#He gets strapped to a table operated on and then just explodes

[princescar]

Crazy how despite Mikan's love for gory movies and blood, she doesn't do an over the top murder. She doesn't even do a medical themed murder despite it being the main focus of the chapter. (Only one of her victims was a patient and she just strangled her)

Crazy how, when she wants to commit a murder for Junko, she does neck trauma.

That's Yasuke's M.O.

[panfluidme]

Too Late

Jimmy moved into his uncle's place pretty young, just before middle school. His parents were just fine, but they were well known and people in his hometown could tell that he was their kid. With their few assassin attempts, they decided to send their twin children somewhere safe.

However, Jimmy's twin had jumped a few grades. They had on both their school records put their last name as "Z", just "Z". Jimmy honestly didn't mind all that much, he liked the sound of Jimmy Z anyway. It sounded cool and just rolled off his tongue. 

But the first day of school in a brand new town was still scary. Especially since his twin sister managed to skip two years and was now starting high school. So he didn't have anyone to go into school with. Which meant his was all alone in a school he's never stepped foot in. 

He gripped onto his backpack's straps as he stared at it. He wasn't really in anyone's way, but Jimmy felt like he was glued to the pavement. He couldn't get his feet to move. His heart was pounding in his ear, he was so nervous. 

Jimmy nearly jumped out of his boots when someone touched his shoulder. He turned his head to see a taller blond teen and a shorter brunet teen. The blond smiled warmly.

"First day of school?" he asked, his voice gentle.

The redhead nodded. "Y-yeah."

"That's okay. It's Chris' first day of school too. I'm Martin, by the way."

"I'm Jimmy." Jimmy gave them a shaky smile. He looked at Chris, who waved. "You Chris?"

"Yep."

Jimmy could remember the time he realized his feelings for Chris. They had been hanging out in the treehouse in the Kratt's backyard, Chris rambling on about his favorite bird at the time. Honestly, Jimmy couldn't tell you what the name of the bird was for the life of him. He was too focused on just the sound of Chris' voice.

Chris had been called down to help set the table for dinner, and Jimmy watched him go down the ladder. Jimmy smiled to himself and checked his phone, his heart racing like it always did when Chris was around. A loneliness built up inside of him, a confusing one since Chris just barely left.

Suddenly, a realization hit him like a bag of bricks. The high schooler had fallen in love. Not with just anyone, but his best friend. Chris fucking Kratt. The best nonfamily person Jimmy ever knew, maybe even just the best person he knew in general. 

How didn't he know this sooner? It was so obvious now that he knew. The way he longed for Chris to be around him. The way he missed Chris, even after he just saw him. The way he wanted to hold Chris close, keep him safe from everything bad in this world.

Jimmy set his phone down, his cheeks going dark red. He didn't know what to think, what to say. He just knew he would never be able to be around Chris again without making it a little awkward for both of them.

The redhead was so excited that Chris and Martin had chosen him to be their pilot. Aviva taught him how to use the teleporter, so he became the person who operated it the most. He was a good cook, so he cooked the most. The others cooked, but Jimmy didn't mind being their main cook. Everyone enjoyed what he had to offer.

It was so exciting to be living with Chris, but Jimmy managed to make it a small deal. Best friends lived together all the time. There was no need to freak out over it. It was normal and he could handle it just fine. They weren't sharing a room.

Jimmy didn't know what he'd do if they were sharing a room. His heart would explode, and he would never be able to look Chris in the eye ever again. Their rooms were on opposite sides of the Tortuga, the flying turtle ship they all called home.

His favorite thing, however, was seeing how excited Chris got whenever he got to use his Creature Power Suit. Jimmy didn't know how he didn't just melt there and then every time he saw it, or how he didn't turn red and grin like the idiot he was.

Sometimes, he wished he could go out and join them. But Jimmy was too big of a coward to have any fun. And he'd just get in the way. So, he was fine with watching the brothers Kratt having fun out in nature while he sent them anything they could need. 

The second worst day of Jimmy's life was watching Chris up at the alter, getting to a woman who wasn't him. He wasn't mad at Chris, Chris didn't know how he felt, but he was mad at himself. He had been working up the courage to tell him how he's felt for the last eight years, but then he met Vanessa. 

And no matter what he wished, Jimmy would never be Venessa. He would never be the pretty raven haired, brown eyed girl she was. Even as a gay man, he could admit she was stunning.

That was another thing. Jimmy had never come out, mostly because he just forgot to. At this point, he had thought he told the crew, but hadn't actually. Not that it really mattered, his heart belonged to a man that would never return his feelings.

Small tears welled up in his eyes, but tears were in everyone's eyes. Which was good for him since no one would suspect a thing about how he felt. Unlike everyone else's, Jimmy's was of sadness and regret. He was watching the love of his life get married to someone else.

The worst day of Jimmy's life, however, was yesterday. It had been fairly normal, Chris and Martin were on a creature adventure while Vanessa fussed over her art work of the week. Overall, Jimmy and Vanessa ignored each other. Something that upset Chris.

Jimmy suspected that Vanessa had picked up to his feelings, which had died down a little after their marriage. She didn't stop him from having a relationship with Chris, but she didn't like him. To avoid drama, the two just avoided each other and only spoke when necessary. 

And Jimmy was fine with that. He wasn't her biggest fan, but that was only for selfish reasons. She fit well into the crew and made Chris happy, he couldn't really hate for her other than he had been too much of a coward to tell her husband how he felt, and she had gotten him. He didn't hold it against her, even though it was hard, and he didn't hold it against Chris.

"I've got you," Martin's voice came from the screen, causing everyone to look over. Martin was holding onto Chris, who was dangling over a cliff. He just barely started to pull him up when his glove slipped off, and Chris fell.

Jimmy could only watch in horror as Martin sat on the edge, too shocked to do anything more than just stare over the edge. Everyone half expected Martin to jump after him, but he just sat back and sobbed, throwing his head back.

The redhead barely registered anything other than his heart racing in fear. His breathing was quickening as panic settled over him. He's never felt this way before, he didn't know the feeling this was. It wasn't the normal panic attack he was used to, no this was so much worse. 

An invisible pain washed over him as he sank to his knees. He knew there was no way that Chris survived, everyone knew it. Jimmy hated it.

He leaned forward and let out a broken scream. Everyone ignored him, Koki focusing on Venessa and Aviva trying to help calm Martin down from far way. Fat and salty tears ran down his cheeks. It felt like a part of him had just died.

Jimmy knew for sure there was no way now that they'd be together. There had always been a small hope that it could happen. It was too late...

[black-kitties]

Worldheart - Chapter 13

Start reading at Chapter 1

Black Canary and Green Arrow had emerged out of the elevator shaft to an unguarded corridor. They reached the unmistakable glass corridor the kid had described. Jutting out from the middle of it was Maxmellius’s office suspended in the air above the factory floor.

“Wait.” Canary held out her hand to stop Arrow, “Where are the guards?”

“You think it’s a trap?” Arrow scratched his head, “They must’ve rushed off to deal with the cause of all those explosions.” He shrugged, “Besides, anything comes, and I got your back.”

“You mean I’ll save your hide while you stand back looking for your bow?” Canary countered. They approached the office, Canary on high alert for any signs of a silent alarm being triggered.

“Hey!” Arrow chuckled, “I’m just as good with my fists as you.”

“Right, and we’re ten-zero because you let me win, is it?” Arrow cleared his throat, changing the subject.

“Judging from the oversized chair the guy must be compensating for something.” He smiled seeing Canary’s eyes roll. She sat down in the huge chair while Arrow stood watch, keeping an eye out down the corridor as well as the factory floor. He watched her work at a thread on her jacket, undoing the seam to reveal a small thin metal plate that she inserted into the computers USB. The screen went black before a bunch of red symbols appeared. A moment later, ‘ACCESS GRANTED’ appeared on the screen and Canary went to work.

“That’s a nifty trick.” Green Arrow peeked over Canary’s shoulder.

“I asked Cyborg to make it for me. In case it gets in the wrong hands he made it with only three uses, but it can hack anything in the world.” Canary explained.

“So, we only have two uses left then, we can work with that.”

“One. I used it on a mission before this.” While she worked, Green Arrow noticed the nameless sidekick drop down from a vent and begin scrambling across the factory floor.

“Kids got spunk.” When he noticed how poor her hiding skills where he chuckled, “But she’s got a lot of training ahead of her.”

“Ollie, look at this.” Arrow turned from the window back to the computer screen.

“Wait, is that..?” On the screen was an image of Superman bound to an operating table with a red kryptonite crystal strapped above his chest. Tiny machine arms with saw blades, alligator forceps, lasers and the like were hovering over him. He looked like he was struggling under the red glow.

“It gets worse. Looks like they captured him using Kryptonite, and they were experimenting on him with it too.” Canary began transferring the files onto the stick, “He’s here still, and I know where.”

“Then let’s go find him.”

“Let’s.” Canary agreed. They’d made it halfway down the hallway when a giant form crashed into it from below, smashing through the glass and damaging the scaffolding that supported the hall and office. The walkway underneath them tilted towards the beast as the entire hallway began to fall. Canary lost balance, falling forward towards the new foe. It snapped at her, but she twisted her body out of the way just in time landing wit her feet on its shoulder using it to launch her between the scaffolding to safety. She landed on her hands, carrying her momentum into a roll until she was on her feet facing the crashing hallway. Green Arrow had managed to grab onto a holdfast, leaping through the windows of the office just as the impact caused them all to explode in a rain of glass. He rolled to a stop beside Black Canary taking cover behind one of the larger machines. The beast that had attacked them didn’t get out in time as metal scaffolding and glass buried it.

“Arrow! Canary!” Jaz had rushed out of a side room they hadn’t noticed before, “Over here!” Their attention returned to the heap of metal on the floor. Several machine arms had toppled over and the remaining hallway that the office was connected to began to fall to the floor, burying it even further. There was no sign of movement. “You guys ok? Did something attack you?”

“Whatever it was, I don’t think it’s getting back up.” Green Arrow said as they followed Jaz into the cell room.

She gave a worried glance outside the room, “Alright. Well, your bow’s here, inside that.” She pointed to a guard booth that overlooked the cell room. Black Canary had rushed to Icon’s side, checking his pulse and asking him questions. “The notepad inside has all the codes, I got a couple cells open but I need to get inside to see the other pages. Everyone seems fine, just really weak.”

“Good job, kid.” Arrow slapped her on the back. He could tell she was scared and putting on a brave face.

“Mind if I leave them to you guys? I still haven’t found Hero.” Arrow noticed she kept giving worried glances outside the door.

“Don’t worry about what’s out there, we have things under control. Know where Hero might be?”

“I have a feeling he’s just beyond that door. I’ll be right back,” Arrow nodded, watching her disappear down the back hall.

Green Arrow turned his attention back to the guard cubicle. He punched it with all his might, but the glass just warped and vibrated from the hit. “It’s reinforced.” He was searching the room for something to throw at it when another voice spoke up.

“Maybe I can help with that.” Out from one of the unlocked cells Huntress strode forward, though she stumbled and leaned against the cell wall.

“Huntress! It’s been a while.” Black Canary stood, approaching her to offer a hand.

“Wish it was under better circumstances.” She leaned on Canary, “The drugs they forced in us have left me too weak to be of any help, but I know they keep the key in that locker there.” She pointed to the third one in from the edge of the wall beside the cubicle.

“These guys sure know security,” Green Arrow joked. The locker door bent in half under the force of his elbow, and he easily slipped the lanyard and key off its hook.

“Well, you get what you pay for.” Huntress said, wincing. “Or don’t pay for. Guy was going to have a mutiny on his hands soon if you two hadn’t taken out the power when you did.”

“That wasn’t us. More importantly though, are you hurt? How long have you been down here?” Canary helped Huntress limp towards Icon at the center of the room.

“I don’t know, days at least. Weeks maybe. Hard to keep track of time down here.” While Huntress rested beside Icon, Canary unlocked the remaining cells using the notepad, helping carry several small-time heroes to the center of the room. Green Arrow began rifling through the chest, shouldering his own bow and quiver with a sigh before handing Huntress her crossbow and the rest of the equipment out. “But… If those explosions weren’t you then, who?”

The sound of shifting metal caught everyone’s attention outside, joined by the echoing noise of a dozen metallic footsteps entering the factory floor. “They’ve found us! Anyone strong enough to fight, we need all the help we can get.”

“Can’t you just use your Siren song?” Huntress chimed in struggling to stand.

“Not this time, they got to me too.” Black Canary retorted.

“Wait.” Arrow held out his hand, stopping them from engaging. The sound of gatling guns erupted just outside. “I’ll go check it out.” Sure enough, the metal lizards weren’t here for them. They had surrounded the scrap pile and were unloading bullets into it. Underneath the hellfire the metal framing was shifting until a massive beast burst forth unfazed by the bullets pelting its fur, it lunged at the nearest Raptor soldier, biting it in half before leaping at the next. “They won’t buy us much time. Let’s go see if theres a back way out, shall we?”

Through the back hall they found Jaz sitting in the center of a glass cylinder holding a small furry form in her arms. There was a layer of dog kibble all over the floor that crunched under Black Canary’s feet. “He won’t wake up.” Jaz looked up; tears had welled in the corner of her eyes.

Black Canary held her hand just in front of his nose and mouth, “He’s still breathing, but its faint.” Canary searched the floor, “I don’t see any water nearby, he might be severely dehydrated.” Arrow grabbed a water bottle left on one of the desks surrounding the cylinder tossing it to Canary. She cupped her hand underneath Hero’s muzzle pouring the fluid between his teeth. Jaz tried to tilt his head so it would pour down his throat. The dog began to cough, blinking its eyes. “Hero!” The dog tried to stand slipping on the kibble on the floor, “Shh, just drink. Focus on drinking, I got you.” Jaz took a shaky breath, smiling as she watched the dog begin to lap up the water.

Meanwhile, Green Arrow began yanking on one of the unpowered sliding doors at the opposite end of the room. Another set of hands grabbed onto the other door, and with their combined force the doors finally slid half open. “Icon? You shouldn’t push yourself.”

“I’ll be fine, this much I can still do.” Icon held his hand up stopping Arrow from helping him. “Worry about the others, they need it more than I.” He returned to help another Hero to their feet, shepherding them through the small opening they’d made.

A roar erupted through the hall they’d just come through, followed by the broken torso of a Raptor that smashed into the glass hard enough to crack it. Black Canary cursed, making sure the rookie was able to scoop the dog into her arms. She shielded them, getting them both out of the cage as the form of the beast leapt into the room crashing into the glass shattering it. Huge shards rained down on the party, forcing Heroes to duck under tables or jump out of the way of a particularly large piece.

“Get in! Everyone through the door!” Arrow yelled, helping shove the remaining Heroes through, practically throwing one through the crack before realizing Canary and the rookie had taken cover on the wrong side of the room. The beast reared up about to pounce on Canary who’d put herself between it and the kid when it was slammed into the wall by one of Green Arrows explosive shots. It turned its attention on him. He jumped out of the way as the beast smashed into the desk Arrow was standing on a second ago, splintering the wood and destroying the tech on it. “Canary! Rookie! Get through the door while I distract it!” Arrow yelled, raining three more explosive shots on the Beast. They each exploded against its side, forcing it to stumble back but leaving no damage otherwise.

On the other side of the room Canary grabbed onto the rookie’s hand, pulling her towards the door. Seeing this, the beast turned its attention back to Canary. Arrow cursed, shooting another explosive shot at its head to distract it but the beast simply caught this one in its mouth, letting it explode through its teeth before it launched itself at her. She shoved the kid backwards, making her fall on her butt across the floor while Canary dodged forwards doing a barrel roll out of harms way. Half a second later and the beast had crashed into the spot she’d just been, sliding across the kibble lined floor into the wall. Canary jumped, landing a kick to the beast’s head smashing him further into the wall. She gave the Rookie time to get up and run, except she was running in the wrong direction to the exit.

“Kid, this way! Focus on getting to the door, I’ll deal with the Beast!” Arrow commanded. He shot another arrow right at the beasts face as it reared up. It exploded in the air blanketing the creature in a thick net. As it struggled against the net the ball bearings underneath did their job wrapping around each other, tightening its grip. “Come on!” Arrow held out his hand, grabbing onto the Rookie’s arm, pulling her alongside him as they raced towards the door again. Canary was already waiting for them there. The Beast bit into the net, stomping on one side and tearing it enough that he could leap at them again. He landed in front of Arrow and the Rookie blocking their path to the exit. Arrow pushed the girl behind himself, shooting another arrow at the creature that burst into a spray of pepper mist. It shook its head, recovering immediately to slam a paw into Arrow’s chest knocking him away from the kid. It turned from her, lunging at Green arrow again.

Green Arrow slid across the kibble coated platform, knocking an arrow a moment too slow. Just as the beast’s jaws were about to close around Arrow’s leg Black Canary landed another flying kick knocking it of course, instead biting uselessly at the kibble on the floor. It still slammed into both of them sending them sliding into the far wall. Just as Green Arrow hit, he loosed a rope arrow that pulled him up to the platform overlooking the room grabbing Black Canary on the way.

With them out of the way, the beast turned its attention back to the girl who was once again making a break for the exit. It lunged in front of the exit, blocking her way. Green Arrow managed to disarm it again with his final net arrow before swinging in on a rope arrow to slam down on top of the creatures back with Canary. He quickly shot three more rope arrows that he pulled tight, pinning it to the ground on either side. “That outa hold.”

Canary hopped off the beast, placing a hand on the rookies shoulders, “Let’s get out of here now.”

The beasts eyes blazed golden as it unleashed another deafening roar. The ropes pulled taught against the strain of if trying to stand until one tore; slapping into Arrow knocking him off its back. Canary once again pushed the girl behind her before she kicked up off the wall to her right, grappling on the beasts neck. She’d grabbed the loose rope, wrapping it around his snout trying to use it to contain him. The other two broke a second later allowing the beast to rise up. It swung its head wildly trying to shake off Canary.

Arrow reached behind his back, hitting the beast with several normal arrows but they barely stuck beneath its fur. It managed to shift Canary off the back of its neck to its side, swiftly smashing her into the wall. Her grip finally released but it kept her pinned. Arrow taunted it, hitting it square in the eye with a boxing glove arrow. It lunged towards Arrow, releasing Canary to slide down the wall. Its teeth grazed his boot as he barely escaped using another rope arrow.

Not willing to leave Canary unprotected, Arrow had shot the arrow behind the beast after luring it to the center of the room. He pulled her to her feet before training one of his last remaining arrows at the creature.

“Guys! Go on ahead without me!” The girl called from the hallway. They were right beside the exit, but she was once again on the wrong side of the room, having run there to avoid the fighting.

“What? No! That’s suicide!” Arrow protested.

“Being a hero doesn’t always mean you need to lay your life down! You can still make it if you run behind it!” Black Canary pointed around behind the beast where there was a clear path towards them.

“No! Guys, its ok. The beast is Timber Wolf, he’s not in control when he’s in his Furball form. Haven’t you noticed; he keeps attacking you guys when you try to help me escape with you.” It moved itself to block their view of the rookie, almost as if to protect her.

“This is the hero you’re the sidekick for?” Arrow asked incredulously.

“He’s in a rage right now, yeah. I swear he’s normally nice. Well. Sort of.” She shook her head, “Don’t worry about me. You get the others out, we’ll find another way.” Furball growled at Canary and Arrow, lunging again. Grabbing Canary’s hand Arrow pushed her through the half open door, escaping through not a moment too soon as the beast slammed into the metal denting it easily.

Arrow swore, “I’m taking that as a promise! I better see you on the outside kid!”

“See you!” Arrow watched through the opening as Furball turned to face its sidekick. He trained an Arrow at it, waiting for it to attack… But it didn’t. He watched the rookie begin backing up down the hallway, Furball following close behind. He waited until both figures had disappeared before he lowered his bow. “We’ll I’ll be. She was right.”

“Arrow, look.” Black Canary sounded shocked. Turning to see what was up, Arrow took a step back himself. At the center of the room, suspended in red glowing liquid and with a red shard embedded in his chest was Superman. “We’ve found him.”

