#Honda screen black fix

[wheels-tips]

How To Reset Honda Infotainment Unit

How To Reset Honda Infotainment Unit

How to reset the Honda infotainment system if you have issues such as the screen going blank or freezing, connecting to Apple CarPlay, or not displaying anything. I had problems with my Honda head unit freezing, which the reset fixed. Other issues were the Honda navigation froze and did not work properly. Nothing should be connected to the infotainment system when performing the reset procedure.…

[yuanf3]

VIXEN — HAN SEOUL-OH

2. chapter two — "heart-to-heart"

series masterlist

A/N sorry everyone for the delay, got caught up with school - anyway, here's chapter two, hope you like it <3

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The sun bore down relentlessly, casting waves of heat that seemed to dance off the cracked pavement. Beads of sweat formed on my brow and I let out a breath but remained focused, my hands steady on the wheel of the 86’ Honda Civic. I sat patiently, my eyes fixed on the men across the street, their movements deliberate as they loaded duffel bags into the sleek black SUV. 

Come on, let's go already.

As they finally finished — thank fucking God — and climbed into the vehicle, I fired up the engine of my own car and reached for the burner phone, fingers dancing over the screen to dial Dom's number. 

"Four's on the move," I murmured into the receiver before hanging up, my attention shifting back to the road as I subtly tailed the SUV.

Minutes ticked by, the world blurring past as I kept a safe distance and weaved through the bustling streets, the black SUV never far from my sight. Then, like clockwork, I spotted a familiar 70s Dodge and beat-up Nissan idling at the intersection ahead, and I briefly glanced to my left, catching my brother staring at me. A sudden sense of realization crept into the back of my mind. I shook my head, scoffing. Our plan was working.

Another heartbeat later, and we split off in different directions, each of us playing our part. My heart raced, fueled by adrenaline cursing through my veins when Tej's voice crackled through the radio on the passenger seat, his words slicing through the tension. 

"I know y'all said they were consolidating the money somewhere, but, y'all ain't going to believe this."

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I stood under the scorching midday sun, squinting against its relentless glare as it beat down on the streets of Rio. The heat was oppressive, mirroring the tension that hung thick in the air around us. My eyes narrowed as I caught sight of the imposing building ahead, its stone facade gleaming in the sunlight — a freaking Police Station.

The irony wasn't lost on me, and I felt a wry smirk tug at the corners of my lips. Police officers bustled in and out, seeming oblivious to the criminal activity unfolding right under their noses. I wanted to scoff at the whole situation. Hernan Reyes, the notorious drug lord, hiding his ill-gotten gains right under the nose of the law. It was audacious, I had to give him that. But it also made our job that much more difficult.

"Well," Brian muttered under his breath, his hands in the pockets of his jeans, "this job just got a lot harder."

“No kidding,” I chimed in, standing beside him and crossing my arms over my chest, my expression a mix of amusement and disbelief, “We’ll have to get even more creative.”

Rome's voice cut through the tension, his disbelief palpable. "If he's moving it into a police station, he's got some serious brass in his pocket."

"Looks like this is going to be a shorter trip than I thought," Santos said in Spanish, his tone heavy with defeat and resignation. Leo's agreement was swift and vehement, "Hell, yeah, we can't do this."

“'Can't'? You mean, 'shouldn't,'" Han’s words sliced through the conversation, drawing my attention. I turned to him, a flicker of surprise at his perspective dancing in my eyes. A small smile passed between us before I quickly turned away, squashing any flicker of conflicted emotion this man’s smile stirred within me. 

Before I could dwell on it further though, Dom's voice broke through the internal turmoil. "I say we stick to the plan."

"You say what?" Roman's incredulous voice broke the silence, injecting his trademark skepticism. His words drew my attention, and I turned to him, intrigued by his reaction. He looked at Toretto as if the man lost his mind. Couldn’t blame him.

"This just went from Mission: Impossible to Mission: In-freaking-sanity," he continued to exclaim, his frustration evident in his tone.

I exchanged a knowing glance with Brian, a small smirk playing at the corner of my lips. Roman's dramatic outburst never failed to entertain.

"Whatever, man. I ain't scared, I'm just letting you all know, going in that building is crazy," he finally declared. With a shake of his head, he turned and walked away.

My brother followed his suit as he muttered, "I got this.”

Aware of the moment of silence and a whispered conversation between Leo and Santos, I stepped closer to Dom, the midday sun beating down on us, casting harsh shadows across the pavement. 

"Don't worry about him," I said, my voice carrying a hint of amusement. "Pearce is a full-time drama queen, but he'll come around. Besides, we’ve faced crazier situations than this before."

Dom nodded, his expression still serious. "Yeah, but this time we're walking into the lion's den. Reyes isn't going to make it easy for us."

I couldn't deny the truth in his words, but I had to maintain some semblance of optimism.

"True, but that's never stopped you before. You've always found a way to come out on top,” I replied, my tone firm, injecting a note of reassurance into my voice that I hoped would bolster his resolve. 

"We gotta make sure everyone's on board before we move forward,” he said, his gaze scanning the scenery ahead of us. He seemed lost in his thoughts as if this job put more pressure on him than anything ever before but he’s been like that since I’ve met him. I guessed losing the love of your life had that effect on you. 

I’ve never gotten a chance to meet Letty. It was ironic actually because my brother met up with her quite often in our apartment during her undercover work to take down Braga but I was either out with friends or working. Brian sometimes shared a few stories about her from the time when he wanted to make a detective, how he always thought that Letty had seen right through him but she never said a word. Things would’ve been different if she did. That’s why in some kind of a twisted way, I owed her. 

"Agreed," I affirmed, crossing my arms on my chest and then shrugged, following Dom’s gaze. "No biggie. Just remind them of the 11 million they're getting."

My attempt at levity didn't go unnoticed. I grinned and watched as a brief crack in his serious demeanor appeared and a hint of a smile tugged at the corners of his lips. Bullseye. 

It was good to loosen up a bit, especially during moments like this, so I liked to think that sometimes optimism was the best thing one could ask for in times of struggle. And I was here to provide it. 

Because God only knew how much I needed it.

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The dimly section of the warehouse cast shadows across our faces as we gathered around the table. Out of pure coincidence, I stood beside Han, my senses on high alert while the place seemed to shrink with every second that went by. I felt like I was sixteen again, having a crush on a boy who helped out in Brian’s garage part-time, only to find out he was gay and worked there to ogle my brother. Tough times. Learned my lesson, never again. 

That’s why irritation grew inside me like a parasite and the uncomfortable feeling of awkwardness washed over me as the scent of his perfume lingered in my senses and my attention was divided between the man to my right and the task at hand. His presence was like a magnetic force I couldn't ignore, even as I desperately tried to focus on Mia’s briefing.

"The beauty of public offices?” She leaned over the table, a roll-up in hand, exposing the blueprints of the Police Station we wanted to break into. I was aware of the fact of how ridiculous it sounded. “Public records."

Brian's finger jabbed at a point in the labyrinth of walls and measurements. "This is where he's keeping the money. The vault in the evidence room."

“Um. Uh, yeah. Can I get everyone's attention, right here, for a second?” Tej interjected, raising his finger. “We're talking about breaking into a police station.”

Silence fell upon us as everyone waited for him to elaborate. “Is anyone listening to those words? Anybody? Popo? Five-O. One-time. Pigs. People we don't like.”

He’s got a point.

"You know, police stations are designed to keep people in, not out,” Han spoke calmly, glancing toward Dom, who observed with a cautious and sharp gaze. I could almost see gears turning in his head like the man was coming up with a detailed plan on the spot. 

My brother nodded in agreement. "That's why it's a stealth mission. We'll be in and out before they even know we were there."

"Well, we'll need to get eyes in there,” I chimed in, already getting an idea of what we could use. Or rather who. “At least to find out the make and model of that vault."

"So the vault and then, so…” Roman muttered probably to no one specifically, seemingly lost in thought, making a sudden, weird gesture towards the papers. “It's crazy. Who's supposed to do all this?"

Without missing a beat, I exchanged a knowing glance with Brian before turning to Pearce. Another wave of silence settled between our group as the man in question looked around, bewildered by our sudden focus on him. I raised my eyebrow, waiting for him to realize what was going on. His eureka moment occurred a second later.

"What do you mean? Why me?"

"Because you got the biggest mouth,” I stated matter-of-factly as if it were the most obvious answer in the world. My smile was sweet as honey when I earned a scoff from Tej, a couple of snickers from the others, and a very offended stare-down from Rome.

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The sun cast hues of orange and pink across the sky as I stood alone on the rooftop of the warehouse, the wind whispering against my bare skin. I closed my eyes, allowing myself to relax, even if just for a second. It was moments like these that made me forget the troubles that constantly haunted me. 

Brian, Tej, and Rome had gone to the station to get an idea of what exactly we were about to encounter and it was nothing that we hadn’t expected already, so Santos and Leo had taken over to blow up a few pipes in the main bathroom. It wasn’t much of a surprise to see these two smiling like Cheshire cats when they heard what their job was. It was safe to say that I had my doubts but hey, gotta be positive, right?

Just as I began to lose myself in the beauty of the scene unfolding in front of me, my phone interrupted the moment with a sharp ding.

“There goes my peace,” I muttered to myself. Sighing, I pulled the phone out of my pocket and glanced down to see a text from an unknown number flashing on the screen. My brows furrowed and I quickly unlocked the screen, my eyes going back and forth as I read the message that immediately sent an unpleasant shiver down my spine.

Have fun in Brazil, love. I’ll see you soon.

The words hit me like a punch to the gut, igniting a surge of anger and panic within me. It was like the wind got knocked out of me and my heart sank as painful memories flood back, memories I've tried so hard to bury from a time when I had been naive and desperate. I never told Brian how badly I’ve struggled after I’ve moved to London. I didn’t want him to know about that part of my life where I made mistakes that almost cost me my life.

Those first few months after my move, when I was vulnerable and alone, struggling to make ends meet and juggling between studies and two jobs, were terrifying. My brother was gone, disappeared without a trace, I was hit with the enormous amount of assignments and I was about to be evicted from my apartment.

Then I met Owen. He appeared like a savior, dazzling me with his charm, his sophistication, his extravagant gestures that seemed straight out of a fairy tale. Back then, I had been naive, craving affection and stability in a city that felt alien and hostile. 

I thought I loved him. He had swept me off my feet with his lavish dates, his expensive gifts, his promises of a life I had only ever dreamed of. And as simple as that, I had fallen. Oh, how I had fallen, head over heels, straight into his trap. I hadn't even stopped to question the sincerity of his words or the intentions behind his actions. I was too enraptured by the illusion he had crafted around me, too desperate to believe that someone like him could truly care for someone like me. Someone so insecure and scared.

I didn’t realize who he was until it was already too late. The facade had slowly begun to crack, revealing the darkness lurking beneath the surface. And then, when I finally dared to confront him, to demand the truth I had been too afraid to seek, he’d shown his true colors. The subtle manipulation, the way he always seemed to know just what to say or do to keep me ensnared in his web. I was so blinded by the illusion of love that I never stopped to question the price I was paying.

And I’ve paid a fortune. I’ve paid in tears shed in the dead of night when I thought no one was watching. In missed calls from my friends, whose concerns were silenced by Shaw, and in the gradual erosion of my self-worth, chipped away bit by bit until there was almost nothing left. It was a miracle I’ve managed to leave him, but I wouldn’t be able to if it wasn’t for Hilly and Jessie. 

Now, a fury surged through my veins. I wanted to throw my phone against the concrete floor, to scream out in frustration and defiance. But instead, I took a deep breath and forced myself to ignore the message, to push it aside like I've pushed aside so many other reminders of my past. If he was going to try and get me, I’d welcome him with open arms and a gun pointed at his head. 

With a sharp exhale, I dismissed the text, refusing to let fear consume me. The hatred I’ve felt towards Shaw had reached a level that could no longer be described with words but with actions. 

As I stared at the vanishing sun, lost in my thoughts, I was abruptly startled by the sound of footsteps approaching behind me. Instinctively, my body tensed, ready to defend myself against any potential threat. But before I could react further, a familiar voice broke through the tension.

"Quite the view, isn't it?"

Han's voice was calm and reassuring, instantly soothing the frayed edges of my nerves. Slowly, I turned to face him, my heartbeat gradually returning to its normal rhythm. He had a small smile engraved within his stoic expression.

I nodded, a faint smile tugging at the corners of my lips. "Yeah, it is."

"Brian sent me up here to find you,” he said and stepped closer, his presence comforting yet electrifying all at once as he stood next to me. “They're looking for you,"

Sorry. My crazy ex just texted me and almost scared the shit out of me. I felt like that would’ve been a conversation breaker, so instead, I sighed, tearing my gaze away from the horizon with a pang of guilt for disappearing without a word. Should’ve told someone I was coming here. "Well, you found me."

My gaze caught with his as his gaze lingered on me with an intensity that sent an unexpected shiver down my spine. There was a brief silence between us, but it was not uncomfortable. Instead, it was filled with an unspoken understanding, a sense that Han saw right through the walls I've built around myself, and at that moment, I couldn't help but wonder what he saw when he looked at me. 

I felt exposed under his scrutiny. It was as if he saw through the facade I'd carefully crafted, glimpsing the turmoil that lay beneath. Panic threatened to claw its way back into my chest, but I pushed it down, refusing to let it surface.

Swallowing the bitter taste that formed in my mouth, I decided to break the silence, my voice steady. "I just needed a moment alone.”

"I get it," he replied simply, his tone gentle yet reassuring. His dark eyes met mine, and a shiver ran down my spine. But beneath the surface, there was a tension, a hesitation that I couldn’t quite shake. This was dangerous. This… This whole situation was a disaster waiting to unfold and I couldn’t afford to let myself get too close. I burned myself once and I got a reminder of the consequences not that long ago. Fear gripped me tightly, twisting my insides into knots as I tried to suppress the memories of my past but I wasn’t brave enough to do so.

Instinctively, I step back, creating a safe distance between us. It's not that I didn’t trust Han, despite meeting him only a few days ago. I didn’t trust myself and there was something about our connection that both enticed and terrified me. 

God, I was a mess, wasn’t I?

"Come on," Han's voice interrupted my tumultuous thoughts, breaking the spell that bound us in this moment of uncertainty. "Let's head back down."

I nodded silently, torn between the urge to flee and the longing to stay. But as I took a step forward to walk past him into the warehouse, heading towards the stairwell, I fought to ignore the ache that spread in my chest.

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series masterlist

[choco-pudding]

Space Channel 5 Part 2: Sugoku Sugoi Guide Book p. 180-189 (Translations by @lavoszero and myself. Edits and typesetting by myself)

Third Part of the bonus content and first part of the character profiles. Content from this point onward will just be the character profiles.

Edit, 12/13/23: Fixed some visual errors.

Imgur link to all of the Sugoku Sugoi Guide Book translations we’ve done thus far.

Plain text below.

p. 180 Miss Ulala's Changing Room

My Personal Favorites: The Sexy 7

Maybe this is a tad frivolous, but I compiled a list of my absolute favorites among the many outfits that I like. I hope that you'll enjoy this list.

Sexy 1: Total Darkness Miss Ulala Head-to-toe in crocodile leather, it's Total Darkness Miss Ulala. Her hair looks so cool in black.

Sexy 2: Camo Miss Ulala She looks strong but still has that dreamy look. I like the way she poses, so smooth and clean cut.

- Straight Up Filthy Groove Guru 175

Honda

p. 181

Sexy 3: School Days Miss Ulala There's a fad for wearing these kinds of outfits. It's not my thing, but she looks great, right?

Sexy 4: Sun Tan Miss Ulala It’s the just the Channel 5 uniform, but it’s a rare sight to see Miss Ulala so sun tanned.

Sexy 5: Shopping Miss Ulala Selected for its unique status as personal wear. Take a close look, there isn't a Channel 5 logo in sight.

Sexy 6: Refreshing Miss Ulala The blue and white stripes are refreshingly fresh. Looks cool and keeps her cool, too.

Sexy 7: China Girl Miss Ulala The China girl outfit! Ehem. It's perfect for Mahjong. Her hair looks so good, I like the way she styled it into buns.

-

Straight Up Filthy Groove Guru 176

Toyota

p. 182 Witness List

~A Record of 120 Individuals Who Danced in Purge’s Master Plan to Make the Whole Galaxy Dance~

Concluding this book is a compilation of the known suspects and victims, interviewed by the officers assigned this case. Not all individuals who were abducted are listed, and, in some instances, details were added to the publication without permission. Rest assured, those indisputably involved in resolving the case are registered. Additionally, this book is an accumulation of testimonies from those involved. As such, we are confident in this book’s value as a historical document. It'll be a beneficial contribution to the Space Police Cultural Research Department's ever growing library, as requested by their history experts. –Pine

Mm, well, that’s all the profiles recorded. Below the registration number and the individual's name is the registration location,and below that is the text that appear on the profile screen. Then there’s the notes section. It works like this: you notice how the secret input note for character 002 says "(see 115)" at the end? That means you gotta check out character 115’s profile before character 002 will fess up the details. There are notes on how to receive certain outfits and items, too. Well, I'm outta here. –Texas

Pine · Eastern Galaxy Sector Texas · Western Galaxy Sector

-

Straight Up Filthy Groove Guru 177

Toyota Toyota Toyota Toyota Toyota Toyota Toyota

p. 183

001: Ulala Recording Location: From the start Profile: Channel 5 Reporter. Born May 30. Blood type: B. She may have (inadvertently) saved the galaxy the while giving it her all the other day, but she’s still a rookie. While her boss, Fuse, scolds her daily, she’s dreaming of becoming the best reporter in the whole galaxy! Note: Game Hints: If you talk to her after clearing the main story but before clearing World 2's Report 2, she's tell you that World 2 is now playable and there find lots of new characters that can only be found World 2.

002: Pudding Recording Location: Report 2: After clearing the report Profile: Channel 42 Reporter. Born September 5. Blood type: AB. She has an excessive and intense rivalry with Ulala. Her competitive-fueled destructive behavior is unpredictable. This time, she’s trying to stop Ulala with her new guitar in tow. Da-nan! Note, Secret Inputs: Information for a secret input in Report 5 (see 115).

003: Pine Recording Location: Report 3: After clearing the report Profile: Space Police Chief of the Eastern Galaxy District. Born June 5. Blood type: A. She is a beautiful woman that is accompanied by a theme song, written and composed herself, whenever she appear. She is dedicated to maintaining order across the galaxy. Hobbies include swimming, reading, and space horse riding. She has a younger twin sister named Texas. Note, Item Received: Gives you the green onion item if you check her profile after clearing the first six reports.

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Straight Up Filthy Groove Guru 178

Toyota Honda

p. 184

004: Sexy 1 Recording Location: Report 3: After clearing the report Profile: A female space police officer that backs up Pine. Real name: Mimi. Her father, the Space Police Commissioner, inspired her to choose her profession. She's scary fast and can hit a drum 97 times per second if she gets serious about it. Steering the Playgirl is her responsibility. Note, Secret Inputs: Information for four secret inputs in Report 3 (see 113).

005: Sexy 2 Recording Location: Report 3: After clearing the report Profile: A female space police officer that backs up Pine. Real name: Lily. Recently assigned to this district last month and this is her first full-on mission. She loves Pine like an older sister. It may not be apparent due to slender frame but her grip strength is out of this world; she can crush space bricks with just one hand. Note, Game Hints: You can also hit the drums with UP, LEFT, or RIGHT. And, if you go to OPTIONS, select KEY ASSIGNMENT, and assign DOWN to an open button, you can hit the drums with that button!

006: Shadow Recording Location: Report 1: After clearing the report Profile: The Ground Leader of the mysterious dance gang, the Rhythm Rogues. Leads bands of robots in raids across the universe, forcing innocent people to dance and capturing them in transport ships. His over-the-top actions and crimson scarf that flutters without any regard to gravity are big parts of his appeal. Note:

-

Sweet! 179

Up

p. 185

007: Shadow Imposter Recording Location: Report 5: After clearing the report Profile: A BuffBot utilizing a hologram to transform into Shadow in order to throw Ulala off. Contrary to its purpose, even the subtle differences are surprisingly easy to spot. When changed into this form, he can move quite happily with eight times the usual the speed. Note:

008: Space Michael Recording Location: Report 4: After clearing the report Profile: A Super Star that rocked the galaxy, a Super Dancer that transcended space and time. At everyone’s request, he’s now Space Channel 5 Station Chief, filling the once vacant seat (his predecessor stepped down after being involved in a scandal). He watches over Ulala and her crew. The tension is unchanged. Note, Secret Inputs: Information for a secret input in Report 5 (see 115).

009: Jaguar Recording Location: From the start Profile: Space Pirate Broadcasting Station reporter. He has a history of saving Ulala's life, even did so the other day. This time around, after sensing a new evil presence, this elusive truth seeker hurried out to conduct an investigatory infiltration mission. He hasn't been heard from since… Note, Item Received: Gives you the crimson rose item if you check his profile after clearing Report 5.

-

Sweet! 180

Up Toyota

p. 186

010: Cloaked Purge Recording Location: Report 4: After clearing the report Profile: The leader of the Rhythm Rogues. 18 years old, Blood type: A. A boy genius who achieved success in field of electromagnetic robotics at a young age. Convinced by his own delusion, he believes that it’s his destiny to lead the "foolish and unhappy masses of the galaxy" to a world without worries (paradise) by forcing everyone to dance. He grew up surrounded by robots. Note:

011: Peace Recording Location: Report 2: After clearing the report Profile: Our one and only Space President. He works hard, day and night, to bring smiles and happiness to all of those in the galaxy. The Song Energy created by his singing is enough to bring tears to even those with the coldest of hearts. Note:

012: Noize Recording Location: From the start Profile: A real jack-of-all-trades, he can do anything from broadcasting music, repairing space broadcasting shuttles, to designing new types of mikes. He mainly gives Ulala technical support. Fuse recruited him from Channel 66 to be Channel 5’s Technical Development Chief without any regard to the other channel. He’s unusually modest and polite. Note, Item Received:

Check his profile twice and he'll announce he's developing a new mic. If you check out profiles 022 and 018—in that order—then speak to Noize again, he'll give you the the Ear of Corn item. After receiving the Ear of Corn and clearing Report 3, he'll announce he's developing an ice cream cone shaped mic. If you check out profiles 050 and 046—in that order—then speak to Noize again, he'll give you the Ice Cream Cone item.

-

Sweet! 181

Toyota Toyota Toyota

p. 187

013: Evila Recording Location: Report 4: After clearing the report Profile: The newest model of Channel 5’s security robots. These are mass produced copies of the Perfect Reporter Robot, something the former Chief made in order to stop Ulala in her tracks. Thanks to the Michael Chip that Noize installed in them, they’re now reliable allies and dependable dance partners. They patrol the station. Note, Secret Inputs: Information for a secret input in Report 4.

014: Padding Recording Location: World 2, Report 2: After clearing the report Profile: A comedienne who recently added an impersonation of Pudding to her act. She’s 48 years old. She stars in singing and other such shows at the Space Health Center. She dominated Channel 5's 42nd Entertainment Awards. Her talents are vast, she can even do comedy skits in sign language. She has lots of fans. Note:

015: Texas Recording Location: World 2, Report 3: After clearing the report Profile: Pine's twin sister. She's the Space Police officer in charge of Western Galaxy Shopping District. Her motto is "You break the rules, and we'll break you!" She’s infamous for arbitrarily confiscating space bikes left in front of the station. She’s staunchly feared by locals. Note:

-

Sweet! 182

Toyota Toyota Toyota

p. 188

016: Dancing Purge Recording Location: Report 6: After clearing the report Profile: A more stunning version of Purge, who dances with burning fury now that he's absorbed the dance energy that was sucked out of the audience. Once he starts swinging his hips, it’s all over. It’s a signal that he’s starting to bend dimensions. Note:

017: Space Guide Recording Location: Report 1: Space Symphony · Lounge C Profile: A sexy tour guide from Viscount Travel. When she gets a moment to herself, she can’t help but swing her sweet hips. If tourists aren’t sightseeing, they’re spending their time chatting with her. She collects pennants and key rings from all over the universe. Note, Secret Inputs: Information for a secret input in Report 1 (see 111).

018: Space Granny Recording Location: Report 1: Space Symphony · Lounge B Profile: The retired guitarist and vocalist for the legendary band “Scan Teens.” Despite her age, she’s still down to boogieing all night with some Space Hippies. Her daughter-in-law always warns her not to get involved with those people and to stop being reckless. Note, Item: One of two people involved in receiving the Ear of Corn item.

-

Sweet! 183

Toyota Toyota

p. 189

019: Money Bags Recording Location: Report 1: Space Symphony · Lounge A Profile: An aristocrat who owns 7 dwarf planets and 16 space cruisers. He was enjoying a secret love cruise when the Rhythm Rogues attacked. Even worse, since his rescue was broadcasted for all to see, his relatives that caught it on TV have been poking their noses into his business. Note, Secret Inputs: Information for a secret input in Report 1 (see 111).

020: Chorus Lady Recording Location: Report 1: Space Symphony · Lounge B Profile: The haughty owner of the Space Office Building. She is a singer at the Dark Nest pub on B-2 of the same building. She is currently on a relaxation tour of the open-air shopping mall. She adores pink cherry pies. Her goal is to snag a tenant that wants to open a delish western-style pastry shop. Note, Secret Inputs: Information for a secret input in Report 1 (see 111).

