#I mean why did Hank just go with the plan?

[leilohsstupidgaystuff]

A conversation I believe happend off screen in Days of Future Past:

Hank: Do we really have to break Erik out of prison? Charles ex? I know he hasn't done a lot of progress but atleast some and it will be completly destroyed, when he meets Erik again. I don't want to go trough this again. Don't get me wrong I love Charles, but if he fucks Erik again I'm going to kill myself. Maybe in some time he will recover...

Logan: Belive me, when I say it will never get better. In my timeline they're like grandfathers and still eyefucking. They call eachother "old friends" with a way too weird underone. Charles visits him in prison just to play chess with him. You should hear their conversations. It's making me crazy. I can smell the sexual tension everytime they're in a room together. Maybe it's the best for us and our mental heath if we let Charles fuck that psycho.

[seiya234]

21 grams lighter

that website, amirite? anyway can't fucking believe alex did it again.

----

“Uncle Dipper, the school said you had to sign this?”

“Me specifically?”

Hank frowned. “Well, an adult in our house.”

“You’re the first one we found,” Willow added.

Dipper picked up the paper, skimming it quickly and. Oh.

Oh my god.

“Mabel are you in here?”

As the triplets wandered off, task done, a head covered in googly eyes popped out the kitchen door. “Mmmyes?”

Dipper brandished the papers. “Do you remember MADD?”

“Moms Are Down with Drugs? Yeah. We had to do those worksheets, and go to that rally in the gym, and there was a dog in a jacket.” Mabel paused. “Also, I don’t think they actually knew what it meant when you say you’re down with something.”

“Okay, so MADD… but for selling your soul.”

The googly eyes, with impeccable comedic timing, all fell off of Mabel’s face.

“No.”

“Oh my god, there’s a pamphlet.”

By now, Mabel had joined him at the table. “’Soul Selling: Not Even Once!’ Oh. Oh Dipper, this is bad.”

He was trying to hold in peals of laughter. “I know!”

“I don’t think this is going to discourage anyone.”

“I know.”

“And look, they basically give you the directions to summon five different demons in the name of Not Doing That, this is really, really bad.”

“I̶t̷'̴s̵ ̸f̸a̷n̶t̸a̴s̶t̷i̸c̵!̴”

Mabel looked at him, just looked at him for a minute, sadness welling deep in her eyes.

“No. No it’s really not.”

------

Trillions.

A number that is truly incomprehensible, much less in the context of time.

There were souls that rotted in that stomach longer than the oldest rocks of Earth.

--------

[from the M.A.D.D. Brochure, 2285]

“So remember kids, selling your soul doesn’t just effect you. It effects every version of you! It is an indelible mark that will linger for eternity, never changing, never going away. Paths, choices, loved ones, all will wither in the face of the horrible decision that you made! Eternity is forever, don’t make it your fault!”

[penciled in the margins, a note: “so we aren’t going to talk about social inequality or systemic racism then are we?”]

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

(the most eternal, sacred part of a being)

Dipper had been a demon for all of a month, if that, when he was offered his first soul. For a while, he… didn’t really do anything with them.

When he did, it was of course super traumatic for everyone involved but eh, that kind of went with the territory of everything that was happening in his life lately.

Point being, he never was sure why Bill kept everyone trapped inside of him, constantly screaming, constantly playing beach tunes to drown them out. No, better to eat them, get the power, set them free.

Like, obviously, not great to be eating souls in the first place, and yeah, yeah, he could tell, even ten thousand (ten million) (ten billion) years later who he had crunch munched through, but like, they were able to be out there living their lives! Doing stuff. Cycling back through.

Honestly. What had Bill been planning to do with them?

--------

For the first week after it happened, animals ran away from Mabel.

Not just cats and dogs but all animals. Flocks of birds would fly off at her approach, deer would get near the Shack and then run off, and Gompers disappeared into the woods.

After the bear ran screaming from her, Mabel put two and two together, and called Dipper.

“Is this forever?”

Dipper frowned. “What do you mean?”

Mabel waved at her body. “This.”

(it wasn’t fair, it wasn’t fair she was only 16/18/22/17, she didn’t mean for this to happen, she only wanted to live, he only wanted her to live, this wasn’t f a i r )

“Oh. Uh. Um.”

“Dipper. Just. Tell. Me.”

“Hold on.” He reached into his stomach, and pulled out something…. Ineffable.

It felt like every single cell in Mabel’s body was reaching towards it, she found herself walking towards Dipper’s open hand.

The demon looked at her.

“You can have it back.”

She was crying. When did she start crying? And more worryingly, why did it feel like this was the first real, true thing she had felt in a week?

He pushed the Ineffable thing into her chest, and Mabel sank to the ground, sobbing. She felt whole again.

She didn’t realize that she hadn’t been whole, not truly, not until now.

Alcor smirked. “Consider it… out on lease. I’ll take it back eventually.”

She should have challenged him on that. Should have asked him about that. Should have done a million trillion other things.

But Mabel was human. And scared. And so, so very young.

---------

(you were birds)

A young man with fluffy brown hair, mixing his blood with his sister and his new brother-in-law, making a promise.

(you were trees with roots entangled)

They made a family together, it was a beautiful family, they let him stay, stay when anyone else would have told him to leave.

(wherever we go next, whatever you choose, I will always be right there with you)

They fit, like spoons in a drawer, like yin and yang, salt and pepper, ketchup and mustard, literally a million different pairings you could compare the two of them to. They weren’t perfect but love doesn’t need to be, and shouldn’t be perfect.

(that’s done buddy)

One grave

(congratulations)

Another grave, but eighty years later.

(you chose Alcor instead)

[spidernuggets]

Jason Todd x Reader

That song "Loser Baby" from Hazbin Hotel has been on my mind ever since I watched the video, and I'm like, ooooh, prompt idea ✨️✨️

Basically, Jason and Reader are both members of the Titans, Jason's going through some shit, thinking he's alone to deal with it because the other members never cared about his problems, so Reader is there to sort of comfort him!

WARNINGS: mentions of suicide, drug use, weaponry use

Notes: Based on HBO Titans, timelines are mixed, idk how a molotov cocktail works, just go w it, unrealistic gun use

Another day, another failed mission. Why? Jason took the impulsive decision to dive in, head first, into the first danger he saw, which led them to be ambushed by other criminals. Sure, they got the majority locked up, but now the others are spread around Gotham now trying to get backup.

And like most times, when Jason messes up now and again, the members start pointing fingers while Dick was at GCPD.

"We went through the plan a million times, kid," Hank grunts. "You wait for Dick's signal!"

"Yeah, yeah! I heard you the first time," Jason spits back. He's been hearing this ever since the whole fiasco ended up until now as everyone got back to the tower. "Get off my back, will you, at least I fuckin' tried, asshole."

"And we would've completed the mission successfully if you tried after Dick gave the cue," Kory chimes in. "You need to work on your patience."

"Whatever," Jason mumbles storming back into his room.

Just as he was, you were exiting your own room, located just beside Jason's.

"Hi, Jay, how was the- oh...kay?" Just as you were greeting the young vigilante, he ignored you, slamming his door shut.

You walk into the lobby. Though you were a member of the Titans, you didn't participate often in missions. You design and create weaponry for the other members, especially Dick and Jason, as they don't have any powers. You excused yourself from joining the missions because although you knew how and when to use your mechanics best, your combat and stealth skills aren't as advanced.

You picked up this interest of building and experimenting after a few downfalls earlier in your life before Dick found you and took you in.

You grew up on the not so upper class side of Gotham City, and you were not an intentionally planned kid. Your parents made bad decisions, weren't married, and both were struggling in their own way. But your dad soon realised that it was all too much for him. He couldn't take care of himself, let alone take care of a kid, his kid. Soon enough, he reached his limit and swallowed a few too many pills.

That's when your mom went spiralling into her own depression. She smoked more cigs, snorted more coke, and drank more alcohol. And when you were old enough to comprehend the profanity she spat at you, she figured that you were smart enough to live life on your own. So she kicked you out. Later that night, when you came back, just to double check if your mom was just on a high and didn't mean what she said, she was gone. The only evidence to prove she was there were the smashed bourbon bottles and and cigarette butts scattered across the floor.

You sat yourself on the couch, legs tucked into your chest as you wrapped your arms to secure them in place and waited patiently for your mom to come home.

But she never did.

Some bad people were after you, claiming that your mother had owed them a shit ton of money. When you told them you didn't know where she was, they said that you'd have to continue to pay back her debt. You had nowhere else to go. So every time they'd come knocking on your door, you'd bolt out through the fire escape.

You had a molotov cocktail in your hand, a little something you saw your dad do once when he was in a difficult situation such as yours. This is the first time you've tried to use it before. You're scared that saving the bottle would be a waste of time. What if you threw it and the fire just went out? What if it wouldn't have the effect you'd expect? What if it would hurt you too in the process??

You just prayed. Prayed for some sort of miracle. In your other hand, spray on deodorant that you stole from the grocery store a walk away from your apartment.

There's a recently abandoned one-story house just down the road.

Lure them there, spray the room, blow 'em up.

You repeated the plan to yourself. So many things can go wrong. You couldn't do anything but pray.

Your chest ached when you got to the building. You covered your face as you choked, inhaling the deodorant that you sprayed around the room.

"There they are!" One of the men yelled towards your direction. You waited. Just a couple seconds.

You ran out the back window as they crashed through the door. Looking back, you waited as much as you could, making sire as much of the men entered the house.

Now.

You lit the cloth on fire, using your mom's lighter, one of the things you kept, and threw it through the window. And just like that, the fire caught onto the particles of the deodorant, and as the bottle smashed to the concrete floor, the building as a whole burst into flames, the painful screams of men remaining in the house.

"Oh my god, it worked!" You said to yourself, panting as you continue to run away.

From then on, you experimented with other, easier ways to create the same kind of effect. You used scraps of metal, lead wires from lightbulbs, plus lightbulb shards to create explosives to protect you.

Soon, your knowledge of weaponry expanded. You managed to steal a gun from one of the men that were after you. You liked to know how things worked. And you liked to manipulate how they worked.

You spent your time disassembling your new gun and eventually created a new weapon of your own. You'd pretend to be too scared to use it, bad man grabs it off you, aim it at you, pulls the trigger, and boom. The bullet blows to the other end, towards their face.

Too bad luck wasn't completely on your side for long.

You screeched as you walked past an alley, your hair being grabbed and pulled by a large man. "Think you can get away from me, bitch?" A gruff voice spat.

Tears pricked the corners of your eyes, grasping as your scalp that's burning your skull. You heard the glint of a knife as the sharpness poked at your side.

"Please, please, no, please," you whispered, begging for your life to be spared.

"You better pray for a miracle, cunt," the man said, jabbing the knife into your side, then throwing you against the wall, leaving you to bleed out.

Your vision blurred and came to the conclusion that you were going to die.

That is... if some random stranger found you and decided to bring you back to what you found out to be "Titans Tower." Learning his name to be Richard 'Dick' Grayson understood you had no one to take care of you and that you were the one who caused that explosion. He also found your little gun, and the great detective saw how it's been rearranged.

When you woke up, you were in an unfamiliar area. You were bandaged up well, but you were still scared. You hissed, trying to sit up. At the same, Dick walks into the room, a trya with soup, a glass of water and a small tablet next to the glass all prepared.

Dick smiled, introducing himself and apologising for bringing you unconscious. He offered you a shelter, but also wanted to know more about you. How you ended up in the situation, who was after you, and how you managed to rearrange the gun.

He then took you under your wing, giving you your own room and even your own materials to create more weapons for yourself. These ranged from melee weapons, explosives, and hand to hand combat weapons.

Dick tried to train you in physical combat, but you admitted that no matter how hard you tried, your fighting skills won't really improve. So you offered to just create new defence weapons for the team and operate missions from the tower as the team went out.

A couple of months later, you met Jason Todd. You'd be lying if you said he wasn't attractive, and his flirtatious attitude didn't help with your attraction towards him.

You also admired how skilled he was in fighting. Fighting a person while blindfolded? Fighting two people while they're all blindfolded? You wished to be just like him. But you were too shy to talk to him.

Jason speaks before thinking, and you were scared that he'd make fun of you for being part of the Titans without knowing basic combat and stealth skills. So you avoided him as much as you could.

But your guard was down as you had your headphones on, sitting on the couch in the lobby, sketching out a design for new throwing blades that could inject a liquid into the body to knock someone out for around half an hour.

"Why do I never see you around?" A curious voice chimes. One of your headphones laid off your ear, so you flinched when you heard someone begind you.

"Uhm, I.. I don't know what you're talking about," you quietly say, not sure how to confidently talk to the attractive boy.

"You're never out on missions or in the training room. Why are you here?" He says, arms leaning on the back of the couch, face dangerously close to yours

You shrugged. "I kind of make the weapons, I guess. I got those Rs of yours to send a shock wave of electricity," you replied, trying to identify yourself.

Jason tilts his head. "So, how come I never see you around training or missions? With weapons like them, I assume you would be useful out there."

You shake your head. "Fighting isn't really my forte. And my aim is never accurate," you explain, bracing yourself for the taunts.

"Huh. Want me to teach ya?" He offers.

Your head shoots towards him. "Uhm. Thanks, but Dick already tried training me. Trust me, I'd just be wasting your time and be a pain in your ass," you say, fidgeting with the pencil in your hand, kooking away from him.

"Nah, you trust me. I can teach you way better than Dickwad can. And if you still think fighting just isn't a thing for you, we can stop."

You stare up at him for a few moments before sighing and agreeing.

Surprisingly, Jason was able to teach you the basics, but that was as far as you could learn. Nonetheless, you were grateful that Jason taught you something that you could learn. You couldn't thank him enough. In return, you designed weaponry specifically suited for his fighting style.

From then on, you and Jason developed a beautiful friendship. Unfortunately, your crush on him only grew more.

But you and Jason were always there for each other. You never ran out of stories and fun talks to chat about. And eventually, little by little, the two of you opened up about your not so different pasts.

So when Jason stormed into his room after coming back from the mission while making absolutely no contact with you, it got you worried.

"Jeez, what happened?" You say as you walk to where the other members stood.

"Jason being Jason as always," Rachel mumbles.

"Uhh, Jason was just being eager. He's been trying to solve this case for weeks," Gar tries to reason out.

"If that little shit just stuck to the plan, his case would've been solved," Hank raises his voice as Dawn tries to calm him down.

"Just be patient with him. He didn't mean it," you try to calm everyone down.

"We can't be patient with him if he himself can't be patient," Donna calls out from the fridge, grabbing a drink.

"Listen, he's been through enough already, cut him some slack," you begin to get pissed off.

"If you're referring to when he got kidnapped, that was his fault too," Rachel says, sitting down on the couch.

