#I remember thinking ’’ should I add Barry will I be annoying?’’

[beartitled]

GUYS THEM

I

GUYS

💕💞❤️LOOK AT THEM 💕❤️💞

I once again spread the list™️ of Narry bros content

Narry, Narry & Narry!

The remake that no one asked for!

The first interaction of the Narry bros! Yippeee!!!

Also the time when I got closer to @beartitled & @braisedhoney 🥹

Original 👇

[that-terrible-writer]

Not Like This

I’m over trying to add this through Safari.

Part 3

Part 1 2

“You call yourself terrible but this, this is beautifully written and I need more.”

“This has got me on the edge!!!! I dont usually like reading series or even multiple parts but dude I wanna read more of it!!!!!!! Are you planning on writing more??? This is so fucking AMAZING”

Warning: Over 3.3k to make up for me sucking.

You felt you had an out-of-body experience. You could see everyone in the control room at STAR Labs, but you were only watching their lips move. No noise was coming out. It was pure silence. You were utterly dazed; you couldn't get the image of Iris crying out of your head. She seemed so helpless, not getting the answers that she wanted. What were you supposed to do? Confess to her that you were the other woman?

A yell snapped you out of your thoughts. Turning your head slightly, you saw Ralph getting closer to you, "Y/N!" Ralph yelled. You covered your ear, wincing at the volume of his voice. You swatted Ralph away from your space, taking a few steps back.

"What is your problem, Dibny?" You mumbled, taking another sip of your coffee. It missed your lips, spilling the hot liquid onto your sweater. You let out a groan, patting the stain in, slamming your coffee cup down on the desk. The group looked at you, not wanting to say the wrong thing; though, Ralph took one for the team.

"I didn't mean to annoy you, Y/N," He explained. Ralph cautioned himself, taking a step towards you, "It's just, now's not the time to be spacing out. You know, with Cicada still out there." You lightly nodded your head, understanding Ralph's point. You rubbed your eyes, letting out a deep sigh.

"I'm sorry, Ralph. I didn't mean to take it out on you," You clarified. You glanced over at Barry, reading his worried look at you. Your heart ached when you locked eyes with him. A flash of Iris appeared, causing you to look away from him quickly. "Iris was over at my apartment last night, talking to me until 4 in the morning, so I didn't get much sleep last night."

You quickly saw Ralph's mood turned from concerned to being unsettled. You waved Ralph away from you, walking towards the doorway. You lifted your hand before letting anyone interject on what Iris was doing at your place. You looked over at them, "She's upset about the whole Nora thing. If you don't mind, I'm going to draft some weapon ideas and run them through Cisco." Cisco gave you a thumbs up, bringing the attention back to the Team, discussing ways to stop the biggest threat to Central City.

You walked by the weapon's room, heading straight to the lounge. You observed the room, seeing some things that Nora had left behind. You slowly made your way to the couch, plopping your heavy body onto it. You leaned your head back, letting out another frustrated sigh. You rethought your night with Iris when you knew you could no longer call yourself a friend anymore.

You brought over a cup of tea, sitting across from Iris. You thought that Iris would be out of tears, crying for an hour, and she still could go on for longer. You bit your thumb, trying to find the right words to say. Not to show concern for her, but to make sure you didn't let anything slip. Iris leaned over, cupping her drink close to her. She looked up at you, her face stained, her eyes puffy.

You grabbed a nearby box of tissues, handing them over to her. You watched as she blew her nose, sniffling the last bit. She collected herself, taking in a deep breath, "I'm sorry you had to watch that," She softly said.

You waved your hand, relaxing your shoulder, "Iris, it's okay. I would do the same if I were in your position." You waited until Iris took some time to drink her tea. You paused at first, not wanting to press on a sensitive matter. The curiosity was eating you alive, taking over, "Iris, why do you think Barry is cheating on you? Have you seen each other? You're the definition of couple goals." You clasped your hand over your mouth, not believing that you just asked her something so personal. Even if it did have to deal with you: you had to act like you didn't know.

Iris lightly laughed. You noticed the cup you gave Iris. It was the exact cup you were going to hand Barry when he interrupted you that night. You grew uneasy, rubbing your mouth and constantly moving your legs. You had to keep reminding yourself to calm down. You couldn't give away any tells.

"He's been more distant lately. He hasn't been relying on me as much. He used to come to me for emotional support; it's what a husband and wife do for each other, but when it came to Nora, he didn't want to discuss her." Iris explained. Her voice cracked, on the verge of crying again. Iris inhaled, calming herself down, trying to force a smile, "He came home this morning, and I don't know how to put it; he just seemed happy."

"Happy?'' You repeated. You furrowed your eyebrows together, shifting yourself on the chair. "How could he be happy? He sent Nora back; I would imagine happy is the last thing he would be feeling."

Iris shook her head, "I thought the same. Granted, I didn't know about Nora until he told me. He came home, all happy, then he informed me that he took her back to the future. I just can't figure him out anymore, Y/N." Iris placed her cup on the table to be able to put her head into her hands.

"I don't know what's going on, Iris. I'm in no place to tell you how to feel, but we need to remember Barry is going through a lot. Not only do we all have Cicada on our hands, but Barry also has to try and figure out Crisis. Then he learned that his daughter is working with the man that killed his mother. It's a lot to take in. We can't predict how someone could handle this type of thing." You tried your best to find a way to excuse Barry's behavior. You cursed under your breath, annoyed at how careless Barry was. You knew you had to speak with him, but you didn't need to grow any more suspicion.

"You're right; we don't know how Barry is handling all of this. Maybe I'm reading too much into this. It's just caught me thinking of so many things because he didn't come home last night. I've been just letting the worst come to mind." Iris confessed. You went over, sitting next to Iris, wrapping your arm around her. You took in a deep breath, having been heartbroken when you heard Iris let out her cries again.

Your stomach turned, remembering last night. Rubbing your face, you couldn't shake the feeling away. You noticed something at the table. A fresh cup of mocha had appeared, from Jitters, with Barry Allen staring down at you. His eyes lit up when they instantly locked with yours, a smile tugging on his lips; you could feel the spark that you both shared.

"Barry, we shouldn't be seen together." You mumbled, reaching over for the drink. You saw Barry shift his weight, but you stop before he could speak, "Iris came over: worried about you. I don't particularly appreciate lying to her, Bear. It would help if you fixed this with her. That's final."

In a blink of an eye, Barry had used his powers on you again. The room reminded you of an insane asylum. White covered every inch of the space. "It's Thawne's hideout," Barry explained.

"That makes sense," You joked, "Only a psycho would have a place like this." You looked around, seeing a stand against the wall, "Is it safe to talk in here?'

"It is," Barry confirmed. He walked over to the stand, hovering his hand over to reveal an artificial face. Barry saw you stiffen up, reaching out a hand towards you, "It's alright. This is Gideon. I created her in the future, and Thawne was using her while he was stuck here."

"Hello, Mr. Allen," The AI spoke, "Hello, Ms. Y/L/N." Your face didn't move. It was still showing the same puzzle expression.

"Gideon, can you pull up the article?" Barry requestion. Gideon pulled up the article that had you all worried.

THE FLASH VANISHES

"Barry, why do I need to see this?" You complained, "We are doing our best to find a way to avoid the crisis." Barry walked over to you, standing behind you. He placed his hands on your shoulder, turning you to face the article. He lowers his head to be close to your ear, trying to have you focus. Focusing: that was the last thing on your mind.

"Look who wrote the article," Barry whispered. You looked up at the name. Gideon zoomed in for you to make no mistake.

"Iris West?" You barely got out. You shook your head, pulling yourself from Barry. You turned to face him, crossing your arms, still in disbelief. "So, what does this mean?"

"That article used to say Iris West-Allen," Barry pointed out. He took steps closer to you while you did nothing to step away. Barry cups your face, rubbing his thumbs along your cheek, "It's now just West. Don't you see Y/N? We get to be together.

"The timeline is changing, just like Thawne explained. We can't stop the way that we feel. We can have a life together." Barry smiled.

"I don't know, Bear. I don't want to start a relationship based on what we did. Based on a lie." You confessed.

"Let me handle it then," Barry assured, "I will tell Iris everything. I will make sure that everything falls on me and that you can still have a friendship in the end." Barry kissed you. A soft and gentle kiss, telling you that everything was going to be okay. You stared at Barry, about to interject. Yet, a familiar flash came into view.

You gripped onto Barry's arm, seeing Nora at the other end of the room. Her eyes flashed red; she was panting, having red lighting come out of every part of her body. You should see the anger flowing through her. You turned Barry around, having him stare at his daughter. Barry reached out behind him, grabbing onto you.

"Nora, I need you to calm down," Barry instructed, stretching a hand out toward his daughter, motioning her to stop in her steps. Barry knew what was happening with Nora. She returned to the present using the negative speed force, rejecting everything he instructed her not to do.

"She's ruining our family," Nora yelled, causing you to wince. Nora looked at her father; disappointment came across her face. "Are we not enough? Was I not what you wanted?" Nora's voice cracked, causing you to have tears form.

"Nora, I didn't mean for it to happen," You plead. Your voice also cracked, feeling the heavy amount of guilt you had with Iris, just growing when Nora had to be the one to find out. You didn't mean for this to happen. You never meant for any of this to happen.

"She has to go, Dad," Nora ordered. She took a step closer, balling her fists, ready to take flight.

"Nora, we can talk about this." Barry tried to calm her. You felt the wind go through your hair. You thought it was Barry thinking quick on his feet, but he could only run for so long until Nora caught up. When you stopped, the figure placed you to your feet, helping you stand.

You quickly spun around, making sure Nora wasn't anywhere near you. "Don't worry. You're safe." The voice answered. You turned to see a young man in front of you, wearing a purple and white suit. "I'll always make sure you're safe." He had appeared to be in his 20s, wearing his hair like a certain Speedster.

"Barry?" You let out softly, confused at what you were seeing.

The young man laughed, rubbing the back of his neck. He showed certain traits on how nervous he was before you: his hands were restless, flicking his fingers at the tip, rubbing his mouth, and biting at the end of his thumb. "You always tell me how much I look like him," He told you. You didn't know what to say; no words were coming out of your mouth. You looked around you, seeing that nothing looked familiar, "You don't know where we are?" He asked you. You slowly look over at him, shaking your head softly.

The young man rubbed his chin, muttering to himself, "Maybe it will happen later." That is what you were able to catch.

"I'm sorry, what?" You rebutted, "Who are you? Where am I?"

"Don't worry! You're still in Central City!" He assured you. You waved your hands as a disagreement.

"That's the last thing I am worried about, as I have an absolute stranger pick me up and take me away from my friends!" You yelled.

The boy placed his hands on his hip, and that instant: you knew where the dots connected.

Your phone rang; seeing it was Barry on the other line, you picked it up, "Y/N! Thank God you're okay!" Barry's voice sent a wave of safety through you. "Where did you go? Who took you?" You closed your eyes, focusing on Barry's voice, taking in deep breaths.

You looked over at the boy, seeing his ears perk. He stared at you, waving his finger at you, "Is that—is that really—" The kid couldn't finish a sentence. His excitement had taken over him.

"We got Nora into the Pipeline. We were able to knock her out with some anesthesia." Barry informed you, "You can come back if the speedster lets you."

You glanced over at the boy, "I don't think he's bad, Bear." You assured him, "I think—I think we know him from the future." You hung up the phone, walking your way over to the eager boy. "Do you think you could take me back to STAR Labs?" You questioned him.

"You serious?" He said. His voice showed the excitement he held, in a flash, taking you back to your previous location.

Your hair was a mess, standing in front of your friends: back in the control room of STAR Labs. Barry didn't think; he went over to you, pulling you into a loving embrace. You lightly tapped Barry's back, whispering to him so that only he could hear, "I'm okay."

Barry pulled himself away, turning to the boy. His face mimicked yours. He scrunched his brows, confused at the sight before him, "Why does he look so much like—"

"You." Cisco finished. Cisco walked over, taking a good look at the boy. He walked around him, examining his outfit and facial features. Cisco placed a hand under his chin, "The resemblance is uncanny."

"A little bit too uncanny," Ralph grumbled, looking over to your direction. You felt your stomach drop as you knew Ralph would quickly catch on to what you figured out.

"Are you here because of your sister?" Caitlyn mentioned, grabbing the boy's attention from you and Barry. He looked a bit confused and shook his head.

"No, Dawn doesn't know that I'm here. If she did, she would have my head," He joked. His smile grew wide, showing more of the Allen gene running through him.

"Dawn?" Caitlyn caught, tilting her head at the thought. "Don't you mean Nora?"

The boy shook his head again, "I think I would know the name of my sister."

You saw Ralph make his way over to you, pulling you to the side, "You need to take that kid away." He ordered you. You continued to stare at Ralph, your sight going over to the kid once and a while, "They may not see it, but it's only a matter of time until they catch on."

The boy wipes his hands on his pants, trying to straighten himself out. The smile he wore was the same smile Barry had. "Where are my manners. My parents did teach them to me," He chuckled, flashing his eyes over to Barry. "I'm Don Allen. I come from the future."

You and Ralph let out an annoyed sigh, quickly covering it up when the rest of the team looked at you. You make your way to Barry, tugging on his arm. Barry looks down at you, raising his eyebrows.

"Bear, we need to get this kid out of here. We need to speak to him alone." You informed him. It took Barry a while, realizing what was happening.

"Hey, Don," Barry spoke up, "How about we don't say anything about the future. We already have Nora in the Vault; we don't need any more future business involved." Don grew confused by Barry's remarks. He was able to read Barry's expression, understanding that nothing else needed to be said.

"Are you here to help us with Cicada? Like Nora was?" Cisco asked. Don looked over at the two of you, reading your worried expressions.

"Yes," Don said slowly; he turned to Cisco, pointing at him with a bit of a chuckle, "That is why I'm here. To help out with your bug problem. Me. Cicada. Yes." He was as awkward as Barry was; it wasn't helping.

Cisco let out a sigh of relief, having a smile on his face, "Great. The more help, the better. I'm close to the cure; we learned that Cicada's powers don't affect Killer Frost. I hope that enough recap for you because we can't waste any more time with this. We are a woman down, so we need all hands on deck!" Cisco clapped, getting everyone's attention. It was a signal to look busy.

Cisco left the room with Caitlyn to continue their efforts in completing the cure. Ralph followed behind. When Ralph was almost out of the room, you could see him mouth you some words: "Fix this!"

Barry waited a few moments, placing his hand along your lower back to guide you out of the control room. Don caught up, but the moment he tried to say anything, Barry placed an index finger to his lips to silence the kid. Barry put his hand on the wall, opening up a door to go back into Thawne's room.

"What are you doing here, Don?" Barry demanded the moment the wall sealed up. Don rubbed his hands, looking at his angry father. His mouth twitched, from going into a frown to just a thin line. "Don, you can tell me."

Don was pacing the room, "I don't understand," Don muttered, looking over his shoulder where the door was. He pointed towards the door, "They don't know?" Don asked both of you. You looked up at Barry, who had the same action, looking back at you. Don went over to you, grabbing your left hand to examine it.

"You're not married?" Don questioned you. You shook your head. Don ran his hands through his hair, getting more and more restless. "This can't be happening," He grunted. He turned to Barry, pointing his finger at the Red Speedster, "Why aren't you married to her?"

"Because he's married to Iris," You informed Don. Don looked over at you, the look of disappointment he had shown. "They've been married for a few years now. We're just friends." You felt Barry's hand resting on your side, his grip tightening. You took a moment, knowing what Don was going to say.

"Mom, you can't be serious," Don finally told you. The moment you knew the truth, you felt your breath leave your body. You felt faint, but with Barry holding onto you, you were able to stand. "You and dad need to be together! My being, Dawn's being, everything is disappearing in the future. You two not being together is destroying the future!"

You turned to look up at Barry. Barry looked at you, still calm over the revelation. Barry had to decide which future he wanted to have and had to choose which one had to go; the very thought made you sick to your stomach.

Tagged: @randomfanders-blog​ @ibe-anne @my-soul-is-the-moon

Permanent Tagged: @sxturn-stars

Some of the tags aren’t working and I’m sorry 😢

[baronessblixen]

I have an idea but I suck at writing so could you write a fic where Scully runs into Mulder at the pool(like Krycek in Duane Barry)then the lights go out as he’s coming out of the pool, they’re both confused, but then after a few seconds the lights come back on and Scully finds her face 2 inches away from his dripping wet chest?😂😂it came into my mind this morning and I can’t stop thinking about it. It’s realllly odd and specific but I just have to read a fic about it😂

Anon, I love this prompt so much. I hope I did it justice. Tagging @today-in-fic

The air is whizzing with humidity and the heavy smell of chlorine. Scully’s hair curls at her cheek and she curses under her breath. Every damn time. She keeps going, careful not to slip in her heels. As another lock of hair springs up in a curl, she curses again, and this time it’s directed at Mulder.

She hears him before she sees him. Water splashes angrily, but steadily, against the edge of the pool as he moves through it in fast strokes. It’s a noise she remembers well. In college, whenever she needed to burn off steam, she, too, went to the pool in the gym, swimming lap after lap. 

She watches Mulder move fast and gracefully, seeing him in a whole new light. She knows he runs whenever he can; his long legs are made for the track. She had no idea he loved the water too. For a moment Scully just watches him, longing to feel the cool water against her own skin, to feel the chlorine burn her eyes. But that’s not what she’s here for. She’s here because Skinner has been trying to reach Mulder and when he couldn’t, he called Scully. He was angry, annoyed, and short-tempered, but she promised to find Mulder and send him up.

Now that she’s here at the gym, she can’t stop watching him. He’s the only one in the water, most other agents probably having gone home hours ago.

“Mulder, it’s me,” she says when he reaches the end of the pool. He looks up at her, panting slightly, and gives her a bright smile.

“Hey Scully. Wanna swim a few laps?” Truth be told, she’d love to. Mulder may outrun her, but she’s confident she’d beat him in the water. Another time.

“Skinner has been looking for you.”

The smile falls off his face, along with a few droplets of water. He sighs and heaves himself out of the pool. Though she tries not to stare, she can’t help it. There’s his chest, dripping wet, strong and lean, alive with the beat of his heart and the play of his muscle. Then there’s the skimpy Speedo that hugs him in all the right places and leaves nothing to the imagination. Not that she’d need to image. She has seen him naked before. And yet, this is different. So very, very different. He takes a step forward and Scully’s eyes land on his legs. Just as she wonders how those legs would feel rubbing against hers, there’s a quick gurgle before all the lights go out, all at once, bathing them in utter blackness. 

“Mulder?” she asks, her hands flailing about her, trying to find something to hold on to in the inky, jet black darkness. But as quickly as the lights went out, they come back on, as if nothing had happened. That’s when Scully finds herself face to face with Mulder. Or rather, face to chest.

“What in the…,” she starts, sounding lost in thoughts. And maybe she is. She is so close to him that if she wanted to, (maybe she wants to, just a little bit) she could lick the water off of his chest.

Focus, Dana.

“That happens sometimes,” Mulder says and she hears the smile in his voice. “Enjoying the view, Scully?”

“What view?” She says and takes a step backwards. That damn humidity, she thinks, as her face heats up. She hears Mulder chuckle and obviously enjoying himself. 

“You looked pretty scared there for a moment.”

“It was dark, Mulder. You couldn’t have seen what I look like.”

“Oh, but I know,” he says, running his hand over his dripping chest. She feels a pang of jealousy, wondering what would happen if she touched him there too. “I know the faces you make.”

“You don’t,” she argues, but she no longer remembers what they’re talking about. There’s one perfectly shaped drop of water right over his equally perfect nipple. His actual nipple. She takes a deep, albeit shaky, breath. It’s the warmth, the humidity, the chlorine, and his damn proximity. Add that adorable smirk on his face too. All of it mixes together into an intoxicating cocktail that clouds her senses. She reaches out, and it’s either her or him, but someone audibly gasps, as her finger touches the droplet of water. It collapses against her skin, making it wet. Her hand lands on his chest, still and unmoving, just wanting to feel. 

“Scully?” he asks.

“I’m um, I just wanted to check your heart rate,” she says, looking up at him. His eyes are greener than she’s ever seen them. Like a forest that she wants to explore, full of life and mystery. “As your doctor, I need to make sure that you don’t overexert.”

“Did I?”

“Hm?”

“Overexert myself?” His face is closer. When did his face come closer? She smells the chlorine on him but even more so, she smells him. Just Mulder. “What does my heart say?” he asks and she feels like she might drown in the deep timbre of his voice.

“Skinner,” she says quickly, patting his chest. “You need to see Skinner.”

“Right, um, let me get my towel,” he says and the moment is broken. He walks past her, his body almost touching hers, and towels off. His hair sticks up into every direction and she wishes she could smooth it. 

“Hey Scully,” he says to get her attention. “We should do this again sometime.” She stares at him, making sure not to let her eyes slip down to the Speedo, to where she thinks she just saw the shadow of a movement.

“Or don’t you like swimming?” He tucks a strand of unruly, curled hair behind her ear and smiles.

“I love swimming,” she answers truthfully.

“Bring your swim suit next time,” he says, his finger briefly brushing her cheek. “And I’ll race you.”

“I must warn you, Mulder,” she says, feeling more solid, “I’m an excellent swimmer.”

“I can’t wait to find out,” he says with a soft chuckle, putting a warm hand on the small of her back, keeping her steady, as they leave the gym together. 

[backtothestart02]

Remember That Night - 3/? | westallen fanfiction

A/N: Another chap! I hope you enjoy!

...

Chapter 3 - After One Month

Iris sat in class, gazing out the window, daydreaming about nothing at all, and not hearing her name being called apparently. A rough nudge to her right brought her back to the present, and she saw it was Linda that had nudged her. She looked worried. So did the rest of the class. Their professor, however, just looked annoyed.

“Are you with us, Ms. West?”

“I, uh…” She cleared her throat. “Guess I drifted off.”

The professor sighed deeply.

“Yes, I can see that.” He shifted his gaze to Linda. “Ms. Park, maybe you could enlighten us with a riveting answer?”

Iris didn’t know if the answer was riveting or not. She turned her head out the window again and lost herself in the buzz of the city until she felt Linda nudge her arm again, more gently this time, to inform her class was over.

“Ms. West, if I could speak with you before you leave.”

Iris froze and looked to their professor, then to Linda.

“I’ll wait for you in the hall,” Linda mumbled, and left her side.