021: Mr. Dreadlocks Recording Location: Report 1: Space Symphony · Lounge B Profile: An instructor at the Cosmic Music Academy. Popular with students, but considered somewhat problematic by the school president. On his days off, while doing laundry and so on, he watches the clouds drift by on the rooftop while playing relaxing music. Note, Secret Inputs: Information for two secret inputs in Report 1 (see 111).

-

Sweet! 184

Toyota Toyota Toyota

[cookipauto]

How to Fix Honda CRV Display Panel Not Working

How to Fix Honda CRV Display Panel Not Working

Honda CRV Display Panel Not Working is a common problem that many owners face. It usually happens when the display is not working and the LCD screen is black. The first step to fixing this issue is to check if the computer’s power cord is plugged in and working properly. If it’s not, then you should plug it back in and see if that fixes the issue. If your Honda CRV Display Panel Not Working, then…

[l4verq]

crossed out | b.b

bucky barnes x reader

in which you’re one of the names on bucky’s list

warnings : angst, fluff?, mentions of choking

fic : one shot

a/n : u know i’m a sucker for therapy bucky lol

He should have skipped today’s session.

Cause he’s starting to regret coming when she brings it up.

“You gonna tell me about her?” Cecelia questions, casually flicking through a thick folder labelled James B.B.

But it was never casual.

Bucky knew she was observing his every move, his every tick. And he’d been pretty good at faking through every session until now.

“I thought you were helping me make amends.” He forges an unamused smile, which was second nature now.

“Yes and that’s why I asked you about her.” She looks up from the folder, the smallest smile tugging at her lips.

“It says here that you guys were complicated.” She continues, eyes skimming over a particular page.

Complicated was the last thing he’d use to describe it.

Cause it was the one thing that gave him some clarity, hope that he could be deserving of love again someday.

“We used to date. We broke up.” He gruffs, crossing his arms.

Maybe he should fake a mechanical failure in his arm, reschedule for another time.

“Do you still love her?”

He doesn’t answer but it’s written all over his face and Cecelia can read him like a book.

She turns over his list that she’d assigned him to make, eyes trailing down names until it reaches a hastily crossed out name at the end.

“Why don’t we pick this up next week? I hope you’ll be more comfortable to talk about it then.” She hands him back the small, black notebook.

He hesitantly takes it back, his feet already springing to get out of the room.

Was it just him or was the air running out in this tiny room.

“And, James?” She calls out.

He looks back, slightly winded.

“Remember, sometimes you need to just take a leap of faith, trust your heart.”

He nods solemnly, almost tripping over his legs trying to get to the door.

Hands fumbling over the handle, he’s greeted by a rush of cool air when he finally opens the goddamn door.

He stuffs the notebook in his pocket, taking big strides towards the exit.

It’s the same everyday.

Keep his head down, one sharp left, stop by the nearby cafe if he feels like it.

But today, he takes a right, taking out his flip phone he prefers to the touch screens these days.

Punching in the only number he knows, his stomach’s doing flips.

Don’t pick up, don’t pick up.

“So you do know how to call someone.” Sam picks up after a few rings.

He could almost hear the stupid smirk.

“How are you?” He cringes, the grip on his phone tightening.

It’s a small pause before Sam chuckles, “Y/N’s doing fine. In fact, she just got back from a mission in Prague yesterday.”

Of course, you’d still be going on missions, it was the only thing you knew.

“That’s not why I called.” He huffs, leaning against his car now.

It was an old, beat up Honda that he’d fixed up from the local junkyard.

“Really? Then enlighten me.”

It was Cecelia’s fault for bringing you up. If she hadn’t brought her up, he wouldn’t be here doing this.

“Where is she?” He closes his eyes, wanting the ground to just crack open and swallow him whole.

“Right where you left her.”

He mumbles a hasty goodbye cause he’s not sure he can trust himself to keep his composure any longer.

Getting into the car, he pulls out the notebook, going through the list.

He’d ticked off the list last month, even adding a few more names just to avoid the crossed out name at the end.

He jams the keys in, the car purring to life, before he can change his mind.

-

The door is taunting him.

He doesn’t know how but it is.

A quick exhale and he raises his hand to knock on it, half hoping you won’t open it.

But you do.

He always loved your eyes cause they held so much life to them.

Like for now, confusion morphing to recognition and rage in an instant.

You’re in bad shape, he can gather from the slight limp and bruises.

It feels like forever before you call his name in disbelief, what he’s longed to hear for so long.

He wishes you’d curse him out, hit him or tell him to go away cause that’s what he deserves.

But you don’t.

Instead, your pretty eyes brim with tears.

“Don’t.” He grits his teeth, unable to meet your eyes.

He always hated to see you cry.

“Then, why’d you leave?” Your voice breaks as months of bottled up heartache pour out.

He had to.

You were the only right thing he’d done in a long long time and he couldn’t mess it up.

“I needed to fix myself before I could trust myself around you.”

He grimaces as he remembers the life draining out of your face, while his hands were wrapped around your neck.

That very night he’d left, requested for therapy and could only hope it would work.

But it didn’t.

There was no fixing anything, he’d realised that waking up from nightmares far too many times.

“You could have picked up the phone.” Your voice barely above a whisper, stinging like a nasty burn.

He almost did, everytime.

But he hated himself too much to allow that.

“I’m sorry.” That’s all he can whisper, fighting the urge to take you in his arms.

“If you’d just let me in, realise that I do understand you.” You’re basically pleading at this point but you don’t care.

“I know you do. But you don’t have to. You deserve a better guy.” He says the same thing when he left like a broken radio.

“There is no better guy for me, Bucky. Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?” You limp over closer to him.

You know he’s focused only on your limp, eyes filled with concern as they rake over your wounds.

“Does it hurt?”

The same thing he always used to ask after a mission while tending to your injuries.

“Yea, here.” You pat the left side of your chest, biting down a smile.

He has to fight back one too, but it’s kinda hard.

You meet his eyes, a little too long cause you’ve missed gazing into them every morning.

Maybe this is the leap of faith Cecelia keeps droning on about, he thinks as he leans in, “We should take a look at that, then.”

You sniffle, “I’m still mad at you.”

He laughs, which involuntarily makes you 2% less mad.

“I missed you.” He whispers, his lips inches away from yours.

You don’t have to say it back cause he knows.

He leans in closer, ghosting over your lips, waiting for your approval.

You close the distance, lips crashing into his almost in desperation.

Which you regret almost immediately cause you taste blood.

A split lip and kissing, not so pretty.

He pulls away and you mewl, pulling him back.

“You’re only making your lips worse.” He chuckles, hands slipping into yours.

Instead, he kisses your forehead, trailing all the way to your lips where he pecks them gently.

“I’m sorry.” He whispers again, head leaning on yours.

“I forgave you a long time ago. I was just waiting for you to come back.” You sob, tears springing out again.

He pulls you into his chest, steady hands you’ve craved for so long.

Gently rocking you back and forth, he strokes your hair, fleeting kisses to calm you down.

You’re struggling to keep your legs stable as your eyes grow heavy but you ignore the blatant aches in your body cause you don’t want to leave his embrace.

And he somehow always seems to notice.

“You need to rest.”

You shake your head, holding onto him even tighter.

He knows he won’t win against your stubborn ass so he lifts you up carefully, legs swinging over his arms while you snake your hands around his neck for support.

“Stay.” You mumble as he takes you in the room you two used to share.

And he does.

Boy, was Cecelia in for a ride next session.

-

a/n : im cringing as i post this🧎🏻‍♀️🔫🏃🏻‍♀️jsneyswjausowkaw but supeerr excited for tfatws this friday :)) also i named bucky’s therapist for convenience lol im pretty sure she’s not named in the first ep? i could be wrong tho

[timetravelassasin]

Searching for You...

Summary: You go off to find your soulmate after waking up to a bad feeling. 

A/N: Hey guys this time I’m doing a Soulmate AU. I’ve always loved the theory of a soulmate and love the idea of it. I hope you guys like this one. 

( ´･･)ﾉ(._.`)_( ´･･)ﾉ(._.`)_( ´･･)ﾉ(._.`)_( ´･･)ﾉ(._.`)

Tears spilled down your cheeks as you woke up one morning. A pain spread thru your chest. Something was not right. Something was not right with your soulmate. You had felt the connection waver and sometimes you could even feel their pain. 

“Are you ok,” you mumbled, rubbing the tears away. 

You got out of bed and started to get ready for work. You had recently been hired at Wayne Enterprise as head technician. Your old employer had bragged about you to Bruce Wayne making him hire you on the spot. It was a shock for you at first but were really excited for it. Although moving was not as fun as you thought it would be. Bruce had an apartment set up for you along with a list of passwords and codes used at Wayne Enterprise.

"I hope you are ok," you prayed softly.

You changed into a white long sleeved button up shirt, black knitted sweater and a pair of black skinny jeans. After fixing your hair and slipping on some light jewelry you slipped on your knee high boots and grabbed your bag.

"Can't for get the most important thing of the day...coffee," you said, walking to your kitchen to make some.

Your grey husky walked up to you with his bow in his mouth. A chuckle escaped you lips as you fed him and patted his head. 

“Behave for me today ok Hades,” you smiled, pressing a kiss on the dogs head. 

After eating some cheese on toast and a cup of coffee you grabbed your keys, locked up and headed out. Today was your first day at the office and you were rather nervous. Bruce had told you meet with his son Tim so he could show you around the building.

"Please let today not end in failure," you said, slipping your helmet on and getting on your black Honda CBR1000RR motorcycle.

The roar of the bike brought a smile on your face as you drove out of the apartments underground garage. You drove to Wayne Enterprise and parked your bike. Once your helmet was secured and locked you made your way to the elevator.

"He said to meet Tim Drake," you mumbled, stepping out of the elevator.

You walked up to the reception’s desk to see an older lady sitting behind the desk talking thru a headset. 

“Hello, what can I help you with,” she asked. 

“Hello, My name is Y/N Y/L/N I am the new head Technician. Mr. Wayne told me to meet with Mr. Tim Drake,” You answered. 

“Ah yes, I have you badge here and Mr. Drake is waiting for you on the top floor in his office,” she smiled, handing you a badge.

“Thank you,” you smiled, pining the badge on the edge of your shirt. 

You made your way to the elevator and then up to Tim’s office. You had to swipe your badge in order to have access to the top floor. It seemed only a limited amount of people were allowed on the top floor. After stepping out of the elevator you made your way to Tim’s office. 

“Hello, Mr. Drake,” you said, knocking on the door. 

“Ah you must be Y/N. Come in and please call me Tim. Mr. Drake is too formal,” he said from behind some computer screens. 

“Ok, Tim Bruce said to get with you about my position,” you said. 

“Yes, come sit I’m working on some stuff but you can shadow me for the day. Bruce said you were rather intelligent and could even beat me at hacking,” he said. 

“He exaggerated a bit. Damian was the one that told him about me before meeting my old boss,” you said, shyly. 

“Wait how do you know Demon Spawn,” he asked, confused. 

“Damian and I met at a dog park one time and became friends. He watches my dog, Hades, when I need to go out of town,” you said.

Tim showed you the programs and also spoke about the usual stuff that happens. He also showed you were his secret stash of coffee if it were to ever come to a point where you would need coffee. He also mentioned that pets were allowed in the building they just needed their own special access. You were happy about that part. 

“Come I’ll buy you lunch today,” he said, pushing away from the screens. 

“Tim, we need to talk about Demon Spawn,” a guy said, walking into the office. 

“Jason, I’m busy right now it will have to wait,” Tim said, turning to the guy. 

You turned around and saw a tall guy lean against the door. He had his arms crossed and wore black shirt with a pair of faded jeans, boots and a leather jacket. You felt your heart race as you looked into his eyes. 

“Jason this is Y/N Y/L/N. She is going to be working with me so don’t bother her,” Tim introduced. 

Jason clenched his fist tightly as he stared at you. You jumped as you felt a pain on your hand. You looked down to see little red marks on your palm almost like fingernails digging into your skin. Realization came to you as you quickly looked up at Jason. 

“You’re him,” you said, tears welling up in your eyes. 

“Huh,” Tim asked confused. 

“So you are my soulmate. Well this was bound to happen. I’ve been searching for you but could never find you,” he said, walking up to you. 

“You are a lot prettier than I imagined. It’s nice to finally meet you my name is Jason Todd,” he smiled. 

“It’s nice to finally meet you too,” You said. 

“Well the Demon Spawn is not going to be happy about this,” Tim said. 

“What am I not going to be happy about,” Damian said from the door. 

“Damian, what are you doing here,” you asked, walking up to him. 

“Hello Y/N I thought it would be nice to take you out for lunch on your first day of work,” he said, looking at his brothers. 

“Tim was actually going to have lunch with me but you can join us too,” you said. 

“That is fine then shall we go,” Damian asked.

“Yes, let me grab my bag,” you answered, grabbing your bag and then Jason’s hand. 

“Y/N why are you holding his hand,” Damian asked, confused. 

“Oh, He’s my soulmate. I hope it’s ok that I hold your hand,” you answered, looking up at Jason. 

“Sweetheart that is fine with me. Now let’s go,” Jason said, giving you a smile. 

“Yeah you are right I do not like this,” Damian said.

[morkleemelon]

Jet Lag✈️

1) you and Mark are both idols and you're on video call from different countries and you miss each other. You surprise Mark secretly visiting Korea and you then surprise him in his room and you guys cuddle and stuff ^~^

@smolninja thank you for your request! I hope it’s everything you wanted! I’m sorry for the delay, I had so many issues with Tumblr and accidentally deleted it when I was like 70% done it was so sad. Nonetheless, I really liked writing it! Enjoy :)

Warnings: mild swearing

Word Count: 3k

Genre: Fluff, slight angst

Fem Idol!reader x Mark Lee

The set up: you’re in a 7 member kpop group called Girl Trouble and you’ve just finished the first concert of your Japanese tour. We’re pretending corona doesn’t exist :) The general public does not know that you are dating Mark Lee

-----

You feel the van come to a stop as flashing lights bloom from outside the tinted windows, waking you from your much needed sleep.

“We’re at the hotel y/n,” your bandmate, Yeeun, informs, fixing her hair in her phone camera to make sure she was ready to be photographed.

The excited cheers coming from the street bring you out of your sleepy stupor and you stretch your arms above you in a big yawn.

“How do I look?” you ask Nayoo, your best friend in the group who’s sitting next to you, touching up her concealer.

“Perfect as always y/n, duh,” she replied, playfully winking as she put her stuff away.

“Ok I’m opening the door!” you warn as you grab the handle and take a deep breath, putting on your best smile.

Swinging the door open, you’re met with an uproar of fans calling out your name and a storm of camera flashes eager to capture your latest look. It was your group’s first time in Japan so the fans were especially excited to finally have the chance to see you.

*Click click click click*

You stepped out of the car as gracefully as you could, smile never faltering as you showed off your pearly white teeth and prize-winning dimples. Brushing your hair back slightly as you walk, you tease your new gold earrings as a subtle endorsement to the brand. Your members following suit, you wave to the crowd and make your way to the entrance, nodding at a few fansites you recognized.

- - -

Throwing yourself onto the bed, your freshly showered hair promptly soaks through the comforter but you couldn’t care less.

“Ugh...,” you sighed, melting into the plush goodness of the hotel mattress, “I’m so goddamn tired.”

If only he were here with you...

“Oh!” you gasp, head shooting up from your now wet pillow, “I promised I’d call!”. You rolled off the bed and scrambled to find your phone in your bag, suddenly wide awake.

“You’re calling loverrr boyyyy?” Nayoo teased, dragging out the letters because she knew how much you hated it.

“Stopppp!” you whined, throwing your soggy pillow at her and trying to hide the growing blush on your cheeks.

Frantically unlocking your phone, you scroll through your contacts to find your boyfriend, heart racing with anticipation. It’s been a few weeks since you’ve seen Mark and you know it’ll be a few more until you have the chance. You promised each other to call whenever you could, but with NCT dream having a new comeback and Girl Trouble was starting to be really popular, there was only so much you could do. On top of that, it was stressful trying to keep your relationship a secret with all of the prying eyes around you and Mark’s intense fan base. Nevertheless, you’ve been going strong for about 8 months now you know that everything, every struggle, is worth it because of how much you truly love him.

Calling: Baby💕💋🦁...

You don’t bother to fix your makeup-less face and frizzy hair because you know that he’ll say you’re beautiful.

You smile at the thought of him as the FaceTime chimes ring.

*whoom*

“Marky!” you whisper cry, heart racing with excitement as you see his face for the first time in days.

“Baby!” Mark squeals back in the same tone, losing himself to giggles as you both giddily recover from the excitement of getting to see each other. You can hear the sound of voices mocking him in the background and Chenle’s piercing scream cuts through the audio.

“How have you been, baby?” you ask adoringly, ignoring the dreamies and look longingly at the boy in round glasses and his favorite grey hoodie.

“Shut up guys! I’m trying to talk to y/n!” he yells back at them, met with only more mocking and screaming. Sighing and giving up, he turns back to the camera, “Ah you know, I’ve been alright. We’ve been pretty busy with practice. I’m actually at practice right now if you can’t tell”. He pans the camera to the other members of dream who are clearly only taking a break because Mark made them stop for this phone call.

Guilt grips at you as you realize how you were probably inconveniencing them. After all, it was getting late and they all have to stay even later now because of you.

“Oh... if now’s not a good time we can always try tomorrow,” you offer, smiling slightly but not enough to hide your disappointment and guilt.

“Aw baby I’m sorry,” Mark soothes, “don’t worry about us I didn’t mean it like that. I missed you so much and these guys can spare a few minutes it’s fine”.

“I wish you were here, Mark. Or I was there,” you whisper, lying down on your bed once again. Placing your phone in front of you, it’s almost, almost, as if he were there lying with you.

Mark wears a pensive expression as he looks down, using his free hand to fiddle with his hoodie strings.

“Yeah. Me too”.

His voice is strained as he thinks about the nights you’ve snuck out together and the secret dates you shared. He misses the way you feel in his arms and the way your soft hair felt when it tickled him awake in the morning. He misses your terrible dad jokes and your night cooking. It was really frustrating how you were both so young and so in love, but everything else in life had to get in the way. Mark really missed you.

You reach out instinctively to stroke his hair but instead of comforting the boy you loved, your hands are met with only the cold surface of your screen.

The two of you talked for a few more minutes, trying to make the most of the time before he had to go. You could tell by the way his voice strained that he was really exhausted.

When he finally hung up, you couldn’t shake the empty feeling off; not being next to him, being able to touch him, to comfort him, to be with him was the worst feeling in the world.

And before you could stop yourself, warm tears began to fall as your shoulders shook with your heartbroken sobs. Video calls were supposed to make you miss each other less, not more. You loved him so much that you’d miss him even if he was right there with you. Being apart was devastating.

“Oh, honey…,” Nayoo coos, crawling into your bed to give you a much needed hug, “It’s okay. It’s going to be okay. Let it out”.

Wrapping your arms around your best friend, you let the tears fall onto your already soaked pillow and spilling out the feelings you’ve kept buried inside for so long. 

“I just miss him so much,” you gasp, squeezing your fists around the fabric of Nayoo’s sweatshirt. 

“Oh I know y/n, I know,” she comforted, “remember back when we were trainees and you just started dating Mark? And I was always there to distract Manager Kim when you snuck out to meet him?”.

You let out a small laugh at her attempt to lighten the mood. Nayoo was truly a good friend and she always had your back. You were really lucky to have her in your life.

“I do, Nayoo. I never thanked you enough for that”

“You know I love you. I’d do it again now if you wanted to sneak out and meet him. Actually I bet you could pull it off since our next show isn’t for another 4 days”

“Wait…”

Both of you sat up at the same time, looking at each other with wide eyes. 

------

“I can’t believe we’re doing this”

“Shush! We already bought the tickets there’s no backing out now”

“What if someone notices me?”

“They won’t. Look at you”

You looked in the mirror of the lobby bathroom you were hiding in. You were dressed in plain, unbranded clothes, your hair tucked in a low, messy bun. The majority of your face was covered by a mask and a baseball hat, making you look nearly unidentifiable to anyone looking. 

“I guess,” you sighed, still nervous, “let’s just go over the plan again”.

“Alright sheesh,” Nayoo groaned, “as if I am not a wizard of distracting our manager. You’ll get into the Uber we just called and go to Japan Airport. Your flight is at 2:30am and you’ll arrive in Korea at about 4:00am. Then you’ll go to Mark’s dorm and make out with him yadda yadda-”.

You punched her in the arm.

“Okay! Did I lie though? Anyways, you’ll be on your return flight the next day at the same time so you better savor your time. MY job is to tell Manager Kim that you are having lady problems and you can’t make it to practice today. He hates when we talk about periods so this is fool proof seriously. Plus we know that you will do fine on stage without one day of practice”.

“Okay…,” you chewed your lip nervously, half dreading the thought of being caught and half thrilled at the thought of being in Mark’s arms in a few hours. Your phone buzzed in your pocket and you looked at the notification.

*your Uber driver Ayako is here! Look for license plate A29&Q on a black Honda Pilot*

Hugging Nayoo goodbye, you rush out of the hotel and into the cab, adjusting your cap and mask to make sure it covers your face. 

Each second that passed, you became more excited about seeing your boyfriend and less nervous about the consequences. 

Mark, I’m here for you. I’m coming, just wait a little bit longer. 

Your hands itched to call him and tell him what you were doing but you knew that he was catching up on some much needed sleep by now. 

When you arrived at the Japan Airport, you thanked the driver and walked briskly through the airport. You had nothing except a small backpack and your plane ticket so getting through security was quick. Thankfully, there weren’t too many people there at 2 in the morning so you began to relax. 

Successfully making it through security, you finally board the plane and claim your seat at the very back. 

Looking out the window to the dark, starry skies, the lights of the airplane wings illuminate the drops of rain that began to fall. 

-----

You jolt awake as the plane lands at the South Korea Airport with a rumbling thud. Your hands dart to your face to make sure your mask and hat are still there, sighing in relief when they remain unmoved. 

Grabbing your bag, you walk down the aisle of the half-empty plane, each step bringing you closer to Mark. 

Rushing out of the airport, your steps gain traction as you feel your heart racing in excitement at the thought of seeing your boyfriend so soon. The cold night air greets you familiarly as you call the nearest cab over. Telling the driver the address of Mark’s dorm building, you watch as the streetlights pass by and you near the boy you’ve been dying to see for weeks. 

At last, you arrive at the steps of the apartment complex. Thanking the driver, you rush into the building and attack the elevator button going up. Your breathing is shallow with excitement knowing that he’s there right now. He’s there and you’re going to be with him. 

Every second in the elevator feels like hours and you kick yourself for not taking the stairs. The floors seem like they’re all a mile away from the last and you tap your foot impatiently on the carpeted floor. 

8...9...10

*Ding*

You speed out of the elevator and find your way expertly to the infamous 10th floor dorm room. Feeling around the crevices of the carpet floor for the spare key, you feel a slight twinge of nerves because you’re technically breaking into their home. But, as soon as you enter the familiar room, any guilt you have washes away and the only thing you can feel is the rapid beating of your heart filled with love and anticipation.

Making your way silently through the dark common room, you stop at the oh-so-familiar door. When your hand touches the cold metal of the doorknob, you swear that the beating of your heart was loud enough to wake the entire building.

Taking a deep breath, you open the door and you see him. Your breath hitches at your throat and you fight back the urge to cry right then and there. Mark was lying on his bed, snuggled under the covers with his arms and legs wrapped around a pillow like he always does when he sleeps. His soft breathing was rhythmic and calming, the warm scent of his room inviting you in. 

Without wasting another second away from him, you drop your bag on the messy floor and walk up to his bed. Carefully, you pull at the pillow in his embrace and replace it with your own body. Mark shifts slightly and you freeze, not wanting to wake him up from his rare sleep. His eyes remain closed and his arms instinctively tighten around you. You can see through the darkness that his eyebrows furrow slightly and his lips part, and you wonder if he knew you were there. 

“Finally,” you thought to yourself, reaching up slowly to caress his hair, “we’re finally together”. It didn’t feel real. You couldn’t believe that you were finally here in his arms. His body was so warm and felt like home to you. 

You can feel Mark’s fingers autonomously rub circles into your back. As if his body realized what was happening, Mark’s eyes opened slowly and he peered into your face, blinking slowly to process this new information. 

“I’m here, Mark,” you whisper as softly as you can.

Without any hesitation, Mark leans forward and presses a deep kiss onto your lips, conveying ten thousand words with his actions that could only be interpreted as “I missed you so much”. 

You kiss him back, fingers gripping onto his shirt with raw emotion in an “I missed you too”. You breathe in deeply, not wanting to forsake any aspect of him, taking in all of his scent and drinking it all like a flower with no water.

He pulls away with a sigh and presses his forehead against yours. Mumbling incoherent words, you notice that he seems to have fallen back asleep.

Your own eyelids feel heavy and they flutter closed as you succumb to the warm welcome of sleep, your heart whole with love.

----- 

Dull beams of sun fell slanted through the curtains as you drifted awake the next morning. You felt a hand playing with your hair and you opened your eyes slowly, temporarily forgetting what you had done the night before. Memories flooded back and your attention narrowed in at the smiling boy in front of you. 

