#Hannah Telle herself got hate

[krillonthegrill]

i get a really weird wave of sadness whenever the LiS YouTube channel posts things about DE bc like damn nobody gaf fr

[pyro-les]

Bad omen - Rio Vidal X Reader

2.7k words - Warnings: mentions of death

Taglist: @thesharkwhalewhoohooooo @thecavalrywife @hannah-0730 @believe-in-magic13 @jenniferjareauwife @wandasreallover

"Be careful around her, kid." The woman whispered to the curios teen.

"Who is she?" The boy asked

"A bad omen that's what she is." The lady responds in a hushed tone. When he looked up at her inquisitively she adds on "Anyone who gets near to her dies. You see Betsy across the street died in a freak accident just a few weeks after Y/N had told her something bad would happen to her. She's not the only one who that happened too either, dozens of people have died after meeting her since she moved to town just a few months ago."

Looking up at the woman shocked the teen gasps "That's so sad! What an awful coincidence."

Tutting at him she replies "Oh its no coincidence boy. You see she's a witch. Anyone who meets her is destined to die. It's truly awful, what a wicked woman."

It wasn't new to Y/N to hear people say these sort of things about her, for years people thought of her as a bad omen, a sign of only horrible things to come. But it still didn't hurt any less, hearing everyone speak of her so horrendously so publicly. It wasn't her fault she only saw how people would die, she couldn't control it she simply looked at someone and saw their end. It was as if as soon as the universe had decided when they would leave she was the first to know. Sometimes she could know someone for years before suddenly seeing their end only weeks before their deaths and sometimes she knew years in advance.

When it had first happened she didn't know what to do so she simply blurted it aloud, she was only a kid. The woman hadn't taken her seriously, a young child telling them they wouldn't get to meet their baby when they were only a few months from their due date didn't make much sense so dismissed it. Their husband however had not, so in a few months when his wife inevitably died during child birth he blamed Y/N. He told the whole town that she was an evil witch and had cursed his poor wife and should consequently been burnt at the stake.

She would've died then had it not been for her mother, defending her child until her very end, hastily untying the ropes that bound her as the flames trailed up her skirt. She had managed to save her child but not herself.

Ever since then she had been on the run, more than three centuries had passed and she could never stay anywhere for more than half a year before having to flee or being chased out with pitchforks and torches blazing. She could never rest nor let her guard down, all the while blaming herself for her mothers death. If only she hadn't dismissed the flames she saw engulf her mothers body the night before, if she hadn't put it down to just a bad thought, her fears taking over her sight as she got ready to go to bed. It was her fault for not being able to stop it, that's what she told herself.

"Aren't all people destined to die? That's kinda how being living works." The teen says snapping Y/N out of her spiral of thoughts taking her through some of her most tragic memories.

Tutting at the boy yet again the woman speaks "Not for her so it seems. Legend had it she's centuries old yet still seems to look like she's only in her 20s. The way these witches get to live so long when they do such horrible things is ridiculous. It's just like that Wanda woman, she seemed so nice working for the avengers and all but bam one day she takes a whole town hostage. And worst of all she'll probably end up out living us all too."

Having enough of hearing the conversation Y/N turns to leave the town market, what had started as a nice shopping trip having taken a turn for the worse yet again. Just once she'd like to have a normal day out without being reminded how much everyone hated her.

Seemingly having spotted Y/N's attempt to leave the boy jogged towards her, yelling at her to wait up. She turned towards him a stern questioning look on her face. "Hi, um I'm guessing you heard what she said right?" He started, earning an obvious look from Y/N, wordlessly answering his question. "Yeah, yeah I figured." He really seemed like he wad struggling for words. "Well, um, I just wanted to say she's wrong. About it being your fault. Everyone dies eventually that's just how it works. I'm sorry she was so mean to you."

Shrugging off his apology Y/N replied "It's fine kid, it's mot like it's your fault. It's not like it's anything I haven't heard before."

He looked at her empathetically, "that doesn't make it any better." He said solemnly.

"I don't get why people are so mean about witches, you guys seem really cool. I'd love to have powers like you." He added on excitedly.

It was sweet, she thought. It wasn't often people said things like that in any way over than malicious envy. He was a really nice boy, it was a shame he was destined to leave the world so soon. Seeing what she saw was never easy but this kid couldn't have been more than what, 13? She would've liked to have helped him, if he truly wanted to learn magic she could've even mentored him if he'd let her.

"You're a good kid. Make sure you take care okay, spend time with the people you love alright." It was all she could say. She couldn't tell a kid so young, so happy he would die in just a few short weeks, it wasn't fair. He would be better off not knowing.

The teen looked at her with a small smile, a curious glint behind his eyes yet he said nothing. If he had realised the reasoning behind her words he hadn't said anything, perhaps he realised it was better off not knowing. Most people didn't like to know when they were going to die, it meant they spent the last of their time living in fear, constantly on edge instead of actually enjoying life while they could.

And like that they parted ways, she knew it would be the last time she saw the boy. It wasn't likely she would be coming back to the town soon, if the woman's warnings to the kid about her was anything to go by she wouldn't be safe here much longer and even if she did stay it's not like he had lonhg left anyway.

It had definitely put a dampener on her mood, knowing someone with so much potential would never get to use it was always sad. But the way a man called out to her in the street saying she had killed his daughter really didn't help. She remembered his daughter too, she was young, just married to a man from the neighbouring town and had moved their with him not long after she had seen her. She told the woman not to go their, that something bad would happen in that place but she hadn't listened and now according to her father it was once again Y/N's fault.

It hurt, having so many people hate you. She knew it wasn't her fault, she knew deep down death was inescapable and her powers were not what was securing that fate. She knew it was something much more divine that made the decision, that she could simply see when it had been made. Yet some days it still got to her. All the hatred and blame being sent towards her had effected her. Somehow at times like these all logic and reason were thrown to the side as unwarranted guilt flooded her brain. As she stepped into her home she lost all composure. Everything that she had been putting away to the side for years suddenly weighing her down, a colossal weight being unmovable as she sunk to the floor of her home.

She had started to weep, she had no way of stopping it now as everything people had said to her had started to ring in her ears incessantly. It hurt, it hurt her so much as all she could think of was how she should've helped. How if she could think of a way to use her powers for the greater good maybe she could save just one life. Maybe she could save the kid she had seen earlier? But she couldn't. She tries countless times before. She had tried stopping people from going where they were doomed to die, from leaving somewhere they should've stayed or meeting the person who would bring their demise to them. But it never worked, even single time they still died at the exact same time. Once their course had been decided it was a must. No one could stop people from meeting their end, not even death herself.

And that's something she had had to deal with for years. Being the embodiment of death hadn't left her numb to all of the guilt. Just like this girl Rio had felt it all too. She had blamed herself time and time again, searching for a way to avoid the inevitable, to get out of doing her job. But there was always a pull, an inevitable force pulling her to the souls, giving her no choice bit to lead them to the other side. She didn't ask to do this job, she was chosen by who knows what or who. The world had a strange way of working, some unknown fates leading people to places they never would have expected, giving them something they must do with no way out or even a guide to help them cope with ehat job they had been given. She would've done anything to get out of this role just as Y/N would have done anything to escape seeing people's fates or at the very least help even just one person escape them.

She knew what the girl was going through, she had seen her go through it countless times before. She had always wanted to help hut not known how, always having the excuse to stay hidden even when she was somehow bound to the girl, always watching as she discovered who was next on Rio's list of souls to collect. It was as if they were destined to meet, to work together but Rio had been postponing it for years, centuries even. But she couldn't any longer, the part of her that longed to comfort the witch finally taking over as she watched her struggle with her inner turmoil, a battle she was tremendously loosing.

So she finally did it, finally stepped out of the shadows, taking slow, tentative steps out of the shadows towards the witch. She didn't know what to say, how to introduce herself or to explain her job. How would she even begin to tell her that she has been linked to the witch for centuries, that she knew how she felt but she had always been too afraid to reveal herself until now. What if she was mad? Rio was after all the source of all her problems. Without death she would've never had to blame herself, to hate herself for powers she had no control over.

As Rio's own thoughts had started to spiral into more of self doubt she heard Y/N's voice interrupt the silence. "Hello?" It sounded both calm and scared, like she didn't know who was there yet felt safe with them still. Her voice was a tad rough from crying and yet she still sounded as angelic as ever.

Rio didn't know what to reply, she had been imaging what it would be like to finally reveal herself to Y/N for years. She had planned out what to say a billion times and yet now she came up empty, at a loss for words as she stared deeply into Y/N's eyes. Her glance telling a billion words as her voice failed her, not yet able to muster even a sentence.

"I feel like I know you." Y/N started, she sounded curious, like she knew something but was unsure how.

"In a way you do." Rio finally responding, the first words she could speak since she had revealed herself.

Curiosity clear in her voice she spoke again "Who are you?" She really should've been more scared or confused that someone she didn't know was in her house but she wasn't, she knew her she just didn't know how. She needed to know.

Unsure on how to respond Rio just stood still for a moment longer watching as Y/N slowly walked towards her as if just getting closer she could work out who she was. Just as she was finally about to speak Y/N paused, her eyes widening as she stared blankly forward. Rio had seen this before, she had watched from the shadows as Y/N had her visions.

As she came back from her vision she slowly blinked before locking eyes with Rio once again. Her vision hadn't made sense, she hadn't seen her death, she had seen her take other people, people Y/N had met, had seen die. There was no way what she had seen was real but her visions had never been wrong before.

Seemingly sensing the question Y/N was going to ask Rio finally spoke up "I take souls, everyone you've ever sensed were going to die and so so many more." She was sure there was a better way to word it, hell she had written introductions for herself so many times, trying to make what she does seem nicer, attempting to sugar coat something that was so hard to swallow. Yet now that she was actually here, talking to the witch she had waited so long to meet she felt out of her depth.

What if she blamed Rio? After all death was the cause for all of her problems, shy wouldn't she blame the root of all her problems? It didn't make sense for her not to, it's why she had waited so long to introduce herself in the first place. And oh how she suddenly wished she had waited even longer.

"Is it hard?" Y/N asked earning a confused look from Rio. "Taking everyone to the other side? Knowing everything they could've been, everything they're missing"

"Sometimes." She replied, pausing a moment before continuing "It's just nature, everyone dies eventually. But yes, sometimes it hurts still and when it does its one of the worst feelings in the world." It was clear there was a story there, that she had taken someone she didn't want to. Y/N wanted to ask, to know what had happened but she didn't. It was clearly a harsh subject and she knew how much it hurt to reopen old wounds. So she wouldn't ask, no matter how much she wanted to. She just nodded, not sure how else to reply but Rio didn't mind, she knew she understood.

They stood there for a moment, tension lingering in the air, the result of the roller coaster of emotions that both had felt. Until finally Y/N asked "Do they blame you the way they blame me?"

Rio hadn't been expecting that question, she didn't know why, it was a logical question. "Alot of the time. Some people accept their fate quite easily but most fight it. They try to blame me, beg me to let them go back and argue it's not their time."

"But it is" Y/N replies, she understood how it felt to have everyone blame her. "They never understand it's not my fault either."

There was an understanding between them, that even if they had never met before they knew each other. They understood each other on such a deep level, no one else faced the guilt and blame they had at such a level. They were in such unique positions that the likeliness of someone understanding what it felt like was practically non-existent and yet here they were. Two sides of the same coin. It was like they were made for each other.

Authors note:

I'm debating making this a short series so let me know if you'd like a part 2 at all. I hope you guys all like it and if you're new to my blog go check out my other Agatha All Along fics on my master list.

[satxnsupreme666]

Tainted love: Dark!Wanda Maximoff x fem!reader/Agatha Harkness/Agnes x fem!reader

Masterlist

Pairing: Alright so this starts as a Dark!Wanda Maximoff x reader and then it turns to be Agatha Harkness x reader (I really like the idea of Agatha helping and saving reader)

Based on the cover songsTainted love by Holy Wars and Hannah Peel´s cover of the same song

Summary: You´re living an unhappy marriage with Wanda and your neighbor Agnes decides to help you to get away from the person who makes you suffer.

Warnings: Toxic relationship, angst, Wanda maintains you captive inside Westview, mentions of kidnapping, Wanda manipulates and alters reader´s memory, gaslighting, mentions of blood.

Word count: 12k+

Author´s note: This was one of the first stories I wrote three years ago, I had posted them on Tumblr on my old account, but due to my mental health, I had to take a break from Tumblr and the toxicity and hate that had suddenly increased, I deleted all of my stories and my old account, now I have decided to upload them again here on Tumblr and also on Ao3.

I hope you like it!

If you enjoy, could you comment, like or reblog? it would help a lot really ♥️

Taglist: @midnight-lestrange  @eliscannotdance

 Sometimes I feel I’ve got to

“Printsessa you don´t have to worry about anything! You´re fine here with me, what´s outside doesn´t matter to us, there´s nothing important outside!” You remembered Wanda hissing at you all of those words, but you didn´t understand why it felt like a dream, as if it wasn´t real, you were sure she had yelled at you the day before today but then, why it felt as if you had dreamt about it, the memory was a little blurry but you could remember her frustrated face, was it real? If it was, why were you discussing about? You couldn’t tell.

You couldn’t remember what had happened yesterday, had you gone out for some groceries? Had you gone to Dottie´s place? Why you couldn’t remember?

You sat up in your bed, and more questions came to your mind, at what time had you gone to sleep yesterday? Why you couldn’t remember simple things like that? You started to feel frustrated and tried to focus on your mind, what were all of these images of Wanda and you discussing?

“Why do you want to go outside so bad? Here you have everything you need, I´m giving you everything you want, I don´t understand why you want to leave, it doesn’t make sense to me!” Was this a memory? Have you dreamt about it? Wanda would never yell at you right? She wouldn’t never yell at you; she had told you that many times, you repeated yourself in your mind.

“Printsessa? Are you alright?” You heard Wanda asking beside you, you felt her hand passing around your waist

“I don´t know” You said while closing your eyes.

“Are you having nightmares again, my love?” You frowned

“Nightmares?” You asked with a confused look on your face

“Yes, don´t you remember? You´ve been having nightmares for the past days, you always wake up in the middle of the night, and I have to calm you, did you have nightmares again?” Wanda was really concerned, so they were just nightmares? That had to be.

But why were you doubting? You believed her right? She couldn’t be lying, could she?

“I don’t remember having them, but-“ Wanda suddenly moved herself to get closer to you and her sudden action made you feel scared, unconsciously you moved to the side and you blinked, why had you done that? You weren’t scared of her, then why did you do it?

You could see the hurt in her eyes, and you couldn’t help but feel bad, you had wanted to touch her hand to say something, but you felt there was something wrong, you couldn’t shake the feeling off.

“I can make them go away if you want lyubimaya moya” You saw the worried look on your wife´s face, there was something missing in the way she spoke, her soft tone was still there but you couldn’t tell what was missing, it felt different, and you felt frustrated, why couldn’t you remember anything from the other days? You only had some glimpses of some things, but you weren’t even sure if they were memories, dreams or nightmares.

“No!” You hastily said, you were surprised with your own behavior, why were you suddenly feeling so afraid of her magic?

“Can I hold you?” Looking at her face the only thing you saw was sadness, but why? You felt the need to let her hold you and rest your head on her chest but there was this part of you, a voice in the back of your head that told you to stay away, but you didn’t get why, she was your wife, you didn’t have to be afraid of your own wife.

Deciding to ignore that unnerving feeling in your heart, you slowly nodded and Wanda started to come closer to you, this time she did it slower, her hands up in the air as if she was letting you know she wouldn’t do anything to you, oddly her action made you feel a lot more comfortable about what she was doing, she passed her hand around your waist, her grip was soft but firm at the same time, you started to relax in her arms and slowly you pressed your head onto her chest, for a moment you felt calmed again, you felt the love she promised you, the heat of her body against yours made you remember of how a home felt.

“I´m really sorry printsessa, I just want us to be happy, but you don´t let me help you, I will make these nightmares go away, nothing will ever make you feel this way, I just want you to be happy” Before you could separate yourself from her, her grip around you became stronger, it wasn’t soft anymore, you could feel her hand on your waist, holding you tightly against her but in a harsh way, you wanted her to stop holding you so harsh but she was stronger, before you could do something else she put her fingers on your temple, you couldn’t do anything else, closing your eyes you felt unconscious in her arms.

Wanda held your unconscious body against her, she hated doing this to you, but the real memories were messing with the fake ones she had put in your mind, she couldn’t lose you, no one more time, she was not going to let that happen, you had been gone for so long and now that she had you back, she was not planning on letting you go, after all you were alright with her, nothing could hurt you anymore.

“I´m doing this to you because I love you y/n, you´re safe here with me, just with me, I would never hurt you” Wanda whispered into your ear, her eyes closed, her grip on you started to become softer and with her free hand softly caressed your face, Wanda hoped you would understand why she was doing this, it was all for you.

Get away from the pain

 You woke up to an empty bed, where was Wanda? Frowning you stood up from your bed, you couldn’t help but feel as if you had already woken up hours ago, was it in the morning or in the middle of the night? Or maybe you just hadn’t slept well, and that was why you felt so sore.

Maybe taking a shower would help to ease the pain in your head, your headache was growing and you just wanted to lay back in bed again, but you felt as if you had already slept for many hours, you really didn’t want to go back to bed.

Physically you felt exhausted, the constant headaches were awful and the tiredness you felt almost all the time was unbearable, you wanted to go out to do something else, but at the same time you didn’t feel like going out.

This made you feel conflicted you just wanted the pain to stop, but you didn’t know how.

You were supposed to be happy; you were sharing your life with Wanda, you were her wife she had given you everything you had asked for, a family, you were living peacefully with her, but then why you felt so miserable? It made no sense at all, you felt so alone in this big house, there were so many rooms and you felt like every single thing hid something inside them.

A piece of paper on your nightstand distracted you from your thoughts, you knew it had been Wanda the one who left the small paper, taking it into your hands you saw Wanda´s handwriting, she had gone out again, this time she told you it was something about her job? Last time it had been something about a committee, it was alright, you started to relax a little but, why? You missed her terribly but at the same time there was this part of you that made you want to get away from her, she had never yelled at you or hit you, but whenever she was close to you, the way her hand gripped you a little too harsh, the way she told you everything would be alright, made you feel a little uncomfortable, there was a memory of her in your mind, a memory of a loving Wanda who used to hold you against her chest, singing Sokovian lullabies into your ear when you were afraid, her touch used to be soft, now her touch was severe.

A bunch of new thoughts started to come to your mind, Wanda said they were nightmares, but were they really nightmares? You tried to focus on these thoughts, how her behavior had changed, all the little things that she now did, you remembered she had always been a jealous person, but her new possessiveness scared you.

If she saw you talking to someone, she would get so jealous, so jealous that you even feared her reaction.

What she used to do was what made you stop talking to everyone who was just being nice to you, you didn’t understand her harsh tone against the others, but what made you feel more confused was that the others didn’t mind Wanda talking to them the way she did, like that time when Dottie had asked you how your days had been going at the supermarket, you were sure Wanda was on the other side of the store, she had told you she would go check for some fruit and you wandered around, you bumped into Dottie near the cereals isle, Dottie only asked you a simple question and before you could even answer, Wanda appeared out of nowhere, telling Dottie to go bother someone else, that she was not in the mood to deal with her, your wife didn’t even give Dottie time to explain herself, you couldn’t even hear a word Dottie said, because your angry wife took your wrist with such an angry and harsh grip, guiding you to the entrance, you didn’t even buy anything!  

Wanda dragged you to your house, all the way to your home she didn’t say anything to you, you felt so scared to even talk to her, Wanda didn’t notice she was hurting you, you tried taking her hand off you but that only made her angrier.

You blinked several times, here there were those memories again, at this point you were pretty sure they were memories, but when had they happened? You just wanted to know what was going on, Wanda told you that she loved you, but why it didn’t feel like that anymore?

Trying to ignore all of these thoughts you decided to go for a walk, now that Wanda wasn’t at your home, you had the chance to go out without her constant surveillance, maybe you could even talk to someone other than just your wife, it didn’t matter who, you just needed someone else to talk about anything, at this point you didn’t even care what it could be, you even wished you could find Dottie to just hear her talking about her meetings.

After changing your clothes, you went downstairs, looking around everything you felt there was something so strange about this house, and you couldn’t even put your finger on what it was, you felt awful, frustrated, you couldn’t even remember many things, and this only made you feel worse.

Going outside your house you notice how everything was so nice, the day was really pretty, the sun wasn’t too bright and the wind was refreshening, it was good to be outside, you didn’t even remember when was the last time you had been outside alone, it felt like it had been days since you were on your own here outside.

Walking through the streets you noticed there wasn’t anyone outside, what was going on? Why nobody was in the streets? Not even Dottie was in her garden, there weren’t children playing in the street, how was that even possible? You tried to think If the other times when Wanda and you had gone for a walk, there were people a lot of people for what you could recall, you even went to some houses to try to see if there were people in there, but you couldn’t see anything, and fear took over you, your lips started to tremble, everything was quiet and you found the silence unsettling, there was definitely something odd happening, after some more minutes of wandering alone through the solitary street and with your pounding heart you decided to walk back to your house.

“Y/n sweetheart?” A voice distracted you from your thoughts, you turned yourself around too look at the person who had called you.

 “Agnes!?“ You exclaimed with a happy tone, you were happy to see someone else, and Agnes was a gentle person to you, so you felt really happy to see her

"Thanks you’re here, it seems like you’re the only person around here” You said, with your voice trembling a little.

Agnes noticed your agitated state and felt concerned about you, you were really upset and she could see it, the way you were constantly rubbing your hands against your clothes, the way you were looking your surroundings as if you were afraid of something appearing, she was sure it was because Wanda wasn’t near this place, she was sure Wanda had gone to the limits that was why no one here was moving, but she didn’t want to scare you or upset you more.

“Oh darling it may be because it’s Sunday and everyone must be watching that show that airs on Sundays” She tried to reassure you with a smile on her face, her answer seemed to calm you a little bit because you stopped biting your lip as well as you stopped turning your head to look at your surroundings, your shoulders also seemed to relax a little more, and that made her feel a little calm, she didn’t like seeing you in such a distressed state.

You thought a little about her answer and it made sense to you, you remember that show that Wanda liked to watch on Sundays, but another thought came to your head, if it was Sunday then why Wanda had told you she had left for something related to work?

“Isn’t Wanda with you?” Agnes noticed how you shook your head a little at the mention on her name

“She’s not home, she left for-” You thought a little about whether was right to tell her or not, Agnes wasn’t a bad person, you couldn’t remember interacting a lot of her, but at the same time you felt you had already talk to her many times, she made you feel calm, her presence was recomforting and there was this feeling that made you trust in her.

“She left for something related to work” You saw how Agnes frowned at that.

It didn’t make sense to her, Wanda didn’t even work? She was going to ask you more things but the way you looked, she felt bad, you looked too tired and the sadness and you had in your eyes, she couldn’t see you like this, it was clear you were suffering.

“Would you like to come home with me? You can help me with a new recipe I’ve been wanting to try for some time doll” She softly asked you and you liked the idea, you really wanted to do something else so you nodded, you saw the way she smiled and you smiled too, she waited for you to start to walk and the two of you walked side by side, arriving at her house she opened the door for you and a quick memory of Wanda opening a door for you in a complete different place came to your mind, you blinked a little, what had been that?

“Are you alright sweetheart?” Agnes noticed how your expression changed for a confused one.

“I’m alright” you told her in a rush and she let you in, you slowly entered and you felt different, it was a different feeling to be inside her house.

Agatha knew you weren’t alright, she knew what Wanda was doing, she knew everyone else was under Wanda´s mind control, but why would she do it to the person the red-head was supposed to love? Her first plan had been to take Wanda’s powers, but now her plans had changed, she wanted to take your suffering away, she had tried to wake you up many other times, using her powers and it didn’t work, Wanda’s powers were really strong, the only thing that could wake you up was that you went outside Westview, but she knew Wanda wouldn’t let you do that, so she had to think of something else. She needed to do it quickly you were really suffering and she was sure Wanda’s magic had started to mess with your head, you didn’t know what was real and what wasn’t. For now, she could only try to make you feel a little better. She had to try to make you feel a little happy in all this messed up situation.

“Alright doll, so wanna start with the fun?” She asked you with her cheerful tone.

“Sure, yes, I love cookies, I want to help you bake them, where do we start?” You asked her trying to ignore the intrusive thoughts that came to your mind.

“First you will need an apron, you don’t want to get yourself stained with eggs and chocolate powder, right darling?” You nodded and she showed you a really pretty apron, she handed it to you and when you were about to tie it, she took the laces that were in your back.

“Let me do it for you darling” You felt shy at her action, you knew she used to be like that all the time, so you let her tied them for you, it was a nice gesture.

“Alright darling there you go” Agnes winked at you and you shyly smiled.

“Then let’s start, shall we doll?” You nodded and she grabbed different bowls, spoons and containers and placed them on the kitchen Island.

You came closer to her and she asked you to start pouring the eggs on the bowl but when you were about to do it, she stopped you.

“Wait darling, aren´t you going to take your pretty ring off your hand?” She inquired eying the ringer in your finger.

You blinked your eyes and slowly turned your look to your fingers, you didn´t think about it and a question came to your head, when did Wanda and you got married? Why couldn’t you remember it? You frowned a little thinking about that, why couldn´t you remember that? It was supposed to be an important moment of your life and you couldn’t recall that day.

“Are you alright doll?” You heard Agnes asking behind you.

“Yes, yes I´m alright” You said slowly to her, and took off the ring of your finger

“Do you want me to put that in a safe place so you don’t lose it?” You gave the ring to her and she took it in her hand, you saw that she put it in a small box in one of the shelves.

“Alright doll, now you can keep doing what you were going to do” Agnes said walking back to the kitchen island with her typical smile on her face.

You smiled and started to mix the ingredients in the bowl, you were really grateful to do something new, you couldn’t even remember when had been the last time you had done something else than just staying at home with Wanda and sometimes going out with her for some groceries or a short walk, Wanda was always with you now that you thought about it, but it was more like if you were under her surveillance, you shook your head, you were really enjoying your time with Agnes so you tried to push aside these thoughts.

Agnes was a really sweet person, she was attentive all the time you were there with her, if you had a question on how much of something you had to add she would explain you carefully, step by step, her perfume was really sweet you liked the vanilla smell that came from her.

“Honey you have some, let me help you” First she gestured to your face and when you try to clean whatever it was in your face Agnes laughed because you had just spread more the flour in your face, so she came closer to you, and with a napkin on her left hand she softly removed the flour off your face, her touch was so delicate, you wanted to stay like that a little bit more, but you quickly thought about Wanda, so you quickly separated yourself from Agnes and kept cleaning the kitchen island.

Agatha pouted a little, she would have liked to keep caressing your face, but she wouldn’t do it if you were uncomfortable about it.

You had a lot of fun with her and you enjoyed your time with Agnes, she was hilarious, you felt happy here with her, she made you feel good and you liked the feeling.

The older woman put the cookies in the oven and when she closed it, she went back to help you put everything you had used in the correct place.

“Can I put some music?” You asked shyly

“Of course, darling” She answered you and you happily went to turn the stereo on, the music started and it was your favorite song playing, so felt happier, at home you didn´t listen music at all, or did you? You couldn’t even tell, not again the thoughts.

“Hey doll would you like to do something else while the cookies are ready?” She asked you because she saw the distressed expression on your face, she just wanted you to be busy with something else.

“Yes” You blurted out, you didn’t need to think twice.

“We can play a boardgame, would you like that angel?” You nodded and felt your heart melt at the endearment, it felt so different, the way Wanda used to call you scared you, and you didn’t even know why.

You saw that Agnes went upstairs and minutes later she came back with a boardgame, you helped her placed everything on the living room´s table and when finally everything was placed and you had your tokens you started to play, it was awesome, Agnes had always a funny remark to say, you couldn’t stop laughing at her comments, you really enjoyed playing the game with Agnes, you were at peace, you felt inner peace, you didn’t feel like you needed to stay away from her like the way you felt with Wanda, you felt genuinely happy here with Agnes and you loved the feeling.

You played with her many rounds until you heard the alarm Agnes had set thirty minutes ago and you and her stood up from your sits to go for the cookies.

She took the cookies out of the oven and she placed them on the kitchen counter to make them cool a little, they looked really great and they smelled delicious.

“These look awesome Agnes” You said to her while pointing at the cookies with the pretty different shapes.

“That´s because you helped me, that´s why they look so good sweetheart” You couldn’t help but feel a little shy, you smiled at her biting your lip a little, you waited some minutes until she told you could start to eat them now that they weren’t too hot.

You were excited and you took one in your hand you were about to start eating the cookie you were grabbing in your hand but you heard a harsh knock on Agnes´ door.

You and Agnes frowned, who could it be? You saw how Agnes burrowed her eyebrows and she gestured you with her hand to wait for her, you understood and she went to answer the door

When she opened the door, you heard an angry Wanda and at the sound of her furious tone you instantly tensed in your seat.

“Where´s y/n?” You heard Wanda asking in an angry tone, fear took over you, you knew she wasn’t happy she was mad, really mad, maybe it hadn’t been a good idea to come into Agnes´ house, you started to regret your decision.

“Calm down darling, she´s here with me, we baked some cookies” You were too scared to even turn around when you heard quickly steps getting closer to you.

“What are you doing here?” You heard Wanda´s voice really close to you and you tensed more.

“I just, I helped Agnes to bake cookies” You said in a fearful tone, why were you so afraid of her?

“But you could have baked them all by yourself at home, you could have waited for me to arrive home and we could have baked them, you didn’t need to come here” You didn’t know what do or what to say, you just stared at the table in front of you.

“Oh darling, why are you so angry, I´m pretty sure she just wanted to get some fresh air, we haven’t seen her outside in days” Agnes said I a light tone, but when you heard she had said days, you lifted your head to look at your wife and you saw how her eyes went wide.

“Where´s your ring?” She asked you in a harsh tone changing the topic.

“I took it off so it didn’t get stained” You quickly said to her, you didn’t know where the courage had come out.

“Where is it?” She asked you again.

“It´s here darling I put it in a small box so she didn’t lose it” You saw how Agnes went for the small box and she took the ring out of it, she was giving it to you but Wanda quickly took it from her hand, she took it And you saw how Agnes burrowed her brows.

Wanda stretched her hand out to you with the ring on her hand and you got confused.