[scorpiolight-madd]

Hang on I got Mayday on the brain I’m gonna ramble about her for a bit

She and her twin sister (who I still haven’t named) were created as living bio weapons for a supervillain organization. Their creator constantly pit the girls against each other to see who was the better fighter; the winner would get to go back in her tube and rest, and the other would be ‘upgraded’.

It was always Mayday. She lost every time, never able to bring herself to hurt her sister. Her creator saw this as a weakness, and when she had her strapped down to the operating table she would constantly remind her: “You’re not sisters, you’re soldiers. Your unnecessary emotions are holding you back.”

(Also at this point she probably would be called by a different name. Either a serial number or a codename or something like that)

those 'upgrades' are what resulted in her electricity powers, although she wouldn't really find out until a while after the organization got taken down and she and her sister were put in foster care. While her sister adjusted well, May struggled to adapt, always waiting for the other shoe to drop. She’d act out just to see how she’d be punished for her behavior, but only became more agitated when the discipline was calm and gentle. Her aggression caused strange things to happen around her, from lights flickering to full on power outages or even lightbulbs exploding.

Eventually she couldn’t take it anymore, and ran away. She felt bad leaving her sister, but she reassured herself that she was doing well in foster care, and May would only hold her back.

That’s when James Valentine found her.

She had been living on the street for a couple of days at that point, and she was trying to get out of the rain (esp bc it made her powers act up more and actively hurt her) when he approached her with an umbrella. He offered to take her home, but she refused, telling him that she ran away. He relented, but eventually got her to agree to let him get her out of the rain.

Little did she know that he was a supervillain in the making, and he had just gotten the perfect starting gift dropped in his lap: an already fully trained solder. He didn’t even have to do any work, just a few subtle manipulations and she would be completely loyal to a new boss.

[familylightfox]

     Everything felt numb. An odd feeling and one that was slowly rousing Volt from unconsciousness. Violet eyes cracked open and almost immediately shut upon the blinding light above him. It was like staring at an operating light.

     Wait…

     Again he forced his eyes open, trying to focus a bit more on the room. It was so hard to make out details with the light above him and he tried to push himself up, only to find that he couldn’t move. So many questions and it all seemed to come back so suddenly.

     Standing in the kitchen and getting everything together to make Harmony and her friends something warm to snack on when they got back from their hike. He’d been just getting some water from the sink when he felt arms grab him.      A sharp pain in his neck…

     And now he was here.

     But where was here?

     Only being able to move his eyes made it oh so hard to make things out but he could see the doorway off to the side, ears straining to hear muffled voices on the other side. The rest of the room as he took it in was dingy. He could hear the drip of water from somewhere and swore he spotted mold.

     Yet it was all forgotten as the door opened, just as he was about to call out. An unfamiliar face stepped into the room first, someone he’d never seen before.

     “Don’t bother trying to struggle. We’ve removed your prosthetic and claws, and attached diodes to your temples to protect us.” The glare Volt had fixed him was ignored and he turned the hybrid’s arm to better access the vein he needed. A small pinch and Volt struggled to watch what was being fed into his body. He couldn’t see what the label of the fluid said, but could feel it flowing through his system.

     Gritting his teeth, the sensation as the fluid mingled with his bloodstream made him want to squirm. But no amount of shifting was possible with the way he had been strapped down to the hard surface beneath him. A heavy breath was taken and finally his lips parted as if to voice himself, only to be replaced by a cry.

     When had the platypus grabbed the scalpel? Pain exploded from his throat as he felt that first incision, ripping another scream as the flesh was carefully parted to the side and another incision was made. Blood pooled in the back of his mouth, earning the man a gurgle as he carefully removed something.

     Crimson seeped from the corners of his mouth, yet no sound escaped. Save for the wet breaths and choked gargles. Pain filled eyes managed to focus on the other as his cheek was given a gentle pat. Maybe it was to reassuring him, or something else entirely but Volt’s soundless cries were all he could do as he felt the scalpel parting the flesh across his torso in a very familiar pattern.

     With blood pooling beneath him on the table, illuminated by the large overhead light, Volt’s tears streamed down his face and obscured his vision when the door opened once more. Not that he needed to see to recognize the voice that would have ran the blood still within him cold. 

     “I see the transfusion is nearly complete. Let’s move to the next step, shall we.”

     Whatever else the two may have spoken to one another was drowned out by the sound of his sternum being cut into by a bone saw.

[subwaysurf45]

Winter Makes Ice (Ep.5)

Summary:  you’re captured after a brawl at the Avengers building, Bucky and others must save you before Hydra makes a new Winter Soldier out of you, Bucky has given up that title.

Words: 4344

Episode: five

Warning: violence, nudity, needles, descriptions of injury

Masterlist! Winter Makes Ice Episode: Four

Time: unknown

Date: unknown

You knew they had full control over you. There was nothing you could do even though you were conscious all the time, your body did what they wanted but your brain screamed against it. There were times where they’d ask you to do the impossible, they’d make you climb the tallest tree in the forest that surrounded the building and then make you jump down without anything to catch you, you’d land and your ankle would break; the worst was when they told you to break it back in place. 

It was like you were sat in a large chair as you watched your life unfold in the cell, your wrists were strapped to this imaginary chair so you couldn’t reach out to block the punch, ankles were clasped so you couldn’t run away. You never became lucid, it was always you watching through the shell of your body. Crying yourself to sleep wasn’t an option, you weren’t allowed to cry, or laugh, or scream, or smile; you were dead on the outside. The feeling of control was so close but yet so far away. 

There was a moment, just a moment. More I.C.E. had just been injected as you hung from the cuff restraints, you swung lightly as you dangled there. The cell door closed and the silence you were left with was getting louder by the second, your brain starting to pound like it always did and right at the back of your head near the bottom began to pulse, like you were being stabbed. The pain, hunger, exhaustion built up until that one moment, your eyes were slowly closing but as they closed you could see something right in front of you, something was moving. You couldn’t reach out to touch it because you were chained but as you crossed your eyes all you saw was a little black thing slightly swinging with you. 

It was the tip of your nose. 

Your fingers had also begun to blacken, it was about to hit your first knuckle. 

That was when you let the control fully go to the I.C.E. flowing in your veins, the power to keep yourself above water was only getting more and more tiring. No one had tried to save you so they probably were never going to come. Part of you thought Bucky would be there in less than a day, he’d break walls and towers for you, but it might have just been words to make you think he loved you, just sounds put together as a fake. 

Time: 6:10am

Date: October 3rd 2024

“Darling, It’s me, It’s Bucky, you’re safe now.” Bucky spoke softly, he flickered between your eyes and nose. You didn’t say anything, just looked right through him. “I will not fight you, but we need to get out of here, we have to go.” He urged, right when he finished talking you stepped forward, he was shocked to see you move, it was rigid and robotic. “Baby, explain what’s going on, please baby?” Bucky stepped forward and reached out, his hand lightly touched your shoulder but he studied your face as he did so. Your nose would have scrunched up but with the lack of that it was just your eyebrows that pulled together. Bucky looked around the room to try and find any sign of how to get you out of your trance; the papers he flicked through were now getting thoroughly read through. All you did was stare at him, waiting for a command. 

“Bucky, it’s all clear down here, some got away though,” Steve breathed heavily as he spoke through the coms. “There's this guy who looked to be the head and he got away, didn’t get a good look at him.” 

Bucky turned to you, “who’s the leader here?”

“No one gave their name.” You answer quickly. 

“What did he look like?” Bucky left the papers and walked to you, he grabbed a lab coat on the way to cover your scared and naked body. 

“Slick black hair. Black eyes. Heart shaped face. No facial hair. Slit through his left eyebrow. Hydra ring on his finger.” Your eyes closed as you computed the man who poured the ice water on you multiple times. “Height: six foot. Weight: around one eighty. Scars, markings, tattoos: none.” Bucky watched you in shock, “any other specifics, James?” 

“N-no, well done.” He nodded and threw the coat around you, “we’re going to leave now, okay?” Bucky took your hand and led you toward the door. 

Your feet tread silently while Bucky’s combat boots echoed three times down the grey hallway, it scared you every time he’d step. With every loud sound came a hard punch, it was a way for you to brace yourself when they’d catch you talking about your past life. As you walked closer to the doors your fingers found their way to the walls, still grey like the floor but clean, the floor was covered in dead bodies and blood from the invasion. 

The doctors and agents you knew were slumped over against the wall or splayed out in the middle of the hallways, some people’s blood had congealed while others still created a larger pool around the Hydra operatives. The smell of death didn’t read on your face but it did on Bucky’s, the smell of the inside of your cell just carried out here it seemed like. You were unaware of your smell, part of you thought it was the lack of nose but the other knew it was the lack of fresh air and being surrounded by copious amounts of blood. 

“Where to, Sergeant Barnes?” the feeling of someone holding your hand was foreign, his thumb kept swiping back and forth.

“Call me Bucky,” he looked back with sorrow in his eyes. You stopped walking and lowered your head, “what are you doing?” he asked. 

“Waiting for punishment,” you spoke softly, knowing they went easier on you if you knew you messed up. There’d be times where you’d push your luck and stare them down but once you grew tired of being tough you head would bow and you waited for the strike, it was now a reaction to any type of dissatisfactory.

“No, no punishment anymore,” his eyes filled with tears and he brought you under his arms, his lips kissed the crown of your head as he opened the doors. He kept you under his arm as he opened them, metal arm gripping right on your forearm. 

The sun was barely meeting the surface and yet you had to squint to adjust, everything had a hue of red. The grass felt foreign under your bare feet as you stepped off the tiles and into nature, your toes gripped the leaves and grass as they walked. Your lungs felt like they were about to explode with the intake of fresh air, your nose could still work but it was slightly harder to breathe, the cool wind blew into your mouth and gripped the back of your throat which made you double over to the cough. Your knee popped out of the front slit on the closed lab coat, you were used to feeling naked and vulnerable; Bucky was the one to close it again. 

Steve, Wanda, and Nat all stood by the jet.

Wanda screamed your name and ran up to you, her arms pulled you into a tight hug but you curled in and waited for the strike. She pulled away and the feeling of rigidness, “y/n?” She questioned, her hand coming to cup your cheek but you stepped back and held your hand up for protection. Wanda brought her hands into her chest, she looked between Bucky and you but Bucky just shook his head with a few tear tracks present on his face; Wanda was beginning to develop her own after she looked back at you before turning away. 

You didn’t really know why everyone was crying, “Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximof.” your head slightly bowed, you looked over her to see the others behind her shoulder, “Captain Steve Rogers and Natasha Rominoff, a pleasure.” Their faces seemed worried and Nat looked disgusted, she brought her hand to cover her mouth as she walked up the steps to the jet. 

Wanda got your attention again, “hello, we’re going to take you home, alright?” Wanda took your hand, “do you remember me?” 

“From?” was all you said as you made it into the jet. Wanda covered sob with her hand as she turned away from you to sit beside Nat, she was also crying.

Steve didn’t even look at you, he walked straight to Bucky. Steve caught him right as Bucky’s knees were buckling, Bucky caught onto Steve and they both slowly made it to the ground. It seemed like they guided each other, both holding onto one another for dear life. It was a common understanding, grief was written on both of them. 

“She’s fucking gone, Steve!” Bucky cried into Steve’s uniform, the blue turning navy with the tears. “She called me James! She doesn’t know who I am, I can't- I don know- what did they-”

“Bucky, it’s alright,” Steve calmed him as Bucky began to hyperventilate, “we’re going to get her back, I promise.” Steve gripped onto Bucky’s shoulders and they both stood, a little wobbly but both were extremely tired and light headed. “I’ll handle everything,” they walked to the jet, “just be there for her and I figure everything else out, alright?” Steve made Bucky look at him. 

“Sure…” was all Bucky could muster. 

They all made it to the jet, you were placed in a room off to the right. Bucky went right in there to see you curled on the ground when there was an examination table in the middle of the room, he kneeled beside you and ghosted a hand down your shin to try and get your attention. 

“It’s Bucky, let’s sit up on the table, okay?” Bucky eased but you didn’t move, his eyes closed as he fought with himself. He didn’t want to abuse your injected substance, but he really needed you on the exam table to check your wounds. “On the exam table.” he didn’t speak harshly or yell, it was just Bucky’s normal tone. 

You shot up instantly and sat on the edge of the table, your legs hung off it and the lab coat was forgotten, it was still around you but it seemed you were told to be naked so often it became second nature. Bucky turned toward you and stood between your legs so he could get a good look at you, he could tell you were staring deep into his eyes, he didn’t want to look in yours yet, he wanted to look you deep in the eyes and have you pull him in for a kiss, maybe it was selfish but he needed it. 

“I’m going to do something called a head-to-toe check,” he informed but he knew you knew what this was. He slipped on the disposable gloves, “I know you have cuts and scars but I need to find active bleeding first, alright?” Bucky held up his hands to show nothing was on the gloves. “Tell me if I’m making you uncomfortable.”

“Nothing is-”

“That’s an order.” Bucky added, “I’m commanding you to tell me if you don’t want me touching somewhere,” he knew he had checked you, there might be a way you could find a loophole in his command and get him further from a checkmate but he was making progress. 

His hands gently tapped all around you, he was asking questions as he did so but you didn’t answer any of them. You were now looking straight forward, when Bucky looked to your face for any sign of his girl you’d give no hints or answer. His hands worked down to your chest, he hesitated over your breasts but you gave no indication that you were uncomfortable, when he looked for bumps, bruises, or blood he didn’t find much, just scratch marks that looked old. He did the same when he hit your waist, not a lot of touching but looking, it wasn’t thorough but he knew you wouldn’t say anything and he might trigger you again. 

His gloves weren’t picking up much, most cuts were partly healed and the bruises were very noticeable. Part of a head-to-toe check is seeing how the victim reacts to the pressure, if you tap their stomach and they flinch it could be internal bleeding or a broken rib, but you weren’t giving any sign of hurt. He knew you could feel the broken bones and the bruises but you would never tell him in the mindset you’re in. he watched for little twitches in the eye or some type of pull away from him wherever he touched, Bucky wanted to reach in and find your brain so that you could tell him what hurts; he wanted to help you so bad. 

“Do you know how long you’ve been gone?” Bucky asked as he picked up your left leg, turning and examining it. He found a deep red mark on the edge of a purple bruise on your ankle, there was the exact same one on the other and on your wrists. He pushed away your hair and moved the lab coat back to find a massive bruise with cuts all around your neck, it was impeccable your vocal chords weren’t fried after being put in that cuff contraption. 

“Gone from where?” you asked robotically, you didn’t even look at him. 

Bucky was taken back by your answer, he stumbled with his hands as he switched legs. “F-from home, y/n. Shield, home?” 

“Hydra is my home, it was where I was created.” your head turned to allow your eyes to lock with Bucky’s. 

Part of him wanted to scream and shake your head so hard it might knock a memory back in place, he wanted to tell you of your story and how you both grew. Bucky wanted to tell you about the drawings you do with Steve or the boxing in the early mornings, he wanted to overflow you with emotions but he knew they’d hit a brick wall. 

Bucky finished his exam but he needed to keep you for himself for a little longer, he pretended to check your pupils and pulse three more times but all he wanted was to feel the warmth of your skin. His eyes would catch the tip of your nose swinging as he moved you slightly, he had an entire set of questions just for that. But he just kept looking at you for no reason. He’d ask if you’re cold and you’d say no, he’d ask if you were hungry and you’d say no. he’d ask if you were thirsty, you’d say no. 

So he stopped asking, “drink this water.” He pulled the little water bottle from the back of his belt loop, the little tear drop shaped bottle fit perfectly in her hands. 

You grasped the frosted bottle, it seemed familiar to you. You never got water in your cell, you’d have to suck on the floor after the doctor left; they’d always wake you up by dumping ice water on your head. Calloused fingers gripped and felt the bottle, something was happening in your brain that you couldn't quite understand, you were feeling something deep within you. 

“Drink.” Bucky said again. 

“Wait,” you whispered, all you saw was black form shutting your eyes so tight. You didn’t see Bucky’s face as he waited to see if this water bottle would trigger something from right before you were taken, this was the water bottle you had introduced to the group. 

A picture was unfolding in your head, it was a big room with people all around. There was a couch that some were sitting on while one stood in front of them, the one standing was smiling. The people on the couch were leaned in to listen, some held their chin in their hand as they too, were also smiling. The little bottle of water you were holding was also in this picture, the one standing seemed to be presenting it like a game show host, showing it off as if it was new. The picture began to move and the people standing took a seat next to another person, they cuddled close and began whispering to each other with iggles in between. A pen made its way across the couch and ended up at the two who looked like a couple, one wrote a heart next to their name while the other did it normally. 

Your eyes shot open at the sound of the pop, you were squeezing the bottle so hard it exploded. Your eyes frantically searched around and when they landed on the other set of eyes in the room you lunged for a hug. 

“Bucky!” you screamed, “thank you!” You wrapped your arms around him so tight. Bucky hesitated before clinging to you like a life source, “I thought it would’ve taken you longer,” you sighed into his touch. 

“We left you there for too long,” Bucky whispered, his face his deep in your neck.

You pulled away with tears in your eyes, you looked to him but he kept looking down, “is there something on my nose?” you asked, Bucky was looking between your eyes and nose. Your finger went to touch but pulled away at the feeling of something dangling, “what is that?” you screamed and felt it again. 

“It’s the injection side effect, I think.” Bucky added he felt around your face to try and see if you were actually real or if this was some sick joke Wanda was playing on him. 

“What injection? They just took my blood once so far,” you shrugged and felt the back on your head, “there was a scab there before, it hurts like crazy, like a pulsing thing.'' You brought your other hand back to try and find that scab you felt what seemed like hours ago. Your hair felt dirtier than the last time you remembered, it was one big clump when you moved it.

“Sit down.” Bucky said, you moved back on the seat without a second thought.

With wide eyes you looked up to Bucky, “I didn’t want to sit...Bucky what did you do?” you asked, it looked like you were glued there as you tried to get off. 

“What day is it?” Bucky asked cautiously, his hands coming back to cup your face. 

“September twenty third, I didn’t hit my head it’s not a con-”

“It's October third.” Bucky breathed out, “oh my god…” he whispered and pulled you into another hug, he gently rubbed your back as you stayed rigid in his hold. 

The plane began to drop and Bucky knew it was just landing but with everything rushing against you like a title wave it felt like the plane was crashing. Bucky held you tight as you slashed around in his grip, pleads to any higher power you could think of to keep you alive didn’t seem to work. The plane froze and you stayed gripped to Bucky, he brought you out of the medical room. The three others just looked at you, not wanting to get their hopes up. But when you ran over to them and asked what day it was they seemed to be more disappointed, they just pulled you in for a hug and tried to calm you down like Bucky did. 

All at once medical staff open the jet doors, people rushing to you and you. Bucky was trying to cut through the crowd to get to you but medical staff were getting in the way and holding him back, he could see your frantic search for him. 

“You’re gonna trigger her, s-stop, this isn’t-”

A medical staff member flew back and knocked a few others over, everyone began to calm down and slow their moments. You were right over the person you pushed trying to help them up, apologizing profusely, they kept moving back and away from you. 

“Y-you were holding a needle, I’m sorry.” you eased. 

“Sedate her!” another yelled. 

You ran down and out of the jet to try and get away from the many needles that, what seemed like, every medical member was holding. There was just noise surrounding you, vision began to tunnel right when the pounding in your ears began, at the back of your head there seemed to be a knife stabbing you. 

“Get a gurney!” the voice cut through the shouts and chasing. 

Everything stopped and you froze from your worried state to complete your mission, someone ordered you to find a gurney, you must complete it. There was one waiting outside, you walked over with your back straight and your chin up. There was no need to look behind you shoulder but you did so anyway to make sure no threats were also in need of the gurney, everyone behind you was just still and watched you. This must be a test, after that realization you did everything quickly and efficiently to avoid punishment. 

When you brought the gurney to the voice who shouted it they told you to get on as well, Bucky was by your side and offering an arm to help get on but you didn’t take it. People were shouting orders to one another and you kept trying to get up to fulfill the command but Bucky kept holding you down. Some medical staff were trying to shove him away but he stood his ground and kept a hand holding you.