"You know what wasn't his fault? Drawing crosses on your mirror, Rach. And that made all of you blame him for the other shit planted in your rooms. Do you know how much that shit hurt him? And none of you didn't even apologise! So, sorry, on behalf of him, that he wanted to show he was still strong enough even after he was kidnapped and dropped from a skyscraper. But have a little decency and time to understand why he acts the way he does," you ranted, not letting anyone reply as you stormed away.

During your times spent with Jason, you didn't miss his ADHD meds lying around, and eventually, he opened up to you about his therapy talks with Leslie, and you're glad it's somewhat helping. You just wushed you would be as much helo to him.

You knocked lightly on the door. "Jay?" You called out to him. You sighed when you were met with no response. You know he didn't tell you to come in, hut you were so worried for your best friend, so you entered his room.

His rock vinyl was spinning, and you took the pin off, making the loud mhsic stop abruptly.

Staring out the window, Jason turns to you, glaring at you.

"C'mon, it's just me, Jay. You can talk to me," you say.

Jason scoffs. "Yeah, sure. Then you'd think of me like the others do," he says, his gaze returnint out the window.

"And how do they think of you, Jason?"

He shrugs. "Like a fucking loser," he croaks.

"That's because you are a loser," you deadpan. Jason's brows furrow in confusion as he looks at you once more. He honestly thought you'd start to go on a long, petty rant about you thinking otherwise.

You sighed, walking over to him, hding his hands and bring him over to his bed, sitting him down.

"I'm not gonna lie to you, Jay. Your life sucks and I don't know if it's going to get better. There's a chance that it's not. You are a loser. You're spontaneous, make dumb decisions that don't always go well. But, you know? It's not entirely your fault. Your childhood sucks, your current family sucks and most of your teammates sucks. And you're just doing your best. You may be a loser, but guess what? I am, too. I can't fight, I can make weapons, but my aim is shit. My dad died, and my drug addict mom left me. I'm always alone i the tower because everyone else is out doing cool, superhero shit. I understand your pain, Jason. That's why we tell each other the shit we've been through. Because that load might be too heavy for only ourselves to carry. But I'm sure as hell it would be light as a feather if we carry both of our problems together," you choose your words carefully, your hands remaining on his, your thumb stroking his scarred skin.

Slowly, you move your hands, shifting them to link your pinky with his while he remains silent. "Jason, I promise you. I'm always going to be here to listen. I'm always going to be here for you. To help you in any way I possibly can."

Jason doesn't verbally reply. What he does, though, is nod and lean his head against your shoulder, tightening his grip around your hands.

[callsign-dexter]

From Colleagues to Lovers 18+

Request: Hey 😍 I saw a bday anon asking for a present before, so I'm being selfish and nicely asks for this as well (it's Thursday) 🙊 it would be an Antonio imagine, where they're colleagues and have feelings for each other but not dating yet. After one tough case, Antonio invites her over to his apartment for a beer and they talk a while till he kisses her and tells her how much she means to him. They end up sleeping together but all passionate and lovable and afterwards lots of cuddles where they decide to give their love a chance ? Hope this is fiiiiine.

Pairings: Antonio Dawson x Reader

Warnings: fluff, angst, smut

Masterlist

First Installment: From Colleagues to Lovers

Second Installment: Gossip and Glances

Third Installment: Flirt with Risk

A/N: Happy birthday to the anon who sent in the request!

You had been working for Intelligence since you could remember. This means you have been working with Antonio for a while as well. You had slowly begun developing feelings for him and you just hoped that he felt the same way. It killed you to see him with any other girl but you hid your feelings well and powered through it.

You imagined what life with him would be like and you wanted it but held back. You didn't want to make things awkward especially if he shot you down and completely humiliated you. How would you be able to face him at work?

You had just gotten into work when Hank immediately went into detail about a case that you all just had gotten. It was about a man that was going around and kidnaping women and then them showing up dead in very local places.

"Antonio and Y/N I want you both to go to the last crime scene and see if you can get any information or clues. Police have they couple that found the women down there. I want you both to go and talk to her." Hank said and you nodded. You would rather go with someone else instead of making this awkward for both of you but you weren't one to disobey orders and did as you were told. You looked over to Antonio who was in his chair swiveling it side to side while look at you with a smirk, the smirk that you had fallen in love with. You smiled back at him.

"Well you heard the man. Lets go." He said and you nodded and held out your hand out towards the door.

"Lead the way." You said and he did just that. You followed him out of the building and down to the cars. You let him drive since you really didn't feel like driving and he would be more comfortable.

Once you got in and started driving he started to make small conversation which helped a little bit but it was still awkward, well at least for you, you didn't know about him.

"Do you have any plans tonight?" He had asked you and you shook your head.

"No. I don't think this case is going to allow us to have a break honestly." You said and then it was silence.

Once the small talk got nowhere he then turned the topic onto the case and that helped tremendously. "Why do you think he is doing it?" He asked you and you turned to look at him.

"He probably got out raged from a girl that dumped him and I'm guessing he doesn't take being dumped very well." You told him and he nodded.

"He probably is working his way up to the woman that dumped him. I'm guessing he's going to be way worse with her than anyone else." Antonio said.

"He's trying to perfect what he wants to do and once it is perfected then that's when he is going to strike." You said "Do we know who he broke up with?" You asked and he shook his head.

"No, Jay and Adam are supposed to be figuring that out." He said and you nodded then you arrived at the crime scene. He killed the engine and you both got out after parking. You both walked over to the crime scene and began to inspect it after not finding anything and you needed a break.

"Hey I'm gonna talk to the couple that found the body." You told Antonio and he nodded.

"I'm gonna continue looking here." He said and you nodded and you started to walk over to them.

"Good morning. I'm Detective Y/N Y/L/N. I understand that you found the body." You said and they nodded.

"We usually jog this path every morning." The woman said and you nodded.

"Did you see anything unusual when you found the body? Like someone running away or something out of place?" You asked them as you wrote down some stuff.

"No, everything was normally where is was." The man said and you nodded "Oh, there was a red pickup truck that was here but it had sped off." He said

"What was the condition of the truck?" You asked

"It was beaten up with several dings and a broken headlight. We didn't get a license plate due to us being so far away and it speeding off." The man said and you nodded.

"Thank you for your time. If we have any other questions we'll call you and if you remember anything else, don't hesitate to give us a call." You said and they nodded and you headed back to Antonio, it looked like he was done since the coroner was loading the woman up. "Hey, find anything useful?" you asked him and he shook his head.

"No. You?" He asked and you nodded.

"The couple usually runs here in the mornings. They said that they saw an old red beaten up truck with a broken headlight, it had a bunch dings in it but they couldn't get a license plate." You told him he nodded and you both started to walk back to the car to go back to the precinct and tell the information you had gotten.

**********************************************

A week into the case nothing new was coming up. If there was anything new it was just a dead end. More and more bodies have been showing up and everybody was getting restless and agitated. You just wanted to go home and enjoy a nice long hot shower with nobody to disturb you. Sleep you would also love some sleep, you barely had gotten anything when the case started and if you did it was just a few minutes and then you were back at it again. Antonio tried to keep the spirits alive and happy around you but it just wasn't working and that killed him on the inside.

You had just gotten a lead from your CI and were following and checking up on it when the lead suddenly went cold. You were frustrated but didn't let it show but Antonio could see it and so he had cornered you in the locker room.

"Everything ok?" He asked you while leaning up against the locker and you against the wall. You nodded.

"Yea everything is great." You said and he made a face.

"I know you well enough to know that you're lying. What's up?" He asked and you sighed.

"This case is frustrating and I just want it to end." You said and he nodded and then walked over to you and pulled you into a hug.

"I'm frustrated too and want it to end as well. We just have to keep pushing through and hope we catch this bastard." He said and you buried your head into his neck and nodded. "Hey what do you say about us getting a pizza and drinking a few beers at my place, after this is all over?" He asked and you nodded and pulled away to look at him.

"I would love that." You said and he smiled then Kim walked in.

"Hey, we got something let's go." She said and you all hurried out of the room. All 3 of you walked into the bullpen and Hank started to talk.

"We have found his location. His name is Arlen Harlow. As of right now he still has his victim hostage. Gear up and get ready to go." Hank said and you all nodded. Everyone got ready and drove to the location.

Antonio and you rode together to the house. You all made sure you had everything and had bulletproof vests on before storming the house. Once everyone did Hank gave the all-clear, Jay kicked in the door and you all went in. You heard a chours of clears but you had yet to say anything because you were down in the basement staring down Alren, with your gun pointed at him.

When you didn't answer and heard your fellow team members in your ear, they came down to where you were. "We can talk about this." You said to him and he shook his head.

"No. No we can not. I can't go back to jail." He said getting frantic.

"Let the woman go and maybe we can make a deal." You said knowing that the others are there listening and again he shook his head.

"I'm not going back." He said and raised his gun at the woman and as he was about to pull the trigger, you pulled yours and he went down. You stood there not believing what just happened but you quickly got over it and went to the women. You comforted her and then EMTs took her to the hospital.

When you got back to the precinct you filled out your report and talked to Hank. Even though it wasn't ideal you did what had to be done. When you got done talking with him everyone had left the building, well you thought everyone did.

You were sitting at your desk head in hands going over the day. This case was a tough one and it always took a toll on you. You don't know how long you were sitting there but jumped when you felt hands on your shoulders. You turned to look at who it was and it was none other than Antonio. He was smiling at you and you smiled back. "Are you ok?" He asked and you shrugged your shoulders.

"Tough cases always take a toll on me for some reason." You said and he nodded.

"How about that beer and pizza at my place?" He asked and you nodded smiling.

"That sounds amazing." You said and got up. You got your purse and got up while he waited. You both walked out of there together. "What about my car?" You asked him and he shook his head.

"We'll get in the morning." He said and you nodded and followed him out to his truck. Once he opened the door and shut it and then got in, you were able to try and relax. It was a comfortable silence on the ride to his place.

**********************************************

When you arrived he had parked and killed the engine and got out. You were about to open the door but he had beaten you to it. You smiled at him and let him help you down and into his apartment. "Make yourself at home. I'm gonna go put my gun away and then order the pizza." He said and you nodded as you both kicked off your shoes. You went to his fridge and grabbed two beers and headed to the couch.

Not even 2 minutes later he was coming back out smiling at you and you handed him his beer. "I already grabbed you one." You said and he took it.

"Why thank you. Pizza should be here in 10 minutes." He said and you nodded and snuggled into him as he sat down.

"Anything you want to watch?" You asked him and shook his head.

"No. I don't have anything that I'm into at the moment." He said and you gasped.

"The Antonio Dawson is not interested in anything? That's a shock." You said while chuckling.

"It's the truth." He said trying to defend himself and you shook your head and turned on something random which was Fixer Upper. You both made comments until the pizza came. He got up and grabbed the money and paid for the pizza and brought it over to the couch. Half of the pizza was gone and several beers were drank between you both.

You could tell there was something on his mind so you turned off the volume and looked at him. "What's wrong?" You asked and he looked at you.

"What makes you think there is something wrong?" He asked and you turned to look at him fully.

"You always make this face when you're thinking about something. What's up?" You asked again and he sighed and turned to look at you.

"I'm gonna tell you something and I hope it doesn't mess up what we have." He said and you nodded for him to continue. "I've liked you for a while now. Ever since I met you in Intelligence actually. You were the most beautiful woman I've seen and I just couldn't get over your beauty. All of the other girls I've been with were just a distraction for me from you." He said and you didn't know what to say but when you looked into his eyes you did.

"I felt that same way for a while now too." You said.

"You don't have to take pity on me Y/N. I know that's that not true." Antonio said and you shook your head.

"No, it's the truth. When you were with those other girls it killed me inside. I wanted to be the one that you took on dates. I wanted to be the one that had your attention. I've liked no loved you for as long as I could remember. I just thought you were way out of my league to even look at him, much less date me." You said and the next thing you knew you were kissing each other. You continued to kiss until air was needed and then you broke apart.

"Bedroom?" He asked and you nodded not trusting your voice. That kiss was perfect and you felt fireworks go off.

He got up and held out a hand to you and you took it. He led you to his bedroom where he shut the door while you sat down on his bed. He walked over to you while shedding his shirt and showing off his toned chest. He bent down and kissed you and you put your hands on his 6 pack. He gently laid you down and got on top of you and but not putting any weight on you.

Antonio kissed you and then he started to kiss you on the side of your neck and under your ear just on the pulse point, your sweet spot. He sucked on it and nipped at the skin, there was definitely going to be a hickey there in the morning. It had you a moaning mess and your toes curling.

You felt his hands at the hem of your shirt and he looked up and you nodded. He slowly got rid of your shirt and then you felt him kiss down the valley of your breasts and down the hem of your jeans. He reached behind you and unhooked your bra and got rid of it. "You're perfect." He said and sucked your right nipple into his mouth and your head was thrown back and your mouth opened. Your hands went to his head and you pulled his hair. One of his hands went into your jeans and underwear and ran through your slick folds.

"Antonio." You moaned out and then he let go of that nipple and switched to the other, never letting up on touching you. You were close and when his finger went into your entrance and found your g-spot is when that rubber band in your stomach snapped and you moaned out his name.

As you were coming down from your high he was pulling the rest of your clothes off and yours as well. You sat up on your elbows and watched him as he reached over to his nightstand grabbed a condom and rolled it down on his now erect cock that had you drooling. "What about you? I want to take care of you." You said breathlessly.

"Another time. This is all about you." He said and then spread your legs and licked up your folds and that had you falling back onto the bed. He swirled his tongue around your entrance and probed it. Then he went up to your clit and sucked on it and gently bit it. Your hands were back in his hair. If you weren't wet before then you were definitely were now. He was eating you out like your life depended on it.

"Antonio! Right there!" You exclaimed and then he stopped and you let go of his hair. You whimpered but it was stopped by him kissing you. He ran his cock up and down you a few times before pushing into you to the hilt. You were no virgin but the way he made you stretch made you feel like one, he stretched you in ways you didn't know it was possible but in a good way.

"You're so tight. It was like you were made for me." He said and then waited for you to adjust and for a signal to move and when you did he started to slowly thrust into you. He brought his face down to your neck and was kissing your skin and nipping at it.

"So good!" You said and brought your hands up to his shoulders. He slowly kept thrusting into you making the pleasure last. You felt that the rubber band started constricting again "Faster." You told him and felt him smirk.

"As you wish." He said into your shoulder and picked up his pace again hitting in all the right places. Your nails dug into his skin leaving indents and then they started to rake down his back and you felt and heard him hiss. There was no doubt that there were going to be scratches down his back but he would wear them proudly.

"I'm close." You told him and he nodded.

