/M

Characters: Tony Stark, Steve Rogers, Leo Fitz, Friday (Marvel), Lance Hunter, Melinda May, Robin Hinton, Deke Shaw, Phil Coulson, Laura Barton, Flash Thompson, Skye | Daisy Johnson, Loki (Marvel), Jemma Simmons, Clint Barton, Michelle Jones, Peter Parker, Morgan Stark (Marvel Cinematic Universe), Other Avengers, Agents of SHIELD Team, It's the MCU there's going to be a lot of characters

Relationships: Steve Rogers/Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Tony Stark, Phil Coulson/Melinda May, Laura Barton & Tony Stark, Leo Fitz/Lance Hunter, Leo Fitz/Jemma Simmons, It's not a triangle multiple timelines, Clint Barton/Laura Barton, Friday & Tony Stark, Peter Parker & Flash Thompson, Michelle Jones & Peter Parker, Michelle Jones & Flash Thompson, Michelle Jones & Ned Leeds & Peter Parker, Wanda Maximoff/Vision, Other Relationship Tags to Be Added, Pepper Potts & Tony Stark, Melinda May & Steve Rogers, It's Complicated

Additional Tags: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Timelines, Multiple Timelines, One in which Steve and Tony made very bad choices and Thanos won, Tony Stark Needs a Hug, Parent Tony Stark, Tony Stark Acting as Peter Parker's Parental Figure, Tony Stark Has A Heart, Hurt Tony Stark, Steve Rogers Needs a Hug, Everyone Needs A Hug, Thor (Marvel) Needs a Hug, Episode Fix-it, Time Travel Fix-It, Tony and Steve are idiots in at least one timeline, Character Death, Angst with a Happy Ending, Family Feels, Team as Family, Laura Barton does not have time for this, Daisy Johnson is done with Loki, Tony Stark is Good With Kids, Parent Steve Rogers, Parent Melinda May, Precious Peter Parker, Flash Thompson Redemption, Everybody is a mess in the bad timeline, Implied/Referenced Alcohol Abuse/Alcoholism, Sobriety, Implied/Referenced Child Abuse, Avengers: Endgame (Movie), Canon Divergence - Avengers: Infinity War Part 1 (Movie), Canon Divergence - Post-Captain America: Civil War (Movie), Pre-Relationship, Established Relationship, Tony and Steve are together in one timeline and clueless in the other, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Idiots in Love, Friendship/Love, BAMF Michelle Jones

source http://archiveofourown.org/works/22979251