“Why do I keep wanting to do all these things?” you frantically aske as you tried to stand again.

“I’ll explain later, don’t worry,” he squeezed your hand as you made it into your exam room. Hands felt all around you, the lab coat was long forgotten so you sat on the table naked. Bucky was right against the wall and kept an eye on you, though your brain was next to scrambled eggs he could still read you like a book.

“We need to take some blood, might also need to give something to sedate her.” it was, what looked like, the head of this team that spoke.

Another picture flashed before your eyes. The needles and this blue liquid that went into you. Bucky had told you something called ‘ice’ but you didn’t know what that meant. Blood would be taken from you then without you looking, they would stick whatever serum Bucky was talking about in your arm. Voices and sounds rushed into your head as these pictures moved and changed to show that you weren’t there for as long as you thought you were, in your mind a different doctor repeated the same motions over and over and over again. You were covered in water and somebody was talking over you from inside of the cell, their voice seemed as though they too were underwater so you couldn’t quite make out what they were saying, but one part stood out. They were saying how they did this all without you noticing, how you were too confident, how you were strong and yet you’d look away from the needles when they were stuck into your arm. 

All of these people who you failed to remember that were surrounding you now, all had needles and some had already taken your blood, but you were going to be cautious now, you were going to be aware because you didn’t want to forget everything again. Before anyone could stick anything else in you, your arms flew out to the side and gripped as many syringes as you could, they were smashed to the ground and the clear liquid spilled and dripped on the floor. People were beginning to hold you down but you broke free from their dead grass pushing away the velcro straps that were about to go around your ankles and wrists.

Someone managed to get a strap on your left ankle without you noticing, that sensation of being cuffed made another picture float in your mind. It was a large metal contraption with silver Cuban links and five cuffs, two around your wrists, two around your ankles, and the final one went around your neck. Once they were all attached to you, you were suspended in the air as your entire body weight was being held up by your limbs and neck, even though only one bound was attached to you now, you could still feel the weight of all of it crashing back onto you. 

With one large tug the Velcro cuff snapped, you tried to get up and off the table to run to Bucky, he was the only one left in the room that you knew and trusted. He was also trying to make his way to you simultaneously, reading the fear etched deep into your eyes. No medical staff was trying to hold him back so he ripped through all of them and got to you quickly, you couldn’t really hear what he was saying because the pounding in your head that was pinpointed right at the back of your neck was starting to pound into your ears. But you could make out his lips that were moving, you can remember faintly kissing them, the feeling was on the tip of your tongue but you couldn’t quite make out what it really felt like. He was telling you it was going to be okay, at one point he said that you could sleep now and that he’d be there when you wake up, you really didn’t want to trust him but you were so tired and your head hurt so bad.

You didn’t even see or feel the syringe plunge deep into the crook of your neck as he held your face and made your eyes look right into his.

Winter Makes Ice tag list: @small-death-and-codeine​ @commonintrest​ @buckyys-doll​  @lil-baby-nor 

let me know if you want a tag!!!

[michaelmilligan]

Endversetober Day 20: Survival

(explanation post) (compilation post)

Zombies screeched, trying to flee, as blood splattered onto the ground. Swirling around, Michael took off the heads of three more, then smote a fourth that had gotten a little further away.

There was shooting behind him, the humans defending themselves again after their initial shock of an archangel jumping into the fight had worn off.

Or at least one human was defending herself, her hands steady and aim true. The other human, barely more than a teenager, was ducking behind her, whimpering.

“Pull yourself together, Kevin!” the woman bellowed, just as one of her bullets made a zombie's head explode.

The kid jumped, and fumbled with his own gun, but his hands were shaking. “B-but mom...”

He shrieked when a zombie jumped at him, but Michael had been watching and threw the axe he had picked up earlier. It went clean through the creature's head, and buried itself into a tree behind it.

The kid was whimpering again.

Poor guy, Adam said in their head. He'd been quiet for a while, but Michael continued to ignore him in favour of snapping some more zombies' necks.

While he was killing things, his mind was focused. Unclouded, except perhaps by rage.

But the rage never stopped these days, anyways.

When it was over, the last zombie slain, Michael almost regretted it. The thoughts of inadequacy immediately rushed in again, about how he'd ruined this world, how he had neglected and actively destroyed his Father's creation.

And he'd done it on purpose.

“Thanks,” the woman said to him, even as she pulled the kid named Kevin to his feet.

“Don't thank me,” he told her harshly.

“Listen, I don't know who or what you are, but you saved me and my son, so you're gonna have to live with my gratefulness.”

For the first time, Michael really looked at her. She was tiny, a good foot smaller than Adam, but with her head held high and her immaculate posture, she was far more impressive than most humans Michael had met so far.

“I suppose I'll have to make do,” Michael said, then turned and grabbed the last living zombie by the scruff. He had only impaired it so it couldn't run.

With the struggling zombie in hand, Michael flew off... and then threw the zombie at Raphael's feet. “I have another one for you.”

Raphael sighed, but didn't turn around from the operating table they'd strapped their latest 'patient' to. “Put it in the hold.”

They gestured towards a small cell, where two other zombies were already wailing and clawing at the bars.

“How did you get these so fast since I was last here?” Michael wondered out loud while he shoved his zombie into the cell, flashing his eyes so the others wouldn't try anything stupid.

“You're not my only supplier,” Raphael said dryly. They'd barely looked at him since they'd left Heaven.

Perhaps they wouldn't, until they found a cure for this plague.

However long that would take.

I'm sure they're just stressed, Adam said gently.

Michael bristled. I DON'T NEED YOUR PITY.

After a beat, Adam said: Good, because you don't have it. But you do have my sympathy, and you're gonna have to live with that, too.

Michael sighed, which actually got him a glance from Raphael. Only a brief one, though.

THE THINGS I HAVE TO PUT UP WITH, he grumbled, and flew them to the next hot-zone.

Despite the clear strain that flying always put on Adam, there was still a trace of amusement coming from his soul.

[mischiefmanaged71]

Turning Tables (1/8) - Joaquin Torres x Reader

Summary: The instances where Joaquin and Y/N try to express their feelings and the one time they did. 

Author’s Note: I may turn this into a series following the show’s timeline if enough people like it! So far, I’ve planned five parts. Please, let me know what you guys think. Y/N’s powers are ‘mimicking’ others talents and abilities, SIMILAR TO X-MEN’S ROGUE. Check out my other fic, ‘Bad Romance’ - its not related to the show’s exact plot but its pretty epic if you love action and romance.

Warnings: Fluff, canon-level violence, action, slow-burn

Pairing: Joaquin Torres x fem!reader

Word Count: 3K

“The criminal organisation known as LAF is targeting Captain Vasant, one of our military liaisons.”

The hum of the plane continued to drum in the background as they received their instructions.

“LAF?”, Sam asked.

“Yeah, they’re high powered. We lost contact with Vasant’s plane just after it took off.”, the Captain informed.

“We need you to make sure that LAF doesn’t deliver on their threat.”

You listened from the front of the hanger, strapping on your gear as Sam walked over. His hand gripped your shoulder, pulling your attention away from the straps of your boots.

“You ready?”, Sam asked.

“I have to be”

“I’m your only backup in the sky.”, you joked, winking at Sam.

“Vasant’s plane has already entered Tunisian airspace. US military cannot be seen operating out there.”

Sam knocks on a button, triggering the door’s release. A red light flares along with a siren as the hanger doors drop. You squint your eyes as you peer down at the drop.

“Got it. You guys fly low, drop us off, we fly up to intercept. No treaties violated.”

“How are our eyes on the ground?”, you ask the Captain, adjusting the com in your ear.

“First Lieutenant Torres, our intel officer, will be helping on the ground. And Sam, this has to be subtle.”

“Subtle. Got it.”, he said, before free falling out of the plane. You peer out into the open space as Sam falls before he initiates his wings, shooting him forwards.

You roll your eyes and breathe out a soft laugh.

“I’ll make sure he sticks to the plan.”, you assure the Captain.

You close your eyes, breathing deeply and searching for that spark within. It’s a growing feeling, one that existed from a long time ago, but it's still there. It remains just as the others have. 

Gripping onto it is like opening a new door each time, engulfed by a different skin which takes over. 

It shocks your system for a second and then quickly adjusts. 

Your eyes flash open, filled with adrenaline as you inhale deeply and an orange glow begins to overtake your sight. 

Your uniform whips against you as you creep closer to the edge and take the leap, diving head first with your legs and arms held tightly by your side. Pushing your hands and feet behind you, you’re launched up and against the wind. 

Adrenaline pumps through your chest as you soar past clouds, leaving the plane behind you.  You swoop down, spotting the red suit and wings from a distance as he circles around for the plane.

“Sam, (Y/N), Torres here. Sending intel to your HUD right now,” 

“I’ll be your boots on the ground.”, Joaquin spoke into his com.

“Copied, Lieutenant. How are we looking?”, you asked, following behind Sam.

“Stable so far. I can see Sam. Where are you?”

“Look up, Flyboy.”, you teased, sweeping in a curve and kicking your feet out, as you blasted off to catch up with Sam. A burst of air billowed off you as you’re launched forward.

You hear a low whistle through the coms as you slow down your descent. 

“Stop showing off for Torres, Y/L/N.”, Sam interjected.

“I got eyes on a plane. Any sign of LAF?”

“Nah. nothing yet. But I’ll keep tracking the chatter.”, Torres replied.

“On your left.”, you shot at Sam as you floated on the opposite side of the plane, hovering out of sight of the pilot. 

Laying on the windscreen, Sam glanced inside at the body in the co-pilot seat.

“They’ve already hijacked the plane.”

“Oh, we’re gonna need to call some people.”, Torres exclaimed.

“Just what I needed today.”, you chided, sighing. 

Suddenly, Sam shuffled back and shot his wings out, flying backwards and out of sight. 

“Subtly, at its finest, Wilson.”, you stated, circling around to follow around the back. 

“Tracking back.”

“Okay, switching to Plan B.”, Sam spoke over the coms

“Remind me what Plan B was again,” you asked.

“Red Wing, engage.”, detattaching from the suit, Red wing assaults the door with lasers, releasing it with a blast.

Sam retracts his wings and launches into the ship, kicking Batroc in the chest. Assaulting the pirate with a kick to the head, he takes on the next guy with a right hook to the jaw, throwing him into the wall. 

You glide into the plane, narrowly missing the fist flying at your head. Ducking down, you strike your knee into your assailant’s stomach, directing a fist into his face.  You slam your foot into his chest, sending him flying off his feet. 

Sam kicks one of them in the side, sending them towards you as you roundhouse kick him through the only exit.

Sudden light fills your vision as bullets rain down. Bullets ricochet off of The Falcon suit but the wings shield the both of you. Suddenly the plane tips forwards, sending you all flying up. Tucking yourself in, you strike the ground, manoeuvring to grab a hold of Vasant as the plane continues to drift downwards. 

Kneeling down, you placed your hands on his shoulders, tugging him into a seated position. 

“Captain Vasant, let’s get you out of here.”, you said.

Your next movements are interrupted with a kick to your back, forcing you into a wall. Groaning, you look at your attacker, backing up as he approaches with raised fists. 

Batroc lunges at you with a swipe but you dodge, aiming a kick at his knee. He swipes his leg in a circle to knock your off your feet and slam you into the floor. You’re quick to roll over and dodge another kick to the abdomen and cart behind him. Launching yourself on his back, you grip your legs tightly around his neck and vault him over you. 

Batroc huffs, jumping up to strike his leg down on you but he’s intercepted by Sam’s kick to his chest which knocks him backwards.

Now that Batroc was occupied, you pursued the men holding Vasant. Fire brewing between your palms, you form a lasso, sweeping and snatching the leg of the man gripping Vasant’s arm. Wrenching your arm backwards, the man smacks the floor and you’ve caught their attention. One of them tugs a gun from his belt, fire off a round which you flick away with a hand. A massive blast ignites, sending you hard on your back. Your ears ring as you grip your throbbing head. 

Glancing up, you see the remaining agents clad in gear, jumping with Vasant strapped to one of them.

Batroc empties his entire clip on Sam who dodges behind his wings. With a smirk, Batroc slips on his helmet and leaps from the plane. 

Only a glance shared between the two of you, you and Sam leap from the plane. Diving forwards, you flip and kick your feet together to soar towards the descending pirates. They continue to shoot at you but Sam swings around and pulls his parachute. 

You pursue Batroc, following as Sam propels with skill through the canyon. The gaps become narrower until you’re dropping to miss incoming helicopter machine-gunfire. Swerving around rock formations, a plane follows your path as another pursues Sam.

“All subtlety has gone to shit by this point,” your voice portrayed little of the anxiety now rising in your chest.

“Redwing, get them off our ass!”, Sam yelled as Redwing ejected and launched missiles at the helicopter’s engine, bringing it down with an explosion.

“Y/N, you alright up there?”, Joaquin’s voice filtered through your com.

“Well, I’m being trailed by machine gunfire so not too bad.”, you sarcastically retorted. 

Darting upwards, you jet yourself upwards to cart over the plane and behind it. Gripping your palms together, you position your index fingers in-line with the engine and a ball of energy explodes. The craft blows up in smoke and fire as you whoop.

“OH! Ha Ha”, Joaquin laughed in exhilaration, looking through his binoculars.

Finally spotting the last aircraft with Batroc and Vasant, you bolt for the craft, Sam behind you. The man beside them pulls out a missile launcher, you’re close enough that if you dodge, Sam will be hit. Bracing with your hands crossed, a light barrier shields you as explosion hits you. You’re blasted backwards, rocketing to the ground.

Sam ducks around the smoke, “Y/N!”

Your back collides with a rocky surface and an intense pain pulses through you as your vision clouds.

“Y/N! Y/N! Are you okay? Can you hear me?”, Joaquin shouted.

“...Feeling a bit rough, gimme a minute.”, you whispered, rolling to lean on your elbows.

There are mere minutes before Batroc crosses the Libyan border with Captain Vasant.

“All right, heads up! You’re about to fly into Libyan airspace.” 

“And I assume they have a problem with that?”

“Yeah, yeah, a big problem. A big problem.”, Joaquin emphasised, nodding his head frantically.

“How long I got?”, Sam asks

“Ninety seconds.”

Missiles explode around Sam, knocking him from side to side. He’s barely dodging them when a pillar of flames zips behind him and through the aircraft, ripping it in two to reveal your hovering figure. 

“I said I had your ass.”, you chided with a smirk.

Joaquin’s voice shouts through the coms, “Sam! We got to call it off! We gotta find another way!”, Joaquin yells.

“I just did.”, he answered smugly as he retracted his wings and grabbed Vasant before the final missiles destroyed the craft.

“WOOH!”, you yelled as you descended to the ground.

You spot Joaquin cheering and pumping his fist in the air excitedly. Your smile grows wider as you chuckle at his excitement. Your feet meet the ground as you land, kicking up dirt with it.

“One hell of a mission, Torres.”

“You were incredible out there. Are you okay? You were quite literally hit with a missile. Then again, how are you even standing?”, Joaquin worried, gripping your shoulders.

“I’ll be fine. It’s my invulnerability.”, you brushed it off but your breath hitched as you gripped your back.

“Invulnerability or not, there’s no way you're getting back to base on your own.”, he guided your waist to the passenger side, opening the door for you to climb in. 

You sighed in relief as you sat, 

“Thank you, but I'd be fine to fly back, I’ve done it before.”

“What? You’ve been shot with a missile before?!”, he exclaimed in shock. 

You chuckled at the pure look of concern on his face, 

“Avenger, remember Flyboy?", you pointed at your chest.

“Yeah, how could I forget?”, he let out a breathy laugh.

*** 

Tunisia

Sat in an outdoor café, the streets are bustling with music and chatter. After the mission, you all needed a bit of calm. Joaquin returns with a tray of tea for you all.

He placed a cup in front of you.

“Thanks.”, you smiled up at him as he sighed and sat between you and Sam who was fixing Redwing’s circuiting.

Joaquin pointed towards the wiring, 

“You could try to reroute that to the other…”

“Hey, could you not?”

Sam nudges his hands away, eliciting a chuckle from you as you leaned your head on your palm. 

“Oh.”, Joaquin chuckles and backs off, making eye contact with you at Sam’s remark.

“I’ve been working with the Air Force for six months now. Every time ops touches him, he gets all glitchy.”

“Well, you know, those poor techs can’t keep up with a billion returning IP addresses and your sick-ass Stark level tech.”

You all laugh at that reality. The world you live in is stranger than just advanced tech when you can wield fire in one hand and break someone’s wrist in the other.

Joaquin looked at you, 

“You feelin’ better?”

“Yes. I’m fine, don’t worry. Sam, will you tell him, I’m fine.”

“She’s fine. I’ve seen the woman take on Iron Man’s pulsar rays head-on.”

But Joaquin’s gaze continues to flicker back to the open gash on your forehead.

“Hehehey! Avengers! Assalama!”, a Tunisian man approached your table, addressing Sam in Arabic.

What surprised you both was Sam’s response.

Joaquin pointed his phone at Sam, “He knows Arabic.”

“Your pronunciation is incredible, Wilson.”, you fired towards him, leaning forwards.

“Wait, can you say that again? Hold on a sec.”, Joaquin teased.

“All right. Come on.”

Joaquin let out a breathy laugh, rising from his seat to scan the area with his phone.

“These LAF crews, they’re tryin’ to take advantage of all the chaos and make some money. And that I get, but there’s…”

“Whatcha doin?”, you asked.

“Oh, bam! Right there!”, Joaquin stopped, leaning over you to show his screen to you and Sam. He was close enough that you felt flustered as your cheeks began to burn. Hovering on the screen was a red image of a hand holding the Earth.

“You see these guys? They’re guys you gotta worry about. I’ve been stumbling onto their manifestos on message boards. They're called the Flag Smashers.”

“I swear, everybody’s got a gimmick.”, you remarked, looking at Sam with a knowing look. You’d been in the game since you discovered your abilities at the age of fourteen.

“Is that a new thing? Bad guys give themselves bad names.”

“There’s a lot worse names than that one.”, Joaquin’s eyebrows  perked up.

You creased your eyes, wondering, how it could get any worse than ‘Flag Smashers’. 

“But basically, they think that the world was better during The Blip. Trust me, it wasn’t.”

You sigh, eyes cast down on the table as you think over it. 

Five years. 

All of your friends and family who remained had moved on for five years without you, thinking you were dead. That was, until the living Avengers fought to bring everyone back. Although, not without losing a few in the process.

“Trust me. Every time something gets better for one group, it's worse for another.”, Sam stated.

“Yeah. Essentially, these people, they want a world that’s unified without borders. So you could see why a lot of people are into that.”

“Yeah, keep an eye on it. If anything gets serious, you let me know.”

A massive grin spread over Joaquin’s features,

“No doubt. I’ll...I’ll, uh...I’ll track the online chatter, see what they’re saying.”

You smile at Joaquin’s eager nature and pure smile. It was cute how he went from First Lieutenant to fanboy in mere seconds.

Your phone buzzed in your pocket, urging your attention. You gripped Joaquin’s shoulder as you stood to take the call,

“I’ll be right back.”

Sam had a knowing look on his face as he looked from the hand you rested on Joaquin’s shoulder to the affection in Joaquin’s eyes as you drifted off to the side.

“This is Y/N.”, you answered.

Silence reverberated from the caller’s end.

“Hello?”

“Y/N...It’s...It’s Bucky.”

“Hey, how are you doing?”, you crossed your arms, still gripping the phone in one hand.

“I’m fine.”

“How’s therapy going?” 

“It’s going...The usual, you know?”

“Bucky...you know that I’m always here, right? Whenever you want to talk or just sit in silence, I’m there.”

“Yeah I know.”, he whispered on the other end, leaning against his couch on the floor.

“I mean it. My doors are always open. Not literally, but who’s going to mess with little ol’ me?”, you joked.

Bucky let out a breathy laugh, 

“Thanks.”

“No need to thank me, Buck. Just take care of yourself, okay?”, you looked over at the boys who stared back at you as you crept closer to the table.

