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andrewmoocow · 4 years ago

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Steven Universe Alternate Future chapter 16: Enemy of my Enemy (originally published on May 3, 2021)

AN: At long last, Black Rutile strikes! I have been anticipating writing this inevitable confrontation between her and the Crystal Gems for ages, and now finally everything I've building up to these past two parts will come together in a neat little package! We got a big battle, a villain song, fusions, who could ask for more?! But I'm getting ahead of myself, let us finally begin.

Synopsis: Jasper is unofficially sworn into the Crystal Gems when some old foes come together.

Cast:

Zach Callison as Steven

Estelle as Garnet

Michaela Dietz as Amethyst

Deedee Magno-Hall as Pearl

Noël Wells as Black Rutile

Lauren Ash as White Topaz

Grace Rolek as Connie

Jennifer Paz as Lapis, Zuli, Mean Lapis

Shelby Rabara as Peridot, Squaridot

Uzo Aduba as Bismuth

Matthew Moy as Lars, Dante

Kathleen Fisher as Fluorite

Enuka Okuma as Rhodonite

Ashly Burch as Rutile Twins

Erica Luttrell as Padparadscha Sapphire

Christine Baranski as Hessonite

Della Saba as Aquamarine

Charlyne Yi as Eyeball

Larissa Gallagher as Bluebird Azurite

Jinkx Monsoon as Emerald

Melissa Fahn as Demantoid

Kari Wahlgren as Pyrope

Kimberly Brooks as Jasper, Biggs Jasper

Aparna Nancherla as Nephrite

Michelle Maryk as Larimar

Ian Jones-Quartey as Snowflake Obsidian

Amy Sedaris as Teal Zircon

Martha Higerada as Topaz

Dee Bradley Baker as Lion, George, Elaine, Cosma

AJ Michalka as Stevonnie

Nancy Linari as Martha

Featuring Catherine Tate as Lepidolite

Alan Oppenheimer as Professor Poindexter

And Burt Ward as Mangolin

It has been a hectic past few hours for Steven. He was having another nice day when suddenly, Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors all came flying out of Lion's mane, telling him that Lars needs to see him just as the Destiny Destroyer crash-landed on the beach.

Not too long after, Lars was rushed to the hospital and Steven decided to follow him in the ambulance. Steven had never been to a hospital before, so it was a little frightening for him to be somewhere on Earth that he had never been before, especially since many humans go there regularly.

"Hello, did you admit any patients into this place recently?" Steven hurriedly asked the receptionist.

"Name please." the college-aged receptionist answered, barely glancing up from her phone to meet Steven's panicking eyes.

"Steven Universe!" Steven gave his name.

"You're going to have to be more specific Mr. Universe." the receptionist stated.

"He's got pink skin, a scar over one eye and his hair is a portal to a pocket dimension where there's like a couple of trees inside." Steven explained. The woman just stared at Steven in confusion for a bit before going back to her phone. "Anything the matter, miss?"

"I'm happy you said all of that with a straight face." the receptionist said, putting down her phone to go on the computer. "One sec Universe." She looked up the most recent patients on the monitor and turned it to show Steven his desired patient. "Are you looking for Mr. Laramie Barriga?"

"Yes, that's him!" Steven exclaimed. "I was there when he got taken away in that ambulance! Where is he now?"

"Room 723." the receptionist answered. "Take the elevator, make a left and then a right. Got that?"

Before the woman could turn back, Steven had already vanished to find Lars. "Kids." she grumbled.

As Steven raced through the hospital in search of his undead friend, numerous unfamiliar sights greeted him. A doctor's office contained a child receiving a flu shot, a man in a wheelchair let Steven pass him by, a woman was on her way to an operating room, and a doctor solemnly fixed an empty hospital bed while a family was mourning.

Finally, Steven reached Room 723 just as a nurse was passing by the room. "Hello, I'm a friend of the patient occupying this room, and the Off-Colors told me what happened. Can I please come in and visit him?"

"You may." The nurse replied and opened the door for Steven. "Doctor Laurie, our patient has one more visitor." She said to the doctor standing by a bedridden Lars along with his parents, Sadie and Shep. "He said a bunch of "Off-Colors" told him everything."

"I'm here Lars!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed into the hospital room to be by Lars's side. "Hessonite and the Off-Colors told me what happened after they came flying out of Lion's mane!"

"Steven, finally!" Lars cried happily as he grabbed Steven's shoulders. "Listen, I need to warn you! You and the entire planet are doomed!"

A little while later, Lars was given a clean bill of health and was allowed to go home by ambulance. He sat on one side of the ambulance with his parents while Steven sat on the other end, and Lars continued to reveal what happened on Homeworld.

"What I'm trying to say Steven is that there's this Gem who's been inspiring others to rebel against you and Era 3!" Lars explained. "She's gathered up tons of your old enemies so they can get revenge too, and they're coming for Earth!"

"Lars, I understand your concern," Steven calmly stated. "but you're getting a little wound up over nothing. Almost everyone loves what I've done to the Gem race. There's nothing bigger going on, outside of Aquamarine being annoying."

"Seriously, you don't believe me?" Lars flatly asked in disbelief. "Well, do you at least believe what Hessonite said?"

"I believe that you teamed up for a fun space adventure!" Steven answered before his phone started ringing. "Whoops, got a call from Garnet." he said before answering the call. "Hello?"

"Steven, you need to come to Little Homeworld quick!" Garnet urged Steven from the other end. "Rogue Gems are on the attack, and they want us dead! Me, Amethyst, Pearl, Lapis, Peridot and Bismuth have already helped evacuate everyone, but we still need you to save the day again!"

"I'll be right there!" Steven bravely declared before hanging up and turning to the driver. "Sir, I need you to take us to Little Homeworld!"

"It's an emergency!" Lars added while showing him a picture of the Gem village.

"I don't see why not." the driver replied as he made a detour to Little Homeworld.

"You sure about this Lars?" Dante asked his son. "I mean, you just survived falling from space, I don't think we can handle you risking your life again so soon!"

"I promise you guys, I'll be back home when this is all over and I'm back in space." Lars assured his parents and hugged them.

"Be safe Laramie." Nancy said. "But then again, you got Steven to help out."

"Yeah, he's got me alright." Steven assured Mr. and Mrs. Barriga.

"Okay kid, we're here." the ambulance driver declared as the vehicle came close to Little Homeworld. "This is probably the first time I've escorted someone to stop an alien invasion."

"Here's good, thanks, sir." Steven said before the two boys bust the ambulance doors open and raced off to Little Homeworld.

What the pair discovered when they finally reached Little Homeworld was utter chaos. Almost everything was in ruins, smoke billowed everywhere, Light Warriors, Cluster Gems & Cactus Stevens were pillaging & demolishing, and at the center of it all was Aquamarine and Eyeball.

"Steven Universe, what a most pleasant surprise." Aquamarine purred as she turned to face Steven and Lars, batting her wand in her hand. "And look you've even brought Lars as well."

"Aquamarine, Eyeball." Steven laughed nervously while looking at the chaos behind the pair. "Did you, uh, maybe come to reconsider?"

"Reconsider, my facet!" Eyeball yelled before her fusion partner stopped her.

"But we did come with a few new friends." Aquamarine answered smugly.

"Well, that's certainly a start." Steven grinned before a massive hand made of water grabbed him and its creator brought him up to face her. "Hey, you're one of those Lapises! What brings you to Earth?"

"Sorry kid, I'm one of those new friends." Lapis 1J9G announced before dropping Steven to the ground and folding her arms as she landed right next to Aquamarine. "And we're afraid not even half-listening to you will work this time."

"See Steven, this is what I was trying to talk to you about!" Lars exclaimed, gesturing wildly to the three Gems. "A bunch of Gems want to get back at you! Though I thought there'd be more."

"I believe he's referring to me." Emerald bragged as she stepped forward with a panicking George in her hand.

"George!" Steven shouted. "And you, I know you! You're uh," He began getting off track as he only ever saw Emerald through a video screen. "Sorry, I've only met you that one time and now I've kinda forgotten-"

"IT'S EMERALD!" Emerald shrieked furiously. "How could you forget about me after Era 3 made the Diamonds let Lars off with a slap on the wrist for stealing my Sun Incinerator?!"

"Oh, calm yourself Emerald." Pyrope calmed the elite Gem down as she held aloft one of George's sisters, who was in full panic mode and pulling on her pigtails.

"Indeed," Demantoid added, also holding one of George's sisters in her enhanced arm. "You wouldn't want to make yourself less presentable for our victims."

Just then, the six Gems moved aside and kneeled to their leader, whose very appearance completely rocked Steven's world. Black Rutile walked towards Steven with a bowie knife to a rose while White Topaz followed her. When she cut the rose's head, Black Rutile finally faced Steven with an evil smile.

"I know you, you're that reporter!" Steven exclaimed. "Why are you hanging with these guys?!"

"I'm hanging with them?" Black Rutile scoffed at Steven. "I believe you're mistaken; THEY'RE hanging with ME!" She then threw away the rose's stem and steepled her fingers together. "Anyways, do you have any last words?"

"This is not good at all certainly fits." Steven declared nervously before the eight Gems slowly began marching towards the boy, eager to finally get their revenge.

However, their plans were quickly cut off before they could be put into action as Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl swooped into saved Steven and Lars from the rogue Gems.

"We trusted you, you psycho!" Pearl roared while her spear clashed with Black Rutile's knife.

"And everyone was dumb enough to trust you." Black Rutile replied snarkily. "So as you humans say, hello pot, meet kettle."

"Seriously, what makes you think we're worse than you are?" Amethyst asked.

"Something about how your ways will make the Gem race a bunch of puny hippies or whatever." White Topaz answered. "No hard feelings when we destroy you and everything you worked so hard for?"

"What did I tell you about getting friendly with the enemy?" Black Rutile hissed at her Topaz bodyguard before turning back to the Crystal Gems. "Now, let me repeat myself. Any last words?"

"My future vision tells me you will fail." Garnet declared defiantly. "And we will find a way to make that future happen."

"Such noble sentiments from a couple of Gems who are gonna die!" Black Rutile replied as her knife turned into a sword that she prepared to slash the Gems with until a loud rumbling sound was heard. "What was that?"

"Need a hand?" Peridot asked as she, Lapis, and Bismuth appeared on a makeshift flying machine made out of scrap metal that she controlled with her ferrokinesis.

"So that's where you ran off to!" Pearl exclaimed while Bismuth picked her up by the hand to toss onto the metal pad.

"No time to talk, we have to move!" Lapis exclaimed, picking everyone else up with her water powers. When everyone was on board, the pad zoomed off.

"Uh, why aren't we stopping them?!" Lapis 1J9G exclaimed before preparing to fly off when Black Rutile stopped her.

"Let them run." Black Rutile smiled deviously. "I want to see how they can lie their ways out of this situation. But in the meantime, I have another idea."

Before the Crystal Gems knew it, they finally returned to the beach house where Hessonite, Squaridot, and the Off-Colors awaited their return.

"I still can't believe it!" Steven gasped in denial of their current situation. "I get that not everyone would like what I've done with Homeworld, but I don't think I'd make them angry enough to want to kill me!"

"I tried to warn you, Steven." Lars declared sassily. "But you just didn't listen! Probably because you're so in denial of wanting to accept that not everything will go your way."

"Lars, this is no time for backtalk, Earth could be in danger!" Pearl scolded the pink-skinned human as the group walked into the house to think of a plan. "That Rutile seems to have thought of everything! I mean, she's a Rutile for crying out loud, they barely held any power in Homeworld!" However, Pearl then turned to the Rutile twins standing right next to her. "Uh, no offense you two."

"None taken." The twins replied.

"Still, she's got quite an army at her side." Lapis said. "She's got one of those Lapises I fought on Aozul 2, she's got Aquamarine, Eyeball, Pyrope & Demantoid, an Emerald, and that's not even accounting for the minions they got!"

"But what does Black Rutile want with us?" Peridot and Squaridot asked in unknowing unison.

"According to her Topaz, it must be something to do with that Steven did to the Gem race." Bismuth analyzed. "But who knows what she'll do next?"

"I know." Garnet declared. "I've looked through dozens of possible timelines trying to uncover Black Rutile's true plans. This is what I feel could be the worst possible one."

"What does it look like?" Steven asked before Garnet kissed him on the head, temporarily bestowing Steven with her future vision and a glimpse at what could be to come.

It took centuries of careful planning but at long last, Black Rutile had finally won. Once the Crystal Gems were finally destroyed and she indoctrinated the Gems they had enslaved to her noble cause, she then reawakened the Cluster that was slumbering within the Earth's crust, ultimately finishing what the Diamonds were too cowardly to do and destroying that annoying little planet once and for all.

Within mere weeks, the Diamonds met their demise, and Black Rutile installed herself as the new ruler of all Gemkind. And with the beginnings of her dictatorship came the Gems reverting to their old ways during Era 4. The caste system was reinstated but also reinvented at the same time. Now, it was Black Rutile above everyone else.

As countless Gems were tormented into building a grand statue to their magnanimous leader, a lone Pearl solemnly marched through the throngs of enslaved Gems under the orders of Emerald, until she was brought before Black Rutile, who was sitting on a throne as black as her body & her heart while the shattered remains of all who opposed her hanged above her in one big bubble.

"My Rutile, I come with the most glorious of tidings." Emerald decreed as she shoved Volleyball forward. "We have succeeded in terminating the resistance, but I feel you'd find particular interest in shattering their leader yourself."

"Ah yes, Pink Diamond's little Pearl." Black Rutile snickered as she descended from her throne to meet Volleyball. "Who would've guessed a submissive little slave would try to start a revolution? Well, anything to say?"

Volleyball, however, was too terrified to speak, having just witnessed her fellow rebels being shattered before her eye and now faced with the thought of being destroyed herself.

"What's that? No grand speech about how hope will live on or that there will be others like you that will rise against me?" Black Rutile asked rhetorically. "Oh please, I've destroyed every last threat to my power on both this planet and the Asteroid Field Formerly Known as Earth." She declared, gesturing towards the shard-filled bubble floating over her throne. "What's another pile of shards to add to the collection?"

With that, Black Rutile extracted her bowie knife from her gem and used it to jab Volleyball in hers, ending her life within mere seconds.

"So ends the legacy of Pink Diamond." Black Rutile purred as she collected the Pearl's shards in a bubble. "A real shame. She had so much potential and wasted it on being a total brat and threatening her own kind."

She then returned to her throne, where she lifted the bubble towards the bigger bubble, and the two merged. Now Volleyball's remains joined the tons of Gems that Black Rutile had heartlessly shattered. Ruby, Sapphire, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Hessonite, Citrine, Spinel, the Diamonds, all nothing more than shards. But her proudest achievement was the small gathering of pink dust that was once Steven Universe.

Returning to the present day, Steven was left utterly aghast at this possible future, but it made his resolve to stop Black Rutile even stronger. "We have to keep this future from happening!" he declared. "All we need to do is gather up an army of our own!"

"I'll call Connie and see if she's free to save the world again today." Pearl stated as she picked up her phone and started dialing.

"Which Gems do you want me to recruit out of everyone we evacuated?" Garnet asked.

"I don't know, just pick anyone!" Steven exclaimed.

"That's the Steven we know and love!" Amethyst replied, cheerfully giving Steven a noogie when she came to a realization. "Hey wait, if Black Rutile is gathering up Gems that have a beef with us, then what would you think if she tried recruiting Jasper?"

"Y'know, Jasper did say she was eager to fight again." Steven agreed with the little Quartz. "Maybe we should try and get to her first."

"I'm not sure Steven." Pearl said as she got off the phone with Connie. "Besides, I don't think Jasper would ever want to side with us."

"Black Rutile has gathered as much information as possible on all of us, and Jasper has likely been given the same treatment." Squaridot stated. "So it's just as likely that she'll try and ensnare Jasper to her side."

"We have to get to Jasper before Black Rutile does!" Steven hurriedly declared before turning to the Warp Pad behind him. "Gotta go, I'll be back soon!"

As Steven left for the forest via Warp Pad, the other Gems just gazed at the pad where he once stood.

"Good luck Steven." Pearl muttered before turning to Lion. "Go fetch Connie, okay?"

Lion nodded obediently and let out a roar, creating a portal that he leaped through to get to Connie.

Meanwhile, deep within the woods of Beach City, Jasper had been watching all that was going on in Little Homeworld from on top of her cave. As she watched smoke billow from afar, she couldn't help but feel that Steven brought this upon himself for enforcing peace for all Gems.

"He could've just ended colonization and leave it at that, but no!" Jasper muttered to herself while leaping down to the entrance of her cave. "He had to make them all into peace-loving weaklings!"

"Couldn't agree more." Jasper heard a familiar voice concur with her opinion. When the orange Gem turned around, she discovered Black Rutile leaning on a nearby tree with Aquamarine standing on a branch above her. "Jasper, correct? I don't think we got properly introduced to each other."

"If you're here for another interview, then forget it!" Jasper bellowed at Black Rutile before bringing her attention to Aquamarine. "And I see you got that little brat with you too."

"You are indeed correct Jasper." Aquamarine declared. "In fact, I'm not the only one who she recruited because of how dissatisfied I am with Era 3. Many Gems have been rallied by my master here to rebel against Steven's oppression and create a utopia."

"Are you sure about that?" Jasper asked with an eyebrow raised. "Sounds to me like you're starting some kind of cult?"

"A cult?! Stuff and nonsense!" Black Rutile assured the quartz. "We are simply fighting for our rights! Would you like to join us?"

"Jasper, don't!" Steven exclaimed as he rushed to the cave, where he saw Jasper standing with Black Rutile. "Please, you have to listen, Black Rutile is not to be trusted!"

"Don't you dare listen to him!" Black Rutile insisted. "He's the son of Pink Diamond, and it's both their faults you went from mighty Gem warrior to a lonely shell of your former self! Don't you see, you could finally get your revenge on Pink!"

"Revenge on my Diamond?" Jasper growled. "Fat chance! Why would I ally with some low-ranking Rutile just because she hates Pink like almost every Gem on this planet?! I'd rather be a peace-loving weakling than one of your lackeys!"

"Low-ranking?!" Black Rutile argued. "I'll have you know Jasper, I was one of a kind among Gems of my type because I worked my hardest to receive White Diamond's highest honors and join the upper-class of her court! You're just a mere Jasper who probably didn't even know Pink in person for the selfish, bratty sociopath she w-"

Before the Rutile could finish, Jasper summoned her crash helmet and sent her flying out of the forest with a single headbutt. "I'LL GET YOU FOR THIS, YOU ROTTEN QUARTZ!" Black Rutile cursed Jasper. "YOU JANKING CLOD!"

As Aquamarine chased after the flying Rutile, Jasper turned to Steven with a grumpy look in her eyes. In contrast, the starry-eyed Steven squealed excitedly while staring at Jasper. "Quit looking at me like that." Jasper snarled. "Let me guess, you want to recruit me too?"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Steven declared eagerly.

"Yes indeed, my Ministry of Maliciousness shall soon destroy the United Defenders of the World and conquer the world at last!" a weirdly animated mad scientist with three circles arranged in a triangle decorating his bald head declared as he gestured to his fellow supervillains. Amethyst was watching this happen on television with some of the other Gems in Steven's room.

"Apex Predator!" A muscular man decorated in animal skins fired his highly advanced hunting rifle at nothing in particular.

"Electric Ellen!" A young woman in a black suit with lightning bolt patterns demonstrated her powers for the other villains.

"Automato!" A bronze robot with green optics simply stood by his seat at the table of criminals, his soulless eyes unblinking.

"Scare Master!" A large man in a monster costume that continuously leaked hallucinogenic gas and wearing a yellow ring let out a ghoulish laugh.

"The Unidentified Felonious Extraterrestial!" A cybernetic insectoid alien made a shrieking noise, exposing the smaller head in its mouth.

"And of course, your illustrious leader!" the scientist introduced himself. "The world's greatest criminal mind, Professor Poindexter, Ph.D.!"

"Uh, why are we watching this show?" Zuli asked Amethyst while she sat next to Lapis.

"This is what our current sitch reminds me of!" Amethyst explained. "Mangolin's archenemy Professor Poindexter gathers up each of the United Defenders of the Globe's enemies to form, like, a team of supervillains!"

"Why is the animation so lazy?" Peridot wondered as she leaned on Biggs Jasper.

"It was the 70s, limited budget." Amethyst said. "Ooh wait, here comes Mangolin!"

The cartoon then changed scenes from the Ministry of Maliciousness to the United Defenders of the World, which included Mangolin, Uber-Chap, Battle Goddess, Pyro-Nado, Shamrock Cavalier, Gizmo-Chick, and Vincent the Visitor.

"Termite terrors, Defenders!" the pangolin-themed hero Mangolin exclaimed. "Our foe Professor Poindexter has assembled our enemies to destroy us once and for all! We must do something!"

"They just explained that to us!" Nephrite said. "What, do they think the viewers are stupid or something?"

Just then, the group of Gems heard the Warp Pad go off, signaling that Steven has finally returned.

"Hey, Steven's back!" Teal Zircon exclaimed before racing down the stairs to see her half-human friend again, and this time she was in for a surprise. "Hey Jasper, remember me? Your new best friend?"

"I regret this decision already." Jasper cringed at having to ally with Teal as the other Gems came back downstairs. "Oh look, a whole menagerie of useless clods! Why even bring them all together when I can just take Black Rutile's forces on myself?"

"Jasper, no need to brag about your strength." Lapis said to the more muscular Gem. "This is serious, the whole planet is at stake here!"

"And I should care because?" Jasper snarled in disagreement.

"Um, this is your Diamond's planet?" an exasperated Pearl replied. "Surely you wouldn't want anyone to touch what Pink owned, right?"

"I suggest you don't talk that way to a Gem like her." Rhodonite said to Pearl. "She looks like she could go wild on us at any moment."

"Just calm down everyone." Fluorite advised calmly. "I know we're all stressed because of our current situation, but let's not start arguing."

"And who are all of these?" Jasper asked as she gestured to the Off-Colors, Hessonite & Squaridot, Zuli, Snowflake Obsidian, Little Larimar, Nephrite, Topaz, and Biggs Jasper. "I suppose they're all from that stupid school of yours?"

"Well, most of them are." Steven pointed out. "And maybe when this is all over, you could finally give Little Homeschool a chan-"

"Pass." Jasper coldly declared. "Shouldn't we be getting ready to fight right now?"

"Jasper's right." Bismuth agreed. "We're all in this together, for Earth."

And right on cue, Lion finally returned with Connie on his back, her sword at the ready. "How convenient that I finished most of my work in time for another chance at saving the world!" Connie stated as she dismounted from Lion and hugged Steven. "So, who are we fighting?"

"Come with us to Little Homeworld, I'll show you." Steven answered before he began to walk towards the Warp Pad. "Gems, let's get a move on."

And so, the Crystal Gems and all their assorted allies marched towards the Warp Pad, ready to take back Little Homeworld from Black Rutile's rebels and defend the planet once more. When Steven spread out his arms, off they all went in a beam of light.