“You’re really here,” Mark whispered, “how are you here?”.

“It’s a long story,” you whispered back, voice still hoarse from sleep. 

He pulled you in closer to his chest and you gladly snuggled into his warm body, nuzzling at his favorite hoodie, the one you got him for Christmas. 

“I thought it was all a dream when I saw you last night,” he admitted.

“Stay with me today?,” you ask, worried that your time together would be short. If he had to go to practice, you could hardly see him at all and you’d go back to missing him a thousand miles away.

“I’m not going anywhere today,” Mark replies, kissing the top of your head, “my wishes have finally come true and you magically appeared in my bed. I’d be an idiot to leave”.

You giggled at his words, working your fingers to draw shapes into his back. 

You start to tell him what happened after you called him the night before and how devastated you were when you weren’t with him. Mark’s arms tightened around you as you told him you cried when you saw how tired he was and you weren’t there to cheer him up. You told him about how you put on a disguise and snuck around Manager Kim who thought you were dying right now. His body shook with laughter at the crazy night you had and you both agreed that this was the wildest thing you had ever done.

“How long are you gonna stay here?”

“My flight back to Japan is at 2:30am tomorrow morning. What time is it now?”

Mark shifts to unlock his phone on the nightstand. 

“It’s 10:49am”

You sighed and buried your face deeper into his chest, trying to get impossibly closer to the love of your life and make the most of your hard-earned time together. 

“Let’s do everything today,” you heard him say.

“What do you mean?” you ask, tilting your chin up to look at him, pressing a small his to his jaw. 

“Let’s just do everything we always wanted to do. Let’s get ramen from the convenience store together and then go on a walk at the park. Let’s get matching sweaters from the mall and then full sugar boba tea. You’ll drink half of mine and I’ll let you because I’m a good boyfriend”. Mark giggles at his imagination and peppers kisses across your face. 

You laugh at the ticklish sensation and your heart swells with love for the Canadian boy. 

Your whole body tingled, the feel of his body around yours and his lips on yours sending your head spinning. Rubbing your nose adoringly against his in an eskimo kiss, you vow that you would be strong for him from now on. You might be apart for work a lot, but the love you share is inseparable and undeniable. Nothing could ever come between you. You were his and he was yours. 

“Let’s do it, Everything”

[the-delta-42]

New Car

New Car

Marinette couldn’t help grinning as her parents guided her outside. She could hear the excited chatter from her friends. She had a feeling that the thing her parents were guiding her too was a car, but she couldn’t be certain.

“Are you’re eyes closed?” Asked her father, making Marinette laugh.

“Papa, you’re literally covering my eyes.” Teased Marinette, provoking a laugh from her mother.

“Well, you remember that car you were so enamoured with?” Asked her mother, making Marinette frown.

“You mean the red one that was bought by someone else the day after I saw it?” Responded Marinette, it was a red, beat-up hatch-back that had seen better days, but Marinette had loved it. Ever since she passed her driving test, she’d looking at cars. Her parents had made it clear that they thought her motorcycle wasn’t safe enough for them. Said bike had been totalled after Kim took it for a joyride and was still being fixed.

“Well, we may have known more about it that you thought.” Said her father, removing his hands, allowing to Marinette to see in front of her.

A red, beat-up hatch-back that had clearly seen better days. It was the car Marinette had fallen in love with after seeing it, only it had been cleaned, fixed up and given a fresh coat of paint. Marinette numbly approached the car looked inside it. The interior was the same, dark grey seats, with a matching carpet, the dashboard was the same colour. Marinette suddenly grinned, before sprinting to her parents and hugging them.

“Thank you.” Said Marinette, her voice muffled by her father’s shirt, before she took the key he held out for her.

“It looks tacky.” Came Chloe’s voice, scrolling on her phone.

“Chloe, not everyone can afford the latest Lamborghini or Ferrari.” Said Adrien, looking in the car, before gasping, “There are cup holders!”

Everyone looked at Adrien.

“I’m guessing that fancy sports car your dad got you doesn’t have them.” Said Nino, frowning at Adrien.

“It did, but then he had them removed because he ‘didn’t want me making a mess of myself or the car’.” Said Adrien, looking at the back seats, “There are only two doors.”

Marinette gently pushed Adrien to the side and unlocked the door, swinging it open, she leaned over the seat and pulled it forwards, allowing access for someone to sit in the back seat.

“Oooh.” Said Adrien, leaning forwards.

“Yeah, ooh.” Said Alya, leaning against the bonnet, “I call first ride.”

Adrien, Nino and Kim protested, but Alya just smirked and sat in the passenger seat, waiting for Marinette to get in and start driving.

“Sorry.” Said Marinette, before getting in the car and driving off.

“Did my girlfriend just steal your girlfriend?” Asked Nino, making Adrien shrug.

NC

Marinette returned an hour later, grinning, with Alya laughing about something. The rest of the day passed without incident, except when Marinette’s car alarm went off, because a dog had taken a leak against it.

Marinette was curled up in her bed when she heard what sounded like a car driving off, with a groan, she pulled a pillow over her head and went back to sleep.

The next morning, when Marinette went downstairs, she found a police officer sitting in the living room. Her parents looked nervous, while the officer just looked tired.

“Good morning?” Said Marinette, looking around.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng?” Asked the Officer, getting a nod from Marinette, “I’m afraid we picked up a car thief last night, we found him driving a red Honda Civic, we pursued him on foot, but when we went back for the car, we found he’d placed an incendiary device in the vehicle.”

Marinette’s face fell, already dreading what the officer was going to say.

“The car was deemed unsalvageable, but” Said the Officer, making Marinette look up, “we managed to clear it with our superiors, and we’ll be sending one of the cars confiscated from the thief’s parking lot.”

Marinette numbly nodded, before heading back to her room. She’d sent a text, telling Alya about the incident and, after getting dressed, decided to design some clothes until she felt better. Alya and some of Marinette’s other classmates turned up, offering condolences over Marinette’s, now destroyed, car.

Around three in the afternoon, Marinette heard a truck stop outside the bakery. Kim looked out the window and did a double take.

“No way!” Gasped Kim, getting Marinette and some of the other to go over to him, “Marinette, they brought a Dodge.”

Marinette looked out the window and nearly choked on her drink, as the tow truck unhooked a red Dodge Challenger with a pair of, what Marinette assumed were, buffalo horn on the end of the bonnet. Marinette rushed downstairs, skidding to a stop when she reached the ground floor.

“Normally, we wouldn’t give her a muscle car, but it was the only one that was, 1. Fit to be on the road and, 2. Didn’t have anything wrong with it.”

Her mother turned around and spotted her standing at the bottom of the stairs, “Marinette, we were just about to call you.”

Marinette went to the window and looked at the car, “Is that it?”

“Yeah, it’s the only one we can’t find a problem with.” Said the Officer, holding the key out for Marinette to take.

Numbly, Marinette took the key and the officer left. Marinette exited the bakery and looked at the car, there were a few dents in it, but other than that, it looked to be in working order. Grinning, Marinette got in the car and started up the engine, quickly putting on her seat belt, Marinette drove off.

NC

Chloe let out an inhuman screech at the sight of Marinette’s new car, “Where’d you get that?”

“My car got stolen and wrecked, this was the only one that didn’t have a problem with it.” Shrugged Marinette, locking her car up.

Adrien grinned at the car, as Chloe stormed off in a huff, “Okay, I’ll admit it, your car is cooler than mine.”

Marinette looked at the dark grey Lamborghini that Adrien’s father bought after he passed his driving test. For some reason, Marinette felt something was off about the car.

“How long be-” Adrien was cut off by screaming.

“How does he work so fast?” Asked Marinette, as she and Adrien ran off to find a place to transform.

Within minutes, Ladybug and Chat Noir had subdued the Akuma, Chloe, and had purified the Akuma. Ladybug cast Miraculous Ladybug, as the ladybugs flew across the city, a red muscle car suddenly was brought back online.

The car silently observed his surroundings, before a young woman with pigtails approached him, “That’s got to be a new record.”

“What, five minutes?” Asked a blond-haired man, “I’m pretty sure Mr. Pigeon was under a minute.”

“I still can’t believe she got akumatized over a car.” Said the woman, unlocking the cars door.

“Marinette,” Said the blond-haired man, “You know Chloe, she’ll get akumatized over anything.”

Marinette sighed, and slumped against the car, “Still, Adrien, it’s starting to get old, either she should be sectioned or go to counselling.”

“Knowing Chloe,” Said Adrien, as Marinette got into the car, “She’ll probably get them to say she’s in perfect health.”

Marinette snorted, as she closed the car door.

NC

A giant, white and orange robot grumbled at a monitor screen.

“What is it, Ratchet?” Asked a bigger red and blue robot, his voice a deep baritone.

“Optimus, Cliffjumpers’ signal has just come back online,” Said Ratchet, glaring at the screen, “Again.”

“Once due to the presence of Dark Energon.” Said Optimus narrowing his optics at the screen.

“Yes, but unlike last time,” Said Ratchet, staring at the screen, “it’s not corrupted, if anything, it’s in perfect condition.”

“Where is it located?” Asked Optimus, looking down at Ratchet.

“Paris, France.” Said Ratchet, looking at the screen, “Didn’t Agent Fowler say something about ‘superheroes’ there?”

Optimus was silent, just before he heard multiple engines rolling into the base. A blue motorcycle, yellow muscle car and a green 4x4 drove into the main area of the base. With them were three humans, at the other entrance to the main area, two more robots, one white and blue, the other white, green and red walked in.

“’Jackie!” Yelled a giant green robot, after transforming from the 4x4. The yellow muscle car and the motorcycle following suit, turning into a yellow robot and a blue and silver female robot, respectively.

“Hey, Bulk.” Greeted the red, white and green robot, before turning his attention to Ratchet, “The Doc just said something about a ‘bots signal coming back online.”

“Cliffjumpers’ signal has come back online, again.” Huffed Ratchet, checking the programs software, “However, unlike last time, it’s in peak condition.”

“Think it might be a ‘con trick?” Asked the female robot, placing a hand on her hip.

“I doubt it, Arcee,” Said Ratchet, as the three human’s stood close to his work station, “Since we last saw Cliffjumpers’ remains being welded back together by MECH, it is possible they may have done what, frankly, seems impossible.”

“We saw them using energon to power his t-cog,” Said a short boy, with wild brown hair and glasses, “they could’ve transformed him.”

“And when they couldn’t control him,” Said a tall, young man with black hair and blue/silver eyes, “They just pawned his vehicle mode off to a collector.”

“Where’s the signal coming from?” Asked Arcee, her optics narrowing.

“Paris, France.” Said Ratchet, making all the human go still.

“Wait,” Said a young woman, with gold/amber eyes and pigtails and a braid, “you mean one of the cities with actual superheroes?”

The two males just stared at Ratchet in surprise.

“Yes, Miko,” Sighed Ratchet, focussing on the screen, “one of the cities with actual ‘superheroes’.”

“Doesn’t Ladybug have a sort-of healing power?” Asked the tall male, getting surprised looks from the bots.

“What was that Jack?” Asked Arcee, looking at her charge.

“Yeah, Ladybug can literally fix a destroyed city!” Exclaimed Miko, slinging an arm around Jack’s shoulders, “There’s a video of her fixing Paris after it was entirely flattened during an Akuma attack!”

The Autobots all stared at them.

“Rafael, translation if you please.” Said Ratchet, after a couple of moments.

“There’s someone in Paris that can turn people into monsters, by using their victims emotions.” Said the short boy, Raf, “The first akuma was called Stoneheart and the heroes were thirteen when Hawkmoth first appeared.”

There was the tell-tale sign of the Autobot’s optics flickering that showed they were using the internet. Arcee frowned and looked impressed.

“Yeah, each time they meet Hawkmoth in person,” Said Miko, getting the bots attention, “they keep gaining ground on him and he always runs off.”

“Then why haven’t they beaten him yet?” Asked Bulkhead, getting a sigh from Miko.

“A few years back they had a team,” Said Miko, looking down, “a pretty big team, until they were betrayed by one of the team members that had outed their identity to the public.”

“After that, the Akumas got worse and, eventually,” Said Jack, shrugging, “Ladybug and her partner build a new team, hand picking the individuals, and if anyone of them pulled the same stunt as Bourgeois, instant memory wipe.”

“Which made taking tests a whole lot harder.” Joked Miko, getting a snort from Jack.

“So, this Ladybug can literally fix anything?” Asked Ratchet, getting the humans’ attention.

“Yeah, as long as she knows enough about it and how much need to be fixed.” Said Jack, as Ratchet had a thoughtful look on his face.

“No.” Said Optimus, before Ratchet could even voice his opinion, “I’ve seen the footage of her restoring the city, if she were to do the same with Cybertron, she would most certainly perish.”

Ratchet’s shoulders slumped.

“School has a trip to Paris planned next month,” Said Jack, making the bots look at him, “We all signed up for it, if Cliffjumpers’ signal is still there by then, we can all check it out.”

Optimus frowned, before nodding.

NC

Miko and Jack shared a suffering look, the tour of the Agreste fashion company was duller than when the principle giving a speech. The woman showing them around had the same attitude as she was barely pointing things out as they passed them.

“And if you look to your left, you’ll see all the models posing naked to emulate ancient Greece.” Said the woman, Marinette.

Jack and Miko didn’t both looking, but the groan from Vince told them it wasn’t what Marinette said it was.

“If any of you looked, you would now know that it just the fabric dying department.” Said Marinette, looking back at them, “It also tells me which ones of you should be observed.”

There was a louder groan from everyone else.

“Now, here’s the fun areas of the business,” Said Marinette, as the tour group walked into a large open room, “This is where we model clothes, cars and any other random crap that can be modelled.”

A blond-haired man, reclining on the bonnet of a sports car immediately perked up, “Marinette!”

In a matter of seconds, the man had picked Marinette up, kissed her, spun her around and stared at her as if she was the only thing in the universe.

“Adrien, working.” Said Marinette, getting the man to put her down.

“That’s the Tsurugi LX-10 Model.” Said Jack, getting everyone to look at him.

“You’re familiar?” Asked Adrien, looking at Jack.

“I know that they’re illegal in the States because of the number of times previous models had to be recalled.” Said Jack, before scowling, “Not to mention the number of people that died after their cars crushed them against a wall.”

“Well, this model doesn’t have the self-driving gimmick,” Said Adrien, frowning at the car, “but it does have a feature called incognito mode.”

“Which is?” Asked Marinette, as the car turned from silver to black.

“That.” Said Adrien, folding his arms, “Madam Tsurugi had it designed for the police, but then she put it on the common market and now, they’re facing a metric fuck ton of lawsuits.”

“Then why are you modelling it?” Asked Miko, making Adrien smirk.

“I wasn’t,” Said Adrien, folding his arms, “I was taking a nap.”

A screwed-up ball of paper hit the back of Adrien’s head.

“Work now, flirt with your girlfriend later.” Yelled a photographer, while a red-haired, dark skinned journalist laughed.

Adrien grinned, before charging at them, soon all three were on the floor with Adrien squeezing them.

“Ms. Dupain-Cheng, what’s going on?” Asked a cold voice.

“Alya’s here for the interview, Adrien was catching up on his sleep and I’m showing the tour group around.” Said Marinette, turning to face a tall, white haired man.

The man looked at the car and then to Adrien greeting the journalist and her camera man.

“And, no, nothing out of the ordinary happened.” Said Marinette, as the man frowned.

“I believe I told Rossi to show them around.” Said the man, looking at Marinette.

“She didn’t show this morning.” Said Marinette, pulling out her phone, “She didn’t respond to any of the messages I sent her, either.”

“This is the fifth day running?” Asked the man, making Marinette nod, “Notify the Police, she might’ve had another accident, seeing how she became prone to them after the incident.”

Marinette nodded and put her phone away, “I contacted the police after I was told she didn’t turn up, I also called Tsurugi Motors, told them the car wouldn’t start and I’ve heard nothing since.”

“What wrong with it?” Asked Jack, getting a look from Marinette and, presumably, her boss.

“It won’t start.” Said Marinette, as she walked over to the car.

“Does it make any strange noises when you try to start it?” Asked Jack, following her.

“It clicks.” Said Marinette, before Jack frowned.

“Vince, come here.” Said Jack, leaning inside the car and pulling the latch from the bonnet.

Vince came without question, lifting it up and looking inside.

“Found the problem.” Said Vince, as Jack joined him, “There’s no engine.”

Everyone looked inside the car and saw an empty compartment. Jack then went to the back of the car, checking the rear end for an engine, “It’s back here.”

“It looks like it’s been scooped out and dumped back here.” Said Vince, as Jack rolled up his sleeves.

“Help me lift this out,” Said Jack, as Vince took the side opposite to Jack, “on three. One. Two. Three.”

Carefully and with great effort, Jack and Vince lifted the Engine out and placed it on the floor. As they were straightening up, both froze at the sight of a small, blinking device.

“We should leave.” Said Jack, his tone leaving no room for argument, “Now.”

Marinette and her boss joined them and saw the bomb.

“Sound the alarm.” Said the boss, while Marinette went over to the PA system, saying something about a ‘code silver’.

Half-an-hour later, the tour group and the employees were standing on the other side of the park away from the building.

“Maybe it’s defective.” Said Raf, just as the building shook and collapsed knocking everyone to the ground and producing a massive dust cloud, “Or not.”

“It was delayed by 30 minutes.” coughed Jack, standing up and looking at where the building had been, “If we hadn’t spotted it, then we would’ve been near the top floors.”

Everyone sat on the sidewalk as Ambulances arrived, the ones closest to the explosion were being treated, while masks to deal with the dust and other debris were passed around.

“Still like explosions Miko?” Asked Jack, as Miko was having a cut on her head examined.

The Japanese girl groaned in response to Jack’s question. Jack felt a twinge of sympathy for her, before he saw Marinette approaching a red car with bull horns on the hood. Jack watched as she sat in the drivers’ seat, before resting her head against the steering wheel.

“That, is a nice car.” Said Vince, staring at the car.

“It looks like a Dodge Challenger.” Said One of Vince’s friends.

Marinette suddenly turned her head towards the teens, before getting out of the car and walking towards them.

“I should’ve checked earlier, but are any of you hurt?” Asked Marinette, just as a silver Aston Martin pulled up.

“Miko hit her head when we all fell.” Said Jack, as a young Japanese woman got out of the Aston Martin and rushed towards them.

“Marinette,” Yelled the woman, as she came close to them, “I heard there’d been an explosion.”

“Someone placed a bomb in the back of one of your mothers’ cars.” Said Marinette, turning to face the woman, “It was actually one of the visiting students who discovered it.”

Marinette paused, before looking at Jack, “Speaking of, how did you know what a bomb looks like?”

Jack suddenly felt uncomfortable, “Movies.”

Marinette frowned, but didn’t say anything, “Apparently, the only one hurt was Miko.” Marinette pointed towards the Japanese teen, who still had a paramedic looking at her head wound.

The woman looked at Miko, before turning back to face Marinette, “The Police will probably be along shortly, I’ll see you later.”

Marinette nodded, before turning back to the students, “So, how’re you finding Paris?”

NC

After everyone had been collected and taken back to the hotel and the employee sent home, Marinette opened the door to her shared apartment, she could hear Kagami and Adrien talking in the kitchen.

“I can hardly smell the pesticides.” Said Marinette, in lieu of announcing her presence.

“Yeah, and the rats are gone as well.” Said Adrien, poking his head out, “How’d everything go?”

“If you mean by everything, having to deal with insulting phone calls from the Tsurugi’s, as well as having to deal with the Police,” Said Marinette, slipping her shoes off, “it went great.”

“What’s my mother threatened to do now?” Asked Kagami, seasoning the food.

“She didn’t threaten to do anything,” Replied Marinette, dropping onto the sofa, “She just used the entire call to hurl insults at me.”

Kagami blew air through her teeth.

“Yeah, my thoughts exactly.” Said Marinette, before the sound of glass shattering made her look towards the window. She approached the window and looked outside, just in time to see Adrien’s Lamborghini race down the street.

“Adrien, your car’s jut been stolen.” Said Marinette, looking out the window.

“I’ve been thinking of getting a new car anyway.” Said Adrien, as he finished setting the table.

As if on cue, a motorcycle, 4x4 and two sports cars peeled down the street.

“Fucking kids.” Said Marinette, closing the curtains.

NC

Arcee drew close of Lockdown, half-transforming so she could shoot at him without falling behind, Bumblebee and Smokescreen started to head the bounty hunter off, before he transformed and dove through a billboard. The Autobots all came to a stop, Arcee scowling at the hole left behind by Lockdown.

Arcee collapsed back into her vehicle mode and started to head back to where they found Lockdown. A red Dodge Challenger with bull horns sat waiting for them, Arcee considered kicking Cliffjumper, just to get a reaction from him.

Cliffjumper prevented her from following through, transforming and stretching his arms out, “You’ll not believe the month I’ve had.”

Arcee transformed and glared at him.

“I suddenly feel like I’ve got a few seconds to live.” Said Cliffjumper, before Arcee tackled him.

Arcee kept hitting him, until a torch shone on them, making the Femme turn in the direction of the light.

Cliffjumper froze at the sight of Marinette, behind her were her sparkmates, at least he thought they were her sparkmates, all three just staring at the sight in front of him.

“Akuma?” Asked Adrien, cocking his head.

“Nope, they haven’t started yelling yet.” Said Marinette, approaching them, “Where the fuck has my car gone?”

Cliffjumper pushed Arcee off him, before collapsing into the familiar, red Dodge Challenger with bullhorns on the end of the hood, that Marinette had been driving for the past month.

Marinette just let out a long-suffering sigh, “Just my fucking luck.”

NC

Ratchet watched as the Autobots all drove into base via the ground bridge. Optimus frowned at the sight of Cliffjumper, then at the sight of three humans climbing out of him. The red Autobot transformed and looked up at Optimus.

“There’s a really funny story here.” Said Cliffjumper, before a purse hit his side.

Cliffjumper looked down at Marinette, before wincing and looking back at Optimus. Optimus nodded and Cliffjumper crouched down and looked in Marinette’s eye.

“Hey, kid.” Said Cliffjumper, as Marinette glared at him, “You’re probably wanting an explanation.”

“Probably?” Groused Marinette, her glare intensifying, “I just found out my car, which I got after someone stole and torched my actual car, is some giant robot, gundam thing.”

Adrien brightened up.

“Actually, I’m not a gundamn thing,” Said Cliffjumper, making Marinette frown, “I’m an Autobot, my name is Cliffjumper.”

“An Auto-what-now?” Asked Marinette, as the horned bot sighed.

“If I may,” Said Optimus, making Marinette look up at him, “I believe proper introductions are in order. My name is Optimus Prime, we are Autonomous Robotic Organisms from the Planet Cybertron.”

“Ah, aliens.” Said Marinette, folding her arms and frowning.

“This,” Said Optimus, gesturing to Ratchet, “is our medical Officer, Ratchet,” he then gestured to the four Autobots behind Cliffjumper, “You have already met Arcee, Bumblebee, Bulkhead and Smokescreen.”

Marinette looked at the four of them, before her eyes widened, “Hold on, weren’t you the jokers that followed the guy that stole Adrien’s car?”

“Actually,” Said Arcee, folding her arms, “that was another one of our kind, his name’s Lockdown.”

“Lockdown?!” Gasped Ratchet, getting looks from the rest of the team, “Here?!”

“Adrien’s car, was a robot?” Asked Marinette, folding her arms and cocking an eyebrow.

“And not a good one.” Said Arcee, before spotting Tikki poking her head out of Marinette’s pocket, “What’s that?”

Marinette withdrew Tikki from her pocket, making Optimus frown.

“Honoured, Creator.” Greeted Optimus, making Marinette look down at the Kwami.

“‘Honoured Creator’?” Asked Marinette, getting a sheepish look from Tikki.

NC

Marinette scowled at Cliffjumper’s dashboard, as the Autobot played around with his radio. Marinette had taken the whole reveal of an alien race hiding on Earth, what she didn’t take well was Cliffjumper outing her and Adrien’s identities to the other Autobots, namely after Tikki had been spotted.

“Can you please stop that?” Asked Marinette, as Cliffjumper jumped from a station playing classic rock to one playing Bulgarian shriek metal.

“Sorry.” Apologised Cliffjumper, as Marinette got out.

“Don’t drive off anywhere, I won’t be able to explain to anyone why my car is out driving itself.” Said Marinette, before closing the door.

Adrien looked at Marinette, before going back to watching the Agreste legal team and Tsurugi legal team yelling at each other.

“Father’s trying to pin the bomb on the Tsurugi’s.” Said Adrien, just as one legal aid picked up a chair and threw it, “I don’t know why people watch wrestling, we’re seeing the same thing, but we didn’t pay for anything.”

“How’d your dad take your car being ‘stolen’?” Asked Marinette, making Adrien wince.

“He thinks Madam Tsurugi’s behind it.” Replied Adrien, “Kagami’s consented for her car to be searched, in case there’s anything that’s been placed in it.”

“You know, I actually thought the person who’d have the problem with our relationship would be your father.” Said Marinette, folding her arms.

“He did, until I said that your skill, and potential, would be under the Agreste name.” Said Adrien, shrugging, “He became silent after that.”

“I’m sure it had nothing to do with Nathalie falling pregnant.” Said Marinette, making Adrien snort.