“Put it back” Wanda demanded, Agatha felt her blood boiling, how could she treated you like that? You deserved more, but she had to wait, she couldn’t risk it, she had to think carefully what to do next so Wanda didn’t hurt you, or mess with your mind again.

You were doubting, she was your wife yes, but she didn’t have to talk to you like that, you slowly took the ring from her hand and put it back on your finger.

“Let´s go” She said and started to walk towards the door, you turned your head to look at Agnes, and she saw the fear and doubt in your eyes.

“It´s alright doll, you have to go, don´t be afraid” She told you and that made you feel better, you nodded and she gave you a quick squeeze to your hand.

  The love we share

 Wanda and you arrived to your house and after you entered you flinched when Wanda slammed the door.

“Why did you go outside?” Wanda demanded to know; you didn’t want to turn yourself around to see her angry face.

“Why did you go outside?” You heard asking again.

“I just wanted to! I can´t stand being here all the time” You blurted out

“But we go outside! You can go outside when I´m here with you!” She answered back

“Bu why can’t I go outside alone?” You started to raise your voice a little, you didn’t understand why she was acting like this

“Just look at what you did today, you went to Agnes´ house and you even took your ring off!” She was being irrational.

“I didn’t do anything! I just talk to you, you don´t let me talk to anyone else anymore”

“How do you remember that?” Wanda quickly inquired.

“What? What do you mean? What are you implying?” You started to question and you saw how Wanda´s expression changed, that scared you a lot.

“I´m sorry printsessa, I didn’t want to scare you, I just, I´m worried about you” Wanda started to walk slowly and her sudden change of behavior made you fear her.

“Can I give you a hug?” You didn’t want to, you knew she was thinking something, you really didn´t want to let her hug you, there was something off, you just knew, unconsciously you stepped back

“Please my love I just want to hug you, like I always do” She started to walk faster towards you and you just felt the need to run.

You started to run towards your room but she used her magic to stop you from going upstairs.

“I´m really sorry my love, I can´t let you go, you´re mine, I´m only doing this to you because I love you”

“Wanda, please you don´t have to, this is not love, you don´t-“

“That´s not true! I love you; I DO love you, never said the contrary!” Wanda yelled at you making you close your eyes, you were trembling, at this point you were sure she had been the one messing and changing your thoughts.

“Please, Wanda you´re hurting me!” You squinted, it hurt, it hurt physically and mentally, you couldn’t keep with this.

“I´m sorry, I´m really sorry my love, I have to, If I don´t do it, you´ll get away from me, and I can´t let that happen, not again” She had tears in her eyes and you didn’t know why, you were the one who was in pain

“I swear to you, I won´t go away from you, I swear it, just please don´t do this again” You were pleading but she didn’t listen, Wanda came closer to you and she pressed her fingers against your temple, and once again Wanda caught your unconscious body against her.

“I´m really sorry for this printsessa, but I don´t want to lose you again” She whispered into your ear.

And I’ve lost my light

That night you dreamt of a different place from this one, you saw many people you couldn’t recognize, a tall blonde man who smiled at you kindly, a red-head woman hugging you and telling you that everything was going to be okay, a man with a serious expression and a metal arm saying comforting words to you, you couldn’t tell who they were but all of them seemed concerned they were worried, but why?

After that you started to had nightmares, there was a war, a big man, many people fighting against some type of creatures, and then you saw Wanda her eyes glowing red she was using her power to lift something big, but also you saw her crying over someone, that was really blurry, she was holding someone on the ground and then you didn’t see anything more.

 When you woke up again, you were surprised you remembered everything that had happened the day before, how could it be? This time you remember what Wanda had done to you, how she had used magic on you, it had been real, everything she had done was real, now you were aware, Wanda had been using her powers to erase some events and things that had happened.

You were relieved that Wanda wasn’t in the bed with you, there was another piece of paper on the nightstand and you quickly took it.

-I’m going out for work printsessa, I hope you slept well, I have a surprise for you, we can go outside if you want when I arrive home, love you-

Her small letter made you feel angry, how could she do this?

What caught your attention was the ring on your finger, she hadn’t taken the ring off your hand, but what surprised you was that the little diamond wasn’t white anymore, now it was completely purple, you thought about whether it was a good idea taking it off or not, but in the end you did it and left it on the nightstand.

You started to be more scared, now that you were sure Wanda was manipulating your thoughts so that you didn’t remember what she had done to you, you started to doubt more about her, what else had she changed in your mind? What was this place? Why where you here? What had she done to you? You couldn’t even remember more about your life. You needed to calm down a little, if you think about it, Wanda wouldn’t be back until noon, you didn’t know where she really went and you really didn’t care, you just needed to get out of this place, you couldn’t take it anymore, you used to love Wanda you were sure about it, even if you couldn’t remember you were sure you used to had something beautiful, what you and her used to have was like a dream, but now it had turned into a nightmare for you.

You really wanted to take a bath, but you didn’t even feel safe in your own house, there was no one else who could help you, everyone here seemed to live just to please Wanda, no one dare to contradict her, as if everybody was scared of her.

You went downstairs, you had the same clothes of yesterday, you weren’t even sure if it had been yesterday or not, did you even have a phone? You didn’t know, you were sure if you had one Wanda wouldn’t even let you use it.

The only important thing you needed to do was to get out of this house as possible as you could, running to the front door you took the doorknob to open the door.

“Damn it” You cursed under your breath, why was the door locked? Where were the keys? You started to look for them, but they weren’t anywhere, you didn’t find them on the bookshelf, they weren’t on the table, they weren’t on the kitchen on counter, not even in your drawers of your room.

Wanda had locked you in your own house, how could she have done that? You couldn’t believe it, why would she do that? You were terrified, this wasn’t supposed to happen, maybe she had just locked the front door, so you went to the back door of your backyard to try to get out.

“Dam it, it´s closed too” You hit with your palm the door, this wasn’t fair, you needed to get out of here, Wanda knew you would try to go out so she did this, what else could you do?

The windows! You quickly went to look for the windows in the first floor but they were closed and even if you tried using all of your strength you couldn’t open them, this was wrong, this was all wrong.

Going upstairs to check on the windows you noticed they were locked as well as the ones in the first floor, when did Wanda had the time to lock them like this? How had she done this? What if she had used her magic to lock them? You were feeling desperate you really needed to get out of here, but how?

You´ll have to break a window, it was the only thing you could do at this point if you wanted to get out of this prison.

You took some of the decorative medium size rocks that were around a potted plant, you didn’t need to think twice your next moves, so you threw the rocks aggressively against the window and you cover your face when it crashed against the big window, pieces of glass went flying and when the crashing sound you turned yourself to look at the now broken window, you smiled at the sight now you could be free from this house, you didn’t want to hurt yourself so you took your jacket off and placed it on the edges of the window so that you wouldn’t cut yourself, after making sure that all the sharp edges were covered, a little insecure you pressed your hands on the edge of it, this was not the time to be scared, you needed to do this.

Taking a deep breath you pushed yourself to be able to jump over the window of the first floor, half of your body had already passed but you didn’t notice there were some sharp edges at the sides of the table until you felt an awful pain on your left hand and arm, you tried to get out faster but your foot got stuck a little and a piece of glass teared part of your jeans, it got to your skin and you hissed, the pain was awful but you needed to get out of this.

You fell onto the grass and grunted a little, you would have liked to just lay there a little bit more, you felt exhausted but you needed to keep going.

“y/n? Oh god, what happened to you darling?” You heard Agnes´ worried voice, lifting your head to look at her she saw your tired eyes and the state you were in, she felt really guilty, she should have done something to help you, Agnes stretched her hands to help you stand and you gladly accepted them, she carefully took your hands carefully not to hurt you more.

“What happened sweetheart?” Agnes saw the broken window and some pieces of glass were covered in some blood and her heart jumped.

“y/n doll are you hurt? Let me see” The woman in front of you softly took your face in her hands looking for wounds on your face, you could see how upset she was, the worry in her eyes and the troubled expression she had, her eyes were so pretty and you felt a warm feeling growing inside your chest.

Stop, you thought, this was not the time for that, not now.

“I´m alright Agnes, I´m not hurt, you need to help me, Wanda locked me inside the house and I had to break the window to get out” You blurted out and you saw how Agnes clenched her jaw in ager, you couldn’t take it anymore and started to cry, you were desperate, you just wanted Wanda to stop, why couldn’t she just let you go? You threw yourself into Agnes´ arms and she carefully hugged you back, your sobs were breaking her heart, it had taken some time to understand what was going on with you and Wanda, at first when she arrived at Westview because of Wanda´s magic and she saw you, she just thought you weren’t having a great day, but your confused stare at what was supposed to be your house raised her suspicions, then the way she saw how Wanda dragged you to different places with harsh grip on you or the way she talked to you when someone else got near to you to start a nice conversation, she knew what had happened to Wanda,  but she didn’t knew anything about you, she didn’t know why Wanda had brought you here but she felt awful for you, your constant tired and sad look on your eyes, the way you would always look down at the ground, not even daring to look at Wanda, what had she done to you? Why did you look so scared of her? Agatha started to suspect there was something more going on between you and her, because sometimes you didn’t even get out of your house for days, the first time that she remembered that happening was two weeks after she had arrived for the first time.

All of you were in one of Dottie´s meeting, during the meeting you had been sitting next to Wanda all the time, with her hand on your waist and you even looked as if you were afraid to move, from time to time she kissed your cheek and you just stayed there, tensed the entire time, she had wanted to do something to make you feel a little less tense, maybe talk to you or made you laugh but Wanda didn’t let you alone until she found the perfect opportunity, when the meeting was over everyone dispersed and went to talk with different people some women were chatting with the others and she saw how Wanda told you something in your ear and you just nodded looking at the ground, then Agatha saw how you walked to the deckchairs and you sat down in one of them she followed you to talk a little with you, when she got near you, she saw how you just were staring at the water not even moving at all, and she frowned, why were you always so quiet?

“Hi doll, are you bored?” She asked you sitting next to you in the other chair, she saw the way you jumped a little at the sudden voice of hers.

“Hi Agnes” You shyly smiled and gave her a quick glance to her, turning your head quickly to look at the water again.

“I´m just a little bored, I would like to go now, but Wanda keeps talking to Dottie” You admitted to her, in that moment she frowned why wouldn’t just leave then? Maybe you didn’t want to go alone, she thought

“What if I accompany you to your house?” She kindly asked you and she saw how your eyes lit up for a moment.

“That would be great, but I have to ask Wanda first” The blue-eyed woman saw the way you thought about it for a moment and she nodded, you were Wanda´s wife after all.

“I´m going to ask her, wait here” You kindly smiled at her and she nodded again at you, she saw how you stood up from the chair but what disconcerted her was the way you walked towards your wife, as if you were scared of getting too close to her, she saw the way you hesitate to touch her arm, when you finally did it, you never dare to look her in the eyes, you  just stared at the glass Wanda was holding, Agatha knew there was something wrong, why would you be afraid of your own wife? She saw the way your lips almost trembled to her while you spoke and when you stopped talking to her she saw Wanda smiled at you and how she hugged you, you didn’t return the hug you just stayed still, after separating from you Wanda said something to Dottie and your wife took your hand to start walking towards her, when Agatha saw your face again she could swear you were scared, Wanda and you walked until you were standing in front of her.

“Thank you so much for offering to take my wife home, but I will take her home, you shouldn’t have to worry, I was almost finished, but thank you for the offer, right y/n?”

Agatha saw the way you quickly nodded and you didn’t even dare to lift your head to look at her.

“It was good to be here, but we´re leaving” Wanda was smiling at her but she couldn’t shake the strange feeling about her.

After that day she didn’t saw you for four days in a row, she saw how Wanda came out of your house and entered again hours later, the fourth day Agatha hadn’t seen you she decided to ask Wanda what was going on, so when she was in her garden and she saw that Wanda had arrived to your house she quickly went to say hi to Wanda.

“Hey darlin! I hope you´re enjoying your day at all, isn’t y/n with you? I haven’t seen her in a while” Agatha asked with a smile on her face, her expression didn’t match with the real emotions she was feeling, Wanda turned herself slowly from her front door and walked towards her, her annoyed expression changed into a fake smile just in the nick of time.

“Oh hi Agnes, I´m enjoying my day yes, I was just going to pass a lovely evening with my wife, she´s been feeling a little under the weather, that´s why you haven’t seen her, she decided to stay at home, but don´t worry, she´s getting better, so you don´t have to worry about her”  And with that Wanda went back to her door and entered to your house.

The next day she saw you, at the center of the town, Agatha had the unsettling feeling that there was something else behind all of this,  you were smiling and letting Wanda hug you as if nothing had happened days ago, you were holding hands with her and this time, you seemed to be happier, but Agatha had the feeling that was not the real way you were feeling inside.

And now that she was seeing you here, holding your trembling body against her she knew she had to help you, she couldn’t keep seeing you suffering.

Agatha had to do something, it had been so wrong to wait to do something, now you were here physically hurt because Wanda had locked you in your own house, your body was shaking with fear, this time she wouldn’t let that Wanda messed with your head again, not again.

“You´re safe with me doll, it´s alright, I won´t let Wanda get near you again, she won´t ever hurt you again” She was holding you tightly against her and for the first time you felt safe, you just wanted all of this suffering to end.

She took your hands in her and looked at you straight in your eyes, your beautiful eyes were red from all the crying, she needed you to explain things to you first, but she needed to do it quickly before Wanda came looking for you again.

“You´ll be fine” You heard Agnes say to you and she took your hand in hers waiting for you to walk, she guided you to the back door of her house and you followed her, she was holding you hand with a soft grip on yours, it felt so different as the way Wanda grasped your hand.

 Once I ran to you

 Agnes guided you inside her house and once again you felt at peace, you didn’t feel tense or afraid here with Agnes, the older woman made you feel safe.

“Sweetheart first I need to clean these wounds, would you let me?” You nodded and she made you sit in her couch.

Agatha couldn’t stand seeing you this way, you looked so broken, she knew there was more behind this, she wanted to make you smile, the times you had shared with her, the times you didn’t remember because she was sure Wanda messed with your memories, she was happy that you had asked her for help, she was sure that the spell she had put in your ring the day before had helped you, that spell at least helped you a little so that Wanda didn’t altered your memories, she wanted to tell you everything, but first she needed to take care of your cuts.

“I´ll be back quickly, I need to get some alcohol and cotton gauzes” She caressed your face a little before going to her bathroom, for what she needed.

You started to relax a little in here, you didn’t feel any pressure, it was good to be here with her.

You her quick steps coming closer to you and the sound of her rushed steps didn’t scare you as how Wada´s had made you feel when she came to your side demanding to know what you were doing with Agnes.

“Angel, let me see the cuts, I´ll be as gentle as possible, I don´t want to hurt you more than you already are” You felt touched by her words, so you showed her your arm and your hand, those were the ones that hurt the most, she cleaned the cuts and applied alcohol on them, then she put the cotton gauze and she did the same with the cuts in your leg, you really liked her gentle touch against your skin, it felt so nice to know that she didn’t want to hurt you, when she finished she placed everything in the small table in the living room and looked at you.

You saw how she brought her hand to your face and she softly caressed your cheek, unconsciously you lent into her touch, it was so nice to feel how she treated you with such delicacy, you were not expecting when she suddenly knelt in front of you, her hand were resting carefully in your knees and she was looking at you with almost pleading eyes.

“Doll I need to tell you the truth, but I promise you that you don’t need to be afraid, I just want to help you get away from this, you deserve so much more and I can´t let Wanda keep doing this to you” You said yes with your head and she took a deep breath and closed her eyes before speaking again.

“My real name´s Agatha Harkness” You had thought she was joking but when you saw the serious look on her face you realized, she wasn’t lying.

“I´m a witch, at first I came here, because I felt Wanda´s magic and I had wanted her powers, but my plans changed, I´m not interested in her powers anymore, I just want to help you, I can´t stand seeing the way you´re suffering” She felt some tears threatening to fall at the corner of her eyes, when Agatha saw that you weren’t saying anything and that you just stared at her with a blank expression on your face she started to fear the worst, she didn’t want to scare you, she needed to tell you the truth.

“Doll, I´m sorry I didn’t tell you this before, but please you don´t need to be afraid of me, I don´t want to hurt you, I just want to help you, I put a spell on your ring yesterday so that Wanda´s magic didn’t affected you, I was sure she was going use her magic on you, and before she took you back to your home days ago I knew she would do it, so I planned on coming to see you but in these two days she didn’t leave your house, she was constantly there until now, I saw she had gone out and I decided to go see you but then I heard a loud crash and when I arrived at your house you were laying on the ground that´s when I-“ She didn’t finish her sentence because you had hugged her, you passed your arms around her shoulders and when she felt how close you had pulled yourself to her she passed her arms around your waist, you started to sob again and she quickly removed a little from you to take your face in her hands and with her fingers she wiped the tears away from your face.

“You really did that to the ring?” You asked between sobs but with a smile on your face, you were amazed, thanks to her you got the chance to go out of that house, she nodded and you hugged her again.

“Thank you so much, you don´t know how that helped me, thanks to you I can remember the day you and I made cookies, you don´t know how much I love that memory, I can´t remember a lot of things but I can remember this and it makes me so happy that you did that for me”

“You don´t need to thank me sweetheart I want to help you, I´m so sorry I didn’t do anything before to help you, I tried to wake you up before but Wanda´s magic is too strong, her magic is tied to her emotions and when she´s angry her magic becomes stronger, I don´t know how is that even possible, but I assure you Wanda won´t hurt you again” She took your hands in your and gave them a soft squeeze to them, you nodded and closed your eyes, Agatha pressed her forehead against yours and you felt happy, you felt really happy that you had someone who wanted to help you.

“We need to go sweetheart; we need to leave as fast as possible” You whispered a small “yes” and the two of you stood up.

“Wait I´ll give something to cover yourself sweetheart, it´s could outside” You felt a warm feeling growing inside your chest and when Agatha came back with one of her jackets, she helped you to put on the jacket.

“Thank you” You said shyly and she smiled, you were so beautiful, you deserved to smile and be happy.

“Let´s go darling” Agatha took your hand in hers and she guided you to the door, the blue-eyed woman held the door open for you and she let you go out first, you really loved this gesture of her.

“We need to hurry darling; I don´t know if she can feel you or not, I promise I won´t let her get near you again” Agatha said to you and she started to guide you towards the other side of the street.

“We will have to go towards the other direction” You nodded and the two of you walked down the street.

This tainted love you’ve given

 After what felt hours of walking you finally arrived to the limits of the town and you felt horrified when you saw the people who were frozen on the street.

“What´s all of this?” You asked Agatha while covering your mouth, you couldn’t believe what you were watching.

“I didn’t want to have this conversation with you, I don´t want you to feel scared, but now that you´re seeing all of this, it´s necessary that you know the truth” The two of you stopped walking and she turned herself to look at you.

“This place is an illusion, Wanda created all of this, she´s using her power to make all of these people do what she wants, they can´t help but do everything what Wanda says, these people are frozen because Wanda´s not here, It doesn’t affect me because her magic isn’t able to affect me” She said and you quickly hugged her, it was awful what Wanda was doing.

“I´m really sorry you had to see this sweetheart” Agatha pulled you closer to her body and she softly stroked your hair.

“We need to keep going darling, we´re almost outside” She was right you could almost feel the freedom.

Agatha grabbed your hand again and the two of you walked towards the entrance, when you were close enough you saw something weird in front of you and you turned your head to give Agatha a questioning look.

“This is the magical field that covers Westview, doll, I want you to know that once we cross this field, all the memories Wanda locked inside your mind, you will be able to remember all of these, I know you´re strong enough to handle them, but I will be with you all the time alright?” You were scared you were going to remember everything you couldn’t and that scared you a lot, but you knew Agatha wasn’t lying she made you feel protected and you trusted her.

“Alright, I´m ready” You said to her with confidence, you really wanted to go away from this place.

You felt her hand squeezing your and she nodded to you, you and her walked at the same time and while you started to cross the magical field, you felt some pressure over you, but when you touched the other side the uncomfortable weight on you disappeared, the next thing you knew, a bunch of memories of your real life came to your mind.

You saw your old life back in the Avengers compound, the way your family had vanished into thin air, how Natasha had died for the soul stone, the battle against Thanos, how Tony had died for all of you, you remembered every single thing Wanda had blocked from you.

You also remembered how Wanda had cheated on you with Vision, the way you had felt when you saw her kissing the synthezoid.

You remembered what had happened that day, everything was clear now, she had proposed to you years ago, she used to be a loving and caring girlfriend, but that had been years ago, she used to loved you and you used to love her, you had thought you would be sharing your life with her, years ago she told you how much one day she would love to live with you in a beautiful house of two floors in a really pretty neighborhood, she had sworn to you that she would make everything to protect you from everything and that she would make you happy, but that day when she broke every one of her promises you gave her the ring back, she had pleaded you not to leave her, she had begged you many times to make you stayed with her but you didn’t accept it, and then everything happened so quickly, you didn’t even got time to mourn on your feelings, earth was attacked and after that you had just lost all of your family.

“Are you alright doll?” You heard Agatha asking you, you blinked many times and you noticed tears streaming down your face, you felt Agatha pulling you closer to her and once again you let yourself express all of your pain by crying into her chest, Agatha soothed you and stroked your hair, now that you were finally outside she could see your thoughts and she felt the same pain you were feeling, you deserve to be happy and she was going to make sure of that.

  Tainted love

“Stay away from her” You jumped at Wanda´s voice, there was that accent, you knew there was something missing when she talked to you inside Westview, and now you realized it had been her accent.

“No, you stay away from her” Agatha placed herself in front of you

“Who do you think you are?” You could see Wanda´s eyes glowing red just as well as her hands, for a moment you feared the worst, but when you saw Agatha´s hands glowing purple, you sighed feeling relieved.

“You´re hurting her Wanda, can´t you see it?  this is not healthy" Agatha said to Wanda

“That’s not true! I’m doing this for us, I need her and she needs me! We are meant to be together” Wanda yelled and it made you feel angry, she was hurting you and you were exhausted, you couldn’t believe what she was saying.

“You need to stop Wanda!” You yelled back at her, you placed yourself next to Agatha and all of the anger started to come out of you.

“You hurt me! You made me feel awful, you were manipulating my memories, you used you Magic to make me believe a false life!” You were gesturing at her and you saw how her hands stopped glowing red.

“I love you!” She yelled and you bitterly laughed at that, you wiped some tears that had fallen down your face and you felt Agatha’s hand caressing softly your back, that made you feel better.

“That’s not true Wanda, you don’t love me, this is not love, love is not supposed to be painful, love is not supposed to make you feel exhausted, love is not supposed to scare you, you don’t love me and I don’t lo-”  You were cut off by the read-head

“That’s not true! You love me just as much as I love you! I did this all for us, I did all of this for you, this is our dream, the one we share-”

“You kidnapped me Wanda! You took me away from my home! You kidnapped me and brought me here! That’s not love!” You interrupted her

“That’s not true, that was not your home, this is our home, we can go back to it, we can live peacefully we can go back to our amazing life and forget that all if this ever happened” Wanda started to walk slowly towards you and before she could touch your arm you quickly stepped back.

“Don’t touch me!” You quickly said and Agatha placed herself in front of you.

“You heard her Wanda, you better back off” You saw Wanda’s expression changed into a really angry one

“I won’t repeat myself y/n you better come with me; I love you” You couldn’t understand why Wanda kept saying the same.

“No, I won’t go back to you, you just made me feel awful, you made me feel exhausted, you locked me in that house, YOU DON’T LOVE ME”

“We are married” she quickly said.

“That’s not true, you know that’s not true, we were going to get married years ago but you cheated on me”

You argued back and you saw the way Wanda flinched at the mention of what she had done.

“It was a mistake, I really love you, I don’t want to lose you again, please, you’re breaking my heart, I need you” Wanda knelt in front you she was holding her arms in the air towards you, she was sobbing in front of you, but this time she couldn’t manipulate you, not anymore,  Agatha looked at you and she smiled at you, her smile was comforting, she made you feel safe and now that you could finally remember every single moment you had interacted with her inside Westview, you realized that was how love was supposed to feel.

 Now I know I’ve got to

Run away, I’ve got to

Get away

 You came a little closer to Wanda and you knelt in front of her, Agatha was next to you making sure Wanda wouldn’t do anything to you.

“I’m sorry Wanda, but I won’t go back to you, you don’t love me and I don’t love you, you have to accept that, I can’t be with you, this is not love, what we used to have years ago is over, you have to let it go” You said looking into her green eyes, you didn’t recognize the old Wanda, the person in front of her was full of rage and hatred, you couldn’t blame her at all, she had lost everyone but, this was not fair to you, she was hurting you and you didn’t deserve it, you didn’t feel the same for her.

“Love is supposed to make you feel happy, as if you’re floating on air, love makes you feel safe and protected, love makes you keep going, it doesn’t stop you” Looking back at Agatha she smiled at you and you smiled back at her, she had risked herself to help you get out of it, and you knew that was how love was supposed to be, with Agatha you were sure you could have it, a real love.

“So, you fell in love with her?” Wanda’s voice was louder and you could hear her accent coming back, this time it was more present than ever, you could tell she was really mad, her hands forming into fists and her eyes glowing red in anger, she hastily stood up from the ground and Agatha pulled you closer to her.

“Answer me! Is she the reason you’re leaving me?” You saw Wanda’s jaw clenching and her left eye twitching a little

“She’s leaving you because you just inflict pain into her heart, Wanda you’ve been messing with her mind! She was feeling anxious she didn’t know what day it was, you held her captive inside a place she didn’t want to be, you just made her suffer, she doesn’t deserve this, you’re hurting her, why can’t you understand?”

Agatha was shocked at how Wanda couldn’t see what was the real problem.

“That’s not true, you’re the one who is manipulating her, you’re a liar, you’re not even who you said you were” Wanda kept talking and you felt desperate

“Stop, just stop, I don’t want to listen to you anymore” You said to Wanda while holding your hands in the air, you pressed your fingers against your temple, a headache started to form and it felt awful, you closed your eyes and  you put more pressure of your fingers into your temple.

Agatha came closer to you to softly touch your arm.

“Are you alright sweetheart?” You heard Agatha asking you.

“Don’t call her like that, you don’t have the right, she’s mine, and she will just be mine” Wanda had started to come closer to the two of you.

“Don’t come closer Wanda” you heard the blue-eyed woman warned Wanda.

“What? Do you think I’m afraid of you?” Wanda asked with a mocking tone

“Oh dear, I could easily destroy you with a flick of my hand” the dark-haired woman next to you scoffed, you could almost sense the smirk Agatha had on her face.

“Stop right there” Those were new voices; you lifted your head to see who were they and you saw many soldiers pointing their guns at the three of you.

“Not you again, not this time” The red-head started to move her hands in the air and she made all of the soldiers point to the sky, but the moment you felt you couldn’t move, you realized she was using her magic on you as well.

“Y/n!” You heard Agatha calling your name, purple magic enveloped you and you felt yourself being released, she used her magic to stop you from falling harshly against the ground.

“You need to stop trying to take her, she doesn’t want to be with you, y/n doesn’t need you!”

“That’s not true! She needs me just as much as I need her, I love her-

"STOP!” You snapped and didn’t realize the wave of magic coming from your body, your magic was f/c and when you opened your eyes again you saw Wanda covered in a new different magic, you saw your hands and your eyes widened when you realized it was you the one who this time stopped her from moving.

You gasped and this time you saw all the soldiers on the ground, they were covered with your magic too and you started to panic a little, but when you felt Agatha’s hand on your shoulders you started to relax a little.

“It’s alright sweetheart, I know you can do it, focus on what you’re feeling, don’t let the fear consume you”

Slowly you nodded and focused on what you wanted, you wanted the soldiers to go away, so you moved your hand and when you heard noised this time you opened your eyes to see all of them started to walk away from where they had coming.

“I’m so proud of you darling, you did it amazing, I will make sure they don’t come again” She caressed your cheek and you smiled at her, she stayed with you making sure no one else came to where you were.

“You think you she loves you y/n?” You heard Wanda’s laugh and turned your head to look at herk kneeling on the ground with her hands behind her back and all of your magic over her, she didn’t stop laughing for some minutes, you just couldn’t believe what was happening to Wanda.

“No one will ever love you the way I do” Wanda said back to you when she stopped laughing, you looked straight into her eyes and the only things you could see in them was madness, you felt bad for her for a minute, you knew what she had passed through but all the things she made you passed through as well, you even doubt your own sanity, you couldn’t forgive this, she had kidnapped you and she had messed with your mind, you didn’t even know how many time you were inside with her.

“You don’t love me Wanda, this is an obsession Wanda what happened-

"What happened was a mistake, let me make things right this time printsessa, I really love you, you’re the love of my life! I need you!” She begged you again, but you this time you weren’t going to fall for it, not anymore, you closed your eyes for a moment and took a deep breath before speaking again.

“You don’t really want any more from me, to make things right, Wanda, you can’t make things right, this is messed up, not only you hurt me, but you’re hurting thousands of people, let them be free, let me be free Wanda, please, I want to be free” Tears started to fall down your face

“You need someone to hold you tight printsessa and I’m the one who can do that, I can-

"You can’t Wanda, you broke what we had years ago! You broke me, and there��s no way you can fix this! If you want to make things right, you’ll let me go with Agatha, if you love me, you’ll release me”

“I can’t do that printsessa, you’re mine, you’re just mine I won’t let her or anyone else take you away from me” You saw how Wanda’s eye’s started to glow red and you moved your hands to stop her hands from moving behind her back, she wasn’t going to use her magic on you again, not anymore.

“I’m not yours, I’m not yours, the problem is Wanda that you think love is to pray, but I’m sorry, I don’t pray that way, you won’t get to me again, I don’t love you” You whispered to her loud enough to hear you, Agatha took your hand in hers and you used your magic to pull Wanda back inside Westview.

“I will find you y/n and I will make you mine again, you belong to me” You heard her yelling and Agatha pulled you closer to her.

“I will come for the both of you and I will make you pay for taking y/n away from me, you will pay and I will make sure of that” Wanda tried to break free from your magical ties but you didn’t let her.

“You can’t get away from me y/n I will always be with you and no matter what I will find you-”

Finally, you put Wanda inside the town and Agatha started to make movements with her hands, a purple mist covered the entirety of the town, the magical field Wanda had created was replaced by Agatha’s purple magic.

“This will only keep her inside for some weeks, maybe some months until she realizes how to get out from this, I trapped her inside Westview but this won’t last forever doll” You felt the older woman’s hands taking your face in her hands.