Their professor waited until everyone had exited, asking the last student to shut the door on his way out, which he did. The silence was deafening.

“Ms. West, do you know why I asked you to stay after class?”

“I have an idea,” she managed, shifting her books higher in her arms.

“Then why don’t you enlighten me.”

She restrained what would’ve been a long drawn-out sigh that would’ve no doubt gotten her in even deeper trouble.

“I wasn’t paying attention in class.”

“Not just today, Iris. But every day since classes started two weeks ago.”

She winced.

“We have our first test coming up next week, and honestly, I don’t know how you see yourself passing it.”

She swallowed.

“Would you like to tell me what’s going on? Your records state that you’re a straight A student. One does not get straight A’s by daydreaming in class.”

“I…”

She debated telling him about Barry, about the break-up, and how it had her so shook up that a month later she was still finding it hard to focus on anything but how her stomach was still twisting inside, her heart still crushed into pieces, her love for him still so strong that she knew she’d take him back in an instant if he were to show up in her life today.

But this professor wouldn’t understand. He would roll his eyes and advise her not to get into relationships that could distract from schoolwork and ruin her academic reputation.

So she opted for something more vague.

“I had a rough end to the summer, Professor. It’s made it difficult to focus on much else. I apologize and will try to do better.”

He eyed her with the suspiciousness of a hawk but did not ask for details.

“You better, Ms. West. Because if I don’t see you starting to pay attention by our next class period, and if you don’t get an A on our first test, I’m going to seriously consider you drop from my class until next semester.”

Her jaw dropped.

“It’s only been two weeks!”

“And you’ll be refunded in full for this class if you drop out by the end of next week. I know the rule is one week in, but I’m willing to make an exception. I’ll even speak to the admissions office on your behalf.”

She didn’t know whether to be flattered or insulted.

“Your other teachers may be okay with your lack of participation and effort, but I am not. Good day, Ms. West.”

She stood staring at him, as he started to gather his things.

“I trust you know where the door is?”

She swallowed, nodded slightly, and somehow managed to pick her feet up off the floor to make her way out of the room. She closed the door softly behind her, but it somehow sounded so loud and final, like the death of her education was near at hand. And it was all her fault.

“Iris,” Linda whispered from across the hall.

Iris looked up and forced herself to pay attention to her best friend who had waited for her during her summons. Her brows furrowed as she walked over to her.

“You didn’t have to wait for me,” she said.

Linda huffed. “As if I’d leave you alone after that monster had eaten you whole.”

She looped her arm through Iris’ and tugged her down the hall till she came easily and they were walking in sync.

“What did he say?” she asked.

Iris finally let her long, loud sigh out.

“Oh, just that if I don’t start paying attention in class and get an A on our first test next week, that I should strongly consider dropping out of his class.”

“No.”

“Mhmm.” Iris rolled her eyes and added, “He even said he’d talk to admissions and make sure I got a full refund on my tuition for the class.”

“How generous,” Linda muttered.

“My thoughts exactly.”

“So, what are you going to do?” she asked.

Iris shrugged. “Find a way to pay attention in class, I guess.”

“You will,” Linda said. “And I’ll help you study for the test. We’ll get you back to your usual self in no time.”

“I’m not so sure about that…” Iris trailed off.

Linda didn’t have to ask why. She knew it was about Barry. Iris had told her every delicious, heartbreaking detail about her whirlwind romance with the cowboy that had stolen her heart. She had no problem believing that this was the first time her best friend had been in love with the sullen way she’d been acting ever since she got back. She’d hoped that school would be a distraction for her, a way to focus on something other than her lack of a love life. Apparently that had been the wrong approach. Iris West needed something a little more…direct.

“How about we go out tonight?” Linda suggested. “Get some drinks, flirt with some boys, sing some karaoke…”

“I don’t know, Lin…”

“Why not?” she pressed. “I’ve still got those fake IDs for us made if you want to get drunk. I know you keep turning them down, but-”

“My dad is literally a cop.”

“And your dad is also literally two states away.”

Iris frowned, as if that knowledge made it worse.

“I just want you to let loose, Iris. Forget about…him for one night and just have fun. I miss seeing you having fun. And maybe, maybe, one of the guys you flirt with will be interested in more than just a little flirting.” She winked.

“I’m not a one-night stand kind of girl, Linda. You know that.”

“Iris West might not be, but…” She flipped out the fake IDs she’d been referring to. “Is Sasha Malone?” Her eyes twinkled.

“Sasha Malone?” she sputtered. “That’s-”

“Your alter ego from your dreams, I know. I thought I’d add a little spice to our aliases.”

“Oh, God, Linda, I can’t believe y-”

“And I,” she continued, unthwarted, “will be Lindsey Spic.”

Iris raised her eyebrows, unimpressed. “Spic?”

“Well, it was going to be Spice, but then I thought people probably don’t have that as a last name. It’s too obvious for a fake ID.”

Iris snorted. “You think?”

“Just promise me you’ll come?”

“Linda, I don’t know…”

“We have no more classes today. We can go shopping for sexy dresses, grab some dinner, and then head over to the bar.”

“What if I don’t want to flirt with any boys? Let alone do karaoke?”

Linda smirked slowly. “Trust me, the boys will come to you.”

“And the karaoke?”

“Iris West may not be into singing, buzzed, in front of a live audience, but-”

“Sasha Malone is?” Iris added dryly.

Linda showed her pearly whites, and Iris actually laughed.

“You’re impossible.”

Linda hugged her side.

“That’s why you love me.”

…

An hour into hitting the bar, Lindsey Spic was having the time of her life dancing to one extremely horrible singer amidst the tables by the karaoke stage. Sasha Malone was still staring into her first glass of alcohol that Lindsey had insisted on ordering for her. She had yet to take a sip. It smelled abhorrent.

Lindsey had been right about one thing however. The boys were drawn to her like moths to a flame. She supposed she did look pretty hot tonight. She’d always looked hot, especially when she dressed herself up, and Lindsey had insisted on paying for everything when they went shopping earlier. This was the first time in a long time though that Sasha didn’t feel hot.

Maybe because Sasha wasn’t really Sasha. She was still Iris.

“Woo!” Lindsey sang out, stumbling over to Iris at the bar and miraculously landing on the first stool she tried. “That was some song, wasn’t it?”

“Mmm,” Iris obliged.

Lindsey looked at the untouched drink and frowned, coming across remarkably sober at the sight of it.

“Why haven’t you touched your drink yet, Sasha?”

Iris glanced at it again, felt no yearning to touch it and leaned toward Lindsey before saying under her breath, “Maybe because I’m 19, Lindsey.”

Lindsey clapped her hand over Iris’ mouth.

“Shh! Not so loud!” she whisper-shouted.

Iris pulled her hand away.

“You’re the one being loud,” she informed her, still talking quietly.

Lindsey pulled back. “Oops.”

Iris shook her head. “It smells gross too. I don’t know what you were thinking.”

She shrugged. “I drank mine.”

Iris snorted. “Yes, I’m aware.”

“Sasha.”

Iris turned her head despite herself and found a new drink sitting in front of it. This one looked fruity and half-appetizing with a cherry popped in the middle.

“From the guy at the end of the bar.”

Ugh. Not another one.

But Iris looked anyway and found herself staring at a handsome-looking blonde. Her usual type before Barry. She didn’t feel the attraction towards him she was hoping to, but for some reason his smooth smile and wink didn’t bother her as much as it had with the other boys at the bar. Maybe because this one looked more like a man.

Then she noticed his badge.

“You’re a cop?”

Startled and then embarrassed, the man took off his badge and stuck it in his pocket.

“I’m off-duty.” He held out his hand for her to shake.

“That’s a strange name. I’m leaving.”

“Nooo, whyyy?” Lindsey complained behind her.

Off-duty stood up just as she started to.

“So soon? The night’s barely begun.”

“This one is my plus one.” She pointed with her thumb behind her. “She needs to get to bed.”

“I do not! I am not sleepy!”

Iris looked over her shoulder.

“You will be. Trust me.”

“It was nice meeting you, Off-duty. And thanks for the drink, but I think I’m going to pass on everything but the cherry.”

“You can go ahead and drink it,” he said. “It’s non-alcoholic.”

She froze, worried more for Lindsey than herself.

“It was nice meeting you too, Leaving.”

She couldn’t bring herself to banter back, so she looped her arm through Linda’s and pulled her out of the bar, thoroughly rattled.

“Why are we leaving?” she demanded.

“Because that cop hitting on me could’ve ratted you out.”

Linda frowned. “So why didn’t he?”

Iris frowned too. “I don’t know.”

...

*will be posted on AO3 and FFnet when beta’d.

[shipersanonymous]

One Hit West

Chapter 7

Author’s Note

Ok so like its late (I’m sorry) but its here, I pray its not underwhelming. Its quite a nasty cliffhanger so I’m sorry about that.  And now I’ll leave you to it.

xoxo

…………………...

“Welcome home honey.” Barry says as he looks at her over his shoulder. She smiles sweetly, relieved to be back home. Where she belongs.

She walks over to Barry who tilts his head up to give her full access to his waiting lips. She leans over and pecks him, her high pony falling to the side. On his lap, Nora closes her eyes behind her toddler fingers and chuckles as she says:

“Ewwwww.”

The two can’t help but laugh and turn their attention onto her with mischievous (yet loved filled – always love filled) eyes.

“What’s so funny little missy?” Iris asks and Nora shyly replies:

“Noooottthhhiiinnnggg?”

“Mm I don’t know mama bear. I don’t think this cute little cub is telling the truth.” Barry plays along.

“I think you’re right papa bear. What should we do with her?”

Barry pretends to think really hard then answers:

“I think… we should… TICKLE IT OUT OF HER!”

“Daddy no!” Nora yells in-between laughs as both her parents attack her with tickles, filling the house with their favourite sound, the sound of her laughter.

That’s the scene Iris has dreamed about for years. Coming home to Barry and Nora, hearing her baby laugh, hearing her call him “daddy”, parenting with the man she loves.

“Mommy, you’re home!” Nora yells excitedly and the look of dissapointment in Barry’s eyes slams Iris right back into her reality. The two people looking back at her have no idea of the secret she carries.

And she plans to keep it that way.

At least until she’s sure she can trust him.

Barry stands, carrying Nora in his arms and Iris’s heart skips a beat when Nora leans her head into his shoulder and smiles.

“Thank you mommy.” She says and Iris smiles, trying to hide the hurricane of emotions rattling through her.

Confusion.

Relief.

Anxiety.

Happiness.

All of them rambling into each other inside her like waves during a storm.

“Thank you for what baby?” she asks.

“For my birthday present! I get to call Barry Allen, uncle Barry!”

Barry chuckles.

“Am I the best birthday present ever?” he asks her with squinted eyes and she nods with a bright smile on her face.

“Prove it,” he challenges.

“How?” she asks, her little eyes widening behind her glasses.

“Mmmm…give me a kiss.” Barry answers, turning his cheek towards her. Nora pecks her father without hesitation and Barry closes his eyes dramatically.

“You know what?”

“What?”

“That was the best kiss I’ve ever gotten.” He says and she chuckles.

“What you don’t believe me? I’ll prove it.” he says and plants a kiss on her cheek.

“Do you believe me now?” he asks and plants one on her other cheek.

“How bout now?” this one is on her forehead.

Each kiss sparks another round of laughter from the little girl and Iris’s heart warms up, it’s been a while since she last saw her daughter this happy and care free. For a moment, a split second, Iris considers giving in. She considers telling him the truth. She considers apologising and making her family work.

Then flashes of her baby boy’s innocent little face breeze through her mind and her broken heart cries louder.

She can’t give in.

“Alright baby, come on. Time to go home.” She says with a smile.

“Awwww. But you just got here. Plus, uncle Barry and I…” Nora stops mid sentence and the blank look in her eyes sends Iris into autopilot.

“Barry, lay her down. Keep her head raised.”

No sooner had she finished giving the instruction, Nora’s eyes rolled back and she began to convulse. To Iris’s surprise Barry was calm in that moment he laid Nora down on her side and kept her head up.

“Aren’t you gonna call 911?” he asks when he notices that she’s simply still, looking down as their daughter seizes. Iris doesn’t answer, she simply kneels down in front of him and watches.

Her heart constricts and her eyes fill with tears that she struggles with all her might to hold back. She can’t call the hospital, not without risking exposing her daughter. All she can do is watch and helplessly wait for Nora’s fit to end.

In these moments, she feels like a complete failure. A mother powerless to help her child. Without the ability to take her baby’s pain away. It shatters her, and still all she can do is watch.

[Barry]

He’s never seen her look so defeated.

As he leans against the wall next to Nora’s bedroom door, Barry can’t shake the depression he saw in her eyes. He’s never seen her stare look so hopeless.

The ruffling of sheets sparks his attention and he stands back up and peers into the room. Iris leans in and gives their daughter a kiss on the head. After the seizure, Nora passed out and Iris, almost as if possessed, picked her up out of Barry’s arms and took her to her bedroom. She’s been in there for almost half an hour and every so often a sigh of exhaustion echo’s from inside the dark room.

Barry’s heart hurts. This seems almost routine. How long has it been going on for? Has she had to endure all this on her own?

As unbelievable as it may be, a wave of guilt flows through him. He should have been there to help her in moments like these. Maybe she wouldn’t have been so tired. Maybe the pained look of helplessness wouldn’t have tainted her eyes like it had just a few moments ago. If only he’d been there to bare the load with her.

If only he knew.

Iris walks out of the room looking as lifeless as she had when she walked in with their daughter in her arms. She’s about to walk past him without so much as nod in his direction when Barry holds onto her upper arm, stopping her in her tracks.

“Can we talk?” he asks, concerned about her state of mind.

“She’s not yours Barry.” She says simply, like a sleepwalker trapped in a dream.

He stops short, her denial only conforming his suspicions. He let’s out an incredulous breath.

“That just told me that she is.”

Iris turns to him annoyed, her exhaustion clear in her sigh.

“Barry, just stop…”

“No Iris. You stop it. Stop lying to me. You know how you gave yourself away? When I said let’s talk, I wanted to know if you’re OK cause our daughter just had a seizure and you looked like someone hit you in the gut with car. Your automatic assumption that I’d want to confront you about whether or not she’s mine, tells me that you’re trying to keep up a lie.”

Iris looks up at him startled, like a deer caught in headlights and Barry feels his heart beat out a painful note. It is true.

Nora is his daughter.

She has to be.

He decides to push his luck in hopes that she’ll break and tell him the truth.

“After the day I spent with her, I wouldn’t even need a DNA test to know that I’m her father Iris. She’s an exact replica of the both of us. Physically, mentally, emotionally. I saw you in her smile, her kindness, her sense of humour. I saw me in her eyes, her mind, her incredible ability to dream. I felt a connection with her Iris, something I can’t explain. So you can lie to me all you want. I know she’s mine.”

“She’s…not,” Iris persists with her lie, swallowing down the tears he can see in her eyes. Barry struggles to hold back his own tears as he whispers:

“Then why did you name her Nora?”

Iris���s eyes widen and for the second time in the span of five minutes she looks like someone who’s been caught red handed.

“Why Iris? Why did you name your daughter after my mother if she’s not mine? The math adds up, her features and personality are like neon signs and she has my mother’s name, do you really expect me to believe she’s not my daughter? Our daughter? After all that?”

Her eyes meet his with a plea and he softens his attack.

“I’m sorry I…”

Before he can finish talking she turns around and speed walks into her room, slamming the door behind her. Barry stares at the empty hallway uncertain how to feel. Iris’s behaviour seemed to have given him the confirmation he wanted.

She’s mine.

She has to be mine.

So why does he feel so broken?

[Iris]

She flops onto her bed expressionless and a split second later, tears stream down her face. It’s been a while since her last cry but she can’t help it.

He knows. He can’t know!

She feels like a double failure. First she couldn’t help her daughter with her seizure and now she can’t protect her either. She feels a scream bubbling up the back of her throat and hides her face in a pillow to let it out. She wants to choke on the sound. She wants the pillow to strangle the air out of her and just take her away.

Nora.

Her baby’s name pops into her head and suddenly she remembers what’s kept her going all these years. Despite the trauma and the heartache and the difficulties. Her baby’s smile, her laugh, the warmth of her hug. All that and more are like fuel to Iris. They keep her going further.

So the thought of having her baby snatched away from her….

The tears stream down her cheeks with increased vigour and the sobs that shake through her become more violent. She clutches at her heart as the familiar sting of loss pierces through her. Iris drops onto her side and curls into the fetal position.

Can I please just wake up from this nightmare.

She begs in her mind as her cries lull her to sleep. Exhausted, her eyes droop closed and she drifts off, hiccupping silently…

The alarm rang and she opened her sleep heavy eyes, blinking away the slight sting of exhaustion. As her body slowly woke up, the aches and pains worked their way through her limbs. The creaky old couch she’d been using as a bed squealed in protest as she got up and tried to work some of the stiffness from her neck.

Then the nausea hit.

Her eyes shot open and Iris ran to the bathroom with her hand firmly pressed over her mouth.

Morning sickness was a bitch.

Out of breath and partially shaky, she flushed out last nights dinner and made her way back to the staff break room (that she’s been using as a bedroom) to get her tooth brush from her suitcase. She was only on her second month and not really sure how much more of this morning routine she could handle. Sleeping on an old couch was miserable enough without the sudden sprints to the bathroom at six in the morning.

With her teeth brushed, she then used a face towel and a small bucket of lukewarm water to freshen up as best as she could before heading out to open the café. As she made herself busy, cleaning out the coffee machine, the bell above the door rang and she turned around, expecting to see her colleagues but was met instead with the suspicious sight of four men in suits and sunglasses.

Being the daughter of a (then) cop, being skilled at detecting danger was basically a calling and all her inner buzzers were going off.

“I’m sorry gentleman but we’re not open yet.” She explains but that bit of information is received as invalid.

Three of the men formed a straight line and the fourth, supposedly the leader, stepped forward.

“Iris West?” he asked and for a minute she was hesitant to answer but saw no way out so decided to buy herself some time.

“Who’s asking?” she tried on her bravest tone, praying to God that someone would walk in and interrupt this unwanted meeting. In her mind all she can think about is keeping her babies safe.

“You need to come with us.” He says taking a step forward and she takes a step back, despite the counter between them.

“And why is that?”

“That’s classified information.”

She let’s out a nervous chuckle.

“Considering you want me to leave my work place during my shift with four complete strangers, I think the least you can do is tell me why.”

“I’m sorry Ms West but my orders were clear. Now you can cooperate or we can force you to cooperate. Either way, you’re leaving with us.”

The men began to approach and she held out her hands to halt them.

“OK, OK. I’ll go. Just let me get my stuff ready.” She succumbed and they stopped in their tracks and gave her room to walk and get to her room in the back. Surprisingly enough, neither of them followed her in.

Idiots.

She thought as she made her way to the bathroom and forced the miniscule window opened. It was wide enough for her to slip out of so she used all her strength to climb out of it into freedom.

She landed in an empty alley behind the building with a soft thump and bent knees. A quick glance around told her she was clear and that’s when she made a break for it, running as fast her legs would let her.

But she didn’t make it very far.

Strong hands pulled her into stronger arms just as she stepped out of the alley into the street. Her mouth and nose were covered before she could scream and she felt a sting on her neck just before she slipped out of consciousness.

Needles.

IV drips.

Chemicals.

Pain.

Needles.

IV drips.

Chemicals.

Pain.

Needles.

IV….

A familiar face.

She screams.

[Barry]

He stands frozen in the hallway for what feels like an eternity and as reality begins to sink in he turns his head towards Nora’s bedroom.

He’s a father. He’s been a father for the past five years and he didn’t know it.

The shame, the betrayal, the fear of what his little girl might think about him all cut through him like a knife. Who does she think he is? What does she think happened? What does she think is the reason why he hasn’t been with her and her mother all this time?

He takes shaky breaths as he walks towards her room. Slow steps that contrast against his rapid beating heart. At the door, he hesitates. Going in feels like crossing a life changing barrier into a whole new world of experiences.

Barry wants to go in but something holds him back. Doubt. He can feel it in his heart and in his mind he knows that she is his daughter. Yet he can’t trust his own instincts because the last time he was led by intuition he got his heart broken. The memory of that pain, of losing the woman he loved (loves), plants a seedling of fear in his confident heart.

He could never survive losing Nora. Not after forming a bond with her and seeing her as a daughter. That’s a pain that might destroy him once and for all.

Despite the uncertainty and the possibility of heartbreak, his hand still itches to caress her to sleep. His arms still want to hold her and protect her. His heart still wants to hear her call him “dad”.

Deciding to take that leap, he pushes his fears aside and decides to take that leap. Even if she turns out not to be his, even if he loses more than he gains, even if he’ll never see her again after this, he wants to at least try.

He wants to believe for five minutes that the incredible little girl he spent the day with is half of him and half of his soul mate. Even if it only lasts a second, he wants to look at her with a father’s eyes and claim responsibility for her existence.

He wants a taste of paternal pride, no matter how selfish that wish may be.

As he’s about to take that leap, his heart stops, his hairs stand on end, his eyes widen, his blood freezes and his breath gets caught in his throat.

[mischiefandspirits]

Family Weekend

The Teen Titans headed out for a weekend with their families. Wonder Girl was running a mission with her Amazon sisters. Impulse had planned out some fun with her parents and twin brother. Virus left for their homeworld. Nightstar spent time with her mothers.

Robin, having left Gotham over a year earlier and not looked back, assumed he'd spend the weekend alone in Titans Tower. Then Red X broke in.

Part of Batkid and Robin

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Robin stared down at his tea with a frown, tapping his fingers against the mug randomly. A small buzz came near and he sighed. “Don’t try it, Virus.” When the buzz kept coming, he glared behind him at the blue Roomba slowly making its way towards him.

It paused, then sighed. Electric blue energy pulled out of the robot vacuum, leaving the black device to roll off on its own. The energy collected into a blue humanoid form with geometric white patterns across them. The patterns on their face formed into a pout as they leaned against the kitchen counter. “How did Robin know?”

He just smirked and turned away.

“Come on!” the Gexin whined and threw themself over Robin’s lap, making the barstool rock slightly. “Robin has to tell Virus how Robin knew Virus was the tiny floor robot. Please!”

“The thing was blue,” Nightstar called from the couch, not looking up from her book.

“Nightstar and Robin have not seen the tiny floor robot before. The tiny floor robot could have always been blue.”