You heard Bucky sigh, 

“When do you get back?”

“Sam and I depart soon so I should be back in the States by tomorrow.”

“Alright, take care...Bye, Y/N.”

“See you soon, Buck.”, you ended the call.

“Was that Buckaroo?”, Sam asked as you sat down.

You rolled your eyes, 

“Yes, it was.”

Sam turned his head in confusion, 

“I’ve been tryin’ to get that man to answer my texts for weeks and nothing. How did you get him to call you?”

Sam saw the smile retreat from Joaquin’s face at the mention.

“I guess we’re closer than you are. Also, could be the fact you call him names like - Oh, I don’t know - Cyborg, Terminator, Barnes and Noble?”, you suggested with raised eyebrows.

“Nah, can’t be that.”, Sam dismissed it.

“Check it. We’re headed back to DC.”

“Alright.”, you grabbed your bag off the floor.

“Before I go. Joaquin?”

Joaquin perked up, his attention solely on you.

“Yeah?”

“Don’t forget to keep me updated on the Smashers chatter. We make a pretty good team.”

“Alright, yeah...yeah, of course. I...Uh,”, he fumbled.

“You should probably give him your phone number so he can call you.”, Sam snipped from behind you.

Joaquin nervously laughed, 

“Having your number would make it a whole lot easier.”

You shook your head as you reached over and gripped his wrist, grabbing his phone to enter your details.

“Done.”, you handed Joaquin his phone back.

He slipped his hands in his pockets, 

“So...I guess I’ll see you when I see you.”

A grin spread across your mouth as you tugged a bag over your shoulder,

“I guess so, Flyboy.”

“And I’m still here.”, Sam reminded you, earning a smack on the back of the head from you.

“Hey!”

***

Thanks for reading, lovely! Comment, tag and reblog! Let me know your thoughts and if you have any questions or prompts, don’t be afraid to ask! xx 

ALSO, tag me if YOU write any Joaquin Torres fics.

TAGS:

@remmysbounty @cjsinkythoughts @merceret @samscaptain @gryffindorwriter

[reinersbb]

𝐅𝐎𝐑𝐆𝐄𝐓 [𝐉𝐞𝐚𝐧 𝐊𝐢𝐫𝐬𝐜𝐡𝐭𝐞𝐢𝐧 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫] Chapter Four- Little Birdie

Chapter Four of Forget

The days from that eventful Saturday night passed on at a dreadful pace. It was official, midterms sucked a considerable amount, that much you were sure of. After a long week of exams, all you wanted to do was stay bustled in your bed after such a treacherous week.

Instead of taking a much-needed break with your free time, you were currently scrounging around your dorm. Carefully placing items that belonged to Floch in a cardboard box.

You had the slightest urge to keep ahold of one object, just one, one of his jackets as a remembrance of what was of the two of you. But at the last second, you decided against the idea and packed it in with the rest of his stuff.

"Where are you going again?" Ymir dabbed at her bottom lip using the back of her wrist to wipe the settlement of milk away that came from her bowl of cereal.

"I have to meet up with Floch and give him his stuff back," you said, continuing to double-check your dorm if you'd happened to find everything that belonged to him.

"You're a better person than I am," Ymir said, tilting her head back to drink the rest of the milk out of the disposable plastic cereal bowl, "I'd throw all of his stuff away without batting an eye."

The other day, you and Floch had a conversation over text to meet up and swap your belongings. Floch messaging you out the blue surprised you greatly. You hadn't talked to him since last Friday, the day he broke up with you.

"Yeah, well I want my stuff back from him," you replied, while it wasn't a complete lie, you wanted your possessions back, but you also wanted a reason to see him again.

And you hated yourself for it.

While Floch hadn't been too much on your mind, as soon as he messaged you asking to meet up, you couldn't keep him off of your brain.

"I think I have everything," you said while picking up the cardboard box, "I guess I'll be leaving now."

Tucking the box under your arm, your hip supported the box as you turned to look at Ymir. Ymir was getting up from her bed, putting away the disposable bowl into a wastebasket.

"Don't waste too much of your time on him," Ymir laughed.

"It's a get in, get out type of operation, I swear," you rolled your eyes, a smirk pulling at your lips as you headed for the door.

"If he's a dick to you and hurts your feelings just let me know and I'll kick his ass for you," what Ymir said sounded like a promise she had every intention on keeping.

But you brushed off her brute antics with a gentle smile, "thanks, Ymir."

You knew she'd have your back, for that you were thankful.

——————

Scanning the cafe thoroughly, your gaze combed over the herd of people until familiar fiery red hair fell upon your vision. Floch sat hunched forward, his attention dwelling into his cell phone. The cardboard box you'd been holding onto slapped against the table's surface Floch was sitting at as soon as you approached him. Causing him to jump, he nearly dropped his phone he'd been so well immersed in.

"You scared me," Floch lowered his phone to look up at you.

You couldn't help but laugh, "sorry," you lied.

"Let's just get this over with," he said with a sigh as he reached for a wrinkled shopping bag beside him that held all of your possessions.

He'd barely bat an eye to shove your things into a bag while you'd had the common decency to at least fold and put away with his things accordingly? The sight of carelessness alone left bitter distaste in your mouth.

And now you were silently regretting the decision to handle this transaction in public.

Then again, what did he owe you? It's not like he was your boyfriend anymore, he didn't have to hold the same amount of respect for you or your belongings any longer.

Maybe you were just too nice, especially to the guy who'd dumped you.

"Uh," you swapped the box for your bag of belongings, "thanks, Floch."

As Floch was examining the contents of the box, you couldn't stop yourself from speaking again.

"So, how you been?" As soon as the words left your lips, you bit down on your tongue as a knee-jerk reaction.

'Shut. The. Hell. Up.'

Why worry about his well-being? It was obvious he didn't reciprocate the same concern.

"I've been okay," his eyes bored into you without any interest. "Do we have to do this forced small talk right now? I've somewhere to be," Floch spoke again, standing up from the table.

"Of course, yeah," you took a step back, allowing him some space.

You wanted him to turn around and say something else, say something to you. A goodbye at least.

But all hope was lost as you watched Floch's backside as he walked away from you. There was no inclination that he'd turn around and catch a glimpse of you on his way out the building.

The plastic material that ringed around your hand fell victim to your nails as your fist clenched tightly. Your fingernails dug deep into your palm's soft flesh while watching Floch as he finally cut from your line of sight. The departure only leaving a dull pinch at your heart.

The rest of your body hardly kept up with the speed of your feet as you headed for the direction you originally entered from. Even though you were going back to your dorm to check out the contents of the bag, you peeled back the bag to take a quick look inside.

Your breathing stilled when you noticed an unfamiliar pattern on a shirt settled on the top of the rest of the items in the bag. Pausing for a beat in time, your feet locked on the ground beneath you as your hand meticulously scooped the shirt out of the bag to examine the material.

The shirt smelled of floral perfume, the potent kind that'd give a straight headache with a singular whiff. There was one thing for certain, this wasn't your shirt.

On the inside of your mouth, your teeth pinched at your cheek, fist crumbling the sheer cotton material as you pushed through the exit- only mildly running through people's way mid-process. Your heart was beating a thousand miles a minute out of blind rage.

There could only be one explanation, he'd been cheating on you with some other girl as the two of you were dating. That could be the only reason why there was a shirt in the bag that didn't belong to you. That or it was from a hookup after the two of you broke up, but you chose the latter.

Asking Floch about it definitely wasn't an option.

Within an instant, the shirt was tossed into the garbage as soon as you came across a waste bin. You didn't want to think about it. You knew nothing good would come about if you dwelled. But then again, what would change if you knew the truth?

With a sigh, you pushed your weight away from the trash can and took a moment to forward your attention to the dull sky above you. There you watched a formation of birds pass above in a tight-knit formation, and in the back of your head, you'd only wondered why you couldn't have been born as a bird instead. Then that way life wouldn't be as difficult, at least that was your thinking, even if it seemed a bit childish in the least.

"Are you feeling okay? You look like you're about to implode or explode or something," a familiar voice called out from beside, and your eyes reluctantly lifted to see Eren approaching.

"You hardly look recognizable when sober," you adjusted your stance to match face to face with Eren.

Eren stood tall, his hand hooked around the strap of his backpack that lazily laid on his right shoulder. His hair was tied back into a bun and the strands of his hair hardly weren't as messy from the first time you saw him.

"I'll take that as some sort of compliment and count that as you hitting on me," Eren whipped his head to knock all the loose strands of hair out of his face, a cheeky grin on his lips.

Out of response, you rolled your eyes but found yourself smiling as well. You could tell that under his flirtatious manner that he was only joking around.

"Sure, yeah, let's go with that."

"Back to my previous question, you're not going to explode or something-"

"No," you cut Eren short, "I'm not going to explode or whatever. My stupid ex pissed me off just now, that's all," you sighed, remembering the shirt that didn't belong to you.

"Exes tend to do that sometimes, but I wouldn't worry about it with whatever it was they did,"

"I guess," your voice trailed on, and you found yourself looking away from Eren to watch the crowd around you, unsure of what to say next.

It's only when Eren spoke again that your full attention was back on him in a heartbeat.

"Y'know a little birdie has been asking around about you."

"About me?" Your heart steadily galloped in your chest, "who?"

There could only be one person who'd been doing such things, you knew this. And you were thrilled in the least to think Jean had been speaking about you. But you didn't want to show any excitement and jump to conclusions in front of Eren, so playing coy would be your best bet.

Eren shot you a knowing look, "you two really seemed to hit it off when we were playing spin the bottle last week."

"Jean?" You asked with innocence.

"What about me?" A familiar voice from behind sent chills up your spine.

Through your peripheral vision, you watched as his presence cut to your right to stand in between you and Eren. Your toes tapped away in your shoes, deliberately battling away your nerves as you built up enough courage to look at the man you'd had a hook up with. And by Eren's word, the same man who'd been interested enough to ask about you.

"Speaking of the devil, I was just catching up with (Y/N) before you showed up," you felt a weight lift from your shoulders as Eren saved the moment.

Against your willpower, you couldn't contain your curiosity any longer when you finally glanced over at Jean. Jean's arms were wrapped around his chest as his narrow eyes were solely set on Eren.

"Talking about the party from last week," Eren spoke once again.

At the mention of the party, this was the first time Jean's eyes cut over to you. There was a glint of an indescribable emotion in his light brown hues as you held eye contact with him. You could almost put your finger on the emotion, it's almost like you'd seen the same look in his eyes before.

"Eren!"

Collectively, all three heads turned to a guy with short blonde hair with magnificent blue eyes.

"I'll catch you two later," Eren gave Jean a pat on his shoulder before sprinting off.

With Eren's newfound absence, there was a shift in the air around the two of you. Jean nonchalantly turned his head over to look at you once again. And instead of the cool exterior, he'd just been supporting, there was the faintest shift to relaxation in his demeanor.

"So," you twisted the shopping bag in your hand, unsure of what to say next.

"So..." Jean's voice trailed on, the corners of his mouth fighting the urge to curl into a grin.

"I'm sorry for just up and running the other night," you admitted, trying to cover your bashfulness.

Naturally, a bundle of nerves began to build up just by remembering the events that took place on the night of the party. Pressing your knees together, you fought back the memory that was clogging your mind to clear your headspace.

"If there's anyone who is in need of apologizing then it should be me for not getting any contact information to keep in touch with you when I had the chance."

A sharp jolt of electricity struck your heart, there was no point in trying to hide how fast your heart was beating.

Was he flirting with you?

'No...'

You played into his bid, "well, what's stopping you now, Jean?"

"Alright, I'll bite, can I see your phone please?"

"Sure."

Without any hesitation, you dug in your pocket for your phone. After unlocking your cell, the device flat in his palm that he held out. In a matter of seconds, Jean had your phone held out for you to take back.

"Here's mine," Jean said while handing his phone over to you.

Diligently you punched your number into his contacts, labeling yourself as your first name only. Only a few seconds later you were handing his phone back to him, his fingertips brushing against yours during the exchange.

"Sweet, now we can stay in touch," Jean bounced his phone against the palm of his hand. "Are you up to anything tonight?" He quickly added.

"Nothing much, really, why?" you replied, when in reality you'd been planning on binging YouTube videos in the comfort of your bed for the rest of the night and weekend.

"I was planning on going to this Halloween party tonight," his intense eyes scanned you up and down, "you should come too, it'll be fun."

"I'm assuming it would be some type of costume party? Does that mean I'd get to see you all dressed up?"

"Yeah I have a costume in mind," the lightest shade of pink crept on his face, "but you'll have to be there in person to see it."

"Sounds tempting, but I wouldn't know what to wear such short notice," It's not like you had a costume just lying about in your possession.

"Costumes are optional but they're encouraged."

"Give me some time to think about it, okay?" By looking at his face, you didn't have the heart in you to tell him no.

"Just shoot me a text whenever and I'll text you the address," Jean replied with a shrug, "or I'll just text you."

It wasn't until now that you noticed how close Jean was standing in front of you. Noticing the limited space between the two of you, his scent was intoxicating. A scent you were getting familiar with, warm cashmere, you could drown in it.

"Sounds good," you lifted a hand to send yourself off with a parting wave, "I have to get back to my dorm now, got some unfinished business to take care of."

And by unfinished business, you meant going through your belongings Floch gave back to you.

"Oh," Jean's smile faltered for a brief moment, but you didn't notice the disappointment in his voice when he spoke, "I'll leave you to it then."

"Bye, Jean," you'd already started on your departure, your feet sliding on the pavement beneath you as you took backward steps.

Jean found this amusing as he let out the faintest laugh, "see you later, (Y/N)."

Light brown hues stared through you until you turned your head with the rest of your body as you carried on home. During mid-process you glanced over your shoulder to look behind and steal a glance only to get caught by Jean himself. He'd turned to look over at you at the same time. A gallop in your heart and a boost in your step, you sped away in a fury of embarrassment.

Before you were even back to your room, there was a vibration from your phone. You pulled your phone out of your pocket as you scurried down the hallway, heading for your door that was just down the hall.

A message from Jean had your heart thumping.

'Already?'

Within an instant, you were checking the message.

Jean: I hope I get to see you again at the party tonight.

Along with Jean's message was an attachment of the address.

Unbeknownst to you, a smile had crept onto your face when you noticed that Jean had added a selfie of himself as the contact photo.

'When did he have time to sneak a photo?'

Pushing through the door to your room, you immediately tossed your bag at your bed. The bag fell to the floor just before reaching the bed.

"What the hell?" Ymir asked with a bewildered expression, a towel clutched in her hand as she dried her hair.

"Ymir," your voice was urgent as the door closed behind you after entering the room.

Ymir who'd had every intention on keeping her earlier promise greeted you with concern, "what is it? Did something happen?"

"I need your help finding a costume for a party tonight."

[flying-nightwing]

Double Cross (Jason Todd)

Hi people! So this is my little project I was talking about. A sudden blurb of inspiration led me to this and uh. Here it is! Once again, this is super experimental so yeah idk about its potential. You’ll be the judge of that I guess

This time I worked on time jumps back and forth and perspectives, so let me know how it turned out!

Masterlist in bio/pinned!

Pairing: Jason Todd x gender neutral!reader

Word count: 6937

Warnings: swearing, uhhh idk it’s dc so you know what you’re into 

-- 36 hours ago --

Your heart was beating hard against your ribcage as you flew down Washington DC's streets. Your motorcycle was burning under you, and you had a feeling you were on the clock to get off of this ticking time bomb before it exploded and brought you down with it. The bullet holes broke the black paint, decorating your bike in a way that flagged unwanted attention. About six blocks ago, unmarked cars had joined your fast paced parade across the city.

A terrible mistake, all of this was. That was certain. 

You took a sharp right, your knee scraping on the asphalt on the way. An infernal noise came out of your bike, but you still willed it to accelerate on the straight alley. You shot back on the main roads like a bullet, swerving around the black police car that had tried to cut you off. But soon enough, you saw the blockade on the street in front of you. You could never jump it with your bike so in disarray, and there were no viable alleys to sneak into. You shut your eyes tight for a moment, then exhaled.

"I'm sorry Jason" You muttered to yourself. "But you left me no choice"

With a firm grip, you pressed the brakes and came to a stop a fair distance from the blockade. You turned off your bike and kicked the foot to hold it up, slowly getting off and pulling your hands up. Shouts erupted around you as the police mobilised themselves in tight formations, guns up and ready to shoot. With one hand up, you undid your tinted black helmet and let it fall to the ground. 

"On your knees!" An officer shouted as he approached. "Keep your hands where I can see them"

You complied.

-- Now --

The white of the neons glaring down on you made your already tired eyes hurt, saturating your vision with a harsh and constant flash of light. You were left alone with a room temperature glass of water on your left and your own reflection on your right. You couldn’t hear them, but you knew they were there, observing you. Instead, all you could see was the dark bags under your eyes and your messy greasy hair. 

You perked up when two men in suits came in by the door in front of you, thin files in their hands and calculating glances. They were nicely dressed, one with a gray suit and the other, black. Both suits were obviously tailored to them. They sat down in front of you and observed you before the one in the gray suit spoke. Dark hair, blue eyes, taller than the other, maybe around six feet.

“Good morning, Agent”

You only nodded, looking down to the table. 

“My name is Agent Baker,” He said. “My colleague here is Agent Tanev. We will proceed to your debriefing”

“Sure” You nodded again.

Agent Baker set a recording device on the desk and turned it on. “Please tell us again why you are here today”

“I am--” You paused, clearing your throat. “I am here today to deliver crucial information on a wanted criminal in exchange for a pardon” 

“Which wanted criminal should that be?”

“The Red Hood” You said, meeting his eyes. “I have names of associates, safe houses locations, frequent territories of operation as well as his specific m.o.”

“How come you know all of this?” He asked, his voice neutral. “No seasoned agent has ever managed to get this close to him, let alone a rookie. We want to know how you gained his trust, start from the beginning, spare no details. Leave nothing out”

“I met the Red Hood during operation 7381 in northern Lithuania” You began as Agent Tanev started to take notes. “I was in the back up team for the extraction of General Kradiev from a local opposant group. I wasn’t supposed to even see action, as it should have been simple enough against an untrained mob, but when is it ever…”

They had known you were coming. A whole grab and go operation had been compromised by the feeling of invincibility of the CIA, that looked down so much on whoever they went against that they never stopped to think that maybe--maybe--they were prepared.

So when the Alpha team stormed the country house where the General was supposed to be kept and found it empty, all action plans were thrown out the window. The Beta team was mobilised to close off all the roads surrounding the area and to search for the hostage. You were ordered to search a single decaying house in between two pine trees because the structure was so old, so  nobody could have ever been hiding in its debris. However, as you were leaving, you heard whimpers coming from the cellar a few feet away from the foundations. Carefully, you made your way to the wooden doors on the ground, and after making sure your magazine was full and the safe of your semi automatic off, you kicked the doors open and raced down the stairs.

“Don’t move or I’ll blow your head off” You yelled, pointing your gun at the first person you saw. It was clearly a man, wearing a bright red helmet that shone under the single lightbulb hanging down from the ceiling. He slowly held up his hands, but he didn’t seem so bothered. Your eyes found another man next, tied to a chair and wearing a bag on his head. The military uniform was a dead giveaway of his identity, so you returned your full attention to the red helmet guy. “You’re going to back up and face the wall now”

“Or what?” He challenged. “You’ll ‘blow my head off’?”

“Shut up!” You barked, taking a step forward. Your firearm was ready to shoot. “Do as I fucking say”

“You’re CIA uh?” He changed the subject, looking down at your marked bulletproof vest and not listening to you. In fact, he didn’t seem worried at all by the situation he was in. “Should have known. You guys have never cared who lived or died. What fucking difference does it make, as long as they’re good pals with the good ol’ US of A right?”

“God would you just fucking shut up and back up” You were getting impatient, but also nervous. You were alone without backup, with a guy in a red helmet who was clearly taunting you, and you had never shot anyone before. It was your first oversea mission, and already it was fucking catastrophic.