“I’m not afraid” You answered to her and you saw a proud smile on her face

“I know you’re not afraid, you’re so strong and brave, I will be with you, no matter what, I will be with you, I know you can protect yourself but I will protect you too, and when the time Wanda comes for us, I will be by your side, she won’t take you again doll, I promise”

You felt safe with her, she made you feel alright and you couldn’t help yourself, you took her face in your hands and slowly leant into her, Agatha passed her hands around your waist and she pulled your body close to hers, you felt her soft touch on you and that made your heart melt, this is how love is supposed to feel, you knew it, you presses your lips against hers, she captured your soft lips, it was a soft but needy kiss, she needed to feel you and you needed to know she was there for you, you needed to know this was real.

When the two of you broke the kiss, she pressed her forehead against yours her hands never leaving your sides.

“I know it will take a time for you to get used to this, but I promise I won’t hold you back, I want to make sure you’re alright, I want the best for you y/n” You trusted her, you knee she was saying the truth, and you were grateful with her, without her help you wouldn’t have been able to get out of your prison.

“I believe you Agatha, I want to be with you, I know you will help me to heal” You whispered to her and she smiled, she hugged you again, the feeling of your body against her made her feel alive and you felt the same, you weren’t free at all from Wanda, but you knew that Agatha would there for you to help you.

You felt something bothering in your pocket, there was something in it and when you pulled your hand inside it you felt shivers down your spine, pulling out the small piece of metal you saw it was the ring Wanda gave to you because of your “marriage” you were Wanda had been the one who placed it in your pocket with her magic, you eyed it for a minute before throwing it against the grass.

“We have to go doll” She was right, you had to go now.

Taking your hand into hers, Agatha guided you towards the forest, you didn’t know where you were going but you were sure that Agatha would make everything, she could to protect you.

The two of you walked through the forest, between the tall pines, the sound of some branches breaking because you stepped on them was some of the only sounds you could hear, the night was a little cold and from time to time you still feel a little afraid, but when you felt Agatha’s hand softly squeezing you hand to reassure she was there and she wasn’t going anywhere made you feel strong.

You knew Wanda would come for you, you were sure she would do everything she could to find you, but you were sure you wouldn’t be alone this time, you weren’t afraid of her, she didn’t have that power over you anymore.

When Wanda comes for you, you were sure you were going to be prepared, just as Wanda wouldn’t let her take you, you were going to fight Wanda, you’re not afraid of her.

Now I’m gonna pack my things and go

[kathlare]

a call to connect

Lando Norris x Amelie Dayman

Summary: Lando Norris finds himself facing an unexpected challenge during the filming of a McLaren campaign for Mental Health Day.

Wordcount: 1.1 k

Warnings: none

full masterlist // request over here!

October 10th, 2024 - London, United Kingdom

The morning sun filtered through the pristine glass walls of the McLaren Technology Centre, casting soft reflections on the polished floors. Lando Norris leaned against a sleek counter in the media suite, fidgeting with the cuffs of his team polo. Around him, the McLaren media team buzzed with energy, organizing cameras, reviewing scripts, and prepping for the Mental Health Day campaign video they were set to film.

Lando ran a hand through his messy hair, his nerves tingling slightly. He wasn’t nervous about being on camera—he was used to that by now—but the topic at hand was heavier than the usual fun, lighthearted media content. Mental health was something close to his heart, especially after years of navigating the highs and lows of being in Formula 1.

—Right, Lando,— said Hannah, one of the lead producers on the McLaren media team, as she approached him with a clipboard. —We’re keeping it simple for this. The idea is to encourage people to check in on someone they care about. You’ll call someone, tell them you were just thinking about them, and have a casual chat. It’s meant to show how little gestures like this can make a big difference.—

Lando blinked at her. —Wait, you want me to call someone? Like… on the phone?—

Hannah laughed at his expression. —Yes, Lando, that’s the point. It’s genuine and unscripted. Just be yourself.—

He groaned, rubbing the back of his neck. —I hate calling people. Can’t I just text them instead?—

The team burst into laughter, a few playful jabs thrown his way about his aversion to phone calls.

—No texting,— Hannah replied firmly but with a grin. —It has to be a call. And you’re going to be great. Who you call is entirely up to you, someone who matters to you.—

Lando hesitated for a moment, his mind immediately jumping to one person. Amelie. They hadn’t spoken much today—her tour schedule was brutal, and she was currently preparing for a show in Pennsylvania. But he knew she’d pick up for him, no matter how busy she was.

He pulled his phone from his pocket, quickly unlocking it and scrolling through his contacts. His thumb hovered over her name for a moment. Amelie.

It felt almost too easy to dial her number. After all, this was someone he’d known for years—someone who’d been a friend long before they’d started something more. Their relationship was built on a foundation of shared laughter, teasing, and mutual respect. But ever since they’d started dating seriously again, after what felt like a lifetime of missed connections, the chemistry between them was undeniable. Their conversations were never dull, always charged with that undercurrent of flirtation, even if they were just talking about the most mundane things.

He tapped the call button before he could second-guess himself, leaning back against the counter as the phone rang. The sound of it echoed around the room, but Lando barely noticed, too focused on hearing her voice.

Amelie’s voicemail picked up after a couple of rings, and Lando groaned, about to hang up, but before he could, he heard a familiar, soft chuckle on the other end.

—You’re early, Lan,— Amelie’s voice came through, warm and laced with an affectionate amusement.

Lando grinned, his heart skipping a beat. —I was just thinking about you, Ames,— he said, leaning further back, his eyes glancing at the camera crew who were trying to pretend they weren’t watching intently. He knew they were waiting for him to perform, but he didn’t feel like he was acting. It was just Amelie, after all.

—Really?— she replied, the hint of surprise in her tone as she adjusted herself in what Lando assumed was her dressing room. —You’re sweet. I was just about to go on stage, but I’ve got a few minutes. What’s up?—

—Nah, nothing, just thought I’d call and see how you’re doing, you know?— he replied, his voice teasing. —I miss you. How’s the show prep going?—

Amelie’s laugh filled his ear, and he could practically picture her, hands resting on her hips as she took a breath, preparing to go out and perform. —It’s hectic, as usual. You know how it is. But I’m good, Lan. How are you?—

He could hear the slight tremor of a smile in her voice. The kind of smile that made him feel warm, no matter how far apart they were.

—Same old, same old,— Lando responded, half-focused on the call and half-conscious of the team still working around him. He could feel their eyes on him. But this wasn’t a performance; this was real, and the way Amelie made him feel was never scripted.

—You miss me, huh?— she asked, a teasing edge to her words. —I bet you just called because you wanted to hear my voice before your day gets busy again.—

Lando smiled widely, knowing she knew him too well. —Maybe. Or maybe I just wanted an excuse to talk to you. You know how it is. It’s been too long since we’ve been able to just chat. We need to fix that.—

—Well, when I’m back, we’ll make up for all this time apart, I promise,— Amelie said, the energy of her voice softening a little, but there was that warmth that always seemed to sneak into her words when she talked to him.

The camera crew could hear her, too. A couple of them exchanged soft smiles, clearly enjoying the authenticity of the moment. Even though Lando had been in the public eye for years, it was clear to everyone around him how important Amelie was.

—I’ll hold you to that, Ames,— Lando teased, shifting his weight from one foot to the other. His gaze flitted around the room, but all he really wanted was to stay in the conversation. The world outside of this little bubble they’d created didn’t matter. It was just him and Amelie, even if she was a thousand miles away.

—You better,— she chuckled. He could hear the sound of someone calling her from behind, and there was a shift in the tone of her voice as she turned away from whatever was going on backstage. —Alright, Lan, I’m gonna have to cut this short. Someone just reminded me that I’ve got five minutes before I need to get on stage.—

Lando’s smile faded into a gentle frown. He hated hearing that their conversation had to end, especially when he’d just gotten a glimpse of her voice, but he knew the drill. Her world was always in motion, and he didn’t mind. He was used to the hectic pace of her life, but that didn’t mean he didn’t miss her when she was caught up in it all.

—Alright, Ames,— he said, his voice softening as he leaned against the counter again. —Go do your thing. I’ll be cheering for you, obviously. You’ve got this.—

—You’re cute, Lan,— she teased, the playful tone coming through once more. —You really do miss me, huh?—

—Of course, I do, you know I do,— Lando replied, his grin returning. He let the words linger, teasing but also honest, the depth of his feelings always there when they spoke like this.

Amelie’s voice softened just a touch, as though she were savoring the moment. —I miss you, too, more than I’ve been able to say, but I’ll see you soon, yeah? I’ll send you a text after the show, and we’ll catch up properly, I promise.—

Lando’s heart did a little flip at the way she said "soon." He couldn’t wait for that. He never could.

—I’m holding you to it,— he said, his voice low but playful. He leaned forward, feeling a bit of anticipation in his chest. —You better call me, Ames. I’m counting on it.—

Amelie let out a little laugh, and Lando could practically hear the way she was smiling, a genuine, radiant smile that made him feel like the luckiest guy alive.

—Alright, alright, you sweet talker. See you soon, Lan.—

Before Lando could get another word in, the sound of someone in the background calling her name again interrupted their conversation.

—Alright, that’s my cue. Love you, Lan.—

The words took Lando by surprise for a moment, catching him off guard, though they weren't new. She'd always been affectionate in her own way, and they'd shared this kind of intimacy long before their official relationship. But hearing it now, with the kind of care that came with knowing each other as they did, it felt like everything he’d hoped for, everything they’d come through together.

His voice caught slightly as he said, —Love you too, Ames. Have a good show.—

The line went quiet for a moment, and then he heard the click of her phone hanging up.

Lando stared at the phone in his hand, feeling a mixture of pride and yearning. He didn’t need the cameras to tell him how lucky he was. The way Amelie had spoken to him, the way their relationship had unfolded—it was something real, something grounded in the shared history of their friendship and that undeniable spark that had always been there.

As he pocketed his phone, the buzz of activity around him became louder. But for just a moment, he was lost in his thoughts, picturing Amelie on stage, doing what she loved. And, in some way, it felt like a promise—a promise that, no matter how far apart they were, they’d always find their way back to each other.

He smiled, already looking forward to the next time they’d be in the same place.

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

liked by ameliedayman, l4nation, and others

mclaren: A call can make all the difference. Pick up the phone. 📞Whether it’s checking in with a friend, family member or colleague, your voice can be someone’s lifeline. 🧡

View all 2,453 comments

mclarenfanatic_22: Lando’s call to Amelie??? This is the most genuine thing I’ve seen all week 🥹💖 Just love how real they are! → ameliefan_93: @mclarenfanatic_22 I can’t get over how sweet and natural that call was 😭 It’s like watching two people who actually care for each other.

racefan_01: Lando being the one to encourage us to check in on others is a vibe! It’s the little things that make a difference.

mclaren_superfan: “I miss you too, more than I’ve been able to say” – cue my heart breaking into pieces 💔 → f1_heartbreak_2025: @mclaren_superfan Same! That part hit so hard. I can feel the emotion through the screen. 😭

alexperezfan: We need more content like this. The world’s chaotic, but simple calls like this are what really make us feel connected. 🧡

itsyourbdaybutterfly: I’m crying. Lando calling Amelie?? I KNOW this hit differently. They’ve always had that energy 💫 → lanamielovers: @itsyourbdaybutterfly SAME. The way he said "I miss you" hit different 😭 Like, this is real real.

xomadison: Aww, this is SO wholesome. 💖 And can we talk about how Lando was so nervous about making the call? LOL a man after my own heart! → lando_and_amie: @xomadison lol literally!! Like he races F1 cars but a simple phone call has him shook 😂

florida_nicole: Amelie and Lando are the BEST friends-turned-relationship energy I’ve ever seen. Give us more content like this! 😭💖

f1girlie: HE CALLED HER. Can we please talk about how this was just a casual phone call, and yet it felt like the most emotional thing on the planet? They are so in love, I can’t take it. 💕 → landamielovers_: @f1girlie I legit thought I was watching a rom-com, like the tension was real 😂

f1fever: I’m officially obsessed with Lando’s mental health awareness era. He’s out here spreading love and supporting friends 💚 → caringforlando: @f1fever honestly, this is bigger than just a campaign. He’s showing how simple actions can make such a difference.

melodysweets: This campaign was so powerful. The message is simple, but meaningful. Checking in on someone can literally save their day. 💕

[nonomives]

Hunt vs. Hunted AU

(a.k.a. Vampire Wally AU)

Meet the Kardashians—i mean the Pillars

Part 1 || 2 || 3

Character line-up (Oldest to youngest)

So a bit of character Info:

There were more of them, but given the dangers of the monster hunter's profession, theyre the only ones left.

Hannah Pillar

She isn't the actual eldest sibling of the bunch, but among those who are still alive and somewhat sane, she is the oldest. A former mercenary whose main weapons were firearms. She was quite successful in her career but a traumatic incident happened that led to her not being able to weild a gun anymore. She eventually got hired as a desk worker in H.A. (Hunter's Assossiation) mainly handing out missions or intel to monster hunters.

She has a stable relationship with all of her siblings, sometimes the person everyone tells their worries to. She's nutruing and mature, but can also be quite cold and strict when need be. She is also often apathetic to things around her, something that got carried over even after she stopped being a hunter.

Harvey Pillar

Acting second oldest, Harvey is the genius of the group, or so he constantly claims himself to be. There is truth to what he says though since he works as a researcher in H.A. where he gathers information about the various mythical creatures the company had captured. Once, he used to admire this type of work until witnessing a thing or two which led him to be quite nihilistic. He's mainly just in it for the bragging rights and the money now.

Complete drama queen. Heidonistic and arrogant, he can come off as an asshole once he opens his mouth. Hannah keeps him in check most of the time. He does try to act like a big brother but struggles to be sincere about anything because he thinks it's a weakness. Very insecure, easily gets envious, especially of Howdy. For as vocal as he is, he does have many skeletons in his closet.

Howdy Pillar

A very popular hunter that is crowned The Hero of the Century, succeeding his late older brother, Howard Pillar. This is all due to his countless instances of saving people from dangerous monsters, especially feral vampires. Add this and his family background, he was made the H.A.'s face man, appearing in many interviews and posters for the company. He is quite the busy man, and Hannah usually acts as his manager, helping him with his packed schedule.

Howdy is closest with Hannah, but he also enjoys the banters he gets with Harvey. Charismatic and witty, many would think he is a perfect person, the ideal hero. The reality of it though is that Howdy is only in it for the revenge of his deceased siblings. While he smiles and acts relaxed in public, he is otherwise serious and gruff. Doesnt trust easy either. He also doesnt like how the media portrays him and would try to avoid being detected by anybody while he's on the job.

Here's a sketch lol

Honey Pillar

The youngest of the group. She is the black sheep of the family, refusing to associate with H.A. or monster hunting in general, and choosing a career as an actress instead. Despite the controversy that came with this decision, Honey ended up becoming famous because of her alluring personality on the screen.

Aside from Hannah, she despises everyone. She hates Howdy especially because of an instance that lead to her twin sister's death and her loss of 2 arms. She hates Harvey a little less but prefers not talking to him at all. Honey is a drama queen herself, but in a less direct way.

[emilyprentissluvr]

Three Steps Back (Don't Blame Me: Chapter 6)

Emily Prentiss x Reader

Summary: Emily knew it was wrong. She knew you were the most dangerous woman the BAU had ever seen. Yet, she couldn't seem to stay away from you.

Warnings: Typical Criminal minds stuff, mentions of death

Words: 2.8k

Emily could feel the migraine forming behind her eyes. After hours of staring at the same case files, she still couldn't find anything. She let her head drop to her desk, hoping it would just swallow her whole and then spit her out when they made a break in the case.

"...Prentiss," At the sound of her last name, her eyes flitted to the person leaning on her desk.

"Your phone," JJ finished as she pointed to the buzzing device on Emily's desk.

"Oh, right," Emily mumbled as she gave JJ a small smile of appreciation before picking up the phone.  

When she saw Y/n calling her, she returned her phone to her desk. 

"Your mother?" JJ asked as she perched on Emily's desk. 

"I wish," Emily muttered. Then, cursing under her breath as her phone started ringing again.

"Someone worse than your mother? Yikes." JJ said as she tried to discreetly see whoever was calling Emily as the brunette completely shut off her phone.

"You could say that," Emily sighed as she tossed her phone to the back of her desk.

Emily looked up and saw JJ still perched on her desk, giving her the look. Emily hated that look because it meant JJ was about to pry, and she did not want to tell the team that she was talking to a serial killer.

A small part of her knew she should at least tell Hotch, but she couldn't risk him cutting off her only means of communication with Y/n.

"Did you need something, JJ?"

"Well, I was going to ask if you wanted coffee, but now I want to know who was calling you," JJ smiled, making herself comfortable on the brunette's desk.

"It's no one," Emily rolled her eyes, "And if you're going out for coffee, I'll take my usual."

"Em, come on, who else other than your mom would make you glare at your phone like that?" JJ inquired, completely ignoring Emily's request about the coffee.

"You want a list?" Emily snarked back.

"Oh! Oh! Was it, Hannah?" JJ asked, even more interested now. 

"Wait, Hannah, as in your ex-girlfriend Hannah is calling you?" Spencer chimed in from his desk across from Emily's. 

"I thought she ghosted you," Derek added from his desk. 

The two women whipped their heads around, not even realizing that Spencer and Derek had been listening to their conversation. The glare Emily shot the younger agent made him wish he'd never spoken in the first place. Derek, on the other hand, was more than amused.

"For the fifth time, Hannah did not ghost me! It was a mutual breakup!" Emily huffed. 

"Whatever you say, princess." Derek smiled, earning him another glare from Emily. 

"The term ghosting became popular in 1990's hip hop- Ow!" Spencer yelped as Emily launched the stuffed animal cat that Penelope bought her right at Spencer's face. 

"I wasn't ghosted! And I'm done talking to you guys!" Emily frowned as she turned her chair back to her desk and ignored the three other agents.

Derek and Spencer chuckled at her antics while JJ rolled her eyes. 

"I'll be back with your coffee, Ms. Grouchy," JJ said as she pushed off Emily's desk, earning a small grumble of gratitude from the brunette.

JJ was halfway to the door when Penelope came full speed through the doors, "BAU Assemble! I've got something!" She yelled, running surprisingly fast in her high heels to the conference room.

"I guess that means no coffee," Emily grumbled as they all made their way to the round table.

As soon as everyone sat down, Penelope turned the TV monitor on and passed out numerous case files.

"In 1991, there was a serial killer that operated in rural Virginia at the same time and place that Alex Painter was murdered," Penelope explained as she pulled up pictures of about 15 women on the TV. They were all of different races but looked around the same age. 

"All of these women were kidnapped, held for a week, and then dumped in the woods. They were all beaten, barely recognizable by the time their bodies were found." Penelope continued, making a point not to look at the crime scene photos.

Rossi looked between the case files and the TV when a spark of recognition came to his eyes, "I remember this. Gideon was the lead profiler on the case. They called the killer The Wood Stalker" 

Back then, the BAU members worked solo, only using each other as consults rather than working on cases as a team. "I helped Gideon build a profile, but he never found the guy." Rossi finished.

"That's right," Penelope agreed, "In March of 1992, The Wood Stalker vanished. And with no leads or suspects, the case went cold."

Emily frowned as she looked over the case. There was something off, but she couldn't put her nose on it, "So how does Alex Painter tie into this? She's not in any of these files."

"Ah, right! Thank you for the segway, my brooding brunette," Penelope said, and no one even batted an eye, used to the technical analyst's ways by now.

"While you guys are the profilers and I am the mere but mighty technical Goddess-"

"Garcia." Hotch intervened, raising an eyebrow to keep the blonde on task.

"Right." Penelope nodded, "I found it odd that Alex Painter wasn't mentioned in any of the files, especially since she matched victimology."

"Why did they rule her out as one of his victims then?" Derek asked as he flipped through the case file. "I mean, we know now that Y/n killed her. But if all I was looking at were these files, I'd agree that The Wood Stalker killed her.  It seems negligent to not even investigate her death."

"That's what I was thinking! And we all know Gideon is very thorough." Penelope said, and a slightly uncomfortable wave washed through the room.

"That's one way to describe him," Spencer muttered as he stared down at the table. 

Rossi was about to say something in his friend's defense, but Hotch shook his head, not wanting to further the conversation.

It had been less than a year since Gideon left without a word, and the team had mostly moved on. But it was still a touchy subject, especially for Spencer. 

"So, who investigated Alex Painter's death then?" JJ asked, and everyone was thankful that she had cut the awkward silence that had fallen around them.

"Well, this is where things get even more odd," Penelope said as she pulled up the picture of Alex's file. "Detective Anthony Scott was the lead on her case. So I did some research on the guy, and to an untrained eye, he seems normal."

"Well, you are far from normal, baby girl." Morgan complimented, and Penelope smiled. "Very true. Anyways, I dug a little deeper and found that Detective Anthony Scott doesn't exist."

"What do you mean he doesn't exist?" Emily asked, a skeptical brow raised.

"I mean that someone very tech-savvy created Anthony Scott. I'm talking bank accounts, birth certificates, marriage licenses, and more." Penelope continued.

"Why would someone go through all of that trouble to cover up who investigated Alex Painter's death?" JJ asked. And once again, the team felt like they were getting into something a lot larger than they were hoping for.

"Could it have been Y/n?" Derek asked.

"Why would she try to cover up something she already told us about?" Emily countered, more defensive than she would have liked, but she would think about that later.

"Yeah, and there's no way Y/n could have created an identity that thorough. There's only a handful of people I know that could do that, but they wouldn't have any reason to." Penelope agreed. 

Emily bit her bottom lip in concentration; she knew what this sounded like. Fake identities that seemed too good to be true. Seemingly unimportant cases swept under the rug...this had CIA written all over it.  And if the CIA was involved, it meant that whatever information they had now was all they were going to find. 

But how on earth did the CIA get connected to all of this?

Maybe she could make a couple of phone calls. Contact some of her old handlers and see if they could find anything pertaining to this case. 

"Why aren't Gideon's notes in here?" Hotch asked, pulling Emily out of her head as she realized she had missed whatever the rest of the team was talking about.

"Well, since it was before I came to the BAU, his notes weren't digitalized. And when I went down to the archives, almost everything about this case was gone." Penelope said regretfully as she took a seat, having no more information to give the team.

"His notes should still be in there, though. The case is still classified." Spencer said, and it affirmed even more to Emily that the CIA or some other agency has something to do with this.

"I feel like there's dead ends everywhere we turn with this case," JJ muttered, and the team silently agreed.

"I know we all feel a little discouraged, but we are further than we were yesterday. I'll call Gideon and have him come in as soon as possible. Hopefully, he can provide us with more information. But for now, let's get back to work," Hotch said quickly before dismissing himself to his office, leaving the team in a little shock. Hotch was never one to give a pep talk, so maybe this was even worse than they imagined.

"I'll give Gideon a call, too," Rossi said as he left for his office, not wanting to see the other agents' reactions. It was an odd situation, the complex feelings he had for his friend were different than those of the younger agents. 

But Gideon was also one of Rossi's oldest friends, and after everything they'd been through, he still had respect and loyalty to him. So, he did not want to hear what the other agents had to say about him.

"Has anyone talked to Gideon recently?" Penelope asked in the conference room, trying to break the ice since the topic of Gideon was now unavoidable.

"Since he left all of us with a note?" Spencer asked sarcastically, a tone that surprised everyone, "No," He continued as he gathered his stuff and practically stormed back to his desk without looking at anyone else.

"I was just..." Penelope trailed off sadly, not having predicted that reaction from the youngest profiler.

"It's not your fault, Pen, it's just a hard subject for him," JJ said as she squeezed Penelope's shoulder.

Emily had stayed relatively quiet on any subject that involved Gideon. She shared vastly different opinions on the older agent than her friends did.

She knew that Gideon didn't like her. In fact, everyone knew, because it wasn't like he tried to hide his disdain. 

Towards the end, he tolerated her, but the way he left and the effect it had on everyone just solidified her dislike of him, not that she would ever voice that aloud.

"I'll go talk to him," Derek said before leaving the room and leaving the three women to themselves.

It was silent for a moment before Emily's phone started to buzz. She sighed and ignored the look JJ sent her as she picked up her phone. 

Y/n (1:34 PM): Call me back tonight. I have a surprise for you.

Emily (1:34 PM): I don't like surprises. 

Emily typed back before pocketing her phone. She heard her phone buzz again, no doubt another text message from Y/n, but she did not want to deal with this right now.

"What was that?" Penelope asked as she motioned her hand towards Emily. 

"What was what?" Emily played dumb with a shrug.

"Don't even try, Pen. She's been like this all day." JJ rolled her eyes.

"Who is causing you to glare at your phone like that?" Penelope pressed, ignoring JJ.

"It's no one," Emily said as she grabbed her case files and started to stand up, not looking at either blonde.

"Emily! Indulge me in something that is not this case!" Penelope begged, always the one to get into people's business.

Emily scoffed, finding it quite ironic that the person she was texting was the reason for this case. "It's a personal matter."

"Even better!" Penelope continued, earning a stifled laugh from JJ. 

She rolled her eyes, knowing that no one was going to give this up any time soon, "Fine, you know what? It is Hannah! Now, can everyone just mind their own business?!"

"Hannah unblocked you?!"

"What? How do you know she blocked me?!" Emily gaped at Penelope and then instantly realized that was a stupid question.

"Never mind. I'm done talking. And stop hacking into my phone!" Emily practically growled before exiting the room, leaving the two blondes wide-eyed.

"Well, we know it's not Hannah," Penelope said, earning her a slap to the shoulder.

"She's going to kill you," JJ said as she gathered her stuff, and Penelope just shrugged it off. Emily had always been all bark and no bite. She was a secret softie once you got to know her.

"Where are you going?" Penelope pouted, not wanting to be left alone.

"I'm going to buy her a coffee before she kills me too."

●・○・●・○・●・○・●・○・●

It was after eight by the time Emily unlocked her apartment door. The team had been working nonstop for hours, but it felt like the more they uncovered, the more questions that arose.

Eventually, Hotch sent everyone home, stating that they should just wait for Gideon to tell them everything he knew before jumping to conclusions.

But Hotch and Rossi were having trouble reaching Gideon, and if they couldn't contact him, then this shitstorm of a case was going to take even longer to solve.

So when Emily fell onto her couch, she didn't even have the energy to take off her shoes, let alone cook anything. She stared at the ceiling for a solid five minutes before remembering Y/n's text.

She reached for her phone and opened Y/n's text from earlier in the day that she never looked at.

Y/n (1:35 PM): I promise you'll like this one.

Emily sighed as she debated whether or not she should call the younger woman. 

Ultimately, she gave in, knowing, at the very least, Y/n would reveal something new.

She quickly dialed her number before she could talk herself out of it.

"I was wondering when you were going to call," Y/n answered after the third ring, a cocky smile evident in her face.

"It was a long day at work, thanks to you," Emily answered shortly as she sat up fully on the couch, crossing her legs under her.

"To me? So you're thinking about me all day long?" Y/n grinned. Something was going on in the background of wherever Y/n was, but Emily couldn't decipher what it was.

"Don't flatter yourself. The only reason I'm thinking about you is because you've murdered 300 people." Emily scoffed.

"300 men, not people." Y/n corrected. 

"What about Alex Painter? She wasn't a man."

"Really? Is that all you've got on her so far?" Y/n chuckled. 

"Pretty much. And you knew that the information you gave us would only lead to dead ends." Emily remarked. 

"Alls fair in love and war, darling. And besides, I thought the BAU was the best. I have to say, you guys are disappointing me."

"Disappointing you?! That's rich," Emily scoffed and was reminded once again that she was talking to a psychopath.

"It is rich! Because I'm starting to get bored, and you know what happens when I get bored." Y/n started, and Emily heard the sound of a door slam on the younger woman's side of the phone.

"What was that?" Emily asked as she sat up a bit straighter, a knot starting to form in her stomach.

"It's your surprise! Or did you forget why I told you to call me?" Y/n smiled. 

"I told you, I don't like surprises." Emily gritted out as she heard the sound of a scuffle on the other end of the phone.

"Oh, you'll like this one!" Y/n chuckled, and then Emily heard the sound of a gunshot. 

"Y/n!" Emily gaped as she stood up, hoping this wasn't what she thought it was.

"His name is Howard Barnes. Oh, wait! My bad, his name was Howard Barnes." Y/n chuckled.

Emily was frozen for a moment; her usual fast thinking was nowhere to be found. 

"Don't worry, Emily. He's not your gift. He's just some perv that needed to die before he hurt anyone else. Your surprise is on his kitchen counter; I think you'll like it." Y/n smiled as she branded the angel wind behind the dead man's ear.

"I'm going to find you," Emily said, finally out of her frozen state as she shrugged her coat on and grabbed her gun from her safe.

"You have such a way with words," Y/n laughed, "Also, say hello to Gideon for me. And tell him I'm not afraid of the dark anymore." Y/n finished, and with that, she hung up.

Emily paused as she took the words in. 

Y/n knew Gideon? 

So Gideon had to have been involved in Alex Painter's investigation. Further proving that someone wanted this case covered up. 

But why?

Christ, everything is even more confusing now, Emily thought as she dialed Hotch's number.

"Hotch." He answered on the first ring.

"Y/n killed again. We need to figure out where Howard Barnes lived," Emily said quickly, trying not to think about the future conversation she was bound to have with Hotch, explaining all of this.

This was going to be a huge mess.

[makingqueerhistory]

Queer Book Recommendations

Every once in a while I like sharing some queer book recommendations on here as I read a lot and I get requests to share some of the books I love, so here we go! 

Tell Me I'm Worthless: Three years ago, Alice spent one night in an abandoned house with her friends Ila and Hannah. Since then, things have not been going well. Alice is living a haunted existence, selling videos of herself cleaning for money, going to parties she hates, drinking herself to sleep. She hasn’t spoken to Ila since they went into the House. She hasn’t seen Hannah either.

Our Wives Under The Sea: Miri thinks she has got her wife back, when Leah finally returns after a deep sea mission that ended in catastrophe. It soon becomes clear, though, that Leah may have come back wrong. Whatever happened in that vessel, whatever it was they were supposed to be studying before they were stranded on the ocean floor, Leah has carried part of it with her, onto dry land and into their home. 

You Made a Fool of Death with Your Beauty: Feyi Adekola wants to learn how to be alive again.It’s been five years since the accident that killed the love of her life and she’s almost a new person now—an artist with her own studio, and sharing a brownstone apartment with her ride-or-die best friend, Joy, who insists it’s time for Feyi to ease back into the dating scene. Feyi isn’t ready for anything serious, but a steamy encounter at a rooftop party cascades into a whirlwind summer she could have never imagined: a luxury trip to a tropical island, decadent meals in the glamorous home of a celebrity chef, and a major curator who wants to launch her art career.