“There’s also the fact Roombas are banned from the tower,” Robin pointed out, patting Virus’s back. “So it had to be some kind of prank.”

“Speaking of, why is there a Roomba in the tower?” Nightstar asked, looking up with a glare and Virus shifted into their amorphous form to hide behind Robin.

“The tiny floor robot is Impulse’s,” they said quickly. “Virus just borrowed the tiny floor robot.”

“Wow, hey, way to snitch!” Impulse huffed, zipping up next to Robin. “And for your information, it’s not a Roomba. Roomba’s are made by iRobot. Uncle Arsenal made this one. Its name is Voobo.”

Robin gave her a look. “Get rid of it before Wonder Girl gets back or its name will be Crushed.”

“Come on, Rob. Can’t it stay?” she asked, batting her eyes.

He was unmoved. “Remember last time?”

“It was a joke! Come on, no one even got hurt. I thought you’d like it. Having Dags around would have kept us on our toes. You love that ‘Constant vigilance!’ stuff.”

“You took one of Wonder Girl’s daggers,” Nightstar said.

“Well, yeah. I wasn’t going to strap one of our kitchen knives to the thing,” Impulse scoffed. “I cook with those, unlike some people.”

“No Roombas -- or Roomba-like devices -- in the tower,” Robin declared.

Impulse booed him and Virus poked part of themself out from behind him so he could see their face patterns making it appear they were sticking their tongue out.

“Hey, you want it to get crushed, be my guest.”

“Shouldn’t you two be packing?” Nightstar asked.

“Nightstar is one to talk,” Virus huffed.

“All my stuff was packed up last night because I’m capable of thinking ahead.”

“Virus only has a few files that Virus needs to transfer into roving storage,” the Gexin hummed, leaning against Robin’s back. “The transfer will only take a minute or two so the transfer can wait until Virus is about to leave.”

“And I’m a speedster. People would get suspicious if I wasn’t late,” Impulse shrugged and scooped up the knockoff Roomba.

“Well, Flash was supposed to be here ten minutes ago so you should probably get packed,” Robin pointed out.

Her eyes widened and she glanced down at her phone. She gave a curse and darted out of the room.

Virus jumped over the counter and grabbed a banana. As they absorbed it, they asked, “When is Nightstar going to leave?”

She shrugged. “Ommi’s waiting for me at a diner nearby since I was waiting for Flash to get here so we could all say our goodbyes together and she’s still tracking down exactly where Troia, Ilia, and Wonder Girl are. We’re going to go raid whatever mission they’re on before Mom gets back from Tamaran tonight.”

“Okay. Then Virus will go do the transfer so Virus is ready to go as soon as Impulse leaves.”

Nightstar shrugged and went back to her book. Though, as soon as they were gone, she tossed it aside and turned her focus on Robin. “You know, I can cancel. Ommi won’t mind messing with Donna, Cassie, and Yara on her own.”

“Kory will be upset if you miss Family Weekend,” Robin pointed out, turning back to his tea.

“She hasn’t been planetside for two weeks. I’m sure Ommi, Uncle Roy, and Uncle Biz will be happy to keep her distracted. Not like we get up to much even when I am there. I’ll just call her later.”

“There’s no reason for you to stay. Go have fun annoying Yara with Artemis,” he sighed.

“If you’re going to spend the whole time brooding all alone again then there’s plenty of reason to stay.”

“You’re the queen of brooding,” Robin chuckled halfheartedly.

“Which means I know how much brooding alone sucks,” she said, getting up and moving to stand over him. “I’ll stay and we can brood together.”

He sighed again and set the mug on the counter. He met her eyes. “I’m fine, Mandy.”

“Dick -”

“Seriously. I’m just going to catch up on some work. I could use the quiet and you deserve some time with your moms. You said Kory’s been getting better.”

“Fine, but -”

“Yara’s on a mission in the Amazon Basin, Irey’s got all sorts of plans set up with her parents and Jai, and Galvio’s going to be off-world. None of them need to be popping in or coming back early just because you think I can’t be alone for a couple of days.” When she opened her mouth, he added, “And neither do any of the other Titans. They’re all working hard to cover for us so we can have this break and don’t need to add babysitting me on top of that.”

She scowled and sat down on the stool next to his. “It’s not that I think you can’t be alone, it’s just that I think you shouldn’t be alone.”

“Thanks.”

“You know what I meant,” she growled, pushing his chest hard enough to make his barstool tip backward.

He hooked his food around hers and righted the stool before it could fall. “I’ll be alright. A little alone time is good once in a while.”

Impulse ran through the room, stopping only long enough to say, “Dad’s here!” before she was gone again.

Nightstar tisked and stood up. “You’re sure?”

He nodded and she turned away. “Fine, but I’ll have my T-Comm on me if you need anything.”

He didn’t respond.

She grabbed her book as Flash ran in.

“Hey kids,” he said, glancing at the two. “Where are the others?”

“Wonder Girl’s already gone, Virus is preparing to leave, and Impulse is packing,” Robin answered.

“Course she is,” the man chuckled. “I’d say she gets it from me, but Uncle Barry was the exact same way so maybe it’s the Speed Force.”

“I think you guys just like to use that as an excuse to be lazy,” Nightstar said as she left.

“I’m sure Artemis would agree,” Wally chuckled. He turned to Robin and the boy stiffened.

Not visibly enough that Flash would notice, but visible enough that…

Robin turned away to grab his tea.

“So, you heading to Goth-”

“No.”

The man shot over to sit on the stool Nightstar had been using. “One of these days I’m going to get you to tell me how exactly you’re related to the Bats.”

“Good luck with that,” he scoffed. He looked up at the man. “You work with three of them. Four when Flamebird’s having a good day. Why not just ask them?”

Shut up. You don’t care. They don’t care so you don’t care.

Flash snorted. “Right. Like getting info out of a Bat isn’t impossible. If I ask Signal, he just shakes his head and says it’s not his place. Orphan just looks sad when you get brought up and won’t talk for a while. Flamebird won’t talk to me, to begin with, so he’s out. His old man hasn’t been much better since Batkid died -- not that I blame him -- and he only got worse when that new thief showed up in Gotham a few months ago so there’s no chance of him saying anything.”

They don’t care.

“If it’s so impossible, then why do you keep bugging me.”

“Well, you’re not really a Bat, right?”

Robin’s fingers tightened around the mug. “No, I’m not.”

“There you go then.”

He glared down at the tea.

Distract.

“What were you saying about a thief? Catwoman got a rival?”

Flash shrugged. “It’s Gotham stuff so we don’t hear much, but I have heard the new guy’s been giving her a run for her money. It’s not only that though. He’s apparently claimed a chunk of the city as his own and screws with anyone that messes around in his territory without his permission. Especially if they involve kids.”

Robin hummed, not paying attention.

Cass doesn’t care. She’s just sad because I remind her of Jay.

“I think he’s called Red -”

“Daddy!” Impulse shrieked as she came streaking through the room to throw herself at Flash, who was already on his feet with his arms outstretched to catch her and pull her into a hug.

Virus came skipping in after her at a much slower pace, a duffle bag in his arms. Nightstar was a few steps behind wearing her battle armor with a rucksack hanging from one shoulder.

“There’s my light! You ready to go?”

“Yup! Just got to say bye to the others,” she said, squeezing him. She let go and passed the bag Virus was carrying to her father before pulling the Gexin into a hug. “Bye, Vi!”

“Goodbye, Impulse! Tell Turtle Virus says hello.”

“I will. Tell Galv-11 I say hi! Twin solidarity!” She pulled away to hug Nightstar. “Have fun with your moms!”

“Yeah, yeah.” She gave Impulse’s back two pats before pushing her away.

The redhead just smiled at her before throwing herself at Robin, a move that would have knocked him off the stool and spilled his tea if he hadn’t seen it coming and braced himself. “Bye, Rob! See you Monday!”

“See you, Pulse.”

She pressed a quick -- for non-speedsters -- kiss to his cheek before pulling away. She gave the group a wave as she took her dad’s hand then the two were gone.

“Well, I’m off,” Nightstar said, adjusting the pack and glancing at her remaining teammates. Her gaze lingered on Robin. “Unless someone’s changed their mind.”

“Bye, Star,” Robin said pointedly.

She nodded to him, then Virus.

“Goodbye, Nightstar. Virus has completed the transfer so Virus will be leaving too.”

“Bye Virus.

They waved then dove into the phone outlet that connected to the satellites on the roof.

“Don’t cause Yara too much of a hassle. You do have to work together when you both get back.”

“Yeah, yeah. We all know she loves it,” Nightstar said, waving him off as she turned to leave. “Talk to you later, Dick.”

“Later, Mandy.”

He waited a few moments after the door shut behind her before getting up to go to the couch, tea still in hand. He sat down and grabbed the tablet he’d left on the coffee table. A few clicks had the security feeds up. The speedsters were long gone, Virus was just finishing the transfer over to the Justice League’s long-range satellites that would let him system hop back to his homeworld, and Nightstar was making her way out. He watched her progress until she was completely out of range before tossing the tablet to the side and slumping back against the couch.

He took a sip of his tea and scowled. He set it on the table and buried his face into his hands.

Over a year and a half away from Gotham and he still couldn’t figure out how Alfred made a cup of tea taste like anything other than gross leaf water.

He didn’t know why he still bothered. He’d never liked tea all that much, even when Alfred made it.

It was just… stupid Family Weekend. He hated it. Hated being alone. Hated seeing the others all disappear to spend time with their families. All it did was remind him of everything he’d lost.

Everyone he’d lost.

Or never had to begin with.

He wouldn’t begrudge any of his friends their family time, though, and he certainly wasn’t going to make anyone stay behind with him just because he was a little lonely, even if that meant telling Nightstar a few white lies.

He just wished he had somewhere to disappear off to as well.

He forced himself upright and turned on the tv. He tried to lose himself in a horror movie as he fought down memories of Barbara’s hacking lessons, memories of pranks he’d played on the others with Cassandra, memories of patrolling with Damian, memories of Duke helping him with his English homework, memories of early morning coffee and cereal runs with Tim, memories of nail painting gossip sessions with Stephanie, memories of Jay’s… memories of Jason.

He considered checking in with the Titans East, maybe even visiting, but Nightstar definitely would have considered he’d try that and told Speedy to let her know if he contacted them. Considering the friendly rivalry they had going on after defeating the Master of Games, she’d definitely sell him out in a heartbeat.

Patrolling was also out since Irey would still be monitoring the Teen Titans' social media so she’d know instantly if he left the tower, something he wasn’t supposed to do since they were all supposed to take Family Weekend off, even if he stayed in town.

Normally he’d bury himself in work, but he didn’t actually have any open cases right now.

One good thing about Gotham’s crime rate, you never had to worry about not having an open case.

Shut up!

Robin was so distracted trying to distract himself from his intrusive memories, he almost didn’t notice when the air in the room shifted slightly about an hour after Nightstar left. His hand subtly moved to his utility belt, but he let it drop after a second.

He glared to the side as something invisible settled next to him on the couch. “What are you doing here?”

Red X faded into view with a shrug. “The better question is what are you doing here, kid? I was told you lot were clearing out for your little Family Weekend thing.”

“You were told?”

“Alright, so I might have been eavesdropping on Wonder Babe and Zippy.”

“What are you after?” Robin growled. He stood up and drew his staff as he went over everything in the tower and tried to figure out what Red X would consider worth stealing.

“Calm down,” Red X said, leaning back and putting his feet up on the coffee table. “I just ticked someone off and need a place to lie low for a few days. Didn’t plan to take anything.”

“Right,” Robin said sarcastically. “You didn’t plan to take anything.”

Red X chuckled and held up his hands. “Alright, you caught me. Tell you what. You let me stay and I’ll keep my hands to myself from now until Monday.”

“And return what you’ve already grabbed on your way here?”

It was only thanks to his experience with masks that hid the eyes that the hero could tell Red X was rolling his as he pulled a handful of Robin’s feathers and one of his spare expandable bo staffs from the suit’s hidden pockets. He tossed them onto the table, saying, “You really need to learn how to lighten up, kid.”

Robin lowered his weapon, but didn’t put it away. “Who’d you tick off? And how?”

Red X shrugged and relaxed back onto the couch, grabbing the remote. “The old man. One of the others accidentally got hurt during my last score so now the lot of them are out for blood. They found my place in Jump so it was either skip town until I can get a new place or lay low. And I’m pretty sure skipping town is what they want me to do so here I am. Doubt they’ll think to look for me here.”

“Why would they want you to skip town?” Robin asked as he took in the new information. He’d never realized Red X was part of a team. Who was the old man?

“Uh, because then I’ll have to go back home and that’s their turf,” he said slowly, like it was obvious.

“Where are you from?”

Red X paused in his channel surfing and looked up at him. “You don’t know?”

Robin glared at him.

“No, seriously, you don’t know who I am?”

“I thought I made that clear the first time we met.”

“Yeah, the first time, but…” Red X set down the remote and leaned closer. “Kid, when was the last time you talked to your family?”

That was the final straw.

Robin swung his staff at the thief, who flipped out of the way. Through clenched teeth, he said, “I think the fact I’m here during Family Weekend makes it pretty obvious I don’t exactly have a family to talk to.”

Red X struck out with one of his x’s trying to wrench the staff from Robin’s hands. “Shut up, kid. You can play whatever lost bird act you want for the rest of the world, but we both know you’re one of Batman’s toy soldiers.”

The hero snarled and aimed for the thief's head, but he managed to grab it and disarm him before it made contact. “I’m not a Bat just because I trained with them for a time.”

“Sure, kid.”

“I don’t know if you’ve been paying attention, but I’ve been a hero outside of Gotham longer than I was one there.”

“Oh, I noticed,” Red X said lowly, tossing the staff aside. “What that idiot was thinking letting Flamebird send you all the way across the country right after Batkid got blown up, I’ll never know.”

Robin flinched back at the accusation before his fists clenched at his sides. “Then you’ll be happy to know no one sent me here. It’s just where I ended up when Batman decided he didn’t want to work with me anymore and tossed me out.”

Red X froze and the hero could feel the thief studying him. When he spoke, there was something sharp and venomous in his tone. “He kicked you out.”

“He kicked me off the team, yeah,” Robin said. “He didn’t want me on the team anymore so I found a new one. Like I said, I’m not a Bat. Why does this even matter?”

“He kicked you out,” Red X repeated. Then he was turning on his heel and marching out.

“Where are you going?”

“Forget hiding out. I’m going to go kill Batman. A nice x to the grapple line will solve all our problems.”

Before Robin could move, Red X teleported away.

“Great,” he growled, running his hand through his hair. He grabbed his tablet and ran to the door. As he rode the elevator down to the garage, he checked the security, running the cameras through all the frequency settings. All that came up were two blips, Red X’s entrance and exit. 

As he ran up to his R-Cycle, he considered what to do. He couldn’t just do nothing about an honest death threat (and he knew Red X was serious, even he didn’t understand why), but Batman had made it clear he didn’t want Robin getting involved in Gotham. Maybe if he could get to Red X before he left town…

Well, he’d have to hope he could. If not, he’d have to bribe Dove into passing along the message to Oracle or Batgirl the next time she checked in with the Birds of Prey so they could warn Batman. After that, the thief would be completely out of his hands.

He took his R-Cycle out, but only went as far as the nearest highrise before taking to the rooftops. It wasn’t as effective a tactic in the daylight, but it would still limit the amount he was seen so, hopefully, Irey wouldn’t notice he was out.

Unfortunately, there wasn’t much he could do. He’d been trying to locate Red X’s hideout since the thief had appeared, but thanks to the invisibility and teleportation abilities granted by the suit as well as the thief’s own skills and the fact Robin still didn’t know what he looked like under the mask, it was slow going. He’d managed to narrow it down to a certain neighborhood after months of work, but patrolling the area didn’t turn anything up so he couldn’t be sure if Red X was there or if he’d already left.

After two hours with no sign of the thief, he decided to head back in. As he rode back up the elevator, he set up a program to track anyone leaving town for Gotham by train or air and double-checked the algorithm he and Virus had set up to search for Red X on traffic cameras. Neither was likely to turn anything up since Red X was too cautious and Oracle was sure to set up her own once the case was handed over to the Bats, but he had to do something in the meantime.

And if it showed them he knew what he was doing…

Of course, none of that mattered when he walked into the main room of the tower to call Dove and found Red X relaxing on the couch.

“Were you seriously lying about killing Batman?” Robin growled. His anger was less about the thief lying and more because he’d fallen for it, but he was still pretty annoyed all the same.

“Nah. I just realized that you being here also means the others didn’t do anything about the old man kicking you out, and wiping out Gotham’s Bat infestation is going to actually take a bit of planning,” Red X said. That same acidic anger tainted his words, but now it was wrapped in a thin veil of restraint. He could see that same fragilely controlled anger in the thief’s body as he came closer, hidden almost perfectly under his relaxed ruse.

“You really think I’m going to just sit back and let you stay here while you’re plotting murder?” Robin said, stepping in front of the thief and crossing his arms.

“Calm down, kid. I’m not going to do any planning here,” he snorted, tilting his head to see more of the tv around the hero.

“That’s not the point.”

“If you’re worried about being an accomplice, then you’ll be happy to hear you couldn’t stop me if you tried.”

Robin pulled out his staff and Red X went stiff.

“Kid, you do not want to fight me right now. Just sit down and watch the movie.”

“Why?” Robin asked, slipping into a fighting stance. “Why are you even going after the Bats?”

“He kicked you out,” Red X growled, the sound of his control cracking slipping in his voice.

“So?”

Suddenly the thief was on his feet and grabbing the front of Robin’s suit.

The hero tried to strike him with his staff, but he deflected the blow and pulled him in until they were nose-to-helmet.

“He kicked you out! He fucking kicked you out! Not even three months after he put a kid in the ground, you were on the other side of the country fighting aliens! Alone!”

“I was-”

“And where are the others? Have you even talked to them? Have they tried to talk to you? They have to know where you are, even if Oracle wasn’t as semi-omniscient as she is! You and your clubhouse are all over the news! Has she or Orphan reached out? Signal? Batgirl? Hell, Tim might be an ass, but I thought he’d at least check-in to make sure you didn’t get killed.”

Robin’s breath caught in his throat and he choked out, “How -”

“Where the fuck was Damian in all this? Did he seriously not say shit about Bruce tossing his fucking kid out?”

Despite his best efforts, he was shaking. He wasn’t sure if it was because Red X somehow knew who the Bats were or because everything he had been burying and reburying ever since he left Gotham was being unearthed and shoved in his face even worse than it normally was during Family Weekend, but he couldn’t breathe.

“You weren’t even at the funeral!”

Robin flinched so hard he’d jerked himself free off Red X’s grip and toppled backward. He slammed his eyes shut against the sting of tears and ducked his head as he took in ragged breaths.

That was not the Bats’ fault. That was all him, and the guilt would always weigh on him.

He’d been selfish, so lost in his own problems that he’d completely forgotten Jason’s funeral. He only even realized he missed it when he spotted the pictures in the news and read about it in the gossip columns. His absence had been noticed, of course. Bruce and Damian told everyone he was sick since it had been before he’d been gone long enough for them to need the boarding school lie, but some didn’t believe it. Dick had read every horrible word there’d been to read.

He deserved it.

As soon as he’d realized his mistake, he’d bought some flowers and spent hours in the cemetery apologizing over and over again, but he knew it’d never make up for what he’d done.

“Don’t you get it? They already let one kid run off and stupidly get himself killed and then they just -”

Robin was on top of Red X in a second, pinning him against the couch. “Don’t you ever talk about Batkid like that! He… What happened to him… You don’t get to talk about him!”

It was meant to come out a snarl, but the tears he was fighting back rang out clearly.

He expected another quip, or for Red X to at least try to fight, but he just stared up at Robin as he went limp in the pin. “Kid…”

“How do you know who they are?” the hero snapped, wanting to focus on something -- anything -- else.

“I’m so sorry. If I’d known they hadn’t told you…” the thief started softly. “I thought…”

“Thought what?”

They just stared at each other for a moment, then Red X raised his hands.

The hero watched for any signs of an attack, but the thief just brought his hands to the helmet. He hit the release and pulled the helmet off.

Robin’s breath caught in his throat for the second time.

Under the helmet was a domino mask, light grey with black outlining the white lenses. Even still, Robin had seen the boy behind the mask in a domino too many times to not recognize him.

He was older, his hair a bit longer and choppier. He had a few new scars and his hair was a white color in the front that was just a little too bright to be natural. It was him though.

“Jay?”

Jason gave a familiar grin as he let the helmet fall to the floor. “Hey, Dickie.”

Robin threw himself off the older boy, scrambling to his feet and pointing his staff at him. “No. Jason’s gone. Dead. I don’t know who you are or why you look like that, but…” Robin was losing the fight against his tears.

“Red Bird,” Jason said softly. He reached out for Robin and the hero swatted his hand away.

“Don’t! You’re-He’s dead! You can’t be him!” Unless… Jason had to be dead. It couldn’t have been a test.

A test he must have failed. That’s why Bruce…

“No. He has to be dead,” Robin said, shaking his head and taking a step back. “He-You wouldn’t have lied to me about that. Not… Not Jason. He wouldn’t.”

“Oh, Dickie.” Jason came forward, ducking under Robin’s strike to pull him into a hug. “It wasn’t a lie, I promise. I did die. I just… got better.”

“Got better?” Robin sniffed and dropped his arms, not returning the hug or pushing away from it as tears filled his eyes and slipped past the mask. “How do you get better from being dead?”

“Heck if I know,” Jason sighed and eased the mask off Dick’s face. As he gently brushed the tears away, he explained, “I just woke up inside my coffin months later. I didn’t… I wasn’t all there so I ended up just stumbling around Gotham for a few weeks until I got brought to a hospital. The step-mom from hell found me there somehow and stole me away to toss me in one of her stupid green pools.”

“She put you in a Lazarus Pit?” Dick hissed, finally hugging his brother back.