There was the sound of glass breaking, as one of the legal aids was sent through the window. Marinette didn’t even blink as she pulled out her phone and called the police, while Adrien looked at his phone, grinning when he saw it was still recording.

Down in the car park, Cliffjumper watched as a silver Aston Martin pulled up and Kagami step out. Giving Cliffjumper a subtle wave, Kagami headed straight for the elevator, leaving the Autobot with the car. There was the sound of grinding metal as Cliffjumper transformed and crouched down next to the car.

“What are you?” Whispered Cliffjumper, changing the angle for which he looked at the car.

Cliffjumper froze, there was an insignia that was hidden in the front wheel arch. The winged Autobot symbol of the Elite Guard.

“Optimus.” Said Cliffjumper, contacting the Autobot Base.

“Optimus is otherwise occupied, Cliffjumper, what do you need?” Came Ratchet’s voice.

“There’s a car here with Elite Guard Markings, are you picking anything up on your scanners?” Relayed Cliffjumper, waiting for Ratchet to respond.

“I’m not detecting any- wait, I’ve just focused on your immediate area, there’s one Autobot signal in the vicinity, there’s no name associated to it, but it’s definitely there.” Said Ratchet, just as Cliffjumper heard the lift ring. The red Autobot collapsed into his Dodge Challenger alt, waiting for the person to leave.

A brunette with hair tails that resembled sausages stood in front of Cliffjumper.

“So,” Said the girl, her voice oily and demanding, “You’re the pile of crap that Dupain-Cheng got.”

Cliffjumper decided he didn’t like this girl, she reminded him too much of Starscream. The girl rummaged around her bag, before pulling out a can of spray paint.

“Let’s see how she likes this.” Smirked the girl, shaking the can.

Cliffjumper immediately honked his horn and set off his alarm, before revving his engine and advancing towards the girl. She dropped the can and fell backward before scrambling away from the vehicle.

A security guard appeared from around the corner and spotted the red Dodge Challenger blaring it’s alarm, with one of Gabriel Agreste’s models, Lila something, screaming at it.

“What the hell is going on?” Demanded the security guard, before asking Ms. Dupain-Cheng down to silence her car.

“I-I was walking past it and it started driving at me!” Cried Lila, as the guard frowned.

Marinette arrived and silenced the car.

“Your car isn’t one of those self-driving types, is it?” Asked the guard, getting a confused look from Marinette.

“Are you kidding?” Asked Marinette, frowning, “I got this after my last car was totalled after some meth head stole it.”

“Ms. Rossi says it drove at her.” Said the Guard, as Marinette took a step forwards and slipped on something.

“What the hell?” Said Marinette, picking up a can of black spray paint, “I don’t suppose you were going to be painting anything, Lila?”

Lila stuttered out some excuse, while Marinette gave the can to the guard and went back up to the design office.

“What happened?” Asked Adrien, his glasses rest on his head.

“Lila was scared by Cliff.” Said Marinette, frowning at one of the designs.

Adrien nodded, before looking back at the computer, “What was I thinking when I asked my father to teach me how to run a business?”

NC

Marinette and Adrien climbed out of Cliffjumper, while Kagami drove her car after them. Ratchet shooed them towards the seating area, all three spotting three of the children that were on the field trip.

“You know, I’m not even surprised.” Said Marinette, dropping into one of the chairs.

Miko rushed towards Ratchet and Cliffjumper, her eyes zeroing on Cliffjumper.

“Who are you?” Asked Miko, as Wheeljack and Smokescreen entered the main area.

“Name’s Cliffjumper, I heard a lot about you and your friends from the others.” Said Cliffjumper, just as Ratchet jumped backwards when the Autobot transformed. Everyone froze when his head rolled off.

“Oh no.” Said Raf, approaching from behind Miko.

“Oh no what?” Asked Cliffjumper, picking up the Autobot’s head.

“He’s dead, isn’t he?” Asked Jack, looking at the Autobots.

“Nah, this is Cogman,” Said Cliffjumper, gesturing to the Autobot, “He’s a Headmaster, meaning his he can detach and transform into a smaller bot.”

Cliffjumper held the head in place, as Ratchet started to insert energon into Cogman’s body. There was silence, then Cogman lurched and grabbed Ratchet and Cliffjumper and threw them into Bulkhead.

There was a grinding sound and Cogman dragged a broadsword from his back, stumbling around the base.

“Wha, when, where am I?” Demanded Cogman, his optics flickering.

“You’re in our base, Cogman.” Said Optimus, advancing towards the clearly wounded Headmaster, “My name is Optimus Prime.”

“Optimus, leader, commander,” Muttered Cogman, looking around, “I, damaged, Lockdown, Lord Bur-, Hot Rod.”

With those final words, Cogman lost consciousness and collapsed, his head rolling off once more.

The Autobots and humans all stared at the fallen Transformer.

“I’ll prepare an energon feed.” Said Ratchet, just as the proximity alarm went off.

“Really? Now?” Grumbled Ratchet, as the elevator opened.

“Prime, what’s this I hear about your ‘bots tearing up Paris?” Demanded Fowler, before catching sight of Marinette, Adrien and Kagami, “Again?!”

Marinette stared at the man, before Cliffjumper coughed.

“You!” Yelled Fowler, “I thought you were dead!”

“It’s a long story.” Said Cliffjumper, as Bumblebee and Bulkhead helped move Cogman.

NC

Lockdown was seething, he’d spent months hunting down Cogman, finding him in Stasis Lock in the possession of some human insect, then a dead Autobot showed up, followed by Team Prime. Lockdown had made the deal with the human, Agreste, in the hopes of rounding up the rest of the Knights, hiding as Agreste’s son’s car, dealing with the humiliation of that boy driving him, spilling liquids inside him. Megatron had instructed him to find something called a Miraculous, and after seeing what it could do first hand, he could see why. If such small objects could fix a destroyed city, restore hundreds, if not thousands, of lives and bring back a dead Autobot, what could they do to Cybertron?

Lockdown transformed and stalked towards Agreste’s window, breaking it and waking the human up.

“Your child has friends,” Snarled Lockdown, glaring at the human, “of the Autobot variety.”

NC

Hot Rod aimlessly drove around the dark streets of Paris, Sir Edmund Burton had instructed him to come to the city before he was killed by Lockdown. Hot Rod hadn’t seen Cogman since that day, but maintained radio silence until he reappeared on his scanners.

A swirling green vortex opened up in front of him, making the disguised Autobot skid to a halt. He recognised the sight of a space bridge, despite the power levels being significantly lower that what was required for interstellar travel.

A tall, red and blue figure walked out of the bridge. Hot Rod transformed and stared up at Optimus.

“Prime?” Asked Hot Rod, not believing his optics.

“Hello, Hot Rod.” Said Optimus, turning back, gesturing the bot to follow.

“H-how long have you been on the planet?” Asked Hot Rod, as he followed Optimus through the bridge.

The ground bridge closed behind him, leaving a seething Lockdown hidden in the shadows, Gabriel Agreste secured tightly in his seat.

NC

Fowler watched as the French Autobot spoke with Bumblebee and Arcee, while the British one was being checked over by Ratchet. Fowler’s phone went off, making the agent turn away from the Bots.

“Fowler here.” Said Fowler, frowning.

“Bill,” Said General Bryce, his tone grave, “I suggest you look at the French News.”

Fowler frowned, “Why?”

“You’ll understand when you see it.” Said Bryce, before hanging up.

Fowler walked over to the TV, unplugged the game the kids were playing, getting a protest from Miko, and turned it over to the French news channel.

And would’ve spat out his coffee if he’d remember to pick it up.

“Prime, you’re going to want to see this.” Called Fowler, getting the Autobot leaders’ attention.

Optimus made his way over, his optics barely concealing the shock he felt. Megatron and the Decepticons were attacking Paris. Optimus didn’t bother to translate what the newscaster was saying, only frowned and turned to Ratchet.

“Ratchet, activate the ground bridge.” Commanded Optimus, before looking at his team, “Autobots, prepare to roll out.”

“Wait, wait, wait,” Said Jack, looking at the Autobot’s Leader, “What happened to Robots in Disguise?”

“Take a look, Jack,” Said Arcee, gesturing to the screen, “Megatron’s just blown that cover away for us.”

“No, what I mean is, what is Megatron hoping to gain?” Reiterated Jack, looking around the team.

“There’s nothing in Paris that would interest them.” Said Fowler, looking at the Autobots, before Marinette fiddled with her earrings.

“How much do you think Lockdown learned before his cover was blown?” Asked Marinette, looking at the floor.

The Autobots froze, “He’s after the jewels.” Said Optimus, frowning.

“What those magical pieces of Jewellery?” Asked Fowler, before scowling, “I can have what heroes we have to locate them, and their owners or wielder or whatever.”

“That will not be necessary, Agent Fowler.” Said Optimus, looking at the agent, “They are already safe.”

“How can you be sure?” Demanded Fowler, as Marinette removed something from her pocket.

“Because they’re already here.” Said Marinette, removing the earrings, making them return to their usual red and black spotted appearance.

Fowler froze, as Optimus and the Autobots prepared to depart.

“If Megatron knows what they can do, he no doubts plans on using them to restore Cybertron.” Said Optimus, getting a snort from Ratchet.

“And, no doubt, ridding himself of his Dark Energon poisoning.” Snarked Ratchet, before revealing a scan of Megatron, “I took this scan back when we were dealing with Unicron, Megatron had at most, three Earth decades left before he becomes one of those mindless beasts he loves controlling.”

Optimus stared at the scan, “Ratchet, if we were to wound him enough, would Megatron become a ‘mindless beast’?”

“It’d have to be extensive, like,” Said Ratchet, frowning, “the spark extractor or beating him into a pile scrap with the Forge of Solus Prime.”

“What about Plagg?” Asked Adrien, as the small, black Kwami snored in his hand.

The Autobots stared at the embodiment of destruction, as he burped and grumbled about needing cheese.

“To get either of you close enough, would be too much of a risk.” Said Optimus, as Tikki hummed.

“I could make them Cybertronian.” Said Tikki, making everyone freeze.

“You can do that?” Asked Marinette, cocking her head slightly.

“If I really wanted to, Marinette, I could turn you into a squirrel.” Said Tikki, frowning, “However, the change would be permanent.”

Everyone was quiet, before Miko giggled, “I’ll do it!”

“No.” Was the unanimous response.

“The city’s burning, Prime,” Said Fowler, leaning against the railing, “The casualty list is already in the thousands.”

The base was silent, until Marinette noticed how tense Jack was.

“You okay?” Asked Marinette, touching Jack’s shoulder.

“My mom’s attending a medical conference there.” Was Jack’s short answer.

“Jack, she could be hidden somewhere, somewhere safe.” Said Miko, a small frown gracing her lips.

Marinette gave Miko a sideways look, before smirking. She’d noticed the concern the Jack had for Miko had gone deeper than simple friendship, or even family, she just didn’t notice that it went both ways.

“Paris is my home, if you’re going there, I’m coming with.” Said Marinette, looking up at Optimus.

Optimus frowned, before Adrien and Kagami joined Marinette and looked up at Optimus, their decision made.

“Ratchet, activate the ground bridge.” Said Optimus, silently allowing the human to accompany them.

Jack watched the Autobots leave with Marinette, Adrien and Kagami, before scowling and making a break for the ground bridge, Miko and Raf quickly following after him.

He had to find his mom, she was the only family he had left, he didn’t care that he was running into hell.

NC

Marinette stared at the charred remains on the park and, subsequently, her parent’s bakery. The Eiffel Tower was on its side, one of its leg torn off, Decepticons were tearing the city apart.

“It’s here,” Came a gravelly, growling voice, “I know it.”

The group all froze when Jack shot past them, disappearing into the smoke.

“Jack!” Yelled Miko, before she too disappeared.

Raf was a couple feet behind the girl, before he tripped and fell over. The distant screams of the civilians filling the air, Optimus closed his optics and sighed. He believed at least half of the city’s population had been caught up in the crossfire.

“Autobots, evacuate the civilians.” Commanded Optimus, his battle mask sliding into place, “You three, I suggest you find whatever you need and guide them to the ground bridge, Bulkhead, Wheeljack and Smokescreen, remain with me to guard the bridge.”

Arcee, Bumblebee, Hot Rod, Cliffjumper and Cogman, ran out into the city, carefully instructing anyone they met towards the ground bridge, killing any Decepticons stupid enough to charge at them. Arcee kept her optics open for Jack and Miko, before spotting the two, Jack slumped over something in front of the remains the hotel. Arcee’s spark froze, realising what Jack was leaning over.

Miko was holding onto Jack as he cradled what remained of his mother, her lower half had been vapourised, her eyes were glassy and unseeing. Tears were falling onto her face and Jack sobbed.

“Jack.” Said Arcee, kneeling down next to him and Miko, before she caught sight of June.

“She was all I had left.” Gasped Jack, looking down at his mother.

“I’m sorry, Jack,” Said Arcee, hanging her head, “but we need to go.”

Jack swallowed and closed his mother’s eyes. Jack got to his feet, before the rubble in front of him and Miko exploded, sending shards of rock and metal through the two humans.

“NO!” Screamed Arcee, as she saw blood appearing on the two.

NC

Optimus and his portion of the team were fighting of the Decepticons as Bumblebee ushered the humans through the ground bridge, some were reluctant, while other jumped at the opportunity.

“Optimus, I’ve found Jack and Miko.” Came Arcee from over the comm.

“Excellent work, Arcee, bring them back to our position and send them through the ground bridge.” Commended Optimus, shooting the head of a Vehicion and lobbing a sizeable statue at Dreadwing, knocking the seeker down.

“Optimus, they’re hurt, I, I think they’re going to die.” Said Arcee, making Optimus pause.

“Locate Marinette and Tikki,” Said Optimus, unsheathing his sword and gutting a decepticon, “if what the Creator said is true, she may be our only hope to save Jack and Miko.”

“Change their species?! Optimus, don’t you remember what she also said? That the change would be permanent?” Demanded Arcee, as Bulkhead threw Knockout to Wheeljack, who punched the Decepticon medic.

“I am aware, Arcee,” Said Optimus, knocking an Insecticon’s head off, “but we are past the point of debate, our base doesn’t have required facilities to aid them in their recovery.”

“But if they were Cybertronian, Ratchet could patch them up no problem.” Realised Arcee, went silent.

NC

Arcee skidded to a halt in front of Marinette and Tikki. The two gaped at the sight of Jack and Miko’s bloodied bodies.

“Optimus said you could save them.” Said Arcee, holding the two humans out.

“I said I could change them and that the change would be permanent.” Stressed Tikki, looking at the two.

“Optimus said that if you changed them, Ratchet could patch them back up.” Said Arcee, as Tikki frowned.

“Okay, but you’re going to need help carrying them.” Said Tikki, as the spots on her body glowed and her eyes went white.

A flash of light later, a male, silver, black and blue coloured mech lied on the ground, another flash had a pink and black with gold detailing femme lying next to the Mech.

“I can move Miko, no problem,” Said Arcee, before activating her comm, “Bumblebee, I need your help with something.”

NC

Ratchet watched as Agent Fowler did his best to calm the humans down, he was monitoring the Autobot life signals, when two suddenly came online. A few minutes later, Arcee and Bumblebee entered the base with the two unidentified Cybertronians.

“Ratchet, these two need patching up.” Said Arcee, as she clumsily sat the Femme down.

“I’m not even going to ask where you found a Triple-Changer.” Said Ratchet, as he set to work, “Bumblebee, monitor the team while I work.”

Bumblebee nodded and took position at the monitor screen. The wounds had pierced multiple important areas, but it wasn’t anything couldn’t fix. The triple changer, roughly the size of Optimus muttered something.

“Mom…” Said the Triple-Changer, with Jack’s voice.

NC

“I’m not picking up any human life signs, Optimus.” Said Smokescreen, as Marinette, Adrien and Kagami re-joined them.

“Tikki’s not picking up anything either.” Said Marinette, as Optimus nodded.

“Autobots, fall back!” Commanded Optimus, as he, the Autobots and humans retreated, leaving a city empty of living humans and full of Decepticons.

NC

Marinette looked through the crowd, her classmates were safe, Alya had grilled her about the Autobots, she’d met Nadja and Manon, bumped into Nathalie and Lianne and various other citizens of Paris that had to be evacuated. Marinette stopped when she saw her parents, handing out food they’d managed to save from the bakery.

General Bryce and Optimus were having a meeting with government officials and high rank armed forces officer. All of them looked confused, especially when Optimus had relayed, he’d chosen to save the surviving citizens, over destroying Megatron.

Chloe was the only survivor from her family, having been with Sabrina for the night. The same story was with Alix, but she’d been with Kim and Max. Adrien’s father and Lila were nowhere to be found, with them officially being declared dead.

Jack and Miko had been taken somewhere private, giving them both time to readjust to their new bodies.

A Decepticon scout that had been captured had relayed that Megatron wasn’t looking for the Miraculous, but rather, The All Spark, believing it to be buried under the city.

“What exactly is this ‘All Spark’?” Asked General Bryce, as Optimus frowned.

“It is an ancient force from Cybertron, that allows new sparks to be formed,” Said Optimus, “in essence, it could create worlds and fill them, with life.”

“And that’s how your race began.” Said the head of the CIA, “But why would it be under a city, who put it there.”

“Mr. Edmund, I doubt the All Spark was placed on earth, it is more likely it was drifting through space and entered Earth’s atmosphere, where it crashed down onto the planet with enough force to block out the sun.” Said Optimus, before looking at the other human officials, “It is likely that the All Spark was aboard a ship that no doubt was destroyed upon impact with the Earth.”

The Officials were silent.

“The secret’s out.” Said the President, “The whole world now knows about you, amazingly, some terrorist groups are now claiming responsibility for the attack, only to be attacked themselves.”

“There is also the issue of the two humans that had their species changed.” Said Bryce, as Fowler coughed.

“Sir, they were both grievously injured in Paris,” Said Fowler, “The only way to save them was to get them immediate medical attention.”

“Facilities that the Autobot base doesn’t possess.” Said Bryce, glancing out at the sea of people, “And since you were evacuating civilians, you couldn’t spare the bots or resources to get them to a hospital.” “Had the change not taken place, they would’ve perish passing through the Ground Bridge.” Said Optimus, as there was a cough from the entrance to the room.

Optimus, and the Human officials, turned and looked at the source of the cough. Bulkhead stood in the entrance.

“Miko’s awake.” Said Bulkhead, as Optimus nodded.

“I’m afraid, Gentlemen,” Said Optimus, turning back to the Officials, “that my presence is needed elsewhere.”

Optimus turned and walked out of the room, looking at Bulkhead, “Has Jack shown any signs of regaining consciousness?”

Bulkhead shook his head, “Miko was demanding to seem him, but, frankly, I’m not sure how he’d react if his woke up to his current state.”

Optimus frowned, “Has there been any response to our message?”

“Jackie hasn’t received anything, but they might be maintaining radio silence until they reach earth.” Replied Bulkhead, as he opened a door and a wrench his Optimus in the chest.

“Whoa, Miko!” Yelled Bulkhead, getting in front of Optimus, “Calm down!”

“Where’s Jack?!” Screamed Miko, picking up a barrel and throwing it.

“Jack is still under observation, Miko,” Said Optimus, internally groaning about his shattered wind screen, “he has yet to regain consciousness and his emotional state will be greatly unstable.”

“Unstable?!” Screeched Miko, throwing a crate with circuit boards at the two, “That’s a fucking understatement! He just saw his mother bisected corpse!”

Optimus couldn’t contain the wince, before the comm went off.

“Optimus, we have a problem.” Said Smokescreen.

“What is it, Smokescreen?” Asked Optimus, keeping an eye on Miko.

“Jack’s awake, and he’s kicking the scrap out of us.” There was the sound of Smokescreen being hit, before there was silence.

“Smokescreen?!” Demanded Optimus, before heading out the door, already knowing that Smokescreen was out of action.

Marinette saw Optimus, Bulkhead and Miko run across the base, no doubt trying to reach Jack.

NC

Megatron glared at the burning city from the throne that had been made from the hideous structure that the humans dared to call ‘art’. Lockdown had told him about these ‘miraculous’ but Megatron’s prize was something far more powerful. Soundwave had detected the All-Spark underneath the city, spurring Megatron to claim it as his new capital, with the power of the All Spark, and his own scientists work, Megatron would be able to cyberform this entire world and then move on to Cybertron, Primus and Unicron. Creation and Destruction. Life and Death. Soon, Megatron would be taking his place amongst the gods.

Megatron heard frantic pleading, spotting Dreadwing dragging Starscream towards him. Shockwave had been returned to them, mostly thanks to Soundwave who’s detected some unusual activity on Cybertron.

“Starscream.” Growled Megatron, getting to his feet, “What feeble excuse do you have for us this time?”

“P-p-please, Master,” Whimpered Starcream, trying to pry Dreadwing’s hand off his head, “I-I-I only came here to re-pledge my undying loyalty to you!”

Megatron glared down at Starscream, before throwing is head back and laughing, “You are many things, Starscream, but, frankly, I no longer have any need of you.”

Starscream’s eyes widened, as Megatron levelled his fusion cannon with the Seeker’s head. The last thing the treacherous Decepticon saw was Megatron’s displeased snarl and the cannon discharging.

Starscream’s lifeless husk fell to the ground.

“Shockwave, I believe you have some experiments that required… test subjects.” Said Megatron, as two Vehicon’s started dragging Starscream’s body, as Megatron held his hand out to Soundwave. The Silent Decepticon dropped a spark into his hand, “And someone find out where the real Starscream is and bring him here.”

The Decepticons dispersed, leaving the warlord alone with his thoughts.

NC

Optimus and Bulkhead pinned a squirming Jack to the ground, while Ratchet tried to sedate him. One of Bumblebee’s door wings had been torn off, while Smokescreen had lost an arm, Wheeljack, Arcee and Cliffjumper had sported minor injuries. Wheeljack was working with Arcee to reattach Smokescreen’s arm, fortunately it was a clean cut. Miko sat on the ground next to Jack, doing her best to calm him down. After a few minutes of struggling, Miko had calmed Jack down enough for Ratchet to give him the sedative.

“That went well.” Said Arcee, as Smokescreen rotated his arm and Ratchet worked to reattaching Bumblebee’s missing door wing.

“Never would’ve thought it.” Groaned Smokescreen, jerking his arm around.

“Is he going to be okay?” Asked Miko, making the Autobots look at her.

“Jack was under a great deal of mental and emotional stress when the change occurred,” Said Ratchet, looking at the monitor on his arm, “I’m afraid that I can only help patch up his wounds, I don’t that the necessary skills to help with his emotional wellbeing.”

“You, you said he was a triple changer,” Said Miko, her gold optics looking up at Optimus, “What is that?”

“A triple changer, Miko,” Said Optimus, after a moment, “Is a Cybertronian who had two alt modes, most of them joined the Decepticons, with very few siding with the Autobots.”

Miko blinked a couple of times, before looking back down at Marinette.

“Where’re Hot Rod and Cogman?” Asked Arcee, looking around for the two Autobots.

“Cogman is on the roof of the base,” Said Ratchet, as he pulled a piece of shrapnel out of Jack’s shoulder, “Hot Rod is seeking a new alt mode.”

Optimus frowned, before leaving the room and heading to the roof. Cogman’s back was to Optimus.

“Seven Autobots have broken Earth’s atmosphere and heading to the surrounding desert.” Said Cogman, looking up at the sky.

“Have you been able to discern their identities?” Asked Optimus, stopping next to Cogman.

“Jazz, Prowl, Ironhide, Sideswipe, Mirage and Jetfire have sent out identifying signals,” Said Cogman, not looking at the Prime, “The seventh hasn’t responded and there are four more Autobot signals entering the system.”

Optimus frowned, the six Cogman had listed would be excellent additions to Team Prime, but he couldn’t help but worry that the seventh signal was some Decepticon trap. Optimus was broken from his musings when a ship appeared above them. Optimus squinted his optics, identifying the ship at the Iron Will.

Cogman went to draw his weapons, “Stand down, Cogman, it’s Ultra Magnus.”

The Cybertronian Knight froze, before scowling. The ship touched down beside the base, prompting Optimus to head back inside the base.

NC

Marinette laughed as Kim finished his story. There was an idle chatter amongst the Parisians, some were laughing, while others were simply basking in the silence of their group. Arcee watched the humans.

“It’s crazy, isn’t it?” Asked Smokescreen, joining Arcee, “They just lost everything and they’re acting as if nothing’s changed.”

“Smokescreen,” Said Arcee, after a moment, “they lost objects and those who lost family found others who share their grief. At the end of the day, they still have each other.”

Smokescreen looked at Arcee, “You sounded just like Optimus.”

“I’ve serving under his command for years, frag me.” Snarked the motorcycle, as Optimus walked back into the base.

“I’m not sure I want to know.” Said Optimus, walking over to the monitor station, “Seven new Autobots have arrived on this world, with another four approaching.”

“Any idea who they are?” Asked Arcee, as Smokescreen returned to watching the humans.

“Ultra Magnus has landed his ship outside,” Said Optimus, observing the screen, “Cogman has identified the other signals of valued allies, they will need picking up before Megatron comes for them.”

Arcee frowned, before the monitor beeped and an Autobot life signal lit up the screen, “Wait, is that Ironhide?”