"Ugh, I'm so bored!" Eyeball complained, pacing around while the rest of the alliance mindlessly caused more damage to Little Homeworld out of complete boredom. "I suppose they finally realized they were stupid to stop us and skipped Earth without telling?"

"Patience Ruby." Aquamarine advised her fusion partner. "They should be coming soon."

"What makes you so sure?" White Topaz asked Aquamarine as she revealed her weapon, a pair of brass knuckles.

"Steven came running for Jasper thinking she can join his side." The little blue Gem answered. "What an idiot, am I right?!"

Suddenly, Aquamarine was in for a scare as Little Homeworld's Warp Pad activated from right behind her, and on it were the Crystal Gems.

"Okay Black Rutile, we're here." Steven declared with Garnet, Amethyst, Pearl, Connie, Lion, Peridot, Lapis, Bismuth, Jasper, Hessonite, Squaridot, Lars, the Off-Colors, TZ, Zuli, Topaz, Snowflake, Larimar, Biggs, and Nephrite behind him. "All of us!"

"Oh, you finally showed up! Good timing." Black Rutile sarcastically applauded her foes. "And I see you got a little rag-tag bunch of over-eager losers by your side too."

"Hey 2F8D, so this is what you've been up to." 1J9G cattily greeted her ex-partner. "Being a pacifist baby and letting yourself be Steven's slave."

"I'm not a slave, neither to him or you!" Zuli yelled at 1J9G. "I came to Little Homeworld not just to learn how to appreciate Earth, but to learn how to make actual friends! Not be submissive to overly-controlling jerks!"

"I thought I could trust you Aquamarine!" Topaz went next. "I thought you changed by meeting that Ruby and fusing with her, but now I see you'll always be the same little monster you always are!"

"Oh stop Topaz, you're too kind!" Aquamarine said to her former Topaz.

"Crystal Gems, assemble!" Garnet bravely pointed forward to prepare for one last attack, but Steven stopped her.

"Wait!" Steven exclaimed. "Before we all get into one big fight, I want to know. Why do you hate me in particular? Outside of Era 3, I mean."

"You really want to know?" Black Rutile replied. "Well, allow me to put this in the only way you'll probably understand." She turned to White Topaz while fetching some kind of device from her gem. "Music please."

White Topaz turned the device on and music began to play, cuing Black Rutile to start a song. "When one era ends, another begins. It's such a big change for all us Gems." She sang. "But some aren't new fans of the old ways, and prefer to look back on the old days. But I on the other hand got a chance, to make this the Crystal Gems' last dance. And now I pray through endless days, to finally get rid of you."

"Is she singing?" Lars gasped at the musical number that just began as drum music kicked in. "Did she have a machine made for that purpose?"

"When I first emerged for my Diamond, White the master tactician!" Black Rutile began telling her origins through holograms on her visor, showing a just-emerged Rutile in a Kindergarten standing before White Diamond. "She revealed to me in secret signs, the markings of a great Gem! And she was indeed no clod, could reduce entire armies to sod! And all the fools that dared cross her, she'd just shrug and then shatter!"

"I studied well, got my tools of the trade, always got nothing but an A-grade!" After Black Rutile did away with the hologram showing her emergence, she started revealing the hard work she did to gain her high status among White Diamond's subjects. "But then he walked in and called himself Pinky, soon everyone got down to one knee." A stylized version of Steven's first arrival on Homeworld came next, and the stylized Black Rutile wasn't very pleased. "What never died was my ambition, and my keen intuition. Both of them gave me a complex, and made me want to rule the universe."

As the song went on, Steven began learning more about the consequences of his actions and how much Black Rutile truly despised him. "Every glimmer from your smile makes me want to puke!" his new foe complained. "Who to slay, who's the one, who's to doom? You know the only one would be my new archenemy, Steven U!"

With that, the chorus soon began with Black Rutile's minions joining in, sans White Topaz. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos!" the seven Gems sang in harmony. "Wither the rose! Only highs, no lows! In a world of chaos!"

"Is this the time for a song?" Connie asked. "Why don't we just attack them while they're singing?"

"Black Rutile is going to put on an admittedly wonderful song!" Padparadscha exclaimed.

"Ha!" Black Rutile laughed as the musical break reaches its end before turning to her Cluster Gems, cyborg Cactus Stevens and Light Warriors. "Come on minions, hurry along, this little school will soon be gone!" she commanded them before hugging herself in excitement. "I could squeeze myself with glee! Next the Diamonds and then this galaxy! I would really stop at nothing, shattering, treachery and lies! Whatever it takes to reign supreme, you really can't blame me for trying."

The tune soon began to reach its climax. "Wither the rose! Growing shadows! Sow a world of chaos! Wither the rose! Don't you doze!"

"We shall restore Homeworld's true order!" Aquamarine soon joined in.

"Vengeance will soon finally be ours!" Eyeball added sadistically.

"Saying sorry just won't cut it!" Emerald chorused.

"Dismantling the new superpowers!" Lapis 1J9G stated.

"Armies rampaging across the stars!" Demantoid declared.

"Covered in so many scars!" Pyrope boomed.

"Nothing but eternal war," Black Rutile concluded. "Join us as we make our own colony!"

"Genocide, slaughtering, jingoism, in enemy blood we shall wade!” The seven Gems announced. "Homeworld Gems come celebrate, as we make this bratty starlight fade!"

The song finally ended and the alliance of hatred took a bow before Black Rutile changed her knife into a broadsword with a massive blade and a tiny handle. "Now that we explained everything," she stated before pointing her sword forward. "CHARGE!"

The two sides finally clashed at Little Homeworld for the fate of Earth. Lapis & Zuli took to the skies against 1J9G, Pyrope & Demantoid led an unwilling Light Army, Emerald sped forth to personally confront Lars, and Black Rutile, White Topaz, Aquamarine & Eyeball personally confronted Steven, Garnet, Amethyst & Pearl.

"Fire!" Demantoid commanded some Light Warriors bearing laser cannons to shoot at Teal Zircon & Nephrite, but Jasper and Topaz were there to shield her from the blasts. "You!"

"You saved me!" TZ exclaimed. "Guess you really do think of me as your best friend, dontcha Jasp?"

"No, I still find you one of the most annoying beings I've ever met." Jasper replied. "But still, better to side with someone as irritating as you."

"I thought we were all friends!" 1J9G exclaimed as she clashed her water with Lapis and Zuli's. "I only joined these guys just so I could get you back!"

"Why would we ever take you back?!" Lapis stated.

"When we ran into 3E8C after years, she showed me that she and Steven were the best of friends!" Zuli added. "Not an overly controlling jerk who refuses to let me have fun!"

"See what she means?!" 1J9G said. "He's brainwashed all of you!" The only response she got was a punch to the face from Zuli.

Down below, Lars and Connie sparred against Emerald. "Don't think Steven will be there to save you today!" Emerald taunted, snapping her fingers and revealing electric powers to fight with. "He'll just throw you away, just like how Pink always threw everything away!"

"Sheesh, sins of the mother much?" Lars dryly commented.

"Steven is nothing like that!" Connie argued. "If you knew him, you'd know he's the sweetest, most caring guy you could ever meet!"

"Oh blah blah blah, I get it, he's too pure for this universe and he must be protected at all costs!" Emerald said. "Black Rutile has shown me what he truly is like."

Finally, the Crystal Gems battled with Black Rutile and her three most loyal followers. Garnet went up against White Topaz, Amethyst vs Eyeball, Pearl vs Aquamarine, and finally Steven vs Black Rutile.

"Why are you doing this?!" Steven asked Black Rutile while in utter denial. "I brought peace to the galaxy, I ended the Diamonds' oppression!"

"And stripped all Gems of their livelihoods in the process." Black Rutile coldly replied as her sword clashed with Steven's shield. "Look around you kid, these Gems came to my side because they have no status, no allies, no power over others! And now, they come to Earth for retribution against you!"

"But this still isn't right!" Steven claimed. "I understand that some may not be comfortable with what I've done, but that doesn't excuse you for all this."

"Kinda like how you excused the Diamonds for all they did just because they were sad, or something stupid like that." Black Rutile insulted.

"That's because they were!" Steven exclaimed. "They were in mourning!"

"Mourning the so-called death of an annoying brat I had the displeasure of sharing a planet with!" Black Rutile yelled as she began fighting in a way that resembled capoeira and gymnastics. "This all could've been avoided if you just put your enemies out of their misery, or at least punished them, rather than just excusing them with a stupid song and acting like everything was just water under the bridge!"

"You're thinking of retributive justice, where the offender did something wrong and the punishment is just as severe in exchange." Steven replied. "We Crystal Gems practice restorative justice, where we actually talk to the offenders and try to see how we can help them without using lethal force."

"Well, whatever you're talking about, you can call me a proud supporter of retributive justice." Black Rutile declared herself. "As in, me and my pals are seeking retribution against you and your posse for what you did to our society, and will do so by any means necessary. Because you think everything can just bend to your will if you just make everyone around you cry?! You really are no better than Pink!"

"Well, I'm trying to be better than my mom, both Pink Diamond, and Rose Quartz." Steven responded, blocking another attack from Black Rutile. "But I'm pretty sure they'd both find a sociopath like you beyond saving."

"Me, a sociopath?! You barely even know me!" Black Rutile yelled before bunting Steven's shield away when he tried to throw it. "Well, you're certainly right on me being a bit selfish, but look at you. I mean, you've made excuses for murderers, bigots, and toxic friends, yet anyone who's just doing what they're made to do is instantly made a pariah just because they don't like you and your dumb little sidekicks!"

Behind Black Rutile's back, however, her alliance was slowly beginning to fall apart, yet she didn't seem to care. Hessonite, Peridot, Biggs, and Squaridot hid behind a wall to avoid the Light Warriors' attacks.

"Got a plan, you guys?" Biggs asked the other three Gems.

"I have." Hessonite replied. "The Peridots shall distract them by taking control of Demantoid's limb enhancers while I swoop in and steal back the Light Prisms! Then perhaps we can turn the Light Army on them."

"I'll see what I can do." Peridot stated, but then Squaridot put a green hand on her shoulder.

"No, allow me." Squaridot stated before using her ferrokinetic powers to meddle with Demantoid's limb enhancers.

"No no, not again!" Demantoid yelled as she was dumped out of her mech, and the Light Prism she was holding hostage fell out with her only to be caught by Hessonite at rapid speed. "My Prism!"

"Demantoid you child, you could've just fought back instead of letting yourself get defeated!" Pyrope said, unaware that her Prism was stolen as well. "Wait, what?"

As Hessonite returned to Peridot and Squaridot with the Light Prisms in hand, the Light Warriors dropped their current activities and began to surround the three Gems peacefully. "Now that you know who's really in charge here," Hessonite bragged before she pointed at her fellow Garnets. "FIRE!"

"No, it can't be!" Pyrope squealed in utter defeat as the Light Warriors pointed their weapons at her and Demantoid.

"Hold me close Pyrope!" Demantoid added while hugging Pyrope in fear before the Light Warriors charged, attacking the pair and poofing them once and for all.

As for Emerald, she was now getting ganged up on by Lars, Connie, and the Off-Colors, who all took turns using Connie's sword against her. "You're all just humans and Off-Color Gems!" Emerald screamed as she desperately tried to fight back. "What makes you think you all can stop me?!"

"'Cause we're all more walk than talk!" Lars declared, once again using his musti-yuddha skills to knock Emerald to the ground. "Connie, care to do the honors?"

"With pleasure!" Connie replied, hopping up on Fluorite's head and jumping high into the air before zooming down with her sword pointed directly at Emerald.

"I hate you all." Emerald snarled bitterly before Connie poofed her, ending the threat she possessed to Lars and the Off-Colors.

High up in the air, the battle of the Lapides raged on with 1J9G using vapor from the clouds as makeshift weapons against her former friends.

"We could've stayed together if 3E8C hadn't been dropped on Earth like an idiot!" 1J9G yelled. "I just wanted us to stay friends!"

"Well, if you want to keep your friends," 3E8C stated, forming a massive water hand from a nearby cloud. "then you should act like a friend." The hand grabbed 1J9G and tossed her to the ground, creating a massive crater that caused a building to start falling over, and one piece of sharp rubble was aimed straight at 1J9G's gem.

"So this is it, huh?" 1J9G monologued to herself as death was mere moments away. "I feel like this is karma for being a horrible friend like they keep calling me. In that case, I'm sorry. Maybe somewhere else, we could've stayed together."

As 1J9G accepted her demise, the rubble was punched out of the way by a massive silhouette in the dust, and it settled to reveal Jasper as her savior.

"Get up you!" Jasper roared at the Lapis.

"But, we're on different sides!" 1J9G exclaimed. "Why did you save me?"

"It's what a certain someone would've done, but he's too busy at the moment." Jasper replied. "Plus, I know what it's like to be alone too."

"Oh look, that Jasper is becoming just like you!" Black Rutile yelled as she watched her alliance break up. "But then again, they set themselves up for this the moment I recruited them all, so what are you gonna do?"

"But still, we're fighting a losing battle!" White Topaz advised her Rutile. "What do we do now?"

"I think I know." Black Rutile smirked before snapping her fingers at one of her surviving allies. "Aquamarine, grab the boy and take him to the nearest mountain!"

"I thought you'd never ask!" Aquamarine purred before she grabbed Steven with her wand and began flying off, with Eyeball also in tow, and Black Rutile & White Topaz on a mini-hovercraft. "Oh, where will you be without your precious little abomination?!"

"Steven!" the Crystal Gems all yelled.

"Topaz, subdue the Lapises!" Black Rutile then commanded White Topaz, who gave a shaky nod before leaping up and grabbing Lapis & Zuli, followed by pinning them to the ground.

"Don't worry guys, I got this!" Connie said before mounting on Lion and riding off after Aquamarine.

"The only one who should defeat him is me." Jasper said as Connie fled, right before following the human. "Wait up girl!"

At the mountain, Steven was dropped by Aquamarine at the highest cliff, where Black Rutile stood by with a boulder next to her and White Topaz.

"What do you want now Black Rutile?" Steven asked as he got up to face the evil Rutile.

"Simple, toss you over the edge and throw a boulder to crush you to death, since you can fly apparently." Black Rutile declared. "I've been waiting for ages to destroy Pink Diamond, and you, my little friend, are just the thing to satisfy my vendetta."

"But why do you hate Pink so much?" Steven exclaimed. "Let me guess, she treated you like trash just like almost every other Gem I've faced?"

"No, she didn't treat me like trash!" Black Rutile answered. "She treated everyone around her like trash, yet the Diamonds almost always let her get away with everything! And here you are forcing Gems against their will to change their very way of living! Hey, at least you didn't fake your death to recklessly endanger the lives of others, because I'm going to endanger yours!"

Black Rutile then picked up Steven by his shirt collar and walked to the edge of the cliff, where she dangled him over such dangerously high heights. "You know what's ironic?" she smiled cheerfully before it turned to a hateful scowl. "You're able to get humans and Gems to get along, yet you're neither of them yourself."

With that, Black Rutile released her grip on Steven's shirt and he began falling from the cliff, followed shortly by White Topaz tossing a boulder that fell right above him. "NO HARD FEELINGS!" she yelled.

"So this is how I'll die, falling to my death off a cliff while a boulder is going to crush me." Steven realized as he fell to his doom. "Maybe Black Rutile's right. Maybe this is punishment for only thinking of myself all the time, and never taking others' feelings into account. Punishment for letting all these enemies run free instead of punishing them. Punishment for being an awful person in general."

However, just as Steven shut his eyes, accepted his demise, and did not even use any of his powers to escape, a voice cried out to him. "STEVEN!"

"Connie?" Steven exclaimed as she warped in via Lion's portal and reach out to him. "Don't worry, I'm with you till the end of the line! Just grab my hand!"

Steven gave a big smile, realizing that even with all his faults there were still people looking out for him, and took Connie's hand, causing the two to merge into a mass of light.

"Well, that should take care of him." Black Rutile declared, dusting off her hands and beginning to walk away. "Come along you three, let's go reawaken the Cluster and wipe this planet off the face of this universe for good."

"Uh, my Rutile?" White Topaz said while she, Aquamarine, and Eyeball gazed over the edge of the cliff to discover a pink light rapidly approaching them. "I think Steven is….not dead."

"Wait, seriously?!" Black Rutile yelled before Stevonnie leaped up the mountain and onto the cliff where the four enemy Gems stood. "You fused with a human?!"

"Bet you didn't see that coming!" Stevonnie declared as they swung their sword to try and poof Aquamarine, but she swiftly dodged and fused with Eyeball to form Bluebird Azurite.

"Of course I knew you can fuse with humans kid, it was in my data!" Black Rutile exclaimed before turning to White Topaz staring in amazement at the fusion. "Topaz, fuse with me!"

"Wait, we get to fuse too?!" White Topaz giddily exclaimed. "Eee, I can't wait, we've been practicing for so long!"

"Just shut up already." Black Rutile snarled before extending her hand. "Now, may I have this dance?"

"Gladly." White Topaz responded, taking her superior's hand before they began dancing the tango, their gems glowing as they danced until they formed into a giant light that resulted in a new, much larger fusion with four eyes & arms, spiky hair that went down to her back, a black-and-grey uniform and Black Rutile's white cape.

"BEHOLD FOOLISH LESSER BEINGS!" the new fusion bombastically declared. "THE GODLIKE SUPERIORITY OF THE MIGHTY LEPIDOLITE!"

"One fusion against two fusions." Stevonnie muttered. "Have to admit, those aren't very good odds."

"You bet." Jasper declared, zooming up the mountain to stand by Stevonnie's side and pounding her fists together. "For them!"

"You followed us?" Stevonnie asked Jasper.

"I don't like the Crystal Gems, but I hate them just as much." Jasper explained roughly. "Now come on, let's finish this!"

"Oh, a fair game, I see!" Lepidolite asked as she summoned two pairs of claws on each pair of her hands that extended from her knuckles while Bluebird summoned her ice cutlass. "Well, game on!"

Lepidolite clashed her claws with Stevonnie's sword while Jasper grabbed Bluebird in her massive hand and smashed her face into the rock face. However, despite Lepidolite being surprisingly evenly matched with Stevonnie, there was one thing they had that she lacked. Control over the fusion itself.

"So you can fuse with humans?!" White Topaz exclaimed cheerfully while Lepidolite slashed at Stevonnie before she switched to Black Rutile. "Did you even listen to Aquamarine's report, why are you acting like this is so new to you?!" Black Rutile yelled. "Why do you always have to be so dense?!"

"This is almost like Malachite." Stevonnie compared the abusive control Black Rutile had over White Topaz to the strained but peaceful relationship between Lapis and Jasper. "Listen, why can't you just work together?!"

"Because she's a completely moronic clod!" Black Rutile yelled through Lepidolite.

"Even if she treats me like trash, she's still my boss!" White Topaz added. "After all, isn't that what master/servant relationships are kinda like?"

"Master, don't!" Bluebird yelled as Jasper kept beating her up. "You're going to make them do some speech about the stupid power of friendship or something!"

"Well, you want us to work together?!" Lepidolite said, now no longer personified through Black Rutile and White Topaz's arguing. "Then work together we shall!"

Lepidolite then grabbed Stevonnie by their arms and once again threw them over the edge of the cliff before walking off to assist Bluebird. But just like when Steven was tossed over the cliff, things went horribly wrong for them.

Stevonnie reappeared in a massive gust of wind, now bathed in a pink glow and with a furious snarl replacing their confident grin. "Why won't you listen?!" they yelled, lunging at Lepidolite and striking their sword straight into her chest. "I'm not the real monster, YOU ARE!"

"No no no no no no!" Lepidolite screamed as Stevonnie's sword cut into her body and striking her straight in Black Rutile's gem, causing the two to ultimately defuse. As the pair of Gems were dropped to the ground, White Topaz laid on her back, utterly stupefied. Black Rutile on the other hand was terrified beyond all recognition, a far cry from the confident mastermind she normally is.

"W-w-who are you!?" Black Rutile shivered in fear of the pink Stevonnie, who now had a psychotic smile on their face. "WHAT ARE YOU?!"

"I'm-" Stevonnie began when they suddenly stopped and gazed at their hands. "I don't know." With that, Stevonnie finally un-fused back into Steven and Connie, just in time for the other Gems to arrive.

"Steven, Connie!" Garnet cried as she, Amethyst, Pearl, Peridot, Bismuth, Hessonite, Lars, Squaridot, and the Light Prisms were carried up the mountain by a massive water elevator created by the trio of Lapides. When they reached the cliff, Garnet, Amethyst, and Pearl all rushed to give the two kids a big hug. "What happened?"

"I don't know." Connie replied shakily. "First we fused into Stevonnie to fight Black Rutile, who fused with White Topaz to create this big fusion called Lepidolite, then after we were tossed over a cliff, Stevonnie turned pink and-"

"Wait, pink?" Pearl wondered. "It's just like all those other times Steven lost control! What could it be?"

"That's exactly what I'd like to know too!" the utterly defeated Black Rutile yelled. "What is that, a human thing?"

"Uh, no everyone! Everything's fine!" Steven began lying. "It's just a human thing, but I'm the only one who can do it!"

"Alright, keep your secrets brat." Black Rutile declared before she snapped her fingers again. Getting up from Jasper's beatdown, Bluebird picked up Black Rutile & White Topaz and carried them away. "Your little power fantasy will soon come to an end!" she declared. "And Gems, I'd keep an eye out on that monster if I were you! He could become a bigger threat to Earth than I am!"

As the three Gems got farther away, everybody turned to Steven with nervous looks on their faces.

"Steven, is there anything you need to tell us?" Connie asked her best friend.

"Uh, anyone wanna go out for pizzas?" Steven tried to change the subject, and everyone went silent in response.

"What is this pizza you speak of?" Hessonite piped up.

Later that day, reconstruction of Little Homeworld had quickly begun. With Peridot and Squaridot's help, the Cactus Stevens were now fully organic once more and helped in the repairs, alongside the Light creatures created by George and his sisters.

"Wow George, you, Elaine, and Cosma are one great team!" Steven said to George as they looked upon the Light Army's hard work. George turned to Steven with a confused look on his face. "Oh, I came up with those names for your sisters based on this TV show with a character also named George."

"Hey Steven, the pizzas are here!" Lapis called for Steven.

"Ooh, gotta go you guys!" Steven said before leaving George and his newly named sisters to work. "See you again soon!"

Steven returned to the Little Homeworld Warp Pad, where the Crystal Gems and the Off-Colors were setting up a little picnic with pizza boxes all around. "You see, this is what we need more of." Steven said. "Just us hanging out, no Gem monsters or evil Gems threatening and scarring our lives."

"Are you sure you're okay kid?" 1J9G asked Steven.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Steven replied. "Wait, what are you doing here? Weren't you on Black Rutile's side?"