“Yeah. Don’t know if she was trying to hurt Bruce and Damian again by screwing up my head or if she was in one of her Maybe they’ll love me this time! moods and honestly thought it would help. I didn’t stick around to find out, just rampaged through the compound until I was able to escape. I managed to make my way back to Gotham, but…” Jason pressed his face into Dick’s hair and took a deep breath. “I don’t know what I expected when I got back, but… I didn’t expect nothing. Bruce was carrying on as usual. Everyone was. And Joker’s just… back in Arkham, ready to escape another day. I died and the only thing that changed was that Damian shipped you off to play with some other kids in California. Except no, he didn’t. Bruce kicked you out! When Damian died, Bruce nearly killed himself in his search for a way to bring him back, to the point that Duke’s gang had to step in to watch the streets and Tim had to step in to watch Bruce. When I died, nothing.”

“Jay -”

“I know I’m not Cassandra ‘Prodigy’ Wayne or Damian ‘Bloodson’ Wayne or Duke ‘Perfect Child’ Thomas or Tim ‘Teenage CEO’ Drake-Wayne, but I thought he’d at least care that I got killed!” Jason snarled, jerking away from Dick to throw his hands in the air before slamming one onto the coffee table, cracking the wood. “I thought he’d at least give a shit about me!”

“Jason -”

He slammed his hand against the table again, and again. “But he doesn’t! Not enough to actually do something about fucking Joker! Not enough to try and bring me back like he did his flesh and blood! He doesn’t care! None of them fucking care about anything but themselves!”

Dick tried to grab his arm, but Jason threw him off.

He turned to the young boy with a glare. “And then you! They just got rid of you! What? Was Bruce so happy to be rid of me he realized he should have cut off the kid acquisitions with Tim? And everyone just agreed with him!”

“Red Wing, please.”

Jason had been taking a step towards Dick, but at his words he spun away. He slammed both his fists into the table with a snarl and it collapsed. He dropped to his knees, breathing heavily.

Dick watched him for a few minutes. Only when Jason stopped shaking and tugging harshly at his hair did he step closer and sit next to his brother. When he wasn’t rebuffed, he pressed their shoulders together. “The pit?”

“Yeah. Sorry.”

“It’s okay. Damian told me how it affects people. Besides, that table gets destroyed so often we start to get antsy if it lasts more than a week,” Dick chuckled and Jason snorted. He nudged his brother gently. “Is this okay?”

“I’d never hurt you, Red Bird,” Jason declared, though a bit of uncertainty leaked into his voice.

Dick set his head on Jason’s shoulder with a frown. “I know. I was asking if you were okay with me touching you.”

The older brother smiled and wrapped his arm around the younger. “I’m always happy to be your pillow.”

“I’m serious, Jay.”

Jason rolled his eyes. “You’re always serious lately.”

“I still know how to have fun,” Dick said. “You just keep catching me in serious situations.”

Jason gave him a disbelieving expression, but before Dick could comment it shifted into a smile. A familiar smile.

That smile promised a lot of fun, but also explosions and weeks of being grounded. It promised lectures from Bruce to Jason about needing to be a better example and from Tim to Dick about how Jason was a bad influence. It promised exasperated yet fond looks from Cass, Babs, and Damian. If Steph was involved, it promised retaliatory pranks when they placed most of the blame on her. If not, then it promised endless complaining for leaving her out. It promised secret smiles from Duke, either because he hadn’t been involved but still thought it was funny or because he had been involved and was thanking them for not ratting him out.

Altogether, that smile promised the best kind of trouble.

“Jay,” Dick started warningly, but Jason just pulled him to his feet.

“Prove it!”

“What?”

“You think you can still have fun, then prove it!” Jason chuckled, grabbing his helmet and towing Dick out of the room. “Let’s go wreck some stuff!”

“Wh-Jay! We can’t -”

“Calm down, we’ll keep it to the bad guys’ stuff so we don’t hurt your delicate sensibilities.”

Dick glanced down at the X on Jason’s suit. “Speaking of which -”

“Nope. That can wait for after Family Weekend. Right now we’re just Red Bird and Red Wing, not Robin and Red X. We can get back to our little cops and robber game when your friends get back.”

Dick knew he should probably argue. Even ignoring the fact Jason had been discussing murder not even half an hour ago, Red X was still a criminal.

But Red X was also a back-from-the-dead Jason and Robin wasn’t allowed to work during Family Weekend.

“Where are we going?” he asked as they stepped out of the elevator onto the residential floor.

“First stop is your room. I left my stuff there since I knew it would be the last place you’d check. One of us should also probably change if we don’t want to raise questions.”

Dick didn’t bother to ask how Jason knew his way around the tower to the point of knowing where his room was. Clearly, he’d been spying on Dick. It was probably something they’d have to talk about later since Dick knew from experience that his teammates would not appreciate it, but it could wait.

“Well you’ve already stolen my clothes once,” Dick pointed out, tugging at Jason’s cape.

Jason rolled his eyes. “If you didn’t want someone to take the suit you should have locked it away better.”

“I put it in a safe!”

“Not a good one.”

Dick slapped his arm. “You were trained by Selina. Your standards are unreasonable.”

“You say that like she didn’t train you too,” Jason snorted then tugged Dick closer so he could wrap his arm around Dick’s shoulder. “I should probably change though. I don’t know how the family will react if they find out we’re hanging out and I’d rather not risk it ruining our weekend. I can take care of them after.”

“Jas-”

“Yep. Sorry. Work talk later. So, Red Bird, you know of any bad guy bases worth ransacking? Or at least an empty factory we can go to town in? I got some new toys I want to try out.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Impulse was tapping her foot in superspeed as she scrolled through her phone.

“And none of you have talked to him since Friday morning?” Wonder Girl asked and she paced across the living area.

“We texted on Saturday, but it was just a quick check-in. He said he was busy, I needed to stop worrying, and he’d see me today,” Nightstar said, not looking up from her book. She seemed for all the world relaxed, but the others had all noticed she hadn’t turned the page in over a half hour.

“There’s still nothing on social media,” Impulse said, refreshing the page. “I found a few mentions just before lunchtime on Friday of someone on the rooftops that could have been him, but that’s it.”

“The same can be said for the news sites,” Virus said from inside the computer. “Robin has not appeared on any of the news sites since our fight with Mother Mae-Eye last week.”

Wonder Girl tried her T-Communicator again and scowled when it wouldn’t connect to Robin’s. “Are you sure he didn’t head over to one of the others’ bases?”

“I had Speedy and Dove on Robin duty so I know he didn’t hit Titans East or North,” Nightstar said.

“And Aquagirl tells Turtle everything so if he’d shown up at Titans South she would have told him and he would have told me so I would know and I don’t so he didn’t,” Impulse said quickly.

Nightstar looked up from her book and squeezed the younger girl’s shoulder. “Hey, it’s going to be okay. We’ll find him. He probably just took off to do some recon and didn’t tell us because he knew we’d yell at him for not taking the weekend off.”

“He’s going to spend the next week locked in a cell if that’s true,” Wonder Girl huffed. “Then he’ll have no choice but to take a break.”

“Robin would just break out,” Virus argued.

“Maybe I should take a run around the city, just in case,” Impulse said, standing up.

“The tracker on Robin’s R-Cycle showed Robin heading out of the city before the tracker was disabled so Impulse likely would not find Robin by running around the city,” Virus pointed out and the girls turned to his computer.

“You didn’t say anything about him leaving town earlier,” Nightstar said.

“Virus did not think the information was relevant. The information doesn’t help the Teen Titans find Robin since the tracker was disabled before any set destination could be determined.”

“Except we had no idea he’d left town until now! When did this happen?”

“Friday afternoon. Robin le-” Virus cut off as an alert came up. “Oh! Someone just accessed the tunnel leading to the garage.”

“Robin?” Nightstar asked, getting to her feet.

“The people in the tunnel used Robin’s codes, but there are two people and both are on foot. The sensors aren't registering Robin’s gear.”

The girls shared a look and ran for the stars, Nightstar calling over her shoulder, “Meet us down there!”

“On the way!”

Impulse ran down the stairs while Nightstar and Wonder Girl flew down the center. They slipped into the garage to find Virus already waiting. The four took defensive positions behind workbenches and toolboxes just as voices began to reach them.

“You owe me a new R-Cycle. And a new communicator. And -”

Impulse perked up at Robin’s voice, but Nightstar waved her quiet before she could react as a second voice answered, “First of all, how was I supposed to know trying to use your fancy walkie-talkie would break it? Who’s stupid design flaw was that?”

“It’s to prevent it from being stolen and used against the Titans.”

“Okay, that’s actually a good idea, but it’s still not my fault. Second, the paint was your idea! Don’t try blaming that on me.”

“You blew up the crates too soon!”

“No, I didn’t! I told you fifteen minutes!”

“You only gave me fourteen!”

“I gave you fifteen!” the unknown voice yelled as two figures walked into the garage.

The first was obviously Robin, though he was dressed more casually than any of the Titans had ever seen him. Gone was the armored suit, replaced with blue jeans and a red hoodie with a bat insignia over the chest. He still wore his domino mask and steel-toed boots, but the latter was speckled with red paint.

The second boy looked around Nightstar’s age. He was tall and broad, but not bulky. He wore a suit similar to Robin’s, but black and plain. A brown leather jacket was thrown over the top with a red bird patch on the shoulder that matched his red domino mask.

The new boy was scowling at Robin, who was scowling back. Even still, both looked completely relaxed and a smirk was tugging at the new boy’s lips.

“Maybe you need a new watch. Or maybe you just forgot how to count. Did you forget eleven was a thing again?”

The new boy jumped at Robin and instantly the two were brawling, throwing punches left and right and trying to pin each other. The fight was clearly well-practiced, in Wonder Girl’s opinion. Not choreographed or restrained, but instead a flurry of movements that showed how the two knew each other’s fighting style enough to both predict most attacks and roll with those they didn’t. Despite just how rough their roughhousing was, she could see neither was actually trying to hurt the other.

The others didn’t quite catch onto that though as all three darted in to break up the fight. Nightstar grabbed the new boy and pinned him against a workbench while Impulse and Virus placed themselves in front of Robin.

“Woah, what? Titans, stand down. Red Wing, don’t hurt her.”

“Don’t hurt her? I’m the one pinned,” the boy gasped dramatically.

“You’re also the one with the souped-up taser,” Robin deadpanned.

The boy smirked and revealed the device in his hand, which crackled with red lightning. He turned it off and tucked it into his jacket as he winked up at Nightstar. “You know, Princess, if you wanted to get all up close and personal, all you had to do was ask.”

Her eyes glowed purple, but Robin grabbed her arm and pulled her away before she could blast the other boy.

“Don’t flirt with my teammates please,” Robin sighed.

“Not my fault you surround yourself with beautiful girls, Kid,” the boy said as he sat up, winking at Wonder Girl this time.

“Who are you?” she demanded, hand falling to her boleadoras.

“What? Don’t recognize me without the x motif and skull mask? I’m hurt.”

“Red X?” Impulse said, glancing between Robin and the boy.

He gave her finger guns while Robin smacked his forehead.

“What is going on?” Virus asked.

“Well, wouldn’t want to overstay my welcome,” Red X said, stuffing his hand in his pockets. “Family Weekend’s been fun, bro. I’ll let you know when I steal a new cycle for you from the old man so you can tell me if I need to add any bells and whistles. Later.”

“You’re not -” Nightstar started, but cut off as Red X dropped something that caused smoke to flood through the garage. “Impulse!”

“He’s already gone,” Robin sighed.

A moment later the ventilation system kicked in and cleared the air to reveal Robin was right.

The four all turned to him and he pinched the bridge of his nose.

“Sooooooooo… you spent the weekend with Red X?” Impulse asked.

“It’s a long story.”

“Red X called Robin brother?” Virus said.

“A really long story. The short of it is Red’s just been keeping an eye on me, in his own weird way.”

“He stole your suit,” Wonder Girl said and Robin shrugged.

“So are we just supposed to not go after him if he shows up?” Impulse asked.

“No, this doesn’t change anything about how we treat him in the field.”

Impulse opened her mouth, then closed it and shook her head. “Kid Flash is right. You Gothamites are insane when you get together.”

Robin shrugged again. He grabbed the duffle bag he’d dropped when he and Red X had started fighting and turned to the elevator. “I need to make a call then we can check in with the others.”

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Dick stared down at his new T-Communicator. He should just call Dove. It would make things easier.

“Barbara Gordon here,” a voice said as the call on the phone in his other hand connected.

Dick took a deep breath and let it out. “Hey, Babs.”

“... Dick?”

“Yeah.”

“Oh, I-Hey, how -”

“Jason’s going after Bruce.”

“What?”

“He wants to kill him. He wants to kill the whole family, really, but Bruce seems to be his main focus. Damian too, maybe. I don’t know how much trouble he’s been causing so far, but it’s about to get worse.”

“I-You saw Jason?”

“Yeah.”

“Are you okay? Did he hurt you?”

“I’m fine. He didn’t have any reason to do anything.”

“You said he was trying to kill the whole family.”

Dick’s breath caught in his throat and his hand tightened around the phone. “Yeah, well, clearly I’m not part of that.”

“Di-”

“He also might try to steal a motorcycle, but that might have been a joke. You should probably keep an eye out either way,” Dick added then hung up. He turned his phone off when it immediately started ringing. He tossed it into his lockbox and flopped down on his bed, throwing an arm over his eyes.

A few minutes later someone knocked on his door. He shut the lockbox and knocked it back into its hiding spot with his foot before calling for them to come in.

Nightstar slipped in, but just shut the door behind her and leaned against it. She waited a moment before saying, “X isn’t Tim or Duke.”

“Never said he was.”

“But he implied he was and you didn’t correct him.”

“Tim and Duke aren’t my brothers, Mandy.”

“By your logic, you don’t have any family at all. So why is X going around calling you brothers?”

Dick didn’t respond.

“Why’d you spend Family Weekend with him? Why are you wearing a jacket you normally keep locked away with all the other Batman-related things you pretend don’t exist?”

Dick frowned and dropped his hand to his hoodie. “It’s not Batman’s logo.”

“Sure, Dick, and I -”

“It’s Batkid’s.”

There was a moment of silence.

“Oh. Oh shit.”

“Mandy.”

“You think he’s… him.”

“He is.”

“Dick, Jason died.”

“Like I said, long story. He is back. The others know it too, considering the call I just had with Bab-Barbara.”

“You actually talked to her,” she said softly, coming to sit next to him.

“I talked at her. She didn’t get to say much. I just needed to warn her and the others about something Jay said and it’s too involved in our civilian identities to trust the message with Dove.”

“Sure, or maybe you just wanted to hear her voice.”

Dick glared up at her. “I want to hear all of their voices, is that what you want me to say? You know I’m not afraid to admit I miss them, it’s just not going to change anything.”

“Admitting it is the first step,” she shot back. “Now do something about it.”

“They don’t want me, Mandy. I’m not going to go crawling back there just to get shunted back into juvie!”

“You don’t know that’s what will happen.”

“Yes, I do!”

She grabbed his shoulders and pulled him up so they were eye to eye. “Aren’t you the one who pushed me to reconnect with my mom?”

“That’s different and you know it,” he said, pushing her hands off.

“Why?”

“She’s your mom.”

“And they’re your family.”

“No, they’re not!”

“Di-”

He stood up. “They know where I am! I’m not trying to hide! I didn’t even change my codename! If any of them wanted to talk to me, Babs could easily contact me! At the very least, she or Steph could have Holly give me the message! Or Damian could ask Jon to pass the message to Eliza and she could give it to me! And yet that call is the only time I’ve heard from any of them since the Fight! Why do you think that is?”

“Because you’re terrible at dealing with emotions when they’re your own and the rest of your family is the same or worse,” she deadpanned.

“Just drop it.”

She sighed and got up to leave. She paused before opening the door. “You’re going to have to deal with this one of these days. Probably sooner than you think if you’re going to keep talking to Jason.”

“Doubtful. He isn’t exactly sitting down for tea with the Bats either right now.”

She shook her head and left.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A little explanation of characters mentioned

Teen Titans:

Robin - Richard "Dick" Grayson: Foster son of Damian Wayne (15yo)

Virus - Galv-10 "Galvio" of Gex (~16yo in comparison to human development)

Nightstar - Ma’andkori "Mandy" Grace: Daughter of Kory and Artemis Grace (17yo)

Impulse - Iris "Irey" West: Daughter of Wally West, Twin of Jai (15yo)

Wonder Girl - Yara Flor: Daughter of an Amazon and Brazilian God (16yo)

Other Titans:

Turtle - Jai West: Son of Wally West, Twin of Irey (15yo)

Speedy - Dinah "Di" Harper: Second Daughter of Roy Harper (16yo)

Dove - Holly Hall: Daughter of Hank and Dawn Hall (14yo)

Aquagirl - Mareena: Daughter of Kaldur'ahm (14yo)

Supergirl - Eliza Zor-El/Eliza Lutessa Luthor: Clone of Kara and Lena Luthor (13yo)

Bats:

Batman - Bruce Wayne (49yo)

Catwoman - Selina Kyle-Wayne (50yo)

Oracle - Barbara Gordon (41yo)

Orphan - Cassandra "Cass" Wayne: Eldest Child/Only Daughter of Bruce Wayne (36yo)

Flamebird - Damian Wayne: Oldest Son of Bruce Wayne (26yo)

Nightwing - Jon-El/Jonathan "Jon" Samuel Kent: Partner of Flamebird (26)yo

Signal - Duke Thomas: Second Son of Bruce Wayne (23yo)

Black Bat - Timothy "Tim" Drake-Wayne: Third Son of Bruce Wayne (22yo)

Batgirl - Stephanie Brown (21yo)

Red X - Jason Peter Todd-Wayne: Fourth Son of Bruce Wayne (17yo)

[clavis-baby]

Hey! Hello, I've been reading your works. I must say, the ideas are brilliant! So can I suggest you to write ( if it isnt a bother) about MC having a 'succubi's curse' or something similar to heat & what will be the brothers reaction or what they will do?

——————

Awww thank you so much💜💜💜

Btw this is how I’m mostly going to write head cannons and not all the time with long story’s along with a character

A head cannon of mine that I see al the Obey me brothers as doms(saying this I’m not saying men are all doms but I just really think that the boys are)

P.s while writing this I couldn’t help myself and also wrote how the brothers would be in there own rut so look out for that when its finnished I’ll link it here

And one more thing I did change on Mc got into heat to make it less repetitive

Mc in a Heat cuz of a Curse

Lucifer

Ahh you must love annoying the hell out of him don’t you

Walking down the street by your self which you knew you weren’t allowed to do rules that were known the very first day and then some you happen to piss off a witch who know how but here you are now in front of Lucifer getting a talk to

Let’s just say you got a lecture but during his talking the heat between your legs started to grow along with you pheromones

Soon even Lucifer was starting to get effected on the pheromones I mean who wouldn’t when someone as divine as you was sitting down right in front of him

But even if you were driving him crazy who do you think you are to believe that the oldest brother pride it’s self couldn’t control himself so he continued his lecture after a small pause but when talking you couldn’t help looking into his ruby eyes, as well as his tongue once in a while sticking out of his lips just imagining what those tongue and lips how they would feel on your woman hood

Mammon

To be fair this was all mammon’s fault if he just paid off all his debts this most likely wouldn’t happen

Skipping down the street arm linked with each other’s a witch fed up waiting on Mammon to pay up stops you to putting a fuse on Mammon most prized possession you to say the least he didn’t take that very well after they preformed the curse Mammon teared the witch apart limb from limb because no one should ever hurt his special human

Even though Mammon was blinded by his rage he still did hear a bit of what the witch had said know what cause they put on you. The only problem is the effects had already started taken effect with your pharmones starting to be realeased a lot of demons started stoping drooling at the smell

Mammon was no exception although he pulled out of his trance to quickly picking you up exclamaing the cause to you then once he finished exclaiming started sprinting to the house of lamation all the way into his room to claim what is him human

Levi

(Btw I ran out of names u will know when you get to the part what I mean)

You opened the box

Thinking on how much merch that Levi gets you being the curious little thing you are wanted to see what some of the things Levi purchased...without him

One of the boxes had ✨Ruri-chans magical slick✨along with a tag “it’s so good you just want to have more to drink ;)” and so happens you were thirsty so opening the bottle bringing it up to your lips you take a sip. Tasting like barries you think sighing you continue drinking

After you finnished the entire bottle you realize how adorable the tag was along with a “turn me” on the tag, turning the tag around you relized you made a huge mistake “Ruri-Chan’s Magical slick tastes so good you want more ;) so much more the only thing that will settle you is a nice breeding for your new heat! Cation drunk sips for maximum heat” Huh.. you drank the entire bottle

And of course Levi walks in seeing what you have in your hand with a empty bottle of “Ruris-Chan’s Magical slick”

“N-n-normi did you drink that entire thi-“ Then the smell hits him hard your pheromones slick forming between your thighs

Satan

Did you know cats have heats?

And in Devildom cats in heat can give you its heat as well? No!! Oh well that sucks for you

Coming home with Satan from one of his favorite book store strolling along home taking about what ever was on each other’s minds you two decided to stop at a small cafe with small little sweet treats, along with some tea and other things

Deciding to wait outside while Satan orders and waits for the two of your drinks that you orders a stray white with light mocha and black spots comes up to you rubbing it head against your ankles

Squatting down to the small cats level you start to pet the stray as you wait for Satan but eventually you feel a strange tingling feeling but you decide to ignore the feeling favoring on the small cat still nuzzling against you as you pet it hearing it’s small mews and purrs

Walking out from the small shop with your drink Satan sees you bending down petting the soft cat as much as he wants to Awwe over how adorable the two of you are against each other he can’t help the amalistic feeling he gets already knowing what you did wrong

Asmo

You ate Asmos cooking...