"Me too." He said and then his thrusts started to get sloppy. On the next thrust, he stilled inside you and shot his load into the condom as your climax hit as well. He rode you through your orgasm and his.

Once you both came back down he slowly slid out of you with a now soft cock. He got up and took it off and tied it off and threw it away. You watched him but couldn't say anything too out of it. You watched him go into his bathroom and come back with a washcloth. He started to wipe between your legs and up your folds which made you jump. "I'm sorry." He said as he finished and you shook your head.

"I'm just a little sensitive. Nobody has made me cum especially twice before." You said and he had a look of horror on his face.

"Then they weren't doing it right or taking care of you." He said and then discarded the washcloth in the hamper and came over and laid down. You turned to him and cuddled into him. "I love you Y/N. Nothing is going to change that. I want to be with you. I want to take you on dates. I want to give our love for each other a chance." He said and you smiled.

"I would love that, Antonio. I love you too. I want to be with you. I really want to give our love a chance, I have ever since I met you." You said and then he kissed you.

"Then it's settled. We both want the same thing. I love you." He said

"I love you too." You replied and snuggled into his chest

As you were drifting off you felt him press a kiss to your head and rest his on top of yours. You finally did it. You confessed to your crush over pizza and beer you couldn't be happier. You both loved each other and aren't going to be letting each other go anytime soon.

Who knew it would take a tough case for it to happen? You certainly didn't. Do you wish it would've happened another way? Maybe you did but you weren't complaining about how it did happen.

Tag list:

@kmc1989

@els-marvelvsp

@atarmychick007

@nyx2021

@grandstrangerphantom

[saltymongoose]

Streamer player who got into the game with their phone and aren't exactly behaving the way the employers expected them to at first💥

Auditor goes on his little monologue about you being important to this entire reality and how you being locked up in here is non-negotiable and how you can't just leave! They finally got you here and they're so excited-

Player is giving no visual reactions but he keeps on talking (he. Is acting a bit out of pocket now that the player is finally here! You can't blame him!!!)

Then suddently they just kinda.

Player is now visibly irritated and typing up a longgg post abt them having to stop streaming for now and how they love their fans and won't stop interacting!!! It will just take longer to post significant content! And apologising profusely to their followers.

As they're doing this they start a very upset rant about the situation they're in

Like they go all the way off💥💥 going from how badly planned their kidnapping was and how if they really wanted the player to stay in this bland little concrete room the employers should have at the very least let them grab a charger. Did they even know if humans could breathe in this atmosphere?? They could have died! Did they even take their medication with them? No? Of course not. God, can it even get any worse? Oh! And just so you know, being locked in a small boring enviroment is very detrimental to any human's mental state! Do they even know if food in nevada can fit their dietary requirements?? If the auditor didn't go on that rant about the importance of the player, they'd assume they were captured to get tortured! If this is the level of planning the employers were capable of, then they could see why they couldn't catch Hank yet.

40 minutes after being left in the room by themselves the player gets out and they apologize for getting so mad.🫡

(What the rest of the employers see after the auditor leaves the player's room)

Omg, it's something the Employers never expected to see. The consequences of their own actions. 🤯

Yes, we love to see the Player sticking it to the Auditor (and the rest of the Employers), and they do have a point. Besides the observations they made over your webcam, they had no other source of information on humans, and it's not like watching someone play video games and go about their business in their room can tell you about all their needs. Your biology is completely unfamiliar to them, and who knows if you need any specialized medical care to deal with any disorders or ailments you have? Like if you were diabetic, how the hell would you get insulin? Do they even have insulin in Nevada? What about food? Or enrichment? Humans are social creatures, and it's not like talking only to the four of them would be sufficient for that. And that's just a few things in addition to the arguments you gave in your ask as well.

I like to think that the Player is just so done with the situation that they're the one who orders the Auditor to leave the room while they type out a message to their followers. I mean, they just woke up in a whole other dimension/world after being kidnapped. It's not like they'd be all that comfortable with just chilling in the room with the Auditor after giving him the verbal lashing they did lmao. 

Meanwhile, the Employer is just beside himself, because he can't exactly weasel his way out of responsibility here or argue against what the Player said - because they're right. The Auditor took a major gamble by really just assuming they would be able to survive there off of some similar details in their surroundings, and if he were any less impulsive, he'd have done some further tests to see if such a thing was really feasible.

What makes it worse for him is that I'm also willing to bet that Stygian or one of the other Employers suggested doing just that, but he didn't listen to them because he never listens to them lmao. (Also I love that picture of the Auditor, it's one of my favorite things in the world now, no joke.) 

And it's not like they're going to comfort or support him once he steps out of the room either. In fact, they'll probably chastise him (Stygian totally would at least), and then insist that you were entirely right and they don't think you should apologize at all. 

Maybe they're doing it for extra brownie points, as the Auditor's clear fuckup in your eyes provides a very good opportunity to make themselves look good (even if it's extremely hypocritical lol). But then you reference their own work to help the Auditor's plan and throw it back in their faces because you just know he could never do this whole operation alone. (And you're still important to other people besides them regardless, like your beloved fans who're gonna have to deal with the fallout of their selfishness.)

However, fortunately for the other three, your scolding is far less harsh than it had been on the Auditor. That doesn't mean you won't still make a point of it when necessary though.

[yallemagne]

Finally posting my feelings on season 3 of X-Men: TAS. Ughhh.

Episode 1 & 2: Out of the Past

Looooove Gambit and Jubilee’s continued sibling relationship. 

Yuriko: “You killed my father!” Logan: “I didn’t!” Yuriko: “I’m gonna pretend I didn’t hear that.”

Don’t got much else to say other than ugh this leads into the space shenanigans and I haaaaate that. 

Episode 3, 4, 5, 6, 7: The Phoenix Saga

This saga is a drag but that doesn’t mean I didn’t get emotional when Jean and Scott parted. Seriously, when they kissed?? And Jean’s hair lit up like it was aflame? Fucking sexy as hell can I be them? These two are romance incarnate. 

Episode 8: No Mutant is an Island

Scott is so fucking done and I love that for him. He deserves a chance to go apeshit. Says he’s sick of playing “den mother”??? Oh my god. Speaking truth to power. Especially since Logan’s absence clearly marks that he’s already gone off to sulk, Scott deserves some sulk time for himself. 

THE ORPHANAGE. RUSTY!!! RUSTY COLLINS!! My darling Russell. 

“He’s just not used to the loving discipline a boy his age needs.” Kill this pervert. “After only two days I already love you like a son.” SCOTT KILL THIS PERVERT!!

Killgrave’s using these fucking kids as a scapegoat and the crimes they’re blamed for in his stead are what keep them from getting the help they need. I fucking hate this cunt. 

THEY DUMPED SCOTT IN THE POOL??? DOG?? What are y’all gonna do when a man is found drowned in your pool? Say “whoops guess he couldn't swim”??

I don’t like this Sarah chick. I’m sorry but like Killgrave is the most suspect guy ever, and she endangered the lives and futures of those children because “no one else would take them”. All that bullshit about her seeing the mutant kids as family? Girl, you got rid of them. She’s just gonna sell them to the highest bidder again because that’s what she did last time. 

I don't like that the message is "acceptance and tolerance is earned not forced" no, tolerance is NOT earned. Under no circumstances should a child be forced to EARN the right to live. Killgrave is wrong because he's a human trafficker using children to commit crimes. And obv his plan to groom the kids to become politicians would have never worked because his actions have gotten the kids in trouble with the authorities before, meaning they are distrusted by society because of HIM.

Episode 9: Obsession

I’m just gonna take a wild guess and say the Ming Dynasty scroll was planted to lure Archangel in. 

Warren is a fucking prick. Worthington is a dumb cunt and I hate him. “Deep down, he is still Warren Worthington!” Well, Warren Worthington is a bit of an angsty prick, so that ain’t saying much Rogue. Rogue and her sympathy for bitter blue bastards is gonna be her downfall. 

“Xavier was right, it is sentient! We can speak to it!” Uhh… or the ship just has Siri, McCoy. 

“Ship, you are a work of art.” “Thank you, Henry McCoy. You have no idea what a pleasure it is to interface with someone who appreciates the subtleties of my programming.”  Okay damn. I stand corrected. And Hank is about to wine and dine a ship. Jioegpoi Hank getting shocked for attempting to hack the ship and the ship apologizing. Wolverine and Cyclops are just standing there like “why are we here playing voyeur to this weird shit?”

I knew it, the scroll was planted. I fucking called it.

They need to stop giving Hank compelling love interests and then getting rid of them by the end of the episode. 

THEY SHOT APOCALYPSE INTO SPACE LIKE KARS. 

Episode 10: Longshot

Logan teaching Jubilee to drive!!! And he’s wearing a fuckin’ cowboy hat and a bolo tie. Why is he dressed for the rodeo? And he’s just such a dad for the rest of the episode, he recognizes Jubilee’s crush on Longshot and IMMEDIATELY goes into Dad Mode. 

“Bad doggie! No biscuit. We got leash laws in this town, mutt.” I fucking Love Wolverine. 

“Allowing me to scan his mind must be Longshot’s decision.” We love a king who respects consent. 

I fucking love Domo’s nicknames for Mojo. 

Yeah, I think I love Longshot. And I think most of the reason is just that I’ve read Exiles but ya know. He really is a heartthrob. He’s cliché but it’s a fun cliché. 

Honourable mention: that ram guy who threw away his gun to pull out a knife. 

Jubilee outfit without the coat is cute. Lol but they kept accidentally animating her with the coat on. 

Episode 11: Cold Comfort

BOBBYYYYY. Gay boy what are you doing here? Lol Bobby was the golden child, that much is obvious. At the same time he’s like “I was never good enough for you!” Dude Xavier let you get away with everything and that bred resentment in your teammates. 

Scott’s been wearing a bomber jacket recently and it just makes me miss Morph more

“What’s with those two? I’ve never seen the Professor so angry.”Daddy issues. “It’s a surrogate father-son dynamic with unresolved issues of dominance.” Wow damn I was right. 

Bobby: *insults Scott* Logan: *unsheathes claws* “Only I can call Cyke a goody goody.”

Jubilee looking up the records <333

FORGE???

QUICKSILVEr????

…Havok? oh gee.

Love Logan calling out that the government is employing mutants to police mutants. Forge says they're helping but like... Jaguars. Faces.

WHAT THE FUCK POLARIS. Polaris you absolute piece. “You wouldn’t have supported my decision so we faked my disappearance.” Who does that? Imagine needing to have absolutely no pushback in your decision-making, so to avoid having an argument with your boyfriend you fake your own kidnapping and start dating someone else without ever breaking up with the first guy. I wouldn’t hold it against her if it were just a simple misunderstanding, like if she left a note but he thought she wrote it under duress, but she purposely led him to believe that she needed to be rescued. 

They need to stop introducing characters that could be permanent additions to the team and then squandering that.

Episode 12 & 13: Savage Land, Strange Heart

Who is this chicken lady? I can’t take her seriously, she looks like a chicken. 

Rogue and Storm are lowkey dating and I love it. 

NO ONE KNOWS HOW TO CLOSE THEIR EYES. Who knows? Maybe it isn’t as simple as closing your eyes or looking away… but then why have Sauron repeat the phrase “look into my eyes” if you don’t actually have to look for him to control you? It’s stupid. 

“Well, next time Storm is kidnapped, I’ll make sure they take her someplace nice.”

The Savage Lands are fucking boring oh my god. 

I’m guessing… Sinister was in the soil when they last left… they’re saying Garokk is in the soil… hmm?? I’m probably wrong tho… it actually is just Garokk, that’s boring.

WOLVERINE TACKLING AND PETTING ZABU!! Fucking adorable.

Episode 14, 15, 16, 17: The Dark Phoenix

This whole saga gave me the ick. It made me sick to watch. It’s is just a very disgusting storyline. First, Phoenix invalidates Jean’s free will, then the motherfuckin’ Rape Syndicate drops in and invalidates Phoenix’s free will. It’s just very gross and I felt like I was playing voyeur to some gross man’s fantasy. OH WAIT I literally fucking was because of that creep character I refuse to remember the name of.

“Ohoho! Looks like you’ve been having fun without me! Where’s the Cajun?” kinky

Who the fuck are these silk-stocking wearing hoes? “Tradition demands that this power be wielded by us” Ah, so they’re white supremacists. 

Every woman wants a piece of Scott. Callisto wanted a piece, Dazzler wanted a piece, The Phoenix is staying in Jean’s body because she wants a piece. “Dark pleasure of destruction” Fancy words for saying you want to peg that man. 

KEEP YOUR HANDS OFF OF HER. GET A JOB. STOP FUCKING TOUCHING HER YOU CREEP. I scream. They do not listen. But hahahaha Scott’s beautiful eyes broke her out of the creep’s rape fantasy. 

DAZZLER YOU PIECE. I know it’s hard to resist Scott’s charms but you do NOT spring a kiss on a man. Literally this whole thing is caused by people not respecting consent. The only reason Scott and Jean’s psychic rapport was broken was because Dazzler couldn’t fucking keep her hands to herself. And it's SOOO forced bc he could have just sent Gambit to play bodyguard.

These guys are fucking governing Genosha in ’97. Whose bright idea was it to put the Rape Syndicate in charge of a sovereign nation?

“I know what you’re thinking, bub. Question is: “Can I get Wolverine before he turns me into shish kabob with his claws?” Well bub, seeing as these claws are adamantium: the strongest metal known and can slice through vanadium steel like hot butter, you gotta ask yourself: “Do I feel lucky?””

“Lousy year.” *drops wine bottle on man’s dick*

I just love unhinged Wolverine quotes.

“I need no help from a woman to destroy the X-Men.” What a surprise. The head creep is a misogynist. Question: if Shaw can absorb any energy, can he absorb the energy of me ripping his spinal cord from his back? Asking for a friend.

Just when I think it’s over this damn saga still won’t end. Lilandra I thought I was done with you, woman. You come back into my life to fridge Jean Grey a second time, you piece. 

Scott/Jean has captured my mind and soul. They’re perfect. I love them so much. 

Episode 18: Orphan’s End

What an on-the-nose title for an episode where Cyclops learns his father is alive. Oh by the way that was mentioned before, his father is a space pirate. 

Cyclops mockingly calling Corsair “dad” fuels me. Let him tear his father a new one. 

Corsair says that if he’d known his children were alive nothing could have stopped him from coming back. Girly you never even looked, deadbeat. Just assumed your sons were dead for convenience, motherfucker. 

Episode 19: Love in Vain

We need a codeword for when Rogue gets dragged into some bullshit by toxic people from her past. Girl has had too much. Cody gave me bad vibes from the beginning. 