“See, that’s the thing” He held a finger up. “You’re pointing a gun at me like I’m the bad guy, while you are trying to rescue the scum of humanity. You’re going to extract him, give him a nice long life on Florida’s golf courses with the taxpayers' money and wipe out from History the mass graves in the woods two miles away”

You remained silent.

“Oh, did you not know about the mass graves?” He asked rhetorically in a mocking tone. “Your friend here decided he wanted to test the new shipment of automatic weapons, because their bullets per minute capacity had been expanded. And what better targets than the group of students that opposed the american military presence in the country? The youngest was 16 and her name was Vera Beliskava. Isn’t that right, Kradiev?”

He pulled the hood from the general to reveal his bloodied and bruised face. He had been gagged and beaten, that was obvious. He looked at you, pleading. 

“You’re the only one who saw” The man in red said, softer this time. “You don’t have to save that piece of trash. Just say your search came up empty and I’ll make him disappear from the Earth's face permanently without leaving so much as a trace. Nobody else will know, and you will go to sleep knowing you made the world a better place”

You took a breath, a million thoughts running into your head. Who was that guy? Why was he here? Why did he not attack you, while he clearly had a handgun strapped on his thigh? Could he be right about Kradiev? You knew he didn’t have the cleanest record concerning human rights, but mass graves? 

“Beta team, report”

You both froze as your comm broke the silence. He gave you a challenging look as you were still debating. You wanted to do good, that’s why you went into the secret services. Being complicit in mass murder wasn’t something you signed up on. 

“Nothing to report on the north road”

“Clear in the valley”

“Farmer’s house empty”

“No traffic on the south road”

You knew it was your turn now. Slowly, you reached for your comm, not breaking eye contact.

“Pinetree house’s clear” You spoke in a flat line, decided and direct as you lowered your gun. You shut down your comm and glanced at Kradiev, whose relief morphed into fear once again as your decision registered. You averted your eyes. 

“You made the right choice”

“I hope so, or I’m dead” You mumbled. “I’m going back now. Don’t make me regret my decision”

“You won’t”

“So just to be clear,” Agent Baker frowned. “You just… Believed him? And you let General Kradiev in his hands?”

“When I left, I went to check, and the graves were there. Kradiev was guilty”

“That was not your decision to make” He pointed out.

“I know” You sighed. “That was my first mistake. I-- I lost it for a moment. He mentioned the graves and the victims and there were so many people the same age as them I could think about and I decided with my feelings rather than my judgement. And I’m paying the price today”

“Alright” He mumbled, passing a hand on his face like he was already done with this debriefing. “When did you cross paths with him again?”

“We were back in America” You continued. “By that time, I was no longer on training wheels. It was a little more than a year later, in Newport Oregon during operation 9004. We were busting a trans pacific drug dealer on the docks when we got unexpected company…”

You were running as well as you could through the maze of freight containers on the docks, trying to push back the pain of the bullet in your leg. You had drawn the fire of the hired gang so your colleagues could proceed, but things went down the drain when you were met with heavier fire than the briefing stated. Outnumbered and outran, you stopped in your tracks and closed your eyes, taking a deep breath. You wouldn’t go out as a coward, that was certain. If you went down, you’d take as many of them as you could with you. 

You reopened your eyes and checked the magazine of your gun, letting it drop on the ground and pushing a full one in. You loaded and clicked the safe off, flexing your fingers on the handle as footsteps surrounded you. You spun around and pulled the trigger, but before the bullet even reached your target, two men dropped on his side. 

You weren’t the only shooter. 

Thinking it was backup from your team, you allowed yourself to back up against a container, trying to stop the bleeding. You were starting to feel light headed, but you still had a bit more fight in you. Soon enough, all hostiles were down, and you were in for a surprise. Instead of the black uniform of your colleagues, you looked up to a red bat, a leather jacket and a familiar red helmet. You squinted your eyes and let out a chuckle of disbelief.

“Do I even wanna know?” You asked.

“I owed you one” He shrugged. “You okay?”

You looked down to your leg, your pants soaked in blood that was already cooling, then back up again. “Peachy” You gave him a thumbs up. “You were right about Kradiev. He was a fucking trash bag”

“It’s often the case” He said as he rested his hands on his hips. 

“You here for Hiko?”

“Yep” He nodded, then snorted derisively. “Any tips?”

Ever since Kradiev, you have developed a habit of researching your target better. Most of the time, it was a capture or an execution on site, so it didn’t matter the extent of their crimes. But there were moments when you were extracting the package without knowing what came next, and those times usually meant they’ll make them disappear under a new identity, without giving them any repercussion for their actions. This one, Hiko, was the later case, without any plan revealed for when you get him back. He was a known drug trafficker, but he was also rumored to smuggle people back and forth between Asia and North America through the docks he owned. The Red Hood’s appearance was well timed, to say the least. 

“Sneak past the squad through the east” You panted. “If you can move on top of the containers without being seen or heard, you’ll cut them off with about two minutes to spare. Make sure you’re gone with Hiko when they bust through the door, or neither of us will ever find him again”

He paused, studying you. “Thanks…” He trailed off. “Why are you telling me this again?”

“Well, you said it yourself” You managed to smirk. “If I can go to sleep knowing I made the world a better place”

He didn’t answer with anything else but a quick nod before he climbed the containers and disappeared from your field of vision. You sighed, then reached for your comm. “Alpha 003 to central, I’m down and need medical attention, Northwest entry of the docks”

“So if I understand correctly, not only you let him go again,” Baker exhaled, looking bewildered. “But you told him how to get there first? You realize those are becoming serious crimes right?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t” You snapped, before recomposing yourself. Both agents had backed away just a little at your outburst. You sighed, running a hand through your hair. “Sorry. I’m just tired, it’s been a crazy last two days” 

“Did he offer you any medical help then?” Baker returned on topic. 

“No, I called the medics and I was extracted with the chopper” You replied. “I knew he was there for Hiko, not for me. It was a coincidence we crossed paths, and at that point I thought it was the last time I’d see him. I mean, what are the chances, right? But you see, that here was my second mistake”

“How so?”

“The CIA goes after threats to national security, but so does he, in his own way” You said, locking eyes with Baker. “The guy’s everywhere, even where we don’t go. And he’s at least three steps ahead of us at any turn. He has good funds, good intel and exceptional skills. You don’t find him, he finds you. And that’s what he did”

“He contacted you after the affair on the docks?” He raised an eyebrow.

“We could say that...”

You finished washing your tea cup when you heard a thud coming in from your living room. Slowly, you grabbed the gun hidden in your cupboard and held it up, quietly making your way to the next room. You rounded the corner and pointed your gun to the man standing with his back to you, registering his identity as he turned around. You must have been a sight in your baby pink pajama shorts and mismatching turquoise tank top, pointing your handgun to a man in a shiny red helmet. 

You scoffed and lowered your gun, clicking the safe back on and putting the firearm on the lamp table. “Breaking and entering, really?”

“Wouldn’t be the worst crime I’ve committed” He shrugged, and you could just imagine him rolling his eyes, whoever he was under that helmet. 

“What are you doing here?” You asked, crossing your arms against your chest. “How did you find me?”

“Like I find anyone” He answered like it was the simplest of evidence. You waited for him to continue, but he seemed to have no intention to reveal his methods. This time, you rolled your eyes. “And I’m here because I wanted to check on your leg”

“No you’re not” You snorted. He would have come months ago if it was about that, and even then, the little you knew about him told you he was not the kind to just check upon people who didn’t mean anything to him. “But I’m doing fine, thanks”

“You’re welcome” He nodded. “And you’re right. I need something from you”

“Well, go ahead, since you’re already in” You gestured at him to go on.

“Wait wait wait” Baker held his hand up. “He broke into your house and you just let him? You put your gun down and didn’t call anyone?”

“Yeah, that’s what I just said” You replied slowly. 

“And it never occured to you that he was dangerous?”

You paused, thinking your answer over. “No, it didn’t. I mean, if he wanted to get rid of me, he would have done it on the docks where I was an easy target”

“Fair point” Tanev muttered under his breath, earning him a glare from Baker. 

“Now do you want to know what happened or not?” You said, annoyed at the interruption.

“Please, go ahead”

He reached inside his jacket and handed you a file. You took it and opened it, staring at the picture and the description beside it. “This is Ian Markstrom, he has been suspected to kidnap young women, mostly tourists, to sell them on the sex trafficking market” He began. “Not only is he friends with your big bosses, but those who were brave enough to try and get him locked up never got anything to stick, and that was the best case scenario. The others either disappeared or ended up dead, so I’m assuming someone in this government does not want Markstrom to stop”

You nodded. “What can I do for you?”

“There’s a secret auction strictly reserved for the elite, Markstrom will sell his best teenagers there” He explained, a hint of disgust in his voice. “The CIA chief of operation received an invitation. I want to know what it says on the card”

“I’m not sure I’m good enough to reach anywhere near it” You mumbled. “But sure, I’ll try”

“No, I believe in you” He said, and he seemed pretty sure of himself. You raised an eyebrow to hide your surprise at his compliment. “What I’m wondering though, is why you’re not asking questions”

“Well, you are two in two so far about targeting the bad guy” You said after a moment. “You seem qualified to spot ‘em, and you’d be real twisted to to make up that scenario for a petty revenge, so I’m guessing you’re on the mark again”

“Huh. You might just be the only smart CIA agent I’ve ever met”

You snorted. “Well, the more it goes the more I’m questioning the integrity of my employer”

“You keep impressing me” 

“With what I saw, I believe the bar was pretty low to start with”

“Keep talking like this and I might need a cold shower”

“You’re an ass, you know that?” 

He let out a short bark of laughter. “If only you knew”

“I’ll do my best for the invitation” You brought him back on topic, closing the file and putting it beside your handgun. “How can I contact you if I get it?”

He paused, then took a step forward and grabbed your wrist. He fetched a pen from his jacket and wrote a number. “This is a burner phone, which I will destroy after this whole deal. Don’t try and trace me with that, it won’t end well for you”

“Yeah yeah” You rolled your eyes, pulling back your arm when he was done. You cleared your throat, trying to ignore his overwhelming proximity. “I gave you two fast passes just to trick you into seeking my help to finally bag you, I’m busted”

“Hey, listen” He backed up, holding his hand in surrender. “I make that threat to everyone. It’s only a disclosure thing, I didn’t doubt your motivation”

“To each their own I guess” You shrugged. “Alright. If this is all, please get out of my apartment”

“Oop, sure”

Baker blinked slowly. “And did you? Communicate him the details?”

“Yeah” You nodded. “I managed to get into the chief of operation’s office, break into his safe, memorize the date, time and place of the auction and communicate it to Red”

“Red?” He raised an eyebrow.

“Short for Red Hood” Tanev clarified, and judging by yet another glare from Baker, he wouldn’t speak anytime soon.  

“He kept it on the quiet, but after that the chief of operation did seem a changed man” You smirked, before dropping it instantly. “And I didn’t hear anything from Markstrom, it was like he disappeared for good, which he most likely did. So I guess the Red Hood succeeded in taking him down”

“Jesus Christ” He sighed, rubbing the bridge of his nose. “Why do I have the feeling it wasn’t the last law you broke?”

“Because it wasn’t”

“Are you going to make a habit out of dropping out of nowhere to ask me for favors?”

This time, you knew who had broken into your property without even looking. You put the keys into your car and turned the engine on, trying to warm yourself. The Red Hood pulled himself upright from your backseat, shaking his head.

“Your car is very comfortable,” He declared. “You have good taste”

“So that means yes”

“Back at it again with your superior deduction skills” 

“What do you want?” You went straight to the point, but you were just a little amused. You could have a worst stalker. 

“I’ve been thinking this through,” He began, moved his legs so he was properly seated on the backseat. “You are skilled and you’ve got balls of steel. I could use your help more often. A partnership, if you might”

“Why do I have the feeling it took a lot to admit that and reach out?” 

“Because I don’t just trust people” He said plainly. “They disappoint me, among other things”

“So why me?”

“Like I said, skills and balls of steel” He repeated. “You went against the fucking CIA not once, not twice but thrice to do the right thing. That’s enough of a test of will for me. And besides, your job would be an advantage that is hard to turn away”

“Makes sense” You mumbled as you put the car in reverse and pulled out of the parking spot. He buckled his belt like it was a reflex. “Will this partnership imply me shooting bad guys?”

“If that’s what you wish for” He shrugged, leaning forward in the space between the two front seats. “I won’t be the one to limit you”

“Okay, yeah” You nodded. “Where do we start?”

Baker was looking into nothing, processing your words. He shook his head slowly in disbelief before he met your glance. “I shouldn’t be surprised” He spoke after a moment. “But this is Everest high levels of stupid”

“At that time it did seem like a good idea” 

“Yeah, might as well jump off of a bridge…” He trailed off, eying you suspiciously. “Did you do that too?”

“Well, if we consider the time when--”

“You know what, don’t tell me” He cut you off. “Please go on”

“Alright” You held your hands up in surrender. “So, where was I?”

You and the Red Hood operated on the field like a well oiled machine. Your expertise and contacts with the CIA helped him get into places way more easily than alone, and your somewhat reckless ways were compatible with his mode of operation. You knew who he was as well, you found out after he nonchalantly took off his helmet after a stakeout. You had not been prepared for what you saw then, when you were faced with what you could qualify with the most beautiful man you had ever seen. 

“Hey, you okay?” He waved a hand in your face, making you snap out your daze. You blinked a few times, shaking it off.

“Yeah” You replied. “I just wasn’t expecting this”

“Expecting what?”

“I mean, the helmet did give disfiguration vibes… Obviously I was wrong” 

“So you think I’m hot then?” He snorted derisively.

“I do” 

His head did a whiplash. “Huh?”

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to make you uncomfortable” You backed away. “Sometimes my filter doesn’t work”

“No it’s--” He tried to find his words, then sighed. “I’m just not used to that, I guess”

“What’s the point of this?” Baker groaned, his head in his hands. 

“It’s a turning point that brought me here today” You explained, turning your palm up briefly. “You asked for details, I’m giving you details”

“I kinda wanna know what went down, to be honest” Tanev added sheepishly.

“Tanev, I’m going to drive you through the mirror if you do not shut up”

“Jeez sorry” He mumbled.

“As I was saying”

That day was the moment things changed in your relationship. There was this tension that hadn’t been there before, the little brushes of hands when you were side by side, the staring at the other while they weren’t looking, the unspoken invitations to stay a moment longer after a mission for a cigarette and a good conversation. He was one of a kind, you had to give that to him. He was passionate, driven, smart in a way that told you he never really had it easy but always made it work somehow; the way he always thought of the less obvious way to do things, how even his messes seemed calculated. 

It was raining in Chicago and the air was crisp. Your muscles ached from the fight in that warehouse against drug lords that enrolled kids in their schemes, that and from the unforgiving cold of January. You had one too many whiskeys back in that little studio flat he rented under a false name, and it led you straight to his bed. Trying to find warmth, trying to find a connection, it didn’t matter why, as long as you were as close as humanly possible to him. 

And it didn’t stop there. The night after, and the night after that, always in his company past the business hours. Your chemistry translated way beyond the field, for you found him in a partner in more ways than one. You grew quickly to feel love for him, more than you had ever felt for anyone. The number of times you woke up naked and tangled with him--

“Okay I don’t need to know this-- I do NOT need to know this” Baker yelled. If he could have flipped shit from the table, you’re sure he would have. 

“You told me to spare no details!” You argued. “This is a detail. I’m being as thorough as I can”

“You know what-- Forget it” He brushed his hand in the air aggressively. “Just get to the part we have interest in, for God’s sake please just skip to that”

“Okay, okay” You muttered, rolled your eyes. “It went well for the first months or so, it was great. Nothing to say on that front, I was happy and fulfilled in this new englobing partnership we had going on. That was my third mistake, to get into that kind of involvement with him. Because then, like all good things must come to an end, mine slowly began crumbling down in my hands”

“Okay” He sighed, half in relief. “Tell me more about that”

“Well, he started to show his true colors” You admitted, pulling your hands under the table. “Sometimes, he became something else. Something dark. And sometimes became most of the time, but I was too in love to see it. He became manipulative, controlling. He was everywhere, in everything I did. It’s like I didn’t even have control on my life anymore…”

“Where do you wanna eat?”

You looked away from the car window, your feet comfortably up on the dash. You took a deep breath and shrugged. “Dunno, where do you wanna eat?”

“Don’t really care” He shrugged too. “You decide”

“What about chipotle?”

“Sure” He nodded. “Chipotle sounds good”

Tanev shook his head sympathetically. “He wouldn’t even let you choose a restaurant?”

“Never” You looked down, sadness weighing your voice. 

“I’m so sorry you had to live through that”

“Thank you” 

“Alright, moving on” Baker broke the moment. “What happened next?”

“Next? Next came what comes every time in screwed up relationships” You answered, returning your hands on the table and crossing your fingers. “We burned like a meteorite as it tears through the atmosphere, falling to our demise to high velocity and taking everything in our wake”

“That was poetic” He pointed out sarcastically. “What the fuck does it mean?”

You raised an eyebrow. “We got dangerous for real, Agent Baker” You paused to take a reserved sip of the water. “If you thought I was reckless before, you’ll need to reevaluate your scale. I was in for real. I was his battle horse, his wildcard, his whatever that he needed to succeed. And I was good at it. The worst was, I didn’t even realize he used me as a smoke screen. He put me more and more often in fucked up situations that were way more dangerous for me than him, and I was naive enough to think it was love”

“No. This is not up for discussion”

You stared at him in disbelief. “You said you would let me choose--”

“I said I would let you choose, not let yourself get killed” He interrupted, slightly raising his voice. “This plan of yours is stupid dangerous. If it backfires, you are almost guaranteed of not making it out free, or alive for that matter. I’m not allowing you to take that risk. Not for me.”

“Again, ‘if’ being the keyword” You insisted, following him as he stomped out of the storage room. “I am capable of executing it flawlessly. I know I am, you’ve always told me I am”

He halted his steps, hesitantly turning to face you. His eyes softened as he sighed, taking your hand. “I know you can, it’s not about that” His voice was back down, even lower than his usual volume. “I can’t lose you. I won’t lose you for something I dragged you into in the first place, I would never forgive myself”

You closed your eyes and rested your forehead on his. “Okay” You finally said, nodding lightly. “We’ll find another way. Another plan. But we’re hitting that ball out of the park either way, I won’t let Preston get away with it”

He smiled. “Oh no, we won't indeed” He kissed the top of your head. “We’ll get him one way or another, I promise”

“I almost feel sorry for you now, Agent” Baker gulped. “I cannot begin to imagine what terrible things the Red Hood forced you to do under his manipulation. We however must continue this debriefing”

“Of course” You nodded quickly, breathing deeply. “So we planned our next move, but he wouldn’t tell me the final target. I found it weird, he always told me the targets. I don’t know, maybe he sensed I was trying to find a way out”

“And that plan was…”

“Yes” You didn’t have to let him finish his trailing thoughts, you knew what he was getting at. “So this brings us to 36 hours ago”

“Be as thorough as you can” 

“So the Red Hood gave me those instructions to follow” You began. “I was to draw the attention of the authorities to me in a city wide chase. Now, I am rather good with a bike, that I won’t hide, but outrunning police and secret services? That was impossible. I still don’t know how they got there, but it saved me. He would have never dared to come into the melee to get me back, and risk getting caught”

“Was he not afraid you’d talk to us?” Baker asked. “That was a pretty big gamble”

“He thought I wouldn’t talk I guess, probably for the same reasons I stayed with him for all this time” You said, biting the inside of your cheek until it bled. You hated to think about these words. “Because I believed I loved him”

“I guess that wouldn’t be too far fetched” He hummed. “Wouldn’t be the first time we saw it happen”

You nodded, remaining silent. Baker made eye contact with Tanev, then looked into the reflecting glass. He took a deep breath and returned his attention to you. 

“We are going to get you back to the holding cell while we process this information” He said. “But once we do that, you’ll be free, and with a new identity if you wish, as your agreement states”

“Thank you” 

“Just one more thing before we wrap this debriefing” He leaned forward. “You must know his name"

“Of course” 

“Then what is it?” He asked. “What is the Red Hood’s name?”