You Beel and Belphie all snuggling up together minding your business causally watchi g TV aswell as drifting off to sleep you wake up to the roar of Beels stomach when the two brothers still sleep soundly but because of your thrust upward from waking up Belphie was starting to turn from the commotion

Rolling your eyes you decide to get up and head to the kitchen knowing Belphie most likely would be to lazy to help you get food for Beel

Walking in you notice the beautiful batch of freshly made cupcakes almost begging to be eaten

Deciding that I wouldn’t hurt to have one you take a bite thinking of how delicious it is when you all of the sudden see the fancy note with pink trim next to the platter

“Dear my Solomon” uh oh you already thought knowing who wrote the letter and that you ate a cupcake for Solomon “I hope my dear that you are doing well I baked these things expeally thinking of you” aww how cute you think “because of your magic I decided to add my own” wait what... looking down at the cupcake then back at the letter “and added a special potion to make you go into a heat us demons go into” Uh oh “make sure to call me my love”

Then it hit you like a truck the feeling was so intense you fell to the floor sweating profusely clenching your stomach from the feeling

When of course Asmo walks in

“Awwwe did you eat the cupcakes, I can help you with that”

Beel

Going out with Beel to eat will always get you in some sort of trouble

Tonight was the night that Beel so kindly has asked you out to eat with him claiming that a new place has opened and wanted to bring you with him to see how you would like it so innocently

To be honest you wanted to originals say no remembering how almost everyone food was involved with Beel something would go horribly wrong

When walking into the restaurant he already called ahead to let them know to be prepared for the wrath of gluttony at the restaurant

The staff turned there beards and suddenly worked faster to get all the food Beel was going to consume

Sitting down for a second the waiters come along and set piles of food infrount of you two to the point where you couldn’t even see him but only hear small dig in from Beel who had most likely already was eating

You started eating you portion and felt a strange tingling feeling in your stomach but ignored it and continued eating when all of the sudden the manager comes over greets the two of you and starts saying what you were eating

“Oh and that one is made with a special ingredient that causes a instant heat”huh you were the only one that ate it. As the manager could even finish the menu Beel looks over to u wide eyes and pulling you out of the seat back to the house

Belphie

All you were doing was snuggling into bed

After a long day of school you decide that it was the perfect opportunity to have a long snuggle nap with Belphie

Walking into the twins room noticeing no one was in you see Belphies bed not made but just perfectly made with many pillows and blankets that would be nice and warm

Not being able to help your self you get a running head start to jump right into the pile of fluffyness and once your head fell onto the pillow you imedently fell asleep

Waking up from Mammon and Belphie arguing you start to sit up hearing the conversation “Mammon how could you!!” Feeling a amazing sensational feeling you look up “ I’m sorry I was just tryn to teach you a lesson about always sleepn I didn’t know ma human would sleep in your bed”

“Huh what’s up” you ask “umm”

“Mammon LEAVE”

[theydontknowaboutusimagines]

Sunflower - Harry Styles AU (Volume 6)

The year is 1977 and it’s officially summertime. Y/N is spending it with her family at the Malibu Breeze Hotel, where she meets, aspiring musician, Harry Styles. The two clash in the beginning, but soon realize they may just need each other in the end. Find out just how life changing one summer can be in Sunflower, a Harry Styles AU.

   Here is part 6 of Sunflower. Hope you enjoy it!

Vol. 1 Vol. 2   Vol. 3  Vol. 4 Vol. 5 

Word Count: 1.9K

“Oh, this is so wonderful, honey,” My mother exclaimed as she twirled by hair around the curler. “William is such a gentleman and this could bring on great things for you.”

“It’s only dinner, mother,” I sighed.

“Yes, yes, I know, but I really think he might have an eye on you,” she smiled.

I rolled my eyes. It didn’t take long before both of my parents found out about me having dinner with William later. The dinner I never said yes to, might I add. Of course, they didn’t know that and I probably should have told them, told William that I wasn’t interested, but the words wouldn’t leave my mouth. I could tell my parents, especially my father, were ecstatic about me hanging out with William and his friends.

My father because he thought it would help me make up my mind regarding Boston and because it would put in a good word for him with his boss. My mother because she could already picture a wedding with grandchildren running amuck down the line. I wanted neither of those things, at least not right now and not with William.

As my mother continued doing my hair and makeup that she insisted on doing once finding out the news, my thoughts wandered to Harry. He had looked so miserable, so annoyed and angry today. It really felt as if we were making progress and he was being less like how he was before, but today proved that it’s still the same.

Maybe he was just embarrassed with me being there. Seeing him having to wait on William and his friends… on me. Jasper never said anything to me, mostly because he was too busy sailing the boat. Rehearsals would be after the dinner, I wondered if either of them would say anything to me or bring up the events of the day.

Part of me hoped for a yes while the other was perfectly okay with them not uttering a word.

“There we are,” she smiled. “You look absolutely beautiful, Y/N, just gorgeous. William is going to be floored when he sees you.”

Mother moved out of the way, letting me be in full view of the mirror. My eyes widened as I looked at the reflection in the mirror. A reflection I didn’t recognize as me, not in a bad way though. I had never really been one to worry about makeup, mostly out of laziness and feeling like it was just something society made women feel like they needed in order to get a man and for cosmetic companies to make money.

But seeing myself in just a bit of blush, lipstick, eye shadow, and mascara, it was like my confidence level rose about four levels. And my hair was pulled back with a few strands of curled hair framing my face.

“Wow,” I uttered.

“See, I told you just adding a little bit to your face can make the most amazing changes,” she smiled. “Now, for your dress. I have the perfect one for you.”

My mother rummaged around through her closet for a few moments before pulling out this beautiful sunflower yellow dress. It was a halter top with a sweetheart neckline that flowed out just above the knee.

“Try it on,” she smiled.

I took the dress from her going into the bathroom to change into the dress. Once it was on, I tied the long ribbon around my neck and looked at myself in the mirror. The dress fit me perfectly and the color matched perfectly with my skin. I found myself smiling as I looked at myself in the mirror trying different angles to make sure everything did look alright.

Being all dressed up for once in my life made me feel special, beautiful even, but my heart sank knowing that all of this was happening for the wrong person.

**

Arriving at the Dining Hall for dinner with William was weird, awkward, and stressful. I wanted it to be over before I had even started. However, if having dinner with William wasn’t already bad enough, Harry and his band… the hotel house band was scheduled to perform. I nearly dropped my glass when I saw Harry and Mitch making their way towards the stage.

“Interesting, hopefully that one is a better singer than a waiter,” William joked.

I looked at him.

“Oh, um, the one there, I think he’s name is Barry… he was on the wait staff on the boat today,” William answered.

“I know and he’s name is Harry,” I told him.

“Eh, doesn’t matter,” he shrugged.

My hand gripped onto the menu a little too tight causing a small crease to start forming.

“Good evening and welcome back to another evening here at The Malibu Breeze Hotel. We hope you’ve had a lovely day and we thank you for spending the rest of your night here with us,” Harry said into the microphone.

The opening notes of the first song started playing as I looked over at the stage. Harry’s eyes were closed while he took a deep breath, something I noticed him doing every time before he opened his mouth to sing. Most people probably wouldn’t even notice because he does it so discreetly, but I did. I always do.

“Speaking of our day out at sea,” William started. “Did you enjoy it?”

“Um… I mean… I guess. I’m not really a boat person,” I told him.

“Oh, I’m sorry, I didn’t realize,” he said. “Perhaps we could stay on land next time,” he laughed.

Mentally, I rolled my eyes, physically I gave a small nod and a smile.

The rest of the dinner went exactly how I thought it would. William talking about Boston, himself, his dad, shoving food in his mouth, etc. And just when I thought our little date was over and I could finally get out of there, William stood up from the table walking over to my side.

“Join me for a dance?” He asked, holding his hand out towards me.

“Um, actually, it’s getting pretty late, I should probably get going,” I told him. “I have plans, remember?”

“Oh come on, just one dance. Besides what’s wrong if you’re a little late anyway, you’re with me,” he smirked.

I had the urge to smack him right then and there, but I saw my parents at their table out of the corner of my eye. Even though they weren’t looking in that exact moment, I knew they had been staring throughout the night. I sighed going against my better judgement and what I wanted by saying yes.

I placed my hand in his and he practically pulled me to the dance floor. I gulped feeling Harry’s gaze on us when we got there. I didn’t dare look at him, afraid of what I might see. William wrapped his arm around my waist and held my hand with his other one. William’s face sat near my ear and I could feel his warm breath against my skin. A shiver ran down my spine, but not in a good way.

“You’re so beautiful,” he whispered into my ear.

His hands were slowly inching their way down from my waist. He knew what he was doing, placing his hands ever so subtly on me. I stood there frozen, my body willing to push him away, but nothing would move.

“How about you forget about those plans of yours and we head back to my room?” He asked. “So we could have a little more privacy to get to know one another. I could show you some more information about Boston, too.”

“Um, I don’t think that’s a good idea,” I told him. “In fact, I should uh… be going now anyway. Excuse me.”

Not sure how, but I finally was able to maneuver myself out of his arms and out of the dining hall. I needed to get out of there, but I wasn’t sure where I would go. It was too early to head to the cabin for rehearsals and if I went back to my room, Marianne might be there and ask me about tonight. So, I took off my shoes and went out to the beach instead.

I found an empty beach chair that was still left out in the sand. I sighed sitting down, letting my head fall into my hands. I wanted the night to be over with and I knew first thing in the morning I would have to tell my parents that whatever they wanted me to have with William was never going to happen.

My hands rubbed at the side of my neck almost as if I was trying to wipe away his words and the remnants of his breath. I heard someone walking up behind me. I could stand up, ready to run, thinking it was William. But it wasn’t, it was Harry standing there, still wearing his suit with his hands in his pockets.

“W-What are you doing here?” I asked him.

“Are you okay?” He asked. “Did he-”

“I’m fine,” I said, shaking my head. “So um… you saw-”

“The two of you dancing? Yeah, it’s kinda hard not to when you were on my dance floor,” he said, kicking at the sand.

I sighed, “Look, I don’t get you or what’s up with you. Why do you always do this? You act like an ass to me, and then you’re fine and it’s like we’re finally moving past that and then today, you treated me like you didn’t even know me.”

“Me?” He asked. “Y/N, you’re the one staying at the big fancy ass hotel with your Daddy and his money. You’re the one who gets to be Daddy’s little girl by day and sneaks around playing in some band at night. You’re the one playing two sides here, not me.”

“That’s bullshit and you know it!” I told him. “I told you this isn’t a fucking game for me! I’m serious about being in this band because it means something to me and because you mean something to me.”

“Oh really? Cause you could’ve fooled me when his hands were all over you and he was whispering in your ear,” he snapped.

“I pushed him away and left when he did that! I don’t want him,” I snapped back. “I never wanted him and I sure as hell didn’t want to go to dinner with him.”

“Then what do you want Y/N?” Harry asked. “What do you want, right here and right now, what do you want?”

I closed the remaining distance between the two of us. Sand covered my feet and my shoes felt heavy in my hands. My heart raced a mile a minute and my stomach felt like it was in knots, but I didn’t care. For the first time in my life someone asked me what I wanted for myself and because of that, I had to be completely honest.

“You,” I whispered. “I want you. I want the band… I want the music… I want all of it, but mostly… I just want you.”

I stared up at him, his eyes glistening as the moonlight lit up his face. His previously slicked back hair was now blowing freely in the breeze. I waited what seemed like forever for him to say something, but he never did.

He simply took my face in his hands and pressed his warm lips against mine while the waves crashed along the shore behind us.

**

Soo... word count wise this update was a little shorter. I thought about making it a bit longer, but I kinda like where it ended. But this does make me want to ask, do y’all prefer the longer updates 2k-3k word counts or shorter ones like 1k-1.5k? 

Let me know! :) 

[turning-dreams-into-chaos]

Rules:

1. Reblog this post (You don’t have to be following me to participate (but I’d appreciate it), I just would like this on your page 😊)

2. Send me an ask (not into my messages because they will get lost) with the name of the person you want to write for as well as the prompt you choose from below (Limit 2 people per prompt and 2 prompts per person) (First come, first serve by asks)

a. I’ll cross out prompts that are unavailable if people choose them, so always look for the most updated version of this post.b. If your writing account isn’t the one you’ve send an ask with, please include the name of your account at the end of the ask!

3. Use the hashtag #Riaswritingchallenge and tag me so I can see what you created! (make sure you use the correct tag because that will be how I am looking for posts)

a. I will reblog all the posts you write and if I don’t reblog within 3 days, send me an ask to make sure I see it

4. If it’s more than 1.5K (no word limit, go for it), add a keep reading option please so we don’t have pages and pages of pieces

a. If you can’t, that’s fine, I don’t think you can on the mobile

5. Don’t Stress and Have Fun! We aren’t comparing works to anyone; we’re just sharing what we wrote!

6. I’m not putting an end date on this challenge until I see activity! I’ll reblog with a date when I have one.

EDIT: So I’ve decided not to take requests for myself off this list and just leave these prompt to you guys, SO PLEASE DON’T SEND ME REQUESTS FROM THESE LISTS! CHOOSE ONES FOR YOU TO WRITE! 😊 Thank you!

Characters (Pick ANY character from a fandom):

The 100• Marvel• Harry Potter• Flash• Walking Dead• <- those are examples, choose what ever you’d like!

Prompts (specify which list in ask):

Fluff:

1. “Just hold me close and never let go.”

The One by @with1love1anu (Sirius Black x Reader)

2. “You may be good, but I’m better.” 

@abysshaven (Draco Malfoy x reader)

3. “You know, I’d go through hell for you.” “Really?” “Yeah, or well, really hot weather.”

@abysshaven (Draco Malfoy x reader)

@fridasfantasy (Zuko x Reader)

4. “Well you’re fun.” “And you’re annoying.”

Sirius Black x Reader by @valiantartwritingweasel

Just my Type by @writeseasonally (Fred Weasley x Reader)

5. “You’re drunk.” “I’m not drunk.” “Then what are you?” “…I’m not dead, right?”

@nekoannie-chan (Brock Rumlow x Reader)

Truth under Moonlight by @approved-by-dentists (Sirius Black x Reader)

6. “You’re a lot more interesting in my head.”

Hoax by @seiraswriting (Hermione Granger x Reader)

7. “You just have to trust me.”

Proud of you by @fandomscombine (George Weasley x Reader)

8. “Time flies when you’re a prisoner.”

9. “You’re my home.”

Home by @capsheadquaters (Bellamy Blake x Reader)

10. “Thanks for not killing me.”

@wonderful-writer​ (Sirius Black x Reader)

11. “I’m going to choose to take pride in that.”

Freedom of Innocence by @summer-writes (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Gone by @moony-writes-stuff​ (George Weasley x Reader)

12. “You’re my second chance.”

@bad268 (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

Second Chances by @shaynawrites23 (Bucky Barnes x Reader)

13. “Take me by the hand and hold me tight.”

If it Hurts by @oingo233 (Daryl Dixon x reader)

14. “I’m proud of us.”

15. “Will you get off me?”

Snowscape by @kalimagik (Fred Weasley x Reader)

16. “I didn’t think it was possible, but I just fell more in love with you.”

@they-write-once-in-a-blue-moon (Remus Lupin x Reader)

I Love you by @theonly1outof-a-billion​​ (Mob!Tom Holland x Reader)

17. “You are everything I dreamed of.”

@the-moon-and-the-book​ (Remus Lupin x Reader)

18. “Here, let me help you.”

@dreamer821 (Sirius Black x Reader)

19. “Can I have a kiss? Please?”

Can I kiss you? by @bad268 (Julian Albert x Reader)

20. “Your hand is so soft.”

Gentle Hands by @johnmurphyisbisexual (John Murphy x Reader)

21. “I’ve been thinking-“ “uh oh.”

A Beautiful Dream by @missmulti (Remus Lupin x Reader)

22. “But you love me anyways.”

@leah-ravenanne (James Potter x Reader)

Secret Admirer by @shaynawrites23 (Sirius Black x Reader)

23. “Want a back rub?”

24. “Can we cuddle?”

Gentle Hands by @johnmurphyisbisexual (John Murphy x Reader)

25. “You realize how insane you sound, right?”

Crazy for You by @writeroutoftime (Sirius Black x Reader)

@wonderful-writer​ (Sirius Black x Reader)

26. “Stop making that face. It’s too cute.”

Proud of you by @fandomscombine (George Weasley x Reader)

27. You are perfect for me.”

Party Revelations by @angelinathebook (Sirius Black x Reader)

28. “You’re so warm.”

Snowscape by @kalimagik (Fred Weasley x Reader)

29. “I love you more every day.”

30. “Where’s my morning kisses?”

31. “Wanna go for a walk?”

Comfort by @iliveiloveiwrite (Sirius Black x reader)

32. “I’m here when you’re ready to talk.”

Comfort by @iliveiloveiwrite (Sirius Black x Reader)

33. “Stop stealing my food.”

34. “Wow, I almost forgot how beautiful you were.”

@hollands-weasley (Fred Weasley x Reader)

35. “There’s an open seat on my lap.”

Party Revelations by @angelinathebook (Sirius Black x Reader)

@stiles-o-dylan24 (Bellamy Blake x Reader)

36. “Please just look at me.”

@horsegirly99 (Remus Lupin x Reader)

37. “I want to spend the rest of my life with you.”

Star Crossed Lovers by @missmulti (James Sirius Potter x Reader)

@horsegirly99 (Remus Lupin x Reader)

38. “Netflix and cuddle?”

39. “I can count to ten.” “You can barely get to 3.”

40. “My best friend is an idiot. Awesome.”

Angst:

1. “Despite everything, I still care about you.”

Blind Love by @hyperion-moonbabe-art3mis (Bellamy Blake x Reader)

2. “I should go…”

Never Leave Me Again by @with1love1anu (George Weasley x Reader)

@they-write-once-in-a-blue-moon (Remus Lupin x Reader)

3. “Joke’s on me, right?”

To Love and Be Used by @the-moon-and-the-book (James Potter x Reader)

4. “Break my heart, I’ll break your face.”

5. “Fuck you and your promises.”

Promises by @masterofthedarkness (Fred Weasley x Reader)

6. “Remember when I asked for your opinion? No? Me neither.”

7. “I’m not worth dying for.”

A Beautiful Dream by @missmulti (Remus Lupin x Reader) 

8. “There’s still good in you.”

All for You by @blisfvll (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

9. “I thought you died.”

Home by @capsheadquaters (Bellamy Blake x Reader)

@screennamealreadyused (Jason Todd x Reader)

10. “Don’t touch me.”

@screennamealreadyused (Jason Todd x Reader)

11. “I’m fine.” *Passes out*

Can I kiss you? by @bad268 (Julian Albert x Reader)

@dreamer821 (Sirius Black x Reader)

12. “I was hoping you’d save us both.”

Never Leave Me Again by @with1love1anu (George Weasley x Reader)

13. “I’m invisible.”

14. “I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

To Love and Be Used by @the-moon-and-the-book (James Potter x Reader)

15. “You’re not you.”

16. “What do you want me to say? That I’m sorry? I’m not.”

@novellaquill (Barry Allen x reader, The originals crossover)

17. “Okay, fuck you.”

18. “You wanna play hero? Be my guest.”

Drama by @obsessedwithrandomthings (Remus Lupin x Reader)

19. “You’re an asshole.”

20. “I hope it was worth it.”

21. “Trust me, it could get a whole lot worse.”

22. “The only mistake I made was you.”

@acciomarauders (Regulus Black x Reader)

23. “Prove to me you’re different, then I’ll believe you.”

@stiles-o-dylan24 (Bellamy Blake x Reader)

24. “No one blames you.” “I do.”

All for you by @blisfvll (Draco Malfoy x Reader)

25. How come you’re still here?”

26. “This is when you stop talking.”

27. “How am I supposed to say goodbye to you?”

@novellaquill (Barry Allen x reader, The originals crossover)

28. “God, just let me fall apart.”

Gone by @moony-writes-stuff​ (George Weasley x Reader)

29. “Just let me die.”

John Murphy x Reader by @johnmurphyisbisexual

Duelled by @teheharrypotter (Sirius Black x Reader)

30. “You got to let go.”

Star Crossed Lovers by @missmulti (James Sirius Potter x Reader)

31. “Why can’t you look at me like you look at her?”

Fool’s Gold by @marauderswhisperer (James Potter x Reader)

32. “You don’t get to die today.”

If it Hurts by @oingo233 (Daryl Dixon x reader)

33. “I’m spiraling and I can’t make it stop.”

John Murphy x Reader by @johnmurphyisbisexual

34. “You’re never too broken to be fixed.”

She’s a Survivor by @eleven-times-lively (Remus Lupin x Reader)

35. “Fun? Is that all I am to you? Fun?”

36. “I would’ve given my life up for you, but now? Now I don’t even know you.”

@shatteredlovesick (Steve Rogers x reader)

37. “I haven’t been the same since you left me.”

Charm-ed by @nekoannie-chan (Steve Rogers x Reader)

38. “You were supposed to protect me.”

39. “You gave me the world, but it wasn’t enough.”

40. “Give me another chance to prove I am still in love with you.”

Smut:

(Sorry I couldn’t find or come up with more smut ones lol)

1. “Ruin me.”

2. “Lose the shirt.”

3. “You know we’re in public, right?”

4. “Be good.” “Or what, you’ll punish me?”

5. “I can’t wait to get you alone tonight.”

6. “Spread your legs for me.”

7. “Remember. You’re mine.”

8. “Stop the lip biting, you’re driving me crazy.”

9. “Tonight, you’re in control.”

10. “I’m not wearing anything under this.”

11. “Try to stay quiet for me. Can you do that?”

Learned your Lesson by @johnmurphyisbisexual (John Murphy x Reader)

12. “Aw, is somebody jealous?”

13. “If you wanna fuck, just say the words.”

14. “I forgot how much I missed seeing you beneath me.” 

@shatteredlovesick (Steve Rogers x Reader)

15. “Oh, fuck you!” “Your place or mine?”

16. “Was the sex really that good?”

17. “Like what you’re seeing?”

18. “On your knees.”

19. “Handcuffs? Sounds fun.”

20. “Touch yourself for me.”

Learned your Lesson by @johnmurphyisbisexual (John Murphy x Reader)

21. “Try not to ruin the sheets, I just cleaned them.”

22. “Why is your dick out?”

23. “Boobies!”

24. “I think the condom broke.”

Oh, baby by @grounderxbellamy (Bellamy Blake x Reader)

25. “Cute underwear.”

[angelsandacceptance]

After School Special

“So?” Dean asks. 

Sam shrugs. “I think she's telling the truth. I mean, the way she talked about being there mentally but not physically -- kind of sounds like demonic possession to me.”

“Kind of?” Chase asks. “How is it kind of a demon possession?”

“She didn't see any black smoke or smell sulfur,” Sam explains. 

“Maybe it's not a demon. I mean, kids can be vicious,” Dean says. 

“Yeah, they’re terrifying,” Harley says. 

“You were one of those terrifying ones, Harley,” Chase laughs. “I’ve heard the stories.”

“Well, I mean, we're already here. Might as well check out the school,” Sam suggests. 

“Right, the school,” Dean says shortly. 

“What?” Sam asks.

“Truman High, home of the Bombers,” Dean says with distaste. 

“What’s your point?” Chase asks. 