Silver Under Nightfall: Remy Pendergast is many things: the only son of the Duke of Valenbonne (though his father might wish otherwise), an elite bounty hunter of rogue vampires, and an outcast among his fellow Reapers. His mother was the subject of gossip even before she eloped with a vampire, giving rise to the rumors that Remy is half-vampire himself. Though the kingdom of Aluria barely tolerates him, Remy’s father has been shaping him into a weapon to fight for the kingdom at any cost.

Disintegrate/Dissociate: In her powerful debut collection of poetry, Arielle Twist unravels the complexities of human relationships after death and metamorphosis. In these spare yet powerful poems, she explores, with both rage and tenderness, the parameters of grief, trauma, displacement, and identity. Weaving together a past made murky by uncertainty and a present which exists in multitudes, Arielle Twist poetically navigates through what it means to be an Indigenous trans woman, discovering the possibilities of a hopeful future and a transcendent, beautiful path to regaining softness. 

The Perks of Loving a Wallflower: As a master of disguise, Thomasina Wynchester can be a polite young lady—or a bawdy old man. She’ll do whatever it takes to solve the cases her family takes on. But when Tommy’s beautiful new client turns out to be the highborn lady she’s secretly smitten with, more than her mission is at stake . . . 

It Came from the Closet: Queer Reflections on Horror: Horror movies hold a complicated space in the hearts of the queer community: historically misogynist, and often homo- and transphobic, the genre has also been inadvertently feminist and open to subversive readings. Common tropes—such as the circumspect and resilient “final girl,” body possession, costumed villains, secret identities, and things that lurk in the closet—spark moments of eerie familiarity and affective connection. Still, viewers often remain tasked with reading themselves into beloved films, seeking out characters and set pieces that speak to, mirror, and parallel the unique ways queerness encounters the world. 

Refusing Compulsory Sexuality: A Black Asexual Lens on Our Sex-Obsessed Culture: Everything you know about sex and asexuality is (probably) wrong. The notion that everyone wants sex–and that we all have to have it–is false. It’s intertwined with our ideas about capitalism, race, gender, and queerness. And it impacts the most marginalized among us. For asexual folks, it means that ace and A-spec identity is often defined by a queerness that’s not queer enough, seen through a lens of perceived lack: lack of pleasure, connection, joy, maturity, and even humanity.

[erika111111]

Until Dawn headcanons based on the PlayStation 3 beta version, part 2

-Jess used to tan a lot

-Josh's voice got much deeper after puberty

-Josh can sometimes have bad hand eye coordination 

-Although Josh is the oldest, his younger sisters could still be very protective of him

-Ashley is religious and knows/remembers a lot more than Chris

-The Washingtons also grew up religious; the twins were more interested in it than Josh

-Chris and Ashley actually both really like animals and watch animal documentaries together sometimes

-Beth also needs glasses and used to wear them, but she switched to contacts

-Ashley used to have short hair

-Ashley is afraid of heights

-Josh has had some episodes before where he's hurt himself; everyone is at least a little aware of this

-Chris loved going to fairs and carnivals as a kid and always did great at the puzzle games

-Emily and Josh are pretty cordial

-Mike is allergic to dust

-Matt tries to tell jokes but he never gets them out right

-Emily absolutely hates cold weather 

-Matt is really good with a gun

-Emily talks to herself all the time just like Mike does

-Sam and Jess are usually in charge of the music selection at the group's parties

-Ashley and Hannah were pretty good friends

-Chris was good in school because he always asked a lot of questions

-Chris loves cartoons

-Ashley is always a little bit cautious of Emily and thinks she might have ulterior motives for her actions

-After getting off the mountain, Ashley very quickly wanted to talk more to Chris about their relationship, but Chris wanted to wait until things were more resolved

-Mike pretends to be better with a gun than he actually is

-Emily is pretty good with electronics

-Emily calls Sam "Rambo" and "Sambo" because of her athleticism and heroism

-Sam and Emily have hilarious banter with each other

-Hannah was aware of Chris and Ashley's feelings for each other; she was rooting for them but also a little jealous

-Josh cares a lot about his friends' relationships (like if they argue, he'll want to help)

-Josh would sacrifice himself for his loved ones in a heartbeat

-Sam jokes to herself a lot to keep herself calm

-Sam is actually really good at fighting/defending herself despite being a pacifist

-Sam knows how to drive

[automaticheartcrusade]

Here’s my Cinderella’s Castle review under the cut! Please keep in mind, number one, these are more general thoughts than an in depth review, I’ve only seen the show once for now. There will be an in depth character analysis post some other time! And I’ll say it now that I enjoyed it, so most of the stuff I’ll be talking about are small criticisms. Number two, these opinions may change, but they are mine, and you are free to feel whatever way you want towards the show! Please no hate! Also I am not organized so this will come off as rambling lol just an fyi!

So to sum it all up in general, I enjoyed it, but I wished it was longer. The first thing that shocked me was learning that the runtime was only 2 hours, compared to the Hatchetfield stage shows which were mainly 2 hours and 30 minutes. And after really thinking it over, I feel like this show would have benefited more if it had that extra half an hour, cause certain things either feel rushed or lack exploration/depth. When I finished it, I was thinking “this was really good, but at the same time, I expected way more, and I wish there was more”.

Due to the shortened runtime, I came out of the project underwhelmed, and I’ll go into depth about that regarding the characters, so let’s talk about them! In general, the characters are amazing. They’re all either lovable or funny, and I love all of their personalities. But something that I think this show lacks is more character focus, or more so…characters bouncing off of each other, specifically regarding Ella, Crumb, and Sir Hop a lot and I’ll tell you what I mean by that. Now, there are 4 REALLY good scenes that do have character bouncing in the show. The first one is Ella and her two childhood friends talking about boys and reminiscing of the old days, the next is the stepmother and her daughters talking and arguing as they eat at the table, the third is that small moment where Sir Hop a lot is teaching Crumb to use his sword correctly, and the fourth is the scene Ella shares with Tadius.

These are all great scenes of characters interacting with each other that have nothing to do with the plot, but more so to show the audience what these characters are like when they’re just breathing. Think back to Emma telling Paul about her sister and them talking about when they were in school, or Ethan telling Hannah he’s got to trust her and that her mother should realize that he needs to do better. The Langs are REALLY good at that, but here I felt like it was lackluster. The stepsisters, (as hilarious, batshit, and iconic their scenes were to watch) end up taking way too much screen time, to the point where they kinda overshadow Ella at times in my opinion, and I could say the same for the prince and Tadius. Both the stepsisters screen time and Tadius and the Prince scenes are really funny and good character interactions, but they go by a little too long to the point where I was thinking “come on, you could have shortened this to focus on Ella herself more”. And despite having depth and being written well, Ella’s arc feels rushed. Her going from wanting revenge to wanting to protecting the kingdom is a good writing decision, but her change of viewpoint happens too fast for me. Ella ended up lacking more exploration for me in general due to most of the focus being on the trolls and/or too many exposition dialogue dumps. Even “Neon”, for how much it slapped, could have been cut out and replaced with something more important, cause it doesn’t serve any character focused purpose on Ella’s part. Funny enough, at the same time I felt like the show could have done more with some lore stuff too. Like I wish we learned more about Ella’s parents and her relationship with them, or more about the fairy queen/crumb and sir hop a lot, basically any character or event that didn’t revolve around the troll sister’s and the prince.

Then there’s Sir hop and lot and Crumb, and it was disappointing to discover that they’re kinda barley in it. The marketing had me thinking they would be two main characters right next to Ella, but they’re not. They have at best, 2-3 scenes. I was hoping we would get more scenes of them bonding with Ella as well, even hoping for the three of them to sing a song together, which them not singing one was fine ofc, but their trio friendship needed more buildup and focus in my opinion. With that said, the scenes they shared together were really cute! Everyone really killed their roles, and I was obsessed with most of the songs and the costuming. You can tell their was so much passion put into this project.

I think for me, what holds the show back is it’s runtime, exposition/lack of character focus in some areas, and some elements not being used enough to its advantage. And I want to make this 100% clear, I do not think the writing was bad nor do I think the show itself was bad. I had a VERY fun time and I am VERY proud of Starkid. It’s funny, and it’s emotional. I think overall this is a decent introduction to the Lands That Are and future projects, which is why I wanted to provide some feedback so the writing in the future can be even better. I plan to rewatch the show a bunch of times and even make fanart when the time comes, and ofc…make more in depth posts about my thoughts on this show. But for now I give it a 6/10. I wish the team the best and I cannot wait to see what they have in store for this world moving forward!

[biillys]

hi au where billy and max are child stars

neil auditioning billy for a (soon-to-be) beloved family sitcom as a baby, very mary-kate and ashley vibes, maybe billy getting the role for being the only baby not to cry during the auditions, and then putting him to work from basically day dot.

his mom doing her best to run interference and make sure he gets treated right, only letting him be on set for a few hours a week and making sure either herself or neil is always with him, but the older he grows and the more screen time he gets, the more the show runners and neil try and weasel their way for more time with him.

him turning five and the show airing it's fourth season, his parents marriage being over. his mom handing neil the divorce papers and walking out, then dipping her hand into his earnings (that neil has tied up in his own name) to try and buy them a future, trying to get full custody.

the divorce being messy and drawn out and public, neil having made her out to be the villain, the fans and magazines tearing her to shreds and writing headlines trying to shame her, saying she's a heartless bitch for trying to end her own child's career just as it's starting to take off.

billy getting caught in the middle, the separation and custody battle drawing out for years, him struggling to handle the fall out of his home life coming apart at the same time as the sitcom he grew up on comes to an end.

his life being a fucking mess by the time he turns eight.

having a little bit of free time then, technically being jobless. starting to explore other hobbies and interests now that he has some time and getting more into music and sports, begging for a guitar and a surfboard for his birthday, asking neil if he can join little league.

neil promising him one better, and instead, getting him auditions for disney, telling him the only thing better than playing the guitar, is playing the guitar for disney.

turning ten and being a series regular on an already airing disney show, but the execs and directors being so impressed by him that there's talks of him getting his own show.

part of him being excited, proud, but a bigger part of him being terrified.

being so scared to tell his mom cos he knows she'll cry. she used to run her fingers through his hair to lull him to sleep, hug him close and whisper about how she never wanted this life for him, how she's so sorry.

it becoming official and him getting his own show on disney.

him getting the news exactly one week after his mom walks out for good, his dad having finally won full custody, no visitation allowed.

him feeling sick to his stomach. he never thought she'd actually leave.

he never even got to tell her his news.

it not taking long for the shine of having his own show to wear off, the few things he was excited about starting to become a hassle.

starting to resent it.

hating it.

hating the lights and the cameras and the scripts and the running lines. the early mornings and the make up and the flights and the night shoots and the interviews and the press. hating the way he's always surrounded by adults, never having had an actual friend his own age in his entire life. that all the other kids he knows are pitted to him like rivals, there being always talk about ratings and viewers and timeslots. him not knowing what a friend without it being tied up in publicity and pr.

hating the fact that he has a sister on the show, but his dad and her mom end up getting close, and suddenly he's getting a step-sister in real life.

hating the way max only has to film for x amount of hours a day because she's a kid, but he has to film for longer, and thats on top of everything else he's gotta do, very miley cyrus sharing her schedule during her hannah montana years vibes.

him becoming a household name in his younger years from the sitcom, but disney cementing his fame, him being known by what feels like the entire world by the time he's in his teens.

growing up and getting into shit, experimenting with drugs and alcohol and sex, trying to find any and every escape he can. him and max always being on the outs in private, but being the picture perfect family in public.

neil being a controlling fucker, a true momager, has kris jenner on speed dial.

rebelling in every way he can, not giving a fuck what stories or pictures of him get leaked anymore, the press and public turning against him as he gets older.

his show ending and him expecting to finally feel free, except just becos the shows over, doesn't mean anything else is. suddenly the pressure starts feeling heavier, everyone asking him what he's got lined up next, if he's gonna straighten himself out, if he's gonna finally take his career seriously.

neil riding him, telling him to forget about whatever he wants to do, and do what he tells him to do instead. him having various commitments and auditions lined up for billy already, and billy being ready to end it all.

emancipating himself at age seventeen, cutting off contact with everyone.

going off the rails and living his worst life. catching the headlines and updates of maxine mayfield: now managed by neil hargrove, and shoving down the urge to call her and tell her to run, knows she won't listen to a thing he says any way. he was nothing but an asshole and a spoilt brat no good fuck up in her eyes anyway, neil making sure they never got close.

doing his best to go down the music route, feeling physically ill at the thought of acting again, but thinking maybe music could be the answer. he always liked it better. felt more comfortable with a guitar in his hands or a piano under his fingers than cameras and lights in his face.

the music industry being just as harsh and ruthless as the entertainment industry, him not getting taken seriously by anyone he needs to be taken seriously by, everyones expectations of him being so fucking high that he knows he'll never be able to meet them.

deciding he doesn't give a fuck about anything anymore, his life's never been his own to control or have any say over anyway. signing a five year contract with a well-known label, not writing a single song of his own or playing a single instrument aside from when they want him to trot out an acoustic set, and instead singing words richer people than him wrote and performing show after show after show, flying from country to country to country, barely fucking existing. the songs becoming chart toppers, like they were written to be, and selling out stadiums.

hitting rock bottom.

getting a wake up call from max of all people, her ringing to check he's still alive. him pulling the phone away to check this is an actual call and not a hallucination. putting the phone back up to his ear, asking why she's calling.

her saying happy birthday and billy realising he's turning twenty today.

them sitting in silence for a while before max finally cracks.

her telling him his dad's an asshole. billy laughing. no shit.

them hanging up, but max calling again, a month later, then again, a few weeks after that.

billy being hungover as fuck and having no idea what country he's in, but max is in a new movie, out in cinemas now, and it's a serious drama, it's fucking emmy nominated, so he calls the front desk of whatever hotel he's staying at and asks for directions to the closest cinema and before he knows it, he's going incognito, hoodie on, and watching her on the big screen, and she's so much better at acting than he ever was.

neil must be so goddamn pleased with himself.

too bad max sounds completely miserable everytime they talk on the phone.

he calls her instead of her calling him for the first time, opening the conversation with saw your movie, how much fucking overtime did you get for all those night-shoots?

before or after your dad took his cut?

billy laughs. he can't remember the last time he laughed.

ANYWAY. i was listening to robot by miley cyrus on repeat and!!!! child stars au!!!! them both being worked to the bone!!! hating each other becos they barely know each other cos they barely know themselves!!!! getting through their childhoods battered and bruised, billy coming out the other side first, max finally catching up to him a few years later. them both, one by one, cutting their parents out!!!! max taking the big screen by storm when she grows up, neil frothing at the mouth that he can't touch her money when she cuts him out!!!! billy never signing another contract again after his record deal ends, disappearing off the face off the earth!!!! slight the lucky one by tswift vibes!!!! idk!!!!!

[starcanwrecked-confessions]

Friendly reminder that not all of us are involved in drama. for example: i'm here, i'm neurodivergent and I really like perfume

Here's what lush perfume I think some Hatchetfield characters would wear any why they wear it:

Grace - breath of god - It caught her eye when she went shopping with ruth. She picked it up because of the name. She bought it because it smelled like the incense they burn at her church

Ethan - lord of misrule - It was a gift from Lex. He'd been having problem's at work, people leaving Tony bad reviews because Ethan worked there and smelled like w33d, and it was making him feel like a burden. Lex noticed the toll it was taking on him and gave him this to make life a bit easier for the Greens. After Ethan stopped working there, either because he just got a better one at some point after Lex and Hannah left or because the three of them got to California (depending on how delulu you're feeling - I'm going with the second option), he kept wearing it because it makes him think of Lex.

Becky - american cream - It's the same scent shes worn since high school. Tom said it suited her back then. Stanley said it was too sweet so she stopped wearing it while they were married. when she killed him, she started wearing it again. it felt like *her*. it reminded her of Tom.

Emma - 4:20PM - helps her get up in the morning.

Ziggs - breath of god - They used to go to a festival every year as a kid. It always smelled of incense (and w33d but they've got that covered). When they were looking for perfume that smelled like incence they stumbled across this online

Steph - rose jam - She and Pete both got help from an employee to pick out scents. she landed on this

Pete - vanillary - see above (I also think its funny that the perfume is really sweet and he has famously low blood sugar)

Ruth - lust - *the* lush lover of Hatchetfield. Picked it because of the name. Didn't even like the scent at first but she learned to love it the more she wore it.

Lex - 4:20PM - she, unlike Ethan, wants to smell even more like w33d because it pisses people off.

Linda - goddess - makes her feel powerful and mysterious (plus its really different from Becky's. might've been on purpose. might've not)

Richie - dirty - ironically the mint makes him feel fresher. It doesn't work on him though, he just sweats it off.

Hannah - new romantics - It smells a bit like oranges. she likes orange juice. what can you say? she saved up for it. plus Webby liked it so that's a bonus. she probrably also steals Ethan's from time to time. She's not allowed to wear Lex's.

Miss Holloway - ginger - has a lot of popular smells from the 80's within it. (totally forgot she was ginger herself when picking this out for her lol)

Deb - sappho - she and Alice got it to share because it's the lesbian perfume and that's funny. It turned out to not be Alice's thing but Deb loved it.

Alice - love - she just likes it. Deb did say it smelled as lovely as she is tho so its special now.

Charlotte - Shade - Sam bought it for her for an anniversary. She hates it but she wears it anyway. Sam never notices. I feel like she would rlly like alina tho!