You looked down, taking a deep breath, then back again, locking eyes with Baker. Then, you spoke. 

-- 36 hours later --

The sunset over the valley was gorgeous. The mixes of pink and orange on the yellowed sky was straight out of a fantasy world, and Jason couldn’t help but appreciate the scenery. It was soothing, like it could swallow up his anxiety at least for a minute or two. He leaned on the wooden ramp, the sightseeing roadside station seeming not so cheesy at the moment.

He only tore his eyes from the burning sun when he heard a motorcycle approach from behind. He pushed himself off the ramp and faced the sleek black bike--the lack of use on it showing him it was brand new--then, the driver with a black tinted visor. 

You took off your helmet and smiled at Jason’s stern expression, whose eyes showed relief anyway. You turned off your bike and parked it, then got off and walked to him. 

“What the hell were you thinking?” 

You walked past him and leaned on the ramp he had been on moments ago, and he joined you. He pulled out a pack of cigarettes and offered you one. He lit up both with his lighter, and you took a long draft before speaking. 

“A simple ‘thank you’ would suffice” You smirked, bumping your shoulder to his. “I did save your sweet ass, after all”

“I thought we agreed not to do that” He glanced at you sideways. His annoyance was also mixed with playful disbelief, like he both wanted to throw you off the cliff you were admiring the view from and do celebratory shots with you. 

“We did” You nodded, chuckling. “But circumstances changed. You weren’t out by the time I reached the monument, so I had to draw them away from you, or we would not be having this conversation. ”

“Still” He tilted his head to the side, before his head snapped in your direction. “Wait, did you call the secret services after yourself?”

You shrugged half heartedly. “Mayhaps” Your lips curved upward, while he shook his head. “I mean, it kinda was my fault too. I misplaced the bomb and it barely detonated. I had to flip to plan B, then they shot my bike. They had me surrounded, and my it was running low on life, so I skipped directly to plan fuck this”

“So you gave yourself up”

"Played the victim, pretended I wanted to exchange information on you for my freedom” You sighed, taking a drag of your cigarette. “None of which was relevant enough for them to even get close to you, worry not”

“They must have asked for a name” He hummed, now turning his full body toward you. “What did you tell them?”

“My grandpa’s name” You snorted. “He died two decades ago. Let me tell you, when they found out the last update on him was in the necrology of the 2001 Sunday paper, they were not happy campers”

“Then how did you get out?” He squinted his eyes.

“Oh, do not underestimate me, sweetheart” You grinned. “I’ve spent my whole career getting to know the buildings and the procedures for people like me. It was a piece of cake”

You were escorted out the interrogation room and into the small, yet cozy holding cell. You were on the clock, because the lies you’ve slipped into your story would unravel pretty quickly once they discovered that the name you gave them was a farce. Then, you wouldn’t be put in a minimal security room, but probably somewhere way less fun. 

“Hey wait” You called after the guard before he could close the cell door behind you. He paused his actions, waiting for you to speak up. “This wasn’t there last time”

He frowned and took a few steps into the cell, trying to spot over your shoulder whatever you were talking about. When he didn’t see it, he got closer and closer until he was all the way into the cell. “What wasn’t there before?” He asked, annoyed. 

You smiled. “You” 

With a quick jab of your elbow behind his head, he fell down unconscious on the floor. You grabbed his keycard and exited the cell, locking the guard in. You winked at the camera on the upper left corner of the hallway and made your way down to the garages as the alarms blared through the whole building. That meant it entered lockdown, closing all the escape routes. But you had your own fool proof plan.

Agent Baker began swearing when the hallway was plunged into the red glow of the lockdown alert. It hadn’t taken long for him to figure out you had led them in circles, and he had appeared a fool in front of his colleagues when he proudly revealed the name of a long deceased old man instead of anything tangible. He had been on his way to your cell when he realized the depth of this foolery, understanding you had been stalling them for this opportunity. 

“Sir, we are reporting engine noises in the garages”

“Fuck” Baker shouted, pushing the other man aside. Tanev was a step behind, his weapon drawn. They had stored your bike there, you must have gone back for it. “All units report to the garage, we’re having a break out. I repeat, all units to the garages”

They all flocked to the lower levels, ready to enforce the barrages at the doors and trap you with no exit. It was an excellent execution of emergency measures, but they definitely weren’t prepared for what came next. As they kicked the storage unit of your motorcycle, they came face to face with the bullet ridden bike with no driver in sight. Baker lowered his gun, squinting his eyes. Then, they widened comically as the dark smoke coming out of it and the strong smell of gasoline registered in his brain.

“Motherfucker” He spat. “Everybody out!” 

Seconds later, it exploded.

“You’re unbelievable” Jason scoffed, shaking his head. However, he now had a full blown grin to match yours. “I gotta give it to you though, blowing up your bike as a distraction was smart. Balls of fucking steel”

“Of course it was!” You replied, then reached in your pocket for your phone. “And it’s not even the best part, look”

You unlocked your phone and passed it to him, showing him your most recent picture of the CIA’s chief of operation dead with a letter opener through his neck. His eyes widened. “You got Preston?”

You turned around from your position, now leaning back on the ramp with your elbows resting on it. “The bike opened a window big enough for me to get the target” You said, finishing your cigarette and disposing of it in the ash bin on your right. “And with all those idiots guarding an empty garage, t’was easy enough”

“After all this time, you’re still impressing me” He nodded, holding up his fist. “Good fucking job”

You bumped your fist sideway with his, laughing at his baffled expression. The sky was getting darker and darker by the minute, but the air was still warm. You could hear the crickets in the high grass, and the silence was a peaceful one. You could admit that you had cut it close this time, that this gamble could have very well turned to shit, so you just took a moment to let the pressure slip away from your muscles, at least for now. You had the time to smoke another cigarette before you spoke.

“So now what?” You hummed, looking up to the bright stars above your head. “Markstrom’s ring is no more, and I’m pretty sure I not only lost my job by pulling that stunt, but also bought myself a ticket on at least three intelligence services’ most wanted list”

“Well, that’s nothing a good ol’ fake death can’t fix” He shrugged. “But until we find the right moment for your tragic public demise, I’m sure we can manage to find on our own some domestic assholes to beat up. What do you say?”

You met eyes with him, then raised your eyebrows. “I say let’s get to it”

[avengerscompound]

Running to a Standstill - 16

Running to a Standstill: A Captain America Fanfic

Masterlist PREVIOUS //

Buy me a ☕ Character Pairing:  Bucky Barnes x Steve Rogers x F!Reader

Word Count:  1849

Rating:  E

Warnings: Canon typical violence

Synopsis: While on the run from an unknown organization trying to take your son, you meet two super-soldiers.  While they try to help you get to the bottom of who is hunting you and your son, feelings come out and admissions are made that make your personal life even more tricky.

Chapter 16

By the time you and Bucky got home, Geo was awake again.  Bucky had given him a punnet of blueberries to eat on the elevator ride up. As soon as the three of you arrived at Steve’s apartment, the toddler jumped out of his stroller and carried the rest of the berries to the coffee table where he immediately started playing with his Lego.

“Good.  You’re back,” Steve said, approaching the two of you.  “Honey, I can’t say too much.  But we’ve finally got a solid lead on who has been hunting you.  We have to act quickly and hit hard. We’re leaving Hill, Agent 13, and some agents here.  There’s also some of the Iron Legion.  Stay put.  You’re safe in the building.  Don’t order food to be delivered.  There’s the common room and a cafeteria on four if you don’t feel like cooking.  If Geo gets bored, get FRIDAY to take you up to the party deck or the pool, but do not leave the building for any other reason.”

Bucky was used to Steve in the ‘take-charge, voice of authority’ mode he got into when he had slipped on the Captain America persona.  Bucky had always taken comfort in it.  When Steve was like this, as dumb as he might seem, Bucky trusted he had some kind of plan of attack.  The look in your eye told him that you weren’t as comforted as Bucky was.

You had the wild-eyed look of a cornered animal, not sure whether to lash out or run.  Steve put his hand on your arm and looked in your eyes.  “This is it, sweetheart.  We do this, and you’ll be free from it.  You just have to trust us for a little longer.”

You nodded, and he kissed your forehead.  “You stay safe.”

“You too, Steve,” you said quietly.

Bucky ruffled Geo’s hair and kissed your cheek.  “We’ll see you soon, okay?”  He said, hoping he sounded optimistic and comforting.

“Okay,” you said, obviously not buying it.

He looked back over his shoulder as he left the apartment following after Steve, seeing that you’d gone to sit with Geo.  Something on his face told him you were going to prepare to run.

“You might need to tell Hill that she’s a flight risk,” Bucky said as they both got on the elevator.

“She knows,” Steve said.  His jaw was clenched, and it twitched slightly.  It was hurting him knowing how scared you were and that that fear was potentially a little more potent than the bonds you’d formed with them.

Bucky rubbed Steve’s shoulder.  “We’ll end this.  Tell me what’s going on.”

The doors opened on the armory, and they both strode in and started suiting up.  Clint, Natasha, and Sam were all in there, getting the last of their gear.  It looked like they had already been briefed, and they were just waiting for Bucky to get back.

“The intel came back,” Steve said, as he pulled on his body armor.  “The drugs trace back to the Madripoor government.  Three manufacturing plants control distribution.  It all goes back to their current ruler.  Ophelia Sarkissian, or as she is also known, Viper, the current head of HYDRA.”

“So it was HYDRA?”  Bucky asked, buckling the last few straps on his suit.

“Yes,” Steve said, picking up his shield.  “Though not originally.  IGH was its own thing.  When Jessica Jones broke up their operation, HYDRA swooped in and collected up the scraps.  With the work they gathered using Loki’s scepter, paired with what they found from IGH, they were able to re-create a drug similar to the combat enhancers that IGH were selling to the American Military, but with more erratic side effects.  It looks like they want Geo to see if they can work out how to make a more permanent drug.”

“So, what’s the plan?”  Bucky asked, shouldering the last of his weapons.

Steve indicated to the door and Bucky, and the others followed him back to the elevator.  “We’re going in teams - four in total.  Three will be hitting the manufacturing plants,  the other - Castle Madripoor.  Each team will have additional agents with them.”

The elevator stopped, and they got out onto the landing bay.  One jet was ready for take-off, and the other three were being prepared and waiting in a queue to use the launch pad.  Everyone gathered around Steve.

“Team one is Sam, Wanda, and Clint,” Steve said, speaking to everyone but without breaking his flow with Bucky.  “Two are Rhodey, Natasha, and Bruce.  The third will be Bucky, Vision, and Tony.  Your groups will be the ones hitting the plants.  It’ll be important you not let anyone get out and get as much data as you can.  Carol, Thor - you’re with me.  The full briefs will be given on the jets.  We know HYDRA.  They are good at spreading roots.  We need to rip it all out in one go.  If they have any of this hiding elsewhere, we need to find it.  Any questions?”

When no one spoke up, the teams all split up.  Steve grabbed Bucky’s arm before he went to his Jet.  “Be careful, Buck,” he said.

Bucky smiled and pressed his forehead against Steve’s.  “You too.  We’ll get them.  We stopped them coming for Wanda and me.  We’ll stop them coming for her too.”

Steve closed his eyes and took a deep breath before breaking apart and heading to his jet.  Bucky ran to the plane his team was using. They were already in place and waiting for him.  Tony was in the cockpit with one of the agents Bucky had seen around; he thought her name might be Jacobs.  “Finished making kissy faces with your boyfriend, Barnes?”  Tony said and started flicking switches, preparing to take off.

Bucky put his machine gun into one of the racks and sat down, buckling himself into the jumpseat.   “So, what’s the plan?”  He said.

“Me and Viz are gonna jump out before we get in sight of the island and go ahead.  Viz is going to stealth in, get the data.  I’ll come in after - seal off the place.  You and the rest, land, and circle in and lock everything down,” Tony explained.  “Should be a piece of cake.  The castle is going to be the bitch, but Cap squared should be able to handle it.”

Bucky nodded and sat quietly, letting himself fall into the dark space he always went into when he had to fight.  He was a little worried about going back to you when he was done with this.  It still took about a week to shake off the soldier after a battle like this, and you hadn’t seen him like that.  Overriding that was the concern that you wouldn’t be there at all.  He couldn’t help but worry that he’d get back home, still in the winter soldier headspace, and he’d find you and Geo missing.  He didn’t quite know how he’d survive that.  Or at least the him that had started to heal and feel worthy since you, Steve, and he had started seeing each other.  That soft part of his person that was so fragile and so hopeful would never see the light of day again if that happened.

By the time Tony and Vision had left the jet to hit first, Bucky was buried in the dark zone of the soldier.  Aware of every flicker of movement, every sound made, every color in the room, yet not at all attached to his emotions.  Like he was an empty shell that processed the physical and nothing else.

The jet landed, and Bucky led the team out the cargo bay hatch.  “Branch out, we’re going in on all sides,” he ordered.  The agents followed his instruction, circling the factory. 

The sound of fighting was already loud, making him sink further down into that place inside him that HYDRA had made.  Tony circled overhead, and a series of explosions rocked the nearside of the factory.  Bucky shouldered his machine gun and ran.

Armed guards met him at the now destroyed fence around the facility.  Other workers were running around wildly, but from the looks of it, it didn't take too much to get them to drop to the ground and surrender.

The guards were more difficult.  They had HYDRA tech, and there were a lot of them.  Bucky wasn’t concerned.  He never was when he got into this state.  He had a mission - he would complete it.  Besides, he knew HYDRA better than he knew himself.  He knew how they fought.  He knew their weapons.  He knew how to take them down.

He moved quickly and without hesitation.  He shot two guards before he even reached the factory.  He leaped over the remnants of the fence and took out three more.  He ducked behind a wall and tossed a grenade at a truck that was barreling toward some agents.

A wall exploded nearby, and Bucky ran to the hole, jumping through it.  Some HYDRA goons were inside shoveling pills into their mouth.  Bucky took each of them out and ducked to the side as someone came charging at him.  They lumbered through the wall and out the other side.  “Stark,” Bucky called over the comms. “They’re taking the pills.”

“Shit,” Tony cursed.  “I’ll take care of the supers; you see if you can secure the drugs.”

Bucky moved through the room, taking out anyone that behaved aggressively, putting anyone else in cuffs.  Outside he could hear the battle.  It was already dying out.  While the plant was guarded, it wasn’t a military stronghold.  Bucky moved to an elevated position and watched over the room.  Another guard made a play for the drugs, and he took them out with his sniper rifle before they reached them.  Besides that, the room remained quiet.  The sounds from outside started to die off and then went silent.  A few agents came in and began rounding up the people in cuffs, but Bucky stood and waited.  He had a mission, and he’d stand here until it was done.

Tony flew in and landed next to Bucky.  “Hey, robocop,” he said, his visor sliding back.  “Vision’s still downloading the data.  We’re doing a cleanup.  We kinda need to be quick because this is technically an act of war.  They’re breaking international law, but they’re gonna retaliate.”

Bucky nodded, watching as even more agents came in and began packing up the drugs and equipment.

“You gonna be okay watching this?  I’ll go patrol.  We should be fine given there’s an attack going on on the castle right now,” Tony said.

Bucky nodded again.  “You heard anything?”

Tony clapped him on the shoulder.  “The other factories are ours.  Still working on the castle.  Your boyfriend is fine so far.”

Something relaxed inside Bucky.  He didn’t say anything as Tony took off again, and even as he stood there, keeping watch of the operation, a small smile cracked through the hard exterior as he realized that he did still have that soft part of him, even now.

// NEXT

[kryptonian-puppy]

Throat Full of Glass

The rough sound of nail scratching against marble rings out through the washroom.

Eliza stares herself down in the mirror, lip trembling and arms shaking from the post-match adrenaline that's coursing through her body right now. 

There’s a fire in her eyes and rage on her skin that's tangible in the air, mixing with a rusted tang of blood that’s congealed against her ear as she just stands there, rooted and willing herself to calm down. 

The reflected image twists and contorts with each unsteady breath that she takes, the splash of each droplet of water that drips from the tap matching the pace of her lungs. 

Drip.

Drip.

Drip.

Like a ticking clock. The prelude to the explosion. 

She can’t let it slide this time, let her get away with this. Her mind has cashed its last rain check on Kali’s bullshit. It’s time the woman faces the wrath that's due, before she gets someone killed, gets her own team killed. 

No biting her tongue anymore, brawling across the briefing room table or petitioning Six to see sense and dispose of the threat that is Nighthaven.

She’s done playing nice.

And sure enough, outside the door comes the muffled bragging of the soon to be victim of Eliza’s snapped tether. 

Ash pushes off from the sink with aching fists held closed and nails biting into her palm, giving herself one last chance to just back off, to simply walk away from what she’s about to do. 

But if there is any sign to stop she doesn't see it. Her reflection in the mirror steadies but offers up no rejection. The fight or flight wheel stops with the arrow pointing on the former. 

This has been too long coming now to just stop. 

Consequences from Six be damned, Eliza leaves the washroom and lets the heavy firedoor swing shut behind her with a loud thud. Eyes lock to hers in an instant from the sound, but she pays them no mind, her gaze settles on her target and tunnels her vision. 

“This won’t be good, Cohen looks ready to kill.” 

Dokkabei mutters under her breath to Thatcher, the elder operator nodding thickly in agreement and making no move to stop what's about to happen. 

“Don’t worry kid, it won’t go that far.”

Dokkabei just holds her arms together to stop them trembling, the pain from being lit up with non-lethal fire is still raging throughout her body otherwise she would be falling into line with Ash right now to give Kali a piece of her mind too. She deserves it after that shitshow of a win.  

The two simply watch on in tense silence as Eliza thunders across the changing room and shoves past Mozzie,  the man distracted from helping Mira out of her BDU at the time. He swears loudly from the rough contact, barely able to stop himself from careening into Elena who is more focused on trying to get past him to stop Eliza rather than help steady him. 

She’s seen that look in Cohen’s eyes before, it’s never good.

“Kali!” Ash spits, enough venom in just that one word to slay a man where he stood. 

Kali has her back to her and mutters something to Aruni which makes the woman laugh. 

“You will turn and face me when I address you, Mercenary scum!” 

A tense silence settles over the room, marred only by the sounds of Ash’s heavy breathing.

But Kali just continues to chuckle, shaking her head a little at the crass words, rolling her eyes at Aruni. It’s only when she can physically feel the presence of Ash in her personal space that she turns around, quite lazilly too, and looks down to the smaller woman who is seething up at her. 

“What could possibly be upsetting you now Red?” 

“I don’t know how you do things in the private sector-” her voice trembles a little, rage barely even contained, “-but we do NOT use people as bait here!”

“Why the sour face Princess? This is a game, and I just won it for you.” Kali smirks, brow quirked in clear amusement. “Rather easily I might add to.” 

“This, this is not a game you ignorant, reckless piece of-”

“Oh relax will you!”

“Relax?!” Ash scoffs, fists shaking violently against her sides. “I warned Six that you’ll get someone killed. And today you just proved me right. Game or no fucking game, I won’t stand by and let you send anyone here to an early grave because you only care about yourself.”

“So dramatic! Like it or not, Nighthaven is here to stay. I am here to stay. And there is nothing, not one little thing, that you can do about it. So finish your little temper tantrum and stop embarrassing yourself.”

Kali quips, one finger pushing against the crest of Ash’s chest plate. 

And that's all it takes. 

A finger, mistakenly brushing against the trigger, and Ash explodes. 

No one can stop her, it happens too fast for anyone to register, least of all Kali. 

One moment she’s staring down at Ash, the next she’s looking up at her from the floor, haphazardly strewn against one of the benches. Arms are on her in an instant trying to help her up, but the punch from the fiery field team leader has sent her head to the stars, she can’t hear a thing past the ringing in her ear. 

And Eliza doesn’t stop there, she lunges at her with all the ferocity of a wild animal and the strength of an ox. Ready and willing to unleash the last year of pent up anger and frustration and pummel it into her face.

The two crash backwards and roll about, punching and lashing at each other like it's a fight for their lives. And by all odds Kali should have the upperhand against the woman with a smaller frame, but Ash brings a fight like no other she’s ever faced, and for the first time since she was shot in the field, Kali experiences fear.