“I mean, we went there, like... for a month a million years ago. Why are you so jazzed to go back?” Dean asks.

“We were only there for a month, so why are you so opposed?” Chase asks. 

“Because it’s school and we have a connection to it. Why should I want to go back?”

“It’s worth looking into,” Sam points out. 

“All right, well, what's our cover? FBI? Homeland Security? Swedish exchange students?” Dean asks. 

“Yes, Dean, because you, a thirty year old grown ass man, can pass as a high school student. From Sweden.”

“Do you even know Swedish?” Harley asks.

“Don’t worry,” Sam says. “I have an idea.”

“That’s worrisome,” Chase says. 

“How?” Sam asks defensively. 

“Because it’s you. And I don’t trust either of you,” Chase says, pointing at the boys. 

“Do you trust me?” Harley asks.

Chase regards her with a cautious look. “Only on Tuesdays.”

“So, Sammy, what’s this idea of yours?” Harley asks.

Sam shoots Harley an annoyed look. “It’s Sam. You know it’s Sam.” He shakes his head. “Whatever. So, get this.”

***

The Impala drives up in front of a large school, Truman High School boldly proclaimed on the building’s entrance. Dean, Chase, and Sam climb out of the back, backpacks tugged around shoulders, wary looks on their faces. 

“Thanks, Dad,” Dean says, taking lead and walking in front of the younger Winchesters. “You two got your books?” Dean asks them. “Lunch? Butterfly knife?”

“Yeah, Dean,” Sam says, rolling his eyes. 

“You two are being quiet. You okay?”

“Sure,” Sam says at the same time Chase answers, “Better than your face.”

“My face is beautiful, okay?”

“Sure.”

“Seriously, you okay?”

“Sure,” Sam repeats with emphasis. 

“Sammy…” Dean starts. 

“I mean, look, this is the third school we've been to this year, and it's only November. I'm just sick of always being the new kid.”

“It does kind of suck,” Chase agrees. “I’m never able to make friends. No one wants to be friends with the freak who doesn’t know how to keep quiet, and if they do, I can’t keep contact with them longer than a couple weeks.”

“Who needs friends when you have us?” Dean smirks.

“You’re boys. I can’t exactly talk to you about all my problems, Dean.”

“And people pick on me!” Sam exclaims. 

“You'll be fine. If anyone gives you any trouble, you let me know. Relax. Dad said this hunt will take him two weeks, tops. As soon as he gets back, we're out of here.”

“To another school. Awesome,” Sam says, tugging his backpack tighter to his body. 

Once separating from her brothers as they each go to their individual classes, Chase finds herself alone in front of the classroom, twenty pairs of eyes staring her down. Judging her. Inspecting her.

God, she hates teenagers. 

“Is there anything you want to tell us about yourself, Char-”

“Chase. My name is Chase Winchester. Please address me as such.”

“Of course,” the teacher hesitates, unused to being talked to by students like that, but she continues quickly. “Well, go on and tell us three facts about yourself.”

Chase turns to the class, a half smile on her face. “Hi! I’m Chase. I like learning but hate school, love cats, and fighting.”

“What kind of fighting?” A boy in the back of the class asks. 

Chase looks to the teacher out of the corner of her eye, only to be encouraged by a wide smile. 

“Y’know,” Chase mumbles, suddenly shy. “Like fist fighting and shooting and stuff.”

“Shooting? Like guns?”

‘Great, Chase, go ahead and label yourself the freak. Why didn’t you say something normal?’

“Uh,” Chase stalls for time. “Yeah? My dad takes me and my brothers to the shooting range.”

“That’s great, Chase! Go ahead and take your seat.”

Chase does so quickly, face slightly red from embarrassment, and pulls out a notebook, hastily busying herself so she can avoid questions and eye contact. 

***

Harley’s students enter the class room. “Hello everyone, I’m Ms. Wyllt. Today we will be joined by Ms. Scourie and her 3rd period Creative Writing class. You’ll be grouped together in fours, and yes, you can choose your partners.”

A wave of excitement rushed through the class. “You’ll be writing your own unique scenes and acting them out! This project will be due two weeks from now.”

A knock comes from the classroom door, and Harley goes to open it revealing Chase and her class. Everyone enters the theatre room and Chase and Harley go off on their own.

“We’re like the best teachers ever,” Harley says, seeing best friends pair up immediately.

“We are,” Chase agrees.

***

High school was an interesting place for Harley. It was simultaneously the worst and best years of her life. She was depressed and suspended from school, but she found someone who she would give anything, just for her to be happy. She found a daughter. The light of her life and her best friend in the universe.

She found a wonderful friend group who she would die for. Discovered music and made many a memory. At this specific moment she was remembering staying the night at Adina’s.

They were in her basement, Adina was giving Harley a stick and poke of a treble clef.

“Does that hurt?” Adina asks.

“Honestly, this is the most relaxed I’ve ever been. Maybe it’s the sauna, maybe it’s being out of the house, or maybe it’s you. I don’t really care, I might fall asleep before you finish,” Harley responds.

Adina laughs.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“I’m adopting you. You are now my child,” Harley says mostly serious with a hint of joking.

“Okay?”

“I’m serious, you are the light of my life and you make being alive worth it.”

“Aww, thanks!”

“Any time.”

***

Winchesters and Co. sat in the teacher’s lounge eating sloppy joes.

“So, Harley and I are the best teachers.”

“Why, what’d you do?” Dean asks, mouth full.

“Dean, really?” Chase asks. “You’re a pig.”

“Sounds like one at night too,” Sam laughs. 

“I mean not really,” Harley defends.

“Yeah!” Dean exclaims. “It’s Chase that’s bad!”

“I’m not that bad!”

“None of you are bad or I’ve just gone deaf?” Harley says unsure.

“Deaf. Definitely deaf,” Sam says. “These two are both awful.”

Chase sticks her tongue out at her younger brother. 

“So, Sam, did you find any sulfur?” Harley asks.

“I've been over the entire school twice. No sulfur,” Sam answers.

“No sulfur, no demon. No demon, no case,” Dean states.

“I don't know. Maybe I was wrong.”

“Well, it happens to the best of us. I say we hit the road, huh?”

“Fine by me,” Harley adds.

***

“How’s the nonviolence school assembly going?” Sam asks, as though joking.

Chase smacks his arm. 

“What?” Sam asks. “Too soon?”

“Yes, Sam. Too soon.”

“Apparently, shoving a kid's arm into a Cuisinart is not a ‘healthy display of anger.’ So, the kid had ectoplasm leaking out his ear?” Dean asks. 

“Which only comes from a really pissed off ghost,” Chase says.

“It’s got to be ghost possession,” Harley concludes. 

“Yeah, but that’s pretty rare,” Dean hesitates. 

“Yeah, but it happens. I mean, they get angry enough, they can take control of a person's body,” Sam says. 

“Alright, so what, we got a ghost in the building?” Dean asks. 

“Yeah, but where? I mean, there's no EMF. Maybe we could find out who it is, at least. You know, check and see if somebody died bloody around here or something.”

“Way ahead of you. I had to break into the principal's office to get this. Oh, and FYI, three of the cheerleaders are legal. Guess which ones,” Dean smirks, pulling a paper out of his pocket. 

“No,” Sam deadpans.

“Oh!” Chase exclaims. “Is the cute black haired one with the hazel-y green eyes?”

“Yes,” Dean smiles, giving Chase a high five. 

“Knew it.”

“I love you,” Harley laughs.

“Why thank you,” Chase and Dean chorus. They turn to each other. “She was talking to me! No, she wasn’t. Yes, she was!” They turn back to Harley. “Harley?”

“I love when y’all talk at the same time.”

“That doesn’t answer our question,” They both say. They turn to each other again, but say nothing, opting to stick their tongues out at each other instead. 

“Are you sure I’m the youngest?” Sam sighs.

“Pretty sure, Sammy,” Dean says. 

“Moving on,” Sam replies. 

“So, there was only one death on campus. It was a suicide back in '98. Some kid named Barry Cook,” Dean notices Sam’s face fall, “What?”

“I knew him. How did he die?”

“He slit his wrists in the first-floor girls' bathroom.”

Harley swats Dean on the arm, “Even I have more tact.”

“And that’s saying something,” Chase mentions. 

“Right where the chick got swirly-ed to death, exactly. So, what? This ghost is possessing nerds?”

“And using them to go after bullies,” Harley adds.

“Well, is that something Barry would do?” Chase asks. 

“Barry had a hard time,” Sam says. 

“Didn’t we all?” Chase asks.

***

Chase walks down the hallway, shooting a smile at her brother, Sam, who is walking with a boy his age. He waves back to her. ‘At least he made a friend,’ she thinks to herself.

Unlike her at that moment. Ever since her slip up in her first period, all of the girls avoided her, and the boys only talked to her if they wanted to make fun of her. Well, for the most part.

“So, are you sure you don’t want to go out sometime?” a boy in her science class, (Lucas?) asks her.

“For the last time, no. I’m not interested,” Chase says, opening her locker and putting her books away. She grabs her textbooks for the next class, pointedly ignoring Lucas (Definitely Lucas, Chase thinks). 

Lucas grabs her wrist, pulling her towards him. “C’mon, one date.”

“I said no. You have one second to let go of me.”

“Not until you say yes.”

“One,” Chase says. Lucas has enough time to narrow his eyes in confusion before Chase’s fist meets his face.

***

“You punched him?” The vice principal asks.

“Yes,” Chase responds, not missing a single beat. 

“And you say the only thing he had been doing was holding your wrist? Because he wanted to get your attention?” He looks down at the written report of the situation, which both students had to write.

���No,” Chase says, confused. “He wasn’t just holding my wrist. He was touching me without my consent. And he had my attention. He just didn’t like my answer.”

“You could have pulled away.”

“I tried to, but-”

“I’m sorry, Miss Winchester, but violence is not the response to unwanted attention. I know you’re new here, but this is your only warning. If something like this happens again, you’ll be suspended. For right now, however, you have detention everyday for two weeks and you have to have your guardian sign this copy of the report.”

“But this report says I punched him, but doesn’t say what he did.”

“Because what he did was not enough to warrant a report. What you did was.”

“Bullshit.”

“Language. Last warning. Suspension is on the line. Now, go.”

***

“Hey,” Harley greets her mom.

“I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“You got suspended.”

“That’s bullshit. I’m suicidal, that’s not exactly against the rules.”

“You did mention jumping down the stairwell.”

“I know, but it might not kill me. I want to know I won’t come back.”

“Claire,” Harley’s mom sighs.

“I just want to be done. I’m so tired of living.”

“I know.”

“What’s wrong with me? I have so little empathy. Or sympathy? Whichever one it is. And the voices never shut up always, always, always telling me to kill, kill, kill. And I want to. I want to hurt people. To see them scream. I want to watch the light leave their eyes and hear that final breath escape. I want to feel the warmth of their blood across my skin.”

“They’re just thoughts, Claire.”

“They’re not though. They’re voices and feelings. They’re primal urges that I have so much trouble controlling. They’re proof I’m a monster.”

“You aren’t a monster.”

“Then why do you insist on me eating raw steak instead of buying me blood?”

“Because drinking blood is evil.”

“But I need to do it to survive. So doesn’t that make me evil?”

“No.”

***

The four hunters, each pair in their own vehicle, drive to the graveyard where they know the remains of Barry Cook lie. The air is thick with tension in the Impala, while the girls don’t think much of the situation. 

“So, after this, you want to get pie?” Chase asks.

“Umm… Duh?” Harley answers.

“Do you want to invite the boys or do you want to avoid Dean still?”

“I think Dean and I are fine, I mean he hasn’t said anything since we talked it over.”

“That’s good. I was about to suggest couple’s therapy.”

“We aren’t a couple.”

“Close enough,” Chase waves her hand, shrugging. “Anyway, we’re almost there. I don’t know about you, but I don't want to dig up a grave. How do we get the boys to do it for us?”

“Rock, paper, scissors?”

“Coin toss?” Chase pauses. “No, I like rock, paper, scissors. I always know how to win against Sam. He always does rock.”

“And Dean always chooses scissors.”

***

Sam and Dean dig where the grave of Barry Cook is, while the girls watch in mild amusement.

“Why did we agree to this?” Dean asks. 

“I didn’t,” Sam says.

“Less talking, more digging, boys,” Chase calls to them. They both turn to look at her with a bitch face, before turning back to the dirt. Suddenly, two shovel-fulls of dirt fly through the air to land on Chase, most of it getting in her hair. “You bastards!” she swears, spitting dirt out of her mouth. 

“Less talking, more digging,” Dean says.

“And we’re digging,” Sam finishes. 

Eventually, after about an hour, there’s a loud clunk as a shovel hits the hard wood of a coffin.

“Okay, our turn,” Harley says, nudging Chase forward. Chase grins and takes a matchbox out of her pocket.

“That smile means we should definitely never trust you with fire,” Dean says as the boys climb out of the hole. 

“Oh well,” Chase shrugs. 

Harley pours salt and gasoline on the remains, while Chase  lights a match, her grin growing in width. 

Dropping the match, Chase and Harley step back as flames leap into the air. The smell of charred bones and flesh and gasoline looms over them as the four hunters walk away from the scene. Going back into their individual cars, the group is quiet. 

***

Jack and Baby were parked on a hill a little ways away from a bridge. Sam is shirtless because Harley is sewing up the stab wound he sustained from a girl possessed by the ghost.

“Only you are nerd enough to get stabbed by a compass,” Chase scoffs.

“Compass? Compasses can’t do that,” Dean says.

“A math compass, Dean. As in, an instrument to draw circles.”

Dean pointedly ignores Chase. “Here, this will make you feel better,” he says. Sam nods, taking the beer. “That ghost is dead!” Dean practically growls. “I’m gonna rip it’s lungs out. Well,” he pauses. “You know what I mean.”

“You do realize the most we can do is put it to rest,” Harley points out continuing her work.

“It knew my name, guys. My real name. We burned Barry’s bones. What the hell?” Sam says.

“Maybe we missed something. We could have been wrong about Barry,” Chase says. “We just got to go back.”

Dean, looking through paperwork, suddenly gasps. “No way, how did we not see this before?”

“See what?” Harley asks.

“Check it out -- Look, Martha Dumptruck, Revenge of the Nerds, and Hello Kitty -- they rode the same bus.”

“Okay, so maybe the bus is haunted,” Sam suggests. 

“Well, that would explain why there's no EMF at the school, but not the attacks. I mean, ghosts are tied to the places that they haunt. They can't just bail.”

“Actually,” Chase starts.

“Actually,” Dean mimics in a high pitched voice. No one laughs. Chase gives him a look, unamused. Dean sighs, “Continue.”

“Actually,” Chase says again, emphasizing the word and shooting Dean another look, “there's lore about spirits possessing people and riding them for miles, then whenever they leave the body, they're bungeed back to their usual haunt. But until then, the ghosts can go wherever they want.”

“So a spook just grabs a kid on the bus and walks right into Truman?” Dean asks, not convinced.

“Well, yeah,” Chase says.

“Ghosts getting creative -- well, that's super,” Dean says sarcastically. 

“Sounds possible,” Harley says, agreeing with Sam and Chase. 

“You’re supposed to be on my side!” Dean pouts. 

“I’m on my side,” Harley says, sticking her tongue out at him.

***

“Do you see anything?” Chase calls to the boys, who are inside the bus. 

“It’s definitely not clean,” Sam responds. 

“Here, ghosty, ghosty, ghosty! Come out, come out, wherever you are!” Dean calls.

“Yes, Dean, because saying ‘Here, ghosty, ghosty’ is sure to make it appear. Maybe it’s Casper the friendly ghost!” Chase says in a heavily sarcastic tone.

“Or the Boo Brothers,” Harley adds.

“Got anything better?” Dean asks, before adding, “Nice one,” at the end of his statement.

“Man, I don't get it. No one ever died on this bus, and it's not like there's a body hidden in here,” Sam says.

“Or is there?” Chase asks ominously.

“Yeah, but a flap of skin, a hair, I mean, hell, a hangnail -- something's got to be tying the ghost to this place. We just got to find it.”

“I really hope it’s not a hangnail,” Harley says.

“I dunno,” Chase says. “Hangnail’s better than a ‘flap of skin’.”

“I’d rather deal with the skin, thank you very much.”

“Got a new driving permit. Issued two weeks ago,” Dean says from the front of the school bus. The girls go over and peer at the papers in Dean’s hand.

“Isn’t that just before the first attack?” Chase asks.

“Yeah,” Dean says. “Name of the bus driver is Dirk McGregor Sr., 39 North Central Avenue.”

“McGregor?” Sam asks.

“Yeah, why?”

“I knew his son.”

“Did you know everybody at this school?” Dean asks.

“How’d you remember his name?” Chase asks incredulously.

“And his last name, at that,” Harley adds.

“Just because your guys’ attention span is that of a gnat and your memory like a goldfish, doesn’t mean I can’t remember things.” He pauses. “Besides, do you not remember anyone you went to school with?”

***

Harley spent her Valentine’s Day junior year watering a bouquet of purple roses from every water fountain she could find. Everyone wanted to know where she got them and every time she had the same response, “They’re for Julia.”

She was careful and tore off every faulty petal in order to make sure the bouquet was perfect. It was at the end of the day when she finally could give Julia her gifts. One of which was a card asking her to be Harley’s girlfriend.

“Hey,” Julia says.

“Hey,” Harley responds.

“I adore the card.”

“I’m glad. So what’s your answer?”

“I really don’t want you to feel like I’m stringing you along, I’m moving in four months, back to Washington. I just don’t want to get attached and hurt you.”

“It’s fine, I might move too, but who’s to say we can’t make the most of the time we have here?”

“I just don’t want to waste time on something if I know it has a deadline. You know? I still wanna be friends.”

“Yeah, I guess, do you mind if I take a day or two though?”

“Take your time. I’m here though.”

“Thank you,” Harley says before leaving as her heart silently breaks.

***

“So that’s it then,” Chase says, disbelief written on her face.

“Well, yeah,” Nathaniel says. 

“You’re just done. With us. With everything?” Chase’s voice is drenched in desperation, as though if she argued her way through it, he’d change his mind.

“There isn’t anything there anymore.” Nathaniel’s face is like stone- like always. His blue eyes guarded, mouth in a thin line.

“Well, you could’ve fucking told me that in the beginning instead of leading me on!”

“I never led you on!” Nathaniel says, finally showing some semblance of an emotion, causing a surge of pride in Chase’s chest. Not many people were ever able to get under his skin, let alone in a way for him to care enough to defend himself.

“Then what do you call two days ago? Saying you liked me. Spouting that bull about talking to my dad and brothers!”

“I just decided that this isn’t working out.”

“Decided,” Chase repeats. “Decided? You don’t just decide these things, Nathaniel. They’re emotions! You can’t just flip off your emotions like a switch!”

“I didn’t. I’ve felt like this for a while.”

“Oh, so we’re backtracking to the leading me on part, are we?”

Nathaniel groans, running a hand through his hair. 

“No, you don’t get to be frustrated. You’re the one that promised you’d be there. You’re the one that promised you wouldn’t leave. You said nothing I said or did could make you leave, so what the hell? What do you call this?”

“I call this deciding it’s not working out!”

“Fuck you, Nathaniel. You’re a poor, pathetic, useless, spineless, son of a bitch! Everyone who ever said you weren’t worth it, were right! You weren’t! I thought you were different, but whoops. Guess the joke’s on me, huh?” Chase turns to leave.

“You don’t get to have the last word in this.”

Chase turns back to look at Nathaniel over her shoulder, tears falling down her face. “You knew full well. No, you know full well that I am in love with you. That all I wanted was for you to be happy, and for you to be in my life. I didn’t start this romance shit. You did. So, if this is the end of so much time, so much fucking time and effort, of my life I spent fighting with you, hating you, loving you, and being on and off friends with you, then know this. You’re ending this. You’re the reason this got fucked up. Not me.”

“You and I both know that this is your fault,” Nathaniel says.

Chase just ignores him and walks away, backpack slung over her shoulder, and her heart on the pavement behind her.

***

The four hunters sit on McGregor’s couch; Chase and Sam on the left side of the couch, while Dean, who has his arm around Harley as they are holding hands, takes up the right alongside Harley.

“So, you were friends with Dirk?” McGregor asks.

“Yes, sir, in high school,” Sam replies.

“I don't recall Dirk having many friends at Truman.”

“When did, uh -- when did Dirk pass?” Dean asks.

“He was eighteen.”

“What happened to him?” Chase asks.

“Well, there was, first, drinking, then drugs, and then too many drugs. And then he just slipped through my fingers. It was my fault. I should have seen it coming, you know? Dirk, he, uh -- he had his troubles.”

“Troubles?” Harley prods.

“School was never easy for Dirk. We didn't have much money, and, well, you know, kids -- they can be cruel. They picked on him.”

“They picked on him?” Sam asks, surprised.

“They called him poor and dirty and stupid. They even had a nickname for him -- Dirk the jerk. And after what happened to his mother, he…” McGregor cuts himself off.

“His mother?” Chase asks.

“Yeah, Jane, my wife. She died when Dirk was 13. Cancer. I was working three jobs, so it fell to Dirk to take care of her. And he was a great kid. He made sure Jane got her medicine. He helped her, cleaned up after her. But, you know, you -- you watch somebody die slow, waste away to nothing... it does things to a person. Horrible things.”

“I didn't know about his mother,” Sam says quietly.

“He -- he wouldn't talk about her, not even to me. Lot of anger in that boy.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Well, we'd really like to pay our respects, Mr. McGregor. Um, you mind telling us where Dirk is buried?” Dean asks.

“Oh, he wasn't. I had him cremated,” McGregor states.

“All of him?”

“Well, I kept a lock of his hair.”

“Oh, that's -- that's nice. Where do you keep that?”

“On my bus, in my Bible.”

***

The brakes squeal loudly as Chase slams on the brakes, swearing. Moving off to the side of the road, the two girls hop out of the car, following quickly behind Sam and Dean. Sam walks up to a man getting out of the bus, while Dean sneaks around the other side of the bus, to be behind the man and anyone getting out. 

“Dirk!” Sam yells. The man who’d gotten out of the bus first turns to Sam with a cruel smile on his face. 

“Winchester, what are you gonna do? Shoot me?”

Dean sneaks up behind Dirk and wraps a rope around his body, while Harley rushes into the bus. “This rope is soaked in salt water. You’re not going anywhere.”