“Cogman identified Ironhide as one of the signals that arrived,” Said Optimus, as he programmed the ground bridge, “Arcee, Smokescreen, come with me.”

NC

Ultra Magnus raised an eyebrow as he scanned the planet, he heard one of his passengers snort at him.

“If you have something to say, soldier, now’s the time.” Said Ultra Magnus, turning around.

The Autobot who snorted at him, Brawn, folded his arms, “You just said we landed outside of Prime’s base, why don’t we just knock on the front door.”

Brawn was primarily green and yellow and resembled Bulkhead. Behind Brawn, Springer, a green triple changer, coughed and Kup, a teal warrior with a cigar in his mouth scowled.

“Whether we’re outside Optimus’s base or not, we cannot risk being seen by the natives of this world.” Said a rose-and-white femme, Elita One, looking around the mechs, “Optimus is concerned about someone.”

“Attention, Autobot Ship Iron Will,” Came Ratchet’s voice through the comms, “The main entrance to the base is open, I’d like to suggest you come in, before Ironhide destroys any more of my equipment.”

“I heard that, Doc.” Came Ironhide’s famous drawl.

The Autobots heard Ratchet sigh, before terminating the connection.

“I think it’s safe to go in.” Said Brawn, standing up, “I hate being in this tiny ship.”

The Autobots filed out of the ship and into the base, with Ultra Magnus activating the cloak as soon as they were off the ship. Elita smiled at the sight of Arcee, before freezing at the sight of two Cybertronians she didn’t recognise. Arcee followed her sisters gaze and winced.

“It’s a long story.” Said Arcee, as Optimus re-entered the base, followed by Jazz, Prowl and Jetfire.

“I think we’re going to need a bigger base.” Said Smokescreen, looking around.

Springer was accosted by Ratchet and practically dragged to the med bay, “Finally, someone who might be compatible with my patient.”

“What?” Asked Springer, as Ratchet forced him onto a berth.

The ground bridge opened again, as Bulkhead lead Sideswipe and Mirage into the base.

“Wow, what a dump.” Said Sideswipe, as Arcee went back to looking into the room she’d been looking in before Elita arrived.

Ultra Magnus approached Arcee, before catching sight of the sea of humans.

“What are they doing in the base?” Asked Ultra Magnus, making Arcee look up.

“Long story.” Came Arcee’s response, “Optimus will fill you in once everyone’s here.”

“Optimus the four signal Cogman said were entering the system that just broken the atmosphere.” Called Ratchet, squinting at the screen, “It’s Hound, Crosshair, Drift and Warpath.”

Smokescreen let out a low whistle, “Is it me or are we getting a ton of heavy hitters?”

NC

Marinette looked at all the people getting ready to leave, they were being taken back to France and were going to be placed in temporary housing until Paris had been reclaimed. The Autobots had taken the news about Jack and Miko with mixed results, Ultra Magnus and Kup didn’t believe it, until they spoke with Miko, while Crosshairs thought it’d be funny to get a rise out of Jack. Crosshairs still had trouble with his arm.

Ironhide, Springer and Jetfire had taken to training the newly turned Cybertronians, while Optimus dealt with the press. The rest of Team Prime had started ferrying the Parisians back to France. Cliffjumper crouched next to Marinette, making her look up.

“We’re doing everything we can it make it like it was.” Said Cliffjumper, looking over the sea of Humans.

“Optimus is going to try and take the city back, isn’t he?” Asked Marinette, looking back at the crowd.

“Yeah,” Said Cliffjumper, as Elita One directed Mirage and Sideswipe in their tasks, “I know it’s gonna seem a bit empty, but I promise, we’ll do everything in our power for you to go home.”

“Thanks,” Responded Marinette, smiling slightly, “It means a lot.”

“Marinette!” Called Kagami, as she prepared to get on a truck, “It’s time to go!”

Marinette nodded, before looking up at Cliffjumper, “I guess this is goodbye.”

“I prefer a ‘see you soon’.” Said Cliffjumper, before crouching lower, allowing Marinette to hug his head, “I’ll miss ya, kid.”

“I’m gonna miss you too.” Replied Marinette, before heading away from the Autobot.

“There’s nothing you can do,” Said Hound, his cigar bouncing as he spoke, “we’re gonna out live ‘em all anyway.”

The last of the trucks vanished through the ground bridge, leaving the Autobots alone.

NC

Cliffjumper looked at the crowd of humans, a task force specially designed to fight the Decepticons, the Non-biological Extra-terrestrial Species Treaty. Optimus frowned as Bumblebee and Jetfire returned from their scouting missions.

“They are surrounding the city like a fortress, so that no one can see what they’re up to on the inside.” Mused Optimus, frowning, “Our only chance is through the element of surprise.”

“How are we supposed to retake it?” Asked Sideswipe, scowling at the wreckages.

“Earth is our home now, Sideswipe, while we call it our home, we must defend it.” Said Optimus, looking at the red Autobot, “I can only ask you to follow me into battle.”

“Optimus, you don’t even need to ask.” Said Konton, Miko, cracking her knuckles. Wheeljack had adopted her, to prevent her spark from failing, with Optimus and Elita doing the same for Jack, who’d taken the name Trion, in reference to his three forms.

“Then, today, in the name of freedom, we shall take the battle to them.” Said Optimus, turning away from the group, “Autobots, Transform and Roll Out!”

[celmation-gibson]

Hello, Well 2018 was a Great time for Cinemas, and what a Year for such Creature Features such as the ones I will be reviewing here, and now may I present to you some reviews of the movies that I've observed on the Big Screen that year.

Pacific Rim: Uprising – My First movie to see in Theaters since I couldn’t find a Perfect time to see Aardman’s ‘Early Man’, but I’m pretty sure this Year would be a Monster of a Movie experience in the Cinemas. Since I’ve have and Watched the First film on DVD, I would think that I should enjoy its Sequel that has been made, and even though Mr. Guillermo Del Toro (the first film’s Director) didn’t direct this Film, he Helped Produce it as well. And as I said before, I do Love a Good Giant monster film, and this film was always filled with Suspense, Action, & Drama, and I would Fear that there won’t be any Hope left if those Giant Monsters win. Also it breaks my Heart wide Open to see a Character who I say and Liked in the First film died in this one. And that one Villainous Character is sure a Wicked Dick (*pardon my Language*) about this one being Possessed by a Kaiju Masterminded Brain. And surprising how that Rouge Jaeger was controlled by a Kaiju Brain, Hit him once & he’ll hit you back Twice as Hard. But I’m glad the heroes win in this Battle, and it took near the Tail end of the Film for the Movie’s Title to appear, unlike the First one where you wait 15-20 minutes for the Main Title to appear in a longest prologue, but for Me, I would almost stick with the Original Film.

Rampage – As I said before, I do Love a Good Giant monster Movie, and this is one of them. And it was a God-Epic monster Mash, even had some hilarious Moments, like when George flips the Bird, and I was like “Did that Primate just flip a Bird?”, though I do know another Ape who can Flip a Bird. And not to mention that the movie is actually based off an Old Arcade game of the same name, and if you Look very closely in the Office Building of Energyne, there are Arcade Cabinets of the Original ‘Rampage’ game, and ‘Rampage: World Tour(?), though I’m not quite sure what the other one is. And the monsters are Hardcore Badass, I don’t know which one(s) are Great (though I pick all of them), and for Bonus, there was another Creature in the Beginning of this Film that was a Rat Test subject. And the Sequence where they hunt the Giant Wolf Down was Awesome and it gave me Goosebumps completely. Plus some Good Elements from the Game is Included as Well, such as Eating People, Tearing down a Building from top to bottom, the military being involved, and Destruction of the monsters themselves. Even when me and my Dad were watching it in the Theaters, and when Dad watched the Commercials for the Film, one of his Favorite Quotes from the movie was “And of course the Wolf Flies”, LOL! And the Lizard Monster in the Film was so Massive & a “Pain in the Ass”, there was no End in that Creature, even when you plant an Explosion in his Ears & throw Missiles at him, he gets back up again, and I thought the Impalement on George would have Killed him Completely, but it was just thru his Shoulders and Thank goodness not the Heart Area or Between the Chests. But still, this film was an Epic Fun Thrillride, the characters are Great & Fun-filled, and I guaranteed this Year would be a Monster Movie Experience in the Theaters.

Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom - Well, me and my Dad seen the first 'Jurassic World' in Theaters back in 2015, so we figured since we love Dinosaur movies, we go this this latest update, and to our Surprise, Original Jurassic Park star Mr. Jeff Goldblum (the big Chill, the Fly(1986)) will be starring in Guest Role, and it was a Surprise seeing him in a Honda(?) commercial to promote the Film. And That my Foodtown was already selling products, even sodas & Chips in Promoting the Features, and it featured some of my Favorite Dinosaurs in the Film such as the Classic T-Rex, and boy was that Opening Scene in the Pouring Rain so Intense, the Surviving Raptor of the Original JW film Blue, who is one of my Favorite 'Good Guy' Raptors, the Comical Dino Hard-head Stiggy, who I find entertaining & Funny in the Movie, and My Favorite Villainous Dinosaur, the IndoRaptor, and if you think the Indomenous Rex in 'Jurassic World' was Terrifying, this IndoRaptor is one Badass Creep, even when she(?) smiles while playing Dead while one of the Soldier guys was about to Chip a Tooth off her, kinda gives it like a Cartoon-y feel to it like the minor ones in 'the Adventures of Pinocchio'(1996). And that Epic moment where the Island was in Volcanic Eruption was so Frantic, even one scene in the Film was shot in One single Lengthy shot during those Round Vehicle Thingies, an I thought the Part where one of the Brachiosaurus was Left behind on the Island while Massive smoke was covering him was the most Disturbed sequences in the Film. Well i certainly enjoyed the film, while my Daddy didn't, cuz he thought there wasn't much action or creature footage in the film, as he thought there was more of some "Love Stories" being put into it, that's why he might like 'Rampage' more, where they showed some monsters earlier in the film, but you might say that some Critics praised Pratt's and Howard's performance, Bayona's direction, the visuals, Michael Giacchino's score and the "surprisingly dark moments", while others suggested the series had run its course, criticizing the screenplay and lack of innovation.

Hotel Transylvania 3: Summer Vacation - Well, Mr. Genndy Tartakovsky Never Fails to impress us with this Three-times Charmer, and how Lucky was I to reserve a Seating to see this on my Birthday of 2018, after a Good Morning at the Meadowlands flea Market, and a goof Lunch at Taco Bell, I hit the Theaters with my Dad, and the Movie was Fantastic, and since Mr. Genndy Tartakovsky Co-written this Film (along with one of the 'Austin Powers' writer), I know what some Moments in the Film, there are certain scenes that are free of Dialogue, just like the ones in 'Samurai Jack'. And it was a-bit strange to see a Character from one the 'Hotel Transylvania' shorts that I've never seen, and that short was "Puppy", but in order to watch the short (even for myself), I have to watch that Gross-out 'Emoji movie' for it. But for HT3, the Climatic part of the DJ Battle with Professor Van Helsing (Drac's old Nemesis, and was surprise to see him still Alive in Machine parts) & the Kraken was Awesome, I didn't remember the first Official song played, but I do know the second being 'Don't Worry, be Happy', and the Final one was none other than the 'Macarena' and supposedly it's the Extended River remix version of the song which I have on my I-Tunes and have no regret in Purchasing it, along with Daft Punk's 'One More Time'. So I like the Film and can't wait to get it for Christmas, along with 'Rampage' this Year. And I even heard that Genndy will be working more at SPA where he will be set to Direct an R-rated animated feature titled 'Fixed', and an Adventure Film named 'Black Knight'.

Smallfoot - When I saw some Preview ads on CartoonBrew, I thought this looks kinda Weird and thought I'd just pass on it, but after seeing some TV Ads for the film, and seeing how interesting it looks, I thought I'd give it a shot, and kinda find the movie very Interesting if you wanna feel Young at Heart, and was Lucky to see it on Columbus Day, the only Actor(s) in the Cast i know were comedian Danny Devito & Basketball superstar Lebron James, and to my surprise seeing the closing credit of the film that Cartoonist Justin Roiland voiced in the film as well as one of the Yeti folks in the Kingdom, and I only know the names Common & Gina Rodriguez starring in the film. And the Music and songs in the Film are Nice, and I like how some Advance the Characters or Advance the plot, and it was Hilarious hearing one Song being sung in the tune of Queen/David Bowie's 'Under Pressure', and since Common is a Rapper in real-life, he did a Good Singing on when the Stonekeeper himself tells Migo that Humans & Yetis were Enemies in the old ages. And the other reasone I like watching this film is that I'm also Fascinated with Yetis and Drawing them, as you can see from my old 'YETI & other Stories' story in my Gallery, and one of my Yeti inspirations was the old Unfinished/soon-to-be-Finished David Allen film 'the Primevals'. And don't forget that the SF film was inspired by a book called 'Yeti Tracks', which is a good thing that some Films were based on Books such as 'Mr. Popper's Penguins', 'Home', & 'the Adventures of Pinocchio(1996)'. And I like how the Film was promoted "from the Studio who brought you 'Looney Tunes'" in which case, it is made by Warner Bros., and also the people who worked on 'Storks', and this film now made me think of two Environmental Animated films from 20th century Fox such as 'Ferngully: the Last Rainforest' & 'Once upon a Forest'.

Halloween(2018) - I never even heard that the Original 1978 classic is getting a Remake, although It may not look like a remake, but a True sequel to the Original film, and avoiding stuff on what happened in 'Halloween II(1981)', 'Halloween 4 -Curse', & 'H20'. And I read that the original star Ms. Jamie Lee Curtis will be in this Film, as well as being executive producer for the feature along with the Original 1978 Film's Director Mr. John Carpenter, as in they want to make it look Perfect as the original Monsterpiece, and they did succeed in it in Keeping the Spirit & Atmosphere like the 1978 movie. And I gotta say, Micheal Myers is one 'Pain-in-the-Ass' monster in this Film, like he always is in the original series, and I feel sorry for the People who got killed by that Creep, the Podcasters, the Boy who was equipped with a Gun along with his daddy, and a Woman who Micheal murdered and left a Baby behind. And an amazing thing my dad found in a Twist of Story is when Micheal got hit by the Sheriff, the Sheriff and the Late Dr. Loomis' student professor went out to investigate and kill Micheal, only for the Sheriff to be killed by the Professor, and when the Professor dude wore Micheal's mask, my dad thought that he was gonna be the New Micheal Myers, but Micheal resurfaced and soon killed the Professor afterwards. And one part in the Film which left the Audience in an applause is a Sequence that was based off the Original film, when Micheal attacked Laurie and pushed her off the Balcony, he saw her Body Lying there, but when Micheal turned away and looked back again, she was gone, just like what happened in the 1978's film ending. even after watching this film with my dad, he still had alot of Questions need to be Answered about some parts in the film, and I wish they showed more of the Ending with Micheal being Burned alive in the Cellar. And this may be one Creepy Classic that i might never watch again, but I just stick with the original Masterpiece of Fright & Shock.

the Grinch - Man, I am seeing alot of Good films in 2018, and this one may be the Last that interest me that Year, and this one was an Adaption of Dr. Suess' Classic Holiday Tale, 'How the Grinch stole Christmas', or simply titled 'the Grinch'. And seeing how Interesting it looks after seeing some Previews and TV Ads, especially that part where the Grinch whispers to Max and Fred "This is the Loudest Snow I've ever heard in my Life", I've decided to give it a Go, and hoping to see if it's Fascinating like the Original 1966 Animated Classic and more Better than the 2000 Live-Action Jim Carrey one, and it was. How lucky i was to see this movie on a Day off afternoon on a Wednesday, and I thought i would be the only one seeing the Film in Theaters, but it was also some Girls and their Parents & Guardians, possibly had a Half a day off. But for the Film, I Loved how the Narrator of the Film narrates in Rhyme, like the Original Dr. Suess books, and how the Writers improvised the Story using the same Lines in the Books, and It had a Great choices in Christmas soundtrack, especially in the part with Grinch Wake-up Radio with some Familiar tunes I know and Cherished. And it was a Great Film produced by the Wonders of Illumination, the Wizards behind 'Despicable me', 'the Secret Life of Pets', & 'Sing', plus they did another Dr. Sues adaption such as 'the Lorax', even some of the character designs in the film made me think of the Designs from Disney features such as 'Wreck-It Ralph' & 'Monster University'. And some of the Voice Cast in the film I know of was Keenan Thompson of 'All That' & 'Keenan & Kel' voicing Bricklebaum, a jolly citizen of Whoville, and Angela Lansbury as the Whoville's Mayor, and how Surprised/Not Surprised to hear another Familiar Voice in the Film playing one of Cindy Lou's Friends, who that boy is none other than Mr. Sam Lavagnino, the Voice of Baby Grizz in 'We Bare Bears' & Pepper and Alien King in 'Summer Camp Island'. And I'd thought Ms. Cindy Lou Who would have a cute design just like the one in the 1966 Classic, and she did have a Cuter design in this Film when it comes to the Creative Artists of Illumination. And Yet, this has become another Holiday Classic, and when I told my Mother how much Fun it is, she might be hoping to get the Film on DVD for my Niece to Enjoy.

There was a Movie called 'the Meg', though I may have interest to see that, but I wasn't sure how much interested I will be with the Whole thing. And sorry if I didn't felt like seeing 'Ralph breaks the Internet' or 'Into the Spider-Verse', I go for the Obscure & Non-Disney taste in the Cinemas as of now.

[eilonwiiy]

Bookends ; a Witchlands AU

Chapter 5

Iseult is distracted from her encounter with Aeduan by a distressing phone call from home. Meanwhile, Owl leads Aeduan to the best coffee in Veñaza City. The only problem is the girl behind the counter doesn’t like him very much...

Summary: Iseult det Midenzi never expected to go to a top university, so when her mother falls ill and she is forced to drop out to make ends meet, life has never seemed so unfair. But when she starts working at the local library and is unexpectedly assigned in the Children’s Room, a certain monosyllabic man and his thrice-damned demon child start showing up and Iseult begins to wonder if the threads of fate have a plan for her after all.

Previous chapters: 1, 2, 3, 4

Ships: Iseult/Aeduan, Safi/Merik, and more… stay tuned!

Tags: modern AU, college setting, family, friendship, humor, fluff, slow-burn, romance, eventual smut

Read on AO3: here

Tag list: (please let me know if you’d like to be added!) @lseultdetmidenzi @twilightlegacy13

*   .   *   .   *   .   *   .

Aeduan.

Iseult rolled the name over in her mind. When she’d heard someone approaching the Children’s Room, she never expected it to be him. She’d nearly forgotten about the bizarre interaction she’d seen him have with Evrane. Now, after seeing him up close, he was about the last person she ever would have imagined running into in the Children’s Room.

He was young. Couldn’t be more than a few years older than her. He kept his dark hair cut short and well-groomed. Skin almost as pale as hers outlined the hard angles of his face, clean-shaven and cutting a striking look. Despite his casual choice of wardrobe, he looked immaculate in dark fitted jeans, lace strapped books, and a worn burgundy leather jacket over a grey t-shirt haphazardly tucked into his jeans. It was only when he’d approached her desk was she able to fully appreciate the blue of his eyes. Where Safi’s were plundered from the depths of the sea, Aeduan’s were cut from ice. Yet, Iseult felt none of the chill.

And of course, there in his left ear was the peculiar opal earring. Iseult would hardly forget it.

Nor could she forget the look in the child’s eyes as he carried her out of the room. She’d never seen anything like it. Not from a child. They burned with a loathing uncharacteristic for a girl her age. There was something very unsettling about her.

Owl, that’s what Aeduan had called her. Another strange name. Maybe it ran in the family. If they were family, that is. They certainly seemed close. And who could she possibly be if she wasn’t his daughter? He was so young. Maybe she was his sister?

Iseult hadn’t actually overheard much from his conversation with Evrane. She was curious, but eavesdropping on a stranger was one thing. Eavesdropping on Evrane was another. Safi would have egged her on, just as she had the other day. But Evrane’s business was Evrane’s business and Iseult would never want to intrude. Instead, she’d distracted herself with trying to translate the storm of emotions she was feeling in a word document. She felt a little pathetic for it, but if she wasn’t able to talk to Safi, she’d have to settle for the responseless desktop.

Now that she was alone though…

Iseult looked down at the phone tucked away in her lap. She picked it up and saw there were several new notifications on the lock screen. Her heart stuttered at the name at the top.

Leopold.

Shit. Shit, shit, shit. Iseult still hadn’t called him. Or texted him. Or done anything that would demonstrate that she had some basic awareness of his existence.

Iseult swiped open the message and braced for the worst.

It was a picture of a cat.

Iseult blinked at it. Her heart relaxed, but after bottling up all her uncertainty surrounding Leopold for a week, it was a very small consolation. All she felt was… sad.

Why had she been avoiding him for so long? It wasn’t fair to him, and more than that, it wasn’t like her to be so careless. What was wrong with her? If she truly believed the drink he’d ordered her meant nothing, then there was nothing to be anxious about...

Unless...

Licking her lips, she typed a short response.

Iseult – 10:48 AM >> :) >> Sorry I’ve been MIA. I started working in the Children’s Room today…

OK. It was done. Granted, it was a pretty uninspired attempt at an explanation, but she had at least taken the plunge - that alone was helping to alleviate her anxiety. It was out of her hands now.

She was just about to exit out of the conversation to check her other missed messages when she was interrupted by an almost immediate response from Leopold.

Leopold – 10:49 AM >> It’s ok… for a second I thought you AND Safi were freezing me out. It’s cold enough out there - winter doesn’t need any help from you two. Not until I get my fur coat back from the dry cleaners, that is. >> Really? How’s that going?

For the first time all morning, Iseult smiled. His charm was infectious even in text. She hadn’t realized how much she missed him. And that ridiculous coat.

Still grinning, she swiped out of their message thread. She’d save that for her walk home. Something to look forward to.

The next message was a text from Ryber thanking her again for ordering the books she needed. After typing a quick reply, Iseult clicked the red exclamation point indicating a missed call.

It was from Alma.

Iseult’s smile instantly fell away. Everything inside her went quiet. She stared at the name for a long time.

If something had happened, if her mom was in trouble, Alma would have left a message. But even so…

Iseult swiveled out of her chair, walked over to Hilga’s office, and without a moment’s hesitation, knocked on the door. A gentle “Come in” answered her and Iseult opened door and poked her head in.

“Sorry to bother you, Hilga, but I just noticed a missed call from my mom’s friend. Would you mind if I give her a quick call back? It’s probably nothing, but-”

Hilga smiled in understanding and Iseult wondered if Evrane had told her about her family situation. “Go, go. You’re overdue for your break anyway.”

“Thanks Hilga. It’ll only take a minute.”

Hilga waved her off, rising from her desk and bustling around it to meet Iseult at the door. “Take all the time you need. How’s everything been out here? Did I miss any fireworks?” she added with a hint of humor.

Iseult was already halfway across the room, one arm in her coat sleeve, when the little black cat on the cover of the picture book Aeduan wanted to check out caught Iseult’s eye. Even though she was in a hurry to call Alma, she paused at its shelf and picked it up.

“No,” she said, shaking her head absently. “You haven’t missed anything at all.”

*   .   *   .   *   .   *   .

Despite Owl in his arms, Aeduan was feeling lighter and lighter with every step he took. He was glad to be away from the library, though the distance was giving him the space to fully go over his conversation with Evrane.

His apartment wasn’t particularly close to the library, but he found that he needed the walk and was glad that he decided not to take the car. Like Owl, the car - a used Honda civic - was a new addition to his life. He couldn’t exactly attach a basket to his motorcycle and expect Owl to sit in it whenever they needed to go somewhere. And since he didn’t have his squad car anymore, well… it was an adjustment.

Yes, that’s what he’d call with agreement with Evrane, Aeduan thought to himself, kicking a chunk of snow on the sidewalk out of his path. Another adjustment. He’d handled every new thing that had come his way so far. He could handle this.

Of course, a car never fought back. Evrane was a different story.

Owl fidgeted in Aeduan’s arms. He held her closer; her fuzzy winter hat brushed up against his cheek.

“What would you like to do when we get home?” he asked her. “It’s almost 12 so we should probably have some lunch. What do you think? Strawberry or grape jelly?”

“Blueberry,” Owl replied.

“We don’t have Blueberry jelly,” said Aeduan, pretending that she wasn’t referring to that thrice-damned cat, or worse, about to cycle back to the Halloween book and rethink having a meltdown. A pale face curtained with black hair came to mind, and Aeduan’s dark brows pinched together. All that fuss just to get a library card. Ridiculous.

Now that they were out of the library and away from Evrane, Owl’s voice rang loud and clear. “Blueberry.”

Aeduan repressed a sigh. Time to change tactics. “I doubt Blueberry would like peanut butter and jelly sandwiches. It wouldn’t be good for his stomach. Remember when you ate too much chocolate and you were very, very sick afterward? It would be like that.”

This time Owl started tapping on his shoulder and, sounding a bit more fretful, insisted, “Blueberry.”

Aeduan halted his steps and twisted Owl in his arms so that he could see her face. His patience was already worn to the breaking point from the morning, and suddenly, it felt like his life depended on Owl not bursting into tears. “Owl, I’m sorry, I don’t-”

But Owl wasn’t paying attention to him. Her eyes were fixed somewhere behind him. Confused, Aeduan turned around to see what it was that had caught her interest.