The fact that they defeat the Brood by talking to their sentient fish space ship? Two for two on sentient ships saving the day this season.  

Logan trying to comfort Rogue but her gravitating toward Gambit, the one whose affections she spurned going after the one that got away… I just got a lotta feelings, okay?

Season 1

Season 2

[sayafics]

Just For A Moment - Part 1

Jay Halstead x OC/reader

This is my first time trying to write something angsty, so please be kind! I've seen quite a few fics where the partner always gets seen when they see their SO cheating, and its always teary denials and breakups, I wanted to put a spin on it and go down the line of "she knows, but she doesn't tell anyone" and the OC kind of just thinks of them as broken up and strangers without telling their SO that.

My plan with this storyline is that everyone kind of sides with Jay because no one really knows why she's being so cold with him, and it just carries on building until it reaches the breaking point. The question is, who'll break first?

Please let me know if you enjoyed this!

TW: cheating, (slightly?) angsty

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

Part 5

Part 6

Masterlist

Voight had extended an offer for Aurora Gallo to join his Intelligence department a few days after Erin had left, Erin's departure left a gaping hole in the team and Voight was hopeful that Aurora would be the one to mend it.

Aurora was the daughter of an old friend of Hank's. She'd spent a few short years working her way through different organisations such as the CIA and FBI as an undercover operative.

But she needed a break. She was slowly losing herself in the multiple lives she had lived, and she needed a change.

Aurora hadn't expected the offer from Voight, but she was grateful all the same.

She moved to Chicago shortly after his offer, joining the Intelligence office and being partnered with him.

Jay Halstead.

Jay was an enigma - one she couldn't get enough of.

She had heard the rumours, of course. Of how Jay had been in love with Erin before she left.

And she had been the one to replace Erin, in both the team, and now in Jay's life.

It was hard not to draw comparisons. The whispers of the department always found their way to her, and, sometimes, when she looked into Jay's eyes, she always thought she could see him longing for more.

But she told herself not to worry, that Jay cared for her, that Jay chose her.

Not Erin, and definitely not anyone else.

That's what she continued to tell herself. Even after Hailey joined the team, even after Hailey found ways to get close to Jay when she wasn't his partner.

Soon, the small habits that Jay carried out for Aurora, he would carry out for Hailey too.

Checking up on her after a tough case, bringing her coffee in the mornings, dropping her off home after a late day at work, and picking her up bright and early in the morning. All of it, once done just for Aurora, were now moments and memories she shared with Hailey.

And just like that, those actions lost their meaning. But Aurora learnt to hide her hurt, instead choosing to ignore her heart and listen to Jay.

They were just friends.

That was what Jay had said the first time she expressed her concerns over their relationship, and she believed it. That everything Jay did for Hailey was out of the goodness of his heart because he was just so good.

So, on the night of their six month anniversary, when Aurora had dolled herself up and grabbed the cake, she had spent the whole day baking, on her way out of her apartment, she had left with a heart full of love and excitement.

The team had the day off today, and she had spent most of her morning at Jay's house before drumming up an excuse to go back to her apartment so she could finish her preparations.

Aurora held no sadness in her heart at the idea Jay might have forgotten their six month anniversary, after all such a thing wasn't significant to everyone.

But it was special to her, and she wanted to celebrate it with Jay - surprise him even.

Before leaving his place, she had asked Jay if he had plans, and he denied saying his only plan was to drink beer and watch the game. The revelation had calmed her nerves as she promised to text him later if she was free, knowing that she wouldn't because she wanted to surprise him instead.

And that was why she now stood in front of Jay's apartment, a small box with the cake she had baked and decorated that afternoon laid by her feet as she rummaged for the spare key Jay had given her for emergencies.

This seemed like the biggest emergency of all. If she stayed outside any longer, the frosting on her cake would melt off. And no one likes melted frosting.

As she quietly opened the door, she prayed silently that Jay had fallen asleep on the couch as she bent over to pick up her cake before walking through the door. As she closed the door behind her, her heart had calmed at the silence that rang through the apartment, hopeful that Jay truly had fallen asleep so she could set up the kitchen table before waking him.

She had taken two steps towards the kitchen before her eyes landed on the couch, and through the dim lights of a table lamp, she could make out that it was empty. She frowned slightly, hoping Jay wasn't asleep in bed - he rarely slept well, and the idea of waking him from a deep sleep rather than a nap would have just made her feel guilty.

If he had, she would just have to surprise him in the morning, and the thought brought a timid smile onto her face.

She continued her walk towards the kitchen, her steps quiet but hurried as the skirt of her deep blue dress billows around her thighs. She sets the cake on the kitchen counter, hands ready to lift up the lid to see the damage her journey here had done to the cake before she heard it.

Aurora felt her heart sink, pressure building in her sternum as the sound she heard repeated over and over again, not only in her head but in the apartment.

It sounded like... a woman?

She felt her breath stutter, the quiet moans she heard building in volume as she slipped her heels off and treaded cautiously towards the room she knew to be Jay's. After all, she and Jay had been in there many times.

As she got closer towards the room, her hands trembled as she stumbled, her feet catching on clothes thrown astray. The sight caused her to hesitate, frozen in a stupor as she looked at the articles of clothing which littered the floor.

Shoes, trousers, shirts. Women's clothes.

Aurora screwed up her eyes harshly, her breaths coming out in ragged pants as she tried to control herself, trying to convince herself that she was wrong. That Jay couldn't do anything wrong. He cares about her. He loves her. He said so himself. Her Jay wouldn't do something like this.

She opened her eyes, determination painted her gaze as she continued her path to Jay's room. His door was cracked open, and she held her breath as she peaked through.

Aurora's heart fell to the ground - shattered and broken. She had hoped, and she had prayed that the grunts and pleas - sounds she was so familiar with - were just a trick her paranoia was playing on her.

But looking into Jay's room, there was no denying it.

There sat her boyfriend, on the bed they had made love in, fucking another woman. Jay was leaning against the headboard, his head thrown back in pleasure as his hand gripped the waist of the blonde woman perched on his lap, his knuckles blanched as he ground her hips against his, the motion causing a moan of pleasure to wrench itself from her throat, his name on her lips as she spoke - "fuck, Jay, I'm so close."

The blood had drained from Aurora's face, she knows that voice.

"I know, baby. I'm close, too. God, Hail you feel so good."

Baby?

Tears began to well in Aurora's eyes. Jay calls her baby, and now he's called her too?

This wasn't some one night stand or some mistake. No, Jay cares about Hailey, so much so that he is willing to betray Aurora to have her.

Aurora's throat ached as she held back her sobs, her heart burning in agony as she stepped back quietly from the door. She made her way back to her things and hastily grabbed her box of cake and shoes as she scrambled away from Jay's apartment, running away from the her own nightmare.

She made it to her car, hands shaking as she shut herself in and sobs poured out from her.

Aurora had no one to go to. She didn't know the team as well as Jay, and she hadn't been around Chicago enough to make close friends. Her previous career and her lifestyle made it hard to make friends, much less keep them.

And now, when she needed someone the most, she had no one.

And she had lost the one person she thought she could always go to.

Aurora's eyes were filled with tears, and her heart filled with pain as she drove home. Her hands were shaky on the steering wheel, and she relied on muscle memory to bring her back to the place she felt the most safe in.

The place she had allowed Jay in, the place she was the most vulnerable in. And he ruined it. He ruined her.

Without warning, anger began to bubble in her chest. Anger towards herself for being so naive to believe Jay when he said they were just friends, anger towards Jay for lying to her, for betraying her, anger towards Hailey for being a friend to her only to betray her too.

The anger that built up in her on the drive home festered throughout the night. As Aurora lay in bed, struggling to quieten her mind enough to get some sleep, her eyes burning from all the tears she shed and her throat raw from her screams and cries, she felt her anger morph into dread.

Tomorrow, she would see the man that betrayed her, and the woman she called a friend.

On her nightstand, her phone continued to light up the ceiling as notifications popped up. But Halstead's texts went unanswered.

***

The next morning, Aurora had awoken from a restless sleep, and she instinctively reached for her phone, a ghost of a smile on her face as she looked for the sweet 'good morning' messages her Jay would send her every morning.

Hey baby, you okay? You didn't come back over yesterday.

Aurora felt her smile falter - the most recent text Halstead sent caused the memories of last night to flash past her eyes. The remembrance of his lies and his betrayal once more brings tears to her eyes as they fall, leaving hot trails in their tracks.

Her eyes then fall to a text from Voight - Case. Meet at 9.

It was currently 7:30am, which gave her plenty of time to pull herself together and push away the dread of having to see the two people she trusted most after their betrayal.

She pushed herself out of bed, shuffling towards the bathroom - dear God, she looked a mess. The makeup from last night still painted her face, but her mascara and eyeliner were now smudged and drawn down her cheeks in smeared streaks, and through the smudged-off makeup, the faint lines of the scars she hid could be seen.

And her eyes, they looked sad.

And that realisation made fury bite at her, she looked so pathetic.

God, it was her fault. To let him in so easily, after all she had been through and all she had learnt about men. She had still gone and trusted one with her heart.

Aurora had come across all kinds of men and stood against them undefeated - those who beat their wives and children, those who hurt and raped the innocent, those who killed without fear of consequences and those who tortured with hearts full of glee.

And yet, it was Jay Halstead who broke her. All because she let him in, let him get too close.

Determination set in her gaze once more. She wouldn't let Halstead be the end of her. No, she was stronger than that, better than that.

With that thought in mind, Aurora got ready to face the man she once called her boyfriend and the love of her life.

***

When Aurora stepped into the district, it was obvious to Sargent Platt that something was different.

She looked the same - her hair pinned up in the same sleek ponytail, dressed in the same long sleeve jumper and cargos. But her face was void of emotions, and her eyes looked like they were drowning in them.

Sargent Platt liked Aurora. She was a good kid, and despite all the years she spent around violence and horror in her years undercover, she had managed to keep a pure heart and a joyful soul.

It seemed now that both of those things had been drained out of her.

"Hey, kid. Come here a sec."

"Sorry, Sargent, got a case," Aurora nodded stiffly in Trudy's direction before walking up the steps to the intelligence office.

Sargent?

Aurora has called her boss, even Platt. When she tried to push her friendship with her, Aurora would even call her Trudy, sometimes, in a teasing manner. But she had never been so formal, so devoid of emotion.

Trudy felt worried for the girl, her mind running countless scenarios as she wondered what had made her lose her light in such a short amount of time.

***

When Aurora had made her way up the stairs, the office was already buzzing, her team talking and walking around in circles as they discussed the case on hand - a twelve year old boy had been kidnapped, this was the third case over the last ten days and the other victims had been found dead. Homicide had turned up empty in their investigation, and given how close the last case was to their district, Voight offered to take it off their hands, to which they gladly agreed.

She looked over her colleagues, scanning the room for the one person she was unsure of if she would want to see. But it seems his eyes found her first.

"Babe, there you are," Jay's voice sounded exasperated as he leapt up from his seat at his desk, and just like always, Hailey was hovering over his shoulder.

Usually, the action would cause her to feel slightly annoyed, the feeling being quelled when Jay would hold her hand or kiss her cheek or just say her name.

Now, the sight brought a burst of emotions, all of which she fought down and locked away to face at another time when she was alone and it was safe to be vulnerable.

Halstead made his way to her, his hands cupping her cheeks as he looked at her in concern, "baby, you didn't answer my texts, I was so worried."

Aurora shrugged lightly, her face still blank as she found she had no energy to even fake a smile to him, "I was tired."

No apology, no placation. Because he didn't deserve that.

It seemed that Jay had noticed her lack of reason and apology, too, the concern in his eyes growing as Aurora pushed his hands down gently - "we have a case to work."

She pushed past him and walked to her desk, ignoring the 'hey, Aurora' Hailey had thrown her way, grateful when Voight had chosen that exact moment to step out of his office and brief them.

Unbeknownst to her, Jay continued to eye her in worry. He had already been struggling to fight off the guilt he felt when he stepped out on Aurora and slept with Hailey, but to see her so drawn away and isolated only made that grow. Paranoia ate at his heart, but he knew there could be no way she caught them.

Voight had given them the basics of Aurora's past career as an undercover agent, and Jay knew that if she had caught him and Hailey, they would be working on their murder case right now instead.

What do we think? Do we want a part 2?👀

[polaris-likethestar]

how to get your man back: a step-by-step guide by raven - chapter two

two chapters in less than a week im literally thriving guys this is an accomplishment anyways enjoyyy

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

“And, you see, that’s how I plan on getting him back.” Raven says proudly, as she finishes reciting her entire plan to her therapist, Logan. (She’s aware that she does not seem like the type for therapy, but you can’t look pretty if your mascara is all smudged from crying).

Logan just sighed. “Raven, have you ever considered that maybe this is just for the best? I mean you knew him for what, a week, before you started dating him. How well do you even know him? Like, what’s his birthday, for example?” Raven just scrunched up her nose in confusion. “Um, why does his birthday matter? And besides, it hasn’t passed yet. Cause there would totally be a party, cause he’s totally the type of person to throw a party. Cause he’s cool like that. And I would’ve been invited. Duh.” She throws her hands up in the air as if that’s some sort of valid answer, which, in her opinion, it is but she can tell Logan doesn’t like it.

“If you don’t even know his birthday, how would you know if he’s the type of person to throw a party?” Logan questioned her, visibly wondering why he chose this as his job.

“Because. It’s obvious. He’s hot, he’s popular. Like, why wouldn’t he?”

“Because, Raven, there is more to life than being hot and popular. You’re not going to be a teenager forever. This stuff isn’t going to matter forever. In ten years, you’re going to be an adult and the number one thing on your mind isn’t going to be if your earrings match your skirt. It’s going to be paying the bills, getting the groceries, all that stuff. You’re going to have to grow up eventually. I know you’re still a kid, but not for long.”

If there was one thing Raven did not want to think about, it was being an adult. “But Charles is already an adult enough for the both of us, and he’s like, still 17. He’s so stressed. Also, paying the bills really doesn’t matter if you’re, like, rich, right?”

“That’s not the point, Raven.” Logan rolled his eyes. “The point is you need to realize this silly high school stuff is futile. I mean, do you even know what futile means?”

“Um, no? Does it have to do with tiles?"

“No, Raven, it has nothing to do with tiles. Now, look, our time is up but I think you need to really think about what’s important instead of just what you think would make you look cool.”

With that, Raven exited the therapy office. Whatever, she thought. She knew he was convinced she was going to peak in high school and be a depressed loner for the rest of her life but that wasn’t true. In fact, she was literally already focusing on adulthood – trying to find her future husband! See, she was focused on the important things.