She cries out in anguish, managing to land a shot that busts Eliza’s nose open and unleashes a fountain of blood. But it doesn’t slow the woman, she keeps going for her, scoring hit after hit until the wind is taken from Kali’s lungs and she’s choking on the air and her own blood. 

“ELIZA, THAT’S ENOUGH!” 

Rough arms yank her from Kali’s barely conscious form and she fights hard to get back to her before she feels herself be lifted up from the ground, legs swinging and kicking violently to try and break free. 

There’s yelling all around and people rushing to block her view from Kali, but she can still make out her face and somehow Kali is still managing a smug grin up at her, it’s marred by all the blood and bruising but still going strong. 

Ash screams bloody murder, wriggling and throwing herself about, but whoever holds her is strong and they don’t let go. 

“Get her out of here!” Thatcher calls back over his shoulder as he gets between Dokkaebi and Aruni, the two seemingly squaring up to fight. 

It would seem in the chaos of Ash and Kali’s brawl the rest of the Nighthaven members had initiated a fight, with some of Rainbow all too eager to oblige.

“Follow me!” Mira gestures to Finka who is the one struggling to hold Ash whilst looking for the quickest exit. 

The rest is just a blur for Ash though, she’s so blinded and entombed by her own rage that she doesn’t even notice she’s being taken from the room, half carried/half dragged out of the changing room and somehow making it to the medical wing in the blink of an eye. 

Her gaze is wide, adrenaline still begging her to fight even though the threat is no longer in sight, she doesn’t even hear what Mira is saying to Finka right now. 

“Where do you want her?” The woman chuckles, keeping her head back to avoid a blow from Eliza’s. 

“Put her in the examination room, I’ll take it from there. I suspect Mike is going to need your help stopping them all from tearing each other to pieces.” Mira commands, her own voice shaky from what she’s just witnessed. 

She curses Six under her breath and pinches the bridge of her nose.

Eliza continues to fight to get out of Finka’s grasp, only succeeding once Finka has struggled to get her past the threshold of the room door. But when she goes to charge back out in search of Kali again, Mira stands in her way, hands on her hips and concern very much evident in her expression. 

Ash comes to a halt immediately, eyes wide in a mix of rage and fear, hands still held tightly wound by her side and the shaking somehow more violent than when it first started. She’s a complete mess, blood dripping from her likely broke nose down her chest, hair disheveled and gear shifted out of place, ripped straps hanging awkwardly off her body from where Kali got a hold of them.

Neither her or Mira say anything until Finka closes the door behind her and leaves them to deathly silence. 

Mira lowers her hands to her side and just waits, quietly watching her wife struggle to take in breaths as her brain catches up to what she’s done. 

And after a tense minute or so of glaring at her, the fire goes out of Cohen, Eliza whimpering from the pain and turning in on herself as her body comes out of it. 

“What have I done …” She breathes out, cradling her own stomach and willing it to settle so she doesn’t hurl. Already she can feel the bruises forming on her ribs and abdomen.

“What you had to, querida.” Elena affirms, breathing a sigh of relief now she knows it's safe to approach the woman she loves. 

Sure, she’s seen Eliza angry before, but that was something completely different that she had with Kali, a power born from something deep rooted and likely traumatic, something they’ll definitely have to talk about soon. It terrified her to see that, almost making her flee from the woman herself until she remembered just who Eliza was, how sweet and gentle the woman she married actually was behind her guarded walls. 

Oh they’ll talk alright about this, just not now. Right now Eliza needs gentle care.  

Elena lets out a soft sigh and very slowly encircles Eliza with her arms, giving the woman time to accept the embrace or reject it if that's what she needs, being careful not to aggravate any injury also. 

And sure it takes a moment, Eliza stiffening from the contact and starting to pull away, but Elena stands firm, drawing her in and acting as an anchor for the taller woman. She has no choice really but to give in, all but collapsing against Elena now who falls back a little and slides down the door and onto the floor, somehow managing to keep hold of Eliza the entire time. 

“It’s ok, you’re ok.” Elena murmurs, running her hand through the length of her hair, deft fingers working through the knots and loosening the braid. 

Eliza shudders in relief, quietly sobbing and heaving her way through every breath as she clings to Elena with battered hands, seemingly terrified that the woman will let her go if she doesn’t keep such a tight grip. 

“I shouldn’t have- I could- could have killed her!” 

“But you didn’t.” 

There's a further moment of silence, Eliza shuddering as Elena works wonders on her aching head. Each stroke is soft and gentle, applying just enough pressure to relieve the budding headache that's rising up to join the chorus of pain wracking through her.

“I wanted to, Elena. I couldn’t stop myself.” She whispers after a few more minutes pass. 

“But you didn’t kill her querida. Kali will be fine. This will all blow over.” Mira tries to affirm, voice gentle as ever despite the uncertainty. 

“It won’t though, it can’t … not after this. Six will-”

“Don’t you worry about him. I will deal with Six.”  

Again, more silence. They stay like that for a long while, just quietly breathing and taking in the comfort of the embrace, Elena discreetly counting each breath her wife takes and placing gentle kisses against her forehead when they finally slow down enough after what feels like half an hour or so.

“It felt good though, right?” Elena murmurs, failing to keep the amusement from her tone as she breaks the silence.

“Are you asking me if it felt good to punch Kali?”

“Well, yeah …”

Eliza pulls away and looks up at her in confusion, the two quietly studying each other before Eliza’s face finally cracks, both dissolving into mad laughter that's fueled by the residual adrenaline.

“God, that fear in her eyes when you toppled her with one hit. It was glorious.” Elena grins. 

But Eliza groans, burying her head into Elenas chest and trying/failing to suppress the smile. 

“It was satisfying to wipe that smirk from her face, if only for a moment.”

“I’ll bet.” 

“Shouldn’t you be mad at me? I expected a lecture?”

“I thought about it, but I’d be a hypocrite since on more than one occasion i’ve threatened the bitch with the same thing myself.”

“Quite a few occasions actually, last week was twice at least.”

The laughter returns, softer this time and fleeting.

“You think she’ll try to press charges or something?” Eliza sighs.

“Hmmm,” Elena deliberates for a moment, “I doubt it, Six wouldn’t let it come to that. Though, I would love to be a fly on the wall when he calls you both to his office.” 

Eliza groans, it’s not going to be fun dealing with the consequence of this shit, but at least she can pull the ‘told you so’ card on Six. So maybe it was worth it after all?

“That’s not going to be fun.”

“Nope.”

Eliza lets out a long suffering sigh, groaning when her ribs protest that but strangely not the laughter. 

“Come on, let’s get you cleaned up. You’re a bloodied mess.” Elena scoffs, nose wrinkling in feigned disgust.

“What? Don’t find me pretty anymore?” Eliza pouts, the effect lost by how gnarly she is looking in that moment covered in blood. 

“Hmph! Pretty annoying more like.” Elena quips back, devilish smile on her lips. 

“Rude.”

Despite how rough she feels, Eliza can’t help herself, she pushes their mouths together, wincing when her ailing nose brushes Elena’s. They kiss, soft at first, getting a little more heated when Eliza’s hands start to wonder, lowering to her chest and lifting up under her-

“Ouch!” 

Elena just sighs gently, pulling away and rolling her eyes at Eliza who is looking at the bruises on her hands with a frown. 

“Right, up! Let’s see if we can save something of that face of yours.” Elena cups her chin, smearing a little of the blood with a gentle sigh. 

“Yes, the pain is outweighing the satisfaction at the moment.” 

“I’m sure it is …, I love you, even if you are an idiot.” 

“Love you too.”

[niqhtlord01]

Humans are weird: Fighter Jets

“Their fleet is several times our number, we must withdraw.”

Sifalim waved a hand across the tactical display to emphasize the point. The picture blurred for a few moments as his tentacled hand passed through it before refocusing.

A string of some several dozen red icons were shown to be making headway towards the coalition fleet. Approaching in a crescent formation the enemy was attempting to overtake the flanks of the coalition and encircle them. Sifalim could not risk the fleet in a single engagement and made to issue orders to withdraw when a series of green icons advancing caught his attention.  “Whose ships are those?” his question laced with an underlining tone of anger.  “They are the human contingent under...”, the tactician struggled to pronounce the human word listed, “Ab-mer-ll Covak.” “Get Covak on coms now before he wastes my ships!” shouted  Sifalim and his surround staff quickly work to oblige their commanders request. From the tactical display came a green light and from it slowly appeared the face of Admiral Covak.  “Covak, would you mind telling me what you are doing with my ships?” Sifalim’s voice, though clear, was spoken through clenched teeth. The rotating head of Covak pondered the commander for a moment before responding. “Greetings Commander Sifalim. I fear there has been some mistake as these ships belong under my command and are following my orders.” The emphasis of the “my” was all too clear Sifalim and only made his rancor rise higher. 

“You misplace yourself Covak”, Sifalim snarled. “When this mission began the leaders of our coalition agreed that I was to assume direct control of the fleet. You are to return your ships to formation and prepare to jump.”

“It’s “Admiral” Covak,” the floating head retorted, “and I fear it is you who are misplaced. Though humanity agreed to the mission we agreed to the practice of it, not your overall command.”  “This is no time for your politics!” Sifalim smashed his fist down into the table and sent nearby tacticians scampering. “The enemy have brought their main fleet into this battle. We must retreat until we find better circumstances for our victory.” Covak’s head shook. “That is why we did not agree to your overall command. Real commanders don’t for circumstances for victory; they make their own.”  “You fly alone then to your doom.”  Covak’s head smiled. “It wouldn’t be the first time for us humans.”  With that the signal was cut and Covak’s head vanished. “Shall we assist them?” a tactician asked. Sifalim waved them away dismissively. “Let the humans be atomized. Order the rest of the fleet to turn and prep for jump.”  “Human vessels are firing.” One of the tacticians brought back the display. From each of the human vessels a string of far smaller contacts were emerging from and speeding off towards the still approaching enemy fleet.  “Missiles? Did the humans learn nothing?”  Sifalim had painfully made clear that the enemy had advanced anti missile weaponry on their ships to counter any such attack. They would launch cylinders directly in the path of oncoming missiles that on impact with the missile would cover it in a specialized foam and nullify the explosion regardless of the missiles contents.  True enough the red icons of the enemy fleet began launching their own spread of cylinders. As the green and red icons grew closer and closer Sifalim lost interest and began communicating with other ship masters for the jump. 

An intake of breath from the surrounding tacticians drew his gaze back to the display and to his surprise he saw that every small red icon had missed their target corresponding green target.  The green icons were streaking ever closer to the enemy ships as a second wave of cylinders were fired. Just as with the first wave they too missed their mark and now the small green icons were swarming the enemy fleet. 

One by one the enemy fleet stopped their advance as red icons began blipping out one by one. 

“Get me a visual of the enemy now!” As happy as Sifalim was to see the enemy being routed he was more angry that humans had held a secret weapon in reserve that could have turned the tide of war.

“Enemy fleet on screen now.” 

Sifalim looked up and saw an enhanced image of the enemy line of ships. The barrels of their guns were firing wildly and too  Sifalim’s surprise even hitting their own ships in friendly fire. Each of them appeared to have a swarm of lights circling them followed by a string of explosions across their hulls. 

“Magnify image of the nearest ship.” The screen zoomed in on the closest enemy vessel, a massive dreadnought covered in ship killer weapons. Much like the other ships it was firing wildly.  Sifalim assumed it was no doubt gun crews lack of discipline given what had been the command bridge was destroyed and leaving a trail of smoke. It was as he watched the bridge he saw a something small and fast dart past the screen and then seemingly vanish. 

“Rewind previous ten seconds and 1/10 speed.” The screen rewound itself and began playing slower. “Freeze!” Sifalim knew he had saw something and with the frozen image he could now prove it. 

Frozen in display was a strange triangle shaped craft roughly the size of a transport hauler back on his home planet. Wings extended to either side of it along with a strange dome like canopy near the front of the craft which to Sifalim‘s amazement held a human in a strange outfit. 

“What am I looking at?” His question wasn’t directed to any tactician in particular as he stared at the human craft. A senior researcher stood up from a nearby console and approached  Sifalim.  “The craft in question appear to be crude propulsion based vehicles operated by a single individual.” 

Sifalim stared back and forth between the researcher and the display. “you are telling me they strapped engines to a hunk of metal along with a human and flung them into space?” The sheer madness of it all confounded him and yet the researcher nodded. “Essentially, yes.”

“How is it they have not been blown out of the void already?” 

“The enemy ships are equipped with weapons that track the engine output of their vehicles, but they only plot an intercept course with the craft in a straight line calculated from the moment they are fired. The cylinders are not programmed to follow the erratic piloting of the humans and miss. The enemy vessels themselves lack any such armament that can effectively target such small craft so close and it is my theory that this has led the enemy commanders to panic and begin using their ship to ship weaponry in an attempt to swat them away.”

As if on cue the dreadnought they had been observing exploded into a bright fireball, debris showering the surrounding vessels in a hailstorm of fire as the human craft broke off to find a new target.

One by one Sifalim watched as the red icons vanished from his display as the human vessels stayed out of effective range of their enemies guns. Even more frustrating was now he saw several ships that had prepped to jump turning around to face the enemy alongside the humans.

Sifalim could not help but think back to Covak’s words as he realized the human had achieved his victory in more ways than one as he would no doubt be promoted to the overall commander after this victory while Sifalim would most likely be demoted and scorned for showing apparent cowardice.  

He watched as the coalition fleet sped past him to join with the humans and reflected on the human’s plan. It was crazy, risky, and foolish beyond measure; and yet it had still carried them the day. 

He wallowed in his command throne as he realized that only a human could have pulled it off. 

[lilyswrittenworks]

ᴛʀᴀɴꜱꜰᴏʀᴍᴇʀꜱ ᴘʀɪᴍᴇ || ꜱʜᴏʀᴛ ꜱᴛᴏʀʏ

Prompt: 

What if a Cyborg was thrown into a different universe where the Autobots reside, and when they do cross paths would they be friend or foe?

        Everything seemed fine, or so you thought. One moment you were helping out your comrades and the next thing you knew you had suddenly awoken out outdoors in the middle of the night. You stood up, dusting off the dirt from the sleeves of your black trench coat and inspected the new terrain. It was a dense forest, owls were hooting above the trees, and the sounds of wild wolves could be heard from afar.

You weren’t certain how you got there and attempted to contact the professor but was met with radio silence. Wasting no time as you began to wander the area in hopes of finding civilization. There, you stumbled upon a town, however, upon further inspection you noted that it had been abandoned for quite some time. Any hopes of finding any sort of communication in this particular area is meaningless.

When you were about to turn around to leave is when you heard heavy footsteps which caught your attention. You followed the sound and hid behind a tree, peeking your head out the corner to see a green robot organism running on the path of the railroad tracks to which lead to a rail tunnel. When the robot entered the tunnel that’s when you followed making sure to keep a low profile.

Halfway inside the dim tunnel is when you find a door where you approach it and twist the handle. Conveniently, it was open as you made your way inside the hidden facility. Along the way you had encountered a few men in suits and easily dispatched them with ease, without killing them of course. Upon arrival, you can see through the crack of the door that there were monitors displayed to your left and moved your gaze to see various suited men taking apart another robot, who was fully conscious. The sight caused you to build up the anger within you, it irked you at how these humans treated other lifeforms like guinea pigs.

One of the men in suits approached the door before you slammed it open with your feet sending the man hurtling towards the monitors. The sudden commotion caused everyone in the room to stop and turn towards you.

“A civilian? How did she infiltrate our base of operations?!” Yelled a man in annoyance.

Two suited men attempted to grab you, in return, you knocked them down with little effort. This caused the men to open fire at you and dodging every bullet that was fired and disarming them in the process. Then you jumped to avoid being grabbed and landed perfectly on the opposite side of the platform. You raised your head and realized that the man with a scar over the bridge of his nose had thrown a grenade towards you. Instantly, you raised your left arm and grab the grenade before crushing it within your grasp which caused it to explode.

The man chuckled. “Foolish girl.”

However, the victory was short-lived when the smoke had dissipated revealing your figure completely unscathed by the close ranged detonation.

 His dark eyes traveled down to your forearm and was taken back by what he was seeing. The sleeve of your trench coat had been torn off where it revealed your mechanical arm, its glistening dark blue hue with a skin-like silicone and metal plating cover both the exterior and interior of your limb. This newfound discovery about what you are certainly intrigued him and the malicious smirk said it all.  

Suddenly, there was a loud and continuous banging coming from further down the tunnel. The monitors were airing a live video feed and it showed the green robot making his way towards where you were.

“More crisp for the mill.” Muttered the man in displeasure as he fled with the rest of his men.

By the time you ripped your gaze away from the video feed, the man had disappeared from the scene along with his henchmen. 

There were heavy footsteps approaching and you simply watched as the green robot finally came into view, with his blaster out ready to aim on sight. Yet, he hadn’t really noticed your presence since his attention was purely directed towards the other unfortunate robot that was strapped on the table. 

“It must be your lucky day.” 

Then he proceeded to rip off the restraints and walk around the table to where his feet were and tears off the others. 

“What are you doing?” He inquired.

Perhaps they’re friends? You thought to yourself and continued to watch silently as the green robot offered his hand for him to take.

“Getting you outta here. Yeah, I don’t believe it either.”

She watched the exchange as they now stood beside each other. Then other robot, who was missing his right eye, turned to her.

“And you, human, thank you for… for saving my tailpipe earlier.” He muttered out through much hesitance, but was undoubtedly grateful for your assistance.

The green one turns to you in disbelief, finally taking notice of your presence. “What—wait, you saved him?!”

Suddenly the alarms blared out and both robots ran towards the exit with you trailing right behind them. Along the way, you encountered more soldiers, however, their focus were directed at the two robots. Since you were fairly hidden in the dark, wearing dark clothing and all. Either way, you made sure not to be seen by them. Once you were out in the open, the two robots were surrounded by green military vehicles, as well as, helicopters flying above them and were rapidly firing at them.

You on the other hand remained out of sight, not really wanting to partake in the event as you watched the scene unfold. Eventually they fled the scene for unknown reasons which left only the robots behind. The sound of jets soaring across the skies can be heard followed by the sounds of metal shifting in the air; five new robots had landed. The exchange was short and the green robot took on the enemies alone, including the one that he just rescued which he tossed around like a rag doll towards the others. 

“Come on, I’ll scrap all of you!” He yelled, summoning his mace on his left forearm preparing to take them all at once.

The adversaries didn’t get the chance to fire when another pair of robots entered the scene. You watched as the jets retreated, transforming and soaring high into the night sky whilst the other drove off from the scene. 

“Engaging the enemy on your own was even more foolish this time, Bulkhead. But I am honored that you saw fit to rescue your rival. You have truly risen above yourself.” The baritone voice said, which belonged to a red and blue robot, fairly taller than the rest.

“Did you see? I beat Breakdown and bashed him all with his own hammer! I won the rematch!”  The green robot, known as Bulkhead exclaimed enthusiastically.

“I’m sure Miko would be proud.” The two-wheeler said, with her arms folded in front of her chest.

You took this opportunity to approach them.

“Excuse me,”

Their heads turn towards you where stand right before them, although far enough so that your head wouldn’t cramp up from their tremendous height. You can faintly hear Bulkhead cursing under his breath, seemingly forgetting that you had existed.

“I apologize for my unannounced visit, but I seemed to have lost my way. Can you help me?” 

The other robots exchanged suspicious glances to one another. It was only natural for them to feel wary of you, in fact, this outcome didn't really surprise you. But this was the only logical way. They were the only ones that could help and no human could help in your predicament in fear of turning you in because of your uniqueness. 

“You allowed a human to see you?!” Whispered yelled the white and orange robot, looking furiously at Bulkhead.

Bulkhead averted his gaze elsewhere and was rubbing the side of his head. “Ratchet, if it weren’t for her, Breakdown would’ve been long gone before I got there.”

This earned a couple of gasps from the group, except for the taller robot,  who merely stared at you through curiosity.

You stepped forward, “Please, don’t hold him responsible. He did what was necessary. I should be the one to take blame.” You argued, motioning with your right hand towards yourself to secretly hid the exposed one.