"That Jasper saved my life because she knew what it was like to be alone, so I'm coming here as gratitude." 1J9G stated. "I came with Black Rutile as 1J9G, and I'll learn to become a better friend as Laz. You like the new name I got?"

"I love it!" Zuli exclaimed happily. "It's so wet!"

"Well, if you say so." Steven said awkwardly before he found Lars and Hessonite collecting the inactive gemstones of Emerald, Pyrope, Demantoid and all the Cluster Gems. "And what are you going to do with those?"

"We'll take the Cluster Gems back to Homeworld." Lars answered before pointing to Emerald and the Garnets. "As for these three, I'm not sure yet."

"They'll be safe with us." Garnet said, taking the three Gems out of the bubble. "And who knows? Maybe they'll become students of Little Homeschool."

"Speaking of which, Squaridot." Hessonite said to her Peridot sidekick. "You said that you were given the chance to come to Little Homeschool before you joined me? You think the offer still stands?"

"You know what?" Squaridot said. "I think I'm gonna stay here. Thank you Hessonite for everything." She then hugged the orange Garnet. "And tell Citrine I said hi if you find her."

As the group all sat down to their victory picnic, many eyes were still on Steven, who paid more attention to his slice of pie.

"Seriously, that boy just ain't right!" Jasper said as she prepared to leave.

"Yo Jasper, have a little more tact!" Amethyst scolded her fellow quartz while turning to Steven. "But what if Black Rutile is right? What if Steven becomes a threat to Earth?"

Steven still didn't pay any attention and kept on eating, but the Gems guessed that he might've been deliberately distracting himself. But why?

Elsewhere, Black Rutile had now touched down deeper in the forest, letting Bluebird Azurite drop her off in front of a cave. "Ah, this should make a good hideout."

"Why can't we just flee on your dropship?" White Topaz asked.

"I'm pretty sure it's been seized by now." Black Rutile said as she sat down on a rock formation, slouching and pressing her fingers together. "Tell me, my friends, what do you think is Steven's greatest weakness?"

"He can't fend for himself!" Aquamarine stated as she and Eyeball un-fused.

"He always has to get his nose in everyone's business." Eyeball remarked, rolling her eye with arms crossed.

"Uh, he's got boatloads of trauma that no one bothers to bring up?" White Topaz asked meekly.

"Correct Topaz, very good for once." Black Rutile congratulated her Topaz. "Now, as you see, he can't deal with his whole worldview changing, since learning there were so many Gems against him shattered everything he almost knew about his actions." She declared. "But what if we did the same, but we turn the humans against him?"

END OF PART 2: GRADUATION

TO BE CONTINUED IN PART 3: FRAGMENTED MIND

And that was Enemy of my Enemy and Part 2 in general! This was a really long one, filled with ideas that I've had in my head for ages! The whole group of past enemy Gems was inspired primarily by the Evil League of Mutants from Rise of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles, I imagined the bad future to be similar to Deliver Us from Prince of Egypt, and the justice debate was basically the Ship of Theseus scene from WandaVision. And that's not even getting into what I have planned for Part 3, but that's another time for another day. And if the subtitle is any indication, you all know what's coming.

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slurrmp · 5 years ago

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thirteen x reader the doctor finds out reader’s pregnant. reader isn’t sure what to do because she thinks she can’t be a mom

All three of them were lined up in a row, balancing precariously on the edge of the sink. Teeth sucked in your lower lip as you paced back and forth the length of the rather large room, hands clenched in front of your stomach, as you tried not to let yourself have a major break down. You didn’t know how exactly sound proof the TARDIS walls were, but you know you didn’t want to risk letting anyone know that you were having a moment. Two of the pregnancy test showed that small tiny plus sign. While the other spelled it out in pink lettering, mother fuc- They were now pointing out that there was now a tiny living person inside your stomach. Okay, well they don’t technically live inside the stomach, but that’s close enough. You had all just come back from helping Nikola Tesla save the world against giant scorpions, but you couldn’t help but feel like you had slowed the group down the entire time. The cold that you had caught the last time you had visited home had somehow gotten worse. Turning almost flu like, you weren’t exactly good at the running and the saving the world. Mostly you were just stuck in Tesla’s lab throwing up everything that was in your stomach.

Poor Tesla, he was a little put out by your sudden dismissive attitude towards everything that was happening but, bless him, he tried his best at comforting you, even as you were throwing up into his many rubbish bins.

Running a hand through your hair you paused in front of the sink again and stared down at the pregnancy tests. You couldn’t help but narrow your eyes at them. “Stupid things.” You mumbled to yourself before you swiped them off the sink and onto the floor. “Not even accurate…” You weren’t ready to be a mother and you certainly weren’t ready to give up this lifestyle, not when you had just found it. Staring at the mess on the floor, a low growl escaped you before you stormed out of your bathroom, made your way through your room and out into the endless feeling hallway.

You didn’t exactly want to go and join the others in the console room. You knew that they would be busy talking over what they had just been through, and they would start to question as to why you were suddenly in a foul mood and you definitely weren’t ready for small talk. So instead, you shoved your hands into the pockets of your tracksuit pants and just started wandering down the hall, letting your legs and the TARDIS herself, decide where you were going.

-x-

It wasn’t long until you found your way into the library. It was massive, just imagine the library from Beauty and The Beast and times it by twenty. There was always something about a library that calmed you down, maybe it was because you used to spend your days as a kid in the school library, reading during lunch when everyone else was out playing on the oval.

Then during your teenage years, the local library was where you went when home seemed a little too overstimulating.

Falling back onto the couch that you had claimed as your own when you all had first joined the Doctor, you stared up at the ceiling. Squinting slightly, you couldn’t help but place your hand against your stomach. There was no bump, no feeling of something living in there, it was just … well your stomach. But you knew, it was like all the emotions that you had been experiencing previously all suddenly came flooding back making a lot more sense.

You were pregnant.

“This is bullshit.” You mumbled to yourself. You hadn’t seen your boyfriend in the last … eight weeks. Scrunching up your face, you couldn’t help but groan. Loud and annoyed as you fell face first onto the couch. You had just broken up, he was complaining that he never saw you anymore, that you were hanging out with people that were not your type. That you should stop hanging out with them. ‘What kind of name is The Doctor anyway. Sounds like someone wanting to sell you to a sex ring or something.’ after that you promptly punched him in the nose and told him to piss on outta your home.

But then the evening came and you were hanging out with friends you hadn’t seen since Christmas and there was a shit ton of drinks involved and he was groveling on his knees, in public no less. You had thought he really meant it and you know you shouldn’t have, but you were drunk and hadn’t had sex in over three months. You were desperate.

“I’m a fucking moron.”

“Oi!” The voice sliced through the silence of the library and you shot up into a seated position so fast that you had to press a palm against your eye. Well, guess vertigo will be a thing of this pregnancy. “No kind of talk like that in the library.” Squinting against the bright lights, you spotted the Doctor making her way over to you. A bunch of books in her bare arms, a brow shot up as you noticed that she wasn’t wearing her typical white undershirt, just one of the many short sleeved maroon shirts. Swallowing, you couldn’t help but blush. “Or ever on my ship.”

“Sorry.” You mumbled and sighed. “But it’s true. A complete and utter idiot.” Leaning forward, you pulled your legs up onto the couch, resting your elbows on your knees. “Doctor, what am I going to do?” The Time Lord gave a small frown, before she took a breath and placed the books on the coffee table.

“What’s wrong…?” Your name sounded like honey when she said it. When he said it, it sounded like a burden, like he couldn’t be bothered loving you anymore. The blonde sat down next to you on the couch, a look of such intensity that you started to feel warm underneath it. Maybe it was the hormones?

The two of you held gazes for what felt like hours. You heaved a sigh and rested your forehead against your knees, shifting your arms to rest by your sides on the couch. Well, here goes nothing. “I’m pregnant.” And it was silent. Your heart was beating out of your chest, you didn’t know whether or not she would ultimately chuck you out of the TARDIS now. Did she even do pregnant ladies?

There was a slight whirring noise and your head lifted. The Doctor had taken her sonic out and was now scanning you over. The little dimple on her forehead was prominent as she concentrated, before it softened out when she looked up at you. “Seven weeks.” She finally spoke and a pained expression crossed your face. “Oh …” Your name was spoken again but this time much softer, it caused a shiver to rush down your spine. “What’s wrong?”

“I can’t do this…” you almost sobbed the words. “I … I can’t be a mother?” Heaving in a breath, your whole body shook. This wasn’t in your plans … this wasn’t on the list. “I barely have a stable job, the father is an asshole and when I’m not at home, I’m running around the freaking galaxy with you!” Unexpected pregnancy was something you absolutely did not want. It was then that the Doctor put away her sonic and shifted closer to you. Her arm wrapped around the back of your shoulders, as her fingers dug into the fabric of your shirt, before she pulled you against her. You stiffened just as you fell into her, as you crossed your legs instead.

“Listen, I was just as nervous the first time around.” That made your frown. “Having kids is never easy, especially when you come from my planet.” Oh my god. “Time Lord’s don’t have children the same way as Humans do, well, when I say that, I mean we used to but overpopulation became an issue…” Snapping your head up, you almost whacked the Doctor in the chin. Your eyes met hazel and you really couldn’t believe that she was saying this. Any of this. “But when my first arrived and I held him in my arms…” The Doctor looked away, focusing on something just over your head. You could feel her tense up suddenly, almost like she realised what she was saying … before she took a breath in and snapped a grin onto her face. “You, my love, are going to be a wonderful mother.”

A hesitant laugh escaped your lips. Holy shit, you swallowed as you tried to move past the fact that pieces of her past had literally tumbled out of her. She had been a mother? She had kids, she had a family. A husband? Or a wife. Where the hell were they now? Sniffing, you ran the back of your palm underneath your nose, before you nodded your head. “I just never saw this coming.”

“It’s going to be hard,” The Doctor continued, snapping out of the slight trance she had found herself in and looked down at you. A hand reached up and fingers brushed away the stray tear that was falling down your cheek. “And it’s definitely not going to be fun but that’s why you’ve got me.” The Doctor paused. “Us. All of us, I’m sure Graham and Yaz will be thrilled and we know that Ryan has a soft spot for kids.” The blonde continued and you couldn’t help but notice the slight slip. A soft smile crossed you lips as you looked down, hands twisting together in your lap. A slender finger reached down then and rested under your chin, pushing your head back up to meet her gaze. “And if you really don’t want to do this …”

Your breath caught at the back of your throat. “I can … I can try.” You replied. You didn’t want to instantly give up but you know that you had time, you had time to decide whether or not you could do this. “Thanks Doc.” The blonde beamed down at you, before she pulled away. Your lower lip almost pulled out in a pout at the lost of contact, but before you could complain, the Doctor had placed her hands on either side of your face and pressed a kiss against your forehead.

“You’ve got this…” Your name now sounded like a prize more than a burden. “I know you can do this. Now come on!” The Doctor stood up and you followed her with your eyes, the smirk growing wider on your lips. You just couldn’t help but be happy when you were near her. “I’ve got a special place for you all. The people may be a little violent, but the sunsets on Qo’Nos are to die for!” Holding out her hand, the Doctor looked at you expectantly and you couldn’t help the laugh that left your lips.

“As long as there’s no running.” You took her hand and bounded off the couch, following right behind her.

#13th doctor x reader #doctor who #the doctor x reader #thirteenth doctor x reader #dw prompts #thirteen x reader #pregnancy mention #Anonymous #* & SPYRO WRITES.#okay now. i think i remember that gallifryeans had kids in t u b e s?????#or am i getting the kryptonian backstory mixed????#aNYWAY.#i hope you liked x #this is actually a long one.#for the first time in a while.

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janetbrown711 · 5 years ago

Note

“That was completely reckless!” Dewey

“Dewey, that was completely reckless!” Webby shouted as they ran out of the ancient mayan temple that was actively shooting arrows and other such weaponry at them.

“I was curious, okay?! It’s not like what you did was any help too!” Dewey huffed as he turned a corner and they both dove out of the fire line and the door from the entrance closed.

“Well geez, sorry I couldn’t read this specific dialect of ancient Mayan as well as the other fifty. My bad,” She rolled her eyes and dusted herself off.

“It’s fine, it’s fine,” Dewey huffed and did the same, “We just might need a local guide this time.”

“Local guide? Since when have we ever needed a guide?” Webby asked as they started walking back toward town.

“Since you couldn’t read the writing on the wall and told me to just go for it and that set off all of the traps,” Dewey crossed his arms.

“I didn’t say that,” Webby corrected, “All I said was ‘I think you can go but to be safe-’ and you ran off.”

“Okay so maybe that’s true. We’re getting a guide anyway,” Dewey admitted his defeat.

“Fine by me. I’ll text Louie and tell him I’ll be late,” Webby fumbled for her phone in her pocket and gasped.

“Dewey, my engagement ring is gone! It must’ve fallen off at the temple,” she face palmed.

“It’s fine, we’ll go back,” Dewey shrugged. It wasn’t like there was much else he could say or do to fix it. It... was what it was. Plus the topic of their engagement made him still feel weird. Of course he was overjoyed Webby would actually become his sister, but it felt weird that they were old enough to be married soon. And Louie was actually doing it. He was going to get married. And here he was, with an ex-crush soon to be sister, dating absolutely no one.

He sighed to himself and they kept walking.

They walked in silence for the most part as they made their way through the forest and back into the small town, weaving their way through merchants and normal tourists who had no interest in real adventure, just cheesy tourist stuff. Some people gave them odd looks, since they were covered in dirt and looked like all around hot messes, but nonetheless, they made their way to the local tavern (the best place to find useful locals according to Webby) and sat down at a table.

“What do you think of him? He looks hardened by weather and looks like he knows stuff,” Dewey gestured to a man in the corner wearing a leather jacket an a bandana wrapped around his head. He was cleaning out his teeth with a knife so he seemed tough in Dewey’s mind.

“Nah, seems like a swindler who’s trying too hard,” Webby shook her head when a waitress came by and

“I didn’t order this,” Webby pushed it back.

“It’s from the gentleman across the room. And it’s not for you,” she pushed it toward Dewey, who blinked.

“Ookkkayy then,” he eye it suspiciously, looking to where the woman had pointed and saw a scarlet macaw wink at him from across the room. The man stood up and went over to their table.

“Allow me to introduce myself. My name is Dante Canul. I see you two are travelers looking for treasure, and I must say you look quite more prepared than the usual adventures. Unfortunately, no one has ever made it out of their with even a coin alive,” His voice was deep and intriguing, as a handsome, mysterious stranger ought to be.

“Well that sounds like it would be a bummer, but you’re talking to two of the greatest adventurers in the world,” Dewey snarked, challenging in the stranger.

“Oh I see, you’re the cocky one, eh? You make me laugh,” Dante teased. “I can agree to help you, if you’d like. I basically lived in that temple when I was a kid,” he proposed. Webby eyed him up and down.

“How do we know we can trust you?” she questioned.

“You can’t,” he smirked.

“Webbigail, can we talk a second?” Dewey pulled her to the side.

“I think we should let him guide us,” He said.

“What? Why?” Webby asked an honestly reasonable question.

“I dunno he seems... useful,” Dewey scratched the back of his neck. “I just have a feeling. I dunno...”

“A feeling. Riiiight,” she rolled her eyes.

“What’s that supposed to mean?” He blushed a little.

“Oh nothing, nothing at all,” Webby smirked and spun around to face Dante again.

“Dante Canul, welcome aboard,” She shook hands with him to seal the deal.

“It’ll be my pleasure,” he nodded.

“Right, right. So when will we be going?” Dewey asked.

“I am offended you even asked. We’re leaving right away,” He said.

“We just came back from there,” Webby stated.

“Yes? That means the memories are fresher. You had a solid thirty minute rest and some water. We can head on back as soon as you fill your water bottles again, and then we can be off,” He instructed before walking off to go grab his own supplies from where he had left them.

“You know, you're lucky i left my ring in there or I might have suggested never going back," Webby crossed her arms.

"No you wouldn't have," Dewey stated flatly.

"Okay, you're right. But I can tell you think this guy is major cute so that's also a plus," she smirked.

"What-?! I do not think he is- ugh- 'cute'," he acted disgusted at the word, but his words did nothing to sway Webby. And unfortunately, she was right he did think he was... attractive. His long flaming red hair, the leather vest he wore over his white flowing shirt... it was very much a style. Okay. Okay. He was hot. Dante Canul was hot.

Or maybe his impending loneliness was starting to effect him so he was clinging to the first person he saw.

"C'mon, you've dated tons of people. A mysterious stranger offers to be your guide in a mysterious land, will sparks fly between the two? Yes!!" Webby got over excited.

"Webby, you are literally killing the mood. Let's go," he grabbed her hand and their stuff and went to refill the water.

"Okay, okay. I'll calm myself," she said. It was a promise he knew she wouldn't be able to keep.

"Ready to go?" Dante asked.

"Yep," Dewey put his hands on his hips and posed awkwardly. Webby face palmed behind him.

"Of course," she said. Dante nodded and Webby and Dewey followed.

"Since when are you, Dewey i-couldn't-stop-flirting-with-every-person-i-saw-in-high-school-and-college Duck, nervous at the prospect of a hot guy?" Webby punched his arm.

"Hey- you can't think he's hot. You're engaged to my brother,'" he glared.

"Stop avoiding the question," she squinted dramatically.

"You travelers okay?" He grinned and asked.

"Absolutely perfect, my dear Dante," Dewey closed his eyed confidently, before tripping over a tree root and Dante caught him in his strong, muscular arms.

"Watch it there," he smirked at Dewey before setting him back upright. Webby snickered behind him.

"Right," he did his best to hide his blushing by dusting himself off.

"Anyhow, let's keep going," Dante winked and they continued making their way through the forest. Webby kept trying to give Dewey 'why are you nervous' faces but Dewey kept ignoring them and kept walking onward.

Soon enough Webby and Dante started talking while Dewey, for the first time ever in his whole life, remained silent. For the first time as well, he was actually intimidated by someone that he liked. For the first time, he met someone smoother than himself.

"Here we are! Temple sweet temple," dante announced and snapped Dewey out of his trance.

"Right sooooooooooooooooo... now what?" Dewey asked. Dante went up to the bottom step and removed a giant stone from the ground.

"We go under," he said, reaching into his bag and getting out a torch.

"Under! Of course! We tried the entrance but it was ner impossible to get through, heh," Webby explained to him.

"Do not worry about a thing. I know exactly where we can find your ring. Let's go," he had gotten out a lighter and lit his torch and they all started heading under.

Dante did seem to know what he was doing. He guided them boldly and confidently. He lifted heavy rocks and even helped Webby read some of the glyphs. It was fun. It was fine. He was fine.

"Aha! The last booby trap! This is where we got stumped last time," Webby pointed out the hundreds of arrows in the wall.

"I see. And just so you know, if your ring is anywhere, it's up there," he pointed to a pile of gold, ssurrounded by slithering snakes of all kinds of varieties.

"I got this," Webby reached into her bag and got out her grappling hook but he stopped her.

"Those are some of the most deadly snakes on the planet. We'll have to either kill it or get it to go away before he go for any of the treasure," he explained.

"How do you know so much about this place?" Webby eyed him with suspicion.

"He said he practically grew up here. Now, do you have any meat in your bag? Dead mice? A thing we can kill a lot of snakes with? Also- how to we avoid the arrows again?" Dewey asked.

"You don't run in blindly like a fool. As you can see, there is a cursed tile, which causes all traps to go off, as these glyphs dictate," he pointed out.

"Okay we get it," Dewey rolled his eyes.

"You know, Dewey called me crazy but I did bring my flute. Could they be charmed into going away?" Webby reached into her bag and presented it to the boys.

"I suppose it could..." Dante eyed it. Webby nodded, handed Dewey her grappling hook and began to play it. Slowly the snakes were drawn away from the treasure. Once gone Dewey fired it and went up to the treasure and started putting it into the bags. Dante watched them both work when suddenly the walls trembled.

"Dante?" Dewey asked, closing his bag after had grabbed the most valuable things he could find up there.

"Relax, it's nothing. Let's go," Dante instructed. Dewey made his way down with the grappling hook and Webby eventually weaved her way through the snakes and all of them started making a run for the exit, but the exit was blocked off by people in masks and leather jackets like the one man they saw at the bar.

"Aww cute! I love when besties match outfits," Webby cracked her knuckles and started fighting them. Dewey got in it too. Both were throwing punches left and right, defending their earnings until it seemed they were surrounded. Webby and Dewey were preparing to fight their way out of it when the one guy they recognized whistled in the distance and they suddenly all ran away, which was very, very suspicious.

"They just... left?" Webby tilted her head.

"Must've known they were about to lose. Anyway. Let's go. Pretty sure the temple is about to collapse," Dante ran ahead and Dewey and Webby followed behind. As they ran down the steps, the temple seemed to be crumbling just behind their steps and when they reached the bottom it was practically reduced to rubble.

"Welp. That was fun," Dewey grinned at Webby.

"Did you see my ring? Louie would kill me if I lost it. I don't even know when it fell off," Webby asked. Just as Dewey was going to speak, Dante interrupted.

"Right here," he got it out from his pocket.

"You found it! Thanks!" Webby smiled and put it back on.

"Well let's head back. Drinks on me," Dante suggested.

"Sounds good to me. I never did get a chance to drink the one you got me earlier," Dewey cleared his throat.

"Wow, really like wasting my money don't you?" Dante grinned.

"Yeah yeah, let's go," Dewey rolled his eyes and they went back into the town.

By ths time they got back the sun had set and it was a gorgeous and clear starry night above them. Webby had called it in early since she wanted to "get some shut eye before the flight", whatever that meant. Dewey knew she probably just wanted to face time his brother. Shocker. So it was Dewey and Dante.

"You have some pretty slick moves you know that?" Dante asked.

"Oh yeah, i'm like... the coolest guy I know," he tried to sound as confident as possible.

"Oh i can believe that," Dante teased.

"Mhm. But what about you, huh? You got a story? Tragic backstory? Why'd you buy me a drink huh?" Dewey asked.

"You ask a lot of questions," Dante said, undoing then redoing his ponytail. His feathers shone softly in the moonlight to a point where it was almost entrancing.

"You know- i don't normally drink while at adventures for fears of being kicked out of a foreign country," Dewey said.

"Really life of a party eh?" Dante grinned.

"You bet," he finger gunned awkwardly and hated it immediately. Dante laughed and told him he was funny, which just made him feel more awkward.

"You know- i- uh..." Dewey started to say something but trailed.

"What?" Dante leaned closer.

"You were really useful today. We could... we could use you on the team," Dewey tried to act, once more, as calm and nonchalant as possible but was pretty much a failure. Dante got out a piece of paper from his pocket and wrote down his number.

"Here. Take it," he handed it to Dewey with a wink.

"Incase you ever need another sidekick or maybe even just another person to talk to. Im always here," he winked, got up and went away.