When she got home, he made her way to her room and plopped down onto her bed, pulling up the message Charles sent her with Hank’s number. She hovered her fingers above the digits, wondering whether to call or text. Logan had told her that texting gave more room for things to be misinterpreted, and that was the last thing she needed. So, with that, she clicked the call button and let the phone ring.

He responded quickly to her surprise – wasn’t he like busy studying or something? “Um, hi? Who is this?” He asked. “Hi, this is Raven.” She said making her way over to her vanity. She placed the phone on the table, putting it on speaker, and taking out her nail polish box. “Oh hi, uh-” “quick question, should I paint my nails pink or red?” “Oh, um I really don’t know much about-” “Hmm, you’re right, probably the red, the pink feels too childlike and girly, I bet Logan would say something about it, God, he’s such a bore, always yap, yap, yapping about how I need to be more mature.” Raven rolls her eyes and puts the box away, setting the red color down on the desk.

“Logan? Who’s that, a third boy you mixed into your little scheme?” Hank asked over the phone, obviously waiting for Raven to either tell him something important or hang up. “What? Ew, no. He’s my therapist. And like, way too old for me. Not that I’d mind, but no, he gets on my nerves way too easy for that.”

“Anyways, we have to talk about Friday.” Raven said, in a sing-songy voice she knew would drive Hank mad. “What about Friday?” Oh, she could hear him practically fuming.

“Okay, well, Friday is the football game. Which means I must be there as well as the rest of the cheerleaders – which means you should be there as well!” She clicked her tongue, and gave a little shrug, even though he couldn’t see her.

“Um, what? Football game? Raven, I don’t know if you realized this, but I don’t do football games. Or any sports. Or really anything involving cheerleaders and guys who could beat me up?” Ugh. Did he really expect to just spend his whole life just hiding behind a book? What a nerd. And a coward, if you ask Raven. (Not like she was one to talk about cowards; creating a whole new fake boyfriend just to get her ex back is little bit extreme but whatever).

“Well, you’re dating me now - fake dating at least - so, it’s kind of required. Besides, Friday’s your pay day, do you really think I’m going to just give you money for doing nothing?” She asked, not even waiting two seconds before delivering a response. “No, exactly. So, you’re coming, alright? I’ll bring you something to wear because let’s face it: I do not trust you to pick out something cute. Like, you literally dress like Charles.”

“Wow, thanks a lot, Raven.” He said, his voice dripping with sarcasm.

“You’re welcome loser. See you tomorrow.” And with that, she hung up.

After that, she headed towards her bed and lay down on the fluffy pink sheets, opening up her phone again, ready to spend next few hours endlessly scrolling through social media, liking her fvorite celebrities' posts, you know, the usual. She ignored the lingering feeling in her stomach as she sees no new messages, no new tiktok or instagram dms, no new notifications. No nothing. No one having anything worth saying to her. Guess being captain of the cheer squad with over ten thousand Instagram followers doesn’t mean a thing.

It’s always been like this. She never liked to admit it, but she was never close with anyone. Her friends were more like acquaintances. Jean, Moira, Emma, all of them. They’re just….there. Only Charles ever really understood her. Only she ever really understood Charles. That’s why they were so close. And Raven is so, so grateful for that. But it’s not ideal. She’ll never say it. Not even to herself. But she knows, she knows deep down it’s not okay, that most girls her age should have a real life and real friends and not just fake stuff made up for social media. Maybe that's why she was so quick to come up with this plan. Maybe because she's so used to faking her way through life, always creating some little scheme in order to get what she wants. Everything is fake for her, it always has been. She needs something real. She’s forgotten what real feels like. Maybe it would be nice.

But it’s fine. Really, it’s fine. Like she said, she has her brother, he’s her best friend. And soon enough, she’ll have Erik. Just because this plot was fake, he was real. They were real. They were meant to be, and they were going to be. She will have Erik, that’s a fact, and nothing is going to get in her way. (She can’t afford to have anything get in her way. She can’t afford to lose someone else.)

And, for now, she, in some weird, unconventional way has Hank. Just for now.

✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*✧･ﾟ: *✧･ﾟ:*

[sunwarmed-ash]

Thank You For Your Patience!! (Sinful Sunday Post)

As a thank you for being patient and sweet while I sorted my life out, I'm gonna post 4 lil Sinful Sunday snippets today! These will NOT be posted to ao3 until their debut! Get em while they're hot

Part 1: Brothers- Hankconvin, Elijah & Gavin

Chapter 3 Preview: 👀

“Mandatory ANGER MANAGEMENT meetings? You’re fucking KIDDING right?!”

“Not really helping your CASE here HANK,” Fowler exclaims, frustration of his own close to boiling over. 

“Jeffery what the fuck’s going on huh? Did I piss you off or something? Why are you taking his side? You haven't even heard what I have to say!”

“You punched a subordinate officer Hank!”

Which, is true, but-

“I punched an asshole who was shit-talking an ex-employee on the clock! What happened to due process huh? There were two other people in that room! If you wanted the real story you could have asked either of them!”

“Detective Reed and Officer Chen were in the room,” Fowler scoffs dismissively. “Do you really think either of them can be considered bipartisan witnesses?”

Hank can feel the vein that rests between his forehead about to explode. This can’t really be happening right? Did he slip on the ice out front and knock himself unconscious just to wake up in Bizzaro World? 

“What happened with Reynolds’ android case at the Eden club?” 

Hank doesn't know why his instinct demands that as the first line of questioning, but it proves, as always, to be the right one, because Jeff's eyebrows scrunch together in confusion. 

“...What case at the Eden club?”

Hank scoffs, his bad feeling only compounding with that verbal confirmation. 

“This is exactly what I’m talking about Jeff! Something’s not right! And this won't be the end of it, mark my words.”

“Anderson,” Jeff starts, but Hank interrupts, because he needs to be damn sure the Captain hears him this time. 

“And if you won’t help me, a lot more people are gonna get hurt.”

“Hank…” Jeff sighs, frustration clear. But under all that bureaucratic red tape, there's desperation, for Hank to understand why his hands are tied. “There’s nothing I can do.” 

“Why are you protecting him, huh,” Hank asks before channeling every bit of his intimidation into his body language and slapping his hands onto the man's desk. Its the only way to keep a bullpen of nosy on lookers from suspecting his next words “Does he have something on you?”

The way Jeff went hauntingly quiet, even for a millisecond before years of police and miliatry training took over and hardened off his features, Hank knew then there was something really fucked up about all of this. “Alright Jeff,” Hank exhales, pushing off the desk. “I’ll play along. But if you can’t be helpful, at least stay out of our way.”

Bullpen

Hank comes flying out of the Captain's office in a fit of rage which can only really means more bad news. Gavin’s already standing, intent to follow because he knows that stride pattern. They are leaving, where, he doesn't know yet, but Gavin knows he’s expected to follow.

“Yeah that’s right bitch, run after Daddy,” Reynolds jeers into his mug, gaining laughs from the two other piss poor uses of tax payer money, Officers O’Malley and Corporal Jordan.

Gavin ignores him, for the sole reason there are too many witnesses present for him to get away with shooting the man’s smirk off his face. Hank’s body language screams the talk with Fowler didn't go as hoped so plan B is about to be put into affect.   

---

“Hey, you okay,” Gavin asks the second they are both in the safety of Hank’s car. 

“No,” Hank exhales, opening the glove box and pulling out the emergency pack of cigarettes he kept refilled for Gavin. He takes two out before handing one to Reed. “Something big's going on Gav.”

“What did Fowler say,” Gavin asked, pulling out his lighter and lighting Hank’s cigarette. 

Hank takes two full drags before answering. 

“Unless we get hard evidence, we’re on our own.”

“Phcking asshole,” Gavin frowns before shoving his own cigarette between his lips. 

Hank shakes his head. 

“Reynolds’ got something on him too.”

Gavin’s eyebrows shoot to his hairline. 

“He say that to you?”

“He couldn't say that to me.”

“What the phck is happening in the world?”

“I don’t know,” Hank sighs, “but we can’t tell anyone else about this.”

An uneasy feeling begins to build in his gut when Gavin clarifies, 

“Not even Connor?”

Hank crushes out his half-smoked cigarette before starting up the car. 

“I don't know yet...”

“We’re going to need help Hank. From someone with access to our resources but not employed at the DPD. More importantly, it's gotta be someone we can trust.”

Hank looks like he might be considering it, before a nasty frown stains his face.  

“What if it puts him in danger?”

Gavin is sure it will. Taking care of Reynolds behind the department's back will put a target on all of them. But, 

“I think even Connor would agree more information makes him better at his job.”

“Alright,” Hank exhales heavily as he turns out of the parking lot. "Alright...”

ao3 kofi insta

Read the other 3 here!

[juicycoutureheaux]

Fixer Upper

Chapter 1 Chapter 2

Hey y'all. Here's Chapter 2 of my Sheriff!Leon Kennedy AU. Just a couple of notes, this chapter does have some TW. Domestic violence and Alcohol are mentioned in this chapter. If those are active triggers for you and still want to read, PM me and I'll be glad to summarize for you. Seriously! Also I gave Patrick a last name because he literally DOES NOT HAVE ONE. LOL Anyway this is kind of slowburn-y and this may be more than three chapter but not too many. I might extend to four. Anyways this fic was inspired by @angelscoda and I strongly recommend that if you haven't discovered her page, check her works out! Also, I churned out this Chapter and it hasn't been edited very well, but I did not wanna keep yall waiting. Also if you or anyone you know is affected by domestic violence call 800-799-7233 or text 'START' to 88788. You are not alone, your family and friends love you no matter what situation you may be in or what your abuser says. Love is patient and Love is kind.

You went to bed with a strange feeling. Instead of thinking of your sweetheart, Patrick, you were enamored with the thought of your new boss, Sheriff Kennedy. 

He was so kind and unpretentious, it seemed so easy to be around him. You wondered if he read books or looked at the stars and wondered what was behind them like you did. 

Y/N shook herself out of her thoughts and drifted off to sleep. 

She dreamt of finding new life on other planets, her parents taking her seriously, and most importantly, she dreamt of Leon. 

You woke with a start, to the sky at the precipice of sunrise. The oranges and purples danced together as the moon made its grand exit into the horizon.

You swiveled around to the side of your twin bed and let the bottoms of your feet touch the smooth hardwood floor. 

You turned off the old fan on your bedside table. The fan had seen better days, however, y/n had taught herself how to make repairs to keep it in working condition. 

Her tinkering had been born out of necessity; however, over time she grew to love being able to make old things efficient again. She wondered if Patrick ever had to repair a fan or anything really. 

She imagined he had enough money to get a new anything, anytime it broke.

You started the morning by combing your hair and brushing your teeth. You splashed cold water on your face to make it seem less irritated. You didn’t want to admit it, but you wanted to look good for Leon, even if he didn’t notice.

You picked out your favorite dress and ironed out all the wrinkles. You looked at yourself in the mirror admiring your reflection. You felt confident enough to head down the stairs to the kitchen table. 

Mary-Anne and Mama were busy fixing breakfast. Mama was fussing over Mary-Anne telling her to sit down and whatnot.

“Mama L/N, I promise I’m fine and your grandchild is just fine!” 

“All that moving, he’s gonna come early!” You heard your mama say.

“You and the rest of the family are so sure Hank & Mary-Anne’s baby is going to be a boy.” You said announcing your presence. 

“Good! Someone else is here, Mary-Anne! Please sit!” Mama said, exasperated.

Mary-Anne, not wanting to put up a fight any longer, sat down.

“Y/N, why don’t you look pretty today? I remember when I could wear dresses like that!” Mary-Anne said, rubbing her belly.

“You mean like six months ago?” You said sarcastically. 

Mary-Anne smiled and your mother rolled her eyes. 

You grabbed an apron not wanting to ruin your dress, and began kneading the dough for the biscuits. 

“I’m afraid I won’t be able to stay too long, mama. I gotta make sure I'm on time to meet my new boss!” You said a little too enthusiastically because your mother whipped her head around to look at you. 

“You know, if you marry Patrick, you won’t have to work anymore, you’ll be busy planning parties and get-togethers for all the married ladies.”

“Mama…” you groaned. 

“I’m just saying Y/N, you would love it, imagine, my daughter, the belle of the social season in Collier!” Her mother sighed. “So don’t ruin it by chasing after some cop!”

“Mama!” You said insulted.

Mary Anne decided to get in between the duo. 

“I think Y/N just wanted to make sure he felt welcome; after all, it is her job.”  She made sure to emphasize the last word. 

Mama’s body relaxed and so did yours. 

With that, you kissed your mama goodbye on the cheek and mouthed a “thank you!” to Mary-Anne. 

You walked out the door shocked, to see your new boss waiting outside leaning up against the side of the patrol car. 

“Hey! Y/N!” He said, smiling with all of his teeth.

You thought your legs were going to turn to jello, he was so handsome.

“W-what are you doing here?” 

“I thought I’d save you the trouble of driving that old truck and risk not having a secretary for the day.” He opened the passenger door. “Wouldn’t want to make me late for my first day would you?”

You smiled a genuine smile. 

You hopped in the car and you made your way down the road. 

The radio was playing Elvis's “Blue Suede Shoes.”

“You like this kind of Music Deputy Kennedy?” You asked genuinely curious. He didn’t strike you as the Elvis type.

“You can call me Leon when it’s just us,” he said, eyes not straying from the road. 

He made you blush, and you sank down in the seat unconsciously.

“But to answer your question,” he looked at you with those sharp baby blues. “I love the King.”

You laughed together like it was the funniest joke ever. 

You were a little disappointed when you arrived at the station. You could have spent the whole day in the car with Leon.

You two entered the building and you went quickly to the break room to start the coffee for the day. 

Leon entered his new office and opened the blinds. Two years ago he would have never imagined a career in law enforcement, let alone a town like Collier’s Sheriff.

Leon was brought out of his thoughts when you walked into the room carrying a fresh cup of coffee.

“Should I get used to this or are you just being nice because its my first day?” 

You looked at him confused.

“I’m not used to someone else doing things like this for me.”

“Well get used to it,” you said happily. “The old boss made me bring him his coffee like clockwork and I had to make it juuuussst riiiiigggghhhttt.” You emphasized.

Leon just nodded.

“So Deputy Kennedy, how do you like your coffee?”

“I can make it myself Y/N, don’t worry about it.”

“I insist! You’re going to be pretty busy, pretty soon.” You said looking into the mug. “I don’t want you to worry about the easiest part of your day.”

Leon smiled and patted you on the shoulder. “I take it black, with just a little bit of sugar, Y/N. Thank you.”

You smiled and felt your cheeks get a bit rosy. You fixed his coffee and set it on his desk.

“Well if you need me, I’ll be outside the door. Just ring me if you need me.” 