On the sidewalk outside one of the storefronts was a chalkboard sign. Drawn on it in colorful chalk was a cartoon of a blueberry and lemon in a passionate embrace saying, “You’re my main squeeze!” Underneath it written in big bubble letters was an announcement: “Today’s pastry special: Blueberry Lemon Muffins!”

Aeduan’s head turned back to Owl. “Is that what you want? A muffin?”

Owl nodded emphatically and the comically oversized pom pom on top her head nodded along with her with the gesture. For the first time all day a small smile broke across Aeduan’s face.

“That,” he said, bopping her on the nose with his finger, “I can get you.”

Owl made a noise close to a squeal and curled herself back in on Aeduan’s chest. Excited. She was excited.

Triumph reigned over Aeduan as he walked them back to the coffee shop. He’d done it. He’d figured out what she was trying to say. Without Evrane’s help. The day was far from over, but as far as Aeduan was concerned, him and Owl had earned themselves a long afternoon nap when they got home, and possibly, nothing else.

A bell jangled overhead as he swung open the door and stepped into the coffee shop. Such an overly cutesy name like Jitters normally would have turned him off, but he had no problem buying an overpriced muffin if it meant keeping Owl happy.

It certainly wasn’t Starbucks. It had the kind of incohesive bullshit style of decorating that gave Aeduan a headache. None of the furniture matched. It was as if the owner hit every yard sale he could find, shelled out thirty bucks for what he no doubt thought were priceless treasures, and regurgitated all of it into the compact space. Aeduan eyed the shabby green couch sitting by the working fireplace distastefully; he could have sworn he’d seen something just like it out on a sidewalk recently.

Owl reached up to touch the bells hanging from the door, jostling Aeduan from his private thoughts and he realized that he was just standing in the doorway staring. He made his way over to the counter and the floorboards creaked under his boots. No one was at the register so he set Owl down by the pastry display and crouched next to her so they could look at the selection together.

“There’s the blueberry lemon muffin,” Aeduan said, pointing to a full tray of yellow-golden muffins so moist they were practically glistening. His stomach gave a hungry growl. When was the last time he ate? Did he have breakfast that morning? He vaguely remembered picking off a couple of Owl’s leftover Cheerios.

“Why don’t we pick out a few? Then we can have some for breakfast this week.”

Owl’s face pressed up against the glass was confirmation enough that this was a sound plan. He stood up, leaving her to salivate while he ordered.

Soft music filtered from a dingy radio next to the row of coffee machines. Aeduan looked around the near empty cafe. He didn’t see anyone that looked like they worked there - though, if the mismatched furniture was any indication, this probably wasn’t the type of place that forced their workers into uniforms.

Not seeing much of a choice, Aeduan knocked on the counter and called out, “Hello? Does anyone work here?”

There was a scuffle of movement, and a moment later, a tousled blonde head poked out from behind a sheet of fabric acting as a door off to the right of the counter. She looked surprised by his presence at the counter, which would have confused Aeduan, had it not been for the frown of displeasure it morphed into a second after. She made no move to come out from behind the curtain and continued to eye him suspiciously.

Aeduan cleared his throat.

“I’d like to order.”

“Alright,” the girl replied slowly, finally leaving her hiding spot and approaching the counter. “What do you want?”

Some better customer service, that’s what.

“Muffins,” Aeduan grunted. “Two blueberry lemon, a cranberry, a pumpkin, two chocolate chip-” Aeduan stopped and eyed the girl sharply. “Aren’t you going to write this down?”

Her eyes fluttered impatiently. “Don’t need to. Continue.”

But Aeduan didn’t continue. He stared at her, and for the longest time, that’s all he did. Just like he would any low-life perp.

That’s what he’d been known for back in his days at the Academy. Intimidation. Sure, he was formidable with a gun and anyone stupid enough to challenge him to hand-to-hand combat learned quite violently that Aeduan was the top of their class for reasons that had nothing to do with his father being the commissioner. But it was his presence, his overall being, that set him apart from everyone else. His sargent once chuckled after Aeduan had busted a long-time drug dealer in his first year that the perp in question had called him inhuman.

It wouldn’t be long before the barista cracked. Aeduan had yet to meet anyone who could stand to look him directly for more than a couple seconds - criminal or not.

Sure enough, the girl lifted her chin, her only act of defiance as she pulled a pad of paper from her apron pocket and plucked a pen from a chipped mug next to the register. With a mild expression, she clicked it’s retractable head and rested the tip on top of the pad, waiting.

Aeduan started from the beginning. “Two blueberry lemon muffins, a cranberry, a pumpkin, two chocolate chip, a corn, an apple cinnamon, and a black coffee to-go.”

“Size?” the girl prompted, not looking up while she wrote.

“Large.”

She jotted down his answer and was just about to turn around and get started when he caught her eye. He cocked his head to the side.

There was no misunderstanding his intent, and for a second, she looked like she was about to argue, but like a suspect resigning them to arrest, obediently rotated to face him and looked down at her notepad.

Aeduan smirked.

Just like a perp. They’re all the same.

Her speech was robotic and forced: “Two blueberry lemon muffins, a cranberry, a pumpkin, two chocolate chip, a corn, an apple cinnamon, and one large black coffee to-go.”

Aeduan tucked his amusement away just as the girl finished and looked up at him. He didn’t say anything, but nodded his approval for her to get on with the order.

Well. If there had been any mystery as to why she didn’t like him before, there certainly wasn’t one now.

It was with bitter satisfaction that Aeduan watched her scramble to collect the muffins he ordered. He couldn’t care less whether or not she liked him. She was a complete stranger. A barista. Certainly not worth the effort. But that didn’t stop the familiar sting of being treated less than human he’d encountered under worse circumstances than now.

When the muffins were boxed and the lid was closed upon the coffee cup, the girl rang up the items on the register. “That will be $18.72.”

Aeduan dug his wallet out of his back pocket and handed her a twenty. She punched a couple keys on the register, scooped out the change and handed it to him without looking at him.

As Aeduan tucked his wallet in his back pocket, it occurred to him that he wouldn’t be able to carry Owl with the muffins and coffee. “Can I have a bag for that?” he asked pointing to the pastry box.

This was a catastrophic inconvenience judging the eye roll the girl wasn’t quite able to hide as she ducked down beneath the counter and pulled out a paper bag. She placed the box into the bag. “There, how’s that?” she asked in such a falsely concerned tone that Aeduan almost said something he most definitely would not have done her the courtesy of hiding its true intent from.

Instead, Aeduan only grunted a confirmation. He could be passive aggressive too. If she didn’t want to talk to him, then he wouldn’t burden her with speech.

“Fabulous,” she heaved, and without another word, she spun around and escaped behind the curtain with a dramatic flourish.

Aeduan gave the tapestry a withering look before turning to Owl. She had moved on from the muffins and was now inspecting a row of decorated cupcakes.

“All set,” Aeduan announced. Better to put an end to this excursion before she got any ideas. Owl tore her gaze away for the cakes to look at Aeduan, slightly dazed. Then her eyes dropped to the big bag hanging from the crook of his elbow. Her face lit up and she quickly scurried onto her feet and climbed into Aeduan’s waiting arms.

Aeduan hefted Owl up, trying to make his hold on her comfortable as he could for himself with the addition of the bag on his arm. Once he felt like everything and everyone was secure, he reached for the cup of coffee on the counter with his free hand.

The bell tinkled goodbye to them as they left the shop. Snow had started to fall, harmless little flakes that disappeared the moment they touched the wet pavement. Hopefully it wouldn’t get worse before they got home. Aeduan paused outside the store to blow across the open hole in the cover of his coffee and took a tentative sip. Owl tried to catch snowflakes as he mulled over its taste, then he grudgingly took another, more generous, drink. He would have loved nothing more than to have hated it, just to get in one more shot at the barista, but hell-gates. It was good.

*   .   *   .   *   .   *   .

 The one problem with the library was that there were very few places to have a private conversation. While phone calls in the library were frowned upon for obvious reasons, the staff room didn’t offer much privacy either, as the kitchen where most people took their lunches was connected to the offices. So Iseult resolved to take her phone call out in the cold on the stone steps of the library. It had started to snow and Iseult wiped off the wetness on her phone screen. She’d been standing there for several minutes, mustering up the courage to call Alma back, and there was already a starscape of snowflakes on Iseult’s wool coat.

The universe was really letting her have it today. Bad enough that her morning had gone just as disastrously as she predicted: one angry man and a child she wouldn’t be surprised had already summoned a hex to curse her with. Now, this.

Iseult pressed the call button and lifted the phone to her ear. After a couple rings, Alma’s voice sang sweetly in her ear.

“Iseult,” she answered, sounding perfectly pleasant. “You got my call.”

“Yes,” Iseult responded stiffly. “Sorry I didn’t pick up. I’m at work. Is-is everything alright?”

“Oh, everything’s fine!” Alma chirped, and even though that was good news, Iseult still felt uneasy. If nothing was wrong, then something else was up, and that was never good.

“Ok… does my mom need anything?”

“No, not really.” And then, Alma, who was always so composed and never stumbled over her words like Iseult did, flustered a little. “But well, I was thinking - hoping - that you’d like to come visit sometime. It’s been awhile since we’ve seen you...”

Alma trailed off, leaving Iseult to grapple with her conscious in the uncomfortable silence. She kicked her heel into the stone step.

That hadn’t exactly been an accident - her not visiting. Saldonica was far, and since Safi’s car was about as trustworthy as Chiseled Cheater, Iseult took the long train ride to get there. It was a convenient excuse to have on hand, what with it being a whole day affair, and a costly one at that.

Iseult must have taken too long to respond because Alma started talking again.

“I know it’s hard with you working all the time, of course,” she said. The understanding in her voice was so genuine that it made Iseult hate her a little more. “But Gretchya’s had some really good days in the last few weeks, and I just thought it’d be good for both of you to spend some time with each other. I know she’d love to see you.”

Iseult nearly laughed at that last part. Of course, this was all coming from Alma. Gretchya hadn’t asked for Iseult at all. She would have been stupid to have thought that to begin with.

Gretchya didn’t need Iseult for anything. Except for her money. Aside from that, she got everything she needed from the neat little package that was Alma. Before she became her caretaker, she had been more of a daughter to her than Iseult ever was. She was everything Iseult wasn’t. Every facet of her being was sewn together with a steady needle. Sharp in its precision and effortless in its design. There were no bumps to smooth out. No runs, no frays. Alma was flawlessly put together. Perfect.

“I- will try,” Iseult croaked.

“Of course,” Alma’s melodic voice flowed through the speaker, so at odds with Iseult’s. Then, she laughed lightly, “Scruff misses you too.”

If it had been anyone but Alma, Iseult would have thought she was trying to manipulate her into visiting. But Alma was above such tactics. Scruffs, her childhood dog, was the one thing she did miss in Saldonica. She’d give just about anything to see him. Before Safi came along, he had been the closest thing to a best friend she’d ever had. In fact, he’d been her only friend. The thought of Alma giving him all of his belly rubs and ear scratches caused Iseult’s heart to clench painfully.

“I’ll let Gretchya know that you’re going to look over your work schedule and get back to us, ok?” said Alma. She sounded happy.

Iseult nodded even though Alma couldn’t see it. “Ok.”

“Is there anything else you want me to tell your mom? How’s work?”

“Work is fine.” Iseult paused. Then, said, “I got offered a position in the Children’s Room. I just started today.”

A surprised gasp followed. “That’s wonderful, Iseult!” Alma exclaimed. “Gretchya will be thrilled.”

Doubt it. “Yeah. Listen, Alma, I should go. My break is almost over and I don’t want to be late getting back, it being my first day and all.”

“Oh yes, of course,” Alma hastened to agree. She sighed happily as though they had just shared the most splendid conversation together. “Well, let us know when a good time to visit is. We’ll be here. Take care, Iseult.”

“Right. You too.” And not knowing what else to say, Iseult hung up.

There were still a few minutes left in her break, so Iseult stood on the steps of the library, watching the snow coming down more steadily than it had before. Across the rooftops and the city horizon, grey clouds hung ominously, the promise of a storm in the air. Iseult tipped her head back so that all she could see was the white abyss of the sky. For a moment, it felt like she was suspended in the air. Nothing else existing. All there was was stasis.

Stasis in your fingertips and in your toes.

Iseult blinked, open-mouthed, against the snow falling into her eyes. Ice melted on her cheeks, running rivers down her jaw.

After, when she marched up the steps, she wiped them away.

She was Iseult det Midenzi, daughter of Gretchya det Midenzi, and she did not cry.

[the-accidentals]

Chapter 1

Laura walked in through the door of her shoddy apartment, the lights flickering on as she slumped down on her stained sofa, she wanted to order takeaway but knew she didn't have the money, life was way to expensive and this week had been a pile of horse shit if any one had been, her car was in the garage after it broke down a couple days ago, the bill was so high she would need to not eat for a month. Before getting off shift today she had seen a family of five burn, only 2 getting out alive, a baby and the father. She tried to not let her job get to her but fighting fires was the easiest part, watching the families as they realise that not everyone made it is the worst, you can feel the guilt in the air. We are trained to move on, you can't take every death personally or it kills you from the inside but whenever i see a family torn apart so abruptly the worry stays on my heart, seeing happy families destroyed was definitely the worst part of her job but laura still loved the job and everyone struggles with it so she just tries to leave the worry at work,but today it followed her home, there was just something about today, the fire had started in the oldests room, probably faulty electrics, she was barely out of primary school, just starting to think she was a grown up, it had already killed the middle kid by the time anyone realised and the mother just breathed in to much smoke, it was come and go for a bit but in the end she didn't even make it to the hospital. A happy family reduced to two, a morning father and a 2 month old girl, how she survived I don't know. All that innocence and such young lives torn away so quickly.

Laura stood up shaking her head, it's not good to stay focused on the bad things, noodles and beer and an early night and she can sort everything else out in the morning.She has parents she can beg for money,they won't be happy but they wont let her starve,she just wishes she didn't have to call. For tonight she resigned herself to the sofa with a bottle of cheap beer and some veg noodles, strolling through the internet. Eventually the sun was long gone and the shame came creeping back, she was sitting here running from her responsibilities with beer, noodles and a blanket around her, just trying to hide away on the internet, she was a grown woman, an adult. She closed down reddit and opened her emails, this was an adult thing, she could clear her inbox. Ad,ad,ad,scam,ad,ad, important thing she should of replied too, she was trying to be grown up but that was slightly too grown up, ad, bank statement, don't want to look at that, oh nice easy one, the unit chief is trying to set up a quiz night, he needs to know when i'm free, i can do that. After a couple minutes of checking her calendar, which was embarrassingly empty she had formed an adult but chill response. There! She had been an adult, she had written an email and deleted a few more. She scanned over the rest hoping they could wait a few more days until a quiet moment at work, one caught her eye, an email from a trial company, she did a couple of studies a few years back to get some extra cash and extra cash was just what she needed, she looked into it, it was a medical study looking into a mental health drug, they needed people with diagnosed mental illness so she knew she would fit right in. Drug trials were not her thing but the pay was pretty good, two injections a week, £50 each, it lasted 12 months but you could leave whenever, just under £5,000 for the whole year, she probably wouldn't hang on that long but long enough that she could fix her beat up honda and still eat. Honestly how could she resist? The testing facility was a 15 minute walk away from the fire station as well. Fuck me if was perefect, no nagging from anyone about “being an adult” and “looking after your finances”. Laura finally went to bed that night, slightly tipsy, exhausted but slightly less stressed.

Laura had 2 days until she got paid and she had her first appointment for the trial today, it was a rolling study so there was no set start date. She had promised steve, the mechanic down the road, that he would get paid the bill as soon as she got paid so that he would carry on working with no money upfront, to be honest he totally owned lorna one, she had set him up with an ex of hers about a year back and she had never seen him happier. She walked up to a little privately owned clinic that she had never noticed before, it was smart but felt way to clinical, the lights were so bright it burnt and like all of these places the smell of cleaner was so strong you could taste it, she popped her phone into the pocket of her oversized jacket as she came to the front desk, the lady at the desk looked he up and down, I suppose she didn't really look like she belonged, it didn't look like a cheap sort of place.” hi i'm here for the trial, umm laura burmwell” laura muttered into the ground,she hated reception staff, they always seemed super judgy and this lady was no different, she tapped away at her screen for a few very awkward moments and sighed, pointing me to a section of chairs near the back. Pulling her earphones out she landed in a seat.

“Dont worry she wasn't very nice to me either” a voice chucked next to her, a small grinning woman sat there tapping on her phone, laura smiled back, she was gorgeous, long black hair down to her waist, out shining laura’s dirty blonde mess any day.

“ I’m glad she doesn't just hate me” Lorna joked, internally panicking. Why is such a cute woman actually talking to me? She suddenly felt amazingly underdressed, she was sat next to a stunning women who was clearly ready to go to work in a nice yellow dress and a jacket and she is there look like a gay hobo, hair up in yesterdays bun and a t shirt that has dinosaurs on it, at she is wearing smartish jeans. “I’m laura, are you here for the study?” she smiled.

“Preet, yeah, i'm hoping they can cure the fuckery going on in my head before the end of it” she chuckled but I could see the blush forming over her skin as she processed what she had said, Laura just snorted, tapping her leg on the linoleum floor, trying to think of something to say, her mind in overdrive.

“ nervous?” Preet questioned.

“i just haven't been in a drug trial for years, what if I grow four heads or something?” She joked, Preet actually burst out laughing, tears starting to form in her eyes, which got Laura laughing too, they just sat there trying to hide there laughter from the rest of the very serious looking members of the waiting room, finally after about 5 minutes they both calmed down enough to speak, laughter still glistening in their eyes.

“ but seriously these drugs will of been tested for years before it gets to these sorts of tests, its perfectly safe, they are just proving it and checking out side effects, im sure you wont grow any more heads.” At that moment Preets name was called over the speaker system, Secretly both of them were hoping they had been forgotten about so they could sit here and chat all day but neither of them said it.

“See you later Laura” Preet called as she picked up her stuff and started to follow the now waiting nurse.

Lorna went back to her music, trying to pull a stupid grin off her face.

1941- September 5th

I walked into surgery, on the bench was the patient, a young soldier, barley 19. He was burning up. Nurse Weber was standing there, trying to cool him down while setting up. He had a gun wound that was starting to get infected and the bullet had yet been removed. We set to work, removing infected tissue and finding bits of the shattered bullet but further we got the more futile it became, he kept losing blood and nothing we could do would keep his temperature down, he was pretty much dead in front of us. The nurse looked up, exhaustion in every wrinkle in her face, defeat in her eyes, im sure she had been on duty when he came on, over 10 hours earlier. With an air of defect I started sawing him up, giving him a dose of penicillin and covering the wound with gauze. I doubt he would make the night but we had tried. I removed my bloodied gloves and left. Hoping to be able to rest now. My eyes started over at the dying children and men who fill the halls. when will the war end, when will the suffering stop, have not enough died for the righteous cause? I started towards the boards, I was still on duty for another few days before I could head home. As i passed through the corridors i passed a officer asking about his son, every has someone fighting in this war to end all wars, he came to a halt in front of me desperately asking for his sons conduction, i had treated him when he first got brought in, he was going to make it but he no longer had a left leg, a bomb had hit near trench and had impaled his leg. As he quickly dismissed me, relief clear on his face, you could clearly see the shine on his Swastika pin. “Heil Hitler” I murmured as he marched away into the chaos

This is the first part of a longer story and my first time doing any serious writing, any advice welcome! I know it isn't perfect but I tried so I hope you enjoy it xx

[wuzzybear]

The Accidentals- A bad fucking week. part 1

A group of broke adults join a medical trial hoping for some easy cash but instead get a lot more than what they wanted. There is something bad at play and they need to work it out if they ever want to be normal, not that they were normal before.

 Laura walked in through the door of her shoddy apartment, the lights flickering on as she slumped down on her stained sofa, she wanted to order takeaway but knew she didn't have the money, life was way to expensive and this week had been a pile of horse shit if any one had been, her car was in the garage after it broke down a couple days ago, the bill was so high she would need to not eat for a month.  Before getting off shift today she had seen a family of five burn, only 2 getting out alive, a baby and the father.  She tried to not let her job get to her but fighting fires was the easiest part, watching the families as they realise that not everyone made it is the worst, you can feel the guilt in the air. We are trained to move on, you can't take every death personally or it kills you from the inside but whenever i see a family torn apart so abruptly the worry stays on my heart, seeing happy families destroyed was definitely the worst part of her job but laura still loved the job and everyone struggles with it so she just tries to leave the worry at work,but today it followed her home, there was just something about today, the fire had started in the oldest’s room, probably faulty electrics, she was barely out of primary school, just starting to think she was a grown up, it had already killed the middle kid by the time anyone realised and the mother just breathed in to much smoke, it was come and go for a bit but in the end she didn't even make it to the hospital. A happy family reduced to two, a morning father and a 2 month old girl, how she survived I don't know. All that innocence and such young lives torn away so quickly. 

 Laura stood up shaking her head, it's not good to stay focused on the bad things, noodles and beer and an early night and she can sort everything else out in the morning.She has parents she can beg for money,they won't be happy but they wont let her starve,she just wishes she didn't have to call.  For tonight she resigned herself to the sofa with a bottle of cheap beer and some veg noodles, strolling through the internet. Eventually the sun was long gone and the shame came creeping back, she was sitting here running from her responsibilities with beer, noodles and a blanket around her, just trying to hide away on the internet, she was a grown woman, an adult. She closed down Reddit and opened her emails, this was an adult thing, she could clear her inbox. Ad,ad,ad,scam,ad,ad, important thing she should of replied too, she was trying to be grown up but that was slightly too grown up, ad, bank statement, don't want to look at that, oh nice easy one, the unit chief is trying to set up a quiz night, he needs to know when i'm free, i can do that. After a couple minutes of checking her calendar, which was embarrassingly empty she had formed an adult but chill response. There! She had been an adult, she had written an email and deleted a few more. She scanned over the rest hoping they could wait a few more days until a quiet moment at work, one caught her eye, an email from a trial company, she did a couple of studies a few years back to get some extra cash and extra cash was just what she needed, she looked into it, it was a medical study looking into a mental health drug, they needed people with diagnosed mental illness so she knew she would fit right in. Drug trials were not her thing but the pay was pretty good, two injections a week, £50 each, it lasted 12 months but you could leave whenever, just under £5,000 for the whole year, she probably wouldn't hang on that long but long enough that she could fix her beat up Honda and still eat. Honestly how could she resist? The testing facility was a 15 minute walk away from the fire station as well. Fuck me if was perfect, no nagging from anyone about “being an adult” and “looking after your finances”. Laura finally went to bed that night, slightly tipsy, exhausted but slightly less stressed.

Laura had 2 days until she got paid and she had her first appointment for the trial today, it was a rolling study so there was no set start date. She had promised Steve, the mechanic down the road, that he would get paid the bill as soon as she got paid so that he would carry on working with no money upfront, to be honest he totally owned Laura one, she had set him up with an ex of hers about a year back and she had never seen him happier. She walked up to a little privately owned clinic that she had never noticed before, it was smart but felt way to clinical, the lights were so bright it burnt and like all of these places the smell of cleaner was so strong you could taste it, she popped her phone into the pocket of her oversized jacket as she came to the front desk, the lady at the desk looked he up and down, I suppose she didn't really look like she belonged, it didn't look like a cheap sort of place.” hi i'm here for the trial, umm.. Laura Burmwell” Laura muttered into the ground,she hated reception staff, they always seemed super judgy and this lady was no different, she tapped away at her screen for a few very awkward moments and sighed, pointing me to a section of chairs near the back. Pulling her earphones out she landed in a seat. 

“Don’t worry she wasn't very nice to me either” a voice chucked next to her, a small grinning woman sat there tapping on her phone, Laura smiled back, she was gorgeous, long black hair down to her waist, out shining Laura's dirty blonde mess any day.

 “I’m glad she doesn't just hate me” Lorna joked, internally panicking. Why is such a cute woman actually talking to me? She suddenly felt amazingly under dressed, she was sat next to a stunning women who was clearly ready to go to work in a nice yellow dress and a jacket and she is there look like a gay hobo, hair up in yesterdays bun and a t shirt that has dinosaurs on it, at she is wearing smartish jeans. “I’m Laura, are you here for the study?” she smiled. 

“Preet, yeah, i'm hoping they can cure the fuckery going on in my head before the end of it” she chuckled but I could see the blush forming over her skin as she processed what she had said, Laura just snorted, tapping her leg on the linoleum floor, trying to think of something to say, her mind in overdrive.

“Nervous?” Preet questioned.

 “i just haven't been in a drug trial for years, what if I grow four heads or something?” She joked, Preet actually burst out laughing, tears starting to form in her eyes, which got Laura laughing too, they just sat there trying to hide there laughter from the rest of the very serious looking members of the waiting room, finally after about 5 minutes they both calmed down enough to speak, laughter still glistening in their eyes.

“ but seriously these drugs will of been tested for years before it gets to these sorts of tests, its perfectly safe, they are just proving it and checking out side effects, I’m sure you wont grow any more heads.”  At that moment Preet’s name was called over the speaker system, Secretly both of them were hoping they had been forgotten about so they could sit here and chat all day but neither of them said it. 

“See you later Laura” Preet called as she picked up her stuff and started to follow the now waiting nurse. 