"Coolcoolcool. Got it... totallyyyy got it," Dewey nodded slowly until Dante was out of earshot and gave a giant sigh of relief. Somehow he didn't screw this up. Well- of course he didn't. He's Dewey Turbo Duck. He's cool and swave and the handsome duck brother.

And he now had a hot guy's phone number.

#my fics #dewey duck #my ocs #dante canul #new oc y'all #ducktales #ducktales fanfics #idk what this is #i lowkey hate it #oh well #webby vanderquack #dewey low key has loneliness issues

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readsky · 4 years ago

Text

June 2020 Reads - Minireviews

5 books this month, including a BIG one. June was a bit slower; I am still not back in work and the weather was pretty terrible, so I didn’t get out much. Lockdown rules have been relaxed a bit, so we’ve had a few friends round that we haven’t seen since Feb. Was nice to just have a few drinks and play some card games (Exciting!). Now, to the mini-reviews!

The Eye of the World (Robert Jordan) I wasn’t planning on reading this, but one of my friends has been telling me to read it for years now. I’ve heard all the “it’s just LOTR fan fic/rip-off”, so I put it off since there’s always so much more original content on my reading list. Then I randomly found it in a charity shop for £2. I took it as a sign that I should read it, and I’m really glad I did! A group of young lads discover that they are being targeted by some very scary and dangerous folk, and set off on a quest with a warrior and a powerful female warrior-mage to find out why the forces of darkness are rising and why they are so interested in them. Are there a ton of LOTR parallels? Yes. Does it feel like Robert Jordan just wanted to be a modern-day Tolkien? Yup. But did I care? No. I recently started reading The Lord of the Rings (I reviewed The Fellowship of the Ring a few months ago), and god damn is that shit a slog. It took me MONTHS to read The Fellowship. I think the only way I could sum up The Fellowship is “dense, whilst simultaneously lacking in detail”. I finished TEOTW in exactly 2 weeks, and while it is dense, the story flowed well, most of the characters are interesting, there’s some badass ladies and there’s enough genuinely well-developed mystery surrounding the characters that I’m very keen to keep reading (although 14 x 800 page books is a lot of reading time to devote to one series, but we’ll see how it goes!). So, was TEOTW special or unique? Nope, but I found it an easy and entertaining read despite its size, and it was different enough from LOTR to keep me interested. Very good. 4/5

Broken Stars: Contemporary Chinese Science Fiction in Translation (Translated by Ken Liu) I’ve already used a bit of my blog to wax lyrical about how great Ken Liu is. And I’m going to do it again! He’s great! What a guy! In this follow up to Invisible Planets, Ken has picked 16 more short sci-fi stories (and some with fantasy elements) written by some wonderful Chinese authors and again translated them for English speakers. This is just as strong a collection of stories as the ones picked for Invisible Planets and just as varied in their ideas and themes. Particular highlights include Baoshu’s What Has Passed Shall in Kinder Light Appear which is a kind of historical fiction where time for the characters progresses linearly, but major world events such as the Second World War and the Chinese Cultural Revolution are happening in reverse. This instalment also includes some more fun stories, such as Fei Dao’s The Robot Who Liked To Tell Tall Tales which is a really cute story about a King known as the biggest bullshitter in the kingdom, but doesn’t want to die with that reputation, so sends a robot out into the world with the mission to become a bigger bullshitter than the King. And finally, Ma Boyong’s The First Emperor’s Games is a short and fun read that will delight anyone with an interest in video games. I enjoyed every minute of this book and hope Ken will continue to bring Chinese sci-fi to western readers. 5/5

Daughter of Smoke and Bone (Laini Taylor) This was another charity shop find (50p!). Looked like fantasy (judging book by its cover, I know!) and then saw that Patrick Rothfuss had given it a glowing review. Turns out it was well deserved. Karou is an art student studying in Prague and seems relatively normal to her friends. However, she moonlights as an assistant to demonic beings who brought her up after she was orphaned, collecting teeth for a purpose she does not yet know. After a chance encounter with an angel, she finally finds out the truth. This is a beautifully written book. The writing is so visual, and it was extremely easy to picture the characters and their surroundings. The way the author describes Prague made me want to jump on the next plane and go. If I were any good at drawing, I would probably have had a go at creating some fan art. My only gripe would be that I’m not a fan of over-the-top, unobtainable, supernatural type romance, and the last half of this book is exactly that. However, once you start to realise what an important element this is to story, you do start to forgive it. Fast-paced and beautifully written. 4/5

The Book Thief (Markus Zusak) I don’t read a lot of historical fiction, so this was different for me. Since I mainly read fantasy, there’s always a certain “epic-ness” to everything I read. The Book Thief is not epic, but that doesn’t detract from this beautiful story based on some of the most tragic events of the last 100 years. The story follows Liesel, a young girl who is forced to live with foster parents after her own are taken to a Nazi concentration camp during WW2 for being identified as communists. This is a story of her growing up in a poor town just outside Munich and the stories of the people she meets along the way (and her growing obsession with stealing books). But to give it a bit of quirkiness, the story is narrated by Death himself. This was probably my favourite aspect of this story, as it gave an “alternative” view of Death. Death is extremely thoughtful and talks in a manner of helping people “cross-over”. I imagine that the author didn’t have the stereotypical black cloak and scythe combo that we usually picture Death to look like. The vast array of characters makes this book an endearing one and it is one I will not soon forget. 4/5

Senlin Ascends (Josiah Bancroft) I would have to put this into my most unexpected reads category. I’m finding it hard to compare to anything. Thomas Senlin is a school headmaster and all-round fuddy-duddy. He keeps to himself and never gets into any trouble. When he eventually marries Marya, a beautiful, fun, and upstanding young woman, eyebrows are raised. They decide to spend their honeymoon visiting The Tower of Babel, a marvel of modern-day engineering with unique societies on every floor. A tower so tall, no one can see the top and no one can actually confirm how high it is. Senlin has learned everything he knows about The Tower of Babel from a visitor’s guide that describes it as a utopia; the pinnacle of modern and civilised society. However, when they arrive Senlin immediately loses Marya in the dense crowds just outside the tower and he quickly learns that this place is as far from utopia as it gets. This is extremely unique science fiction with steampunk elements throughout, and follows the change in Senlin’s personality and outlook as he ascends through the tower, desperately trying to find his wife. I will admit to feeling a bit deflated about this book about halfway through. The lack of strong and/or independent female characters had me worrying and it seemed to be turning into a “save the damsel in distress story”. However, I was breathing a sigh of relief as I approached the conclusion of the book. Not every female character was a victim! Phew! Overall, a great start to this series and I’m looking forward to reading the second book. 4/5

#book review #june books #reading goals #book blog #read more #booklr #bookblr #bookblogger #fantasy fiction #science fiction #Chinese science fiction

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vagrantblvrd · 6 years ago

Text

Burn the Stars (1/1)

Summary: Trevor meets Alfredo when he’s having one of those pesky out of mech experiences. (The kind preceded by being dropped into a combat zone as support for a Federation Militia squad who is just incompetent enough to lead them into ambush.)

Notes: This video gave me Ideas. I also borrowed elements from Titanfall 2 in this because I love that universe a lot. /o\

(Read on AO3)

Trevor meets Alfredo when he’s having one of those pesky out of mech experiences.

The kind preceded by being dropped into a combat zone as support for a Federation Militia squad who is just incompetent enough to lead them into ambush.

========

While Trevor does love a good I told you so, protecting the squishy humans under his protection comes first. He covers the squad as they retreat into the underbrush and engages in good old-fashioned fisticuffs with the other pilot who has the gall to cheat by using missiles. (Uncouth.)

The Consortium's mech he goes up against is all shiny and new, most likely just off the supply ship that arrived a few days ago.

And that’s another I told you so right there, since the Militia commander in charge on this planet hasn’t been taking their warnings seriously. Seems to think a bunch of low-life mercenaries know fuck all about war. (Ironic, really, when you think about it.)

“Well now,” Trevor says, information about the mech he’s facing flashing up on a screen for him thanks to the onboard AI. Vanquisher-class combat mech, its key weak points highlighted in red. There’s...not a lot red to speak of really, which is far from ideal. “This ought to be fun.”

========

Trevor wins, on a technicality.

The Consortium mech goes down, but his own is so badly damaged he has to abandon it. Pulls the AI datacore, and tucks it away all nice and safe in a handy pocket in his pilot suit. Waits until he’s at a safe distance before setting the self-destruct to make sure its chassis doesn’t fall into enemy hands.

From there -

Well.

They were dropped far behind enemy lines and Trevor’s armed with a pistol and a survival knife.

Also, he’s bleeding. (Just a little, because believe it or not, mech battles are brutal things.)

Still, he’s got all his limbs and while they’re a bit battered and bruised, they work well enough to get him started o his way back to base.

If he’s lucky, he’ll run into the militia squad. If not -

Well.

========

Trevor is not lucky.

Not lucky at all.

========

No, Trevor runs into a Consortium patrol instead.

Couple of ground troops perched on the shoulders of a Strider-class mech.

Lightly armored, it’s mostly used by civilian law enforcement agencies since they’re perfect for navigating city streets. The Consortium’s adapted them to support patrols on heavily forested planets like this one.

Nimble little things, really.

Terrifying when one’s coming after you, and you become so very aware of how soft and squishy you are in comparison.

Back to a cliff and the Strider looming over you with all it’s shiny weapons primed to fire, when you suddenly remember you never quite got our affairs in order. (Whoever will take care of your precious collection of leftover condiment packets from all those scrumptious MREs now?)

Trevor’s hands are in the air. He’s considering taking his chances with the drop behind him when his earpiece crackles and a voice he doesn’t know reels off a set of numbers.

Coordinates.

He has no idea what he’s supposed to do with that, when a gunshot rings out – and the Strider’s canopy spider-webs around a neat little hole just about the height where its pilot’s head should be.

There’s a moment where the Consortium troops don’t seem to know what just happened, looking around for the source of the gunshot. Haven’t realized the mech pilot is dead, that their major advantage has been taken out of the equation.

And then the sniper fires again, taking out the patrol commander and scattering the others giving Trevor the chance to escape into the forest.

========

The coordinates takes Trevor to a nice little cave where by a gently babbling brook where a group of mercenaries hold him at gunpoint until the sniper makes an appearance.

The mercenaries lose interest in Trevor when the sniper ambles over with a wide grin on his face as Trevor gives him a betrayed look.

“Yeah,” he says, looking Trevor over. “I probably should have given them a head’s up about you.”

It would have been nice, yes, but -

“I mean,” Trevor says. “You did save my life. It would make me seem ungrateful if I held that against you.”

========

Alfredo’s friends are more hospitable when they recognize the patch on Trevor’s shoulder, realize what he was doing out there. (Which squad he must have been with, what with chatter about it being all over their comms.)

“Your squad made it back to base safely,” Alfredo tells him, a little too casual and nonchalant. “No casualties.”

Booked it straight back to base, didn’t bother looking back, which is part and parcel with this whole war thing.

Stings a little bit more sometimes, though, when you’ve got your militia soldiers on one side of things and mercenaries like them on the other.

People fighting for their homes, their loved ones, all nice and noble. Honorable sorts, not like those dirty mercenaries. Cutthroat bastards with no loyalties to speak of to hear some people talk.

Come in with their guns and mechs. Their fancy little ships, and help the militia with their war out here. Thrown into the thick of things and expected to give their all, and treated like they have no stake in the outcome.

Like most of them are from colony worlds the Consortium has a stranglehold on, like their families aren’t involved. Like they don’t give a damn if the resistance falls, how many friends they lose, because at the end of the day they’re just chasing a paycheck.

“That’s good,” Trevor says, light and carefree. “I’d be annoyed if they hadn’t.”

Alfredo hums, and Trevor nudges him with his elbow as he pulls out his lucky coin and rolls it across his knuckles.

“Want to see a neat trick?”

========

Alfredo’s group gets pulled out a week later, and Trevor goes with them. Hitches a ride here and there until he gets back to his base and Geoff yells at him for being a goddamned idiot for ten minute straight. (Trevor times it.)

He’s put on medical leave – something about injuries and parasites and tap dancing all over Geoff’s last nerve.

Gets drafted to deal with Geoff’s paperwork that piled up in Trevor’s absence because Geoff was too busy trying to get answers out of the militia about his whereabouts. (Very secret, hush-hush, mission that needed a mech to them take out a weapons depot before they walked right into an ambush.)

“Trevor,” Gavin says, sidling up to him with this gleam in his eye that means trouble. “What do you thing would happen if we - “

And Trevor, who’s been eye-deep in paperwork and red tape for days now, turns to him and grabs him by the shoulders.

“I have no idea, Gavin,” he says, very much aware he sounds a bit unhinged. “But whatever it is, let’s do it.”

Gavin blinks, clearly expecting more of a fight to get Trevor to agree.

“Are you sure? You don’t even know what I was going to say.”

There is absolutely no doubt in Trevor’s mind that whatever Gavin is up to is a terrible idea.

The worst.

And yet -

“Yes!” Trevor is going to lose his mind if he has to deal with the mind-numbing tedium any longer. “Yes I am.”

“Okay then,” Gavin says, and pulls out a datapad. “We’re going to need - “

========

There’s a fire.

A tiny, one really.

Certainly not something that necessitates another bout of yelling from Geoff, but he provides it anyway because he’s a generous soul when it comes down to it.

========

Trevor gets a shiny new mech off the assembly line, and decides it looks like a Billy.

“’Billy’,” Ryan says, like he’s not sure he heard Trevor correctly, which is fair as the hangar’s always noisy the day before a mission. “You’re going to name him Billy.”

Trevor grins, sitting pretty in the cockpit of a forty-something ton Titan-class mech. Missile pods on its shoulders and sweet chainguns mounted on its forearms.

It’s not really a done thing to go around naming a mech chassis when they’ve got AI partners, but Trevor thinks it’s a little rude not to.

“Billy the Murder Robot, yeah.”

The basic AI from his previous mech has been loaded up and it’s getting a feel for the new chassis.

Running diagnostics and poking around like the new tenant it is. Smoothing all the rough edges in the coding and unnecessary redundancies. Making room pretty little bits of code and protocols the engineers back home still haven’t caught on to. (Don’t realize how vital they are no matter how many times Trevor sends a data packet back detailing the reasons why they’re so important.)

A window pops up on the screens in front of Trevor with an ASCII thumbs up.

“See? Hector approves.”

Ryan sighs, but there’s a faint smile on his face as he moves back to the catwalk and to watch Trevor finish running initial checks on Billy with Hector’s help.

========

Geoff worries, Trevor knows.

In charge of a bunch of assholes he sends into combat and wondering when one of them won’t make it back.

A hell of a position to be in, but there’s no one else any of them would trust with it.

“Geoff - “

“Look, asshole,” Geoff says, rubbing his temples and looking a hell of a lot like he'd wants to kick Trevor out of his office on his ass. “The last time I sent you on a mission, you blew your mech up. You think those things grow on trees?”

Well that’s just ridiculous.

Everyone knows that when a mommy mech loves a daddy mech very much -

“Trevor.”

Trevor looks at Geoff, who is using his Serious Voice.

“Geoff.”

Trevor is an asshole.

Geoff scowls at him, because he is very much aware of that.

“I’m cleared for duty,” Trevor says, and does a little spin to demonstrate how uninjured he is. “And you can’t keep sidelining me when you need everyone out there.”

“I know that!” Geoff snaps, but it’s less anger at Trevor and more at the entire situation, this ugly little war.

Trevor waits, because this is Geoff, and after a few moments, he sighs.

“Talk to Ryan, he’s leading the next mission.”

========

It’s a retreat, plain and simple, and Trevor and the others have been called in to back up the Militia’s forces. Protect the dropships as they ferry troops back to the forward base and various outposts.

It’s loud and chaotic, Billy’s filters and scrubbers working overtime to pump clean air into the cockpit, Trevor can still smell the smoke, taste it.

Hector sends up a warning trill before a new voice comes over the cockpit speakers.

It’s Alfredo, and he’s in trouble. Squad pinned down and there’s not much a heavy sniper can do up against the armor plating on a Harbinger-class heavy, but there he is anyway.

Trevor reaches up to tap the pair of fuzzy dice Lindsay gave him for luck, and goes to help. (He’s got a debt to repay after all.)

========

“You know,” Trevor says, when everyone is back at base. “It takes a tank to bring a Harbinger down.”

Or a Titan-class combat mech, not to toot his own horn.

Alfredo gives him a look.

“Hey, you just stick with your mech, and I’ll stick with my sniper,” he says, but there’s laughter in his voice and an easy smile on his face he does.

And to be fair, he has a point.

In a fight everyone’s focus is on the mechs in play. Tend to forget about the squishy human running around with their heavy sniper. Powerful enough to punch through the plasteel canopy of most mechs, and a small enough to go unnoticed in the thick of battle. Slip behind enemy lines unnoticed to take care of enemy commanders and high-value targets.

The base is still in a bit of an uproar, mechanics running around barking order as they race to get damaged mechs back up to fighting speed. Militia soldiers waiting to be ferried back to their own bases, and the odd displaced mercenary like Alfredo just loitering about.

“Alright,” Trevor says, and pulls out that lucky coin of his again, because they’ve got time to kill and everyone loves a good magic trick.

#alfreyco #burn the stars #mech au #vagrant fic #¯\_(ツ)_/¯

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superhusbands4ever · 7 years ago

Text

To Infinity... and Beyond!

Halloween is coming up and after watching a certain toy themed movie, Peter knows exactly what he wants to do. He’s just going to need a little help.

Tony would like to submit this as evidence that he will do anything for his son. Including dressing up as a toy cowboy. (Ao3)

Pepper had just sat down at the bar, heels kicked off and martini in hand when she heard someone clink up behind her.

“Reach for the sky!”

Pepper turned to see what craziness she was about to get pulled into today and nearly spit out her drink at the sight in front of her.

Tony was there wearing a yellow and orange plaid shirt with dark blue jeans and a brown belt with a giant buckle. His jeans were tucked into his cowboy boots, which had spurs on the ankle that clinked as he moved his feet. He wore a cowhide vest with a sheriff pin attached, and to top it all off, he had a red paisley ascot tied around his neck, and a brown cowboy hat on his head.

“Oh my god,” Pepper whispered, trying to contain her glee.

“Hey there, pretty lady,” Tony said in a gaudy southern accent, “come here often?”

“Dear god, Tony, what are you doing?”

“What?” Tony asked with a grin. He put his hands on his hips and sauntered over to stand next to Pepper at the bar. “Am I not the rootinest, tootinest cowboy you ever seen in these parts?”

“Have you finally fell off the deep end,” Pepper asked, mock seriousness in her voice as she reached out to put a hand on Tony’s shoulder. “Is this a cry for help?”

“Oh har, har,” Tony said, voice back to normal. He brushed Peppers hand off his shoulder and sat down next to her. “If you must know, I did it for Peter.”

“Peter, yeah, sure,” Pepper said, her face cracking as she gave into her amusement, “are you sure this isn’t just some weird new role play thing with Stev--”

“No,” Tony said, mock glaring at Pepper out of the corner of his eye. “We let Peter watch Toy Story last month and it’s all he can talk about now. He wanted to be someone from the movie for Halloween and he made us all dress up. He picked the costumes for everyone.”

“Wait, everyone?” Pepper said, her face alight with glee. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Right here,” Steve’s voice sounded behind her.

Pepper turned and nearly fell over in laughter. The other Avengers walked through the door, all dressed in some sort of Toy Story themed costume.

Steve was dressed as Buzz Lightyear, his costume top quality no doubt thanks to Tony. It looked like he was really dressed in the white, green, and purple plastic astronaut costume, complete with a button on the arm that pulled back the retractable plexiglass helmet. He even had the weird purple head wrap thing on.

Natasha was dressed in a similar fashion to Tony, no doubt supposed to be Jessie. Her hair, now dyed a deep, bright red, was tied back in a French braid beneath her cowboy hat. Her shirt was white and yellow instead of Tony’s plaid, and her jeans flared down over her cowboy boots instead of tucking in. Halfway down the thigh her pants changed from jean to cowhide pattern. The spurs on her boots clink as she walks as well.

Clint’s entire person is painted in military green, from his skin, to his hair, to his clothes. He’s dressed in an old timey army uniform and helmet. She isn’t sure how he managed to get himself so thoroughly covered in the paint, but looking at him makes her glad she isn’t the one who has to remove it all later.

She has to hold back a snort when she looks at Thor, who looks positively ridiculous in his Mr. Potato Head bodysuit costume. His arms and legs are covered in form fitting black material, his hands covered in white gloves. Around his middle, a giant, bulging Mr. Potato Head sack hangs, complete with eyes, nose, mustache, and mouth. He looks, quite frankly, idiotic, but somehow still manages to look like an imposing figure.

The last two costumes confuse her. She looks at Bruce, who seems to look completely normal except for the fact he’s wearing a blue onesie with a green spaceship type image stitched up into the corner. His hands are covered in green gloves, his feet in black shoes, but otherwise looks normal.

“I’m sorry,” she says, shaking her head at the craziness of it all, “ but what are you supposed to be?”

Bruce stares her down with a blank expression for a moment before reaching behind himself to pull up the hood on the onesie. With the hood up, Pepper is presented with the three eyed green alien from the movie.

“You have saved our lives, we are eternally grateful,” Bruce deadpans in a nasally voice.

Pepper nods, covering her mouth with one hand to try and contain her laughter, before turning to the last man of the group.

Bucky is standing next to Steve and wearing much the same outfit, only Bucky’s also contains a pink, frilly apron tied around the chest with a red heart in the middle. He also has a blue bowler hat with a white daisy placed outside the helmet on top of the plexiglass.

“Okay, I’m confused,” she says, looking back and forth between Steve and Bucky. “It’s been awhile since I’ve seen Toy Story but I’m pretty sure there is only one Buzz Lightyear.”

“Oh no, no, no, wait until you see this,” Tony said with glee, moving around her to stand beside Bucky. “This is the greatest thing I’ve ever seen, watch—“

She watches as Bucky removes his left arm and hands it to Tony. She watches with morbid fascination as Tony whips the arm back and forth, the joints bending easily, the hand and the forearm flopping around as he moves it.

Bucky pulls a small, plastic teacup from somewhere and holds it up in front of him, pinky extended.

She sees Steve in the corner of her eye roll his eyes and reach up to pinch the bridge of his nose between his fingers.

“Alright, go,” Tony says.

Bucky holds the teacup in front of himself.

“I am MISSUS. NESBIT.” He says in a weird, pinched, high voice before cackling and laughing in a high pitched, hysterical manner.

She watches on, feeling slightly disturbed, until Tony presses a button on Bucky’s costume so the helmet retracts, sending his bowler hat flying backwards, and slaps him across the face with Bucky’s arm.

Bucky and Tony both turn to her expectantly.

“Well, that was… that was something.”

“Oh, come on, don’t you get it?!” Tony said, waving Bucky’s arm at her. “This is comedy gold, people.”

“Don’t wave that thing at me, you’re going to hurt someone,” Pepper scolded, stepping away from the flailing arm.