Bulkhead was taken back from you defending him that it made his stagger from where he stood. No one has ever done that before except for his human charge. 

“What is it that you want in return?” The taller one gestures his hand towards you.

“All I ask for is for you to take me with you, maybe even allow me to seek shelter. If that is alright with the rest.” You glance over to the others who stared at you cautiously. Then the female robot stepped forward pointing an accusing finger at you.

“How do we know you’re not some sort of MECH agent?”

“Is that what they are called? Interesting… Then explain to me, how can I be speaking to you all instead of attacking you? Shouldn’t I have retreated with the rest of those MECH people?” 

No one seemed to catch your genuine reaction, it was made quite clear, however the only one that truly noticed the change in your tone was the to the red and blue robot. He quickly knew that you were telling the truth.

“Very well.”

The others didn’t argue further with his decision before contacting someone. 

Suddenly a green vortex appeared just behind them and proceeded to enter it. With that you followed behind as you entered the vortex, it left a pins and needle kind of sensation throughout your body. On the other side, you arrived inside a missile silo with platforms throughout and with monitors nearby. Staring down you can make out a strange insignia embedded in the middle of the room. Your mind wandered off until a young voice spoke.

“Bulkhead, you’re back! Did you beat Breakdown?” Based on her features and her accent. You concluded that she was of Japanese descent. 

While the girl spoke to Bulkhead, you proceeded to walk up the flight of stairs where you were met with the girl who was ecstatic in seeing you. Her nose nearly touching yours. She clearly didn’t understand what personal space was, that or she really didn’t care. You can feel the others' intense gaze on you, seeing that you're a stranger in their base. They had every right to be defensive when the girl was ogling you so closely.

“No way… another human! Sweet!” She exclaimed before bombarding you with questions. “Who are you — where are you from — how did you meet the bots?” 

The list went on until you decided to extend your left hand and then pressed your index finger against her lips.

“You’re an energetic one.” She pulls back as you lower your arm back to your side.

“Actually I consider myself an adrenaline junkie.” She points her thumb to her chest with a grin.

You went to say something but was interrupted by a new voice, an angry one too.

“What in the name of Sam hills is going on here?!”

You turned to see a tall man with dark skin as he pushed himself off the couch where he undoubtedly slept on judging by the wrinkles in his shirt. He narrowed his gaze at you for a while before moving his gaze towards the group of robots.

“Prime, you better have a good explanation why there’s another human here.” The man demanded at the red and blue robot, being displeased to see they had brought a newcomer into their base.

“Human? Is that what you think I am?” You noted with a raised brow towards the man, then your attention was focused on the group. Might as well reveal your true self before any assumptions were made.

“I can assure you,” 

Then you proceed to unwrap the belt from her trench coat and then peel off the coat, allowing it to fall on the floor. Underneath, you wore a black turtleneck crop top, long jeans and black combat boots. It’s true that you do resemble that of a human because of your features, however, from the collar bone below you had a body that was purely made out of silicone and metal. Strapped around your waist was a curved short sword tucked away on the right side of your waist. 

“That I am in no way shape or form considered human.”

Everyone stared at you with a mixture of awe and utter disbelief, however,  girl didn’t seemed bothered, in fact, she was thrilled! She takes your wrist and inspects your left forearm with interest where she then begins to trace your skin. It tickled at first but the feeling had adjusted to the foreign touch, noting that the girls fingertips were rough and calloused. Possibly from doing manual labor or something else entirely?

“Whoa, your skin is soft… freaky.” She mused as she continued to examine your arm.

“Miko,” The tone in Bulkhead’s voice was stern, it’s only natural for him to be protective of the human girl.

“It’s alright. I don’t mind being handled.” You assured him, by glancing over to him from the corner of your eye and then back at Miko. Once again being bombarded with quite a few amusing questions to say the least.

“Does your arm turn into a blaster just like the Autobots — what about a sword — whoa, so you do have a sword! And—”

You proceeded to interrupt her, “You ask far too many questions. But wouldn’t it be fitting if you let me explain first and ask questions later? I promise to answer them fully.” 

Miko couldn’t contain her smile as she furiously nods before stepping away from you, eagerly waiting for you to start. With that out of the way, you turned to face the group of robots and began to explain.

“As I stated before, I am not human. I’m a Cyborg, a being with both biological and artificial parts. In order to function as I am, the only part that’s human within me is my brain, nothing else.”

“My sudden arrival here was uncalled for and I have yet to find the main cause of it. I was unable to contact the professor leaving me no choice but to wander. Then I stumbled upon an abandoned town where I encountered your friend here. I knew that if I had any chance to contact anyone from home it would be with him, and this happily led me to all of you.”

“How come you weren't able to contact anyone? Aren’t you Cyborgs’ capable of communicating off-world?” The dark skinned man asked. 

You turned to meet his gaze, only showing a side view of your frame to him. “Yes, however, we still require a main communication hub to be able to do so. The equipment which I currently lack. All I ask for is to be allowed to take sanctuary here until I am able to communicate with the professor.”

His face hardened before crossing his arms in front of his chest. “Fine. But I have to talk to the boys back at the pentagon. They’re gonna have a hard time having you around, especially for what you are. Which means that they’ll have to debrief you to make sure you don’t cause any trouble.”

“Do what you must. I will graciously comply to whatever they ask.” 

The Prime stepped forward, where he stood right in front of you the only thing that separated them was the metal railing between them. You moved your gaze away from the man and towards the larger robot before you. His azure eyes studying you from head-to-toe, not in a suspicious way, it was more out of genuine curiosity.

He kindly introduced himself to you and then presented the others to you. As he then began to the entire story of their race even including their ongoing war with the Decepticons. Once he was done with his explanation, Miko had purposely nudged your shoulder to get your full attention.

“So, what’s your name, Cyborg girl?” 

Those brown eyes that showed so much curiosity that it reminded you of  yourself. The memories of when you were just as curious to explore and learn about the world that you were created in. That curiosity and excitement that was written across her eyes, Miko deeply represented your younger self. So it was no surprised that neither Miko or Optimus could’ve noticed a ghost of a smile appearing on your normally neutral features.

Perhaps being stationed on this planet for an extended period of time wouldn’t be so severe, as long as you had company. Maybe even make new friends along the wall as well.

 “Ariel.”

(2,882 Words)

[drazzilder]

A Hellish Encounter

By Drazzilder

Chapter 23: The Room

WARNING! Themes of extreme isolation

It has been a few more years of tests. Zaheer has given up on trying to kill you or take over your body. If anything, he is getting angrier at the doctors and scientists, expect Lisa. She is the only one who treated you like a person. The problem is that she can’t do it often because she would be fired or worse. The only thing you have to comfort you is the doll you were given and Adam. Whenever he has to heal you after your tests, it’s the only time you get to talk with someone other than the demon inside of you. A year after you and Zaheer stopped fighting, you gained a power. During one of the surgeries, you stopped one of the doctors still and made him cut his throat with the scalpel. He lived but after that they were more cautious around you. They quickly figured out that you have to see the person you want to control so they put a cover over your eyes.

That’s when they started to train you. They would put you in an electric chair and would shock you over and over again till you would do as they asked. At first, it was just small animals to see how far you could control them. The first time you accidentally killed a dog with your powers, they changed their plans for you again. You overheard them speak about training you to kill government leaders just by being in the same room as them, no signs of an attack. The smiling man couldn’t be happier with this, to change the world for himself. Things only got worse from there. They started to make you control people, living people. Sometimes they just wanted you to make them move, other times to tell secrets. Then they asked you to kill them, you refused. They shocked you for hours until Lisa stopped them, but only after you were unconscious. They never could get you to kill another person.

You were wearing their patience thin as they took drastic measures. One morning you wake up being strapped to a wheelchair. They are pushing towards a room inside of the building. Nothing looks strange about it except there are no windows. You overhear some say something about 10 years and you begin to panic. You try controlling people around you to stop them, but they send more people to keep moving you into the room, that man in the corner watching this all unfold. After struggling, someone jabs a needle into your neck and you pass out. You come to in a 15x15 foot room. There is a single lightbulb, a clock, a water tap, floor drain, and what looks to be dried food. You look down to see a recording device. You instinctively press play and hear a voice, the voice of the man who smiles all the time.

“You are quite the stubborn one, aren’t you? You see the room you’re in? It’s a special room. 24 hours in this room makes 10 years pass inside. Normally it is used for testing equipment and tools, but we found it more useful to see how well you and your demon are doing. We really can’t wait for you to get more powerful, so we will speed it up. See you tomorrow; or should I say, 10 years.”

You throw the recorder against the wall and begin to panic but your hand touches something soft. It’s the stuffed doll. Lisa must have snuck it in during the chaos. You instinctively grab it and hug it, looking for warmth. You begin to cry as it warms up.

“Don’t worry, I’m here with you.”

“I know, but 10 years!”

“We will take it one day at a time.”

“I don’t know what I ever did to deserve this.”

“You did nothing wrong, it’s all them. I glad I am with you but I would change how we met if I could.”

At that moment, you curl up on the floor and begin crying yourself to sleep. You wake up the next “morning” only to find your nightmare is real. You want to go shower but there isn’t one, no bath, not even a sink. Just a spigot on the wall. You look for soap but nothing, only finding food. All of the food is dried and it looks like you have unlimited water. After eating some food, you find a new problem: no bathroom. There is a floor drain, so relieve yourself and wash it down with the water from faucet.

“This is so demeaning.”

“It doesn’t look like I have a choice.”

“I can tell you; all of those doctors will find themselves at the deepest depths of hell when they finally die.”

“I know, no one should ever have to go through this.”

“You should have killed them.”

“I can’t, it’s not in me.”

“But to put through this, they should pay!”

“I know but death isn’t always the answer.”

“Fine, any suggestions of what to do right now?”

“Let’s just make sure we survive this. I’ll keep track of the time so we have a goal. Alright, we have 3649 days to go.”

“I don’t see anything else better to do. Just don’t forget that we will make it out of here.”

You take a piece of food and make a mark on the wall, indicating the days that passed. Slowly but surely, the walls get covered in more and more markings. As the counting goes on, the lines start misaligning and become incomprehensible as you lose your mind over the years. The clock broke halfway through, or at least you think it was; time starts becoming a blur, a meaningless concept. At this point you are dirty, your hair is long and matted, clothing long gone. Your muscles have atrophied from lack of moment and your body is thin and frail. Most days you’re just in the fetal position on the floor, talking to yourself or Zaheer.

“Hold on (Y/N), we don’t have much longer. Please stay with me.”

“WHO SAID THAT? Was it you?” You start shaking the doll in your hand; its batteries after all those years. It’s tattered and covered in filth. You throw it at the wall in anger. At this point you don’t know who you are anymore, you don’t even recognize Zaheer’s voice as you go deeper into madness. You don’t know how much longer you were there, it felt like months but it could have been years or only days. Zaheer would talk to you, whether or not you responded normally, he never left you alone.

The door finally opens as you are blinded by the harsh light. The doctors come in and are astonished that you are alive. They pick you up and put you on that cursed operating table. The feeling the straps over your body was the final push. Suddenly both of your eyes are glowing completely red. Everyone in the room starts clenching their chest. As you continue your demonic stare, people start dying one by one as you make their hearts explode. Then you move to the next room and kill everyone there. You continue in this trance as you make it to Lisa. That’s when you look at her and quickly teleport her away. You put her back at the surface as you don’t want her to die. You continue your killing spree until your where they store the other test subjects. You teleport them all to Lisa. That’s when Zaheer takes control and the earth begins to shake. Cracks start forming all around the facility and lava erupts from all around. On the surface, Adam, Lisa and the others watch in horror as the ground starts to cave in. They barely manage to escape as you come to the surface, eyes still glowing red. You approach.

A: “You saved us?”

(Y/N): “Yes and I took care of the problem.”

L: “You killed everyone!!”

(Y/N): “They took everything from me and tortured me for years and I….”

At that moment, Adam placed his hand on you and started to take some of the energy flowing through you. His other hand has a beam of red light coming out of it, pointed towards the hole in the ground. Your eyes slowly fade back normal as your mind as well. You look at everyone and realize what had happened. You turn around as see the hole in the ground and you shake in fear.

(Y/N): “I did that? I killed all those people?”

A: “Its ok, you were not in your right mind.” He says as he gently holds you.

L: “We need to get out of here, I’m sure the army was called already.”

You fall to your knees and begin crying. Adam then hands you something, it’s the doll. It looks brand new and still has the tag on it this time. “‘Endeavor.’ Why does that sound so familiar?” You thought. You squeeze it but this time it startles you as it says “(Y/N), I love you.”

Next Chapter

[hellowkatey]

Febuwhump Day 9

Prompt: buried alive

Warnings: very brief mentions of panic attacks 

Read on AO3

All That Remains

Anakin Skywalker was never claustrophobic, but maybe Vader is.

He thinks this as he is encased in a medical tank, flooded with oxygen and bacta. The procedure is not as gentle as when he used to get it at the Temple healers. It's rough and frantic, his limbs, or what remains of them, being tugged in various directions with no regard for his burnt, raw flesh.

If he could scream, he would. The oxygen mask only makes it sound like muffled gurgling, and it only makes his lungs burn and feel as though they are deflating. Maybe they are. Black dots dance in front of his vision, sweet Force will they please put him under a sleep suggestion or some kind of pain killer?

Eventually, he does fall into unconsciousness, but he can't even be given a break in sleep.

Vader sees his face, standing upon the lava rocks Mustafar. His wretched mentor who left him for dead. Through his tear-stricken eyes, he told him he loved him, told him they were brothers-- obviously he meant the man Vader used to be, but still. Obi-Wan Kenobi walked away as he asked for mercy.

You were my brother, Anakin!

Not anymore.

He wakes up in a new hell. Lying on a hard table, still in agony. It feels like someone is sitting on his chest, but when he tries to look at himself to see the perpetrator he realizes he is not just lying on a table, but strapped down. Panic courses through him, making it feel as though he is breathing through a straw. Vader sputters, gasps, and then something is thrust into his arm, coldness sweeping through his veins, and the darkened room blurs into a darker void.

He sees his padawan. Former padawan. He used to consider Obi-Wan as more of a father than a brother because if anyone was Anakin's honorary sibling it was Ahsoka. Strong and snippy. Her departure was one of his biggest regrets, but the young woman she came back to be turned out to be his biggest moment of pride. Ahsoka is a firecracker, cloaked in a blanket of the light despite the injustice the Order did on her. He will never be as strong as her. He will never forgive himself for their bond that now hangs tattered in his mind like an exposed wire.

Vader is glad she is dead though. He isn't sure what he would do if he ever has to face her.

A blinding light. Vader opens his eyes and finds half a dozen medics surrounding him. Implanting mechanical arms and legs and electric nerves to the tattered remains of Obi-Wan's handiwork. Someone at least had the sense to give him drugs so he doesn't feel their surgeries, but his consciousness isn't appreciated. He feels nothing. Not his body, not the Force, not even a singular emotion. Vader is drifting through the twilight, just feeling the seconds of time in their entirety as they pass. It's tedious. Almost meditative.

Long ago, his mother used to tell him that one day he would count the stars. He would visit so many places, see so much of the galaxy, that he would be the first to know exactly how many there are. But in order to do that, he must practice. So Anakin did. He would play games while he worked. Counted how many people passed by his window, or how many times Watto swore during a workday. He even tried to count every grain of sand one day. Then he would go home and tell his mother how high he made it.

"Oh my sweet, Ani," she would say. "Every day you grow closer to having the patience and diligence to count every single star. You made me so proud."

Of course, her game was a tactic to keep his young mind off the horrors of their servitude. It didn't work-- Anakin was well aware of his status as a slave, but it did give him something to do. And when he did become a Jedi, he would look into the sky and count as many stars as he could see. Just for her.

Now he doesn't count stars, as there is no sky to gaze at. So he counts the seconds as they pass.

When his surgery is over, they dress him. He's stuffed into a thick, compression suit with cutouts where the new cybernetic portions of his body are easily accessible. Vambraces, thick gloves, black boots that fall below his knee. When a heavy panel is strapped to his chest to control his erratic vitals he longs for the body he once had. Never again will he move with the same ease. He will undoubtedly have to relearn how to wield a lightsaber. Despite the time he spent in bacta, his skin has lost the ability to feel as it once did. Warm sometimes feels cold, and cold feels like his flesh is burning off all over again. Never again will he be able to feel the breeze on his skin, the relief of jumping into a cool lake on a hot day. Or the silk sheets of the bed he shared with his wife.

Padmé. Guilt riddles him at their last interaction. His anger took over him. She wasn't supposed to be there. She was never supposed to see him like that.

He looks up as the sound of hydraulics catches his attention. From above, a black helmet descends. They told him his lungs are too damaged to not be on a constant respirator. They assured him the helmet would protect his skin and improve his eyesight. He knows these things, but as he watches it grow closer and closer, Anakin can't help but feel like this is the lid of his coffin closing.

"Padmé," he whispers to himself as it encloses over his face. "Help me,"

For a few long moments, before the respirator kicks in, Anakin Skywalker lays in his final resting place. He is surrounded by darkness, both in a literal and in the Force. His new suit is suffocating, feeling like he is being lowered into his grave instead of being reborn into the Sith Lord is to be. Maybe death wouldn't be so bad. He wouldn't have to live as half man and half machine. He could see his mother again. Ahsoka. Everyone else who perished.

Then it dawns on him. They wouldn't want to see him. His hands are covered in their blood, and there is no way back. He betrayed the Order. His best friends. Everyone who trusted and loved him. There is nobody to go back to, now.

Vader breathes. The respirator makes an exaggerated whooshing noise as he inhales and exhales, pushing fresh oxygen into his lungs. The operating table tilts his body back to a standing position, and next to him stands his Master, wrapped in a dark hooded cloak.

"Lord Vader," Sidious croaks. "Can you hear me?"

"Yes, Master," he replies between heavy breaths. For so long he has been unable to say a word, and now he finally can ask the question that has been sustaining him through all of this. "Where is Padmé?"

The beautiful thing about non-Force sensitives is that they have no concept of their presence in the Force. The Force is everywhere, flowing and surrounding every living thing in a special way. Just as Jedi could sense one another through their signatures, and subsequently block their presence from others, non-wielders also have a specific signature. They usually have no grasp of reigning in their signatures, so they are easy to distinguish. And then there are some who manage to project those, shining brighter than the others.

And Padmé, oh... if there were a star at the center of the galaxy, it would be his Padmé. He can sometimes feel her worlds away, her bright presence like a beacon made specifically for him. Padmé is his home, his love, and he will give his life for her to live, as he couldn't do for his mother.

"Is she safe?" he asks when Sidious doesn't reply. "Is she all right?"

His master falters a moment, his chapped mouth opening and then closing. His pulse quickens at the hesitation. "It seems, in your anger, you killed her."

You killed her.

In your anger, you killed her.

"I? I couldn't have," he rasps, his knees feeling like jelly all of the sudden. "She was alive! I felt it!"

But when he reaches out through the Force, drawing on the raw strength of the dark side to amplify his request, he doesn't find a beacon. He doesn't find his home. Padmé's Force presence has been eliminated from every corner of the galaxy. She's dead. He killed her.

His wife and his child are no more.

Something within him snaps. Maybe it's the last remaining strand of light. Maybe it's his heart. Grief clouds him, pressing on every wound and burn that covers his body because all of this was to prevent her from dying. This entire plan, his devotion to the dark side, and the fall of the Jedi were for the light of his life who he didn't even manage to save. Now he truly feels like he is being buried alive in the thick ink of darkness.

The dark side feeds on his pain. It wraps around him, but unlike when he would bask in the power of the light, the darkness just engulfs him deeper and deeper.

Everything around him is shaking and crumbling as he saturates the Force with his despair. Durasteel medical devices crunch as though they are sheets of flimsy, syringes explode, and he smashes through the restraints that bind his hand to the table. Though it is Vader's power, he recognizes Anakin is the one who wails, both for the death of his love and the last moments of his own existence. Without Padmé there is no more Anakin. Darth Vader is all who remains.