-🛼 ( i cant tell if thats showed up right- currently not on my normal device - but it's the roller skate)

~~~

[clericofshadows]

the revenge of a king

Description: Regis Shepard gets word from an Alliance ally of his about an issue at Liara T'Soni's apartment, that quickly turns into an opportunity to take down the Broker that originally wanted his body... and the asari that gave him to Cerberus in the first place.

AO3 LINK

Paring: Regis Shepard/Kaidan Alenko/Zaeed Massani Part of my Regis Shepard - Lament of Kings series

Word Count: ~20K

Note: This fic is not very Liara friendly, and as such, be aware of that, thank you :)

Regis settled down at his desk with a yawn, rubbing his face and beard.  They were docked on Illium, handling some affairs.  He helped Miranda get her sister to safety, and he could tell that took a load off her shoulders.  He ran a few errands on Illium, getting some information about the galaxy, but pointedly avoiding that fucking office and blocked requests to talk.

T'Soni must know that he knows.  He hopes that she does.

She had no right.  None.

Even if she did indirectly bring you, Zaeed, and Kaidan back together…

He let out a sigh as the doors to his cabin opened, and he smelled the aroma of fresh pasta that immediately made his mouth water.  Shit, he forgot how hungry he was, knee deep in dealing with all the bureaucracy that comes with every single Illium trip.

“The asari know their way around pasta,” Zaeed said as a greeting, placing one takeout box by Regis’s terminal and sitting down on the couch with his own.  “Came as a recommendation from an old friend.  Told her I’ll hunt her down if she wastes my goddamn credits.”

“Well, it smells amazing,” Regis said, thankful for the distraction from his thoughts, hating that she was taking up all his space right now.  “Chicken parm for me?”

“Of course.  Well, their equivalent for it.  Shrimp scampi for myself, but with some asari shellfish replacement.  We’ll see how good it is,” he replied.  “And don’t worry, I got the higher caloric option.  All the fucking fuel you need right there.”

He’s so sweet when he wants to be.  

“Did you get that so I wouldn’t steal your food?”

“Obviously, you selfish asshole,” he chuckled.  “Knew you wouldn’t touch it even with your goddamn biotics if it had seafood on it.”

Regis rolled his eyes and opened the box, getting out the utensils and taking a bite, pointedly ignoring his comment even though he was right.  Zaeed will take his lack of answer as agreement, as always.  The chicken was beautifully fried, the sauce had a lot of flavor, and the pasta was perfectly cooked.  “You better tell your friend that she chose well,” Regis said in between bites.  “Holy shit.”

Zaeed hummed in agreement.  “Whatever this asari shrimp is, it’s incredible.  You’re missing out, babe.”

“No, I’m not.” Regis took another bite.  “God, this tastes damn near like my mother’s recipe.”

Regis still has yet to call her.  Both her and Adrian for that matter.  

He’s afraid.  Afraid of their reaction, of their acceptance of what has been done, of what he has to do to get out of this fucking ship alive.  A part of him knows that they won’t judge–hell, his mother learned her lesson after Torfan–but he can’t shake the fear of losing what little family he has.

“Didn’t know your mother liked to cook,” Zaeed said, his voice piqued with interest.  

Did he meet her at some point? Since he and Kaidan got together in those two years made him wonder.

Knowing Kaidan, he probably did introduce them, if only so she wouldn’t have to find out elsewhere somehow.  No, that’s why he would’ve done it.  If he was being completely honest with himself, Kaidan did it to absolve the guilt of moving on… letting Hannah decide for him what she thought.

Regis got up with his food and joined him on the couch, shutting down his terminal.  “Originally, it was Atlas’s recipe, but he was one of those that wasn’t really specific with instructions, you know?” Zaeed nodded along.  “So Mother took it upon herself to try and recreate it to her and Adrian’s memories of it, and finally nailed it when I was… probably ten or so.”

“You should call her,” he said pointedly, gesturing with his fork speared with shellfish.  “And give her your review.”

Regis didn’t know much of anything about Zaeed’s family, if he even still had a living one.  So it was telling that he, once again, was goading Regis to get off his ass and do something.

“Kicking me in the ass to contact my family again, huh,” Regis said, leaning against him.  “You’re right, as always.”

“It’s a learned skill.  You should look into it.”

Regis glowered at him but accepted his kiss on his cheek anyway.  “Maybe later.  I’m just… not in a good headspace to talk to her right now.”

“Because of her?” Zaeed asked, emphasizing the pronoun.

Regis only nodded, burying himself back into his dinner.  “I’m trying so hard to not let her invade every fucking part of my life, but she… she fucking violated me for her own selfish wants.  And a part of me keeps saying I can’t be mad because of what she gave me.  And us.”

Zaeed wrapped an arm around him.  This wasn’t the first time they’ve had this conversation since he learned about her involvement in his resurrection, and it sure as hell won’t be the last.  “I’ll say this every time.  You have the goddamn right to feel how you do.”

“I know.”

About to dig back into his food, his omnitool pinged with a message from his private server.  He let out a small sound of surprise when he noticed it was from Hackett. 

SH: Clarkson has something for you.  Alenko has patched her into your server.  It sounds like something that we all might want to look into, even if I know you would rather get the hell away from Illium.

Regis raised an eyebrow and pushed away the to-go box with a sigh.  “Looks like we’re not finished with this place yet.”

“Wren’s the… N7 that Hackett uses as his main agent, right?”

Regis nodded, standing up from his terminal.  “Old friend of mine.  She’s a Fury and one hell of a great infiltrator despite her biotics.  She’s been looking into T’Soni, according to Kaidan when we met up.”

“Think this could be the chance to get your fucking revenge?” He asked, his tone light.  Zorya still lingered in his mind.  Zaeed’s impulsiveness, Regis’s moral code… they were good now and arguably better from it.

Revenge didn’t sound so sweet anymore.

Regis shrugged.  “I’m hoping that we can find a way to ensure she can never work in Alliance space ever again at the bare minimum.”  He brought his terminal over to the coffee table and loaded up Wren’s message.

WC: Call me as soon as you can.  I understand that you have a lot going on, but this could be big.

They shared a look.  

RS: I’m free.  Zaeed’s with me.

A moment later, a vid call request came through.  Regis accepted it and Wren appeared on the screen, her violet hair pulled into a messy bun.  She hadn’t changed much since he last saw her, although the scar under her eye was new.  To his surprise, though, she was in Destroyer gear.  Heavier than what she normally went for. “I still can’t believe I’m able to talk to you again,” she said, her face breaking out into a watery smile.  “God, I missed you and your asshole self.”

Regis smiled back.  “Despite everything, I can’t help but be a little glad to be back.  Wren, not sure if you’ve formally met Zaeed, our boyfriend.”

She nodded and waved.  “Only in passing through vid calls like this with Kaidan.  I’m glad to hear that you three have gotten together.  Nice seeing a bit of good in this fucked situation.  Hackett and Kaidan are trying their damndest to get you back as cleanly as possible, but if we can get something directly from her… that may give you what you need to help clear your name without much trouble.”

“Considering how eager she was to try and be in my good graces,” Regis began, side-eyeing Zaeed who scoffed.  “I might be able to get a statement.”

“Good, because I think you’ll want to hear what happened.  T’Soni was nearly the victim of an assassination. She even stuck around in her apartment for a bit and fled,” Wren continued. “Traced her to Baria Frontiers over in the Dracon Trade Center.  I'm tempted to go there myself, or send Nomad after her.  Feels like this is Shadow Broker related. She’s been trying to find leads on him for a while now.”

Seth Nomad.  A Paladin class.  Quiet, stoic guy with an incredible mind for on the fly hacking and intelligence.  His drones were damn near revolutionary.  Regis trusted him with this kind of mission.

Interesting. It appears her sordid past has finally caught up with her.  Angering the Shadow Broker has consequences.  Regis was only partially sorry it failed, if only because she deserved more consequences for her actions than that. “Whatever you think is best, Wren. As always, I trust your judgment.”

“Appreciated.  Then I’ll send Seth after her, and I’ll meet up with you in Illium.”

Regis nodded.  “Obviously, I’ll be bringing Zaeed with me.  Need me to bring anyone else to take point with me?”

Wren shrugged.  “I’ll let you decide that.  What do you usually do out in the field now?”

“Myself and two others, maybe three.  Rest on hold for backup.  The types of missions I’ve been doing haven’t required a lot of firepower.”  Except maybe Horizon so far, but he wasn’t about to take just anyone there, not when he knew Kaidan was there.

“To echo what you said to me, I trust your judgment.  Meet me at the taxi stand ASAP.  I’ll send you some more details about T’Soni’s apartment and let Hackett know we’re on the case and to reopen her  case file.  Being an associate on the Normandy gave her some basic citizenship in Alliance space, so we're looking to ban her from the cluster if at all possible.”

An intriguing loophole to use.  He didn't see any problems with that interpretation, looking forward to seeing if they could get that result.  Petty, but she had the capability to put an Alliance soldier officially to rest, and she knowingly gave his body for experimentation for something that could've failed. 

Or turned him into something worse. 

“Thanks,” Regis said.  “Zaeed and I will get suited up as soon as possible.  I’ll be bringing our resident Justicar as well.”  At her nod, he continued, “Don’t want to do anything to offend you.”

“The only thing you could do to offend me is to let her go after all this bullshit.  Here’s to hoping we see something to give to the brass.”  Wren ended the call.

Regis shoved some more of his food in his mouth before tossing the container in the trash to be dealt with later.  He motioned for Zaeed to go on ahead as he activated his personal terminal to send a call to the observation deck Samara kept to herself in.

“Samara?” He asked, waiting for a response.

“Yes, Shepard?”  Good, she was in her room.

“I have a personal request.  Can you get suited up and ready to join me and Zaeed?”

“Of course, I will be right there.  May I have a few more details?”

“It involves Liara T’Soni and her apartment here on Ilium.  She was the one that brought my body to Cerberus, and has been hunting down the Shadow Broker to stop his attempts on her life,” Regis explained.

She was silent for a few moments.  “Thank you.  I will get ready to join you both at the airlock.”

Regis acknowledged her and ended the call.

– –

Regis rejoined Zaeed and Samara at the airlock, nodding at both of them.  Zaeed had opted for his Ajax gear–and Regis couldn’t help but eye him appreciatively–while Samara wore her ornate plate armor.  Moreau eyed them from his spot at the helm.

“Moreau, we’ll be heading back down to Ilium.  It’s a personal mission for me, but it involves T’Soni,” he said, watching as he raised an eyebrow.

“You mean that asari we picked up back on the SR-1?  Thought you wanted nothing to do with her,” he replied, narrowing his eyes.  “What’s going on?”

“Cerberus wasn’t the only reason why I’m back.  It was her.”

Moreau blinked and swore a moment later.  “You’re shitting me.  She is the reason why Cerberus got their hands on you?  Are we talking about the same person?  Last I remember she was just a nerdy archaeologist in over her head.”

“I thought so too,” Regis said quietly, but enough for them to hear. “I’m working with an Alliance contact of mine.  If I can get her to confess, it will do a lot to help clear my name.”

A pained expression flashed on his face for a moment, and Regis felt himself soften.  “Yeah, you have my full support on that.  Shit, Shepard, I had no idea.”

“Neither did I, but my uncle, Vikram, was able to get some information they later gave to Kaidan not long after Alchera…” Regis trailed off, waving away Moreau’s wince at the mention of the planet.  “Alliance has been keeping an eye on her ever since, but it wasn’t until that little Omega shoreleave that I was able to connect the dots for them.”

He nodded.  “You need anything, you just let me know.”

“I will, thanks.”  

Zaeed reached for his hand, squeezing it tightly.  Regis kept his grip on his hand until they left the docking bay, Samara’s presence behind them a comfort.

“What an injustice,” she murmured as they weaved through the shopping terminals.  “Did she do it for herself or for the galaxy?”

“I’m not sure if I want to know that answer,” Regis admitted.  “A gift and a fucking curse all the same.”

“You remember… everything, then,” she guessed, and Regis stopped in his tracks to readjust his scarf, feeling the soft fabric and remembering the scarf he wore when he died.

“I do.”

She nodded and they continued on.

Soon enough, they were at the main taxi stand, and Wren had her arms crossed, sitting down at one of the benches, still clothed in her heavy-duty Destroyer gear.  Not his favorite set from his N7 days, opting for his custom Sentinel gear that he later requisitioned for Kaidan and Ashley on the SR-1, but he liked the extra protection and shield generation it gave.

She brightened when she saw them, standing up.  She nodded at Samara.  “I’m Major Wren Clarkson, N7 Fury and a liaison from the Alliance concerning our case on Liara T’Soni.  And an old friend of this guy.” She inclined her head towards him.  

She’s been promoted.  Good.

Samara nodded.  “Justicar Samara.  Pleasure to meet you, Clarkson.”

“Pleasure's all mine.  I see Regis has gathered himself a decent crew, despite it all.”

“That he has,” Zaeed said with a nod.

“And good to see you, Zaeed.  I have the coordinates ready.  Police are already on the scene, but we should be able to get in,” she said, waving her omnitool.  “I heard you obtained your Spectre status back.”

“Anderson granted it back to me,” Regis said.  “But the new Council refused to meet with me.”

“Fucking cowards,” Zaeed muttered.  “You’re the reason why they are even in their positions.”

Regis thought the same, but he didn’t voice it aloud.  He doesn’t regret his decision.

Sovereign was the main target.

“Well, if you’re willing to leverage it, we should be able to get in.  Let’s go.  Nomad’s already on his way to grab T’Soni.”

– –

The apartment complex was typical asari architecture, but it appeared to be expensive to Regis’s amateur eye.  Anything but nondescript.  He noticed police skycars parked around the area, and many asari and turians in basic armor were moving and running around. High security.

They didn’t seem to spare him much of a glance once they reached the entrance.  An asari walked over.  “What is your purpose for being here?”

“Spectre Regis Shepard.  My team and I are investigating the T’Soni apartment,” he announced, activating his omnitool to transfer his credentials.

“I’ll send word to the officers in charge.”  They waved their omnitool.  “Have a good day, Spectre. You aren’t the only one here.  Must be important.”

He hasn’t dealt with other Spectres since Nihilus.  Curious.

“May I ask who?”

“Spectre Tela Vasir.  She's already inside.”

Regis didn’t recognize the name, only noticing that it was asari.  He nodded in acknowledgment and entered the elevator.

It was a quick trip up to the floor that held T’Soni’s apartment, and soon enough, they followed the commotion to a blocked off entrance.  The asari officer at the door waved them in without a second glance.  The apartment was modern, open, with plenty of space.  Too much space for one person, he thought, but maybe her new career in information gave her enough perks to afford such a place in Illium. Officers were scattered around the building, scanning and examining the area.

An asari in blue and silver armor approached, walking down the stairs, her face covered in purple markings.  A Spectre logo sat proudly on the shoulder of her armor.  “It seems like you’ve heard what happened, Commander Shepard. Someone tried to kill your friend.”

It took a lot of will-power to not object to that descriptor, but Regis wasn’t about to reveal too much too soon, just in case.  

She dismissed the officers, waiting for them all to walk out of the apartment before introducing herself.  “Tela Vasir.  Special Tactics and Recon.  But you probably already knew that by now.”

Regis nodded.  “Only by talking to the officers downstairs.  Regis Shepard,” he offered belatedly.  “But you also probably know that by now.”

“That I do.” She smirked.  “One of our most famous operatives.  I feel like I should get my chestplate signed by you.”  

Regis merely raised an eyebrow at that.  “Depending on how you define ‘famous.’”

“A human having the balls to damn the Council… the Council that even granted you our role in the first place.  I don’t know whether to be impressed or spit on your name.” 

Regis couldn’t get a read on Vasir, scanning her face for any tells.  Her voice was carefully neutral, almost a bit playful.  He needed to talk to his squad and get their view on the situation later.  

“I did what I thought was right, same as any other Spectre.”

“I respect that, Shepard.  What brings you here?  Business with your friend?” She asked.

How much to reveal… 

Wren stepped forward to stand beside him.  “Not so much.  Alliance has been looking into her and her role in putting our best operative in the hands of Cerberus.  I’ve been tracking her for some time now.”

“And you are?” Vasir sounded curious.

“Major Wren Clarkson.”  She motioned to her chest plate.  “N7 designation.  This is most likely Shadow Broker related.”

Regis glanced over at her, wondering her motive.  He also noticed an earpiece in her ear.  Must be how she’s keeping in contact with Nomad, recognizing the sleek Alliance model from anywhere.  

“A dangerous enemy to have.  What do you need from me?”

“An overview, if you don’t mind,” Regis said, motioning around the apartment.  “What happened?”

Vasir went into detail, talking about how someone took a shot at T’Soni, pointing at the series of bullet holes in the window.  She stuck around for a few moments after the attack before leaving.  Vasir noticed it must’ve been important.   She had no idea where T’Soni ended up, which was a point in Regis’s favor, keeping that information to himself as she continued on.  No blood, so no signs of any clear struggle.  There was a kinetic barrier in place to keep her safe from the sniper.  

“Clever girl,” she praised.  “Paranoid, but clever.”

Regis didn’t comment on that either, which was an answer in itself by the curious look she gave him.  Instead, he asked, “Did the police investigation turn up anything useful?”

“Just the mess and the bullet holes.  I gave them a gold star for finding the bullet holes.  Think she would’ve left anything for you?”

“She didn’t know I was coming,” Regis said.  “I came here because of Clarkson.  But, I can take a look around and see if there’s anything only I would notice.”

“Go ahead.  The floor is yours.” She stepped aside and nodded at him and his squad.  Wren decided to go her own path, walking away from them and looking at the bullet holes.  

Regis turned the corner to check out a desk tucked up against a wall lined with bookshelves.  Out of the corner of his eye he noticed her doctorate.  Vasir followed his gaze.

“University of Serrice, back on Thessia,” she translated for him. Regis could read it just fine, but he didn’t make it known aloud. 

Vikram, ever the studious matriarch when they wanted to be, made a point to teach him asari the moment they could.  Visits with his uncle were often laced with asari standard, getting immersed in their language when he was in his preteens to his teens.  He continued studying the language when he went to university, but it's not something he has to use often out in the field.   “She’s getting good use out of all that education,” she continued snidely.

Perhaps he and Vasir have more common ground than he expected.  

He rounded the corner and a glass case caught his attention, housing something beat up, charred and damaged, out of place in the admittedly elegant home.  He approached it, and immediately felt sick, his gaze first landing on a piece of scorched, frayed cloth, a scrap of black and red fabric that mirrored the one around his neck.  Something that always gave him comfort, a way to connect to his father through a tradition, a way to show his love by giving it to those he considers friends, family… lovers.

And here it was, imprisoned and stolen from him, alongside the armor that he took his last breath in.

Dark energy coursed through him, a flash of violet biotics that surrounded his hand into a bastardization of a Warp that was aimed straight for the display case, chaotic energy shooting forward and raw with power.

The sound of glass shattering filled the air, the once pristine display case reduced to nothing more than a pile of shards. He reached out for the battered torso of his armor, taking it apart, piece by piece, ignoring Samara's and Zaeed's noises of concern, ignoring Vasir’s shocked protest.  

Where is it, where are his dog tags, where is his father's goddamn ring?

He ripped away the scarf, pulling apart the seams of the armor, throwing away long since compromised plating and reinforced fibers, destroying his once beloved armor without a second thought.

How did she get this?  Did she tear it off his corpse when she felt she had the right to deliver his body to Cerberus?  He knows this is the one he died in, the grey armor he commissioned for himself, Kaidan, and later Ashley during the Normandy mission.

He remembered Kaidan touching his scarf with a gentle hand before they went their separate ways on the quickly decaying ship.  He remembered wishing it could give him warmth and comfort as he faded away in the vast emptiness of space that became his grave. 

There was nothing inside it, nothing more than a gruesome reminder of how he died and who brought him back

They can't be lost, can they?  If she was able to get this off of him, they had to be out there somewhere?

Did she take them too, thinking she had some sick claim?

"Regis!" Zaeed said, breaking Regis out of his thoughts.  Regis realized he was kneeling on the ground, clutching the remnants of his scarf in his hands, torn by his grip. 

Samara knelt down beside him, a calm and steady presence.  Regis looked around and saw Zaeed holding Vasir back with his arm, shaking his head.  Her face was neutral, but something burned behind her eyes.  

"I died in this armor," he said, his voice cracking at the end. 

Samara closed her eyes.  “What a terrible thing to keep.  To display in her own home.  Macabre.”

Wren rejoined them.  “Fucking hell,” she cursed, kneeling down next to them.  “God, I remember the day you requisitioned this set.”

“You… died in that armor?” Vasir stated, echoing his earlier words.  “How the hell did she get it?”

“You tell me, Vasir,” Regis spat, dropping the remnants of his scarf on the ground.  “Take whatever you need, Wren, for your dossier.  I need some fucking air.”

There wasn’t exactly a private place to go, so he walked over to the balcony next to the bullet holes.  Zaeed joined him, leaning against the barrier.  

Regis moved closer, the shoulders of their armor touching.  “Zaeed, I am going to be the worst goddamn hypocrite right now.”

He shrugged.  “Don’t feel like you have to apologize for fucking Zorya again.  None of us expected to see that.  What a fucking–” he shook his head.  “Don’t even have the goddamn words to say how angry I am on your behalf.”

“She has to have my dog tags.  My ring.  God, she tore that off of my corpse!  Cerberus didn’t have the full armor…” Regis swallowed down bile.  “I felt violated before, but this?” He let out a shuddering breath.  “This is unforgivable.”  

His fingers itched for a cigarette.  Not just one Astra to feel the sharp nip of red sand, but a whole goddamn pack.   He hasn’t smoked a whole pack since the days after Torfan.

The urge to ask Zaeed for his lighter kept growing every second.

“Do whatever you feel is right,” Zaeed said.  “But don’t let it destroy you.  She is not going to take away who you are.” He finished that statement with a hard look.  If Regis wasn't about to compromise his morals for one of the men he loved, he shouldn’t do it for himself either.  And then he will be mad about Zorya again.

Regis only nodded, his hand going back up to his own scarf.  Wren joined them next, her omnitool open.  A moment later, his omnitool pinged.

WC: Nomad found T’Soni.  Showed her a picture of us from N training.  She let down her guard and was able to meet with a contact.  I sent word that we were working with a Spectre and gave him her name. Turns out, she tried to kill T’Soni.  And her contact?  Has the location of the Shadow Broker.  She’s hellbent on getting revenge for some reason, but wouldn’t say until you meet up with her.

Wren shut off her omnitool and walked back over to where Vasir and Samara were by the stairs.

She was waiting for his move.  

What was Vasir’s motive for hunting down T’Soni?  Regis cursed himself for not knowing more about his Spectre “colleagues.”  There had to be something.

Regis glanced over at Zaeed who inclined his head towards Vasir.  He leaned in close and brushed a kiss against his cheek, whispering into his ear.  “Your move.  Think she could be an ally?”

“I want to think so.”

They rejoined the group by the stairs.  Vasir looked back at his old armor.  “I wondered what that was.  Now I know.  Dare I say that I was wrong with assuming that you were friends.”

“It’s a fair observation to make.  Wrong, but fair.  I’m only here to get information that could help me and my name,” Regis said.  “What brought you here?”

“Illium is my territory.  T’Soni made a name for herself, not that it was a good one,” she replied.  Vague but Regis couldn’t sense a lie.  Wren stayed neutral as well.  “You didn’t seem all that worried when you saw the carnage here.”

“Can’t say that I care very much for her well-being right now.  Besides, I would let the Shadow Broker deal with her, but I want my life back.” Regis said, staring her down.  “So I’ll ask one more question.”

“And that is?”

“I applaud you for your efforts here.  What made you stay behind after trying to take her down?”

Vasir tilted her head to the side, her face staying neutral.  “What the hell are you talking about, Shepard?”

“When I say that Wren has been looking into T’Soni, she has been tracking her every move.  Wondering why she’s dealing with Broker agents and Cerberus… making sure she can never return to the Alliance…” Regis gestured around.  “Wren told me two things.  Where T’Soni was, and what happened to her apartment.  I chose the apartment.  Our friend in the Ns chose her location.  And he found out something interesting from her and from a contact.”

He stepped closer, standing in front of Vasir.  “I told myself when I heard about what happened that I was only partially sorry that this shit failed.  That still remains true with what I learned just now.”

“And you’re going to trust whatever she says despite what you’ve learned from her apartment?  About the hand she played…” Vasir trailed off, seemingly at war with herself.  She let out a sigh a moment later, tensing up.  “Fine.  None of you are raising your weapons against me.  What game are you playing?” Her face twisted, morphing into anger. 

Wren spoke up.  “We’re not.  Why?  Why try to kill her?  What are you looking for?”

“You’re speaking to the Butcher of Torfan, a Justicar, and a former Blue Suns,” Regis said, not rising to the bait.  “I don’t think any of us have any moral ground to stand on, so neither do you.  Be honest.  I’m simply curious.”

She let out a surprised snort.  “You surprised me, Shepard.  I was wrong about many assumptions.  Fine.  You said it yourself.  She had dealings with Broker agents.  One such agent is now back in his clutches ever since she wronged the Broker.  He wants revenge.  She also wants revenge.”

“And he hired you?” Zaeed asked, sounding unimpressed.  “A goddamn Spectre.”

Before Vasir could reply, Samara filled in the blanks.  “You use his information for the Council, but it comes at a cost.”

“What’s a few lives for the good of the galaxy?  You would know, Shepard.  How did it feel losing the Ascension?”

Like resigning humanity to a different fate in the eyes of the galaxy.  

“Is this that ‘spitting on my name’ you were talking about earlier?  I own my shit, Vasir.  I’m the goddamn poster boy for Cerberus right now.  We are the same.”

Vasir stepped back away from him.  He’s made his point.  She made hers.  “And here I expected a friend hellbent on revenge to save his darling asari.  Instead, I got something better.”

“You know, Vasir, I think we have a similar goal in the end,” Regis said, rejoining his squad.

“Do we?” She asked, her markings rising up in surprise.  

“Stop hunting down T’Soni, and I’ll make sure you can keep doing what you’re doing, as I have my own plans for her,” Regis said, crossing his arms.  “I may end up having to work with her, but she will be the Alliance’s concern.”

“What do you have on her?” She asked, narrowing her eyes.  

“Nothing that helps you right now,” Wren said.  “Else I see you as another way to get what we want.  She wants the Shadow Broker.  Shadow Broker wants her.  We’ll meet up with her, see what plans she has.  If all she wants is that agent you mentioned, we can work a deal, perhaps?”

“Meet up with her.  I’ll stay here and later go dark.  Won’t be the first time it takes me a while to radio back in.”

“Do I have your word?” Regis asked.

“That I won’t follow you?” She chuckled.  “I didn’t know she had Alliance watching her.  I won’t be able to fool you.” She turned to Wren.  “Why aren’t you a Spectre, Major?”

“I have too much fun working with my favorite people,” Wren shrugged. She would make a good Spectre, but he doesn’t see her trying to pursue that path.  Vaguely, he knew that she was on the shortlist because of the Blitz and Elysium, but she’s never been one for ship command.  “How loyal are you to the Shadow Broker?”

“Why?  There’s not a goddess-damned thing any of you will be able to do to him.”

“You didn’t answer my question,” Wren said.  “None of us care for him.  If it gets us closer to what we want with T’Soni.  Tough shit.  He’s just another obstacle.”

“You’ll take down an entire shadow organization just to get back at one person.” She scoffed.  “I guess I should've expected that of you.”  She faced them all down. “Put someone better in his place, if you're planning on going that far.  I won't be happy if we lose this resource.”

“Neither will I,” Regis admitted, watching as she tilted her head to the side in surprise. “I can't guarantee anything.  I have one goal in mind, and that’s to make sure T’Soni faces consequences for what she did.”

“I’ll accept that.  It won’t look good for either of us if a Spectre turns up dead.  But don’t count on my future help if you dismantle one of the few resources in the galaxy that can do some good.”

“What made you change your mind so readily about the Broker?” Samara asked.  “Loyal to a fault?”

She smirked.  “I see the writing on the wall, Justicar.  Shepard is a determined man.  He is looking for something and he’ll do anything to get it back.  I’d rather not get in his way.  I know his methods.”

“And I do as well,” Samara glanced over at him.  “Yet while this mission has forced his hand, he has kept his own word to me and has not strayed against a moral code with actions that I would find reprehensible.”

“Noble and moral to a fault, like all Spectres,” Vasir said, nodding at her and Regis.  She waved her omnitool, and Regis received a data transfer request.  “Here are my contact details.  Keep me out of the fallout.  I’m curious to see what next galaxy shattering act you’ll do next.”

He accepted her request, confirming the details.  “Next time, I hope we meet under better circumstances.”

“As do I, Shepard.  I don’t know whether to wish you luck or not.”

“With Shepard?  Luck is always appreciated,” Zaeed chuckled.  “I’ve done a couple of dealings with the Broker myself.  I wouldn’t mind seeing a different one in charge.”

Regis wasn’t surprised to hear about that, considering he himself had also dealt with the Broker on the SR-1, not seeing any reason to get on his bad side.  Turns out it didn’t matter in the end and he still tried to sell Regis to the Collectors.

T’Soni saved you from that fate.  She is the reason why you’re here.

He let out a sigh and tried to clear his head.  Her intent was why he was so mad, her selfishness, and her acting like she did nothing wrong.  She could’ve made things far worse for the galaxy if The Illusive Man didn’t want him as he was.

He may be fine with Miranda now, but he won’t forget the mention of the control chip so easily.  And a part of him can’t wait to throw that in T’Soni’s face.  

Zaeed glanced over at him as Vasir replied, “Then I’ll wish you luck.  Be careful out there.”  She walked out of the apartment with barely a glance behind her.

The moment she was out of sight, Regis sat down on the bottom of the stairs, heed in his hands.  His squad joined him: Zaeed said beside him, Samara behind him, and Wren on the step below him.

“Are you alright?” Wren asked.  “And be honest.  I don’t want any of this ‘I’m fine’ bullshit when you clearly aren’t.”

“I can’t reconcile any of this shit in my head.  I don’t know how to feel about any of this.  She gave me life, but…” he swallowed, trying to find the words but nothing came out.

“But she did it for herself first,” Samara guessed.  “She didn’t tell your family or your love about what she did.  She’s the reason why you’re leading his mission, but she’s also why you got a second chance.  I see why you’re so conflicted.  Good came out of her selfishness, even if you may not see it that way.”

“The thing is, I do,” Regis said.  “Because I may have died and remembered every goddamn second of it, I also–” he reached for Zaeed’s hand, who squeezed it tightly, “I also got something I’ve always wanted out of it.  But that doesn’t mean she can’t face consequences for her selfishness and recklessness that could’ve made things far worse for me.  For us.  For the fucking galaxy.”  He stood up, letting go of Zaeed’s hand.  “Let's not delay the inevitable any longer.  Where does Nomad want to meet up?”

“More like where T’Soni wants to meet up,” Wren said with a wry grin.  “Her office.  Nomad has the details on the Shadow Broker’s location.  He wasn’t too keen on letting her have it.”

Sounded like Nomad.  Quite protective of secrets.  

Quite protective of his fellow Alliance.  

“Then I guess we head back over to the main port,” Regis said with a sigh, steeling himself for that conversation. “At least we'll be close to the Normandy if we need her resources.”

– –

They barely opened the door to her office when Nomad waved them in.  He looked different, the two years changing him more than others.  He lost his long braids for a close shaven look, now sporting a beard that rivaled Regis's. It suited him well.  “Good to see you, Shepard.”

“Same to you, Nomad.  Wish it was under better circumstances.” Regis shook his hand. 

“Don't we all?  She's at her desk and not very happy, just letting you know.”

“And are you the source of that?” Wren asked playfully.

“Maybe.” A smile tugged at his lips before he stepped aside.  “She’s waiting.”

Regis walked up the stairs with Zaeed and Wren flanking him on both sides, Nomad and Samara a half-step behind him.  When he entered her office properly, she shot up from her desk and headed towards him.  Already clothed in armor, a more asari styled set than the Gladiator gear she chose for herself, if necessary, back on the SR-1.  It never was.  “Shepard!  What is going on?  Did you deal with Vasir?”

He stepped back, trying to put distance between himself and her.  “Vasir has been dealt with.  Though, I have to ask: What the hell were you thinking ever getting involved with the fucking Shadow Broker?”

“It was the only way I could–”

“Trust me, I know what you did,” Regis interrupted, unable to keep the venom out of his voice.  She flinched.  “T’Loak was kind enough to tell me, no strings attached.  You need to be better at stealth.  Lots of footage of you consorting with Cerberus.”

“Is that how the Alliance got involved in this?”  She pointed a finger at Nomad.  “Have you been watching me?”

He snorted.  “No.  The honor of that role goes to Wren Clarkson.  Word of advice, T’Soni.  You’ve made yourself a target of the Alliance, and by stealing away what could be considered Alliance property in some loopholes and interpretations of the law… you have burned any bridge you may have made while on Shepard’s old ship.”

“Just goes to show how careless you’ve been,” Wren said.  “Shepard has many friends and allies.  After his death, one such friend got their hands on that damning footage.  We’ve been watching you on and off for two years.”