“Don’t worry, it’s harmless,” Tony says, reaching up with the arm to hit himself on the head. “I made him a new arm especially for this costume. It’s just standard toy plastic, it doesn’t really hurt and he can’t feel anything with it anyway.”

“Right,” Pepper sighs as she watches Bucky reattach his arm. “And I’m sure that was the costume Peter picked for Bucky.”

“Well, I may or may not have had a hand in that one,” Tony, running a hand along his neck. “But come on, that was the perfect opportunity!”

Pepper exchanges an exasperated but fond glance with Steve as Bucky and Tony high fived.

“You’re all whipped,” Pepper proclaimed, looking around at the group before her.

She was saved from having to further comment by JARVIS speaking instead.

“Pardon the interruption, Sir, but Master Peter would like to relay a message into the living room.”

“Shoot, J,” Tony said, brushing lint off of his shoulder.

Suddenly, the speakers crackled and Peter’s voice could be heard ringing out throughout the room.

“Andy’s comin’, Andy’s comin’!”

Faster than Pepper could even blink, the Avengers all dropped to the ground and lay there, as if a marionette had cut their strings. She stood there, unsure what to do as she looked down at the collapsed heroes before her.

Not long after, small but fast food steps could be heard from the hallway. Peter appeared from around the corner, looking mostly normal. He wore a green shirt and blue shorts with white tennis shoes. On his back was a pair of toy Buzz Lightyear wings, and on his head was a cowboy hat that matched Natasha’s.

He stopped when he took in the costumes adults on the ground, laying still as though sleeping.

“They did it, they did it!” Peter exclaimed excitedly, jumping in excitement. He quickly raced over to Pepper and grabbed her hand, practically shaking with happiness.

“Didja see, Aunt Pepper?”

“I did, Peter! That’s really cool! I take it that means you’re Andy?”

Peter nodded, biting his lip. “Mhmm. Look!”

She looked down at the group on the ground and, sure enough, on the bottom of everyone’s left shoe, written in awkward, childlike letters was the word “Andy”.

She felt a warmth in her chest as she looked down at the heroes before her. These people, these adults, were the Avengers. Some of the most powerful people on the planet. Earth's Mightiest Heroes.

Brought to heel by a five year old that had them all wrapped around his finger.

She watched as Peter ran over to Tony and jumped onto his stomach, causing Tony to let out an “oomph!” as he sat up to hold Peter in his arms.

“Daddy, you did it! Just like you said you would!”

“I told you we would, baby. You just gotta make sure we’re not in anyone’s way or anywhere we could get hurt and we’ll do it, okay?”

“Okay,” Peter nodded, hands clenching Tony’s costume as he stood back up. “Can we go trick or treating now?”

Tony laughed. “Yeah, bud. We can go trick or treating now.”

Peter threw his hands up in the air and cheered before squirming to be let back down. Once his feet hit the ground, he ran over to Steve to help him get up, only to let out a squealing giggle as Steve grabbed him and pulled him into his arms, tickling his sides.

Tony stepped up beside her.

“Wanna come with? I’m pretty sure I’ve got a Bo-Peep costume in the shop with your name on it.”

“As fun as that sounds,” Pepper said genuinely, smiling at Tony as he pulled her into a hug. “I am exhausted. I think I’m going to head home and take a warm bath, get ready for trick or treaters.”

“Suit yourself,” Tony shrugged, kissing her cheek with a smile.

“Take tons of pictures though,” Pepper said, “I want to see how this goes.”

“Fair enough,” Tony said, glancing around at the other Avengers. The had all made a pile on the ground, all reaching out and trying to grab Peter for tickles as he ran around them all.

“You’re a good father, Tony,” Pepper said softly, grabbing Tony’s hand and squeezing before letting go. “I’m proud of you. He’s going to remember this for the rest of his life.”

“Thanks,” Tony said, his face flushing a little at the genuine compliment. “I’m trying. He makes me want to do better. Be better… than—“

“I know,” Pepper smiled. “And you are. No doubt about that.”

“Daddy, can we go now?” Peter begged, running up next to Tony and tugging on his shirt sleeve. “Uncle Clint says we gotta go now or else all the good candy will be gone!”

“He would say that,” Tony said dryly, reaching down to pick Peter up and place him on his hip. He leaned over and blew a raspberry on Peter’s cheek, causing the little boy to shriek with laughter, leaning away to try and escape.

“Alright, kiddo,” Tony said, turning to join the other Avengers. Peter wrapped his arms around Tony’s neck and rested his head on Tony’s shoulder.

“Let’s go get some candy.”

#cady writes #tony stark #peter parker #kid fic #peter is tonys son #domestic avengers #not canon compliant #implied stevetony #iron dad and spider-son

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oleanderblume · 4 years ago

Text

Okay. Time to talk about it.

For reasons.

So, as anyone who actually pays attention to the posts I make knows, I have DID and right now things aren't going so great so I'm just gonna scream into the void about it. Tw: csa cp sa and other not fun stuff.

So. I'm writing a book series, and at some point while I was writing my books, the main characters of the series ended up being introject alters in my whole ass head.

I didn't want that. Or ask for it. It just happened.

The reason I don't want that is because it makes me not want to write anymore because now those people are literally walking around in my head and its not fun. Also they are kids and my brain is not kid friendly. Or me friendly.

I don't know how they formed but I do have an inkling as to why, my theory is 1 and 2

1. The alters already existed but wanted an easy face so they took the ones I already made and rolled with it

2. The alters hadn't been formed yet but due to exterior stresses they DID form and now I've gotta deal with that.

The first theory is the most likely tho.

Anyways, this happened, I am upset by it. I am in a bunch of groups on fb for DID so I post about it (vaguely because I genuinely thought that this was sort of common but apparently it is NOT) the group i posted in had some assholes 8n the administration as well as.members who took it upon themselves to take my rather vague post about introjects and turned it into a huge mess,.claiming that I was faking having DID and that I was just making up imaginary friends. Despite the fact that the post itself alluded in NO WAY that I genuinely wanted this to happen.

I wasn't given an opportunity to explain myself, and the admin kicked me from the group. So I made another post in the sister group EXPLAINING why I was upset and what was going on and I STILL GOT MADE FUN OF, ridiculed, and my experiences invalidated. Even when I told them that I work for 11 hrs and don't have ample time to dawdle on fb groups. The admin offered to let me back into the other group but I decided to leave both of them because it is simply ridiculous that I should be completely ousted for not fitting into their idealized version of what DID is when it is such a subjective experience for everyone with it. Also one person was just a major fucking asshole to me for no good reason and I wanted to get away from them.

It was a waste of my time and added stress I really didn't need, and on top of that, it gave me LITERALLY NO ADVICE OR VALIDATION for what was ACTUALLY stressing me out.

Also, it made me mad and then Jodie fronted and it was just a big pain in the ass for no real reason.

But the thing is, I still have the same problem. Two fucking kids are running around my head in danger of being caught by a persecutor and being harmed and *I* have to figure out how to wrangle them up. Well, turns out ONE OF THEM IS A MAJOR FUCKING ASSHOLE. Which is my fault because I technically wrote him as an asshole and so his personality reflects that. And also he's 14 and 14 year olds are just a big bag of ducks to everyone. But it gets WORSE. Because he DOESN'T KNOW HES IN A SYSTEM.

So I have a 14 year old jackass running around, with no fucking clue whats going on or where he is, being actively pursued by a persecutor who wants to fucking hurt him >:(

Well, I find him, and he is pissed and won't fucking talk to me because HE doesn't want to be here EITHER. No shit Sherlock. It fucking sucks I know. But he WILL talk to my friends, when he fronts which is WHENEVER APPARENTLY. So he talks to my friends and gradually figures out sort of whats going on but THEN the persecutor (I have named him Bastard for now) gets a hold of him.

Now here is where the trigger warning stuff comes in so don't read this if you don't want to be completely skeezed out.

So..our persecutors have a nasty habit of forcing alters into co-con so they can hurt the body and make *them* feel it. Its really hard to combat and trust me, I'm working on that okay?

They do this to trigger flashbacks and panic attacks and the like because idk, that's probably their fucked up way of saying "hey here is something important you need to know" while also being incredibly fucked up and psychologically damaging to whoever happens to be the target.

Well, Bastard does this to my boy, and here is where things really get into the nitty gritty. So please avert your eyes.

A little backstory. On my trauma (or what I know of it so far cause this shit is like a 3d jigsaw puzzle)

From what I KNOW, and what I've been told by other alters, there is a huge chunk of information missing from when I was about 4-12 (cause my earliest kid memory is from like 12) and that is when I think a lot.of the particularly bad stuff happened. Except we have been trying to figure out what it was for quite a while.

We know it has to do with child pornography. Because Acey, who is 5 has memories of that and Destiny, Siren and Syn all have memories that very specifically depict incidences of cp.

Destiny has memories of being r*ped with coke bottles, and being locked in a bathroom that was converted into a dark room (we think that's how The Other One was formed, from the reflection you saw in the mirror) we know this because she kept a detailed journal of when the first persecutor showed up, Fear, and he did that thing i was talking about earlier.

Another thing about Destiny is that when she first started fronting, she was 100% certain she was not Destiny, and was *deadname*. Fear was the one who named her and only ever referred to her as Destiny.

I'm not sure about Syn because they are a cat and only talk in third person with rudimentary English, but they fucking HATE men. And Siren is a fallen angel that very explicitly talks about being too "impure" for God.

And Acey has memories of being drugged and assaulted. (Her name is literally short for Acetaminophen so...)

At this point (around sophomore year) the picture we have is that there was some csa and cp, but no perps.

However, we gained two alters at some point that could have clued us in on stuff.

Eleanor, a little who is about 4-5 years old has memories of being told to play faries with an older person, and to build her own imaginary world. And then Mockingbird. An alter who purposefully mimics other alters and lives in annual hospital.

Thing about mockingbird though, is that she has a phone in her room that is ALWAYS ringing, but whenever she answers it, the voices on the other side are unintelligible. And so is she, when she talks at least. Most of the time. She only sounds like a regular person when she pretends to be a different alter.

BUT the thing is, there had been a bunch of other stuff that hadn't correlated to this, at first we thought it may have been some sort of ritual abuse? Because in like 2017/18 an feral alter (and I mean completely animalistic, growling biting and clawing at stuff) surfaced that only spoke backwards and was also named Satan. They looked like a typical humanoid goat demon ram person thing (?)

SO to figure shit out, we send Anon (short for Anonymous) to look around the mindspace and figure out what the fuck is going on. They find this WALL. Its a huge ass brick wall, at the edge of the garden, and it circles around the entire northern hemisphere of the planet (our mindspace is a planet)

And it has a bunch of paper plastered over it saying "the rules" of the system. But no one can fucking read them. Yay. Also, Esz did some investigating of the wall himself and that's how he got caught by Controller and made feral.

And since they started fronting AFTER Esz came around, we figured oh, something is up here?? Because Esz is also a demon alter.

Well, uh, turns out there was another persecutor (aptly named Controller) in control of Satan and they were targeting Esz this time around, and the two of them integrated. Esz is still around, Satan is basically no more. Well, not really. Because now Esz is also fucking feral. Which was really stressful because having your primary protector and system manager be a fucking screeching demon beast is uh..not fun. We luckily got that under control tho (thank fucking god) but now Esz has these memories of being r*ped which is great because he is the epitome of masculinity (I jest the boy eats fucking vegan chicken with spicy ketchup wtf) but this time we get some sort of insight into Satan's (and probably Esz's) creation cause the memories involve this random ass fat guy (don't recall them mentioning seeing his face) but he was this tail kink or some shit and had a really long tail but plug and made Esz act like a literal animal to get is nasty ass rocks off.

At this point, we aren't 100% sure what's going on. Because we've got these two very conflicting narratives and one of them has what we think are religious undertones while the other has obvious cp.

And now that Esz is (as far as I'm aware) back to normal, he knows more information because to make him feral, Controller had to bring him BEHIND the wall.

So Esz informs us that the wall has a bunch of layers, and there are a shit ton of other alters back there but none of them have faces. AND there are OTHER PERSECUTORS back there, who all work in tandem with eachother in some sort of hierarchy. All led by someone called The Puppeteer.

Thats all the information we have on anything past the wall :/

BUT THEN somewhere down the line, we get another little, and their name is Penut. Which is IMPORTANT because that was the nickname we had as a little kid by our NEIGHBOR Beverly. And Penut has some unpleasant csa memories FROM BEVERLY.

At the time, we just thought "oh great, so we can add that to the stack of BULLSHIT" and didn't think much further on it.

BUT ALSO, this was around the time our sister (bio sister) came into the picture and learned about some of the stuff and she very VERY specifically says that she thinks Beverly had a major role in us developing DID. Again at the time I'm like "well yeah, if Penuts memories are true then she definitely had a role" but none of us are really even venturing further on the topic. Because we are sort of distracted by having TWO persecutors and A FERAL FUCKING PROTECTOR ALTER.

Obviously though, things cool down a whole lot more. Its good, things are great.

Until Oliver pops up.

SO NOW WE ARE BACK AT THE PRESENT MIND YOU.

There is another persecutor, he is really annoying. He is hurting my newest/possibly older but only recently resurfaced alter. And GUESS WHAT HE MAKES HIM SEE.

☆this is legitimately disturbing so please be warned☆

Bastard does his thing and Ols has a very visceral flashback- i know what happened in it because he literally wrote about it because he was convinced it was important, which it IS.

In this flashback, he is obviously me, being r*ped. But this time for some reason, the person doing the r*ping is making him look at him, so he sees this guys face. Which has never EVER happened in a flashback before. Especially to the point where you actually REMEMBER WHAT THEY LOOK LIKE. The guy has green eyes, and a beard, like a scruffy longer one. And while this is happening, at some point, Ols overhears ANOTHER PERSON in the room. A woman. And it's Beverly.

I know it's Beverly because he mentions in his recount that she called him Penut.

And she is working a hand held camera, and there is another one on a stand that is like, hooked up to a television, replaying what is being recorded.

At some point he's made to face the TV, like sitting on beard guys lap or something to watch and Beverly is just casually talking to beard guy, literally telling him to hurry the fuck up because there's gonna be another "session" after this one.

They start talking about what they are going to do next (with me/Ols) and mention the next "client" and then using a tail and making me act like an animal, and then other things like using laxatives, other kinds of drugs and even using other kids. They talk about how the video won't have sound, so none of what they are saying is going to be recorded too. Beverly at one point walks up to him, close to the end I think, and is like really close to his face, and this is when she calls him Penut, and talks about how much money she's going to make (or something like that, Ols is giving me the details as I'm writing)

Then beard guy makes him come and moves him again so he can't see the TV or Beverly and then beard guy finishes his shit and Ols overhears Beverly say that they next person is almost here and he needs to go now.

Then the flashback is over and Bastard says "this is why you are here" or something along those lines, and Ols immediately (well, probably after a little mental breakdown) writes all this shit down and sends it to two of my friends in a message (im so sorry about that guys)

Then I find put about it, have a really bad time, but now I'm in puzzle mode and all the peices are starting to fit together.

So...from what we have of Oliver's flashback, Beverly is a main perp, and was basically pimping us out to folks for cash while taping it and putting it put for other folks to purchase.

Esz and Satan being feral are because the next "session" involved someone with a gross animal kink. And that can ALSO account for Syn, because she is a literal animal. Her mention of drugs can easily coincide with Acey's memories.

And Destiny's coincide with the cp in general as well as probably someone who was sadistic enough to shove fucking glass bottles inside people.

Im not 100% where Eleanor fits in, but it can easily be suggested that she came about when shit first started to get real bad. And Penut, well, I'm pretty certain that she was THE FIRST alter. And probably what gave Beverly the idea in the first place (I'm not sure because most of Penuts memories were when we had sleepovers at Beverlys but it makes a lot of sense if she were the first of us and her compliance gave Beverly the opportunity to take further advantage)

Mockingbird hearing voices through the phone could be conversations that Beverly and other people were having during "sessions"

And the persecutors. Are modeled. After the different clients (and probably Beverly too) that had come and gone.

And the wall probably has a metric fuck ton of other alters back there with other horrific experiences and memories waiting to be slowly leaked out along with this tier list of persecutors modeled after their respective abusers and the puppeteer is probably an introject OF BEVERLY.

WHAT THE FUCK.

Of course, this is all speculation and it can completely change course at the drop of a fucking hat but I have NEVER EVER been so certain in my LIFE that this is what happened. Like..it makes too much sense?!

0 notes

meltaren · 7 years ago

Text

Leo Valdez imagine|Fireworks

Yo waddup! Imagine number 2. Again, don’t be hard on me, I’m new with this stuff.. enjoyyyy!

Summary: The reader and her crush Leo Valdez happen to see some colorful fireworks in the night sky.

-any godly parent -no warnings, perhaps some swearing?

—————

The 4th of July. Happy Birthday America yeah. Even though everyone around you was keen on celebrating this wonderful day, you were frustrated.

Why? Well the reason started with ‘L’ and was latino. Yeah! Right guess! Leo Valdez! (Hehehehe)

The adorably funny fire boy never left your thoughts. You couldn’t shut them off, you couldn’t think of something different. You even tried to band Leo from the fucking server. No luck.

Lost in thoughts, you didn’t notice Piper approaching your bench.

“Watcha thinking ‘bout (Y/N)?” You looked up to see her smirking. Did she know? Was it that obvious?

“U-uhm nothing, why?”

“Oh don’t 'nothing’ me! You know damn well what I’m talking about. Wait let me help you remember: does your huge crush on a certain member of the seven ring a bell?” She asked raising an eyebrow.

“Wh-what.. h-how did yo-.. no.. I-i don’t have a c-crush on Leo!” You tried to save yourself, oblivious to your mistake.

“Ha! I knew it! You have a crush on Leo!” And suddenly she started singing. “(Y/N) has a crush on Leo, (Y/N) has a crush on Leo!” A small amount of charm speak, that Piper didn’t mean to release, washed over you and you started to lightly hum to the rhythm. Until you noticed what you were doing and stopped yourself.

“Piper! Stop! Please.. I don’t want anyone to know. It’s already embarrassing enough.” You whined.

“Oh come on (Y/N)! Leo’s a good guy. And i think he likes you back.”

Your heart skipped a beat. I didn’t matter if piper was right or not. Somewhere your hope lit up and, no matter how hard you tried, you couldn’t avoid smiling. As you pictured the both of you together you felt your cheeks lit up and looked away, embarrassed to be seen like this. Changing the topic, you asked something you had wanted to ask her all day.

“So what’s the plan for tonight?”

Your best friend seemed fed up about the change in subject, but quickly forgot that, as she started talking about the plans.

“So at first we wanted to do something in couples. Just the seven… and then we noticed that Leo is the only single… so now we will all just go see the fireworks and enjoy each others company. Why? What are you gonna do?”

You thought about your plans. “I’m gonna do the best thing on this planet. Make myself a huge bowl of popcorn and watch game of thrones. And when I’m done with that, imma grab a bag of chips and begin the walking dead and then imma finish reading harr-” you were interrupted by an unimpressed piper.

“Ok stop” she put her hand on her hip and smiled “you’re gonna come with us. No but’s! It’s decided!”

“But..-”

“I said no but’s! Meet me at 8 in my cabin. And take some clothes with you. And by “nice” i mean NICE, alright?“

You sat there, thinking about your answer. Sure, it was cool having friends and going out with them. But you wanted to finish reading your favorite book.

Then you thought about your crush. Usually you never wanted to be seen by him. It made you think you looked suspicious. But at that moment you didn’t care. So you decided to give it a try.

"8 it is then.” You simply answered. A huge smile grew on pipers face. It made you happy to see your friend like that. You had seen her sad so many times. She was a wonderful person. All of the seven deserved the world. Not to save it. To enjoy it and live a happy life.

But you couldn’t just magically wish them a happy life. Maybe you could just be with them and make them laugh. Even if it meant to skip a perfect Netflix night.

'Le time skip’

All afternoon you were nervous. Regretting your decision, but then catching yourself making inhuman sounds as you were filled with excitement. A ton of emotions washed over you again and again. Some positive and some negative, but they were there.

You decided to try to nit be hopeful. Every time your heart pictured you and Leo together, your mind screamed for the image to go away. It was a fight no one could really win.

Caught up in the show of the battle in your brain, you didn’t notice it was getting late. So you quickly moved to the closet in the cabin of (G/P), trying to find something to wear. Soon you realized though that you were not going to find something in there. So you made the decision to ask Piper for advice.

As quick as possible you walked to the Aphrodite cabin. There were already some fireworks, symbolizing that the fun evening with the group was getting closer and closer. That made your heart skip a beat and your feet walk faster.

Soon you reached the cabin and knocked on the door. Piper opened and didn’t seem surprised by your appearance.

“Didn’t find anything, huh? Well I have ton of stuff. Just come in!”

And so you did. You entered the Aphrodite cabin and were overwhelmed by the smell of oil and sweat, which you found odd. So you asked Piper about it.

“Uhm Piper… why does it smell like in some kind of fabric in here? Isn’t it supposed to smell like perfume and roses?”

Your best friend just turned around and looked at you with the biggest grin you had ever seen.

“Hm.. so that’s how it smells for you!” You were confused and Piper could tell by your face.

“Girl. Aphrodite is the goddess of love, right?” You nodded your head. “Well it should smell like love in here. But there isn’t just one smell of love. Everyone smells something different, because everyone has a different definition of love. Understood? Good. So me for example, I smell the rain after a hot day. Or sometimes the wind in winter. So it smells like Jason basically. Annabeth, she smells the sea, duh… everyone smells something/someone different.” And with that she gave you a second grin. “Which means….”

You stood there in shock. You hadn’t meant to embarrass you. Luckily none of her siblings were there to laugh at you.

“Wh-whatever. Let’s just- let’s just… you know-”

“Calm down!” She laughed, “I have the perfect dress for you!”

“Dress?!” You hated dresses. So you hated what was about to happen.

“Yeah! Look here.” She held out a dress. It was white and had two hearts on it. Both on the chest. You cringed. “Really Piper?”

She looked confused, the took a look at the dress herself and laughed. “Oops! Wrong dress! I apologize!!”

Then her head was lost in the closet again.

The next dress she pulled out, was much better. It was reddish, but a little tighter on the top. From the waist down, it fell beautifully. It convinced you from The moment you saw it.

“Yes.” You said and Piper had a victory smile all over her face.

“Ok now… make up and hair.” She said and both of you moved to the cabins bathroom. You were there for like 30 minutes and when you left it, both of you were ready for the party.

Piper had a white dress and her hair pulled in a ponytail. You had your dress on and your hair was straightened. With only a little bit of make up, both of you looked like natural beauties.

“So… you ready?” Piper asked, clearly seeing how nervous you were.

“Yeah… let’s do this” you tried to get yourself to believe, that everything would be ok. But it was difficult with all the nervous thoughts filling your brain.

“It’ll be ok” Piper said and hooked her arm with yours.