“Alright, everybody. Stay where you are and everything will be fine,” Harley says. 

“Aren’t you the drama teacher?”

“No, not really. More like ‘21 Jump Street’. The bus driver sells pot. Yeah, that’s it.” She starts to shuffle through the front of the bus, looking for the hair. After a moment, she looks up in exasperation. “It’s not here!”

“Where is it?” Sam demands. Dirk simply smirks. 

“Nowhere you’ll ever find it.”

Sam, obviously done with the situation, puts the gun directly against Dirk’s chest. Dirk struggles against the rope for a second. “Where is it?”

“Sam Winchester. Still a bully. You, you jocks... you popular kids... you always thought you were better than everybody else. And to you, I was just Dirk the jerk, right? Now you evil sons of bitches are gonna get what's coming to you.”

“I'm not evil, Dirk,” Sam says. “I'm not. And neither were you. Trust me. I've seen real evil. We were scared and miserable, and we took it out on each other -- us and everybody else. That's high school. But you suffer through that, and it gets better. I'm just sorry you didn't get a chance to see that... you or Barry.”

“Nothing is going to get better for me. Never.”

Dirk breaks out of the rope, knocking Dean to the ground easily. Sam shoots him with a salt round and he goes flying. A student, within moments, climbs out of the bus, obviously possessed by Dirk. 

Chase rushes over to the passed out bus driver, making sure he’s alive. 

Harley tries to shoot at the student, but misses, as the ghost beats Sam up. 

“Chase!” Sam calls. “Find the hair!”

Harley takes this moment to check on Dean, who’d been knocked out moments earlier. 

Chase pats down the man, trying to find where the hair had been hidden. Finally finding it, she reaches into his pocket and takes it out. “I swear, this isn’t what it looks like,” She mutters to herself, grabbing a lighter. She lights the hair on fire and the Dirk-possessed student screams. 

The student slumps forward onto Sam, who struggles beneath the weight of the larger student. Dean laughs from his spot on the ground, next to Harley. He winces, holding his head in pain. “He’s giving you full cowgirl,” Dean laughs.

This breaks the tension and the four hunters begin to breathe normally again, glad to be done with Dirk-the-Jerk.

[calypsoff]

Eight

I hate and love interviews, I feel my overseas interviews are better than my American ones, “you done girl?” I said to my makeup artist “break is over near enough” Mylah laughed side eyeing me “all done” she walked off, taking in a deep breath “all set! We resume in three, two and one!” turning to Jonathan “welcome back, we have the beautiful Rihanna. Did you ever think you would be this famous? Looking back, did you think you would be known by millions of people? Like you can’t even have space now, we have fans knocking outside” I chuckled “erm, it’s hard. I love to have my space, I find my peace at home and that is in Barbados, this is where I can be me when I am at home. I can drive, I can see my people so I do go back there every time to get peace” I hate when I talk with my hands, now I can notice it, it is actually annoying “do you get asked for pictures there or not? Or are you the people’s princess like you are here” I giggled “am I a princess here? Well in Barbados they don’t hound me, if there are tourists around then I may get it but the people, my people. They call me Robyn; I am Robyn to them. I get all the love and hug for being me, and it’s a great feeling because I have inspired a new generation of talent there, that you can do it. I love my home, and that is my peace” clasping my hands together, I need to stop “I have been Barbados before it’s a beautiful place, so what is next for Rihanna? The empire you are building” raising an eyebrow “empire? Well next for me is I am working on another album and, I have something in the pipeline that I think people will love and won’t see coming, it’s a big collaboration. It’s something I have always wanted to do; I can’t say it but it’s coming. But that is me right now, I have a few projects coming up but I am working on a new album” nodding my head smiling “you know what I love about you? So I don’t keep up with who is dating who but, we all go through horrible break ups but how you and ASAP Rocky, your then boyfriend. The way you both broke up was so fluid, I couldn’t even comprehend how amicable that was, there was no mean words or anything. Just yes we have love for each other but as friends, so smooth. What advice do you give to people that don’t want to be with their partners?” I wasn’t expecting that question “wow, it’s hard because everyone is in different situations but you need make yourself happy, I tried to carry it on but I was doing it for what was around me, so people adored him and us together but I am a happier person now. The would be, go with your heart” even though my heart is in hiding now, I did go with my heart.

Sitting in the car next to Jay Brown “next up Miami!” I spat; I need to start working on my album now. I have been here in London for longer then two weeks and it’s getting too much, I have people that want to add their vocals onto the songs I have kind of already done “yes, I don’t understand and I never got to ask, why did you break up with Rakim when you was both perfect?” I knew he would start “perfect for promotional things, we are better as friends and we knew that. We went wrong when label got involved and got us together” he won’t like that “got involved? We didn’t force you both together” I sniggered “sure, that is what that meeting was for then? Just to say hi to us, we practically had a meeting about it. Doesn’t matter now, we are happy, and we still talk” shaking my head, he is annoying. Men are actually very annoying, Chris included. It’s been about two weeks now, no contact from Chris at all. I did think, let me do it and he didn’t contact me back. He didn’t even read my message either, he hasn’t posted anything at all but delete pictures of his ex. I have posted pictures thinking he would react, no. So fuck him, I guess that is it. More so, my heart is in hiding and has been ever since New York, it hurts but we move on. I mean I didn’t ask for much, I said dick appointments but whatever, my fingers are fine.

Hugging Sonita “I am sad you not coming with me, but we will meet soon. I will be back in Barbados before you know it. I love you” we are now having to split ways, Leandra and Sonita are both going back home “I love you too, this has been great. Just to spend time with you” moving back from the hug “and bitch, meet me in Miami when you can” hugging Leandra “you know me, I will be behind you. Have a safe flight while we ride economy” I chuckled “only the best for two hoodrat bitches” I cackled moving back from the hug “girl fuck you, love you Robyn!” waving them off, Rich picked up my suitcase “let’s go back to the USA whores” I would have got the jet but I rather just fly business class on a plane, I don’t really care for being on a jet. Only when I am with my family I will put us all together but I am working I just fly on a plane, but then you get the added bonus of paparazzi up my ass “you leaving us Rihanna!” one shouted, smiling as I continued to walk with Rich. Get me to the VIP lounge so I can have some peace “love you Rihanna!” as soon as the guy shouted my name the whole airport decided to push and now this is where is gets draining.

“Christopher” I groaned, my vision blurred and the lights. Opening my eyes only to close them again “Christopher, take your time. He is coming around, this is good” frowning with my eyes closed, pain hit me so hard. Opening my eyes slowly “son” my dad’ face all in mine, I am confused “Clinton, please don’t get in his face” hearing my mother say “what happened” I managed to say and then it hit me “Christopher, you are in hospital right now” it hit me, closing my eyes again and it’s there. I got beat up, I knew that shit I did would come back to me, I knew them niggas would come at me for snitching “we will give him a moment, just let him come around” hearing the doctor say, I was beating that guy up when he came at me, I remember but then I blanked out “how long has it been?” my throat is dry, I feel so lost “to be exact, we put you in an induced coma, worried for the injuries to your brain. It has been overall two weeks” I breathed out “oh my god” I said in a whisper, I have been gone for two weeks.

My mom is emotional but so am I, I blanked out but between that time I could have been killed but it makes me wonder why I wasn’t, how am I here. I feel the pain “we was so scared Chris, we thought we lost you. The doctor was saying all sorts of things to us, I told you to move back with us” shaking my head “my own family hate me mom, because I got their son more time for snitching. They hate me here, look what happened. All I did was come to see you both, I left the home to go back and that was it. I am in pain mom; all I did was come to see you. There was one nigga, and we fought and that was it, all I remember” shaking my head “they got arrested son, don’t worry. They got caught, they left you for dead, outside the home. I cried and prayed every day and night, god just to bring you back. You just rest now; you will be in pain. Your face is better, your body is sore. Just to stare into your eyes my baby” I am so angry “I am not even like that, I just want to be left alone” looking away from my parents “I bet I lost my job now too, the only place that will hire a convict like me, even that was done because of who I knew” this is a mess “don’t think about work son, just think of you” so easy for my dad to say that.

My parents left me, they left because of how silent I am. I am laid here thinking, I should be thankful I am alive right now, but I just hate myself, I hate that I am worth nothing now and still I am getting my ass beat. I fought back but they played dirty, second time getting my ass beat and this time I was in a coma, next time I will be dead but the least I won’t need to think someone is going to get my ass if I wasn’t here, I am just a mess. I had so much going for me; I had a life. I had a future, and everyone saw it, now I haven’t. Now I got to be the thug that I am now, I have to protect myself. Maybe I need to go into a crew because if I was in a crew then this shit won’t constantly happen “bro, oh my god. I am so glad to see you!” TJ half shouted, looking to the side of me, he rushed over to the bed “you’re awake, my nigga I was so scared you wasn’t going to actually wake up and we lost you, you good?” nodding my head “I am alive” I mumbled “bro” Barry said, I didn’t need them to come because I feel depressed as fuck.

Sighing out heavily “you are so down ain’t you?” Barry said, “what are the streets saying?” I asked because I am going to be back out there and I bet they are laughing at me, I got beat twice “lot of niggas are upset for you and also, someone hit you from behind. Niggas weak like that, heard that you beat the other guy’ ass but one of the members played dirty, niggas don’t play like that so they look stupid, I wouldn’t worry about them Chris. I want you to worry about you, get the fuck better. I was so scared when they said they putting you in an induced coma, they was worried your brain was going to be damaged” I should be blessed but I don’t feel it “I feel lost” feeling my eyes well up “you cool bro, stop thinking that shit. We got you, I swear you my brother and I am happy you here” TJ being nice as hell “appreciate you both, trust me” I mumbled “my body hurts like mad, doctors are keeping me in and they said they ain’t looking to let me go right now. They want to do scans of my head and shit, I am good though but they ain’t letting it happen. I don’t think I will be able to move anyways, even now just moving my head side to side I am in pain. It’s wack but yeah, I will be here for a while” I better get comfortable.

TJ left to get some drink for himself “I have your phone, it died but I charged it. I don’t know your passcode but twin text you once, that was two weeks ago” Barry winked at me “but Seiko been acting like the widow, it’s weird. I literally said to her y’all are split but yeah. I kept your phone safe, I got you my nigga” I feel so weak even holding my phone “two week bro, I can’t believe it. Do I look bad?” I ain’t seen my face yet “a little bruised up, your hair is a mess bro. I mean looking bad” I expected that, I grinned. Let me see what twin wants, she probably hates me. This shit has been two weeks, I don’t think I will text her back because it’s been that long “damn” I got my password wrong, typing it in again because the phone ain’t recognizing my face of course. The first message I went on is of course Twin, but there is so many others and lots of other messages, but I don’t care for it, I need to know what she has put.

Twin:

Hey freckles how are you?

I want to ignore the message because it’s shameful to answer back after all this time but then it’s rude, but what would I say to her. Do I tell her the truth, let me message her back anyways and if she is angry then so be it.

Chris:

I’m alive, you!?

“I just realised you peeing in a bag” TJ spat pointing, of course he would point that out. Locking my phone “you dumb, I can’t really get up and pee. I don’t even think I am capable of walking at this moment” TJ laughed sitting down “is your nurse fine though? Like she going to wash the royal dick” see what I mean by he is stupid “royal dick!? Where the fuck do you get this shit from” Barry said laughing, my phone pinged in my hand. She’s messaged me back, I am shocked.

Twin:

You could have just not text me…….

Chris:

I jump at your texts but this time I couldn’t

Twin:

Sure

Chris:

Not a lie

Twin:

Sure and anyways I decided to not come for my appointment I cancel

Chris:

Sorry if I upset you for not texting but I been in hospital

Twin:

You got a face on with me when I said dick appointment so miss me with that!

Chris:

I wish that was the issue but it isn’t, I will send a picture to you. Just be ready

I didn’t want to take a selfie, but she doesn’t believe because I was upset with her when she started to speak on me being a dick appointment, it was pathetic, and I was annoyed with her. Flipping the camera around, I actually feel disgusted, I have a bandaged head. Flipping it back over, let me take a picture of my hand with the IV lines, that can work. Taking the picture and sending it to her “rest up, don’t let anything get to you” nodding my head but my phone rang straight away, I don’t think I am mentally ready to be talking to Robyn right now but she is ringing, answering the call “hey” TJ and Barry are both staring at me “oh my god, I am shaking. Are you serious, what happened!?” I can tell Robyn is in shock “it’s a long story, but I woke up out of a induced coma. I wish I could speak to you longer, but I am tired” I feel it “I am literally shaking, which hospital are you in?” I think she is on a plane, sounds like it “we will link up when I am better but just know I am not lying” that is all I wanted her to know “I will find you but just rest, I am actually shaking right now, just take care” I can’t even take care of myself right at this moment.

[etraytin]

Quarantine, Days 224-225

October 21 and 22 I have been thinking that it might be time to let the journal go down to once every couple of days or a few times a week, since it really has been quite a long time since the start of lockdown, but then I went to write tonight about what happened yesterday and I can't remember a goddamned thing. Many things have changed since the start of quarantine, but that pernicious "time isn't a real thing anymore" feeling has yet to go away. One of the original purposes of doing this was for me to record my own days so I would remember what happened when, and that's still useful. So I guess you're all still coming along for the ride, because I am terrible at keeping a private journal but have managed to do this thing for more than half a year now.  Anyway, yesterday was a day. It was a day in which things happened, I'm sure. It's weird to not be able to remember what I did. It was Wednesday, so that means it was asynchronous learning day... ah, right. Kiddo had his morning meeting and at the end of it I happened to hear his teacher ask him if he'd gotten her email. I asked him what the email was, and he admitted that he might have actually not been keeping up with his core subject work in the same way he hadn't been keeping up with his resources lessons. To the tune of about ten days worth of assignments, in fact. So that wasn't great. I had a quick exchange with his teacher and promised we were going to get the work turned in, and we spent the day with him doing school in the living room instead of his bedroom, so I could actually watch him and make sure he was doing it. He got all his daily work done and two old assignments in both math and language arts, so it was a decent start. Can't get everything done in one day.  I noticed while I was working with him that he seems to have slipped backwards some in his math skills. I know he learned long multiplication last year, but he seemed to have forgotten the nuances of it, and he was very bad at remembering basic multiplication facts. I like common-core style math, mostly, but I think it's bullshit that they've gotten away from memorizing the multiplication charts. Yes he can use his skills to do them in his head, but he shouldn't have to do them, they should just _be_ there. I had to have multiplication tables down cold by the end of fourth grade, and we'd all recite them every day as a class. It was annoying and boring, yes, but it worked. I don't really think you can do much higher math without just knowing multiplication and division facts. So we're working on that. He's got the two times table down fine, and everybody knows tens, so we're working now on the extremely useful threes table. It'll be a process.  Anyway, we worked on the basic processes of long multiplication for a little bit, both the basic way I learned and the common core style "split one factor into easy component pieces like tens and single digits, multiply and add all those together." I have gotten so much better at math in my head since I picked that trick up. Getting him to write a complete sentence for language arts is still like pulling teeth, but we got through a couple of assignments: a powerpoint presentation on inferences that he had to complete and a writing web to prepare him for the five paragraph paper they've got coming up. That is going to be so unfun, you have no idea. Hopefully we'll at least be caught up by then.  We didn't go anywhere or do anything yesterday except that Husband got out to vote. Apparently over 17,000 of the 49,000 registered voters in this county have already cast their ballots, with 950 of those just on Tuesday. Maybe we won't have anybody left to vote by election day and we'll just sit around with our well-staffed precincts, eating potluck dinner and picking at our nails. At least the gym at the high school is fixed from the fire they had last winter (Oh for the naivete of 2019, when we thought that having to distribute the students from one high school and middle school into the other schools was massive disruption of the learning process!), so our precinct is no longer left orphaned and shoved into any public space that will have us.  The Democratic primary was brutal this year because they made us do it in the registrar's office itself, which means that everybody who has no idea where they were supposed to vote would just come to the registrar's office, see that people were voting, and try to vote too. The upside is that I learned the location of nearly every other precinct in the county from having to tell people where to go. For the Republican primary we were in the senior center, which was better because nobody cared about the Republican primary and also we were at least around the corner from the registrar's office. People were still lured in by our sultry "vote here" signs, but not as many. Once we are tucked back into our gymnasium where people sort of have to know we are there, I think that problem will mostly solve itself. The masks and shields are going to be awful, though. Working a sixteen hour day is hard enough without them!  And that brings us to today, which I at least have not forgotten about yet. Kiddo had a doctor's appointment (no blood test so it went fine) and we checked out a new Cub Scout troop. Unfortunately it seems there Webelos only meet every other week and we were in the off week, but he was perfectly content to hang around with the Wolves and enjoy an extremely unstructured meeting that consisted mainly of ball-throwing-and-chasing games. That's fine with me; at this point I could care less about his patches and I just want him to have a little fun. And he did, so we'll definitely go back next week.  On the way home from Cub Scouts I was singing TMBG's We Want A Rock, a delightfully nonsensical song, when the kiddo mentioned wistfully that I never sang his favorite lullaby anymore even though I used to sing it all the time. I was a little surprised because I have a pretty stable rotation of lullabies for the increasingly rare occasions when he wants sung to at night. Sweet Baby James, That's What Living is To Me, Chanson Por Les Petits Enfants, and Return to Pooh Corner are the usual suspects, but he reminded me of an old Chad and Terri Sigafus lullaby I used to sing him.  Hush my darling, now close your eyes And mama will sing you a lullaby Soon you'll be dreaming of rainbows and colors And all of the good things tomorrow will bring And we'll laugh, dance, play in the sun Whisper and giggle, hop, skip and run We'll build a castle as high as a mountain And talk to the dragons, just you and me. And we'll sail out on a crystal clear ocean You'll be the captain and I'll be the crew We'll play bows and arrows and be superheroes There's nothing that I'd rather do Than play Let's Pretend with you. 

It's a lovely little song that I cannot find in playable format anywhere online, too bad. I did used to sing it to him a lot because it was from a tape I had when I was a kid, and I used to sing it to my youngest sister when she was a baby. In more recent years I made the unfortunate discovery that the artists were uncomfortably close to the Christian Identity Movement, which is big bad news racist bullshit, and I kinda stopped liking their music as much. But the kiddo loves this song more than I had realized, and once I sang it for him he got very excited and made me sing it three more times so he could learn the words better. Death of the author, I guess. It's nice to know that he does listen to and appreciate some of the music I've sung for him over the years, and that my subpar singing voice is special to him because I am his mom. 

Only other thing of major note today was that I got an update on Barry and Bixby, my feral orange boys from midsummer. Things didn’t go well for them in their second foster, which created some friction between me and the rescue coordinator as to whose fault it was that feral kittens are (gasp) afraid of crowds and loud noises. But we’re over that now, and the kitties found a caretaker who is okay with friendly boys who are not precisely housecats. They get lots of treats and petting, and look like the kings of their domain. Look how much they’ve grown! I’m so pleased. 

[thethirdwheel404]

Med Rewatch Series (#10)

S3 E10: Down By Law.

Episode Description: Dr. Manning sustains an injury while helping a drive-by victim and Dr. Rhodes finds himself in uncomfortable waters.

Connor being in ‘uncomfortable waters’? I can hear Ava bullying him already.

(also i wrote a little thing abt maggie giving ava a red bull so enjoy that little bit of content)

Let’s get into it.

-barry just yeeted natalie against a car holy shit that’s fucking hilarious

-will needs to chill the fuck out

-YESSSSS

-THIS WHERE CONNOR BRINGS THE WOMAN HE WENT OUT WITH UP FOR MEDICAL TREATMENT. AND THEN AVA HARASSES HIM FOR IT.

-this is one of the most iconic ava moments. (it’s first thing that pops up under the tumblr tag)

-ava overhearing connor not knowing his date’s last name. and ava walking over, already getting ready to make fun of him. barely concealing her smile

-the confidence with which she set down the file. she was too prepared and too excited

-this could just turn into a list of ava quotes

-”It must be hard, remembering all their names.”

“You know I read Derek Jeter used to send his conquests home with a gift basket. But a full cardio work up is... It’s much classier.”

-ava bekker secret baseball fan?

-Connor: “Jeter? You a baseball fan?”

Ava: “Oh, no. It’s much too boring. But I love gossip.”

-interesting. very, interesting... is it weird to anyone else to think about ava liking gossip?

-like the idea is fun and all but i hate the idea of ava being suuuper obsessed with gossip. it makes her seem way too shallow in my book. that being said, one of my hcs about women gossiping about all the shit men do to ava bc they know she’ll call them on it now has a lot more precedence

-i know she explicitly says that baseball is boring but i can’t get the idea of ava being a secret baseball fan out of my head. its just so novel

-HER SHIT EATING GRIN

- Connor: “Well, we will get you in and out of here as quickly as possible.”

Ava: “That’s what Dr. Rhodes is renowned for around here. Quick in and outs.”

Connor: *turns to her condescendingly*

Ava: *two finger salute* “I’m Dr. Bekker, by the way.”

-the lesbian icon jumped out

-also the fact that in the previous episode Ava’s mentor did the exact same salute. idk what it means but it’s not that important

-ava trying to hide her smile when asking the woman if she wanted them to contact her husband

-ava overhearing again when latham tells connor the woman he was with was doing cocaine

-ava smirking when connor says that he thinks the heart attack was from his sex and not the cocaine

-connor thinking he’s so good at sex he’s going to give this woman a heart attack

-he really drives All the ladies wild in EveryWay (sex, suicide. he’s the whole package)

-latham asking connor point blank “did you partake in the cocaine?”

-the ct team gives connor so. much. shit. it’s so funny

-also. ava just chillin at her desk looking at scans? that’s the kind of content i want to see. just her just being there. doing her own thing. that’s what i want

-THE GUY WITH A TEENAGE WIFE IS A REVEREND HOLY SHIT

-counting down the minutes til natalie drops dead (passes out but yk a girl can dream lol)

-sarah. back at it again with her rayon jacket and button up and backpack. the coffee cup only adds to the aesthetic

-connor being surprised that latham isn’t gonna let him do surgery on the women he fucked (twice, he might add)

- whatever you do, don’t think of a brown bear. are you thinking about it?

-maggie dealing red bull to people who need it. that’s a very soft idea

- ex:

Dr. Bekker is sitting at the desk in the ED. Well, sleeping, more like it. Her head is resting on her fist, her elbow precariously close to slipping off the the chair armrest, and her eyes open by just a hair.