Lorna went back to her music, trying to pull a stupid grin off her face. 

1941- September 5th

I walked into surgery, on the bench was the patient, a young soldier, barley 19. He was burning up. Nurse Weber was standing there, trying to cool him down while setting up. He had a gun wound that was starting to get infected and the bullet had yet been removed. We set to work, removing infected tissue and finding bits of the shattered bullet but further we got the more futile it became, he kept losing blood and nothing we could do would keep his temperature down, he was pretty much dead in front of us. The nurse looked up, exhaustion in every wrinkle in her face, defeat in her eyes, I’m sure she had been on duty when he came on, over 10 hours earlier. With an air of defect  I started sawing him up, giving him a dose of penicillin and covering the wound with gauze. I doubt he would make the night but we had tried. I removed my bloodied gloves and left. Hoping to be able to rest now. My eyes started over at the dying children and men who fill the halls. when will the war end, when will the suffering stop, have not enough died for the righteous cause? I started towards the boards, I was still on duty for another few days before I could head home. As i passed through the corridors i passed a officer asking about his son, every has someone fighting in this war to end all wars, he came to a halt in front of me desperately asking for his sons condition, i had treated him when he first got brought in, he was going to make it but he no longer had a left leg, a bomb had hit near trench and had impaled his leg. As he quickly dismissed me, relief clear on his face, you could clearly see the shine on his Swastika pin. “Heil Hitler” I murmured as he marched away into the chaos.

This is my first attempt writing, please tell me how to improve! this is the first part of a longer story.

[kaibacorpintern]

@emblematik requested “yuugi + datebook” and i was like “hm interesting” and then a few minutes later i was like “oh shit... IDEA.” 

no joke: i wrote 90% of this on my phone. i just checked the word count and it’s 2000 words. lol. casual rivalshipping, but it’s not about that. post-DM. enjoy the feels x

MONDAY, 8:26 AM

Yuugi sat cross-legged in the soft, shallow cradle of his bed, half-asleep, phone in his hands. Anzu was on the other end of the video call, wandering through the New York apartment she shared with four other girls.

“ -- so they come bursting out of the egg, and that's just how the show starts. It gets loonier from there. But it means every week, she has to make another big-ass papier-mâché egg for her guest performer, and this week, that’s me. Hey Tiff, love the space buns,” Anzu said, turning to someone out-of-sight, and Yuugi heard a voice call back, in a cheerful sing-song, thaaank youuu!

“So you're helping her make the egg?” Yuugi said.

“Yeah, she calls it 'laying the egg.’ Performance artists are so weird,” she said, as Yuugi grinned with delight. “Anyway, gotta run. Can you do next Sunday?”

“Let me see,” Yuugi said, leaning over to swipe his weathered datebook off his night stand, the pages dogeared with almost a year's worth of use. A blank datebook he'd filled out from June to June with every notable hour of his life, using a pen he kept tucked in the binding. He'd spilled water on it a few months ago and the pages had crinkled as they dried. Now it refused to sit flat, with gaps that rippled between the pages.

He held the phone in one hand and flipped clumsily through the datebook with the other, spreading it open on his thigh. After that Sunday, there was one blank week left in the datebook. “Nope, I'm booked. Let's just do Monday again.”

“Works for me,” Anzu said. “Love ya! Bye!”

“Love you too, have fun laying your egg,” Yuugi said, and she flashed him an exasperated grin. The screen went black, and a dreamy silence descended on Yuugi’s bedroom once more. Yuugi flopped back down into bed with a contented sigh, tossing the phone onto the nightstand. He held the datebook over his head, his week carefully penned in. Class, his shifts at the game shop, and on Tuesday, he was seeing…

TUESDAY, 6:37 PM

“Fuck,” Jounouchi said, staring in bafflement at the cards lying face up on the playmat between them. They sat at a long, wooden table on the airy patio of a cafe, with vines flowing thick along the walls, the cards illuminated in the soft, inviting light of the lanterns strung across the space. “How did you win? When did you win?”

“A few turns ago,” Yuugi confessed, idly churning the ice of his Italian soda with his straw. “But you had me on the ropes for a while there. If you played your Time Wizard combo a turn earlier, I would've lost.”

“Damnit! I knew it,” Jounouchi said, thumping his fist firmly on the table. “I keep forcing myself to wait. I just don't wanna blow it again, like Nationals.”

“I think your nerves are making you doubt yourself,” Yuugi said. “Your instincts are strong. Just listen to them, and you'll do fine.”

Jounouchi, gathering up his cards from the playmat, glanced up at him, the lantern light giving his faint blush a rosy glow.

“See, how the heck am I supposed to attack you when you say things like that?” he said. “Maybe I should get a practice duel with someone who actually pisses me off. Hey, ask your pal if he'll duel me.”

“My pal? Is that what he is?” Yuugi said, lifting an eyebrow as he reached for his phone; then he changed course, tucking his hand into the messenger bag at his feet and ferreting out his datebook. He checked the date. “I'm seeing him tomorrow, actually. I'll just ask.”

“Perfect. How's your Sunday looking? Honda said he’ll have my Duel Disk fixed by then.”

“I have plans already,” Yuugi said, dropping the datebook back into his bag and leaning back in his chair.

“Oh, okay, Mr. Popular. Don't forget I leave for the tournament Friday after next. That's in your book, right?” Jou said, and Yuugi hummed in reply. Mm-hmm. Then Jou leaned forward, resting both elbows on the table and his chin atop his hands, fixing Yuugi with a roguish look. “Who is Kaiba, if not your pal?”

Now Yuugi couldn't help but blush, his skin warmer than the summer air. “Uh, he's…”

WEDNESDAY, 9:57 PM

Sitting next to Yuugi on the couch, one bent leg tucked underneath him and one arm slung over the back. Studying the screen of Yuugi's laptop as Yuugi scrolled through the lines of code he'd abandoned, several days earlier, at dawn, surrendering to the frustration of a long and fruitless all-nighter. Lucky for him, Kaiba liked nothing so much as telling people they were wrong, why they were wrong, and how to stop being wrong.

Kaiba leaned closer, frowning intently, his force of presence buffeting Yuugi like a wave. A good wave, dense and heady, fragrant with his cologne. He had many, many things to say about object-oriented programming, all of which Yuugi had listened to very carefully, and none of which he'd actually heard.

“I found your problem,” Kaiba declared.

“Thank God, this assignment is driving me nuts,” Yuugi said, sighing with relief. “What is it?”

In response, Kaiba reached out and shut the laptop with a firm whap. “You’re distracted.”

“I am not,” Yuugi said.

“Tell me what I just said about using global variables.”

Yuugi bit his lip, scrambling through the last five, ten, fifteen minutes for whatever Kaiba had said about global variables, and found… nothing, except a keen awareness of the way Kaiba was staring at him now, leaning his cheek against his loosely curled hand, a wry smile tugging on his lips. 

“Uh,” Yuugi said after a moment, realizing he’d fallen neatly into the usual trap. “Don't?”

Kaiba snorted. “When is this due?”

Yuugi leaned forward, momentarily escaping the weightless swell of feeling in his chest, and plucked his datebook off the coffee table from where it lay beside his textbooks. “In a week.”

“Alright. I have a few hours on Sunday or Tuesday. When would you like to waste my time next?” Kaiba said, with a sort of laid-back disdain.

“I think I’ll squander your Tuesday,” Yuugi said, tugging the pen free, scribbling a note. He set both laptop and datebook on the coffee table and settled back, deeply, breathlessly aware of Kaiba's gaze on him, tracing lines of fire up and down his body.

“So,” Kaiba said, a low, teasing growl, his mouth inches from Yuugi's ear. “What is so distracting to you?”

“Nothing,” Yuugi said, smiling, about to vibrate out of himself with impatience. “You have my full attention.”

“Good,” Kaiba said, and the next thing Yuugi knew he was swept up in a dark rush of warmth, Kaiba pressing a kiss like a hot, wet star to the curve of his neck. He fumbled blindly with one arm, catching Kaiba by the back of his head, pulling him down as he twisted and fell backwards along the couch.

He huffed, a wordless plea for mercy, as Kaiba mouthed along the shell of his ear, making scandalous suggestions with his tongue, clearly enjoying himself.

“Problem solved,” he said smugly, and Yuugi groaned, laughing.

FRIDAY, 4:13 PM

A gentle chime broke through the cool, quiet air of the game shop. Yuugi, wandering the shelves with his scanner, conducting inventory, pulled his phone out of his back pocket.

RYOU: finished writing my new campaign!! want in?

YUUGI: duh

what days are u thinking?

RYOU: sundays? that's when everyone else is free

YUUGI: i can do sundays, but not this sunday

RYOU: not a problem. we can start next week. any plans?

The question turned over in his chest like a stone, a tremendous weight, heavy and slow and dull. Yuugi stood motionless, staring down at his phone, the scanner dangling in his limp hand and the silence of the store falling over him like a shroud.

But he shook it off. Ryou had given him the idea.

YUUGI: I’m going to the park with my datebook, you know the one

RYOU: oh

please send him my best

YUUGI: i will!

is this the space campaign you were telling me about?

Pulling out of the subject like pulling a boot out of the mud, with staggering release. Yuugi resumed his task of taking inventory, stopping every so often to answer Ryou's excited texts about Eldritch horrors and homebrew campaigns.

That night, he lay in bed and discovered the stone was still there, cradled in his straining ribs. So he opened the skylight in his bedroom, inviting the summer night to flow in. It sprawled open above him, hot and dark and flecked with stars, vibrating with the hum of cicadas hidden in the trees. The summer spinning its promise into a refrain. Every new day, each blank page of his datebook, beckoning him forward.

SUNDAY, 11:00 AM

Yuugi awoke to a bright, beautiful June morning, sliding his feet into the secret pockets of cool still tucked away between the sheets. The skylight in his room revealed a clear, hot sky.

He flew through the rest of the morning, as light and taut as a kite, unburdened by exhaustion or idleness. On a whim, he opened his laptop, giving a quick eye to his assignment; Kaiba wouldn't bring up global variables for no reason… and the solution presented itself, like a closed fist turning over to reveal the prize in its palm.

He didn’t cancel on Kaiba. They’d waste time some other way.

Buoyant, he left the house, with his datebook and a lighter in his bag. There were two stops to make before the park: first, a cafe, for an iced coffee, and second, the neighborhood bookstore, where he bought a brand-new blank datebook.

Then he began the long, pleasant walk down to the park, his phone on silent. The whole of Domino was cast in a drowsy summer light so smooth and liquid he wanted to cup it in his hands and drink it, to feel it run sweet and pure through his veins. Neither his mind nor his route wandered from their destination: the plank bridge in the park.

It sat in an isolated corner of the park, a leafy, overgrown grotto dappled with sunlight. The long pond slowed to a mirrored stillness here, cooled by the shade of the trees. Insects hummed in the foliage. As Yuugi stepped onto the plank bridge, the hollow thunk of his foot sent some small, shy creature plunging for safety into the water, leaving only ripples behind.

He knelt on the plank bridge and opened the old datebook, taking a moment to transfer the last remains of his schedule into the first week of the new datebook. His class schedule, his work schedule, his weekly call with Anzu, Joe's tournament dates, the new campaign. All of it carefully penned in.

Then he leaned over the edge of the plank bridge, seeing his reflection on the surface of the water. It was harder with mirrors: they were too crisp, too defined. They showed him nothing but his own face. But if he unfocused his eyes a bit, if he took a deep breath and snapped the last piece into place and made a wish, the face on the water wavered. Just enough to believe.

“I miss you,” he said, to the water. “I miss you every day. I still feel you… gone, here.”

He made a fist, motioning to the center of his chest. An absence with weight; a nothing and a something all at the same time. The kind of puzzle Atem would love.

There was nothing else to add. He’d said most of it already, last year and the year before. They would see each other again, some day, and he had long since understood that he was not meant to wait and he was not meant to run. He was meant to stay right here, in the heart of his own life, and feel it beating.

Yuugi readjusted, sitting cross-legged on the bridge. He flipped through the datebook, going backwards to the beginning. The memories burst open inside him, as raw and fresh as a ripe fruit, swollen with color and feeling. Deadlines for that art history class. Flying out for Anzu’s solo show in December. His first date with Kaiba, sometime in March, although neither of them realized it was a date until the morning after. CHAMPIONSHIP!!, on a weekend in September, when Jou had swept the Pan-Pacific. The pages were as crisp and dry as autumn leaves; they'd burn well.

He turned to the first page.

“Here’s what you missed,” Yuugi said, and began to read.

[thedeviltohisangel]

You Say It Softly//6//We Worked Too Hard For This

The birth of Jim & Leah’s son.

warnings associated with labor and delivery scenes.

in honor of @langdonslove birthday!

masterlist in bio, send any requests for these two my way!

Leah could barely find the energy to get out of bed most mornings now. Her stomach had swelled to an impossible size and with it had gone her will to do the most mundane of things. Part of her felt bad for Jim. She would wake up, curse his name for putting his spawn inside of her and caging her to this life of immobility. He would make her breakfast of nutella on toast and extra crispy bacon and no matter how badly she wanted to devour the whole thing, his baby was taking up all the room and she could only muster a small portion.

“I hate you.” The frustrated tears always came next. Everything bothered her on such a large scale and it was mainly the fact that their baby was two weeks late. Two extra weeks of feeling like a beached whale. Two extra weeks of kicking Jim out of bed because he was too warm and she was sweating and she couldn’t breathe. Two extra weeks of psychological warfare over how good of a mother she would or would not be.

“I know, baby. When little one comes it will all be worth it, right?” She looked at Jim skeptically from where he knelt next to her side of the bed.

“Only if they have your blue eyes. If they don’t, I want a refund.”

“Okay, baby, I’m sure we can arrange that.” Jim had never been in the business of disagreeing with her but recently he had made it his life mission to always be on her side. He was indeed partially responsible for the state she found herself in so he shoulder all her irritability like a champ. His shoulders were strong enough to carry any burdens she needed to shed. He was made to be that for her, he thinks.

“When you get back from your sister’s, can we go out to dinner tonight? I feel like the house is suffocating me.” His lips pressed themselves gently up her arms in an agreeable and hopefully soothing manner.

“What’re you craving?”

“Everything. I can’t even put a name to it, Sprinkles.”

“I’m sorry you’re feeling so miserable, Sugar. You know I wish I could make it go away and if you think of anything I can do…”

“I’ll tell you. I promise.” She winced slightly as a tight pain rippled through the underside of her baby bump. “These stupid Braxton-Hicks.” Jim lent her the warmth of his palm on the spot where he knew the pain was. The false labor pains had been coming and going and he knew exactly where she needed her muscles to be eased and soothed.

“No chance they’re real, Sugar?”

“No they feel exactly the same as they have been. My doctor thinks I’ll be able to tell the difference.” Leah had taken the time away from work with her maternity leave to refocus her mind and become more in tune with her own body. She had started going to a meditation group and doing yoga and testing healthy juice recipes. Jim hadn’t been the biggest fan of that phase of exploration.

“You sure you’ll be okay while I’m with Medina? I’ll stay home if you want me to. Need me to. No shame in asking.”

“I’ll be fine. I want you two to go to that beach. You’ve been gushing about the waves for months. Women have had babies in caves. I’ll be okay.” He watched her for a few more moments to make sure she was being honest with him before he stood and pressed a kiss to the center of her forehead. As soon as Leah heard the front door shut from him leaving, she felt lonely. She had run out of things to do but had seen the twinkle in Jim’s eye when discussing this surfing day trip that he had been planning with Medina and nothing was going to make her happier than watching him go on it and have fun. They didn’t know how much time they’d have to do things like that once the baby came so she wanted him to take all the opportunities he could while it was still them. Leah also knew that his relationship with his sister was beyond important to him so she wanted to make sure he kept nurturing that as well. Medina was never in California for too long, taking her freedom to travel around the world and never be in the same place for too long. Leah and Jim hadn’t planned on fully settling down at this point in their lives but the surprise addition to their family had required it and they were more than happy to oblige.

When Leah finally found the wherewithal to swing her legs over the side of her bed and stand on her feet, a flashing shot of pain ripped its way through her lower back. She fell to the floor with a silent cry at the feeling. “Oh my God, fuck.” She kneaded the heel of her hand into the spot in the hopes it would go away and it didn’t. A piece of her mind was remembering the conversation she had had with her doctor the last time she went about back labor. How Leah’s back muscles seemed to carry a lot more tension in them than her abdominal muscles did. And her next thought followed that she had promised Jim she would call if the pain felt different. And the pain was feeling way way different and way way worse. She grimaced as she grabbed her phone from the nightstand and dialed his number, rubbing her bump with a grimace as she waited.

“Hey, this is Jim, leave a message and I’ll call you back.”

“Hi Jimmy, it’s me,” she paused and let out a gasp of pain as the next wave overtook her, “I think the baby is coming...Like really actually. Call me when you get this so I know how long it will take you to get home. If I don’t hear back from you within an hour, I’m going to try and get myself to the hospital...I love you, Jim, and I can’t wait to start this new chapter with you so hurry home.” She hung up and sat staring at her phone for a few minutes in the hopes Jim would immediately get back to her. 10 minutes passed. 20 minutes passed. Her screen stayed black. No doubt he was out in the waves and his phone had been left on the beach. There was no telling when he would get her message.

It was then that the panic began to set in. What if Jim didn’t even get her message in time to make it to the hospital for the birth of their child? What if she had to do all of it alone? The stress she and her unborn child were putting her under was beginning to make her dizzy. It was then that she was starting to get concerned. The room was refusing to stay still and it felt as though her whole body was spinning around with it. Phone. Call. Doctor. Those were the three words that began to ring through her mind. Something was wrong and she needed help. She was scared of being alone and feeling so out of control of her body. For a brief moment she thinks this was what Jim must have felt like. The night on the beach when he was dying. As if the whole world was going to keep on spinning without you knowing about it. Without caring how you felt or how it happened. Maybe Jim would come and save her the way she had saved him so many times before but wishing and hoping was futile, she had to act. Leah closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths in the name of readying herself to get up. Part of her thinks it was her new maternal instinct kicking in. She had to get somewhere safe for her baby. Lying on the floor of her bedroom was not safe for her baby and that needed to change.

Her fingers finally found purchase on her phone and she quickly went into her contacts to reach her doctor.

“Dr. Khalilah’s office how-”

“It’s Leah Mason. I’m, oh shit fuck,” she couldn’t even finish her sentence as the next contraction wrapped around from her back to her stomach and weaved down her legs.

“Let me get the Doctor, Mrs. Mason, hold on.” She was vaguely aware of the muffled sounds of voices on the other end of the line but was too preoccupied with fighting the nausea rising up her throat to try and decipher what they were saying.

“Leah? Tell me what’s going on.”

“I’m in active labor. My back hurts like someone is driving a hot stake into and ripping it around my skin and I’m going to throw up and I’m so dizzy.”

“Okay, okay. I need you to breathe for me, first and foremost. Calmly, I want you to get your husband and get in the car and head to the hospital, okay? I’ll meet you there.”

“I can’t find Jim! That’s the fucking problem, Doctor, pardon my language. I can’t drive myself...What do I do?” Her breaths had turned into pants. The sweat was beginning to become ever present on her skin and she was trying to remind herself that she was strong and capable and that her and Jim were so badly looking forward to this baby so she had to pull through for all their sakes. Part of her felt a little stupid at her pleas, she was a doctor herself after all and had thought she’d be able to handle something like this with a clear and level head. With absolute ease. That was the kind of person she had always been. People always came to Leah with their problems knowing they could talk her into thinking everything was okay and to approach the problem with a clear head and steady heart. All of that had been part of the birth plan she had meticulously written out with Jim but now it was all being thrown out the window.

“Leah, I’m going to send a midwife to your house to assess the situation and help you from there okay?” She looked down at the wet patch forming on her carpet.

“Please hurry...I think my water just broke.”

----

“Medina she’s not fucking answering! Fucking hell move you idiot!” Jim leaned over from the passenger side and wailed on the horn.

“Jim! Calm down, okay? This is why I told you that you couldn’t drive.”

“If I miss the birth of my child because that Honda can’t step on the gas, I will kill them.” He dialed his wife’s phone again and got her voicemail...again. Jim had listened to her message on the beach with a racing heart and broad smile. For a moment he let himself breathe it in. That by the end of the day he was going to be a father. He was going to start on the right foot with his child and fix all the mistakes his parents had made with him. He was going to make sure his child never felt the way he felt, that they always knew they were loved and cherished and irreplaceable. That his child knew they always had a home in his arms. It was when he looked at the time stamp and realized it had been almost two hours since her one hour time limit that he began to panic. He yelled for his sister and began to shove all his belongings back into his bag and sprint towards the car.

“We’ll be at the hospital in...twenty minutes.”

“I’m letting her down. Fuck, Medina, she does so much for me and why am I constantly letting her down?”

“You’re not. I promise you that she doesn’t think that. First babies take so long to come. You’ll make it in plenty of time to hold her hand and feed her ice chips.” The car was quiet for a moment before Jim spoke again.

“I’m gonna be a dad. My whole life is going to change.”

“It’s a good change, Jimmy. The happiest of changes we could ever hope for.” Medina rubbed at his thigh in a comforting manner with a smile on her face. She was so proud of her brother and where he had gotten. If Leah was able to make him so happy she could only imagine the effect their baby would have on him. In her mind, Jim deserved the absolute world and she couldn’t be happier that he was finally getting it.

Medina let him run out of the car as soon as they pulled up to the hospital, assuring Jim she would find a place to park. He made his way to the Labor and Delivery section of the hospital within record timing and was breathing like he had ran a marathon by the time he reached the receptionists desk.

“My wife, Leah Mason, she’s here giving birth. I need to be with her.”

“Can I see your ID?” His hands were shaking as he pulled his wallet from his pocket and handed the plastic over to the women. “We have no one here by that name.”

“I’m sorry-”

“Jim!” He turned to look at his sister running out from the elevator with her phone extended towards him. “It’s Leah.” Jim grabbed the phone from her hands and held it to his ear like a lifeline.

“Leah? I’m at the hospital what’s your room number? Are you okay? How are you feeling? Please tell me the baby hasn’t come yet.”

“Come home I’m-” she heard a pained moan come out of her mouth and the sounds of a woman’s voice coaching her through the contraction. “There’s been a change of plans. We’re having a home birth.”

“Fuck okay I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

“Please hurry. I don’t think I can do this without you.” It was only on rare occasions that Jim heard Leah’s voice get small.

“You won’t have to. I love you so much and I can’t wait to be with you and our baby.”

----

He didn’t even let Medina come to a full stop in his driveway before he was out of his car and taking his front steps like a gazelle. “Leah!” Jim tripped in his haste to get up the stairs but didn’t even register the burning in his shins as his wife crying out in pain reached his ears.

“Oh, you’re here.” Leah cried with the relief at the sight of Jim, her Jim, stumbling into their bedroom. He kicked off his shoes and crawled into bed with her, pressing anxious kisses over every inch of her face and running his hands all over her stomach to see if anything had changed since this morning. “Jimmy it hurts so bad.”

“I know, my love, I know. But I’m here now and I’m going to try and share in as much of the pain as possible, okay?” She nodded and tucked her head into his shoulder, biting down on his skin as the next wave came. Jim bit back the expletives that wanted to fall from his mouth because she needed him to be strong and take some of the pain off her shoulders. She was birthing his child, the least he could do was keep his mouth shut. “How does everything look?” The midwife was peering between his wife’s legs.

“Only a couple more centimeters to go and I think she will be ready to start pushing.”

“We had...We had discussed a water birth. Is that still possible to do at home?” Jim took the washcloth the woman handed to him and began to dab gently at Leah’s forehead. The two had been lying in bed one night talking about how the beach and the water had been where all the important moments in their life had taken place. It only seemed fitting for the water to welcome their child into the world.

“Of course. You’ve got her so I can go get your tub ready?” He looked down at his wife; beat red in the face, hair matted to her forehead and pained moans falling from her mouth in a steady stream. If there was anytime she needed him, it was now.

“Yeah I’ve got her.” And he always would. They were partners and soulmates and every other word that meant you could not have one without the other.

“Jim? Can I tell you something?” He adjusted himself so her back was resting against his chest, Leah grabbing his collar so her lips were right up against his ear. “You ever put your dick inside me without a condom again and I’ll cut it off.”

“Okay, Sugar.” He knew it was the pain talking because she had told him numerous times that she wanted the largest possible family her ovaries and uterus would allow. Jim knew that when it was all said and done and they were holding their baby, she’d be thinking differently. It might have been crazy but Jim already couldn’t wait to do it all over again.

----

After two more hours of Leah writhing in pain, she started to feel the urge to push. The midwife and Jim helped her into the tub, a groan of somewhat relief washing over her as the warm water lapped at her skin.

“Alright, Mrs. Mason, put your legs over the sides and let me get a good glimpse of what it happening down there.” Jim held her hand and moved down so he could look at the same view as the midwife. “That little brown fuzz? Can you see it?”

“Yeah,” the word came out of his mouth in awe. That was his baby. Jim was inches away from meeting his child.

“Leah you’ll be crowning in a few more pushes, you’ll feel burning but it’s okay and normal.”

“Jim...in the tub.” He nodded frantically and undressed down to his underwear so he could slip in behind her. “Oh God!” The burning she had been warned about started encroaching and it showed no signs of reaching it’s peak.