“It’ll be ok.” You repeated and the both of you walked out of the cabin, towards the beach.

'Le time skip 2.0’

It was difficult walking on the beach with a dress. There was a light wind, but the weather was ok. As you approached the others, you could see that you were the last ones to arrive.

To your surprise you could see two more people. They were holding hands.

“Omg it’s Will and Nico! I might not be able to contain my screams.” You said to Piper. You had shipped them since they first talked. It was your OTP, and seeing everyday that it had become canon made your life worth living basically.

“Same girl!” Piper simply said as you reached the other ones.

“Hey guys!” Your best friend said, catching the others attention “I brought (Y/N) too! I hope that’s alright.” You looked at her, with your eyes saying everything. She hadn’t asked them?! What if they didn’t want you there?! What if they wanted some privacy?! What if-

“That’s perfectly fine! The more, the better! Hey (Y/N)! How are you?” A voice spoke and you instantly recognized it as Percy’s.

“Oh.. H-hey guys. Thanks Percy. I’m good! How are you?” Percy smiled at you.

“I’m perfect! Well I’m feeling perfect too of course!” At that Annabeth gave him a quick slap on the arm.

“Oh come on Seaweed Brain. We don’t want (Y/N) to leave because she thinks we are so weird.” She said and looked at you with a sorry face.

You laughed and wanted to say something, but then he spoke.

“Hey (Y/N)!”

“H-Hey Leo! How are you?”

He smiled, and for a moment you think you were gonna fall to your knees. Thank gods your arm was still linked with Piper’s.

“I’m really good, thank you! How about you? Oh wait you answered that to Percy already right? Ugh I’m sorry.” He smiled and looked down. Your knees were definitely pudding now.

“I’m great Leo, thank you so much for asking.” You said and smiled at him.

“Wanna take a walk till the fireworks really start?” He asked and you were wondering how you were still standing.

“Yeah sure. Be right back.” You said the last part to Piper, who was talking to Jason.

Leo and you took of and walked along the water. Your feet were inside, while Leo’s were on the sand only. At first there was silence with some random small talk. Leo had asked you about your day and you repeated his question.

It wasn’t awkward though. You loved to be around him. Sure, you got all nervous, but it was comfortable and you could be yourself.

After some time of talking, Leo turned towards you and stopped walking.

“(Y/N)?” You hummed in response staring at him, waiting for his next question.

“Do you like someone?” He asked and you weren’t prepared for that question, so you blinked and started stuttering.

“Uhm.. I-I.. do you?” You were taken aback by his smile. It was weirdly confident.

“In fact, I do.” He said. You didn’t know If to be happy or sad.

Happy because there was a chance that he liked you back. Sad because there’s a chance that he loved someone else.

You stared at him, frightened of your next question. “W-who?”

“Well she is beautiful.” He started. Your first thought was 'Oh wow.. definitely not me’

“She has (H/C) hair. And beautiful (E/C) eyes. I love when she smiles. It makes my days better. She enters a room and you could think the sun started shining even brighter. I love her so much, I wish she’d know.”

You wanted to scream Don’t tell her! Tell me!’ But obviously that would look suspicious. So you tried for the helping best friend kinda advice. You ignored the pain in your chest and said. “T-Then tell her. I-I think she’d want to know if such an amazing person as you loved her.” It was only the truth. Right as you said that, the fireworks, that you had completely ignored, became louder.

“Alright then” he looked you into your eyes “(Y/N)…. I love you.”

Your brain was on fire.. well it felt like it was. Your cheeks were to 100% as red as your dress.

“Oh my gods.” Is all you could say for the moment. He smiled and took your hand into his.

“Do you want to be my girlfriend?”

“Fuck yes” and he kissed you. It was a tenderly sweet kiss that had you on cloud 16389. After pulling apart, you hugged him. The smell of a machinery filled your nose and everything was perfect.

#leo valdez x reader #imagines #percy jackson #heroes of olympus #leo valdez #leo #fireworks #romance

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huntertales · 8 years ago

Text

First Comes Love, Then Comes Marriage... | S12 Rewrite AU

Pairings: Dean x Reader (Series Rewrite Setting) Word Count: 8,896. Summery: The boys have been gone for over a month now. But after being reunited once again with the man you love, there’s a surprise waiting for him. Warnings: Spoilers for season eleven and twelve! “First Blood” to be exact. (If you squint just enough, this just might be considered a rewrite.) Mary might be a bit OOC. Also, mentions of pregnancy/miscarriages.

Part Two | Part Thee | Drabble | SPN Rewrite Masterlist

I know what you’re thinking; Shouldn't this be the second part to "Sam, Interrupted" and not some drabble that turned into a monster, Danielle?! Sigh. I'm so far behind on writing/this season in general. But this came out after I have been wondering what might happen in season twelve with the reader in my rewrite series. (As some of my amazing followers sent in some ideas of their own.) You don't need to have read it to enjoy, but since a lot of people seem to like the dynamics between the both of them, I decided to give you guys a treat! Also, "Swamp Meat" rewrite for my lovely Sam girls is in the works, too. ;) For those who want to embark on a fourteen page journey that took me two days to write, enjoy!

It's been weeks since you've seen them, each second feels more grueling than the last. You sat in the emptiness of the bunker that you've been calling home for the past few years now, but all it feels to you now is a place that makes you uneasy, nothing but silence is your company. There's no sound of boots clomping against the mental staircase or Sam typing on his laptop while he did research for an upcoming hunt. You've tried to think the woman you once thought had been dead would be someone you could find comfort in, as she was losing her children all over again. But you found she was a stranger to you, her attention going to hunting. The only thing she knew after being thrown into this new world. You tried to get yourself to take a few cases yourself, but you just couldn’t get yourself out of the bunker for too long.

You subconsciously played with the rings on your finger, feeling the cold band press against your skin. For a brief moment a smile catches itself on your face when you examine the gold ring, along with the diamond behind it. The two rings had once had a home on a necklace chain, but a short while ago, you found another purpose for them, other than being one of the few things you had left from your mother. She used them almost four decades ago as a symbol of her lifelong commitment to your father when they got married. When you were a child, she would say about how she would soon pass them onto you if you met the right man she approved of to marry her only child. You would like to think she would have been happy with the man you chose to spend the rest of your life with.

She'd watched Dean grow up from the moment he was born until he was six years old when you moved away for good. And he was still the same way with you when you were kids. A smart ass, funny, protective over the people he loved, boyishly handsome...and he loved you with every fiber of his being. Despite all the things you had been through with him over the past decade and a half, you were still with him every step of the way. Until death do you part. You thought you would never get a chance at saying that line in its true purpose, as you would never had thought God had been in front of your face so many years ago as the prophet of the Lord, Chuck Shurley. You had been trying to stop the Darkness, Amara was her name, when God himself decided to pop on down. One thing lead to another, it turns out, God had a sister—and he liked to be called Chuck. When there is light, there must be dark.

If you closed your eyes and concentrated enough, you could see the garden you and Dean were married in, by none other than the big man upstairs. He thought after tangling around for years, seeing himself all those years ago of what you’ve done for each other. He figured the both of you needed to push your relationship along to the next level. He decided to just hitch you right then and there. God married you. Who else could say that? And you thought your entire life couldn't get any stranger. Amara's wedding gift was special that went along with the old tradition. Something new came from the start, something borrowed, something blue. But you still needed something old...So, she brought you something from Dean's past that he had longed to see for long as he could remember. And that was his mother.

She was torn away from the Heaven she had been used to for over three decades and put into the future where nothing was the same and her two boys were fully grown. You understood it was scary for her. She was a little fish swimming in territories that she had never seen before. While Mary had been slowly adjusting to the new world, she'd been distant, the woman found hunting as her only pastime, as it was something if she knew since birth. You had only seen her around the bunker only once since the boys had been taken into custody.

The last several weeks had been challenging on all of you. Lucifer, the thorn in your side, had been busy. He decided to have a bit of fun by popping through a few vessels. He had been through a retired rock star, before jumping into one of the most powerful people on the entire planet. The president of the United States. Lucky for you, before he could because any real trouble, the boys and Cas had gotten their hands on something powerful enough to send Lucifer back in the cage where he belonged for good. You didn’t get to see the glorious moment of seeing the Devil go back to where he should have been long ago. You ended up staying at the bunker with this sickness that wouldn’t leave.

Only things didn’t end well after that. The boys had messed up big time, landing themselves in government custody that not even they could try to break out of. Not to mention the real cherry on top of this crappy situation. Lucifer had managed to leave a small bit of him behind on earth. While he was strolling through the president’s skin, he had a bit of fun, as he gotten a woman named Kelly Kline pregnant with his child. If she was looking for good baby names, Damien might work.

You had been staring at the picture of Kelly on your laptop, trying to figure out where a woman like her would run to, when the feeling hit you again like a ton of bricks.You heard the legs of the chair squeak against the library floor as you jumped out of your seat, the feeling in your stomach was growing far worse with each passing second. You pressed a hand against your mouth to keep anything from coming out as you rush for the kitchen, knowing there was a sink in there you could use. You made it just in time when you leaned over the countertop and vomit up your breakfast that you had just an hour ago. You coughed, trying to get out the last bit of it, as you grimaced at the aftertaste of bile in your throat.

"Are you all right?" You heard a voice come from behind you, sending your nerves on edge for a split second, but before you could do anything, you feel another wave hit you. You leaned over the sink again and threw up whatever might have been left in your stomach. You felt the stranger softly brush your hair out of your face as they comfortingly rubbed your back, helping you through the episode that was becoming a daily habit of yours. "Cas, get me a water bottle and a towel—yes, thank you."

You could tell by the voice that it was Mary Winchester who was helping you through this moment of sickness that you had been feeling. She helped you as you tried to stand up straight, but you started to complain about feeling dizzy, so she moved you to the table to sit. You let out a sigh of relief when you weren’t on your feet anymore as you thanked Cas when he handed you a cold water bottle from the fridge and too the towel to wipe your mouth. Mary took a seat next to you as she gave you a warm smile, you could tell she was trying her hardest to pretend everything was normal between the both of you. She was trying her hardest to look at you like a grown woman, and not the little two year old that she would watch play with her oldest son.

"Sorry. I don't know what happened. I must have ate something that was expired or something. Who knows when the last time we cleaned out the fridge. I’ve been so caught up in everything, I must have..." You tried your hardest to make light of the situation as you smiled at the two people sitting in front of you. You thought about how Dean had a habit of never throwing out old food, leading to you getting stuck with food poisoning a few too many times when you decided to eat some leftovers that were well past their expiration date. But the mention of the boys predicament makes you and Mary look at each other with smiles that were growing smaller and smaller.

“Y/N,” Cas spoke up after a moment of silence, you looked over at him to see the angel was staring at you with a concerned expression. He'd been doing that a lot lately since the boys had been gone. But this time it seemed different, there was a bit of confusion thrown into the mix as his brow furrowed while you seen his blue eyes squint slightly. "How long have you been feeling like this?"

“I don’t know. For a while now. It’s been on and off. Some days I’m fine. Other times I can’t go through the day without throwing up at least once. It’s been getting worse the past week” You said, not thinking much of it. You blamed your sudden illness on the stress you had been going through. Between Lucifer’s love child and the boys rotting away somewhere, it was enough to send you over the edge with stresses that you were used to. Yet, at the same time, you were being thrown over the edge. You looked over at Mary and Cas when you realized they had grown awfully quiet. “What? Why are you guys looking at me like that?”

“Y/N, can I ask you a very personal question?” Mary leaned forward in her seat and looked at you straight in the eye. You could see that she was uncomfortable and very scared for what she was about to ask, but you gave her permission as you slowly nodded your head. “When...When did—”

“When did you and Dean last have sex?” Cas came right out with the question, making you choke on the water you had been drinking, not thinking he was going to be so blunt. You put the bottle back down to the table and looked at the angel with a tightly furrowed brow, wondering when he was going to pick up on some human behavior by now. You were about to make a remark to him, something that Cas should have been used to by now, but something in him today showed a side you hadn't seen for a very long time. "Y/N, this is a serious matter. Answer the question.”

"Uh…” You dropped your gaze to the table when you admit the truth with a quiet tone. “When Lucifer left Vince Vincent nothing more than ash and bone. I’m pretty sure.”

You looked away from Mary when you felt a tint of red starting to creep across the apples of your cheeks at how you talked intimate details about her son, your husband. The words in your mind made your stomach twist whenever you thought about it, only in the good way. While it had been a loss for you and the boys when Lucifer slipped away, the night wasn't wasted when you got to the bunker. You and Dean rarely had a chance to yourselves, it was something you had grown used to over the years as the hunting business got more stressful. Yet it only took of him strolling around the bunker in the leather jacket and sunglasses he wore, mocking the industry that was L.A., before you were feeling a bit frisky. You pulled him into the garage where the Impala was, and after shedding the leather jacket, both of you landed in the backseat where you had more than just a make out session that night.

You pressed a hand against your stomach when another wave of nausea threatened to come over you again. Luckily you felt the feeling slowly dwindle into nothing. “Y/N,” You looked up to see that it was Mary who had spoken up next. She let out a heavy sigh from what was unfolding all at once, the idea to her made her want to vomit herself. “Are you late?”

“Yeah. About two months.” You answered her. Her face dropped slightly at what you said as you remained in the dark, wondering why the both of them were making a matter like this so serious when you thought it wasn’t “It comes every few months. It’s been like this for years.”

“You know, when I was pregnant with Sam, I had the absolute worst morning sickness.” Mary said, slowly trying to say what she was thinking without actually telling you directly of what she thought what could be happening. “It started off a few months into my pregnancy.”

"Wait, you--you think…? Oh, no. No, no, no. That's...that's not possible. I can't be." Your lips stretched into a smile as you began to slowly push yourself up to your feet, knowing you had a leftover test in your bathroom that you kept hidden for emergencies when the other safety precautions failed. You left Cas and Mary in the kitchen as you began heading for that damn test. You were going to prove them wrong, once and for all.

+ + +

You always were an overachiever, every single test you took came out with a plus attached to it. But this was a plus that you weren't expecting to see. It’d been a week since you replaced the emergency test you had kept hidden underneath the bathroom sink. But you used it up again after you ran out of the ones you had bought over a week ago.

Mary had been gone for the past three days on a case after another hunter called one of Dean’s many disposable phones he kept around here. Cas had never left your side for the past week. He lingered over your shoulder and tried to be the company that you had been missing out on for the past five weeks. But you needed to be alone for this. You sat on the edge of the bed you had been sharing with Dean since you moved into the bunker with him, a pregnancy stick wasn’t far from your grip, as it had become a ritual for you. You had taken one every single morning after drinking a glass of water, and each time you had took the test, you had gotten the same result. Cas had been right when he pressed a hand against your stomach and told you right there in the kitchen.

You didn’t believe him at the time. Now you had no choice but come to the conclusion that you never thought you would never have to. The tightness of the pants wasn’t because of overeating. As the morning sickness hadn’t been due to the anxiety of what fate laid for the brothers or some expired leftovers.

You were pregnant.

The idea made you feel dizzy all over again. You had been only pregnant once before, as that was three years ago, while you had been doing the trails to try and close the gates to hell. You had no idea you were carrying Dean’s child at the time, and as the result of pushing yourself to extreme measures, you almost lost your life. Luckily you had made a full recovery, but you lost the baby as the result. You could feel your eyes beginning to glaze over at the thought of Dean, who wasn’t even here right now to help you process this information with you. He was locked up somewhere with Sam, probably being isolated from any sort of human contact. You suddenly felt scared as you started rubbing your stomach in slow circles as the realization hit you like a ton of bricks. You were pregnant. And he was locked up like a wrongful prisoner.

You had faced a lot of scary things in your time; Hell, the cage, Lucifer, turning into a demon for a short while and so many other tragedies that seem like a blur when you thought about it. You and Dean hadn’t had the most standard relationship, either. Both of you had started dating right after being released from hell after you had shared your first, fatal, kiss before being doomed. There was a few rocky moments where you thought neither one of you would make it another year without officially breaking it off or one of you dying for good. But here you were at thirty-four, doing things your old self would have only dreamed about. If someone told you at the age of twenty eight that you would be married and pregnant in seven years, you would laugh right in their faces.

You stretched out your left hand to see that you had two rings on your finger as the other hand held a positive test just to prove it to yourself once again. This was real, this was really happening. A smile began to creep at the end of your lips, the thought of another human being growing inside of you would make anyone joyous. And you were. You were over the moon about this opportunity.

But it was the absence of Dean that made you stop crying in happiness as a sob began to start building up in your throat. This was all too much for you to handle on your own without him here to help figure out what to do.

Before you could let out the noise, it was the sound of your phone ringing that caught your attention. You furrowed your brow and began looking around where you could have put it. Only it took you a second to realize you had left it in the library. You didn't care who was on the phone, they could wait. But then they called again...And again. And again.

Cursing underneath your breath, you pushed yourself to your feet and dropped the test to the bed, knowing you were going to miss out on the call if you let it ring after longer. You jogged through the familiar halls and headed across the wooden floors barefoot, just as you heard it slowly start to go to the last ring, you snagged the phone off the table and hit the button on the screen.

“What do you want?” You asked the caller, in a bit of frustrated tone.

“Hello to you, too, sweetheart.”

The rugged voice on the other line made you freeze in your spot, as it belongs to someone that you had been thinking about not too long ago. You turned your head when you saw Cas come from the kitchen to see what was going on. “Dean?” You asked the caller for clarification. You quickly shift the phone so it’s on speaker so the angel can hear the conversation. “Dean, is that really you?”

“Hey, babe.” Dean greeted you. “Long time.”

"What..." You found yourself speechless for a moment as you pressed your hands against the table, trying to balance yourself as everything came flooding in your system. "What happened to you? Where are you? Is Sam okay?"

“Easy, Nancy Drew. One question at a time.” Dean said. You looked over at Cas as a smile began to creep at the ends of your lips from what was happening. “You wouldn’t believe me, and I have no clue. Uh…”

“Got something.” Sam’s voice echoed in the background, giving you clarification that the younger Winchester was with his brother, safe and sound. For now. “All right, looks like that’s Elk Mountain, which makes that Long’s Peak.”

“Colorado?” You presumed from hearing their location. “Are you guys in Colorado?”

"In Rocky Mountain National Park. Uh, if we head north we should hit State Route Thirty-four." You heard Sam say, coming up with a rough estimate. But it sounded far longer than what they wanted. "Eventually."

“You get that, Y/N?” Dean asked, you confirmed it as you reached out for a pad and paper that had been conveniently lying right next to you to jot it down. “All right, grab Cas and meet us there."

“Wait,” You stopped writing for a second, “where?”

"Just drive along the road and you'll see us there. And Y/N," Dean gave you a warning for the situation that you were about to embark on. You looked at Cas from what you heard. "We're kind of on the clock here."

"Wait, what does that..." But before you could finish asking your question, the line on the other end went dead. You let out a frustrated sigh and ended the call. You didn't waste a second when you started to scroll through your contacts, wondering where a particular one was. "Damn it. I hate this so freaking much. It's one thing after another."

"Y/N, you shouldn't be putting yourself in danger like this." Cas warned you as you pulled out a seat for yourself. "You can't go. You need to be in a stress free environment. That's what all the baby books say."

“What—You know what, I’m not even gonna ask.” You stopped yourself right there from jumping into a conversation that didn't need to be happening right now. You pointed at the phone that Cas had left lying around. "Call Mary. Tell her what's going on. I have an idea, but we’re gonna need some backup for this one."

+ + +

Baby or no baby, it wasn't going to stop you from saving the Winchesters. An hour later, you stepped out from the driver’s side of the car with your angel passenger following behind. You inhaled a deep breath when you saw Mary step out from her car, finding the location that Cas had told her easy enough. The three of you needed to talk, along with the backup that would take your place. Cas was right, you couldn't put yourself in danger. You needed someone that had skill, and wanted to see the Winchesters very much alive. But it seemed from the look that was settling on Mary's face when she slammed the door to her car and began heading forward to you, she didn't seem to share the same ideals as you of who could be trusted.

"This is your idea? The people that almost killed my boys? They're gonna be our backup?" Mary questioned you. You shoved your hands in your jacket pockets as you bit your tongue to refrain yourself from making some sort of snarky remark. You looked over at the two men you had called a few short hours ago, Mick and Ketch. "Suddenly the demon and his mommy doesn't look so bad."

"I don't like them either, believe me." You told her. "But they helped us with Lucifer."

"Lucifer? The Lucifer?" Mick asked you with a bit of surprise. You rolled your eyes and nodded your head. Suddenly you regretted ever putting yourself in this situation. The British Men of Letter had talked a lot of crap about being one of the best hunters around, but it seemed even they hadn't faced a monster quite like the Devil himself. You, however, had tangled with Lucifer too many times. "Wait, so you're telling me what happened in Indianapolis was you took on the bleedin' devil himself?"

"Yes." You answered him.

“Did you win?” Ketch curiously wondered. You narrowed your eyes slightly at him, not sure if he was intentionally being a dick.

"Do you think if the boys didn't, would be be here right now asking for your help?” You asked the other man. Ketch was the taller one of the two men, but there was something about him that was different from Mick. But you couldn't put your finger on it just yet. You still put the distance between the both of them, knowing they weren’t to always be trusted. "The answer is, yet again, yes."

You watched as the men took a moment to look at one another, they were nothing but impressed at the work the Winchesters and Cas were able to do. “Were you with them, Ms. Y/L/N?”

“You can call me Mrs. Winchester if you Brits want to be so formal.” You corrected him, feeling a bit silly as you subconsciously looked over at Mary, who had only been the only woman who held that title. Until you came along. “But, no. I haven't been feeling well.”

“The sniffles keeping you away from playing with the big kids? I’m shocked.” Ketch said with a growing smirk, amused at what he was hearing all at once. It seemed you have provided him with some key information that he could use to update Dean’s file with, that was, if he was quick enough to help you. “Still, bravo work.”

“I’ve danced with the devil far too many times. I’m good. Now, the reason why we're here.” You took the folded piece of paper out from your jacket to get everyone focused again at the most important task right now. “Sam and Dean were taken. We think we can get to them, but I can't go along. And, much as it pains me to say this, we need your help.”

The British Men of Letters were the least of your favorite people right now. If you could somehow trust Crowley and Rowena, maybe you would have gone to them for a bit of help. But you needed someone that wanted the boys alive, despite the first impression you had gotten from them when they decided to kidnap and torture him, you were still waiting for the chance to put a bullet in Toni’s head for the unspeakable thing she did to Sam. That would be for another day. You slipped a hand out of your jacket and subconsciously began to rub your stomach, showing off the rings they had never seen before. While you never wore them out in public, you had accidentally forgotten to take them off. You were expecting some sort of fight about this, the men would only help if you did something for them. But it seemed the Brits weren't cold hearted as you thought.

“So we’ll help.” Mick offered, no questions asked.

“Really?” Mary seemed surprised herself at how easy it had been for the men to put themselves in danger for her children. “Just like that?”