T’Soni opened her mouth, her face twisting in anger, but Regis stepped forward, holding up a hand.  “The only reason why I'm helping you take down the Shadow Broker is because he damn near sold my body to the Collectors and I wouldn't mind seeing someone else in charge.  Consider yourself lucky that I'm not going after you for being a goddamn hypocrite and selling my body to a terrorist organization. Pot, kettle, T'Soni."

He’s not going after her yet.  And everyone in the room save for her knew it.

“But it worked out for you in the end!  I saved your life.  I couldn’t let you–”

“You couldn’t let me die?” Regis finished for her.  His family did.  Kaidan did.  The Alliance did.  Zaeed did.  But she couldn’t.  

She didn’t object.  He shook his head, stepping back.  “Whatever.  No use arguing about it now.”  The image of his armor in the glass case burned in his mind.  “Good job on preserving my armor though.  Was it hard to remove from my body?”

She flinched again, stepping back this time.  He felt a small amount of satisfaction at her reaction, but she didn't offer up any protests or arguments. 

Nomad inhaled sharply from behind him.

Wren stepped forward, cutting through the tension in the air.  “I think we’ve spent enough time on this.  The Shadow Broker awaits.  But what is about him–other than his dealings with the Collectors–makes you so damn determined to take him down, T’Soni?”  She asked, sincere, crossing her arms.

“I don’t have to answer to you,” she replied, balling her hands into fists.  

“But will you answer to me?  I am offering my help, but I can go, do this on my own, and forget all this and leave you here,” Regis said, narrowing his eyes.  

She seemed to be at war with herself, looking at Regis, his fellow N7s, and his squad.  “Fine.  He has taken my friend–that friend, mind you is part of the reason why you’re here.  Combine that with his desire to get rid of me for taking away his precious cargo, I have plenty of reasons why I want to take him down.  And your N7 refuses to part with the information that could lead us directly to him.”

He chose to ignore her pointed comment about him and turned to Nomad.  “Ready to part with it now, Nomad?”

“For you, sure,” he said, throwing a smirk over at T’Soni.  “Location data at your service, my friend.”  He passed over the disk, and Regis pocketed it in a pouch of his armor with a nod.  

“I see no reason to delay any longer,” Regis said.  “We’re taking the Normandy.  Nomad, Wren?”

“I’ll join you,” Wren said.  “Nomad?”

“I have my own transport.  I’ll stay behind,” he replied.  “Think you’ll have enough firepower without me.”

He waited for T’Soni’s response.  She looked between all of them before nodding.  “It would give us the best chance to fly in undetected, assuming the stealth systems are the same.”

He nodded.  “Unfortunately, I’d argue it’s better.”  He opened his omnitool with a flick of his wrist and hailed Moreau.  “Moreau, prepare the Normandy for takeoff.  I’ll wire you the coordinates.  We need to go in as quiet as possible for this trip.”

He answered almost immediately. “On it, Shepard.”

“Wren, T’Soni. I'm wiring you temporary access to the Normandy. Don't abuse it,” he said with a pointed look at Wren, who merely smiled in response. He gave her some of the highest authority he could, while T’Soni got the same guest access he gave her back on the SR-1. 

He pushed the requests through, appending another message to Wren’s request asking her to join him in his cabin the moment they can.  

“What is your plan, Shepard?” Samara asked, speaking up after standing silently for so long.

“To take down the goddamn Broker, what else?” Zaeed said, turning to the Justicar.  She narrowed her eyes slightly, betraying a hint of annoyance before nodding.  “How big of a squad are you taking?”

“That will be seen,” Regis said.  “Let’s get back to the ship.  T’Soni, are you ready?”

She nodded.  “I am.  I’ve already made my preparations.”  She grabbed a pistol and a SMG from her desk. “I’ve never been on the battlefield with you, Shepard.”

“You’ll be following my orders,” Regis reminded.  “I kept you grounded on the SR-1 for a reason.  Seems like now you have the training to keep yourself alive.  Don’t give me any reason to bench you.”

He kept wanting her to lash out at him, to react, to be angry at him.  She never did, only nodding and following behind him.  Wren took up the back, only stopping to say something to Nomad he didn’t catch before rejoining them.

They must’ve been a hell of a sight walking through Illium, but Regis didn’t care.

He was one step closer to hopefully getting rid of T’Soni and her influence on his life.

– – 

As they entered the Normandy, Regis stopped in front of the cockpit, knowingly keeping Moreau in earshot.  “Welcome aboard.  T’Soni, you’ve met our pilot, Jeff Moreau.  Moreau, I don’t think you’ve met Major Wren Clarkson.”

He nodded at T’Soni but didn’t offer a greeting, which was telling.  His gaze landed on Wren’s chestplate.  “Alliance on board a Cerberus ship?  Scandalous!”

“Could say the same thing to you,” she laughed, looking around.  “Hell of a frigate.”

“I appreciate your compliments, Major,” EDI’s hologram appeared.  To her credit, Wren barely flinched, her eyes lighting up in interest.

“Regis, you didn’t tell me there was an AI on board!” she said, turning to him with a grin.  “They got you good with that.”

Regis rolled his eyes.  “Because I knew you would get like this.  Were you able to input the location data, EDI?”

“Yes.  Hagalaz, Sowilo system in the Hourglass Nebula, known for its violent storm cells.  A curious destination.”

“I agree.” Regis paused for a beat.  “It’s the location of the Shadow Broker’s base, so stealth will be required.”

“Wait a minute, we’re going where?  Why?” Moreau asked, spinning around in his chair.

Before Regis could reply, Zaeed spoke up.  “T’Soni picked a bone with him when she stole Shepard’s body out from under him.”

“Right…” he narrowed his eyes, his gaze landing on T’Soni before turning back around.  “Why can’t we have an easy, low stakes mission for once?  Let’s take down the galaxy’s biggest information broker that no one knows anything about, that’s going to be easy!”

“This is what you signed up for, Moreau,” Regis said, walking towards the CIC.  He motioned to get Chambers’ attention.  “Chambers, show T’Soni where the medbay, armory, and cargo are and confirm that she has level 1 access for me.”

Surprised at his attention on her, she jumped to it, first motioning for T’Soni to follow her to the armory.  Maybe Taylor can distract her as well.

Before she was completely dragged away, she said, “We need more time to plan, what about your other guest?”

“My other guest is far more equipped for this mission due to her years of experience as an Alliance infiltrator and N7.  I don’t have that same background for you.  We have plenty of time to regroup before the mission, but you also need to be aware of the ship’s necessities in case we have a problem.”

“Besides, he’s long since leaked the SR-2’s plans to the Alliance,” Wren shrugged.  “Which they stole from us, so it’s only fair.”

Regis keyed in his personal cabin code into the elevator and walked inside, motioning for his squad to follow.  It was a bit of a cramped fit all in their gear, but it was the most private place to talk and regroup before they do an official rundown.

There wasn’t a lot of seating in his cabin, so he and Zaeed sat next to each other on the edge of the bed, while Wren and Samara sat on the couch.

Regis took another deep breath.  In and out.  “We’re heading in straight to a large mobile ship,” Regis began.  “It uses the storm as cover, so once we land on the outside, we have to move quick.”

“Or else we get fried,” Zaeed said, pulling out his omnitool to look up facts about the planet.  “Helluva cover.”

“It does ensure a particular amount of safety,” Samara agreed.  “However, after we get inside, what is the plan?  You are serious about dealing with the Broker?”

“To an extent,” Regis admitted.  “I would like to make a deal if I can, but I doubt that will even be possible.  I may have made a deal with Vasir and I understand what the network can do, but I’m willing to go as far as to destroy it if it comes to it.”

“Maybe not,” Wren mused.  “We kill the bastard and ensure that you are no longer a target.  We put someone else in his place, and we throw the book down on T’Soni.”

“And who exactly do you suggest for that?” Regis asked, raising an eyebrow.  “I’m hoping I can distract T’Soni with her friend the Broker has held hostage, but it’s not like any of us can just take the helm.” He looked back over at Wren, a small smile forming on her face.  “I see,” he said, crossing his arms.  “You want to turn this into an Alliance asset.”

“Don’t tell me you weren’t thinking of something similar,” she said.  “At the very least, I can keep it alive until something happens.”

“I would say that is foolish,” Samara began, causing the attention to fall onto her.  She did not waver.  “Going up against a powerful, corrupt institution with the expectation you can change it for the better.  But then again, is that not why you still helm this ship, Shepard?”

Regis clenched his jaw, knowing she had a point.  Wren spoke up once more, “Worst case scenario, we blow the whole thing up and deal with the fallout from Vasir.  I wonder if she’ll appreciate being free from the reigns herself, or maybe we will give ourselves another enemy.”

“Considering the whole point is to deal with T’Soni,” Zaeed said, crossing his arms.  “The Broker is just another goddamn obstacle.  Though, with the right Alliance in charge… we’ll be more prepared for the Reapers.”

Regis could agree with that.  “We’ll proceed with the assumption that we will be shutting down the network or putting it into severe disarray.  But, if there’s a chance we can take it for ourselves, I say we do it.”

“I can concede to that,” Samara nodded.  “Even if I do find parts of this plan foolish.  I understand your reasoning, Shepard.  You have my support.”

“Does Hackett know what you are planning, Wren?” Regis asked.

“Partially,” she admitted.  “Plausible deniability at the moment, you see.”

Figures.  This felt like something Wren would come up with on her own, and Regis would be lying to himself if he said he hadn’t thought about taking the network for himself.

His fingers itched to message Kaidan.  Hell, even his mother, who he had yet to call.

This was yet another suicide mission they were preparing for, not knowing the full breadth of what they were getting themselves into.

And it didn’t help that his greatest betrayer was aboard this ship.

Regis finally nodded at her statement, standing up from the bed.  “You just like giving him more shit to deal with.”

“He’s made a point to ensure no one in the Alliance is going after you,” Wren said.  “This could be yet another way to clear your name.”

“Taking over a whole network just to make my life easier?” Regis barked out a laugh when she didn't immediately interject.  “Fucking insane.  Fine, I’ll start to approach this mission as if we are taking over the network.  Selfish as all hell, but at this point, I want to use everything I can to burn this fucking organization to the ground.”

Regis waited for Samara to object or comment, but she did not, only nodding and rising from her position on the couch.  “When I signed up for this mission, I didn’t expect another mission that could be coined as a ‘suicide’ mission.  You continue to surprise, Shepard.  You will still have my support on this, as I would also like to see T’Soni be put to justice for what she did.  I doubt the asari leadership would be happy to hear about her dealings either.  My word has weight in some circles.”

“Thank you.  I appreciate having your guidance,” Regis said.  HIs omnitool pinged with a message.

EDI: Chambers wanted me to inform you that T’Soni is getting impatient.  

He looked up at the covered viewscreen in his cabin and let out a sigh.

“Got your message, EDI.  Please inform her that this is my ship, and she is merely a guest at my discretion.  We will be down momentarily,” he replied aloud, preferring to speak to her in person.

Her ability to respond immediately to text messages bothered him some, even though it was benign.  Plus, he enjoyed talking to her verbally, hoping that she felt the same.

“Understood, Shepard.  May I inquire as to why you brought her on board despite your clear antagonism towards her?”

EDI sounded curious, her robotic voice tinged with something more underneath her usual inflection. 

Regis decided to indulge her curiosity.  “She’s a means to an end, and this way I can keep an eye on her until I ensure she’s no longer involved in my affairs.”

“Understood, Shepard.  I'll ensure she stays out of our systems in case she decides to try anything.  Judging by her new background on Illium, I believe she could be a potential security risk.  Your message has been relayed.”

“Much appreciated, EDI.”  She didn’t comment on Wren’s obvious security risk.  She must have picked on Regis’s feelings towards the both of them and came to a conclusion accordingly.

He’s stealing EDI off this ship the moment he gets a chance after his tenure with Cerberus ends.

“I'll go ahead and head down to deal with T’Soni,” Wren said, standing up from the couch.  

Samara stood up as well. “I'll go with you, Clarkson.  You said you were a Fury, yes?  I'd like to talk more about your techniques before we reach our destination.”

“I would love to,” she replied.  Once Samara turned her back, Wren looked absolutely excited at the idea, giving Regis a grin. 

Regis merely smiled in response, reaching out for Zaeed's hand to squeeze. After the ladies left his cabin, Zaeed cupped his face, pulling him in for a kiss.  Regis closed his eyes, letting out a sigh and parting his lips, allowing this indulgent gesture, allowing him to stop being Commander Shepard for one goddamn minute and be Regis, Zaeed's and Kaidan's lover. 

“You've been asked this plenty lately, but are you okay?” Zaeed murmured into his ear, pressing a kiss on the sensitive spot underneath his ear. 

Regis shivered, letting out a quiet chuckle. “I won't be okay until I'm off this fucking ship for good.”

Zaeed snorted, having heard this plenty of times before. “Tell me how you really feel.  Want to call him?”

“I do, but I’ll make him worry more.”

“He’s already worried, what’s a little more?  He’s probably already somewhat aware of what Wren’s plans are.”

“Other than her dossier?” Regis snorted, knowing that she kept her cards close most of the time, though he wondered how close they got during the two-year gap.  “I doubt it.”

Zaeed gave him a look and held out his omnitool.  “Remember that goddamn promise we made?”

Regis winced.  Of course he does.  They promised to keep him updated.  

“Call him,” he said, pointedly.  “I’m going to bother T’Soni.” He squeezed his shoulder as he stood up, and Regis didn’t protest as he walked out of his cabin.

With a breath, he opened his omnitool and scrolled to their server connection, opening up a private link and sending it through, getting up to link to his vid screen at his side desk.  Glancing at the time and doing a quick conversion… it would be afternoon on Arcturus.  

A moment passed, and the link opened, Kaidan’s face appearing on the screen with a smile.  It quickly disappeared as he took in Regis’s appearance.  “What’s gotten you all geared up and ready to go?  What’s wrong?  Don’t tell me it’s already time…”

Regis shook his head.  “Not yet.  Still have a few things to work through.”

Recruiting Tali, as much as he wants to keep her out of Cerberus. Dealing with more final personal requests from the various ground crew. Anything to ensure they are as ready as possible.

“Then what has gotten you so on edge?”

“Hackett messaged me.  Wren’s surveillance got us something good.  T’Soni’s been hunting the Shadow Broker ever since she stole my body out from under him,” he began.

Kaidan leaned back in the chair he was sitting in, rubbing his temples.  “Utter insanity.  Although… I can’t help but be thankful you didn’t end up in his clutches.”

Regis had conceded to that point long ago.  “Honestly, this whole situation isn’t something I like thinking about, but in some ways, she did me a favor.  A fucking terrible one.   But get this.  We went to her apartment, and you want to know what was displayed in her home?” Already, venom and disgust had made themselves known.

“With the way you sound, I don’t think I want to know.” His eyebrows were furrowed.  Leaning in closer to the vidscreen, he clasped his hands together, holding them tightly, preparing for bad news.

“My goddamn armor and scarf.  The chestplate,” he spat, feeling the dark energy crackle underneath his skin, spurred on by his anger.  

Kaidan shook his head, turning away.  “I read every bit of that report you sent me.  All of those hundreds of pages, pouring through every detail of their meticulous recount of everything they did to bring you back.”  Regis couldn’t help but close his eyes at that, thinking of his sleepless nights spent pouring over those words.

Those terrifying words.

“And I noticed their initial report on the state of your body.  Some armor intact.  No chestplate.” He almost sounded clinical.  “Focusing on all the oddities.  Hell, I called Vikram, and we both were stuck on that one goddamn point.”

Regis remembered the call they had with Kaidan not long after he initially found out T’Soni gave him away to Cerberus.  Post-orgasmic bliss with Zaeed turned sour because they knew they had to update him on what they learned, about what a former member of the SR-1 did to him.

Kaidan was stuck on the chestplate then.  

He swallowed visibly, almost looking a little pale.  Concerned, Regis almost stopped and interrupted him, but he had to hear what Kaidan was going to say.  Even if it was hard on him, on both of them.

“I know you want your ring back and your dog tags back.  So, all points to her.  If she’s the one that kept them… Ruin her, Regis, not just for yourself and your career, but for what she stole from you and us."  His voice was carefully still, carefully low, but his eyes burned blue.

“You can count on that.” Regis clenched his fist.  “Wren has plans that might work out well for the Alliance.”

“I wasn’t worried.  That tattoo on the front of your neck is proof enough.  What was that quote you found about Labolas when figuring out how to say ‘Fuck you’ to regs after Torfan…” 

The demon on his neck.

Regis touched his neck, tracing down with his gloved hand.  “I’m paraphrasing, but: A merciless butcher… once it has sunk its teeth into an enemy, it will not let go until their last breath.”

A rueful smile appeared on his face.  “And that’s how I know you will get your due.  Good luck, and please be careful… and whatever Wren is planning, I don’t want to hear about it until it succeeds.  I love you, and give Zaeed all my love.”

“I love you, too.  We will be safe.” Regis kissed his fingertips and brought them to the vidscreen, resting them against Kaidan’s face.

He mirrored his gesture and ended the call with a grim smile.

Regis let out another breath, and he steeled himself for the upcoming mission.

– –

Regis delayed going down to cargo as long as he could.  He knew he was being avoidant.  He knew he was delaying the inevitable.  

But he did not want to deal with her any longer.  No more justifications or platitudes.  Nothing can justify what she chose to do. 

Even if…

Regis shook his head to rid the thought. Doesn't matter what good came out of it now. There's plenty of far worse ways her terrible decision could've gone. 

Miranda and admitting the control chip possibility to him continued to linger in the back of his mind, even as he grew to like her.   He can't deny the allure of such a choice.  He's proven to be a menace in more ways than one. 

They had to have known his views on Cerberus before they chose to carve and sculpt him again.  Yet they wanted him whole and intact…

Briefly, a thought occurred that T’Soni could have also been behind that.  Considering she was the one who hauled him over to the enemy, she may have had reservations of her own to keep them in line. 

Nothing that can be gained without talking to her, and he wanted to do as little of that as possible.  

He stopped by Miranda’s office to update her on the situation, being vague on the Alliance details, but she could read between the lines.  

“Wren is just looking out for me,” he offered at the tailend of their conversation.

She didn’t seem impressed, merely raising an eyebrow and brushing away the stray hairs from her bun away from her face.  “I’ll keep looking the other way.  I owe you that much.  Still, I’m surprised you offered the ship for this.”

“I need to keep an eye on her, and we all know the Normandy is the best choice for this kind of mission.”

“That she is.  Can’t say I won’t miss the Shadow Broker in his current state.”

“You and me both.  I’ll keep you on standby in case we need more backup alongside Samara?”

She nodded, not at all surprised at his preferred team at this point.  “Who are you taking down there other than Zaeed?”

She knows him a little too well at this point.

It should concern him, even more so knowing how much intel they had on him in order to recreate him… but she’s admittedly become a reluctant friend.

He hopes she’ll follow him into the Alliance.

“I was thinking Samara, but I might need to pare down the ground team to reduce potential interference from the Broker.  As of now, you and her will be on direct standby, and Wren, Zaeed, T’Soni will be going down with me.”

“Even her?”

Regis met her questioning tone with a hard look.  “Especially her.”

“Maybe I do want to know what you have planned,” she murmured.  Regis only smiled.  She seemed to take it as an answer, nodding, tapping her fingers on her desk rhythmically.  “Fair enough.  I’m sure I’ll figure out the details later.  Be careful out there.  Sounds like you are taking on another suicide mission in the midst of our own.”

“At least you can acknowledge it as such,” he chuckled.  

“I would be a fool not to.” She went back to her screen, and Regis took his leave from her office. 

He was tempted to make a few more stops. Say hello to Chakwas and give her a heads up about the situation, even if Chambers did take T'Soni there already.  Check on the Normandy’s weapons and triple check Vakarian’s work on them to make sure they will have no issues if the Normandy needs to fight her way out.  Pack a few extra energy bars and supplements in case he crashes out on the field, even if he knows that Zaeed always keeps extra supplies on him since Kaidan isn’t here to do the same…

He needs to stop stalling and face the numbers.

Why did he agree to bring her on board?

Closure. The potential to get his due. 

He has to remember that.  

He stopped by the armory to grab his Widow, Eagle, and Mattock, checking each gun over and locking them to his suit.  

He hesitated, looking over the heavy weapons, and decided to not bring any.  The extra weight wasn't necessary, and Zaeed usually kept his grenade launcher on him anyway. 

“Deciding if you need to prepare for the worst?” Taylor asked, breaking the silence. 

“Something like that,” Regis said, closing the cabinet that housed his personal arsenal. “Wasting time, mostly.”

“Everyone else has already stopped by.  Was beginning to wonder about you. Need anything?” He crossed his arms. 

Even after all this time on the SR-2, Regis still wasn’t sure of his opinion on Taylor.  Already soured due to him leaving the Alliance for Cerberus of all things, it was hard for him to change his opinion on him.  It only took Miranda telling him the truth about everything involved in his resurrection to slowly warm up to her.

In time, Regis figures he too might come to an understanding with him.  But for now, things are still distant.

“Be on standby in case we have a problem on board the Shadow Broker’s base. Other than that–” Regis keyed in his passcode to his cabinet, locking it up. “No. I appreciate it, though.”

“Will do. Good luck out there.  Seems like you’ll need it.”

“I won’t argue with that, Taylor.  Thanks for the extra maintenance on my Widow.  Damn good calibrations on the scope.”

Normally, he trusts Zaeed with it, but weapon maintenance felt like a good olive branch to have with Taylor. Not a bad man. Former Alliance... but that fact also soured part of his opinion on him.

He does trust him on the battlefield, which is more he can say about some of his other recruitments.

“Might even send you the details on how I did it.  Just let me know.”

Weapon maintenance tended to be an easy way to get an in with Regis, he has to admit.  Mostly.  It helped with Zaeed back in the day… he started to respect them a hell of a lot more when Regis and Kaidan both were working on their borrowed guns and making notes on the mods Zaeed had made to them.  2180, a far simpler time.

“I'll hold you to that,” Regis replied good-naturedly, pointing at him before walking out and back towards the elevator. 

“We will be reaching the ship shortly, Shepard.” EDI announced as he entered the elevator to finally head down to cargo.  

“Thank you,” he replied, steeling himself for what’s to come.

He’s survived Torfan, he’s survived death for fuck’s sake. 

Thanks to her.

He can handle what’s ahead.

– –

Everyone was ready in the bay by the time Regis joined them.  Zaeed was off to the side, sharpening a blade.  Wren was glaring daggers at T’Soni the moment she stood up to greet Regis.  Samara was meditating in the bay, at the ready.  He appreciated her volunteering to stay behind after hearing the plan, realizing that a smaller squad has its benefits.

This was going to go swimmingly.

He cleared his throat.  “We don’t know much about the Shadow Broker save for a few key points on his operations.  This mission is high risk with little reward if we don’t take care.  Zaeed, on point with me.”  He nodded, sheathing the forged blade.

Regis looked over at Wren.  “I want you to flank.  Scout ahead once we’re on the ship. Depending on the situation, we may end up sticking close.”

“Of course.” She acknowledged. "Likely best to stay together."

“And T’Soni?” He met her gaze.  “You’re sticking with Zaeed and me.”

She nodded, surprisingly offering up no comment.  He’ll have to talk to Zaeed and Wren later to find out exactly what went down here while he was wasting time.

Or perhaps EDI will know.

In a few moments, they boarded the shuttle, waiting for the word from Moreau to depart to the ship.  

“You are ready to get out of here. Good luck, you crazies. I wouldn't be caught dead flying in this kind of storm,” Moreau announced.  Their pilot–Samson, he knew the last name, yet to have bothered to remember her first name–affirmed that they were on the way to the ship without a snipe back to Moreau. 

He had to give it to her for staying away from the bait. 

Already, despite being inside a shielded shuttle, Regis could hear and feel the lightning storm around them.  Thunder clapping in the air like bombs dropping on the surface of a planet, softened by the soundproofing of the shuttle but still clear as day.  

The Shadow Broker's ship was a monster.  A whole city flying through the air, covered in unique shielding and nodes designed to keep itself in alliance with the tumultuous conditions of the planet.  A true beast he'd love to see in his own hands or crashed to the surface if it came down to it.  An engine covered with shielding that was as bright as any sun.

Wren leaned forward, resting her chin on her arms. “Seems like what they said is true about all the storms.”

“Makes for a helluva backdrop,” Zaeed grumbled, crossing his arms and leaning back in the seat.  “The surface of that fucker must be covered with rods or some shit to keep the poor sods from getting fried.”

“Seems like a terrible way to live,” Regis said.  He brushed his gloved hand against Zaeed’s thigh.  Zaeed put his hand over his, keeping it still on his leg.

A comfort he hated to admit he needed right now.

“His ship follows the sunset. Completely undetectable in the storm, unless you know where to look,” T’Soni said, leaning forward.  

Zaeed made a noise that Regis couldn’t quite read.  “Wish it was easy for us to board that ship.  Obviously, the bay is going to be locked down tight.  Finding a hatch might be like looking for a needle in a goddamn haystack.”

“And we can’t be out for long,” Wren grunted, standing up from her seat and peering out the window.  “This is going to be a shitstorm.”

“I think there’s already one going on outside,” Regis said with a half-hearted chuckle, and it was worth the annoyed look Wren gave just to see her lips quirk up in a smile anyway.

“Seems like dying and coming back didn’t change your sense of humor.”

Ouch.  Appreciating her bluntness, he barked out a laugh.  “Means I’m still me, I guess.”

“Was a bit worried something might've changed.  But if Kaidan didn’t see anything different, even being blinded by that ass of yours, then I can trust that it’s the same asshole I’ve always known,” she admitted, glaring more daggers at T’Soni.  She wisely stayed silent.

“He didn't let me off easy.  Felt him Reave.  I’m still learning how to do that from Samara,” Regis replied, twisting his fingers into a false mnemonic.  “He’s so powerful.” He didn't even try to keep the awe out of his voice. He's so proud of how far he's come with his biotics, only wishing he was right there with him to learn them, especially from Vik... To continue their trend of learning and creating together…

“God, you’re so in love,” she said, shaking her head.  Her tone was light, however. “He told me all about it.  Felt pretty damn guilty about it afterwards.”

“He found it pretty damn hot,” Zaeed interjected with a hint of a purr.  Regis huffed out a laugh, not denying it because he did find Kaidan wrapped in his corona very enticing. Wren let out a disgusted noise and rolled her eyes, likely regretting joining them for this mission at least a little.

He missed this type of easy dynamic.

Shame it took this kind of mission to bring it out.

“Preparing to reach the surface of the ship.  Be ready for a drop, Commander,” Samson announced, swinging the shuttle over to the surface of the ship.  

“Be ready for us to return,” he replied, brushing away Zaeed’s hand and standing up.  Soon enough, they were all gathered at the hatch, and the moment it opened and ready for them to drop, Regis went down first, flanked by Zaeed.

How it should be.

How it always should be.

While he enjoyed having Wren back with him, dropping behind him with a flourish, she wasn’t Kaidan.  And how he yearned to be the three of them on the battlefield.  

Regis, Kaidan, Zaeed.

One day, that will be true.

For now, it’s back to dealing with the Shadow Broker, destroying the Collectors, and seeing what comes next.

Now onboard the ship, the wind whipping around them as lightning and thunder clashed in the air, Regis took a moment to look around.  The ship was reinforced with various panels and shielding, some sparking bright with electricity.  

Does the ship also get power from the storms?  Smart if so.

T’Soni spoke up, her voice sharp via the comms.  “It's hard to pinpoint in this lightning, but I'm picking up signals from a communications array near the back of the ship."

“Agreed.  Use a noise reducer and it's loud and clear.  Appears to be our target,” Wren affirmed, unholstering her N7 Valkyrie.

Zaeed stayed close to him, his Raider at the ready.  

The easiest way to travel on top of the ship was via the slanted side panels that flanked the main top deck, some already reinforced with railing, but close enough to a drop that gave Regis pause while leading his crew.  

"There's nothing below but maintenance equipment. We have to find an entrance near the back shielding,” T’Soni continued.  Seemed like she was able to read up on the ship.  Useful.

Before Regis walked underneath an arch, his visor came to life with proximity warnings.  Some type of tech is nearby… the outputs implied to be drones.  A quick glance at the detection seemed to be non-combat models.  

Maintenance perhaps.

“Watch out, we’re going to trigger the maintenance systems,” Regis said, holding up his fist.  “Be ready to take them down.”

He didn’t wait for an affirmative and walked over the trigger point, throwing off an Overload the moment he saw a bright orange drone pop out of a hatch.  Beside him, he heard Zaeed switching ammo types.  Disruptor ammo would be useful here.  

He felt biotics come to life behind him, one field familiar, yet cool and soft, like Wren herself.  The other… he knew it belonged to T’Soni, but it wasn’t the warmth and comfort he associated with Kaidan or Wren’s icy haven. Rather, something invasive, like even his biotics recognized his feelings towards her and wanted her field to stay back. Similar to the incessant buzzing of flies on a hot day–unavoidable and a nuisance.

He grit his teeth and continued forward, keeping an eye out for more drones.

Their path led them to another straight away.  LIghtning hit the ship, aimed at two pillars pointed towards the sky.  They lit up brightly, sparkling with energy.  Best to stay away.

“Capacitors,” Wren said over the coms.  They collect and discharge built up electricity.”

Right as she finished her statement, agents of the Broker poured out of a hatch that closed behind them, getting into position behind the capacitors.

“Fucking idiots,” Zaeed said, swapping out his shotgun for his Mattock and shooting at one of the capacitors.  In a flash, the energy discharged, shooting out and shocking the agents, knocking them out.  “Don’t stand next to the goddamn bombs right next to ya!”

“Nice one, Zee!” Regis praised, leading the squad over to the hatch.  Appeared to be one way, and the ship likely had layers upon layers of security.  No outside terminal access seemed to be nearby.  Wireless hacking would take too damn long.

“Looks like we need to find another way in,” Wren muttered.  “Guess we do have to take the long way.”

“Seems like it,” Regis affirmed and prepared himself for the long walk.

It was a repetitive journey, making their way down the ship.  Taking side paths covered in drones and repair mechs armed to the teeth, followed by squads of agents of all species fighting against them.  

Part of Regis hated to admit that T’Soni adapted to them well, using her biotics primarily as support, firing off singularities that rivaled Kaidan’s and pulling mechs off the side of the ship before their lights could turn on.  It made the trek easier, knowing that he didn’t have to cover for her the same way he, Kaidan, and Ashley did on Therum all those years ago–but perhaps that wasn’t even fair, considering she had been trapped in that prothean contraption for days on end…

Still, he holds that she was a civilian risk and she had no place on his ship.  

But her being there brought you–

Enough.

A brief reprieve in their fight brought Zaeed closer to him, putting a hand on his shoulder plating and holding it tight before giving him a soft look.  “Later,” Regis said, not quite shrugging him off, but stepping back.  Zaeed nodded, furrowing his eyebrows but not protesting.  Not when they are out in the field.  Not when they have an audience.

One thing at a time.  First, get inside this ship.  Then, deal with the Broker and see if T’Soni’s partner is still alive.  From there… he can deal with the shit in his head.

They reached the area where the communication array signal was coming from, a large inset door with a med station on the wall next to it.  T’Soni walked up towards it, activating her omnitool as Wren did the same.

“Whatever you have on you will be stronger with my own programs,” Wren said, putting a haptic display on the door as T’Soni put one on her side.

“I have a bypass shunt program, what do you have?” T’Soni asked, sounding skeptical.

Regis looked between them and sighed.  Wren’s face looked pinched, but she answered all the same.  “Something similar.  Built on Regis’s own bypasses that won him Torfan.”

He grit his teeth at the mention of his past mission, knowing exactly what he used it for.  No survivors, he had ordered.  

Still, it was a damn good program, and he imagined that Wren had improved on it greatly with her own personal twists.

“I imagine the Shadow Broker’s security would be far better than some Batarian basics.” T’Soni sounded unimpressed.  Here we go.  He should intervene, and even Zaeed’s eyes behind his breather mask looked pinched instead of interested in the inevitable fight that was about to break out.

Wren can fight her own battles.  She displays the N7 proudly for a reason.

“And I imagine that you just bought that bullshit program off of some black market without confirming its validity and accuracy,” she shot back.

“Who out of the two of us has broken into a Broker’s base before?” She didn’t deny it.  Regis filed that tidbit away for later if her program failed, and as more context for what she went through to steal his corpse and ship it off.  She wasn’t just on Omega… but in the Broker’s territory?

“And who is actually trained in infiltration and espionage, hmm?” Wren replied, sounding bored.  “Either one will work, both will work, or neither one of them and Zaeed can blow this place up!”

Zaeed almost seemed to perk up at that next to him.  Always up for a bit of destruction.

Regis stepped forward.  “Exactly.  Now, I can’t imagine that the Broker’s forces will let this slide, so get into position!”