He grabbed your hand gently. “Do you mind staying in here just a little bit longer, I’m not ready to start working quite yet.” He smiled a toothy, but nervous smile. 

You held on to his hand and squeezed it in a friendly, assuring manner.

“Of course, Leon.”

He smiled in response.

You looked around the office. It was empty, there were no pictures of his family or any personal effects to the room, save for a framed police academy diploma. 

“They didn’t give you time to set up here?”

“What do you mean Y/N?” 

“The last guy here had tons of pictures and hunting trophies and…” you realized your mistake a little too late. Maybe, Deputy Kennedy didn’t have those things and you had just reminded him of the fact.

Leon smiled a sad smile, “Well maybe while I’m here, I’ll be able to fill this room with all those things.”

“Leon, I’m sorry I didn’t mean to…” 

“It’s okay, you’re honest. I like that about you.”

You smiled and heat spread across your cheeks.

“I don’t have any living family members, I grew up in a group home.”

You felt so embarrassed. How could you just interrogate him like that?

The blowing of the A/C unit emphasized the silence. It felt like your body was on autopilot when you went up to him to pat him on the shoulder. 

“I’m so sorry, Leon, I hope you can find your chosen family here.” 

“That's really nice of you, Y/N. I hope I do too.”

You quickly took your arm off of his bicep, realizing you were touching your boss in a more than intimate way. You didn’t want to be known as “that” type of girl.

You quickly mumbled “Gotta get back to work,” or something along those lines, and scuttled away.

Leon just kicked his boots and sat down behind his desk. He couldn’t quite figure it out, was she flirting with him or was she genuinely kind? He hated to admit it, but he was used to women throwing themselves at him. They’d be good for a night or two, but they never seemed to care to learn more about him than what he could do for them.

Y/N was sweet, but she was young. She probably had never had a real relationship before, her kindness was just surface-deep; it was nothing more.

He decided to go ahead and look over the schedule for the week that Y/N had already prepared for him. 

He could get used to this.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You were heading to Leigh’s diner to grab lunch for the office. It was actually one of your favorite tasks. You were able to get out of the office and walk around town for a bit. It also helped that you walked past “Gannem’s Appliances” where they always had the news on in the window. 

You would take a moment to look at the goings on in the world, to see what was happening outside of your small fishbowl of a town. 

The announcer was reading hastily from a fresh news bulletin. 

“After 40 years of groundbreaking research, NACA has officially decided to change its name to NASA. The official decision was made late last week, after changing their focus from just flight to space travel of humans and robots.”

You could have fallen right where you stood. Robots? Spaceflight? You were in heaven, you had only daydreamed about working in a high-tech lab with robots; now it was really happening.

You quickly looked at your wristwatch and scuttled to the diner to pick up the order before the men at the office got too hungry and wondered where she was at.

You walked into the bustling diner, thank goodness her order wasn’t quite ready yet. You decided to stay out of the way of the other patrons and sat at an odd chair near the window. You felt almost invisible, but, you were used to it and didn’t mind.

You were stuck in your thoughts until the sound of women gossiping brought you out of your stupor.

“Did you see the new Sheriff? He’s a cutie!” one girl with perfectly coiffed blonde hair asked. 

“Do you think he has a secretary? They almost always marry the secretary!” Another girl with auburn hair giggled.

Y/N recognized the girls. They were girls from her graduating class, they had gone to the same school since kindergarten and they either didn’t seem to recognize her or were ignoring her. You couldn’t decide what was worse.

“Oh he has a secretary all right, it's Y/N. Do you remember her from school?”

The girl with auburn hair just raised her eyebrows in slight confusion.

“Great.” you thought. “They don’t remember.” That stung.

“Well, she wasn’t much of anyone, she’s lucky her daddy “the farmer” got her the job,” she emphasized the farmer part as she lit her cigarette. 

“Ohhh, I remember said the auburn-haired girl. “Isn’t OUR Patrick supposed to be courting her? I heard his mother set him up, guess they’re trying to fix his image. I hear he made a fool out of himself at the University of Georgia last year. His daddy had to call in a LOT of favors from his buddies from the law school.”

“That’s just Patrick, he’ll grow out of it. I feel bad for him, one bad mistake and he has to get married off to the first prude that would take him. I bet Y/N’s mother is just beside herself, all the new social connections and money.”

“My mama told me her mama was a social climber. Always trying to get invited to social events;  well she’ll never belong just like her daughter.”

The girls broke into laughter.

Your face was red from anger and embarrassment.

Of course, your order was ready and the waitress called out your name which made the girls' heads snap and turn around to look at you. You did your best not to make eye contact, as you grabbed the food, but tears were already falling from your eyes.

As you left you could hear them burst out in more malicious laughter. 

You were humiliated, and you just wanted to get back to work.

You were two doors down from the office when you heard a car next to the sidewalk slow to a roll.  You instinctively glanced over and there was Patrick in his fancy car. He was definitely the last person you wanted to see right now. 

“Hey, baby. I missed you.” He slurred as he stumbled out of the car.

You took a minute to look at his car, there were beer bottles littering the back seat. 

“Let’s go for a ride, I’m bored and I want some alone time with my girl.” He grabbed her roughly. 

“Have you been drinking? Why did you drive here? You know it's dangerous! You whispered harshly at him. People were beginning to stare.

“Baby, I just wanted to see you, I’m lonely. You should keep me happy you know, if you’re gonna be my wife,” he was looking at you like a piece of meat. 

You felt sick to your stomach.

“I have to get this back to the office, then I’ll come with you.” You were trying to stall, you didn’t want to make him angry, but you surely didn’t want to get in the car with him.

It didn’t matter. He didn’t like your answer. Patrick was shockingly strong and when he yanked you into him, you both fell over and you yelped. 

People were now watching and whispering. 

You wanted to disappear into dust and wondered if you should have just got in the car, maybe nothing would have happened, and the two of you wouldn’t be out on the sidewalk in the middle of town embarrassing yourselves. 

Patrick yanked you up and raised his hand to hit you, you braced for impact when someone broke you two up.

It was Leon and his face was calm, but she could feel the anger radiating from him.

“Y/N! Do you know this man?” He said calmly but firmly. 

Before you could answer, Patrick yelled at Leon. “I had it handled man, she’s my fiance. We don’t need your services anymore.” He made a move to grab your arm again. Leon moved in between you two.

“Sir, not only are you in violation of a city ordinance of being intoxicated in public, but you are also assaulting your fiance in public, which is a felony charge.” 

Patrick just scoffed. “And what? You’re gonna arrest me? Do you even know who I am?”

Leon stepped closer to Patrick, they were about the same height, but something about Leon’s body language made him seem taller. 

“Yes, Sir you’re under arrest for the assault of my secretary Miss Y/L/N. You have the right to remain silent…” he began cuffing Patrick in broad daylight. 

“Wait a minute! Y/N just tell him we were just fooling around baby.” Patrick pleaded with you.

“Deputy Kennedy please, we’ll handle this in private. Patrick just made a bad mistake that's all.”

You pleaded to Leon, you hoped he would take your side.

“Handle in private? Are we supposed to wait until he kills you Y/N?” He said loudly.

You couldn’t move. This was really happening and everyone was going to blame you for Patrick going to jail. 

Leon picked Patrick up and brought him into the station and locked him up in their little holding cell.

Everyone in the office was dead silent when they saw who Deputy Kennedy was bringing in on the first day. You followed in quickly behind them and everyone glared at you. You ignored the glares and got on the phone to call Senator Armstrong, Patrick’s father. 

Deputy Kennedy refused to let you see your Fiance, stating that she was the victim and a witness to his crime. 

You just sat in your small little cubicle and cried. You cried over how embarrassed you were and how those girls were right, Patrick didn’t really love you. How could he? Who would do that to someone they loved?

The sounds of a man shouting broke the silence of the police department.

“How could you lock this man up? It was a simple lovers' quarrel, they’re both kids!” You heard Senator Armstrong’s baritone voice fill the small station. 

“You either ignore your son’s behavior or are too ignorant to see it.” Leon quipped back.

“Excuse me?” Armstrong sneered. “You better watch it boy or I’ll…”

“Or what Armstrong? I’ll go missing? Don’t go incriminating yourself in the police department now.” Leon said smugly. 

You walked out of your cubicle to see the scene unfolding in front of you. You thought Senator Armstrong was going to have an aneurysm with how red his face was. 

He quickly looked over at you and saw your tear-stained face. “My poor future daughter! Look what you’ve done! You’ve upset her by jailing her fiance right in front of her!”

He wrapped a heavy arm around your shoulders. “ I paid the bail and I'm taking my family home.”

Leon just gestured for the door and said nothing. Senator Armstrong ushered you out, but not before you took one final look back at Leon with fresh tears in your eyes.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You were sitting in the Armstrongs’ tinted limousine Patrick’s head on your lap. You couldn’t help but stroke his soft hair. He buried his face in the fabric of your dress and groaned.

“I can’t believe that asshole through me into the cell with all those actual criminals. It was miserable, sobering up in that shithole.”

You rolled your eyes instinctively, Leon’s words ringing in your ears still. “What if he did lose his temper and couldn’t stop hitting me?” You shrugged it off. It was just one bad moment, he’ll change.

Your future father in Law just glared daggers into his son. 

When you arrived at your home, you still patted Patrick’s head gently. “I’ll see you later honey.” 

He quickly leaned up and kissed you on the mouth for the first time. It was sloppy and full of want. It wasn’t sweet at all and you felt sick.

You quickly got out of the car and ran into the house. 

When you arrived in the foyer, Hank was waiting for you.

“Is that bastard out there?” He asked angrily.

You looked down at your feet, you thought you’d at least be able to sleep and take a bath before being interrogated about the incident earlier. 

You heard your mom shout from the kitchen. “Is my baby home? Hank you leave your sister alone! She needs to rest.” Your mother hurried in to welcome you.

“Oh sweetie, there’s no need to cry.” She wiped your tears with a cloth she had in her apron. “Daddy and I get into arguments all the time.” 

Hank got even angrier. “You know damn well that was no argument they had, Thomas Wells said that son of a bitch shook her like a ragdoll before Deputy Kennedy got to them.”

Your Mama just rolled her eyes. “Thomas Wells is a known exaggerator, people love talking about people who they’re jealous of. Speaking of Y/N, you’re not going back to that job. It doesn’t look respectable to have the future Mrs. Armstrong working at that office.”

Your mother grabbed your arm gently and took you into the dining room and fixed your dinner. She hadn’t done this since you were a child, she was definitely trying to get on your good side. 

You felt that familiar pit of disappointment and anguish in your stomach. You had realized Mama really did want to be a part of the social class as the Armstrongs. She wanted it so bad she was willing to cover up what Patrick was willing to do to you.

You nibbled on supper and went upstairs to cry, you were exhausted.

XXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXXX

You couldn’t sleep that night. All you could do was replay the day’s events over and over in your mind. 

You also felt extremely violated by Patrick’s lack of respect for you.

When daybreak came, you took a light catnap for an hour or two. You were awoken by your mother shaking you awake. 

“Y/N, sweetie, time to wake up.”

You squinted at her through your dark eyelashes, confused.

“Don’t give that look, Y/N, Suzanne Armstrong called and wanted to take you shopping.”

You lurched up from your bed. “Miss Suzanne...why?” 

“She wants to make sure you look polished for the engagement party of course. The local and state newspapers will be covering it of course.” Your mother said excitedly. “Hopefully she’ll remember your mama too, I could get one of those tweed suits just like the first lady! Wouldn’t that be fun?”

You smiled a sad smile. You wanted to see your mama happy, but was she willing to do the same for you?

You got up and began your morning ritual, you made sure your dress was crisply ironed and you even added a ribbon in your hair to make yourself look a little more stylish.

You waited patiently in the sitting room before seeing the car roll up. Your mother ushered you out the door and into the awaiting town car, driven by a chauffeur of course. He opened the door for you. Inside awaiting looking prim as ever, was Miss Suzanne in a pastel-colored suit. 

“Well look at this little doll,”  she said and kissed your cheeks. “I just can not wait for you to marry my son. You two are just going to give me and your mama the cutest little grandbabies.”

You smiled uncomfortably. 

The town car started to pull away into town and Miss Suzanne wasted no time discussing future plans with you.

“So, I’ve already contacted all the news outlets. The Atlanta Sentinel is sending reporters to this party and even LIFE Magazine!” She squealed excitedly. 

“They love the Cinderella feel of this story, my dear. Everyone loves a great love story.” She composed herself again. “and it is my job as fairy godmother, to make sure you ARE the belle of the ball. There are going to be a lot of eyes and I want to make sure you look perfect.”

She looked you up and down. “We’ll have to do away with this wardrobe,” she motioned with her pointer finger to your homemade dress.

The car was heading out of town, you made a comment about going to the local department store in town. 

Miss Suzanne let out a full-bodied laugh. “My dear, we’re going to Atlanta to shop. You can’t be photographed in some outfit from Belford’s.” 

You just fell silent and looked out the window as Miss Suzanne rambled on about how excited she was, planning a wedding, and how much great press it would be for her husband and Patrick. 

When they finally arrived at the fancy boutique in midtown Atlanta, they were greeted by staff in crisp uniforms waiting outside for their arrival. 

The head designer, or who you assumed was the head designer came blowing through the doors and came to greet your future mother-in-law. 

“My dear, thank you for coming, let me grab your coat.” He grabbed Suzanne’s expensive tweed jacket and hat. He handed it to a dour-looking assistant.

He then acknowledged you. 

“My, my who is this diamond in the rough?”

Suzanne answered for you. “A diamond in the rough indeed. This is my future daughter in Law, Y/N.” 

You didn’t know whether to curtsy or not. You gently bent your knees and answered with a quiet “hello.”

“My goodness, she is just precious! We certainly have our work cut out for us.” The man snickered.

Being brought up in the south, you knew being called precious wasn’t a compliment. 

You sighed as you followed the man and Suzanne into the boutique knowing it was going to be a long day. 

[astorianyxkings]

So recently on tiktok I saw that one scene from the Titans show where Rachel accuses Jason of drawing crucifixes on her mirror and the others essentially start adding on to it when HE DIDN'T DO IT BY THE WAY and I was reminded of why I have a love hate relationship with the show.

And one part of that is Kory and Rachel's characters. The show really took two badass besties, made them have a mother/daughter relationship and then have them be absolute assholes to any and everyone they didn't vibe with. When in the comics or other shows they're calm and collected and nice and bubbly.

And yeah Kory's beautiful and to this day I'd die for Anna Diop, but wow I hated her character when she interacted with Jason. She was always so patient with Gar and Rachel but never Jason. Did you really decide to stop being a mentor after two kids? And no one else was there. Hank was the being the bitch he is, Dawn was just there and Donna was just like "why Jason?😕" and Dick was well a dick.