"Mrs. Winchester—Mary…" Mick corrected himself, reminding himself that she wasn't the only one he could call that now. She was the most skeptical one of all. Cas had agreed with the idea while you were driving here. But it was her that was holding you back. "I came to this country to do one thing—Make friends. But you American hunters, you’re… you’re a different breed than our sort. You’re surly. Suspicious. You don’t play well with others."

"That's rich coming from someone like you." You said, scoffing quietly underneath your breath as you looked at the man. He might have a posh accent and every little detail of his outfit presented flawlessly to present himself with class. But his methods of hunting were far from it. Mick didn't seem all too pleased from your assumption about him. "What? You Brits aren't exactly the friendly kind. Open a history book. You've tried controlling quite a few countries. Us included for a very long time. Not to mention...your partner Toni kidnapped, shot and tortured my best friend." "Well, he is accurate." Cas said, not helping you when he accidentally agreed with Mick. You turned your head to look at the angel, and with a simple look, you told him to keep his mouth shut. "You called me, remember? All of this is your plan. You don’t trust people you don’t know, even when they come bearing gifts. Now I can’t help that, but I can help you. And if word were to get out that we did our part to save Sam and Dean Winchester, well, that’s just good business, innit? And who knows?" Mick gave you a smile, showing off his pearly white teeth as he slipped out an observation he had made. "When all this is over, we might even be friends. I mean, I sure would like to see that little bugger when it comes out." You furrowed your brow from what he said as placed your palm flat against your stomach, almost as if you were trying to protect it from him. You could have denied everything, but you knew there was no point. "How do you know?" "Asking us for help and not charging in wherever the boys were gave us a sneaky suspicion that something was going on with you. After all," Ketch spoke up. You looked over at the other hunter to see that he was trying to give you a compliment that a hunter would enjoy. But from the way his lips were pressed together, making them appear thin, he seemed more bothered at hearing the news of you carrying. “Nothing stops Y/N Y/L/N from getting what she wants.”

“We think Sam and Dean are being held somewhere in the Rocky Mountain National Forest." You told the men, getting the conversation back on track to the reason why you were here.

"Site 94?" Ketch presumed. You crossed your arms over your chest as he took a step forward to where Mick was, getting himself closer to the three of you as he explained what he knew. "It's a government facility, off books. Shadow ops. One of those places that officially doesn't exist."

Mary looked at the man with a bit of surprise, "Then how do you know about it?"

"We gather information." Mick answered. "It's our job."

"They told us to meet them off State Route 34." Cas added.

"Well, that's a long stretch of road." Ketch said, not finding that bit of information the least bit useful from the slight look that settled on his face. "Where, exactly?"

"I'm not sure." You said, shrugging your shoulders.

"I'll get our techs to put a satellite over the area." Mick said, solving that little problem without breaking a sweat.

"Wait," You raised a brow from what you had heard him say. "You can do that?"

Mick gave you a smirk from your reaction, "And so much more."

You gave him a small smile, finding a blossom of hope starting to spread through your mind at what you were about to do without much of a fight. The British Men of Letters over the months had been a painful subject nobody wanted to discuss. You wanted them far away from you as possible, but they owed you big for what they did to Sam. So you were willing to let them play nice if it meant you could see them once again. You headed back for your car, knowing your job here was done. As you fetched out your keys from your jacket pocket, you headed for the driver's side of your car while Cas was going to hitch a ride with Mary. You were about to open up the door when you stopped in your tracks after hearing Ketch's voice once more.

"Do you have any idea what sort of trouble we're walking into?"

“No.” You said, being honest with the other hunter.

“Oh, good.” Ketch seemed pleased at your answer as he gave you a smile. “I do like a surprise.”

You were about to brush off the man's remark as you opened up the driver's side door, getting ready to slide yourself in and drive back to the bunker. But you stopped for a moment, needing to get something clear before you left Mary with the other hunters. "Hey, Ketch?" You called out to him, grabbing his and Mick's attention before either one of them could hop into their fancy foreign car. "By the way, let's get one thing clear. If anything happens to Mary, Cas or the boys. Or if anyone finds out about my condition, I will personally hunt you both down. I will torture you in ways that you’ve never thought of and make sure you will never be able to have children of your own. Or enjoy the process ever again, for that matter. Do you understand me?"

"Don't worry, Mrs. Winchester. I'll have your husband home safe and sound by tomorrow morning." Ketch reassured you as he gave you a smile to secure his promise. "Now, run along and let us do our job. You have other things to worry about."

+ + +

You listened to everyone when they told you to get some rest. When you got back to the bunker after driving off for over an hour to be safe, you dragged your exhausted body to the bedroom and dropped yourself to the bed. You slept most of the night until the early morning, feeling more rested than you had in a long time. You stared at the ceiling for a little while when you woke up, letting your mind try to wrap around everything that was happening all at once. At any moment Sam and Dean would be home, your life would be back to normal. Well...you felt your hands lift up your shirt to inspect your stomach. There was no more denying that you were pregnant. You could see your stomach was starting to develop a small bump that could pass as a bit of extra skin you needed to work off. You rubbed the skin as a small smile spread across your lips, thinking to yourself that this was really happening.

You had been so caught up in your own personal thoughts as you traced patterns in your stomach you almost didn’t hear the very timid sounds of footsteps echoing through the bunker. It took you less than a few seconds before you were ripping off the sheets from your body and scurrying out to see if your suspicions were true.

You didn't care that your hair was messed up as the clothes from the previous day were wrinkled after you slept in them all night. Following the sounds, you stepped near the tall iron staircase to see a pair of faces that you thought you might never see again. It took only a few seconds before you felt yourself being lifted off the ground and his lips crashing against yours. Dean wasted no time in reuniting himself with the one person he'd been thinking about for weeks, the only thing that kept him sane. You felt yourself letting out a soft noise that sounded like a giggle when he wouldn't put you down. He kept pressing kisses wherever he could get them--your cheeks, eyelids, nose and neck when you managed to put your feet on the ground. You wondered for a moment if Cas had told him, but the angel seemed lost in his own thoughts. You weren't sure what was going on with him, but you refrained yourself from asking as your attention lingered to the younger Winchester. A grin spread across your lips when you nearly jumped into his arms, a sigh of relief escaping your mouth at seeing him in one piece.

“I missed you guys so much.” You admitted to them, enjoying the feeling of Sam’s arms wrapped around your waist as he hugged you, ever so gently. You inhaled a breath, only for your senses to pick up on a few unpleasant smells that you weren’t expecting. Quickly pulling away from the man, you looked at the Winchesters to see they looked like they had been through hell. Both of them were dressed in gray jumpsuits that were caked in mud after traveling through miles of woods. It sure smelled like it, too. “Oh my God. You guys smell horrible.”

"What? I didn't think the car ride was that bad." Dean said. He lifted up part of the sleeve to his jumpsuit to inhale a deep breath, only from the look that came across his face, the man had regretted his previous actions. "Phew! I think you're right about that one. I’m gonna hit the shower and do some much needed R and R.”

You knew this was going to be like ripping off a bandaid, so without letting the process hurt like a bitch, you decided to get it over with once and for all. “Hey, Dean?” You called out the man’s name as your fingers began to tangle together. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

“Maybe I’ll leave you some hot water, Sammy.” Dean accidentally ignored what you had to say, as he was already halfway across the bunker and heading for the showers. He didn’t hear you when you raised your voice ever so slightly when you spoke his name. “Damn. It feels good to be back.”

“Dean--I need to talk to you.” You spoke loud as possible, your voice echoing off the concrete walls. You inhaled a deep breath when you watched as he turned around in his tracks to face you after he heard the tremor in your voice. “It’s important. Can we speak in private?”

"Y/N, sweetheart, I love you. I do. But I've had a hell of a day. Can whatever you need to tell me just wait twenty minutes?" Dean brushed off your request with one of his own. You could tell he was exhausted from the miles of woods he'd hiked through alone, what he had endured while he had been gone for over a month would be admitted later tonight. You felt yourself become overwhelmed with anger when he turned around to continue on walking, ignoring the most important thing you wanted to tell him at this very moment. "I really need a shower."

“Dean…”

“I told you. Give me--”

"Dammit, Dean--I'm pregnant!"

You could feel the words coming straight out of your mouth without even realizing it. They echoed through the bunker, making everyone stop dead in their tracks, including Dean. You could feel yourself let out a shaky breath as you stood up straight when the man slowly turn around in his spot to look at you directly in the eye. “What did you just say?” He asked you in an eerily calm tone. Dean could put on one of the best poker faces, thanks to growing up in the hunting lifestyle. You could see that he wasn't angry, or surprised. He gave you no indication of what his true reaction was going to be when you told him the news.

"I..." You knew there was going back, so, you forced yourself to say the words one more time. "I'm pregnant, Dean."

Dean, the father of your unborn child, the man that you loved with every single cell in your body, just stood there with a blank expression on his face. You knew a long time ago, when the first apocalypse was near, Dean had longed for a normal life when he was reunited with an old fling, Lisa. She had a son that was around the age from the last time the both of them seen each other, and things sort of spiraled from there. For a few days he started wondering what life might be like if he has a child. But come to find out, Ben wasn't his, yet that didn't stop Dean from trying to be a father figure. You honestly thought his reaction was going to be happy, but he just stared at you.

"Dean?" You heard Sam's voice break the silence that seemed to have choked everyone for a few moments before the younger Winchester found himself back into reality. "You okay?"

You should have waited to tell him about the news, let him get settled into the bunker again after he'd been gone for over a month. But it came out of your mouth before you could stop it. You had played out different scenarios in which you could tell him. Perhaps it would have been cute, giving him a little present, only for it to be the pregnancy test that came out positive. Both of you had talked about having kids when you had the miscarriage. The both of you secretly longed for a bit of a normal life. Along with the attached line--”If only if things were different.” If your life wasn’t constantly being put on the line. Maybe you could consider this a possibility.

You thought he was going to be the one who ran away, partly in fear, and the other part infuriated at how all the precautions the both of you used to fail. But it was you who was the coward here. Suddenly you were overwhelmed all over again at the reality of this. It wasn’t some dream that you were walking through, you wouldn’t wake up to the man you loved in bed, that little ache in your mind of what might be. You heard Dean call out your name in a worried tone, but you ignored him, running to another part of the bunker, needing some time to yourself.

+ + +

It'd been over an hour since the boys had been home. You occupied the library as the brothers got themselves comfortable once more. You had been so caught up in your own drama, you had forgotten for a moment that you weren't the only one carrying. A pang of guilt settled into your mind when you stared at the picture of Kelly Kline, who had been reported missing for the past few weeks. She was pregnant with the literal spawn of Satan. But she was still a human being, part of that baby was of her genes. Would you make her kill the baby? How could you live with yourself to kill another woman's child? You looked away from the laptop screen when you felt a headache started to slowly pound, everything was becoming too much for you to handle.

"Y/N?" You heard a familiar voice speak up, causing you to immediately look up. For a second you thought it was Dean, but the tall body lingering over you was his little brother, in clean flannel and shaved, he came bearing gifts in the form of a cup of coffee for him. And from the smell of the drink he held out for you, it was hot chocolate. Your lips stretched into an appreciative smile as you grabbed the cup from him. He slowly stretched out a free arm and pulled out a chair, waiting for the word for you to tell him to leave, but you nodded your head for him to sit, knowing this conversation had to happen at some point. Both of you sat in silence for a moment or two, neither one of you were sure which topic to discuss. Sam didn't really want to talk about what happened at the facility, you could tell when his eyes wandered down to your stomach. "So...is it true?"

You nodded your head ever so slowly, “The five tests that I took said so. Cas thinks I am. And I've been getting sick at least once a day for the past few weeks."

Sam listened to what you had said. All signs showed that you were carrying something in you. You glanced down at your cup for a moment, contemplating if you wanted to take a drink. It would only be a matter of time until you would hear the words come out of his mouth, about the options you needed to think about. Hunting with a child wasn't possible. Your parents were examples of it. You couldn't hide them from the dangers, it was just how life for people like you was. Sam gave you his honest reaction after the both of you spent a minute in complete silence. Your eyes glanced up to see that he was staring at you, not with a frown, or a sympathetic expression, the man was grinning like a fool. He looked like he'd won the jackpot with his dimples popping out from each cheek. You stared at him with a slightly confused expression, but what he said next was all it took to show you how he felt about this.

"So you’re saying I'm gonna be an uncle? I'm gonna be an uncle." Sam repeated the words, his smile seeming to fade as the realization hit him. He looked like he was in shock himself, but in a good way. " Holy crap. I thought I'd never get a chance to say those words.”

“Congratulations, Sammy.” You said, a small smile creeping across your lips.

The both of you shared a moment of happiness, only it didn’t stop the anxiety that sparked up again when you heard Dean’s boots across the library floors. You clutched the mug tighter around your grip as the oldest Winchester appeared out from the corner of your eye. You turned your head slightly to see that Dean was showered, but he chose to keep the scruff that he had grown over the past month. “Sam, could you give us a few minutes alone?”

Sam nodded his head as he reached for his cup of coffee, but before he left, the man leaned over in his seat and gave your shoulder a tight squeeze, reassuring you that everything was going to be all right. You gave him a small smile as you watched him get up from his seat and disappear from your sight, leaving you and Dean alone to face the truth. You ignored any eye contact that you could as you concentrated on a spot at the table as he sat himself down where his little brother previously was. You prepared yourself for what you were going to say. Inhaling a quiet breath, you gathered all the courage you had left to look at him directly in the eye.

Your mind wouldn’t see how Dean stared at you with a look of happiness, or how his eyes lit up at the idea of having a chance of doing something right with his life. When he started to open his mouth, you were already expecting him to say what you feared Sam was going to. So, you beat him to the punch, and told him how you were going to handle this situation.

"I know what you're going to say. I know this isn't the right time to have a kid with everything that happening to Kelly, and I know people like us don't get a shot at happy endings. We can't raise a baby in this kind of lifestyle. But I don't care." You told him how you felt, not giving the man a single chance to let you know how he felt about this. "I'm having this baby, Dean. With our without your help. I don't care what I have to do—" Before you could finish your thought, you were cut off, by the feeling of Dean's lips pressing themselves against yours. You were taken off guard from what he was doing, you felt the back of his hand press against your neck as his thumb cup your jaw, leaning your head just slightly so he could kiss you with absolute passion. Your eyelids fluttered shut as you felt yourself being taken away for a moment at how he always made you forget about what you were talking about. Whenever the both of you were deep in argument, fighting about how a hunt went, or couple things, he picked up a bad habit of kissing you. Most of the time it resulted him getting lightly smacked on the chest to show your disapproval, but there were moments when you let his actions do all the talking. He lifted himself out of his seat so he could kiss you harder, wanting to show you how much he loved you.

Dean pulled you away after spending what felt like forever kissing you until you were breathless. You quickly opened your eyes when you were able to suck in a deep breath, replenishing your lungs with air. You forgot for a moment what you were talking about, but when Dean reached out and ever so gently pressed his hand against your stomach, you remembered all over again. "Tell me you're not lying, Y/N." Dean whispered to you. You looked up at him to see that he was staring at you, not with anger, but with blissful happiness that you hadn't seen in him for a very, very long time. "Please. I need some good news."

“Y-Yeah.” You said. You slowly placed your hand on top of his, both of you spending a moment of touching your stomach that felt a little bigger from the last time you had seen him. You looked up at him with a smile spreading across your lips, giving him the information that you had been waiting to tell him for over a week now. “We’re having a baby, Dean.”

"Babies." The both of you were taken by surprise when you heard Cas' voice come out from nowhere. You looked up to see that he was standing right next to the both of you, deciding he could just intrude on this special moment. You asked him what the angel meant by the plural, thinking he was kidding with you. "I can hear multiple heartbeats coming from you, Y/N. I believe you're having twins. The baby books that I've read while the boys were gone said the fetus should develop a heartbeat by the eight week mark. Women who are having twins usually develop morning sickness early into the pregnancy. And obviously you're going to show more. Like you are now."

“Were you playing Mr. Mommy while we were gone, Cas?” Dean teased the angel. He didn’t waste a single second when he pushed himself out from the chair and fell to his knees. You let out a quiet laugh when he rested his head against your stomach, making you lean back so he could talk to the little creatures growing in your stomach. The smile on his face alone made you realize Dean was warming up to the idea of having a few little ones on the way. “Hey, there kiddos. Were you causing trouble for your mommy when I was gone?”

“Someone had to look after Y/N while you and Sam were gone.” Cas defended himself. “Like I said, this world needs you...Those babies are going to need their father.”

You were slightly confused at what Cas was saying. It seemed you hadn’t been informed of the conversation that took place right after the angel had killed the reaper, Billie. But that would be for another day. Dean wanted to enjoy this moment for long as he could. “Don’t worry. I’m not leaving Y/N or these little rugrats anytime soon.”

“Who knew.” Sam said. You looked to see that the man had joined the group again to see his brother was taking the news exactly like he had thought. The man wouldn't stop kissing your stomach and whispering about how excited he was to have an offspring of you and him running around. He crossed his arms over his chest and let a smile spread across his lips. “Who knew any of this was going to be possible. These kids are gonna have a weird family, that's for sure.”

“I think they're gonna have the best one.” You said to the younger man with a growing smirk. “An amazing father, a smart uncle that’s probably gonna let them get away with everything. Not to mention, we’ve got Cas. Who's been studying up the past week on the baby books he bought.”

“You may think this is funny now Y/N,” Cas said. “But when your baby comes down with a cold or a diaper rash, I’ll know what to do.” You gave him a smile, not sure what you would have done without him for all these years, or even the last week.

“Oh! We need music. I heard babies like it when you play them music.” Dean jumped up from his spot on the ground when he started talking about needing to get his headphones from his room. You didn’t want to tell him most parents liked to use classical music to make their children smarter, but you knew that wasn’t his intention. “These kids are gonna have the best taste in music before they’re even born.”

You watched as Dean jumped to his feet and headed for his room, leaving the rest of you to sit here with the cat finally out of the bag. You placed your hands on your stomach, finding the habit of rubbing circles into your skin already soothing. As you glanced up at the two men, your lips stretched into a smile, knowing they had picked up on your concern for how Dean was going to handle this. No matter what life threw your way, he was still going to love you, and he was going to be there every step of the way through this new journey of life.

#supernatural #reader insert #supernatural imagine #supernatural fanfic #supernatural reader insert #supernatural x reader #spn #spn imagine #spn fanfic #spn reader insert #spn x reader #dean winchester #dean winchester imagine #dean winchester x reader #dean x reader #mine #what did i do????????????????????????#the new part for sure will be out tomorrow #i think

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your-modern-shakespeare · 8 years ago

Text

A Little Too Real (2)

Part 1

Summary: RealityTV!AU- You are a wardrobe supervisor for a popular TV network. The show is planning a reality TV show like the bachelor and Bucky is the newest contestant. But as the competition starts he realizes that he doesn’t like any of the girls…on the show anyway.

Pairing: Bucky x Reader (eventual)

Word Count: 2950

A/N: So I feel super terrible about not posting anything lately. Things have been super hard and people are stupid and I’m trying to figure out a lot of personal things, but honestly all I want to do is hide away on Tumblr. But I really hope you guys enjoy this and I will try and be better.

Warnings: Talk of drunkedness, fluff, little bit of angst, mentioned depression

Tags: @fangirl1802, @seargantbcky, @lust-for-pan, @38leticia, @barnes-and-noble-girl, @karipaleta, @capandbuck, @camillechan, @findacauseandserveit, @audasia25, @kendallefire

READER’S POV

There were two things that were true about last night: 1) I drank WAY too much and 2) I didn’t remember anything that happened. When I woke up the next day (I had to admit that it was pretty late in the afternoon) I saw that I had missed a few phone calls and had some texts from Bucky. I quickly read through the texts and listened to my voicemails before I confirmed to every party involved that I was alive, but terribly hungover.

I did make it into work that day, though, no matter how late I was. But when I thought that Bucky would show, I was actually surprised to see Steve walk into my workroom.

“Hey Y/N.” He said.

“Hey Steve, what can I do for you?”

“I was just coming to check on you.”

“Really?”

“Yeah. I had a really great time last night and Bucky seems to really like you. I’m glad he has a friend on the show.”

“I love hanging out with him. I can actually speak Russian around him, which is awesome.”

“You speak Russian?”

“I was born in Moscow.”

“Wow. That’s really cool. I remember Bucky talking about Russia like it was another planet, he loved it there.”

“I know and It’s so nice to talk to him about it, I miss it everyday.”

“I bet. On another note, I’m having another party in a couple of weeks, which you are invited to, and I just wanted to get some input from an outsider.”

“I wish I could tell you but the last thing I remember is showing up at the party.”

“Oh no…that’s fine, no big deal, all that matters is that you had a good time.”

“I did…of what I remember.”

“Well good. So, I will leave you to your work and I’ll see you around.”

“Yeah.”

“Oh and Bucky said he’ll be around later, I’m taking him out to lunch.”

“Okay. Thanks.”

Bucky did swing by later and we talked, pretty much just like every other time before. And as we approached the start of filming, this was our routine.

Bucky and I had grown extremely close to each other. We told each other anything and everything that came to mind. Of course we had our secrets but we were still fairly new to each other. I couldn’t deny that I really liked what we had though. I didn’t know if it was anything past friendship or if it ever would be, so I pushed down any feelings that I may have had and tried to keep things simple.

The week before filming for the first episode, I was typing up an expense report when I heard my phone ring and instinctively reached for it, not even seeing who was calling.

Y/N: Y/N Y/L/N

BUCKY: Is Mr. Wall there?

Y/N: No I’m sorry.

BUCKY: What about Mrs. Wall?

Y/N: No, there are no Walls here.

BUCKY: Then what’s holding up your ceiling? I heard muffled laughter on the other side of the line and immediately knew who it was.

Y/N: Bucky?

BUCKY: Hey Y/N

Y/N: I should have known that it was you.

BUCKY: Well if you really don’t mind, I do need to talk to the Walls.

Y/N: Ha ha you’re very funny.

BUCKY: I know. So what are you doing?

Y/N: At the moment typing up an expense report.

BUCKY: That sounds…boring.

Y/N: It is.

BUCKY: Well you should leave your boring job and come help me with something.

Y/N: Oh really?

BUCKY: What if I told you that it tied into your job…but it’s more fun.

I stopped and I thought about it.

Y/N: Let me send this and I’ll be there.

BUCKY: Great, I will see you soon.

Y/N: Yep

So I quickly finished my report and then I headed over to Bucky’s apartment. When I got there, I knocked on the door and he answered immediately.

“Hey, thanks for coming.”

“Yeah, no problem.” He let me in and closed the door behind me.

“Can I get you something to drink?”

“I’ll take a water.”

“Coming up.” So he went into the kitchen and brought back a bottle of water before he showed me up to his bedroom. “So, as you know we are about to start filming the first episode.”

“Yes?”

“I need your help choosing the right suit.”

“Really?”