Zaeed returned to his spot next to him, while T’Soni and Wren flanked both sides, knowing that the sides of the ship were more likely to have forces pouring out.  For a brief moment, Regis wondered how the Broker was able to amass an operation to this kind of scale–experimental ship, lower ranking agents who go through higher ranking agents, and countless recruits ready to put their lives down for him.

But then again, Regis has seen what his own name has inspired in others, and it makes him shudder.  Influence goes a long way.

As both programs activated, alarms started to blare out, and Regis readied himself for another fight.

– –

Thankfully, at least one of the programs worked–and Regis didn’t care to know which one.  The hatch opened as Zaeed took out the last group of agents with a well placed grenade, grinning as they burned alive.

“Hurry, get your asses inside,” Regis commanded, motioning for them to follow before he locks the doors, eyeing an emergency release that will seal the door.

The moment everyone was inside, he pulled down the release, sealing the door shut behind them.

No easy way out now.  Nor was there any time to regroup and prepare for their next steps.  More agents began to ambush them, and Regis caught sight of one agent carrying a ML-77.  With a twitch of his fingers, he blasted dark energy towards them, tossing out a powerful singularity to knock out the agent off their feet before they could fire the launcher.  Before he could toss out another order, Wren moved in and detonated his singularity with a nasty warp, knocking out the group of guards trapped within.

“Don’t see any more of them, we’re in the clear,” T’Soni announced. Regis kept his Eagle in hand, slowly moving forward.  With clinical precision, he shot the heads of each of the guards to ensure no one tried to follow them further in the belly of the beast, and ejected the thermal clip without a second thought, slotting in a new one as they trekked on.

It was the same song and dance as they traveled through the ship.  Tight hallways and groups of loyal Shadow Broker agents at every twist in turn.  Biotics and tech explosions and a handful of inferno grenades to clean up the mess, alongside firepower.

They kept up with each other well, even with T’Soni now taking up their flank.  Regis would’ve never guessed the transition would’ve been this smooth, but he’s always felt that biotics almost give you more of an attuned “battle” sense, and she and her blasts of dark energy ended up complimenting them well.

And he hated it.

Eventually, their fighting led them almost to what looked like more of a reception area, with desks and various screens all around, providing ample cover for more agents to attack.  The battle was starting to wear on him, his amp feeling like fire underneath his skin, his hands shaking with every mnemonic thrown.

He needs a boost and a break, and he doubts he’ll get either.  Zaeed had a pinched look on his face, one he knows well when his merc is starting to feel the stress of combat on his bones.  Wren was as quick and spry as ever, but even she seemed weary.

He couldn’t read T’Soni.  He wasn’t sure if he wanted to be able to.

Once the next group of agents was dealt with, a glass window caught his eye… peering into a room with what looked to be some kind of torture device.

“I think someone’s strapped to it,” Wren said, holstering her Hurricane.  She checked the door.  “Locked.  Regis, you want to do the honors?”  She stepped aside, giving him a wide berth to the door. 

He nodded, opening his omnitool interface and started to breach the security, looking for patterns until he was able to break through and get the door unlocked.  The display of his ‘tool was bright in the low-light of the ship, seeming even brighter with the weariness he was feeling.  

The displayed lock on the door quickly turned green, waiting for input to be opened.  Before he could step forward, Wren was already making her way back over.

“T’Soni, with me to check on this poor bastard and see if they’re a friend or a foe.  Zaeed, Regis, you want to take a second and scout around?” Wren said, looking between them.

“Sounds like a good goddamn idea.  Come on, Regis,” Zaeed replied, damn near pulling him towards him as they backtracked through their destruction, not even waiting to hear T’Soni’s response.  Distantly, an indignant “Should we really be splitting up?” could be heard echoing through the hallways, but he didn’t give enough of a shit to care if the plan was wise.

He just wanted to get the hell away for a moment.  Wren was always too damn astute.  

Once the torture chamber was out of their sight, Regis slumped against a wall and blindly searched through his pouches on his armor before he grabbed one of his biotic emergency injections.

“Let me, love,” Zaeed murmured, taking the injector out of his hand.  “Breathe, for one goddamn minute, and let someone else take care of something.”

He nodded, taking a deep breath, closing his eyes as Zaeed cradled his neck, pulling him forward so their foreheads were touching.  “In the neck, Zee.  It’s fine.”

“I know.  I know how to take care of a goddamn biotic,” he rumbled, his rough voice feeling like a warm blanket in the confines of the Broker’s ship.  And Regis knew he did.  Between Omega adventures in 2180… to those two years with Kaidan without Regis… Zee was a fucking blessing to have with him on board this ship.

With a practiced ease, he injected the medication–glucagon to spur an increase in his blood sugar to keep him going.  The sting was barely noticed as he kept his gaze on Zaeed, even as he carelessly tossed the empty injector on the ground.  “Now, eat something too.”

He wanted to roll his eyes, but Zaeed’s hard look prevented him from doing it.  He grabbed one of his high calorie bars and broke it in half after tearing away the wrapper, handing him part of it.  “You too.”

He took it and started shoveling it down.  Regis was more delicate about it, but he realized how hungry he had gotten while munching on the bland energy bar.  “You’d think by now they would’ve figured out how to make this shit taste good,” Regis said, wiping his mouth.

“Too busy traveling the goddamn galaxy to figure out the easy stuff.”

Regis let out a snort at his comment.  He was starting to feel… marginally better.  Not great.  Not one-hundred percent.

But better.  Progress is progress.

He wanted to stay longer… pretend that he had all the time in the world to rest with Zaeed.  The mission still loomed… and Wren had graciously allowed him this break.

It was time to return to being Shepard.

With a returned grip on his Eagle, he nodded to Zaeed, and they broke from their embrace, and headed back over to the chamber.  As they got closer, he could hear their voices echoing in the hallway–and then a scream of pain that distinctly sounded like a drell.

Shit.  He and Zaeed ran towards the entrance to the chamber, and hear a cry from T’Soni, a tearful “Feron!” before he saw Wren push her away from the console.

Was this her friend that helped steal his corpse?  

“It’s never that easy, T’Soni, it’s obvious this shit is rigged with something nasty,” Wren began, but quickly fell silent when the drell started speaking.

“You’re right.  The equipment is sensitive to tampering.” He takes a pained breath.  "This chair plugs into the Broker's info network. You have to shut off the power. Pull me out now, and my brain cooks."

T’Soni starts to scan the drell–Feron, Regis has to remind himself–with her omnitool, sounding panicked, concerned.  "Do you know where we can cut the power?"  He could use this, exploit this.

Regis stays silent for now.  As do Zaeed and Wren, who also watch with interest, all who are likely coming to the same conclusion as him.

He takes another breath, almost writhing in the chair.  How long has he been there… is this a new trap, a new little piece of bait just for T’Soni? "It won't be easy. You'll have to go to central operations."

Central Operations?  “Where the hell is Central Operations?” Regis steps forward and asks, holstering his pistol for now.  

Feron turns his head, barely, to look at him.  “You’re… it worked–aaah!” He cried out in pain as his cage sparked.  The activation of the trap must be tied to… some form of activity.  Physical?  Mental?

“Yeah, her fucking meddling worked,” Regis replied, his tone harsh.  “All I care about is where that bastard is!”

He clears his throat and slowly speaks, each word tinged with pain.  "Central operations is down the hall. You know the Shadow Broker's waiting for you, right?"

“Clearly,” Regis scoffed.  “We’ve wasted enough time here.  T’Soni, stay here with Feron and make sure no one follows us in, we cannot–”

She cuts him off, her marking scrunched on her face in anger.  “You are not leaving me behind.  This is my–”

“Your mission?” Wren stepped forward.  “You wouldn’t be in this situation if you had just let the dead die and given Regis the proper burial he wanted.  Cremated to ashes.  A headstone on Earth.  But no.  You interfered.  You got your ‘friend’ trapped and tortured for an info broker’s amusement.”

Regis looked between them, feeling both of their corona’s spike with energy.  The familiarity of Wren’s.  The invasive itch of T’Soni’s.  “Knock it off.  You said you will follow my orders, yes?  Well, my orders for you are to stand the fuck down and keep an eye on him and our backs.  If you can’t handle that, then you’re even more of a poor combatant than I thought.”

The tension was thick in the air.  Zaeed had even kicked off the wall he was leaning against, cracking his knuckles underneath his gloves.  

She let out a frustrated sigh, but her corona never quite died down..  “Alright.  You’re right.  We cannot risk all of us heading towards the Broker’s true lair.”  She unholsters her pistol and positions herself by the door.  “You’re going to come back for us?”

Regis didn’t say a goddamn word as he walked past her, his true team flanking him.  Zaeed did, however, turn back to say one last thing.  “I think you’ll know if we finished the goddamn job, T’Soni.”

– –

The constant announcements from the garbled voice of the Broker quickly faded into the background as they fought through the last few crowds of loyal agents, still willing to die for their precious Broker.

Who was he?  What was he?  How did he gain such power and influence… 

But all that was going to quickly come to an end, soon enough.  The last door to Central Operations loomed in front of them, the interface to unlock the door glowing a bright green.

He took a moment to check over his weapons, swapping over to his Valkyrie.  With a nod at Zaeed, his beloved, and Wren, his good friend, he unlocked the door with the interface and stepped forward.

A yahg was sitting at the desk, clothed in what appeared to be a yahg form of finery… perhaps… or a type of protective gear.  Not that Regis had any experience with yahg beyond the textbook basics–an intensely controlling, dominant species that killed the Council’s attempt for diplomacy–but he seemed calm.  Relaxed.  His fingers laced together on his desk, merely clearly his screen with a wave of his hand as if they were mere flies to be swat away.

How did he become the galaxy’s greatest information broker… as a pre-spaceflight species.

“Here for the drell?” He asked, steadfast as they stepped forward with their weapons raised. 

“Your information is wrong.  That’s only T’Soni’s concern,” Regis replied, his tone bored, neutral.  “I’m only here for you.  I don’t like it when there’s a price on my head.  Dead or Alive.”

“It was a mutually beneficial partnership with the Collectors.  As is yours with Cerberus, but fortunately, your arrival is convenient. The Collectors' offer still stands."

The grip he had on his gun tightened.  

“You have so much anger over her deed, despite what it gave you.  Curious.” He was just taunting them at this point, his calmness to their aggression.

“It'll be pretty hard to run a base this size with no goddamn crew.  All of them were fucking canon fodder for us," Zaeed spat, his face warped into a pissed off sneer.  They were all tired of his game, but none of them wanted to make the first move, to figure out what gambit the yahg was hiding behind his desk, behind his throne.

The yahg almost seemed to shrug.  "They're replaceable. Your arrival is barely an interruption.  But… I must say…” His blank gaze landed on Regis. “Thank you for bringing me one of your bedfellows, Shepard. His bounty from the Blue Suns is most generous.  And Miss Clarkson… Losing her will cripple your precious Alliance.”

Wren’s corona flared and burned bright, suddenly coated with dark energy.  “And losing you will cripple no one.  Regis, Zaeed, I’m done entertaining this.”

Her corona lights up around her before she twists her fingers into a powerful Warp, flinging it towards the desk. 

The yahg stands up and roars, his full height towering over them, throwing the desk up and at them, flinging it in the path of Wren’s biotics. They crash together, the desk exploding in a flash of debris.  In an instant, all Regis can think of is making sure Zaeed is safe, flashing back to Zorya and that goddamn piece of steel that nearly pinned him.  He tackles Zaeed out of the way, hitting the ground with a hard thud together.  Out of the corner of his eye, he sees Wren flash and dodge with her biotics, barely moving out of the way of the thrown parts of the desk.

They were alright.  They survived hoards of mercs.  They can survive this.

With a grunt, Regis stood up and helped Zaeed up, before rolling behind the nearest cover he saw.  Zaeed joined him quickly, just as the Broker started firing at them.  He noticed the shimmer of kinetic shields, and he started prepping an overload on his omnitool as Zaeed provided covering fire.  

“He’s got a Revenant,” Wren called out from his left, somewhere over by one of the pillars.  “Watch out.”

“Got it,” Regis yelled back, before firing off his program, watching as the Broker’s shields started to fizzle.  The yahg’s attention turned towards them, starting to head towards their position, reloading his Revenant with a roar.  A blast of biotics hit his side, another Warp from Wren.  

She was now his target.  She darted from her pillar with a flash of biotics, giving them room to strike.

Zaeed’s omnitool shined next to him as he forged his tech armor over his body, the yellow armor a familiar, welcome glow.  Dark energy burned underneath Regis’s skin, his fingers twitching into his barrier mnemonic, violet wisps surrounding him in a protective shield.  “Now or never, babe,” Zaeed murmured, firing shots over the barrier with his Black Widow, each shot a careful distraction with his dear sniper.  Always working on it.  Preparing it for that perfect shot.

Regis leapt over the barrier and summoned his omniblade, throwing off a Shockwave to stumble the yahg before slicing across his front, tearing the suit he was wearing and burning the flesh underneath.  He rolled underneath the yahg’s flailing punch, swinging blindly with his blade to catch another vulnerable spot.

He sliced against its leg, pulling out another pained roar, before a shield was forged from his omnitool, pushing him back with a surge of force.  He stumbled back, nearly falling on his ass.  Wren surged forward with her own blade, bursting forth in a blast of energy–a fucking charge–slamming into his unprotected side with a shout.  She pulled out her Piranha and started firing, the shotgun glowing red with inferno ammunition, emptying her thermal clip before dodging with her biotics once more.

Regis recovered enough to throw off another shockwave to cover her escape, stumbling the yahg again.  He made a move, flexing his talons, blood running down his suit in rivulets.  Another pained, aggressive, revitalized roar.

Zaeed whistled and pointed up to the ceiling.  Regis looked up, and finally noticed the glowing light in the middle of the arena.  Except, it wasn’t exactly light but some kind of pulsing energy, powering the room, perhaps?

With a nod back at his lover, Regis darted out of the way, Wren already safely out of the center arena.  Zaeed clenched his fist next to his head.  A signal.

A carnage shot and raw biotic power.  A common combo of theirs.  Explosive and effective.  Enough to hopefully shatter that confined energy… and get rid of the yahg for good.  

Zaeed swapped to his Mattock and fired off the secondary shot.  Regis flicked his wrist upward, violent energy surrounding him in chaotic power before shooting out, heading towards the center of the mass.  The glass cracked with Zaeed’s shot, but his dark energy shattered it, the electric power raining down on the yahg.  

“Get down!” Regis yelled, grabbing Zaeed and pulling him back behind their makeshift cover, the energy in the air growing unstable, feeling like it's going to blow.  

He didn’t dare look up to see how the yahg fared under the onslaught of power, waiting until those cries and roars died out.  A moment passed, and a blast surged through the room, the blowback nearly knocking him over even behind cover.  He listened out for Wren, but heard nothing, treating that as a sign she was safe.  Zaeed groaned next to him, slowly getting up before helping Regis up with a nod.

Wren slowly emerged from behind a pillar, the light of the room unstable with the cracked ceiling above.  

There was no sign of the yahg.  Deconstructed in an instant with the blast, he guessed.

It was over.

"Shadow Broker, this is Operative Murat. We had a momentary connection failure. Can you confirm status?"

But no, it wasn’t really over.  The screen that was originally behind the desk was lit up with various audio feeds, unnoticed by him until the end of their fight.  How long has his agents been waiting for a sign, a response?

"Operative Shora requesting update. Are we still online?"

Another voice, another sense of urgency.  

“Now or never, Wren.  This is what you fucking wanted.  Take it!” Regis yelled, spurring her into action.  She ran towards the console, and they jogged to meet her.  Her hands hovered over an interface, a keyboard built for a yahg.  With quick movements, she adapted it for human hands, before clearing her throat and steeling herself.  

"Shadow Broker, I've lost our feed. We are online and awaiting instructions."

“Now, goddamnit!” Zaeed yelled, turning around, his gun still at the ready, as if waiting for more agents to burst through the door at any moment.  

She shot him a dark look, gritting her teeth.  The voices from various agents continued to overlap, more and more waiting for some kind of response.  A chaotic symphony with no rhythm to follow.

She enlarged another interface, one that looked to be part of an audio program, and began to speak.

"This is the Shadow Broker. The situation is under control.  We experienced a power fluctuation while upgrading hardware.  It disrupted communications momentarily.  However, we are now back online. Resume standard procedures."  Her tone was calm, steady, even through the deep, warped garble that changed her voice into the one of the Broker, a curtain of anonymity.  

"I want a status report on all operations within the next solar day.  Shadow Broker out."  She closed out the interface and almost seemed to slump over the controls, her shoulders falling in relief.

“What the hell was I thinking,” she asked, looking between them.  “How can I–”

Regis stepped forward, grabbing her by the shoulders and meeting her gaze.  “You can do it because you’re Hackett’s best.  You’re my friend.  And you’ll have support.  I know damn well Nomad will help you with.  I will help you with this.”

She swallowed, shaking out of his loose grip and brushing away sweaty strands of hair from her face.  “I know.  Just needed to hear it from someone that wasn't in my head.”

She started to click through the files and feeds.  “There’s so much… no protections either. He was too confident.”

The adrenaline of the fight was starting to wear off on him, too, as he holstered his gun and let out a sigh.  “Guess we need to–”

The main entrance to the arena burst open, with both T’Soni and Feron.  Their weapons weren’t drawn, but they both headed towards them.  Feron already looked much better–the surge of power from the blast must’ve freed him from his cage.  

"Goddess of oceans.... It's… you three managed to do it,” Feron breathed out, nearly stumbling over to them.  Zaeed reached out to steady him, but T’Soni beat him to it.

T’Soni started to speak, her voice soft before quickly rising in volume, “It’s over.  It’s… finally over.  For two years… I’ve done everything in my power to reach him, mourning Feron and–” Tears began to stream down her face.

Him?  Was that what she was going to say?

“Don’t finish that sentence,” Regis said, cutting her off with a sharp bite.  “If you truly mourned me, you wouldn’t have sold me to fucking Cerberus!  Or, you would’ve informed the people I actually cared about of your crazy plan!”

The words were flowing out of him like an untamed river, no dam in sight to keep him steady.

“Sure… I gained a precious second chance because of you, but don’t think for one second, I did this for you.  I did it for me, for Wren, for the fucking Alliance.” Every word felt like a sweet release escaping his lips, but they were also sharp knives against his chest, stabbing him with every reminder of the two years that was taken away, of what her actions had trapped him into.

He could barely stand to look at her, silent and stoic even as the tears slowed.

“I wanted to use this to burn you, to find a way to do everything in my power to get my fucking life back.  But now?  I want you out of my sight.  I want you to take Feron, and leave and I swear, if you are ever in Alliance space–”

This time, Wren interrupted.  “I’ll find out.  I’ll know.  You’ve done enough meddling.  Take this chance, and leave.  Punishment is too good for you.”

Feron nodded, gripping T’Soni’s shoulder tightly.  “You’ve given me a gift, despite my own involvement.  Liara, we should go.  Good luck, Shadow Broker.”

She opened her mouth to reply, but this time, Zaeed cut her off, stepping forward with a growl.  “Not just yet.  There’s one thing I want answers on.”

One thing?

“There was something so fucking precious to Regis in his armor. He ripped it apart in your apartment just to try and find it.  You’re the piece that ties all this bullshit together,” he began, glancing over towards him.  

He paused, giving him the chance to continue for him.

He took it with a grateful nod.

His ring and dogtags have been on his mind since the fucking apartment, since seeing his armor bastardized like a shrine to a false god.  Since tearing it apart, bolt from bolt, plate from plate, hoping, searching, yearning for what was his. A ring that belonged to a father he never met.  A ring lucky enough to be safe with his mother when his father died in a shuttle accident. A ring that was going to go to Kaidan after the SR-1 mission.

A ring that was now a symbol of another Shepard lost and dead in space.

“My ring and dogtags,” Regis said, crossing his arms, allowing dark energy to crackle between his armored fingers.  “That’s what I was searching for.  Perhaps that was part of my mission all along.  To figure out why when reading the Cerberus reports on my resurrection I had no fucking armor protecting my torso.  To see if my father’s legacy died and was truly lost in space when it was meant to be kept safe.”

She stayed stoic, a contrast to how she reacted when he threw barbs at her in her office.  That felt so long ago now…  

She lifted up her arm, her omnitool interface appearing in a flash of orange. “I’ll… send you the details for a safety deposit box in Illium.  I’m sure she’ll find a way to get this information no matter what.”

Wren grinned, showing lots of teeth.  

“You’re taking a lot of risk for the Alliance by leaving it in charge with them.  A misstep, and the whole galaxy will know who helms it,” T’Soni said, holding her chin high.

Regis stepped forward, unlacing his arms and pointing a biotic-laced finger towards her.  “Was that a threat?  I doubt you would’ve been a better pick, is that what you’re saying?  A third party should run this?  I don’t trust you, T’Soni.  You broke that a long time ago, the moment I heard of your involvement with my current… employer.”

With a sigh, he dropped his arm and let his biotics fizzle out.  “I don’t think I ever trusted you.  I wanted you off my ship the moment you came aboard.”  He activated his omnitool and accepted her data transfer.  He’ll be checking out these coordinates the moment she is out of his sight..

“Don’t give us any reason to shoot down whatever shuttle you choose to escape on,” Regis finally said after closing his interface.  A war waged within him.  You know this is the right thing.  You must accept what she’s done for you.  “You gave me life.  I should also spare yours.” 

For now.  But he knows within himself he won’t go after her.  

Feron started to guide her back over to the door with a nod.  She didn’t say another word, to his surprise, only nodding one last time.  Never uttering an apology.  Never making an excuse for what she did.

Silence.

He wanted more push back.  He wanted something to latch on, to be even more angry about.

Seemed like he still had some acceptance to do.  

And he won’t feel free enough to do it until he’s back in Kaidan’s arms, with Zaeed right there with them.

When the door closed behind them, Regis peered at the message and sent it over to Wren with a nod, hoping she would notice something he didn't.

“Looks legit,” she said after a moment.  She typed on the Broker’s interface and pulled up another audio channel.  “Agent Volto, escort our Asari and Drell guests to a shuttle of your choice.  Make sure it is laced with my preferred tracking software.”

The agent replied back with an affirmative, not even questioning her orders.  She let out another breath and closed the channel.  “I need to talk to Hackett and Nomad.  Get a few more people here of ours…” She stood up and started to walk around and pace.  “So much to do.  So little time… Thank you, Regis.  You know this will give us the right edge.  Even with all the risks…”

He nodded, reaching out to shake her hand.  “And you’ve helped me get a little bit of peace back.” Her grip was strong and steady, despite everything.  Despite the new weight she had on her shoulders.  Despite the greatest challenge her infiltration and security training will face.

“It’s probably not wise for you to come back… but if there’s a way to do it with Cerberus raising their yellow flags towards me… I might be able to give you something to work with.  Some information about… anything that catches my eye or relates to our circle.” She said as she returned to the workstation.  

Regis figured that was her way of dismissing them for now, already glued to the screens.

“It also looks like there’s a hidden pathway to a docking bay nearby.  I’ve wired you the maps.  Send your Cerberus folks over there.  I’ve entered your ship signature as friendly… it’s incredible how unblocked these systems are,” she said, throwing a grin over her shoulder.

He returned it with a tired smile of his own.  “Thank you.  Need me to make those calls in your stead?”

“Hell no.  Get out of here, my friend.  We both need rest… but we all know you won’t until you confirm that message.”

Zaeed had been a steady presence this whole time next to him, but now, his hand went to his waist.  He guided him towards where Wren highlighted on the map, his omnitool display out and ready.  

There will be time to deal with all the logistics of their choice later.  An asari Spectre to contact.  Dealing with Hackett and the news that they decided to let T’Soni go.  FIguring out the next move to clear his name.

Figuring out what this will mean for the Alliance and their never forgotten Reaper threat.

“I’ve sent EDI a message.  She’ll be here to pick us up soon,” he said as they passed through the narrow corridor that led to a small docking bay.  Hell, it was large enough for the Normandy to potentially dock, but the shuttle would be a better option to navigate through the storms.  They were alone, only a few mechs stationed around for maintenance. 

And Regis finally let himself rest, just for a moment, as Zaeed brought him in his arms.

He ignored the wetness that started to gather around his eyes.  Were they from relief?  Anger?  Desperation?

Regis didn’t know.  And frankly, he never wanted to know.

– –

There would be time to give an unofficial report later.  He gave an update to his crew that his personal mission was dealt with and left it at that.  By the look Samara gave him, rising up from her meditative stance in cargo where she greeted them, she knew what they did.

He’s sure they all know.  Or will know, in time.  

Before resting, taking a moment to begin his post-battle rituals, he sends the coordinates to EDI and asks her to plot another course back to Illium.

A moment passed, and he got a response back from her, and alongside it, a question from Moreau about the trip back.

He sent a quick message back/

RS: One last part of my mission.  That’s all.

Muting his omnitool, he finally got to work.

His steps to remove his armor were methodical, once in his cabin.  Zaeed had left him temporarily to remove his own gear, tend to his rituals before joining him.  A typical occurrence, with the limited space in his cabin.  But he wanted him with him now.  

Taking off his weapons, he placed them under his desk for now in a case designed for transport.  His armor to be put away later, strewn about on the floor neck to his couch, leaving him in his undersuit as he sat down on the edge of the bed.

Alone until Zaeed comes back up from his corner of the ship.

He sent Kaidan a quick vid request, and it was answered quickly.

His concerned face appeared on the screen, his hair mussed.  He looked like he had just woken up… or been up ages without sleep.

“We did it,” Regis said.  “Broker is ours now.”

Kaidan visibly relaxed, letting out a sigh of relief of his own, running a hand through his hair.  “I never doubted you.  But… that didn’t mean I was worried sick.  Where’s Zee?  I guess Wren is… lingering?”

He nodded.  “She’s… Dealing with the responsibility as about as well as I expected.  Zee’s doing his post combat rituals.  I just… needed to talk to someone.”

Kaidan’s eyebrows furrowed, but he smiled all the same.  “Well, I’m definitely someone.  What… happened with T’Soni?”

Regis swallowed.  “I ended up letting her go in the end.  She’s… not worth it anymore. We won and I got coordinates for something that I hope is my father’s ring.”

“What?” Kaidan cleared his throat after letting out a surprised sound.  “Hold on.  She was–holding it this whole time?  I couldn’t keep the image of your armor in her apartment out of my head and now–” He shook his head, letting out a breath.  “I guess that’s where you are heading now?”

“I am.  A bank in Illium.  And then… I can finally rest.”  The doors to his cabin opened, and he quickly waved Zaeed over.  He was wearing Regis’s N7 hoodie and a pair of sweats, and his hand was bandaged–shit, did he miss that.

“Talkin’ to Kaid without me?  Shame on you, love,” Zaeed said with a chuckle, joining him on the bed and pulling Regis into his side. “Hey baby.”  He rested his head on his shoulder, closing his eyes briefly, inhaling his scent.  They both needed a shower, smelling like sweat, smoke, and gun oil.  But they were safe and whole.  All that mattered, right now.

“Hey yourself.” Kaidan grinned, the earlier worry almost completely gone from his face.  “I love you both.  And I’m happy to hear that things seemed to work out.  So, tell me, how the hell did you manage to take down a galactic superpower–”

– –

At some point during the call, Regis must’ve dosed off, finding himself under the covers while Zaeed was nowhere to be found at first–until he caught him scrolling on a datapad on the couch.  “Almost to Illium, if you want to hop in the shower,” he said, raising up a glass of… something at him in greeting. "Get some good rest?"

“Celebrating and showering without me?” He let out a yawn while chuckling.  “Chakwas hasn’t tried to check on us, yet?”

“Told her it could wait until after our last errand.  Mentioned your ring–figured she knew about it.  She’s allowing it.” He flexed his bandaged hand.  “Ended up burning through my goddamn glove a little.  And a few bruises and cuts.  The usual.”

Regis couldn’t stop the frown, but it quickly gave way to a groan as he sat up.  “Shit, yeah, I’m going to need some rest.”

“Saw some bruises on your chest.  Miraculously free of cuts.  Something to be said about that skin of yours,” he said, finishing off his glass of what was probably whiskey now that he got a better look at it. He’ll pass on that kind of celebration.

He got up and slowly walked over to Zaeed, leaning down for a quick kiss, before stripping out of his underwear--Zaeed even stripped him down? How tired was he?--and stepping in the shower.  He was painted in a few blooming bruises across his chest.  Turning around revealed more on his back and an ache that rattled through his body, the hot water of the shower only providing minute relief.

He hurried through his motions, scrubbing his skin and his scalp, before stepping out and working on hair.  Putting in a bit of gel and leave-in.  Drying it with his hair dryer.  Usual motions and normalcy.

His chest tightened when he thought about their destination.  If the ring wasn’t there–

He can’t think like that right now.

Leaving the towel on the rack, he exited the bathroom completely bare, giving Zaeed a bit of a show and rolling his eyes at the whistle he let out.  “Shit, that looks fucking painful.  Need me to call Chakwas for a pick me up?”

“No, I’m fine, thanks love,” Regis said, reaching in his drawers for his underwear, then his socks, and then his N7 officer styled uniform.  Black pants and boots.  A high-necked jacket with red detailing.  Black and red sleeves.  A proud N7 logo.

Something that keeps him safe and secure while under the hexagon’s reign.

He felt better as he pulled on the gloves, zipping up the jacket, becoming the Commander once more.

“You don’t need to act so strong for me.” He scoffed.

“For this, I must.”

Zaeed opened his mouth to reply, frowning, but--

“Commander, we are preparing to dock at Illium.  Will this be a short trip?  I’ll alert the crew accordingly.” EDI’s voice echoed through the cabin, interrupting them.

“Shouldn’t take but more than a couple of hours, if that.  And then… we’ll fuel up and prepare to head to Haestrom for our final dossier.”

Tali.  What would she have thought of all this?

“Understood, Commander.”

He reached out to help Zaeed up from the couch, in which he proceeded to lightly push him up against the wall and kiss him soundly, his tongue exploring his mouth before pulling apart with a groan.  “Much better.  Now we’re ready.”

Regis closed the gap between them quickly and briefly, a much sweeter and chaste kiss.  “It’s always better when I’m with you.”

“You fucking know it.”

– –

The asari teller wasn’t even surprised to see a human requesting the box, nor providing the right security keys to match theirs, once inside one of the rooms where the small vaults were kept.

It was a modest one, barely enough to store a few valuables.  But enough… to when it popped open, he immediately saw the prize.

Two dog tags, beat up and warped.  And a ring, shined and polished and perfect as he remembered.  Tree branch engravings without a chip.  No sign of the hell the rest of the piece went through…

He yanked it out of the box before cradling it in his hands, running his thumb over the engraving over and over, thinking of the tattoo that matched it on his right arm, his yggdrasil tree.

The teller asked if he needed anything else, and he shook his head, slowly walking out of the room where Zaeed was waiting in the lobby.

His face must’ve said all it needed, because he met him halfway with a hug.

Finally whole once more.  Finally Regis Lucian Shepard.  

And finally with the prize to be split between Kaidan and Zaeed once this fucking mission was over.  For now, it was safe against his heart, a chain that needed repair and changing, dogtags that needed to be replaced… but it was his and it was finally back where it belonged.

And if Zaeed’s hand went to his chest once back on the ship and in private, feeling it underneath his fingers, likely knowing who that ring is going to one day… Regis didn't comment on it one bit.

RS: The ring is home, Kaidan.  And soon, it will be home with you and Zee.  I promise.

A promise he hoped he wouldn’t break, this time.

KA: I'm so happy to hear that. And I know. I await the day eagerly when you both are back in my arms.

[pyro-les]

How the tables turn - Agatha Harkness X Reader

1.2k words - warnings: none

Based of an anon request

Taglist: @thecavalrywife @hannah-0730 @believe-in-magic13 @jenniferjareauwife @wandasreallover @@thesharkwhalewhoohooooo

Sitting across from Wanda Agatha sighed, it was becoming all too often that she just sat and waited for Y/N to return from training. It was silly really, Y/N was only a young witch, now training with the avengers instead of just with Agatha but that made her much too jealous. Agatha didn't know why she agreed to it either, as Y/N's mentor she could've told her it was too dangerous or she was still too weak to join the avengers but she loved the witch too much to lie to her. Y/N was too strong for the lies to be even remotely true, she could easily take care of herself even if she did still have alot to learn, so there was really no reason she shouldn't train with them.