“Dr. Bekker.”

Ava jolts awake.

“Maggie,” Ava says, strong accent cutting through, acknowledging the person standing over her. Hastily, she adjusts her jacket and scrubs, smoothing them back into place.

“I don’t think I’ve ever seen you this tired.”

Ava shrugs, seamlessly slipping back into easy confidence.

“Rough couple of cases. Nothing I can’t handle.”

“Uh huh,” Maggie says, unbelieving.

She sets a can of Red Bull on the desk with a knowing look.

“You need this more than anybody.”

Ava scoffs. “Those things? They are murder on your heart, come on.”

Maggie hums and walks away. Ava watches her leave, and when she’s out of sight, Ava darts forward, grabs the energy drink, immediately cracking it open and downing half of it.

- anyway.

- @punksarahreese that’s on you for making me believe ava loves energy drinks

- let’s continue

- sarah looking at charles telling her not to do something: I am not going to do a thing you said

- go off babe. it was the wrong decision but go off

- all the nurses watching this guy call nat a bitch:  👀 👀 👀 👀

- will being like: god that guy called you a bitch i fucking hate him

- and natalie being like: he is also refusing to let us treat the 14 yr olds cancer but you obviously have priorities

- sarah is so logical. she’s good at talking to people. can you FUCKING IMAGINE IF SHE HAD BETTER GUIDANCE (oh and less trauma)

- this is also the one with that hilarious screen cap of sarah holding a knife

- the way she is so calm about handing this patient a knife gives me anxiety

- THIS SCENE IS SO HARD TO WATCH IT SCARES ME SO MUCH

- sarah just in alone in a room with a man who keeps having visions of stabbing his wife. and her just handing him a fucking knife oh my god i have too much anxiety for this

- rewatching the series and getting completely confused bc norma is 5′7″ but she looks so short next to colin and the guy who plays latham

- AND RACHEL IS ALSO 5′ 7″ BUT THEY BOTH LOOK SO SHORT - WHY EVERYONE ON THIS SHOW SO TALL

- anyway. ignore that that’s not important

- I... the parallels btwn sarah offering this guy the ability to slit her throat (for therapy) and ava cutting her throat... i don’t know what to do with this information

- idk but sarah holding the knife got me feelin some type of way

- the way connor looks at ava with such contempt bc she... does her job (and his but yk) especially during the hug wtf dude honestly just stop looking at her

- this is also the episode where ava pawns off the patient’s hug onto connor. while yeah, it could ava just being annoying to connor by forcing him to hug his one night stand’s husband, but she did give connor due credit. (and something to be said about her being confused and a tad uncomfortable when the patient hugs her, which is why she pawns it off to rhodes)

- she also doesn’t hug the guy back, which is kind of funny, she never moves her arms and just shrugs out of it

- and like after the hug she takes a few steps away from the guy, really not wanting any more physical contact or attention

- there’s something interesting in ava’s expression when connor gets hugged by the guy, can’t quite explain it. i’m gonna go with it’s her trying to keep a straight face while connor hugs a man he just helped a woman cheat on, but that’s not all of it so

- or. okay, I think i got it. i think that that little expression when connor gets hugged is her rolling her eyes at him getting credit when ava did most of the heavy lifting. yes. final answer. i’m satisfied

- and her looking away from them is her stopping herself from laughing, bc connor is obviously not enjoying this

- and he’s so sad and angsty he can’t even play along with the jokes

- and ava smiling at him with pity as she walks in to talk to the patient, bc that’s really what it is. she feels bad for him bc connor is so obviously lonely

- and connor’s annoyed bc ‘dammit she does have a right to pity me i suck rn’

- med pushing the women are tough agenda LITERALLY SHUT THE FUCK UP

- you hate your women characters so much just fucking shut your mouth

- and will being like ‘ i have a lot to learn about women not being objects’

- and nat saying ‘you are way further along than most’ like no, he’s not. the bar is on the ground and he still can’t jump it

- i’m pretty sure this show doesn’t pass the bechdel test. holy fucking shit it doesn’t. you’ve gotta be kidding me. (at least this episode doesn’t)

I can’t believe this episode didn’t pass the bechdel test. The only convo btwn two women were like maggie and sharon and they talk about barry and oh my god this is infuriating god med the bar is so low. And I’m pretty sure most episodes don’t pass the test anyway. Will is literally the representation of med. He gets lots of credit for doing bare minimum things like giving women rights.

Anyway.

This was a good episode. We dissected a lot of unspoken Ava things, which is very good. Ava had a lot of moments where she was there, but didn’t say anything, and when your characters can do that, that’s when you know your characterization is very good.

The moments where Ava isn’t really doing anything to forward the plot of the episode but she’s still just there, doing her own thing, are hands down my favorite. Her sitting at the desk looking at a scan while connor tells latham he didn’t do cocaine could possibly my favorite ava moment in the series, just bc it shows how much of her own character should could’ve been.

I drew an interesting parallel btwn sarah offering the guy to slit her throat and ava’s death. i have nothing for that but go wild

This episode also showed us Ava pitying Connor, another new aspect. she gives him shit but she also pities him. very good ep for little ava moments

as always, thanks for sticking through it

-

read the rest here:

Part 1 / Part 2 / Part 3 / Part 4 / Part 5 / Part 6 / Part 7 / Part 8 / Part 9 / Part 11 / Part 12 / Extra

[malicerewatchesdoctorwho]

The Enemy of the World - Episode Four

Written by - David Whitaker   Director- Barry Letts   Producer - Innes Lloyd

Episode Four

("Proof, proof proof!  It always comes back to the same thing!  No one has any evidence against Salamander!" - The Doctor to Fariah, Giles and Astrid about how no one seems to have any proof against Salamander so going after him is a waste of time.)

Likes

- The Doctor thanking Giles for calling him not inconspicuous.  It's his whole attitude to this mess, it's great.

- Fariah is great and I love her.  It's great to see a black woman have such a huge role in Doctor Who so early in the run. Yes, Fariah, we wish you were there to see his face as Salamander dies too, but alas, not meant to be.  We find out more about her background too!  Like she was also blackmailed to be his personal servant and was ordered to smile.   I mean, come on fellow women, who wouldn't be pissed off at that.  Also, she is far from the first to die. 

- I love the way Benik says Fariah's name.  He's such a great little shit.  He's fun for a bad guy.  He looks like he's having fun when he's not pissed off and looking like he's about to have a brain aneurism.

- Fariah taking off with Fedorin's files which has proof of swindling.

- Fariah's last act was not giving up the Doctor and slapping Benik's face.  Yes.  You go down fighting girl, you go down good.

- Hahaha, I think Benik has a cruuuush.  On Salamander. Look at that smile when Salamander made him feel good after giving him Fedorin's files. 

- I am really beginning to feel sorry for Bruce in all this. 

Dislikes

- How come Astrid didn't start the call with Giles and the Doctor with the scrambling on?  Would have saved a lot of trouble.  Just saying.  She's smart, she should have realised that.

- Did...did the Captain Benik was talking to say Mariah instead of Fariah?  I swear he said an M instead of an F.

- What is with the random pram pushing person outside with the guards?

- These are the worst guards ever... How did they not go through the entire room including the other side of the desk, before leaving?  Just....what?!

Awesome

- Ahahaha, last episode I remember being annoyed by the super small television Giles had in his trailer.  This time I am laughing at how big the machine is that Benik has and how the screen seems bigger just because of the huge amount of the rest of the security system it seems to be in.  It's great.

- Also, I really like the walls in Giles' office.  I have no idea why. 

- Nice new set with the shelter.

Shitty

- Oh my god, that alarm as Salamander was in the records room shutting it off so no one could get in or out.  My ears, I think they're bleeding.

- Eh, I don't much like Colin's and Mary's clothing in this.  It just looks...plain.  Which is odd and feels like it should be right, but most of the other people stuck in the shelter aren't dressed plain like that.  They're dressed more in dots or patterns and other things instead of looking like they just walked off the street back home.  More in uniform, then day wear.  Does that make sense?

In Conclusion

Ahahaha, yes.  I am really enjoying this serial.  I think so far this is probably the weakest episode so far, but that isn't to say it was bad, because it was definitely not that.

We got the answer to whether Fedorin was alive or not.  The answer is no, he was killed.    We get a whole new group of people to remember exist, in an underground shelter who think the earth is at war, even though it's not.  Salamander is a bad, bad guy.

We also have the Doctor finally getting dressed up like Salamander, even though he is still unsure he can pass off being him.

Oh, and Fariah was great all the way up to her death. 

I barely missed Jamie and Vitoria even though they only got mentioned in the middle of the episode once.  I forgot they were supposed to even be there, lol.  This episode is mainly the Doctor getting ready to play Salamander and the bad guys trying to kill the good guys.

Giles is a hit or miss character for me.  Seriously, he doesn't seem any better than Salamander, forcing people to do as he bid, using blackmail, force or other to get what he wants.  And what he wants is an assassin.

Body count - 2.  Denes was killed, but we only find out here. He was shot in the back last episode. Will add him on this one as a kill, since we only found out.  In this episode, Fariah died.  She got shot by random guard #13 and died slapping Benik.  

[carpenoctem07]

I just finished to rest Peter Pan by J.M. Barrie and oh god my heart ❤️. I will try to give a critic of it, so watch out for the spoilers.

So, you need to know that I have been a big fan of Peter Pan since many years because I loved the fact that we should always try to be young and remember our childhood. I have seen all the movies, even the live action etc. At some parts of the films, I thought it was a little cringe, mostly when the “ love relationship” between Wendy and Peter is forced. Like in my eyes it didn’t feel like a love things between them. But after reading the book, I understand more what was happening between the two characters.

SPOILERS

It’s a more complicated story than what it looks like, Wendy in some ways want to grow up and she realized it while being in Neverland. She may seems a little bit annoying in the movies, but in the book she’s different. She’s different to the point that I can relate to her in some ways, unlike in the movies. When she first saw Peter, she was interested in him immediately in a love way. We can’t miss that, it’s obvious. With the “kiss” is even more obvious. But when we continue reading the story, it’s becoming clear that she only has admiration for this strange boy who can fly. Her love for him disappeared, she loves him a as child. Like in the movies, Wendy is the mom of the boys and Peter Pan is the dad who goes on adventures. But clearly, Wendy treats him more like a child than her husband which prove again that she doesn’t love him in that way anymore. For me, I think Wendy loving Peter in a son-way make more sens. Like I said earlier, I thought in the movies the love relationship was forced, so ofc I choose to believe Wendy-Peter have a mother/son relationship. Also, we need to add to this that Peter have only considered her as a mother.

Being a mother is being old enough to have responsibilities and to take care of children. Even if it was a game for them, Wendy was truly a mother. She gave them curfews, medicine, a nap time before they go in the water after eating, forced them to wash flannels or having new one, telling them stories etc. In this way I think she’s growing up a lot, she’s becoming more mature. She’s mature enough to understand that, the lost boys need a real mother and her and brothers need to go back home. I think she realizes that being a mother it’s not easy, that a children can’t do it. And maybe going back home, could help her to be a good one for those boys. So for me the Wendy from the book was growing up even if she didn’t want to.

I want to add something to Peter story and mother things. First, he hates mothers because when he tried to comeback as his house, his mom closed the windows so he couldn’t go back. For a child, it must be horrible to go trough this. Even your own mother didn’t want you back, at least that’s what he thinks. His mother probably lost hope, but that’s another subject haha. So a lot of time in the book, Peter told the lost boys that he hates mothers, he doesn’t want one etc. Except Wendy. Because Wendy doesn’t force him to grow up, she loves him too much to do it. So Wendy is his second mom, but if you think about it Peter lost two times his mom. His first one who closed the windows and Wendy. When he tried to close the window of Wendy house, he saw Mrs Darling crying in front of it. And while that is in debate with himself, is mad about her because she loves Wendy and want her back. But he loves her too, so he wants to keep her. But finally, he opens the window and gives up. And I like to believe that he has grow up a bit just there. He stopped being a whiny boy about loosing his mom and he let her go. At this part of the book, my heart just broke a little.

So yeah that’s pretty much of it for me. Sorry if it’s not clear, I’m tired and English isn’t my first language. I could have waited to do it tomorrow but I was too passionate haha. If you have other thoughts about this book, I would love to talk about it! Hope you enjoy my “critic”

—————-

Here we have a quote from the book and I love to think that the “the blue ones are just little sillies who are not sure what they are” are like trans people and non-binary people too. But ofc I can’t prove that it’s really that haha.

[angrylizardjacket]

in the footsteps of giants

Anon asked: I know you briefly mentioned Ash meeting Motley Crue in the 80s but does she ever meet Lola?? If so, like how does that go down???

A/N: RTP and AYDTD have always taken place in the same universe in my mind. So this is just a little thing i wrote today in rehearsals on my phone abt a potential way that Ash and Lola meet, plus a little bit of a hint at what ash does when she’s and roger split in the late 70s/early 80s ;) (also just so you know, once ash and queen reconnect after the release of A Night At The Opera, Ash asks freddie if she can take his last name because she doesn’t want to be associated with the family that ostracised her; Ash Mercury is what she goes by in her day to day/non-professional life, after 1975) (Established Nikki/Lola & Ash/Roger)

{Ash | AYDTD} | {Lola | RTP}

Early 1987. Los Angeles.

“Hey do you know if the photographer Vince likes is around in the next few weeks?” Lola barges into Doc’s office, disregarding his assistant’s squawk of protest. Doc looks surprised, looks mildly annoyed, holding his jacket and standing just beyond the door. Behind him is a woman with hair as red as a flame, standing a few inches shorter than Lola herself.

“I’m about to go to lunch,” Doc tells Lola, voice flat, “can we discuss this when I get back?” The woman behind him is pulling on a dark jacket with yellow floral detailing that’s a little too big for her, watching Lola with an intense, green eyed stare.

“Who’s this?” Lola asks instead, completely ignoring Doc, who sighed and pulled on his jacket.

“Lola, this is Rocket; Rocket, this is Lola Gone, she’s Motley’s,” he turned the thought over in his mind, frowning a little. The woman, Rocket, raised her eyebrows, and Lola’s expression already soured; “who was that little fella Reid had with Queen for the day to day?”

“Oh, she’s their Paul,” realisation dawned on Rocket’s face, speaking for the first time with an unexpectedly thick accent, and Lola frowned, not exactly sure who she was being compared to. After a beat, the ginger frowned at Lola, and Lola frowned right back, “Paul was a rotten little bastard.”

Doc laughs.

“Fuck you.” Lola spits, and Rocket smiles, all sharp teeth. “Fuck both of you.”

“Lola, don’t get your knickers in a twist; which is the photographer Vince likes?” Doc heads down the hallway with both Lola and Rocket a few steps behind him, Lola holding a sketchbook.

“The one that Nikki didn’t yell at last time,” Lola groaned, her face scrunching up, “Barry something? Vince is convinced he always catches his good side.”

“And why do you need him so soon?” Doc presses the elevator button and Lola sighs.

“Nikki wants to put together some draft cover designs for the single and he wants a photo of the band for it.”

“If I give you Barry’s number can you set it up?” Doc asks, his voice condescending, and Lola stands up straighter, expression darkening.

“Give me some fucking cred-”

“Just answer the question.”

Lola narrows her eyes, her gaze locked with Doc’s as he raises his eyebrows at her.

“Fucking obviously.”

Rocket watches her as the doors of the elevator close, wearing a strange little Mona Lisa smile, setting Lola on edge.

“What the fuck kind of name is Rocket?!” Lola groans, draping herself over Nikki in the studio, handing back his sketchbook. Nikki, who was spread across the sofa chatting about lyrics with Tommy and Vince.

“Did you get the good photographer?” Nikki asked, shifting to get more comfortable with her on top of him.

“Doc’s gonna give me his number after his date,” she sighs.

“Who’s Rocket?” Tommy asks, just as Vince snorts.

“Doc’s on a date? Yeah fucking right.”

Lola doesn’t know much about the woman apart from the fact that she’s got hair like fire and she seems like an asshole.

“She said I was a rotten little bastard!” Lola crowed, her whole face wrinkling with irritation, though Nikki laughed loudly, pulling her close.

“Lo, you are a rotten little bastard,” he told her fondly, smirking.

“You’re an asshole too;” though her voice was soft as she propped her chin on his chest, scowling at him, “you’re lucky I love you.”

“I only know about one Rocket even mildly attached to Doc - maybe -” Mick interjects, his arms crossed as he twists in a spinning chair, “and there’s no way she’s getting romantic with him.”

“Well you don’t even know if we’re talking about the same person,” Lola responds loftily.

“Red hair? Kind of an asshole? In town same time as Queen, and she knows Doc? Girlie, I’m pretty sure we’re talking about the same Rocket.” And he’s smug with good reason, because almost an hour later, Doc makes his way into the studio while Mick is redoing his solo for the third time. Rocket comes too, watching with bright eyes and hands clasped behind her back. Lola hadn’t gotten a good look at her before, but now, with the floral jacket folded in the woman’s arms, she sees Rocket’s impeccably tailored pastel blue silk shirt tucked into acid washed denim cutoffs, and the powder blue converse; the outfit looks so couture and summery, and Lola feels like a mismatched child in her vicinity.

Tommy is giving her the most starry-eyed look, whilst also turning bright red.

“Ash Mercury.”

That’s enough to get Rocket’s attention, and she turns with raised eyebrows away from where she was watching Mick.

“Motley Crue, this is Rocket; she’s a designer, she requested to meet you all.”

“No fucking way did Ash Mercury ask to meet us.” Tommy’s acting like a starstruck fool, like he did when he met Nikki, eyes bright, tapping excitedly against the sound desk with his drumsticks, much to the sound engineer’s chagrin.

“Who in the fuck is Ash Mercury?” Lola finally asks. Nikki’s not paying much attention to the situation, in his own little world with his bass, and Mick hadn’t realised they had company, but Tommy and Vince were watching the newcomers with interest.

“I am.” Rocket smiles toothily at Lola, “though, granted I hadn’t assumed that’s how you’d know me.”

“Tommy saw your tits at a very formative time in his life,” Vince snickered, “of course he remembers you.” Tommy threw a drumstick at Vince’s head, but the blonde can’t help but cackle. Ash at least has the decency to blush.

“I was seventeen, you make me sound like I was twelve!” But he turned to Ash with what he hopes is a winning smile, “I’m not- I mean, I wasn’t twelve then and I’m not seventeen now. I’m Tommy.” And he actually stands, walks over to her and holds out her hand. Ash’s handshake is surprisingly firm, and his enthusiasm seems to be endearing her rather than putting her off.

“Good to meet you, Tommy; you’re the drummer, right?” She smiled when he nodded, standing back and trying to be subtle where he’s all but preening under her gaze. She knows who he is! He looks like he’s about to cream himself. “You remind me of my favourite client,” she says, something gentle about her words.

“Who even are you?!” Lola half laughs, though she’s more confused than before.

“Hey dickhead, Ash Mercury’s here.” Vince throws the drumstick that was just lobbed at him at Nikki, which at the very least gets the bassists attention.

“Yeah right,” Nikki snorts, looking over at the ginger, who looked mildly bemused, “what would she be doing here? She’s in fuckin’ England isn’t she? Is Bowie in town?”

“Jesus Christ you lot are a bunch of perverts,” Doc sighed, but Ash smiled brightly.

“I’m Scottish actually, but close enough I suppose,” she paused, “and I haven’t seen Bowie in a few years; I do have a life outside of him ah,” she turns a little red, “those photoshoots I did for and with him,” she can’t be quite sure which they’re referring to, but both make her a little self conscious, “but if it’s enough to convince you;” she untucks her shirt, lifting it up to expose her ribs, and the worn tattoo that sat just below her breast.

An orange, about the size of a quarter, with a little green leaf. Lola recognised that tattoo, and could feel herself starting to heat up with embarrassment.

“It’s a clementine, I got it right after Queen released A Night At the Opera,” she clarified, and Tommy makes a noise of understanding.

“You must be a big fan of theirs, what with the tattoo and the name and the-” Tommy was cut off by Doc, who held his head in his hands.

“Do you really not know about Rocket apart from that Rolling Stones shoot she did with Bowie?” Doc asked. Ash was tucking her shirt back into her shorts, since the rest of them seemed satisfied that she was the real deal.

“She also did that shoot for him,” Tommy adds, very pointedly, and with maybe a little too much confidence. Ash’s smile is a little too bright as she refuses to acknowledge that particular career move of hers.

“I’m actually a costume designer, you see, and I just wanted to stop in and tell you I love your look; I appreciate your theatricality. The Bark at the Moon tour looks were,” she mused, gaze a little far away, “oh they were something else.”

“Is that a good thing?” Nikki asked, typing his head to the side as his tone betrayed his amusement.

“Absolutely.” Ash grinned in return. “Well I just wanted to stop in and say hi.” She shrugged, “I should be getting back, Rog is taking me out for dinner.” She told Doc, who nodded sagely, and though she left, he didn’t.

“You chucklefucks sure know how to embarrass yourselves in front of one of the most sought after designers and fabricators in the industry,” Doc sighed, but the rest of them were preoccupied by Lola hurling everything within arms reach at Tommy.

“You had that centrefold of her and Bowie on your bedroom fucking wall!”

“I know!” Tommy snorted, easily deflecting the empty cans thrown his way, “how did you not recognise her?”

“Because it’s been years since I saw the poster and on it she had sparklers covering her nipples; I wasn’t exactly paying attention to her face!” Lola cried, before falling back into the sofa, covering her face at the sound of Vince and Nikki crowing with laughter.

“Don’t think you’re getting let off so easily, Tommy, you’re just as dense as Lola;” Doc snaps, which shuts everyone up, Tommy most of all, wearing a wide-eyed, confused state, “’you must be a big fan of theirs’” Doc parroted mockingly back to the drummer, before cuffing him over the back of the head, “she’s engaged to Roger Taylor.”

Tommy’s look of dawning horror was enough to set everyone off and laughing again. His despair was almost palpable.

“And I asked her if she was a fan of Queen.”

“She still seems like a bit of an asshole,” Lola finally announced, and Nikki snickered.

“Isn’t that a bit ’pot-meet-kettle’?” He asked, and Lola gave an small smile, rolling her eyes. It’s Doc, however, who interjects.

“She’s allowed to be an asshole sometimes, she’s damn good at her job.”