“Stop pushing for just one moment dear. Let yourself stretch for the head and shoulders.”

“You got this, baby, you’re so strong and I’m right here with you and I love you so much,” Jim whispered into her ear. She had a death grip on his hands and nodded along to all of his words of encouragement, absorbing them and letting them help her power through the arrival of their child.

“Dad, why don’t you lean forward so you can get ready to catch your baby.” It took Jim a moment to realize that she was talking to him, that he was a dad now, he was someone’s dad now. His hands rubbed soothingly at Leah’s inner thighs as he placed his hands where their child was appearing slowly but surely. The head slipped into Jim’s cupped hands, their shoulders coming with a particularly loud groan from Leah before Jim was cradling his child and pulling them out of the water.

“It’s a boy!” Jim called as the baby, his son, began to wail at this newfound environment, at the loss of his cozy home inside his mother. Tears were streaming down his face as he brought his arms forward so the squirming boy could meet his mother.

“Oh look at you...look at him, Jim. He’s the most beautiful thing in the whole world. The most beautiful thing I have ever seen.” Leah was sobbing with happiness and tiredness but she could feel no pain. All of the discomfort and agony that had been there only moments before was gone as she cradled her newborn son against her chest. He had quieted down slightly and opened his eyes, the tears falling down Jim’s cheeks faster as he looked into the eyes of his son.

“Hi,” he cooed as his finger traced over his son’s silken cheeks. “We’ve waited so long to meet you my little baby.”

“You want to come with me Dad to cut the cord and while I make sure everything is okay with your beautiful little boy?” Leah handed the baby to the midwife as Jim stood up behind her and wrapped himself in a towel.

“He’s here, Sprinkles,” Leah whispered with excitement as Jim bent down next to her, kissing her soundly on the lips.

“I’m so proud of you, Sugar. I didn’t think it was possible to love you more but watching how strong you were…” Jim took the scissors from the midwife as she offered them and cut the umbilical cord cleanly.

“Go be with our son. Make sure everything’s okay.” He kissed her once again before going to peer over the midwife’s shoulder as she performed the Apgar test, their little boy passing with flying colors.

“Let’s get mama out of the bath so she can cuddle you probably...maybe try feeding him?” Leah nodded eagerly, Jim holding their son against his chest as the women helped her stand and wrapped her in a fluffy robe. He followed closely behind as she sank down onto her side of the bed, wiggling her fingers towards her little baby. He fell quiet as the sound of his mother’s heartbeat entered his ears. The one thing in this crazy new world that was the same as his old world.  “Have you two thought of a name?”

“William. William James Mason.”

----

Jim looked down at his son who was resting against his shirtless chest as Leah traced over the shell of his ear.

“He looks like you when he’s asleep,” she murmured. She was barely keeping her eyes open but didn’t want to miss a moment of time with her new son.

“Definitely got your nose though.” Leah smiled up at Jim.

“Only us would have our child come into the world in such a nutso way...I’m glad Medina got to meet him already.” Once the midwife had left and Jim had helped Leah change into her comfiest pajamas and settle back under the covers with William, Jim had Medina come upstairs from where she had been lounging around in their living room. She had cried at the first sight of her nephew. If anyone knew how far Jim had come and how much he deserved the happiness that he was feeling it was Medina. She hugged Jim and they both cried in celebration of how their lives had turned out exactly the way that had always dreamed they would. Medina sat down next to Leah and carefully held her nephew for this first time, his newborn smell making her smile.

“Welcome to the tribe, little buddy,” she had whispered against his wrinkled forehead.

“Did you call your mom?” Leah asked as Jim pressed his lips onto his son’s head.

“Yeah and my dad. My dad is in Paris so he can’t come by for a week or so anyways. Mom...Mom is going through another spell where she can’t leave her house so I don’t know when we’ll see her.”

“If it’s important to you, Jim, then we can go see her.”

“It’s not that important to me.” Sandy had made herself very clear ever since she had known Leah was in her son’s life that she didn’t like her and wanted her to leave. Jim wanted none of that toxic energy anywhere near his son. He would be kept a pure ball of light and love as long as Jim could help it. “What about your parents?”

“They were happy...they both made a comment about if you were actually there or not but I’ll have them come by when you’re not here or I’ll go to there house by myself this week.” Leah’s parents harbored a resentment towards Jim and his past substance abuse. No matter how many times it was displayed or told that he was a changed man, they refused to let go of their grudge. Leah had went on to be a doctor in order to prove that she still could even with Jim in her life.

“Why are our parents like this?”

“Doesn’t matter because we won’t be anything like them. William will always be loved and accepted by us. He’ll never have to worry that we aren’t there to catch him when he falls.” The two of them closed the distance between their lips so they could kiss again. Something about becoming parents had made it so they couldn’t keep their hands off of each other. “I love you, Jim Mason, let’s have another baby.”

“I’ll start the six week countdown.” They both laughed, freezing when the baby began to stir on his father’s chest. He let out the beginnings of a wail and Jim promptly sat up. “It’s okay, little one, mama and dada are here. You’re okay.” He stepped carefully off the bed so he could could sway his hips and walk around the room, the rocking motion having comforted his son back to sleep only a couple hours earlier.

“He might be hungry. Let me try to feed him.” The first time with the midwife hadn’t been that successful. William had rooted around her nipple but refused to latch. It was when Leah started tearing up with frustration that the midwife had recommended they try again some other time.

“Remember, Sugar, it’s okay if he doesn’t latch. We can still get him nutrients elsewhere.” That had been her initial attack of panic when the midwife had taken William from her and offered a bottle instead. That if he wouldn’t or couldn’t latch and get access to her breastmilk, he would somehow suffer.

“I know. I just read so much about what a bond it is for a woman and her child...I want that feeling.” Jim had already seen the natural connection between his wife and son, noticed the way William’s eyes seemed to be constantly looking for his mother and the way his face turned to her instantly when her voice reached his ears. But he didn’t want to discount her feelings or deny her of all the things she had been dreaming about for the past nine months. Jim helped her get William settled in the crook of her arm and watched as her hand gently guiding his lips towards her nipple. “Mommy doesn’t want you to be hungry and uncomfortable my love. Let Mommy help you fill your little tummy.” Jim held his breath as his son continued to root around before finally finding purchase, latching on and sucking his mother’s milk into his mouth with ease.

“Is he doing it?” Jim wanted to make sure his eyes weren’t deceiving him but when Leah looked up from their son with tearful eyes and a nod he knew it was everything she had ever dreamed it could be.

“It’s ticklish. But I feel like all the pieces of the puzzle are fitting together.” It was then that William opened his eyes and looked at his mother as he continued to pull milk into his empty stomach. “I’ve never been happier, Jim. Thank you for giving him to me.” Jim kissed the exposed skin of her shoulder from where she had opened her top up to give William access to food.

“Thank you, Leah. For the life you’ve given me the opportunity to build. For the family we’ve started together. For putting the smile back on my face all those years ago.” She smiled and turned back to watch her son. Jim couldn’t stop the smile that spread across his face as he watched the two most important in the world to him interact. His heart was at peace. The two people he loved the most were warm and happy and safe and with him. Jim Mason doesn’t think life got any better than this and he doesn’t know who to thank for giving him such a beautiful second chance but he knew this time he wouldn’t screw it up. He had two things worth living for and nothing could take them away from him. Not even the ocean could keep him from his tribe. For the first time in a long time, Jim Mason was home.

Tags:

@avesatanormalpeoplescareme

@aveiangdon

@tickled--pinkmoodpoisoning

@langdvn

[smoothshift]

The story of (and ode to) my $900 BMW E46. Long read ahead. via /r/cars

The story of (and ode to) my $900 BMW E46. Long read ahead.

https://i.imgur.com/hINwDHO.jpg

Decided to make this post after I saw the woes of the guy with the $900 Ranger. If you don't like the writings of Dostoevsky, Tolkien, and Edgar Allen Poe, move along...there may or may not be a tldr at the bottom.

I live in the absolute middle of nowhere in Michigan's Upper Peninsula. You can imagine the lack of car culture; there are as many car enthusiasts up here as there are Packers fans in Detroit. Well, I decided eventually I wanted a BMW, probably because I test drove an e46 328ci before I moved up north. I was 19, the year was 2015.

A 2001 330I on Craigslist caught my eye one day. He was asking $1200. It was a manual, had 167k miles, had the Sport Package (pre-ZHP), had a busted front bumper and crumpled hood, a missing sideskirt and a cracked rear bumper. Only one picture in the ad, salvage title. Hmm, I thought, doesn't look like the bumper was pushed back at all, so maybe it's not as bad as it looks. I called the guy and discussed the car. It ran and drove, just didn't look very good. We emailed back and forth a bit, and I decided to meet him.

Just so happened the car was six hours away, south of Grand Rapids. So next Saturday I jumped in my 2001 Sebring Coupe (what a glorious, reliable hunk of junk) and picked up my buddy Will to spot me back.

We arrived at the place, and there was the car. I think my heart did a little pitter patter. It was sitting in front of the guy's shop (he built and repaired stock cars for a living). Hood was up, and the car was running, but the idle was bouncing like crazy...sounded like a dying animal. I didn't know what was wrong, the guy didn't know what was wrong. I called a BMW dealer, got on the line with one of the techs, and basically was told that I needed to bring them the car before he could offer any advice. Great. Eventually we discovered a large vacuum leak on the lower intake boot. Duct tape fixed that problem. It's also worth noting that the headlights were in the trunk, as the guy had taken the car to the body shop after the wreck to assess it and they hadn't bothered to reinstall them. More on this later.

So then I test drove the car.

I didn't really know how to drive stick. But I winged it. Or wang it. Or whatever. Somehow I only stalled like 3 times before I got it back to the shop. I handed the guy $900 in cash (we hadn't discussed price, here again I "wang" it). He really had wanted $1200 but...we had a deal. He signed the title over. It was still a green title...the insurance company hadn't bothered to write the title off. Probably wasn't worth their time. SCORE.

Next came Phase 2 of the mission. I needed car parts. Luckily, I had been in contact with a guy in Kalamazoo who was parting out an identical 330I, also Schwartz II (AKA Model T Black), also Sport Package. So Will and I left the basketcase BMW and followed Maps in my Sebring...right into the hood of Kalamazoo. As a privileged white male, I was a little out of my comfort zone, to say the least. The GPS dropped us right outside of some kind of impound, and the cars parked outside were old 90s sedans with giant chrome wheels.

Hoo boy.

The impound gate was open and Will and I walked in where a bunch of dudes were standing around smoking. Alarm bells were going off in this country boy's head.

"Uh, I'm looking for a BMW that's being parted out?" The guys exchanged glances and then one said, "Oh I wonder if you're looking for Jose." One of them led me a couple doors down. We walked past a house where an 11 year old was casually smoking cigarettes on the porch. Then turned and walked into Jose's backyard. The big black guy rattled his screen door and he came out. "Bought a wrecked car man? I'll sell you the title for this one. Twenty bucks. Your insurance will be cheaper." I turned down his offer, no thank you, and bought $300 worth of hood, fender and bumper. Whew. We were ready to be out of there, though arguably hadn't seen any trouble, we were just rather uncomfortable there.

We bungeed the hood to the roof of the Sebring, and loaded the bumper inside. I know it took up significant space even with the back seat folded down, and to this day I don't remember how both Will and I fit in the car. But we did.

So we drove back to Wayland, where the e46 was, and bolted on the hood. We didn't want to bother with the latch, so we just took it off and bungeed it down to the bumper. We decided we had enough daylight left to drive back to my parents lived, which was around 3 hours, so we just left the headlights out. More on that later.

We were ready to embark with my "new" BMW. I pushed in the clutch, turned the key, the engine came to life. I put it in reverse, carefully feathered the clutch, and started backing out of the driveway. Oh, did I mention that the passenger side mirror was busted off? Well the passenger side mirror was busted off. IE, I couldn't see anything behind me on my right side. This was fine. I was feathering that clutch like a pro - didn't even stall. All was well until I felt the back end go down, and the front wheels come off the ground. I just backed the car INTO THE DITCH.

Will was doubled over laughing in my Sebring. I had to tuck my sorry tail between my legs, go back into the shop, tell the owner of my misdeed, and ask for help. He pulled me out, and I promised to treat the car better. I doubt he was very confident I would make it home.

Surprisingly, the first while of the journey was great. I adapted quickly to the clutch and shifter, and we made it to Subway to grab a bite to eat. And we got back on the freeway.

Well, about those headlights.

Something must have taken too long, because it started getting dark. We were hauling down the freeway and it looked like we didn't have much daylight left. I called Will.

"Hey I'm just going to hang on your bumper since I don't have headlights. Don't brake too hard, and drive careful." I've had other brilliant ideas as well, like modifying a mousetrap into a toenail clippers.

So we did, and the night came. People started flashing their lights at us, and somehow we didn't pass any cops. I think I might have been in a little hot water if we had. Finally I called Will again.

"Hey, I think we should probably pull over and see if we can put these headlights in. This is kinda stupid." So we did. I pulled one headlight out of the trunk, and put it in. I didn't bother with any hardware, just bungeed it in (bungee straps hold anything together. I'm pretty sure the USSR held together as long as it did due to bungee straps). Plugged in the light connector, and there was light. I went to turn the key...

...and it wouldn't turn.

I jumped onto Google and looked up the problem. Somehow no one else had experienced it. I was almost in tears. Here I was, stuck in my dream car at 10 o'clock at night, and I couldn't as much as turn the key. Will suggested that I wiggle the steering wheel. It worked! BMWs have really tight steering wheel locks compared to the crappy cars I had owned before. We made it the rest of the way to my folks and I ran Will home without further problems that night.

I had many adventures in that car. I named her Helga. In fact, I got a license plate that said "H3LGA." I drove that thing down many dirt roads, never got stuck! (It's worth noting that dirt roads up north are often pretty nice) Helga weathered several brutal winters, thanks to Hankook snow tires. That was the first car I ever put confidence in. I took her down to Virginia in the middle of the summer without AC. I whipped the curves of H58. I went camping and slept in the cramped backseat. I even...get this...beat stock Dodge Neons at the stoplight! I got through some of the loneliest times of my life with Helga as my friend that always was there for me. Sure, it cost me a clutch and flywheel, a CCV system refresh, several vacuum hoses, other random parts, and a differential (another story for another time) but it was SO WORTH IT. I think all in the car cost me about $4000 over the 50,000 miles/3 years that I owned it.

Last year, in the name of diversity and practicality I traded it for a beat up Honda Civic hatch. Stupidest thing I ever did. Current stable is a 1996 318ti and a 1988 535i, both manuals. I'm now addicted to cheap, old BMWs, and you can't talk me out of it.

I just deleted a thousand word rant about what happens when stupid people own BMWs. You're welcome.

Tl;Dr I bought a manual BMW for $900, owned it for 3 years, loved it, and put about $3000 in parts into it.

[buckisthatyou]

More Than This - 5

Pairing: Bucky x Reader, Bucky x Natasha

Word Count: 2222

Summary: Sleeping with Bucky Barnes is a mistake as he does not know your true feelings for him and now he is dating Natasha.

Warnings: Angst, Language

Part 4

Series Masterlist

Masterlist

Author note: As usual I write fanfic instead of going to sleep so apologize for any mistake. :’) Hope you guys enjoy this. Happy reading and have a good day! Do leave some feedback because that shit makes my day and encourages me to write more. 

You almost let yourself cry over again for Bucky but you remember the promise you make for yourself.

You will move on.

You will let him go.

He doesn’t love you so, your feelings are your own problem that you have to deal with. Alone.

Taking a deep breath, you walk yourself to your bathroom, planning to change your outfit and just stay at home. But as you look at yourself in the mirror, realization comes and hits you. You already looking this good with your cute outfit and your perfect make up. All of these effort to look good ain’t going to waste. You can go out and enjoy yourself. You still have enough time to go to the concert, so you decide to go and instantly taking your phone to order an Uber.

“I can do this!”

When you arrive at the place, there are quite a few number of people. A small table is being placed on the outside to sell some merchandises. You plan to go to buy something for yourself later but first you have to buy a ticket.  With all these people surrounded you, you become a little anxious, not knowing where to go.

“Hey.” A soft voice comes, greeting you.

You turn around to see a man, a stranger. You smile awkwardly to him, stepping aside making a way for him to move. But he stays on his spot, hand scratching his neck. You furrow your eyebrows, wondering if the space you have given him is not enough. But you still step aside, hopefully this is more than enough space for him.  Your eyes linger around.

“Hey. I- I. Umm. Is.. Umm. Do you need some help?” he finally speaks.

“Sorry?”

“Do you need help? You seem lost. Umm.. are you searching for your friend?” he asks again, this time with a bit of confidence.

“No. I’m not looking for a friend but I need to buy a ticket. Do you know where I can get one?” You ask for help from the stranger.

“Just for one? Um you see, if you don’t mind I have an extra ticket. I can give it to you.” He takes the ticket out from his pocket, showing them to you.

“Why you have an extra? But yeah I’ll take it. How much?” you search for your purse, looking for some money for the nice man.

But he stops you, with a smile plastered on his face.

“I supposed to see the band with a friend of mine but he couldn’t make it. Have to finish his work at the office. You know you don’t have to pay for this. I give it to you for free.”

You look at him in disbelief. What a coincidence.

“Same thing here. I supposed to come here with a friend but things happen so here I am.” You tell him but not going into details, you may have a breakdown if you do so. “You know what? Let’s enjoy the show together. I mean we’re already sharing the same situation. I’m y/n.” you offer him your right hand which he takes it with a smile, giving you a firm handshake.

“Sounds like a good idea, y/n. I’m Dan. So, ummm shall we?” he nudges to the main door.

As you walk beside Dan, you finally see the booth for selling tickets. You shake your head as you let out a chuckle.

How can you not see it?

Once you two are inside the small venue, Dan takes your hand and brings you to the center of the crowd, he grins at you.

“I love being in the center.”

“Of attention?” you joke, messing with him.

“Yes, your attention.” He jokes back and you just smile.

Maybe you are going to be alright even without Bucky.

As the light goes down and the crowd cheers in excitement, welcoming the singer, you still holding his hand. Not planning to let him go. Not just yet. And that is exactly what you do for the entire show, you two just holding hands while enjoying the performance. It doesn’t feel awkward. In fact, it feels perfect like the two of you are made for each other.

One hour and half, the show eventually comes to an end. You feel alive again. After months of planning and hoping to see the band performing live, you finally get to scratch one of your goals in 2018.

Dan notices the wide smile on your face.

“They’re good aren’t they?” he says as you two walk out, making way to the merchandise table.

You nod your head, still humming your favourite song.

You take a look at all the stuff, the enamel pin reminds you of Bucky. He has his own pin collections. The one he puts on his leather and denim jackets.

You opened the door, revealing Bucky with a plastic full of plums in his hand.

“Hi, doll” he stepped in, kissing you on the cheek.

“I brought you some plums.”

“Thank you, Bucky.” You smiled, thanking him for his generosity.

Your eyes didn’t miss the new accessories on his denim jacket. You wondered who was the one introduced him to this fashion style.

“Bucky, what are those?” you pointed to his right and left chest, a few pins being put on and showed off to.

He blushed. “These? Umm.. Wanda gave me some. I saw her wore a few of them a few weeks ago and became interested. Do you like it? Is it weird for me to put them on? Should I take them off?”

He questioned, there weren’t many things you would change about Bucky, because to you he was the perfect human but maybe if you could, you would make him lose his insecurities. He needed to see that he is perfect just the way he is.

“Ah, I see. No, Buck. They are fine. You look good to be honest.” You told him the truth.

The smile he gave you as he listened to your words was beautiful, you promised to make him smiles more in the future.

“You really think so, sweetheart? Thank you!” he squealed in excitement as he hugged you tightly.

In that moment, you knew you had fallen deep for James Buchanan Barnes.

“It is great.” Dan’s sweet voice brings you back to the reality.

You look at the thing he has commented about, it is an enamel pin in your hand. You smile at Dan. “Yeah, I think I’m gonna buy this one.”

The two of you standing in front of the building, at the same spot you have met two hours earlier.

“So y/n? Do you come here with a car or something?”

“Me? Umm no. I took an Uber. I’m about to order one actually.” You say to him as you unlock your smartphone.

“Hey, I can take you home. I mean, like give you a ride. If you okay with it. Umm I have a car. There.” He points to a black Honda Civic.

You almost turn down his offer but you stomach growls rather loudly that he can hear it too.

“Sorry. I-“ you quickly apologized. Your face goes hot, feeling embarrassed.

Dan chuckles. “Come on. I take you to a kebab stall. Do you eat kebab?”

You nod. The image of the freshly cooked kebab is more than enough to make you drool. It has been hours since you eaten anything.

Meanwhile, Bucky and Natasha just got home from their date. Hands intertwined, the Avengers couple walk inside the building, smile on their faces. Happy to get to spend some time together and be intimate as a couple.

“Hey, guys.” Bucky greets his fellow team mates who are chilling in the common room.

“Hey, lovebirds.” Wanda winks at them, happy to see the perfect match together.

“Where’s Stev-?” Bucky is about to ask about his best friend’s whereabout before the Captain comes in with a few stacks of Oreos in his hands.

“Hey, Buck. You should inform me that you went out with Natasha. I called you a couple of times before Wanda told me.”

Bucky and Natasha chuckle.

“I’m sorry, Steve. I took my boyfriend away from you.” Natasha teases Steve who just shakes his head, bringing the Oreos to Wanda.

Bucky reaches for his phone in his pocket, checking his notifications. He realizes he has put his phone on silent, doesn’t want to be interrupted during his dinner date with his girl. He sees Steve’s name on his phone and he feels sorry for making his friend worried about him for a while. But when he sees your name, he stops.

Natasha notices the changes in her partner, with a soft voice she asks him, afraid Bucky is having an episode. “Hey, baby. Is everything alright?”

“y/n called me?” he says, eyes not leaving the phone screen.

“Yes, she did when you were going to the bathroom. I’m sorry I didn’t tell-”

“Why? Why you didn’t tell me? What did she say?” Bucky panics but mostly frustrated.

He sees the time when you called him. A quarter past seven. He can’t help but to think how disappointed you must be knowing he couldn’t make it to the concert with you. Disappointed because he breaks the promise.

“She said everything is fine and that’s it. I thought it wasn’t important.” Natasha explains, trying to calm Bucky down.

“Shit. I need to see her. Now.”

Without waiting for any comment, Bucky leaves the compound, driving his way to your house. Natasha and the other members just stare at the door, too shocked with Bucky’s sudden outburst. Steve comes to comfort her.

“It is not your fault, Nat. It just… they are having some issues. Bucky has been trying to fix it but y/n seems to push him away. It makes him more frustrated.”

On the way to your place, Bucky’s mind full with the image of you being sad and crying. Probably like the other night. Fuck, he hates it. Why fate is doing this to him? Is this the price he has to pay for what he has done in the past? He can’t have anything good and pure. The world makes sure of it.

A loud knock makes you jump in your sit, with a confused look, you walk to the door. Your cat comes purring at your feet. You look down at the adorable creature.

“It is okay. We are okay.”

You slowly open the door, afraid that the noise coming from your house has interrupted one of your neighbours. But you gasp when you see the only person you least expected.

“Bucky?”

“Doll?” he steps inside, rushing into you, holding your arms.

His hold is too tight, you hiss in pain. You can feel like he is not wanting to let you go, like if he let go of you, you will disappear. Completely.

“Buck” you whimper his name.

He feels glad to hear you call him with that name again. It might kill him if he hears you call him James but as he looks at you, he realized the pressure he puts on you.

“Sorry, sweetheart. Ar-are you okay?” he finally let go of you but his eyes still not leaving your body. Checking you, from head to toe.

“Why are you here, Bucky?” you keep your hands to yourself, crossing them across your chest.

“I want to say sor-”

“Hey, y/n. Is everything okay?”

Bucky looks up to the source of the voice. A man’s voice. He gets furious when he sees a man, a half naked man standing in front of your bedroom door.

“Who the hell are you?” Bucky asks, his tone is not as sweet nor friendly as you used to hear coming from him.

“That’s Dan. He is my friend.”

“Just friend? Why he is shirtless? In your room?”

You roll your eyes, knowing where this conversation will go by the look in Bucky’s eyes.

“Go home Bucky. Natasha is going to be worried about you.” You push him towards your door. You can’t deal with him. Not right now.

“You didn’t answer my question, y/n.” Bucky growls, anger in his eyes.

“You have no rights to know that Bucky. I’m not your girlfriend. So, fuck off!” you slam the door in his face.

You are not going to let him ruin tonight. You are doing just fine without him. Why he has to come here and ruin everything? Why Bucky? Why? This is not how you plan your night to be.

You feel a hand around your shoulder, “Hey, y/n. It is okay.” Dan soothes you, bringing you closer to his body.

“I’m sorry” you say. Your voice is low. “For everything. For giving me free ticket. For staying by my side for a solid an hour and half, For driving me all the way here. For spilling hot tea on you. For ruining your shirt. For making you witness and involve in the stupid drama. For comfortin-” you ramble, tears are almost coming down.

“Hey, it is okay. I’m doing all that because I want to. Don’t apologize. It’s okay. I’m here.” Dan continues to comfort you, rubbing small circles on your back.

“Thanks, Dan.” You say as you close your eyes, a single tear comes down on your cheek.

Part 6

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