That didn't mean Agatha liked it though. No she absolutely hated it. It wasn't that she disliked her saving people or anything stupid like that even though that may be what most people would assume, she may have some questionable morals herself but she did admire Y/N's sense of humility and selflessness. No, it wasn't that, it was the fact that she spent far too much time at the avengers compound. She didn't exactly miss time studying the art of magic with Agatha, she still spent plenty of time carefully crafting her skills. But she did miss time simply being around Agatha. They used to spend alot of time together outside of her training but now Agatha would be lucky to even spend an hour a week with Y/N just "hanging out" as Y/N liked to put it. She wouldn't say that she was jealous, no she would never admit to that, but maybe she was just a tad annoyed.

It wasn't fair that Wanda got to spend extra time with her pupil, why did she get to see Y/N more? Wanda hadn't even offered to help train Y/N, it's not like Agatha would've accepted the other but that's besides the point. Agatha and Y/N were close, they shared a type of kinship, a connection that could not be put into words but was undeniably strong. Unlike most people thought however they were not officially "an item" as Wanda had so graciously put it while asking if they were in fact one, which by the way Agatha thought was a stupid question and atrociously worded, she would've called it a relationship. She didn't know why everyone thought giving things silly new names was a good idea, it made things seem much less serious and in this case romantic. But she was getting off track again, her thoughts spiralling more so than before.

But no, they were not in fact dating, much to Agatha's disappointment. And whole it may seem like she had been rejected by the way she talked about their lack of courtship she hadn't actually asked Y/N out at all. Though she may never tell anyone the truth was she was too scared to ask Y/N in fear of rejection. Fear is a silly little thing but a powerful one indeed

And that brings her back to where she is now, sitting opposite Wanda and listening to her blab on and on about how great it was to train with Y/N at the compound and how now that she was spending more time with her she saw why Agatha liked her so much. It was like she was rubbing it in, purposely telling Agatha all about how she got to spend so much more time with Y/N now than she did.

"So how's your training with her been? You've barely said anything." Wanda asked and she might of had a point. There was a slight chance Agatha had started to get a bit too much in her own head, her thoughts once again spiralling down to Y/N. This was starting to happen a bit too often.

Rambling out an answer Agatha tried to seem cool but her awkwardness may have shown just a tad "It's great! Well not exactly great but you know it's fine, she's fine. That's not what I meant. I meant she's a fine witch, more than fine actually she's really powerful and nice and really caring. But trainings just a bit, well, infrequent. She's been spending alot of time with the avengers instead of with me, I mean training with me, yeah." Yeah her awkwardness definitely came out. But who could blame her, Y/N was amazing, it's no wonder she was constantly on her mind. It just became a bit inconvenient sometimes, like now, she's here acting like a stupid lovestruck teenager when in reality she's a smart lovestruck witch. You see it's very different, or atleast that's what Agatha thinks.

"Hmm yeah definitely seems fine." Wanda said, Agatha responding with a dignified hmm. "And that's why you still haven't asked her out, because everything's 'fine' as you said."

Agatha pauses looking at her with slightly crazed eyes. She honestly hadn't thought Wanda, or anyone for that matter had picked up on her feelings for Y/N. They may have noticed her slight awkwardness but really she hoped they would mark that down to her being a centuries old witch, she was bound to be a little weird (which she definitely is).

Trying to play it off Agatha replied confidently "I have no idea what you are talking about."

Wanda however was not falling for it. "Sure you don't. And that's why you refuse to ask her out even though you're clearly head over heels for her."

Flustered Agatha hastily replied "No I am not!"

Smirking Wanda quickly came back with "Oh so you're saying you don't like Y/N then?"

"Of course I don't. I like her in a strictly platonic, mentor and mentee way." Agatha smoothly replied.

"That's a lie." Y/N spoke from behind Agatha, making her quickly turn around outstanded. Briefly turning back to Wanda, Agatha saw her smirking, she had clearly seen Y/N approaching and purposefully said nothing.

Fumbling for a moment Agatha finally managed to say "what, no it's not." She got the words out but sounded incredibly uncertain of them, almost sounding like she was asking herself a question.

"Are you sure about that?" Y/N asked smoothly.

"Yes?" Agatha asked. She was not liking the way Y/N seemed so confident and cool while she was awkwardly fumbling herself, this was not the way she usually acted. Y/N did something to her she could not explain, her usually calm demeanor slipped completely when talking to or about the woman and it was so very unlike her.

Walking slowly closer to Agatha Y/N started to speak "Really? So you wouldn't like me to do this then?" She put her hands on Agatha's cheek as she reached her and started to pull her closer as Agatha stared at her wide eyed before shutting them just as their lips meant. It was a short kiss but made Agatha breathless once they pulled away nonetheless.

Agatha once again stared at Y/N wide eyed with shock written all over her face as a blush stained her cheeks while Y/N's eyes held a fiery spark as a smirk donned her face. Yet again fumbling for words Agatha found herself lost for them completely, Y/N had stunned her to complete and utter silence.

Y/N however was not to speechless as she chuckled before whispering "Still gunna lie and say you don't like me huh?"

[nightingale2004]

Harry Potter next generation: Neville Longbottom x Luna Lovegood vers.

Franklin 'Frank/Frankie' Neville Lovegood- Longbottom ii

Faceclaim: Charlie Gillespie

Franklin is the first child and only son of Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott. He is also the big brother of Alice

He is also the stepson of Luna Lovegood and the older stepbrother of the Lovegood twins

When Frank and Alice were kids, they both heard their parents arguing one night. The next day, their mother Hannah left, and they barely ever saw her.

After that, Neville raised Frank and Alice by himself for a couple of years until he got remarried to Luna Lovegood when Frank was 10, Alice was 9, and the twins were 7

Prefers to be called Frank or Frankie

He is a Hufflepuff

He is very down to earth and is big nature lover

Loves herbology and plants.

He is secretly a potion master

He is the voice of reason for both his friends and family

He loves hiking, rock climbing, and camping.

When he first met Luna, he was very shy and didn't like her at first, but when they got to know each other, Frank became incredibly attached and loved Luna more than his dad

Neville never spoke bad about Hannah to both his children and would only tell them the good things about their mother

Frank would sometimes miss his mom, but he loves his new mom Luna much more and loves his new brothers

He wants to live in the forest in a cabin after he graduates

He's the Hufflepuff quidditch commenter at Hogwarts. He also plays Beater on the team

His patronus would be an Otter

Loves chocolate and any kind of sweets

The Weasley's love Frank and his family and see them as their own

Frankie loves his dad but doesn't say it a lot but he does show it

His love language is more action than words

He would always (and i do mean ALWAYS) bail James and his family out of trouble at Hogwarts

Frank is crazy good at photography

Frank is also good at wood craft, wood carving, and woodworking

Has a major crush on Sidra, and everyone (except Sidra) knows about it

He looks more like his dad with a hint of his mom

He loves having his dad as a teacher at Hogwarts along with Harry as a DADA professor

Frank is thinking of becoming either a healer, potion master or photographer

Frank, James, and Freddie are very close, like brothers, and often talk to each other and plan pranks together. They are also thinking of becoming a band

Gets l o st in the woods.......a lot

◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇♡◇

Alice Augusta Lovegood-Longbottom ii

Faceclaim: Ruby Cruz

Alice is the daughter of Neville Longbottom and Hannah Abbott

She is also the younger sister of Franklin, the stepsister of the twins Lorcan and Lysander, and the stepdaughter of Luna Lovegood

She is a Ravenclaw

Before she was sorted, the hat had a debate with her being either Gryffindor or Ravenclaw, but he landed on Ravenclaw

Her favorite classes are transfiguration, divination, astronomy, arithmancy, and care for magical creatures

She loves a clear night sky so that way she can see all the stars

She knows all the constellations by heart and even makes up her own game where she renamed all the constellations

She is a daddy's girl and loves her father very much

Loved Luna the moment she first met her

If she ever got lost, she could find her way back just by looking at the starry sky

She is a HUGE animal lover, but she loves dogs more

Has a MAJOR fear of heights

She loves getting piggyback rides, especially from her brother (she jumps on his back all the time)

She hates her mom for leaving them, but she eventually forgave her for leaving and set herself free from her anger

Her patronus is a koala

She looks more like her mom with a mix of her dad

Alice has a water phobia due to one time when her whole family went sailing and she fell overboard and almost drowned

Also, the Lovegood-Longbottom family has a new edition whose name is Pandora Maryjane Lovegood-Longbottom and they all love her very much

She is a ride or die for her family and friends

Alice made friends with a centaur when she was out in the forbidden forest. She is now friends with the whole herd, and she does her best to be respectful to them and their customs and traditions

She is also really good at art. She loves painting, sketching, sculpting, and even jewelry making

She loves making jewelry and items from random materials she finds

She and Louis are art buddies

♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°♤°

Lysander Xenophilius Lovegood-Longbottom

Faceclaim: Dylan Sprouse

Lysander is the first son of Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander.

He is also the older twin to his brother Lorcan, stepson of Neville Longbottom and stepbrother to Frank and Alice Longbottom

He is also the half-brother of Pandora Maryjane Lovegood-Longbottom

Lysander is a Hufflepuff and proud

Lysander likes to be called Lys or Sander for short

When he and Lorcan were babies, his mom and dad were always arguing, and it got worse as the twins got older

Rolf and Luna tried to hide it from the twins, but Lysander would notice it and try to shield his brother from the arguments

It wasn't until the twins were 5 that their parents divorced

The twins have known the Longbottoms before their parents got together, and the twins, especially Lysander, loved them like family

Lysander is the older twin between him and Lorcan

He will say what's on his mind (most of the time is unintentional)

Will not hesitate to punch the daylights out of someone for bullying his family or any of his friends

He and Lorcan are very close, and Lys would never let an argument get between him and his brother

When Neville first started getting together with his mom, he was cautious and would pretend he didn't like him, but he liked him immediately since he made his mom happy

Despite his parents' divorce, Lysander still loves his father, and both him and Lorcan go to visit him when they can

Lys and Frank bond over plants since they both love herbology

Wants to travel the world studying unique plants and what they can or can't do

Lys is very competitive and is on the Hufflepuff quidditch team as a chaser and a beater

He loves his mom very much and is a total mama's boy

Knows how to bake

His patronus is a llama

He is more of a 'Do first, ask questions later' type of guy

Loves babysitting Pandora and calls her Pan, Panda, or Dora

Likes the Potters

He loves trying new things and new activities

Will smuggle items, no questions asked

Looks more like his father and grandfather Newt, but he does have his mother's smile and her eyes

☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇☆◇

Lorcan Newton Lovegood-Longbottom

Faceclaim: Cole Sprouse

The second son and child, Luna Lovegood and Rolf Scamander

He is also the younger twin of Lysander and the stepson of Neville Longbottom and the stepbrother of Frank and Alice Longbottom and the half-brother of Pandora Maryjane Lovegood-Longbottom

Lorcan is a Ravenclaw like his mom

Lorcan looks like his brother except with more of his mother's features showing

Lorcan is more of an animal lover than his twin brother

He loves care for magical creatures and studying all types of magical creatures in the Wizarding world

Lorcan also loves studying about muggle animals and loves learning about how different muggle animals are from magical animals

His patronus is an alpaca

He and his mother are making an animal sanctuary

Lorcan is more a father's son, but he also loves his grandfather, Newt, and has read 'Fantastic beasts and where to find them' cover to cover about a thousand times

But he loves his mother even more and Neville as well

He supports Lucy and Charles Weasley's petition for Dragon games

When he and Lysander were babies, they both had platinum blonde hair, but as they grew older, both their hair became darker, which is what separated their appearance

He knows he's a weirdo but he likes it

He loves all his subjects except for potions

Lorcan and Alice love reading books together in complete silence

Lorcan and Hugo love talking to each other about divination and about his seer sight (Hugo told lorcan about it)

At the start of the new blended Lovegood-Longbottom family, it was awkward for Lorcan until later where he and Neville started getting along

Lorcan considers Lysander his best friend in the whole world despite their differences, and they both know they got each other's back

Like Rolf, Lorcan has a creative writing flame and writes in the school paper, and he even made his own blog where he tries to bring awareness to a lot of topics

Loves the Weasley Potter family

He is more of a thinker than his twin

Loves Pandora and will always find ways to make her smile

Lorcan and Scorpius are also very close, and like everyone else, he finds Sidra intimidating

[annimator]

I’m at a loss for words

(This is a lie, this episode was so fucking good and devastating at the same time holy shit-)

• Damn Ivy’s cooking. Thx for reminding me recap

• poor Logan ;-;

• Byeeeee Ted

• Intro still never gets old :>

• FAWK, EVERYONE IN BLUE TEAM’S FUCKED UP AFTER TED LEFT

• NATALIA FEELS BAD FOR LOGAN

• Lynda, I swear to god-

• Richard carried this entire episode fr

• As someone that’s also a swimmer, I related a lot to Logan talking about his skills & swimmers coming up for air. GOD THESE CHARACTERS ARE SO GOOD

• Ngl, Anastasia, Marissa, Isabel, & Natalia would be a great final 4 imo. It’s probably not gonna happen, but an enby can dream :>

• Ofc Anastasia’s still upset towards Lynda. Still understandable tho

• Awwww, Nat still wants to include Logan in their alliance :D

• Marissa’s sad ;-;

• WAIT OMG ANASTASIA WAS GONNA GRASP HER SHOULDER- HOLD UP, WHAT’S WITH ISABEL & NATALIA SMIRKING AT EACH OTHER AFTER THAT

• ok now that I think about it, they probably ship Anarissa as much as me lol

• OKAY THIS CONVERSATION IS GENUINELY MY FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE ENTIRE EPISODE. IT’S PROBABLY TIED WITH TRISTAN TELLING ZAID THEY’RE NON-BINARY AS MY FAVOURITE SCENE FROM THE ENTIRE SEASON SO FAR

• Marissa’s so hard on herself fml ;-;

• “I won’t betray my morals to win… on or off the battlefield” Good for her

• SHE CALLED HER ANA AGAIN OH MY GOD

• She was gonna enlist in the military because of expectations, I felt that so hard

• MARISSA’S ENTIRE MONOLOGUE IN THIS SCENE WAS AMAZING. HATS OFF TO HER VA

• THE HAND HOLDINGGGGGG

• “Oh, Marissa, you could never become that. From day one you’ve seen me as an actual person, not a Barbie doll. Seeing you take charge, not once underestimating me, makes me want to follow you into any battle.” Girl, you could’ve just told her that you love her /j

• “Whatever your decision, I’ll stand by you.” “Really?” “I mean it.” HOW DID THEY NOT KISS AFTER THIS. THEY HAD FUCKING SPARKLES IN THEIR EYES

• Also love that Anastasia said those last words in Russian. I love seeing characters implement other languages besides English in this show :>

• I LOVE THAT THEY CONTINUED TO SHOW HANNAH & DIEGO’S BOND AFTER LAST EPISODE. YIPPEEEEEE

• Hannah’s acting like a little shit, I love it lol

• “Diego is such a breath of fresh air. I feel like he’s the first person in the game to truly get me!” Oh no, I don’t like where this is going

• Ohhhhh, Benji was making an idol! It looks like shit dude, I’m so sorry

• “I know I’m not the poker player, but there’s a reason he’s still in, right?” Benji, I’m gonna hold your hand when I say this

• ZAID & IVY CLOCKED HIM SO HARD LMAOOOOO

• MORE ZAIVY CRUMBS >:DDDDDD

• Did anyone notice that Ivy’s been acting kinda… off? She said she wants to prove that Hollywood doesn’t turn you into an asshole, but she’s been poking fun at Benji a lot…

• They’re acting’s pretty cute, they’re totally canon :>

• “So, it’s Benji if we lose.” “Then Hannah, we got two shields.” OKAY EVEN IF I LIKE BENJI A LOT, I’M FINE IF HE GETS OUT, BUT WDYM HANNAH

• DIEGO DOESN’T WANT HANNAH TO GET OUT. THANK YOU BRO

• “Spencer, a word?” I KNOW WHERE THIS IS GOING

• “Hmm, you guys think they’re making out?” LMAOOO IVY

• “Ah, oh young love.” ngl I thought Ivy said this when I saw the trailer, but the fact that is was Tristan makes the line EVEN BETTER >:DDDDD

• THEY’RE STILL TAUNTING ZAID ABOUT HIS CRUSH ON IVY, NOBODY COULD EVER MAKE ME HATE YOU TRISTAN

• “He made it clear he’s not interested in Diego. Well, he is, and he isn’t. I dunno, but he’s smart enough to not pursue it.” I uh… I still don’t like where this is going

• IM SO EXCITED TO SEE HOW THIS PLAYS OUT

• HE REALLY WANTS HANNAH TO STAY IN. OMGGGG

• AAAAAA HE’S HOLDING SPENCER’S HANDS

• ONC FUCKING BAITED US. I THOUGHT HE WAS CONFESSING HIS FEELINGS WHEN I SAW THIS IN THE TRAILER

• “Diego…” “Spence?” AAAAPNFIPQWFQEIFPNEWNGPIEWBGPIQEHGIPQEBG

• HE WENT IN FOR THE KISS- aw man it didnt happen ;-;

• OH MY GOD NO, THEY’RE IN A FUCKING MISUNDERSTANDING

• Spencer’s gay pancaking so hard lmao

• “Is it, um… Is it bad that I want it to happen again?” NO. NO IT ISN’T

• “What was that?! What was that?! I was tryin to save Hannah, and my emotions got in the way again, and… Oh, no… Maybe Jade is right! Maybe falling for someone in this game… isn’t a good idea.” I need to shoot somebody

• IM CRYING, BENJI JUST MUTTERED “FUCK” AFTER HE REALIZED TED GOT ELIMINATED

• Challenge sounds interesting. Richard’s gonna have a blast with this one

• “This is the once-flourishing corn maze, where we would see plenty of kids get lost and forgotten. Hehe!” Trevor?????

• Ofc Anarissa’s holding onto the blue team’s hoop together after THAT scene

• Logan’s still hurt after what happened last elimination during the challenge ;-;

• Oooooo, Nat & Isa are getting into a small arguement. Isabel’s having too much fun with gaslighting when it comes to the idol

• uh oh, animation error- WAIT OMG SPENCER & DIEGO FEEL SO AWKWARD ABOUT WHAT HAPPENED, FAWK

• “Hell yeah!” Isabel, what was that

• IM CRYING, DIEGO FORGOT HE WAS IN A CHALLENGE WHEN SPENCER SHOWED UP

• “I don’t think Diego… is an ally anymore. He’s… he’s my liability.” OH GOD NO, NOT THE ANGSTY DOOMED[?] YAOI.

• Tristan’s teasing Ivy now lol.

•”Hmm, I think he might be into you :D!” I guess he’s kinda cute. I like that he’s tall, and he can cook, and the bead isn’t hurting any eyes.” YAYAYAYAYAYY

• “But it won’t work out.” WDYM

• GIRL HAVE YOU NOT HEARD OF OPPOSITES ATTRACT. WHO GIVES A FUCK IF YA HAVE DIFFERENT VALUES. STOP THE “BETTER OFF AS FRIENDS” BULLSHIT

• BENJI GOT HIT IN THE BALLS AGAIN LMAO

• MORE ANARISSA CRUMBS WOOOOO

• “Thanks for earlier, by the way, really.” AWWWWWWWW

• YEAAAA HANNAH >:D

• oh yeah that’s right, Richard’s a basketball player turned coach. He’s gonna hard carry this for the blue team.

• “Is everything OK, homie?” I’d honestly say smth like this tbh lol :>

• DAMN DIEGO’S FUCKING STRONG

• Trevek keeps glancing at each other throughout this episode (GAYYYYYYYY)

• “As a matter of fact, no. I wanted to extend an olive branch””I’m not buying that. I voted for Anastasia!” Fuck you Lynda (tbh my opinions on her are pretty love/hate-ish as of recently)

• Marissa did it :D Lynda’s on good terms with her :D Lynda’s gonna abuse this isn’t she?

• RICHARD YOU SHOW OFF

• “How couldn’t I, looking into his big beautiful, lens-covered eyes? I came here to experience how beautiful the world could be, and it found it— him. I had to seize my opportunity.” GODDDDDD

• “You need to talk to Spencer honestly. No more flirting games.” “You’re right” y’all

• RICHARD CLUTCH

• WAIT OMG, ANASTASIA & MARISSA HUGGED EACH OTHER. THOSE FUCKIN SPARKLES IN THEIR EYES ARE BACK

• WAIT THAT SCENE FROM THE THUMBNAIL DIDN’T EVEN HAPPEN. DID JARED & ROBERT JUST MAKE IT TO PISS OF HOMOPHOBES AND MAKE YAOI BAIT???

• Silly Billy’s having too much fun voicing Trevor & I love it

• Hannah, I was thinking the same thing about Benji’s “idol” lol

• “I might’ve gotten Zaid & Ivy to see it. They could have bought it.” They didn’t Benji. They didn’t

• SPENCER WANTS TO VOTE OUT DIEGO BECAUSE HE’S A MENTAL/EMOTIONAL LIABILITY. GOD

• Spencer & Jade’s alliance is getting testy? I LIKE WHERE THIS IS GOING DOUBLE CROSS HIS GAY BRITISH ASS JADE-

• wait what, who said that

• WAIT HOLY SHIT TRISTANNAH CRUMBS. LOOK AT HOW HAPPY THEY LOOKED WHEN HANNAH SAID THAT THEY & ZAIVY HAVE THE ABILITY TO THROW OFF SPENCER & JADE

• IVY?????? YOU DID NOT HAVE TO BE THAT RUDE TO HIM, BUT THAT “FUCKING STICK” LINE WAS HILARIOUS

• OH MY GOD. OH MY GODDDDD

• “Spence!” “Y-yeah?” “I want to apologize. About earlier, I-” “It’s fine. I’m sure it was an honest mistake.” “No, no it wasn’t. I like you, Spencer. I like you quite a lot. You’re driven, funny, and you hide such a big heart. I’d didn’t expect to meet someone so wonderful here. And I… was… hoping… you felt the same.” I NEED TO BE SEDATED, PLEASE

• “My heart tells me we can keep playing this game and go far! Together. Do you trust me?” “…We’re voting Benji tonight.” SPENCER.

• “Fuck! I- I can’t do this.” YEAH, YOU SHOULD FEEL CONFLICTED FOR DOING THAT. GO SIT IN THE CORNER AND THINK ABOUT WHAT YOU SAID

• Spencer going to Ivy for a favour? This is gonna screw him over in the future, trust me guys

• OH GOD. THERE’S SO MUCH GODAMN ANGST

• DIEGO STILL DOESN’T WANT TO VOTE SPENCER MY FUCKING GODDD

• HANNAH MENTIONED TRISTAN, THIS COUNTS AS A TRISTANNAH CRUMB TO ME YALL

• I love Hannah & Diego’s friendship sm. Rlly grew on me!

• HELP WHY IS DEREK READING OFF A SCRIPT. ALSO YEA, WHO TF WROTE THAT

• EVERYONE BESIDES BENJI DIDN’T HAVE A HAPPY FACE WHEN THEY WERE VOTING. FAWK

• im scared for this y’all

• Oh god.

• OH GODDDDDDD

• FUCK FUCKFUCK FUKC

• IM GONNA SHOOT SOMEBODY

• “Yes! I’m saved! I mean- Sorry, Diego.” BENJI, PART OF ME’S ALSO GLAD YOU AREN’T OUT, BUT READ THE ROOM MY GUY

• JADE’S PISSED AT SPENCER OH FUCK

• “Hey, remember what I told you, okay?” “No goodbye. Only see you later.” DUDE.

• HE DIDN’T EVEN HAVE ANY HARD FEELINGS, AND ZAID & TRISTAN FELT BAD ABOUT SEEING HIM GO. DIEGO JUST WANTS HIS TEAM TO BOUNCE BACK. THEY REALLY CAN NEVER MAKE ME HATE YOU DIEGO

• “You know… after everything… I still didn’t vote for you.” WHO. THE FUCK. DECIDED TO PUT THIS LINE INTO THE SCRIPT. I NEED TO PERSONALLY TALK TO THEM

• Someone on twt said Diego played the game with his heart, and wounded up getting his heart broken and it DOESN’T MAKE HIS ELIMINATION EASIER TO HANDLE, WHAT THE FUCK-

• “Even for a million dollars, Spencer couldn’t control his true emotions. Now he’s MY liability.” YEA GET HIS ASS JADE

• IVY HAVING A STRATEGIC/VILLAIN ARC? THAT WASN’T ON MY BINGO CARD

• I CAN SEE THROUGH YOUR BULLSHIT SPENCER, YOU FEEL BAD ABOUT VOTING HIM OUT. YOU WEREN’T SMILING LIKE A LITTLE SHIT WHEN YA SAID THIS GAME’S JUST GETTING STARTED

• OKAY, DESPITE ALL THE ANGST, THIS WAS A FUCKING AMAZING EPISODE. PROBABLY MY FAVOURITE SO FAR THANKS TO ALL THE SHIPPING CONTENT AND STUFF

• Also friendly reminder… WE’RE ONLY ON EPISODE FUCKING 5. AND NEXT EPISODE’S SUPPOSEDLY GONNA BE ANOTHER MUSICAL ONE FROM WHAT JARED SAID ON TWT. GOD I AM SO EXCITEDDDD

• aight, new Elimination Devastation ranking

4th - Amelie

3rd - Ted

2nd - Alessio

1st - Diego (YEAH, IT WAS THAT FUCKING SAD FOR ME. RUNNING ME OVER WITH A TRUCK WOULD’VE HURT LESS)

• Anyways, I have a comment to make on Spencer’s audition vid

[thevestigeofvanillaan]

Bullworth Academy.

south park - bully scholarship edition (2006) au.

part one.

sorry this is SO delayed.. ive been so busy and my phone broke but hopefully this is good enough for now, the juicy stuff is coming soon guys😭👍.

content: swearing, stereotypes, hateful/discriminatory comments, groping of a minor, "y/n", smoking, >18 characters, alternate universe (characters aren't canon), alcohol, lot of dialog, talking through facial expressions (partial)

summary: at bullworth academy, you'll never get your way. beyond the cliques of jocks, nerds, greasers, preppies, bullies, and even non-clique students; are a bunch of assholes who attempt to make anyone's life harder with the snap of their finger. and when you met the people in the cliques, you realize how real it all was.

tags: @h-harleybaby @p1-f1 @hannah-h-pleb @milkyhere @cristuit @z-zephyrr @bro-flov-ski @59candelas

"Don't forget your suit case in the trunk!" Your mom said as she pulled in front of the large black gate.

"Not gonna." You reply, scoffing at her giggly tone. She's gonna run off and have a blast without having to take care of her teenage daughter, isn't she?

She pouts, "You know this is for the best, darling. I mean, you have been acting like a fool at your normal high schools; so maybe a change of scenery will do it for ya."

You sarcasticly smile and slam the door, walking to the trunk to grab your bag.

Grunting, as it's heavy with your needs for however long you'll be sleeping in those damn girls dorms.

"Need help with that?" An older woman asks, walking up.

You finally get it out, close the trunk and tap on the car hard so your mom gets the message to leave. "Uh, nah, I've got it."

"You've been expected, you're a week late Miss L/N." She says.

"Yeah, who are you?" You ask trying not to sound too disrespectful as she leads you through the gate and towards the main school building.

She cacks like a dog before whispering, "The one who's fucking the principal, little brat. Get inside." Practically shoving you into the building.

It was horrendously spirited on the second week of school. Football season was pretty huge for Bullworth. They went all out.

Getting acquainted to all this was weird to say the least. You'd gotten a tour of the school and the dorms by the same woman who never actually introduced herself.

"So, 'one who's fucking the principal'.." You start. "Thanks for the tour, but I need to get settled on my own now."

With a coy smile, she says "Farewell then. Bullworth will treat one like you good." She then winks and walks away.

Couldn't tell whether that was meant in a sweet way or not. You enter the dorms and attempt to walk to your room with the background full of moaning and coughing likely from smoking. You find your way to the noise of the coughing which sounds like it's in the direction of your room anyways.

How lucky, it was in your room. Two girls, one blonde, one with black hair, both smoking a joint.

You walk in awkwardly and set your suitcase somewhere, putting ur backpack on the floor as they watch your every move.

The blonde stands up. "Hi! You're the new girl.. you're Y/N, right?" She offers the blunt to which you take a hit as you nod.

"Sure." You cough and blow out some smoke.

"I'm Bebe, and this is Wendy." She points at the black haired girl. "This is Wendy's and your room, and I'm sure you'll get along. She can be shy sometimes, but once she's used to you and smoked up, you'll love her." She introduced.

Handing the blunt back and nodding at Wendy, you make your way to sit on the empty bed.

"You been helped around by Ms. Fuckface?" Bebe asks.

"I'm assuming so." You shrug and Wendy hands you the blunt.

Bebe giggles, "Let us introduce you to Bullworth."

The duo walks you around the premises.

"You kissed my Eric?!" A tall brunette cheerleader screams.

"He's not yours, bitch!" A similarly brunette girl screams back before plunging forward and grabbing the others' hair.

"Melody Adams, and Delilah.. nobody knows her last name." Bebe says as we walk past the cat fight.

Curiously asking, "Who's Eric?.. The.. guy they were yelling about.?" You ponder around.

Bebe hums. "He's actually new too. Wrestler, fucks around, but does good deeds to keep out of shit between the cliques."

"Dreamy." Wendy adds quietly and Bebe scoffs.

She points, "There he is! Eric!"

He walks over in all his pride. "Well hello there, who's this sweet piece of pie?"

"Quit it, Cartman. This is Y/N L/N. She just started today, we're getting her to know the place better." You wave as Bebe introduces you.

You notice that Wendy squeezes a finger of yours, and has a devious look on her face when you look at her. All you do is smile back

Eric chuckles. "Alls I know is don't get into shit with any of the cliques, keep your reputation good throughout all them and you'll be fine." He winks and walks off."

"Dreamy." Wendy repeats.

You giggle, "As if. Seems kinda extra.. and—"

"Horny, right?" Bebe interrupts.

"I guess." You shrug and watch him skate until you can't see him anymore.

The bell rings indicating its lunch time. You had both classes in the afternoon so you didn't have to worry until later.

"Let's go to lunch! Show you all the cliques." Bebe winks and grabs your hand, dragging you inside the school and to the cafeteria.

Once you're there, you see the groups of people wearing different uniforms. "Over there are the non-cliques, they for the most part leave people alone and are.. lone wolves. There's not that many so you'll see Eric, Kyle, Butters, and then a bunch of other unimportant people. But they're like, the trio of the non-cliques.. that can be us just.. guy version!"

Bebe went on a mission to deeply explain who everyone was before taking you to the non-clique table. "Hey guys!"

"Shut up, Bebe." That red head she called Kyle spoke with a mouth full of food.

Butters, the blonde wearing a pink shirt reaches out a hand, "Butters, it's uh, nice to meet you." He nervously smiles as you shake his hand.

"Y/N."

"Aren't you just adorable, 'Y/N'.." Kyle mocks before laughing.

Eric scoffs, "Leave her alone, man."

He only laughs harder before standing up, "Come on, Cartman. Let's go egg some prep scum houses."

Butters hastily follows but not before he gives an awkward wave goodbye as to say "nice meeting you".

You wave back and once they're far enough to where they can't hear, you ask "Why do you all call him Cartman?"

"It's not rare for Bullworth students to be known as their last names.. don't be surprised if you're called L/N a couple times or more." Bebe responds, drinking from a water bottle in-between sentences. "Vodka." She shrugs with a smirk. "Want some?"

Contemplating before taking a large sip, you stand up. "I'm gonna go for a walk, see you soon?"

"Later, L/N." Bebe winks and you wave to Wendy who returns it.

You walk around campus on your own, earbuds plugged in and music playing.

Eventually when you're done walking, the bell rings alarming to go to class, in which you make your way to.

Scoffing to see Kyle in the same Chemistry class as you. But at least you knew someone there.

Walking up to the teacher, saying "Hi, I'm Y/n. Where do I sit?"

"Ah," He smirks. "You're the new girl."

You nod and awkwardly smile at his weird facial expression.

He wraps an arm around your waist, which was odd but you were too stunned or scared.. or.. something to even move away. His hand moved up and down the side of your waist as he introduced you to the class.

"You can sit next to Stan, sweetheart. Stan, raise your hand so the pretty girl can see who you are." The teacher says and your face scrunches up.

You see a boy raise his hand, closer to the back of the classroom. You finally leave your teachers hold and walk over to Stan.

Stan only looks at you when you sit down. And once the teacher begins teaching, Stan whispers, "He's a weirdo.. seriously. The groping? Was that really at all necessary?"

Giggling slightly, you respond, "It was uncomfortable."

"Understably. Dude's got at least 15 years on you." He laughs quietly.

There's silence until he speaks again a few minutes later. "Do you got a pencil? Don't got one ever and I think there's gonna be a pop quiz today."

"Yeah, mom made sure to give me extras because 'you need to take notes'.." You scoff and reach for your bag to grab a pencil.

When you look up, you see a familiar pair of eyes staring into yours.

Kyle.

He looked fierce. And it was then when you got a good look at him. Scar on his left eye brow. Freckles among his face. And small yet noticable beauty mark below his right eye.

As you look down for just a moment you see how his arms are crossed. The rest of his body is facing diagonally, but his eyes are on you. His posture was laid back, and his legs were manspread.

At that, you make a dirty face as to say, "What are you looking at?". His face responds with his eyebrows raising, like he was cockily saying "You.", before he smirked.

His eyes fall down to your chest and his smirk only grows. Your curiosity leads you looking down, to see cleavage hanging out of the too tight uniform.

Mentally scoffing, you look up and quirk an eyebrow, to say "Like what you see?".

He nods slowly, and only one time with a grin.

You covered your cleavage with your hand, almost like saying "Too bad.".

Sitting up and handing Stan the pencil, saying, "Keep it."

He looked at it, then at you with a crooked smile. "Thanks."

Class ended after a ridiculously long wait. There was a pop quiz, which he didn't make you take since it was your first day.

As you leave the classroom, a familiar red head catches up to you, walking beside you. "What?" You ask.

"Can't walk with the new girl? Jeez." He scoffs sarcastically.

Giggling at first. "No, you can't walk with the new girl." You respond and breifly look at him. He raises both arms as to retreat, though he keeps walking. "What do you want?"

"Wanna walk you to your room. Is that a problem?"

"Sure is. You know if you get caught by any prefects you'll be in big trouble, right? Even I know that and I just got here."

He chuckles as you both exit the school building, making your way to the girls dorms. "I'm the star student of this school. I wouldn't get in trouble."

"Okay, 'star student', what's it mean when a girl says 'go away'?" You ask, not expecting an answer.

And he didn't give one. Just kept walking by your side until you reached the building. You watched as he looked around before walking in with a smirk.

To that, you were appalled. And now you're the one making sure nobody sees him in there.

Checking around to make sure no girls are walking around you quickly guide him to your room before shutting the door.

"Okay, why are you even here?" You ask genuinely.

He chuckles. "Hang out, get to know what the new girls motives are."

"Motives?" To that, you laugh. "I have no motivation or clear purpose of being here other than the fact that my mom hates me and wants me to stop getting kicked out of regular school systems. There's nothing different or 'new' about me. I don't even want to be here so would you just—"

He cuts you off by aggressively kissing you. "God, I thought you were quiet but you're just talk, talk, talk, aren't you?"

You couldn't seem to form a sentence that would even fit this scenario anymore. Only sitting down on your bed and staring at your shoes.

Not long later is when Kyle sits beside you, you could sense he was looking at you but you didn't want to look at his face. "Wanna know my motive?" He asks.

There's silence. "Do you?" He asks once more.

To which you respond, "I'm waiting."

"To kinda make like uh, a statement. A lifestyle. To change the Bullworth way to be.. Kyle's way. You know?"

"You're not always gonna get your way." You look at him. "Nobody does."

"Well what do you think im trying to do? I'm trying to make it so it can always go my way!"

You laugh. "You're an asshole. Is this supposed to make me like you? Because it's not working."

"No." Silence appears for longer. Nobody spoke for what felt like several minutes. But you noticed how when he was thinking his leg bounced rapidly up and down.

He finally stood up. "You wanna go somewhere?"

to be continued..