I mean I get it, not a fan of his replacement, got the issues with Bruce, figuring out his relationship with the team yada yada yada. But you mean to tell me Jason had no one's support on that team?? (Aside from Gar theire little bestie moments were so cute). And when strange things happen when Rose shows up why are we looking at Jason? Why aren't we using critical thinking and looking at the new person? The daughter of Deathstroke?? Did we loose all ability to use common sense?

But the one that actually made me stop watching for a couple weeks was when Kory was talking about Jason's death and was like "this is an example of what not to do" knowing goddamn well if anyone said such a thing about Rachel she'd go ballistic. And nobody said anything? Like hey, let's maybe not indirectly call the dead KID incompetent right after his death, I know you're new to earth but its called decency.

And then to AUDACITY for all of them to act surprised when he comes back as Red Hood and wants to kill them? Hell I would've gone to Bruce, grabbed his contingency plans and put them to use because ain't no way I'm the bad guy after you assholes assholed a little too close to the sun.

Like the show really ran with "we made him the villain but its still his fault". Part of the reason Jason's death was a tragedy was because he was HAPPY, and I think the show forgot that.

Like I would've killed to see Rachel, Gar and Jason as a little trio doing shit together, perfect opportunity to be besties. And then see them mourning him when he dies and Dick would have to convince them not to go after the Joker, yeah I'd love to see that. Not this.

In conclusion, Titans Jason deserved better, I hope Kory slips down the stairs, I'm praying Rachel has a migraine and I'm still pissed they didn't even apologize when they found out it wasn't Jason messing with them. AND THEY DID IN FACT FIND OUT.

[onechicagolife]

ᴀʙꜱᴇɴᴛɪᴀ | ᴊᴀʏ ʜᴀʟꜱᴛᴇᴀᴅ

Detective Jay Halstead is a senior member of the Intelligence Unit, where he is partnered with Detective Hailey Upton after his former partner went missing undercover. While he never wanted to give up hope, the CPD assumed her dead and he was resigned to accept it. Now, two years later, Jay gets a sudden phone call with news that changes his life forever. Avery Clarke is alive. want to be tagged? link in bio <3

Chapter Nine

"Are we helping out on a case?" Avery directs the question to her boss, uncertainty only growing when he folds his arms over his chest and silently looks at Lang.

"Sort of," Agent Lang starts slowly, eyeing her skeptically before noting the impatient quirk of her brow. He clears his throat, "Actually, I'm here about your case. I want to talk about the last two years."

Her heart skips a beat in her chest, and she swallows, "What about it? Are you on the Volkov case?" It's been weeks since her return and they officially lost the case again, not even being told which agency had it. Every single time she or Hank have reached out for an update, they've been stonewalled. She's tired of being frozen out, but if the case is being handled by the DEA instead of the FBI, maybe her connections can finally get them somewhere.

"I'm part of the DEA task force," Lang carefully pauses. He knows her well enough to prepare himself for the temper she occasionally exhibits. "And so were you."

A sharp inhale cuts through the thick silence that follows, Avery blinking with furrowed brows as she attempts to process the admission. How in the hell was she part of a federal task force when it wasn't even a federal case two years ago? Hank can sense the shock and confusion coming from the detective, so he steps in, setting aside his own shock, "What do you mean, she was part of the task force?"

"You weren't missing," the agents starts, "You were undercover, for us." Unable to believe the words coming from the man's mouth, Avery turns on her heels and begins to pace in the small space, dragging her fingers through her hair. She closes her eyes and tugs harder at the tangled strands, as if the pain might magically cause the memories to resurface. At her lack of response, Lang continues with what he knows, "After your cover was blown, they held you for interrogation. They tortured you for weeks. Beatings, electric shock, sensory deprivation. But you never broke. Actually, you convinced them that you were who you said you were — Talia — and that you and a few others were planning on betraying the Aleksovs. The wire was so that you could use the information for yourself.

"They believed you. I still don't understand how you did it, but you gained their trust and struck a deal. In exchange for your life, you'd give them everything they needed to take control of the Aleksovs' operations. After almost three months, you got them to trust you enough to let you go on the promise that you'd work for them. By this time, the FBI had taken the case from Major Crimes, and we were planning on officially making a task force. They had an undercover, very low level but had his ear to the ground. Once Nikolai Volkov successfully used your information to dismantle the Aleksovs, there was talk about a "beautiful woman" that got caught with a wire but was able to charm Nikolai with her business savvy and flexible loyalty. We started to suspect it could be you."

Having heard enough, Avery finally interrupts, shaking her head in disbelief over what she is hearing, "No. This doesn't make any sense. If I somehow 'charmed' them enough to let me go, why didn't I contact CPD as soon as possible? Why didn't I call Hank?" She glances to the older man as his name falls past her lips, desperately searching for any kind of answer in his eyes. But she only finds that he is just as unsure as she is.

Lang folds his arms across his chest, "We had agents waiting at the locations we knew about to intercept you at first chance. That's when you and I connected for the first time. I gave you my pitch: no one has ever gotten as deep within the Volkov organization as you had the chance to, Avery. And if you left then, they'd think you were betraying them. They'd come after you and they wouldn't stop. So, you agreed to go back in as part of our federal investigation long enough to help our undercover agent rise higher up in the ranks. You'd have to stay 'missing' for just a couple months, so that you could get out without raising suspicions and set us up to take them down. Do you remember Special Agent Anderoff – Jim – from the task force a few years back? He became your main contact. After a few weeks, you found evidence of something bigger. Turns out, the Volkovs have been trafficking in more than just guns and drugs."

"Women," Voight realizes gruffly, and her blood runs cold.

Lang nods, "And girls. Some as young as twelve, and we had no idea. You couldn't walk away."

A warehouse full of cages flashes behind her eyes before being replaced by the cold, battered body of Nadia. The image of her teenage self, high out of her mind and pressed down against a dirty couch.

"We thought that by taking the case from the CPD, it would stop the investigation into your disappearance. And it did, for a while. But Detective Halstead never fully stopped looking into things, and one lead he was following started to get close to you. If we hadn't planted faulty intel, he'd have ended up getting himself or you killed." She exhales a breath, facing Lang and meeting his eyes for the first time in minutes. "Avery, it was your idea to fake your death. You knew that Halstead would never stop looking for you so long as there was some shred of hope that you were still alive. We planted some seeds about a woman matching your description having been killed, and after a little bit of pressure on the deputy superintendent, they had you declared dead."

No. "You're saying..." There was no way. "You're saying that I chose this?" Her voice shakes as she forces the words out, a painful sting starting to build in the pit of her stomach. There was no way she would let her friends and family think that she was dead... Would she? To protect them, to protect Jay?

Avery blinks back the tears that begin to well in her eyes, deciding that right now, something she can focus on – something she can control – is anger. "Why now?" she grits out, taking a step towards Lang as her volume continues to rise, "Why come to me now, when you've known what happened to me this whole time?"

"I wanted to," he tries to assure, "As soon as we found out what happened, I wanted to. The decision was made way above my paygrade. When the agency heard about your memory loss, they decided it was better to keep you in the dark. Your cover was likely blown but you... well, they thought you would want to go back in to finish what you started. I finally managed to convince them to let me come see you today." Lang shuffles around a few things in his bag before pulling out a manila file folder. He extends it towards her, "You're not an agent, so this is as much information that I could get them to hand over."

Avery eyes the much-too-thin folder with a scoff, "What, I don't have clearance to read about my own life?"

When she stubbornly refuses to take it from his outstretched hand, Lang sighs and sets it on the edge of Voight's desk instead, "I'm sorry." With no response other than a stiff nod from Voight, Lang offers another apology before leaving the office.

A soft thud echoes as the door closes behind him and Avery brings her palms up to press into her eyes, trying to stop the tears from falling and stifle the burgeoning headache. "This can't be real," she mutters as she shakes her head.

Hank picks up the folder before flipping through the pages, eyes skimming over its contents. "There's photos," he confirms, "It's your signature on these reports."

She doesn't believe him. Avery snatches the file from his hands but can't bring herself to look at it herself. She can't believe him. There's ringing in her ears and pounding behind her eyes, and the air is suddenly so thick that she struggles to take in a complete breath. Spinning on her heels, she wretches the door open and storms into the bullpen, immediately feeling the weight of seven pairs of eyes. One pair in particular burns at her skin, and she fights the urge to meet them. Stepping quickly to her desk, she rips her jacket from the back of the chair.

Hank calls out her name from the doorway of his office to no avail. "Detective Clarke," he says firmly, raising his voice in a way that causes her to halt in her tracks halfway across the room. "Just take a breath, we'll figure this out."

Clenching her jaw tightly to fight the sob clawing at the back of her throat, Avery glances over her shoulder at the older man, "We? There is no 'we,' Hank. Apparently, I made sure of that." With that, Voight watches without objection as she rushes down the staircase. He doesn't know what he could possibly say to stop her from leaving, to stop her from spiraling, when he is just as lost for words. As he turns to head back into his office, he spots Ruzek stand from his desk out of the corner of his eye. "Don't," he orders, and Adam halts his stride, "Let her go."

This cannot be real. This cannot be real. This cannot be real.

She doesn't know how long she's been sitting here, alone in her car. The sun has already traveled across every window, shining through the glass and bouncing off the pages now sitting beside her. Avery stares straight ahead, but her eyes blur everything out. Reading the words on those pages — her words — was supposed to give her some answers. Answers other than what she was told: that she chose to let everyone she loves think that she was dead.

But they were her words, and the proof that she was undercover for the DEA was right there in black and white. And she knows that vowing to put an end to a sex trafficking ring is something she would do. After what happened to Nadia, she would never let anything like that happen to another girl if she could help it. The last two years started with torture and pain before being spent gathering intel, arranging deals, and sabotaging whatever she could. The information has allowed her to construct images in her head, rebuilding the memories she lost, but there are still gaps between the reports she was given. She can feel it in her gut that there is something missing, something important. Something that she needs to remember.

She has lost everything. She lost two years of her life, two people she considered family died without her being there. She can understand staying undercover, sacrificing her normal job and life. But if she made the choice to fake her death, that means she chose to sacrifice the man she loves. That means that everything that's changed, the way things are now, is her fault.

The sound of a car horn pulls Avery back to reality, and she blinks away the tears clouding her vision. She hadn't even realized that she was crying as she wipes her cheeks with the backs of her hands. Taking in her surroundings, her eyes land on the bar across the street from where she's parked in front of her new building. After staying with Hank since her return, she decided it was time to get back to normal by looking for her own apartment. She has still been at the home she grew up in, though, until she gets actual furniture besides the mattress still in the plastic resting on the floor.

Avery stares at the bar for a few minutes, watching the people that walk in while it's still light out and contemplating whether she should be one of them. She knows that she shouldn't go inside. She knows that she should go back to work. She knows that she shouldn't let the contents of that file drive her into a spiral.

She goes inside.

Avery sets down the box filled with the rest of her clothes, taking in the furniture finally set up in the bedroom. A small smile tugs at the corners of her lips, relieved that she has an actual bed to sleep in instead of the mattress she's been crashing on the last few nights after stumbling home from the bar. She walks back into the main area of the apartment, smiling wider as Kevin finishes mounting her television and Adam adjusts the couch. Avery narrows her eyes as she watches Kim playfully throwing cushions at him to set up, their laughter filling the apartment. "Thank you guys again for helping me today," she gushes.

"Stop thanking us," Kim laughs, "You know we're happy to help." She moves to head to the bathroom, squeezing Avery's hand with a smile as she passes.

Avery watches until she is for sure out of earshot before slowly making her way towards Adam with a smirk. He plops down on the couch with a sigh before spotting her, eyeing her warily, "What's that look for?"

"What's going on with you and Kim?" she counters with a raised brow. He rolls his eyes and throws his head back with a groan. Pointing an accusatory finger, she chuckles, "I knew it. You're hooking up again."

Adam can't fight the smile that creeps up, giving a half shrug, "Maybe."

"Maybe," she mocks as she sits down next to him, earning another eye roll.

They spend the rest of the afternoon hanging out, eating pizza and watching the game on her freshly set up tv. After a few hours, Avery bids them goodbye and starts unpacking her clothes until she can't ignore the itch anymore. She grabs a glass from the kitchen, pouring drink that ends up containing a hefty amount of vodka and just a splash of soda before heading back to the bedroom. She moves over to the window that she managed to turn into a makeshift crime board. Opening the panels, Avery stares at the photos and pages she taped up days ago. She knows that there is way more to the story of the last two years, and she is going to figure it out. Agent Lang was right. She is going to finish what she started.

tag list: @talicat713​ @anotherfan07 @nevaehstreater18 @hehurst23 @goingwiththewind @pinkwhitebrown @jesseleesofferupdates @mrspeacem1nusone @romanogersendgame @nobodycanknowus​ @toomuchtv95 @atarmychick007 @butterflylies​ @imtoanonymousforyou​ @renataficrecs​ @ossypooh​ @haynsey​ @hajrakhan​ @whothehelliskayleigh​ @silentbutscreaming​ @letsstarsfalling​ @brookerz122493​ @mrshalsteadxx​ @itserickalove​ @livstilinski​ @bebataylor84​ @sande5098​ @withakindheartx​ @star017​ @camillyb​ @nerdybeansprout​ @munteanmiss​ @jackson-n​​ @callsignlunar

[harudnae]

Alright! Yesterday I posted hurt, let's balance that out with some fluff, shall we?

This is the last reader-insert I've wrapped up for the Great Draft Eradication Plan ✊

Today's fic is a Gaban x Reader one-shot! I'm amazed it took me so long to realize that I really enjoy writing the tension just before people realize their attraction to each other.

(And if you think I'm done with the Roger Pirates' Monster Trio you're mistaken. I have a mini-series that's almost done and it's next in the pipe 😏)

Also posted on AO3 on 2024.02.01

Rating: Teen

Pairing: Gaban x GN!Reader

Summary: Sometimes obliviousness can be cured with cold weather and some well-intentioned teasing.

Content warnings : fluff, obvious & oblivious crush, teasing (blame Rayleigh), no pronouns used for Reader, no body description either

Word count: ~700

❄️ Cold feet, warm heart

The Oro Jackson is getting closer to a winter island, you can tell by the way the air has been getting colder lately.

Everyone bundles in their coats and grab their blankets to roll into when they're on watch.

You don't mind much the lower temperature as you rest your elbows on the railing, breathing in the chilly sea breeze. The water around the ship seems silvery gray under the cloudy sky, and you wonder if it's going to snow soon. You shiver at a colder gust of wind. You'll grab your coat once you get back to the lower decks, for now you quickly rub your arms to stimulate your blood flow.