“Yes. This is a big deal, this is my first impression and you have to approve it anyway.”

“I already approved everything.”

“So you don’t want to help me?”

“I didn’t t say that.”

“Great. You can sit on the bed. And I will go put on my first suit.”

“You’re going to try everything on?”

“What’s more fun than a fashion show?”

“Okay.” So I moved to sit on the bed, resting against the headrest and pillows.

“So how did your reports go!” He yelled out.

“Good. I was under budget, which was nice!” I yelled back.

“That is good!”

“Are you nervous about the first episode?!” I asked.

“I don’t know! I’m nervous to meet the girls I guess!”

“Why?!”

“It’s just been so long since I’ve been on a good date, I don’t think I know what to do anymore!”

“You’ll be fine! This first episode is all about first impressions! You just have to go with your gut!”

“That can’t be all there is to it.” He walked out of the closet in a royal blue tuxedo jacket, black tuxedo pants, and a black bow tie.

“There are 25 girls and you don’t get a lot of time with them. If you have a good feeling about them, then keep them in and if you don’t, dont.”

“What do you think?” He said, slowly turning so I could get a good look at his suit.

“I think it’s a little too formal. You don’t want them to think that you’re too serious. You need to put on something that describes your personality.”

“My personality?”

“Yeah, something that says Bucky.”

“Okay.”

He went back into the closet, taking off his jacket as he went.

“You know, I don’t think I’m going to tell the girls my nickname!”

“Really?! Why not?!”

“Only people who know me call me Bucky! I think it would be weird if I had all of these girls calling me Bucky!”

“So you want them to call you James the whole time?!”

“I don’t know, maybe I’ll just play it by ear!”

“Maybe once you get to the top three!”

“Maybe!”

I didn’t say anything else until he came out in his second suit.

“Why do you own a bright green suit?” I laughed.

“St. Patrick’s Day.”

“And that’s your personality?”

“I don’t know.”

“Did you have that suit tailored to you?”

“What if I did?”

“You like St. Patrick’s Day that much?”

“I like holidays.”

“I’m going to give that a no.”

“Yeah. I have just the thing.”

“I’m ready.”

So I sat back against the bed and messed on my phone as he changed. I was drinking my water when he walked out, needless to say, I spit my water everywhere…and was choking.

“Oh my god!”

“I thought you said you were ready?”

“I am not ready for that.”

“You don’t like it?”

“Why do you even have that?”

“I have my reasons.”

“So you just happen to have a chip n dale costume in your closet. I didn’t see that when I went through it.” The costume was black tuxedo pants, a white shirt with the sleeves cut off, fake cuffs, and a bow tie.

“Because it wasn’t out in my closet.”

“Well I definitely think you should go with this look.”

“You think?”

“Yeah, I’m sure they’ll assume a lot of things.”

“Oh and you haven’t even seen the best part.”

“Oh no.”

He just smiled at me, as he grabbed the collar of his shirt and ripped the whole thing off.

“See, it’s a tear-away.”

“I should have known.” I tried not to smile.

“The hard part is putting it back on…I guess it wasn’t made for that.”

“You would probably be doing something wrong.”

“You’re not wrong about that.”

“Go put on a real option.”

“Fine.”

He trudged back into the closet and I waited for him one last time. The next time he came out he was wearing a three piece grey suit and a burgundy tie.

“I think this suits you.” I held back my laugh.

“Was that a pun?”

“I guess it was.” We both laughed.

“You approve?”

“I do.”

“Great.”

He walked over to the other side of the bed and took off his jacket where I saw that he had put the chip n dale shirt back on, revealing the surprise sleevelessness that I had agreed to. I just laughed at him as he plopped down beside me.

“Hey you approved it.” He said, putting his arms behind his head.

“I know.”

“But if it makes you feel better I won’t wear the shirt for the real thing.”

“You won’t wear that shirt or you won’t wear a shirt?”

“It’ll be a surprise.”

“Oh no.” We both laughed.

As we settled I looked over at him and I would be lying if I said I wasn’t curious about his arm.

“Bucky?”

“Hmm?”

“Can I ask you a serious question?”

“I think I know where this is going.”

“Well you don’t have to answer if it’s too personal.”

“You are the only person I know who has seen me in my chip n dale costume, I think we’re past personal for today.”

“Really?”

“That was a Halloween costume from when I lived in Russia. No one has seen it.”

“In America.”

“Touché. What’s your question.” I turned to rest on my side, facing him.

“How did you lose your arm?”

“Um…I was working in the mission control center, at the time I was training to be an astronaut, and there was an accident. I don’t remember much but I was working on a machine, an engine of some sort, and I got stuck. When they got me out, the nerves in my arm were completely dead and so instead of lugging around a lifeless limb, I opted for them to remove it. That ended my time at Roscosmos.”

“That’s terrible.”

“I’m not going to lie, it was. It was really hard learning how to do things with only one arm. Luckily they paid for me to get back to America, gave me a ton of money, and I moved in with Steve. I used the money to run research on prosthetics and paid for my therapy and Steve helped me more than I could ever repay him for. Of course, for a long time after the accident I couldn’t find the motivation to do much of anything. You know, ever since I was a kid I dreamed of going into space and I went to school so that I could go to space. Then I got my shot and I lost my arm. It really knocked me off my feet.”

“I could only imagine.”

“Steve was the one who dug me out. He took me to rehab for my depression and I went back to physical therapy and at one of my therapy sessions I met this little girl who had lost her left arm, just like me, but in a car accident. And she was just so happy.

“She didn’t care that she only had one arm, she never let it bring her down or limit her. I talked to her mom about what happened and since we had the same trainer, a lot of times our sessions overlapped. She really became a huge part of my recovery. Which is why she was the second person to test the arm, I really wanted to help her, like she had helped me.”

“What’s her name?”

“Luna.”

“She sounds cute.”

“She is and she is so smart for her age. And I’m totally convinced that she’s going to rule the world someday.”

“You think?”

“Absolutely.”

“Well as you know every great world leader has a metal arm, so she already has a leg up.” God, did he laugh. It was kind of mesmerizing.

“I’m going to have to tell her that one.”

“I hope she likes it as much as you did. But what happened next?”

“Well, then I sat down and came up with a prosthesis, this one. And I went to everyone I knew and everyone I didn’t, trying to get the funding and facility to develop and produce this arm. And I finally found one. Tony Stark.”

“Really?” Tony Stark is a billionaire technology developer. He’s brilliant and owns pretty much the biggest company in the world. You needed anything that was advanced in the slightest, he could do it.

“Yeah. He loved my idea and he helped me produce the prototype before we made the real thing.” He gestured to his arm. “Of course with one arm, I was mostly just there to help, I couldn’t really build anything. But as soon as I got mine to work and figured out a good way to attach it, I made one for Luna. It was her I-finished-therapy present. And even though I’ve been done with my therapy for some time now, I still see her. She comes in for diagnostics checks and every now and then we have to make her a new arm; she’s growing really fast.”

As he talked I absentmindedly traced the lines on his arm. I really had no idea that I had been doing it, it was strange, but kind of relaxing at the same time.

“When word got out about the arm and how successful it was, there were so many people who tried to buy me out. But they wanted to build them and put a huge price tag on them and I didn’t want that. So we develop them in house and we try and get as many people as we can to come in and test out other limbs. And someday we hope to make them more lifelike, but for now this is what it is and it works.”

When he finished talking, he looked down at my hand and the way it traced over his arm. I quickly pulled my hand away.

“Sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. I’m just not used to—people usually don’t touch it openly. Not that people are afraid of it, but for a lot of people it’s weird.”

“I don’t think it’s weird, I think it’s amazing.”

“Thank you.”

“I mean you’ve managed to create something that actually resembles a human arm. I think a lot of people would enjoy a prosthesis more like this.”

“Well I hope so. I really want this to be good for a lot of people. And I’m excited to see what happens next with this.”

“I wouldn’t worry too much about it, it is really great.”

“Thanks.”

“Can I ask you another question?”

“Nope only one a night.”

“Bucky.”

“Yes, you can ask me a question.”

“Why didn’t you say any of this at the interview? It sounds like you’re doing great work, I’m sure they would have loved to hear all about this.”

“I didn’t want to say anything because I wanted to get the role for me, not because they were taking pity on the one armed guy. I am proud of what I have been able to do. I have made a great living and I have over come some terrible times, and it’s only made me stronger. But I wanted to do the show so that these woman can see the real me, because I’m tired of everyone just treating me like a cripple, that or a really rich cripple.” I laughed at him.

“I can see that.”

“I bet you didn’t even notice at first that I had a metal arm.”

“Actually I was the only one who noticed. I asked the other guys about it later and everyone else thought I was seeing things. So I didn’t say anything else about it.”

“Why didn’t you ask me sooner?”

“I needed a good reason to bring it up.”

“So me taking off my shirt.”

“Yep.” Now he laughed at me.

We sat in his room and talked until it got late in the day. And when it got late he ordered us some take out and we watched some reality TV, which Bucky said was to “help with his nerves.” Honestly I think it was just so we could make fun of people.

I had so much fun with Bucky today, that I hardly realized that I really needed to go home.

“Hey, I need to head home, it’s really late.” I said.

“Oh, well thanks for coming over and helping me. I had a lot of fun today.” He walked me over to the front door.

“I did too and I’m glad that we could pick out your suit.”

“Yeah me too.”

“And don’t be nervous for filming, you’re pretty awesome. Any of the girls would be lucky to catch your eye.”

“Thanks, I guess. And I will see you tomorrow.”

“Yes you will.”

“Bye Y/N.”

“Bye Bucky.”

I walked out the door, feeling better than I had in a long time. I don’t want to say that it was because of Bucky, but I would be wrong.

What was I getting myself into?

PART THREE

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes fanficiton #bucky barnes fanfic #bucky barnes series #bucky #bucky x reader #bucky fanfiction #bucky fanfic #bucky series #marvel #marvel fanfiction #marvel fanfic #marvel series #realitytv!au #a little too real #realitytv!bucky

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generationphotoandgift · 6 years ago

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Ceremony: Bell Chapel United Methodist Church Steubenville, OH

Reception: Mountaineer Casino, Racetrack and Resort, New Cumberland, WV

Make Up: Hairway to Heaven Wintersville, OH

Hair: Hairway to Heaven Wintersville, OH

Florist: Ashley at Simply Sweet Cakes Wellsville, OH

Baker: Ashley at Simply Sweet Cakes Wellsville, OH

Entertainment: Soundwaves Event Group and Steven Vance from Electric Violins Pittsburgh, PA

Colors: Purple & Silver

Honeymoon: Bahamas

In business, you can spent a small or large fortune on advertising, regularly post, tweet, share on social media and buy ad space in just about anywhere, but in all those advertising dollars that are spent with you get as much business as word of mouth. In the case of Chris and Jenna, I photographed the wedding of Chris’ sister, Lindsay. There is nothing on this planet that I love more than photographing the weddings of previous client’s family. I didn’t even need to meet with the bride and groom or have a single detail regarding this wedding in order to tell you that it was going to be amazing! Lindsay’s wedding was filled with unique and special moments and every single detail was flawless, I expected nothing less when it came to the wedding of Jenna and Chris.

I am a total crazy lunatic about details of weddings, I don’t know why, I don’t know how, but my husband and my mom make fun of me…I can most likely tell you details of weddings I’ve photographed decades ago, seriously! In a large portion I can tell you their dates, colors, the weather, photos and special moments maybe not the bridesmaid/ groomsmen names but just about anything else. My brain, my memory, remembers in wedding LOL. Upon booking the wedding of Jenna and Chris, I couldn’t wait to get home to tell my husband who’s wedding we would be photographing. I told him, you know Lindsay Haught??? He gave me his best deer in the headlights stare and I said, you know the dry ice on the dance floor first dance and the awesome father daughter dance medley, the pretty blonde who looks just like her mom, the sweet, hilarious grandmother? You know!!! I didn’t need to say anymore, once details are laid out for him he always vividly remembers just as I do.

We did Chris and Jenna’s engagement session in October 2016 and I knew instantly that this couple was not only gorgeous and photogenic but they are genuine, sweet and truly comfortable in their own skin as well as with one another. Since they had booked their wedding nearly two years prior to their wedding day, I had plenty time to get super excited for their wedding day.

We arrived for pre-ceremony coverage on a gorgeous June day in 2018 and captured a few photos of the Bride getting ready at the salon and proceeded quickly to the church for the remainder of the coverage. We always like to photograph the details of the couple’s wedding day, starting with pre-ceremony and the shoes, jewelry, garter, flowers, etc of the bride’s attire. This is the moment to which we were able to get our first glimpse of the absolutely stunning dress that would accent Jenna’s beauty on that day. There are no words for how gorgeous this dress is. Just a few weeks prior to Chris and Jenna’s wedding, another amazing couple happened to get married as well, in a very public and amazing display, while Jenna didn’t quite have the same world stage as Megan, she was an absolute queen in that dress. The beading, the train, the sleeves, the color, the detail in that dress had me breathless and in awe, it truly made me want to get married all over again. (with the same person of course haha) It never fails to get me choked up and completely humbled to see the support that each and every one of my brides receives, Jenna has an amazing supportive group of friends, who all took part equally in helping to get her ready but the bond that I was able to witness between her and her mom and sister was humbling. I have always longed for a sister, I find that bond to be so awesome. I have my brother who I am close with but age difference has always made me more motherly. (We are 11 years apart and my mom says I’m harder on him than she is, well I’ll take particle credit for what an incredible person he has become then as well LOL) I have been so blessed to say that my “Someday sister in law” Maggie and I have gotten closer and closer over the course of the relationship she has with my brother, I adore her and I am excited to one day have her as a member of the Johnston family. I truly believe that Jenna is blessed with an incredible family but she has married into an equally amazing one as well, their blessings are endless as I can see the way that Cindy and Lindsay, Callie and her mom, Barb look at her.

One of the huge bonus factors of pre-ceremony coverage at the ceremony location is that you have easy access to both the bride and groom, so we were simply able to walk over and get photos of Chris and the groomsmen as well as his family done quickly and easily.

We proceeded to the room where Chris was getting ready and captured photos of a family I was blessed to meet nearly 4 years ago at Lindsay’s wedding but with the sweetest little addition you will ever meet.

I also have to share this moment, now I will admit it took me until the ceremony to put this together, but Chris and Lindsay have a cousin, Matt and his beautiful wife Stephanie, they are incredibly close and this couple was in both weddings and Matt was the best man at this wedding. At Lindsay’s wedding Stephanie was pregnant and we took a few adorable, special photos with her and her baby to be. At the altar as we were taking family portraits and did one with Stephanie and Matt it dawned on me that this little man I’ve been photographing as the ring bearer at Chris and Jenna’s wedding is the tiny little bump I “met” 4 years ago at Lindsay and Chris’s wedding(Lindsay’s husband is also named Chris). WHOA! Mind blown! This little man is absolutely adorable and so incredibly well behaved.

Speaking of adorable, seriously can’t get over how beautiful this couple is. I love how they are so natural in front of the camera, Chris has a perfect smile and those dimples, do I need to say more? Jenna, there are no words for your beauty, you are flawless.

Let’s get these two married!!! The ceremony was short and sweet and full of love. This is the church that Chris grew up in and it always brings a tear to my eye to photograph a wedding where the pastor truly knows the bride and groom, recalls familiar stories, childhood antidotes and a kindness and comfort level that is unmatched in other venues.

Following the ceremony we did altar photos with the families of Chris and Jenna and then we immediately proceeded to Williams Country Club in Weirton, WV for photos with the bridal party as well as portraits of the bride and groom. To say that this venue was perfect is an understatement. We had tons of options here with the stone home, wide open fields, stunning overlook and gorgeous weather.

At the reception, I was excited to see the space, as it was completely transformed and completely Chris and Jenna! Lovely purple uplighting, enormous jaw dropping gorgeous cake and all the details that made this space perfect.

The bridal party entered the reception and the bride and groom cut the cake, immediately followed by sweet, heartfelt and funny speeches give by Matt the best man and Callie, Jenna’s sister and matron of honor. (Can I just say, Cali I need some tips girl, I can’t even fathom how you look so darn amazing after JUST having a baby! )

Dinner was complete and cookie table revealed, it’s time for some very dancing, beginning with Chris and Jenna, followed by Jenna and her Bruce and Chris and his Cindy.

To say I didn’t have a favorite moment of the day at this wedding is a complete and utter lie, I love ALL of the moments of their wedding day. Just as in love and life, it is not one big defining moment that matters most, its all the small moments, the little things that matter. In my life its not the grand gestures that my husband does that mean the most, its 1000 little ones. It’s the card for no reason, the fact that without fail he “sets up” my coffee in the morning so all I have to do is hit the start button, it’s the fact that he wants to give Gabe a bath to give me a minute to decompress or chat with my girl Addi, it’s the fact that I typically go to bed before him but he always texts me to ask if I need anything, its when he goes away on business trips and leaves me a scavenger hunt of post it notes to find each day until he returns. When photographing Chris and Jenna’s wedding, I knew it would be an amazing day, surrounded by amazing people, but what made this day stand out are a million little things. The fact that Jenna has this gorgeous pair of shoes that at the end of the day would have left her in pain, possibly blistered and bleeding, what did she wear??? The perfect pair of beige booties with “something Blue” soles. I knew from that moment when she told me what she was actually wearing, that this was my kind of girl! I am a softball playing, laid back, hair and make up done only if I have to, converse wearing, comfy clothes a must kind of girl, Jenna, I feel you on those shoes girl!

Moments that rocked me, Cindy seeing her mom, Cindy walking down the aisle at both her daughter and her son’s weddings, Cindy dancing with her son, Cindy cuddling with her mom, watching the joyous union of her son and now daughter in law. Cindy, I am a contagious crier. I have attended weddings where no one cried and it makes me question everything LOL. I see Lindsay and Cindy tear up and its all over for me. I was standing at the end of the aisle waiting for the bridesmaid and Bride to walk down that aisle, I cried when Cindy came down and I cried when I glanced over to her still in tears, in fact I think I possibly made Barb cry when I saw her and passed on my contagious crying. I love everything about this. You wear your heart on your sleeve, you are sweet, kind and I always leave the presence of a Haught family event, whether it be an engagement, a wedding or a session with my lil buddy X-Man and I feel truly, truly blessed to have met you all.

As many of you may know, my Dad’s health despite being incredibly active and healthy, has not been great. Heart attacks, strokes, parathyroid surgery x 2, so I can understand the moment that this photo was taken. My dad had his heart attack at 47, approximately one year prior to my wedding, those moments in the hospital, weeks and months and years of recovery and lifestyle changes, I truly was not sure if my Dad would be there to walk me down the aisle. Thankfully my Dad is incredibly proactive about his health, his diet, his body and working out because i. So as Cindy’s mom had recently had some health issues, I know at this moment that Cindy’s embrace, her tears, her comfort and recognition is 100% her being in the moment. These are the moments that I love, I live for, my favorites to capture. The raw, intense emotion of a photograph can show exactly what is going on in that moment without a single word.

The first dance of this bride and groom was like a dream, they laughed, they locked eyes, they were engaged and focused on one another, all the while this lovely clouded effect swirled around them and made for the perfect moment. The comfort level that these two have is simply the effect of many years together, growing together, loving each other, holding one another dear and at the forefront of your thoughts and actions. Its humbling to witness, the older I get the more I look at my couple as young people figuring this thing call life out together. I was married at 25 and I thought I had it all figured out. We were old enough to make all these really impactful decisions about life or so I thought, we have endured some really difficult things, lost loved ones who we hold dear now and always, I am now 37 and look back and think, dang I didn’t know a darn thing but you know what, there is not a single person on this planet that I would like to journey through life with. The term better half never sits well with me, my husband is my partner, my equal, my rock. I can lean on him and vice a versa, he is kind, compassionate and caring, even as I type this, those words seem so generic for the man that my husband is. When I photograph a wedding I can tell you by the end of their day whether they have the skills, the perseverance, the tools, the backbone for marriage. Chris and Jenna, they have it. They have incredible examples of love, relationships in order to emulate. They have the comfort level, the openness, the foundation for an amazing journey.

I am truly in wonder of motherhood, of what a woman’s body is capable of and particularly a new mom. Callie is the perfect example of this amazing concept, a new mom of one of the most stunning little ladies I have ever seen, a head full of dark hair and the most perfect skin. She was an amazing support system for her little sister on one of the biggest days of her life. Anything that I asked of her, helping with belts, jewelry, earrings, train, throwing the veil, speeches…I assume as her daughter is so young that not too many hours of sleep are taking place, yet she was enthusiastically helping Jenna each and every step of the way.

My final favorite moment of the day well all the wee ones at this wedding of course! You have all been to weddings, I’m sure where the cranky flower girl or strong willed ring bearer has reluctantly gone down the aisle. There are no words for the behavior of the children at this wedding. I’m not even kidding if I wasn’t a studious photographer who obnoxiously detail oriented, I may have forgotten that they were even there. I never heard a peep during the ceremony, the family portraits, the alternate location, the reception. I have seriously considered looking into trophies for Flower Girls and Ring Bearers of the year.

I cannot let this moment pass without acknowledging ridiculously cute these two are & their mamas too! Seriously???? CUTENESS OVERLOAD! Those head phones…I can’t.

I can capture many things in a photograph, I can capture the feeling of love, the embrace, the first kiss but none of these photos will ever express MY feelings for the people that I am honored to photograph. I am invested in the life, the lives, the love of each and every one of my clients. It is clients like the Haught family that I get the distinct pleasure of photographing multiple times that pull at my heart strings with an intense velocity that I can hardly put into words. Watching their family grow and evolve, witnessing the love between Cindy and Rich, Lindsay and Chris, Jenna and Chris, Bruce and Barb is truly a gift, capturing it is an honor and having them in my life is a blessing. No one really knows where this journey called life will take you Chris and Jenna, but I do know that it will always include the two of you, together, hand in hand.

No words, no poem, no song could be more perfect for the two of you, than this one.

I found a love for me Darling just dive right in And follow my lead Well I found a girl beautiful and sweet I never knew you were the someone waiting for me 'Cause we were just kids when we fell in love

Not knowing what it was I will not give you up this time But darling, just kiss me slow, your heart is all I own And in your eyes you're holding mine

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song When you said you looked a mess, I whispered underneath my breath But you heard it, darling, you look perfect tonight

Well I found a woman, stronger than anyone I know She shares my dreams, I hope that someday I'll share her home I found a love, to carry more than just my secrets To carry love, to carry children of our own We are still kids, but we're so in love Fighting against all odds I know we'll be alright this time Darling, just hold my hand Be my girl, I'll be your man I see my future in your eyes

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song When I saw you in that dress, looking so beautiful I don't deserve this, darling, you look perfect tonight

Baby, I'm dancing in the dark, with you between my arms Barefoot on the grass, listening to our favorite song I have faith in what I see Now I know I have met an angel in person And she looks perfect I don't deserve this You look perfect tonight

-Ed Sheeran

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