"Are you cold, (y/n)?"

You turn your head around to Gaban and shrug. "A little, but it's okay."

"Don't go and get sick , now." He shrugs his own coat off and wraps it around your shoulders. " There."

You blink as you absentmindedly curl into it, it's too big for your smaller frame but it only provides more warmth. " T hanks", you murmur, a shy smile on your lips as you bury your head into the collar. You never dared to hug him but it's the next best thing, with his body warmth and his scent all around you. You try your best to hide your heated cheeks as you snuggle into Gaban's coat, then you look back up at him.

He's leaning onto the railing now too, wearing warm clothes and a thick scarf to shield him from the cold.

"Aren't you going to be cold, too?"

He smiles. "Don't worry, I can stand much worse."

You exhale a quiet, "Okay." You gaze at him as he turns back to the sea, a content grin curving his lips.

"Ah! Finally!"

You turn around.

Rayleigh's a little further on the deck, smirking. "I was wondering when you'd get together, it's been long overdue."

Your cheeks heat up after he casually dropped that, and you squeak, "What!?"

Rayleigh's smile widens. "You're wearing his coat, that's cute."

Your ears are burning now, and you struggle to find a decent comeback.

Gaban retorts, "I just offered it because (y/n) was cold. Cut the crap."

Rayleigh cocks his head to the side. "Oh? I could have sworn you two had a thing for each other..." He laughs. "Don't mind me, then. Oh, by the way, have you seen Roger?" And off he goes, without even waiting for an answer.

You take a deep breath and try to calm down your heartbeat as you glare back into the sea. Damn, Rayleigh... What did he mean, we have "a thing for each other"? I mean– I do but... Gaban?

"I'm sorry about Rayleigh", Gaban says as he comes back next to you, "He's a jerk."

Of course he's sorry, he's not interested the way I am. You slump down a little over the railing. "Yeah, he is."

Gaban sighs. "I guess I'm pretty obvious, huh?"

You open wide eyes at that, and your heart starts racing again.

"Yeah, I'm sorry... That's why Rayleigh acted like this. He's been a little shit trying to convince me to talk to you, and I told him I wouldn't because I know you're not into me, but he keeps insisting."

You blink in disbelief. "What?"

"I don't mean to be awkward, I–"

You tilt your head to the side. "No, no, wait. You said you were...?"

He clears his throat and awkwardly rubs his neck. "Um, obvious. Obviously attracted to you, that is."

You snuggle tighter into his coat, hiding a creeping smile as you look at him from under. "Well, I'm flattered, but... Who said I wasn't into you?"

He blinks. "What?"

You glance around and confirm that there's just the two of you left on this part of the deck, then you slide a little to the side, closer to Gaban. "Rayleigh's a jerk, but he's right", you quietly say, gazing back into the sea with your ears burning.

"Oh." Gaban huffs a short laugh, then he wraps an arm around your shoulders, pulling you flush against him. "We'll thank him later, then."

[kamryn1963]

Summary: The kids that decide to pick on Alvin, always regret it in the end.

Notes: This work is a sneak peek of sorts of my future Al, Han and Dee fic (them as kids) that I'm very slowly planning. I'll probably be posting some more oneshots for this concept overtime while I decide how I'm actually going to write it :)

Their about 4 (Alvin), 5 (Hank) and 6 (Trudy) here.

@angstober Prompt 17: "Shhh..."

“Okay class, go play”. 

Henry Voight, or “Han” to his friends, didn’t hesitate as he ran out to the playground. The five year old had been waiting rather impatiently to be able to see his friends. 

See Henry had friends in his first grade class. But they weren’t his BEST Friends. Not like Al and Dee were. But Dee was older, already in second grade, while Al was only in kindergarten. So they only saw each other during recess. 

He spotted Dee first, waiting against the wall like she always did. “Dee!” Henry yelled as he ran over to her. 

Trudy Platt or “Dee” as Alvin had dubbed her when they met, looked up rolling her eyes at his behavior. 

“You don’t need to yell”. Trudy complained as she looked around for their third friend. 

“We're outside. Mrs. Little said I was allowed to yell outside”. Henry retorted as he also looked around. 

“Where’s Al?” 

“I don’t know!” Trudy replied as the two kids wandered further into the playground. 

They both knew that if Al wasn’t with them, he would be in one of two spots. Either on his favorite swing or under the big tree. 

Henry went to check the swing while Trudy went to the tree. 

“Al?” Trudy called as she got closer. She heard quiet cries and her heart sank as she ran closer. 

Sure enough, Trudy saw Alvin “Al” Olinsky curled up small. Trudy was the oldest in the group and took it as her responsibility to comfort Al whenever he was sad. 

Other mean kids in Trudy’s class tended to pick on him because he didn’t speak much. The teacher told Trudy she couldn’t punch somebody just because they were mean to Alvin, but Trudy disagreed. 

“Dee? Did you find him?” Henry shouted as he ran towards the tree. 

Trudy didn’t reply, just wrapped an arm around Al as Henry joined them. 

“Shhh, Al. It’s okay”. Trudy soothed as best as she could. 

The three of them sat there for a while until Alvin pulled away enough to look up at them. He didn’t say anything which Henry and Trudy had since gotten used to. 

“Was somebody mean to you again, Al?” Henry asked. 

Alvin didn’t say anything verbally, but he did grab a nearby stick using it to write a name in the dirt. 

Trudy glared at the dirt as she looked at Al’s writing. “Peter”. Trudy stated and before Alvin or Henry could say anything she had left probably to go give Peter a piece of her mind. Again. 

“Why don’t we go to the swings?” Henry offered as he stuck his hand out for Alvin who took it with a barely noticeable smile. 

The two boys went to the swings while Trudy went to deal with Peter who had dared to mess with Al again.

Trudy spent the rest of the day in the principal's office and got a long lecture from her dad, but she didn’t regret it for a second.

[okiedokiegoosey]

theories w/ rocki bc @caterva told me to put it on the dash:

today's edition: cooper howard is not a naturally occurring ghoul.

i am pointedly putting this on lucy and not barb because we're going to talk about how it affects lucy and cooper's interactions. i may expand upon it on barb later. under the cut bc i am long winded and do not want to clog your dash with my cooper was an experiment theory.

disclaimer: these are my thoughts and opinions and that's it. they aren't law. do not have to apply to anyone. they're just here as thoughts and theories. that's it.

let's discuss how cooper howard is nothing like a naturally occurring ghoul in the fallout universe.

the first time we meet the ghoul, he's in the ground, and he's let up every year by dom pedro, but he's hooked to the same chem that's in the vials via iv. this directly goes against the general knowledge of natural ghouls being a. highly chem resistant and b. able to go on for at least a few decades without intervention for turning feral. it's important to note that todd howard himself said the show was canon, so that means game lore is in play here.

he called himself a bucket of drugs, which also, doesn't make sense to a naturally occurring ghoul or his personal character motives and development to that point. chem addiction itself is not uncommon in the fallout universe, but if we take his character as a whole. he takes it as it comes, he's a bucket of drugs. we see no indication in his supply that it's a chem addiction. hancock had a chem addiction that started his ghoulification. howard? yeah. no way.

and we have to consider how close he was to the memories of his past life after two hundred years and what he says about torture to lucy. he strung her up and lucy immediately dived into her own memories and personal mission to make him see reason. he immediately brings up studies, and if you look at his face, you can see a whole play of emotions before he said anything. that points in the direction of him having been where she was at some point. on the receiving end of what he perceived as torture.

so, let's say he was an experiment and not the product of continued radiation exposure. that also explains why his reaction was SO BIG to lucy smashing his supply. There is something inherently wrong with his regeneration and degeneration rates to need support beyond maybe radaway/radx on occasion to keep the radiation at a healthier rate? If the radiation were that bad, for him to need chem support so frequently, people would be dropping like flies due to the radiation. we don't see any evidence of that.

in theory, there's more than enough evidence to say he was tested on in a vault (hence why he knew at least janey made it in to one and not where she went after) and he likely wasn't the most willing to go in but did it for his daughter (dad of the century. take notes hank). If they'd separated them under the guise of protocol, he likely would've been more receptive to letting janey go before they went to night night sleep. it would also explain why he asks where the hell they are, because he knows for a fact at least janey is in a vault and likely trusts barb followed her own plan and went in one, too (more on that later. on barb). yes, he hated vault tec. that isn't up for debate. what is up for debate is how far he went to protect his daughter. his memory of where he knew she should be is too clear to indicate he was knocked out at any point. he knows they're in the vaults. that part he doesn't debate. he wouldn't know that unless he put janey in one himself. it would be more likely that he assumed at least she died.

now, what does this have to do with lucy? i'd be kinda hostile if i saw someone in a vault tec suit and i was their pet project, too. let's be clear about that. It's how he tells her he's her and to give it time is what I want to draw on first. we assume he means physically given the constant callback to her checking her radiation levels, but consider he meant mentally. that he too was a product of their design and look at how he turned out. he'd already called it quits with vault tec before the drop to think that kept him bitter. something in what we didn't see has his ire for them even higher.

plus, the name maclean would've triggered some memory. moldaver, too. we saw that. we know he's got a good grip on his mind (another reason the constant chem recall makes no sense in the grand scheme of things). i truly think his initial motive with lucy was to fuck with her because of her connection to vault tec. it was luck and chance she was useful to his personal mission, at least in the beginning.

let's put this naive (not dumb unless it's street smarts, in which she has no experience) girl in front of someone who has been through hell and back and still just wants to find her family. You see he's still capable of humanity (which goes against him being on the edge of turning feral too) because he does, in a way take responsibility for her, covers for her, and at least invites her along later.

nothing about this is to say the relationship can't turn romantic, okay? we aren't discussing that. if you want that for what you're writing, go for it. the room for interpretation is a beautiful thing, but at the very least, he cares enough about her to help her see her mission through to the end, too.

we aren't even going to mention the ghoul organs for sale which really wouldn't do anyone any good unless they're for science and research, which feeds back into the logic that someone is running experiments.

AGAIN ROCKI; TL;DR: all of this is to say that there are inconsistencies in the lore we know about ghouls and cooper howard to say he was a naturally occurring ghoul. his chem dependence leads to inaccuracies of his own cognitive function, and he was likely experimented on. it also explains why dom pedro kept him as he did in it's own way. his chem dependence also makes him unique in terms of a ghoul, and it's my theory that vault tec made him the way that he is.

[gazingstarsabove]

Hi! Thank you for your services, I love your headcanons!

I have a request, can you share your thoughts of what the SQ was doing before the madness? Not just work, but lives, relationships, goals, that sort of thing.

If it comes more natural as story than a list, I'm perfectly fine with that, too!

Thank you!!! <3

interesting! I'll list you some little headcanons for the main SQ, this is a thought I haven't really think about, but it makes me curious! and thank you!! I put a lot of effort in my headcanons, glad to see you like them! ^^

•Hank, before he became the psychotic bloodthirsty murderer we all know, he was just an average guy. Just an average grunt walking down the street, rather, a really buff one. Even before he did the killing, he was still just a quiet as ever, but he'd speak a few words and I think would hold longer in small talks, listening in carefully. Not the best in socializing, but he does give the best hugs, I assume.

·He lives a quiet life, he resides in an apartment dorm with a stray cat he decided to take in. He doesn't really have relatives nor friends, he's just really introverted and prefers time to himself. He's the type to take in volleyball training and sports, it would be actually pretty fitting for him. But he keeps popping the ball, he doesn't really mean to, but he strikes the ball a little too hard.

·He would just be your average (buff) nevadean. I think he likes sweets and likes to spend some time playing guitar while sitting beside a tree, strumming the chords as he hums his little tune.

·His relationship with anyone? He's not really interested. He doesn't really see anything in anyone, rather, just other people trying to live their lives. He views the world a little monotone, but that's just his way of living things.

•2BDamned, or Doc, would be a medical student before the madness.. to say it didn't really go as planned. He wasn't as attentive as the other students, he was slightly overwhelmed with the projects and board exams he had to take before actually becoming a doctor. But that wouldn't stop him from practicing. He dropped out of medical school and decided to make his own path for himself. He spends his free time learning the (human) grunt anatomy, studying the different organs, bones and joints, etc..

·He was determined to atleast try and attempt to be a good doctor, something his parents and he himself would be proud of. He doesn't have a PhD, that much was obvious. He was socially awkward, but he was nice. As time goes on he started to realize that him being a doctor would be impossible without a PhD.

·He was quite serious about his goals, but he never seem to bring himself to actually accomplish them. He'd still continue studying, but an actual goal was never set on his mind, only temporary tasks that he needed to get done, ones like; 'oh I need to do this project', 'oh I'm curious about this thing guess I'll do research about it'.

·He's not with anyone, though a lot of people do know him, he only finds them as acquaintances. But he has been curious about his own sexually, questioning himself and not getting a clear answer about anything.

•Sanford is a mind breaking one! I'm not sure if before the madness, he'd be a weightlifter, some sort of coach or a lifeguard. But I suppose him being a weightlifter and a lifeguard makes sense? It just sticks with me! It fits his personality, imo. Him being a weightlifter might be a good explanation as to why he's so lean, and he's probably one of those kind, and more socializing lifeguards. He can swim, yeah, but he'll probably scream or whistle at someone if they run in the wet paths, especially tiled floors. He's just concerned they'll fall and injure themselves.

·I feel like his dream was to just live in a little home, away from the city, and have a peaceful life. He's good all on his own, but knows a few contacts and a few friends he always checks up on. He'd be a good friend. He always thought of adopting a dog, but never really had guts to handle the responsibility.

·He didn't have a relationship with anyone, but he has thought about getting a girlfriend or boyfriend. He always thought what it would be like coming home to his lover, he always thought it was quite cute. But he gets all quiet and introverted around women, he's not the best at flirting but he tries.

•Deimos even before the madness already lives a fun and chaotic life, hanging out with several friends and living his life like it ends tomorrow. He always wanted to do insane stuff like sky diving, mountain climbing, and other stuff. He'd be a fan of race cars, I think. He lives in an apartment, and his bedroom is always so messy it's astonishing. He can go days without washing his clothes.

·He only learned how to smoke when he was recruited in SQ, so that being said.. his lungs were still healthy back then!!! Though his liver wasn't! He'd be chugging energy drinks all night, while he plays his videogames.·He isn't really the healthiest guy, but he's really fun to be with! I'd like to imagine there isn't a moment where he's not smirking or grinning. And he's not the most organized person, his wardrobe is always either empty or always full of unwashed clothes.

·He was quite the loudmouth, but getting a girlfriend/boyfriend was difficult. Mostly people only find his flirting to be annoying, which he doesn't really mind since there's a lot of fish in the sea. But it kinda stings his pride though.